"Hey Maxine." Shego slid onto one of the stools at the small cafe. The thirty-something barista behind the counter gave a nod of her close-cropped, bright purple hair.

"Hey yourself, Annie."

"Quiet today." The pale woman noted, idly watching the muscles in Maxine's well-defined arms as the older woman immediately began working the espresso machine.

"It's the snow." Maxine shrugged. "Eight inches last night. Most people are probably still clearing their driveways."

"Wasn't a problem for me." Shego gave a private smirk. Plasma cleaned it up, no trouble. "New nose stud?"

"Yeah." Maxine touched the little skull's head projecting from her left nostril. "I was hoping to show it off to some young honeys today, but not much chance after the storm last night, unfortunately. You like it?"

"Tres butch." Shego said, then sighed with pleasure as the older woman slid a steaming latte before her.

"I got a matching pair." The older woman waggled her eyebrows, nearly causing Shego to spurt coffee out of her nose. After a semi-drunken petting session when she first came to Montreal, the green woman knew exactly where the barista's other piercing was.

"Jesus, Max. Give me some warning next time." The pale woman shook her head and chuckled. "I'm not sure how I'd react if I found that looking back at me."

"Lightweight." Maxine grinned to take the sting out of her words. "You want your usual for breakfast?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, Rosie!" Maxine stuck her head through the door to the kitchen. "One Daddy-Sized breakfast! Lemonade instead of juice, eggs over easy, extra syrup."

There was a muffled noise of acknowledgment, and Maxine let the door slip closed once more.

"Ten minutes." The barista nodded at Shego's empty cup. "You want another one?"

Shego gave the question its due consideration.

"The regular pot fresh?"

"Put it on the warmer just before you walked in."

"Give me a cup of that, then."

"No problem." Maxine grabbed the pot and filled a mug, then slid cream and sugar over to Shego. "So, you're back from your business trip? How'd it go?"

It was amazing. Right up until I blew it by kissing the straight girl.

"The business part went fine." Shego shrugged, then realized that the barista's attention was no longer on her answer, but on something behind her left shoulder.

"Hoo-hah. Hottie alert. I tell you, she can shovel my driveway any time she likes." Maxine none-too-subtly nodded toward the door. Shego smirked at the comment and twisted her head toward the TV in the corner of the café, trusting her peripheral vision to pick up the newcomer.

Her heart lurched into her throat.

Kim Possible pushed back her snow-speckled hair and stumped her way across the cafe, hastily unbuttoning her coat as she did so. The redhead was wrapped in a dozen woolen layers and a heavy parka, adding considerable girth to her usually lithe form.

Like a walking, redheaded dumpling. Shego scowled at the unbidden thought.

"Hi." The younger woman said softly, almost diffidently, as she stopped a pace or two short of Shego and tentatively made eye contact with the stunned former supervillain.

When Shego did not immediately speak, Maxine gave the redhead a salacious grin.

"Hi, yourself." She purred, leaning her elbows on the bar and unobtrusively flexing the muscles in her arms. "What can I get for you, sweet thing?"

"Oh." Kim flushed, her attention drawn away from Shego for the first time. "Uh, just some wholemeal toast -"

"She'll have a Daddy. No substitutions." Shego broke in, her voice sounding harsh and distant in her own ears. She flicked a glance at Max, who read the silent message clearly.

"I'll ... just be in the kitchen." The barista jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "Helping with the breakfasts. Yell if you need anything."

The green woman waited until they were alone in the room, then turned back to Kim.

"Pumpkin. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" She could hear the hostility in her tone, but couldn't stop it bleeding through. "You've had a nice week off for Christmas with the family and thought you'd close out the year by selling me out to GJ? Or are you just here to shout at me?"

"GJ aren't here." The redhead replied instinctively. She paused, looking confused. "Shout at you? No ... no, I'm here to apologize."

"What?" The green woman blinked. What's she talking about?

"I'm here to apologize." Kim said, more firmly. She lifted her chin and met the pale woman's eyes. "Shego ... I thought we were becoming pretty good friends back at the tournament. And I know you'd made it clear you weren't interested in me any other way, and never would be, and that I should never have kissed you like I did. It was a stupid thing for me to do, but it was just an impulsive mistake. I was hoping you could forgive me and we could try to go back to being friends -"

"Wait a minute. You kissed me?" Shego interrupted, running a hand through her hair and giving the redhead a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

Shego saw her own bemused expression mirrored in the younger woman's face.

"At the end of the tournament ..." The redhead dipped her eyes and scuffed at the floor with her toe. "I mean I know you didn't want me to, but you must remember it ... after we got Bonnie and Junior disqualified. I kissed you."

"Uh ..." The green woman struggled to form a coherent sentence. "... Kimmie ... maybe you've been hit on the head or something and that's mixed up your memory, but I was the one who kissed you."

Kim's boot paused in mid-scuff, and she slowly raised her eyes, peaking out at the older woman through her bangs. To Shego's surprise - and confusion - the redhead suddenly laughed, a sound of relief and amazement.

"You kissed me? But ... I kissed you ..." The teen hero trailed off, and the two women stared at each other in silence for a moment, both their minds racing in circles as they kept coming back to one, seemingly inescapable conclusion.

The redhead exhaled softly, giving Shego a rueful grin that the pale woman instinctively, though uncertainly, returned. Straightening her posture, Kim shook her head in wonderment.

"Maybe we should start over." The redhead thrust out her hand. "Hello. I'm Kim Possible. It seems I'm bisexual ... or at least, some of the people I'm attracted to are women."

Shego stared. Abruptly, she realized her mouth was hanging open, and closed it with a snap. She took the offered hand and shook it, trying to figure out what to say.

"I'm Shego. I only date dykes." Shit, that sounded harsh. The green woman sighed as she saw a faint flush rise up the redhead's neck. "I know that was blunt, but ... I've tried relationships with girls who were 'unsure' of their sexuality, or 'experimenting' ... or 'curious'." Yeah, like about six times, you sucker. "It doesn't work out."

"Well." Kim cleared her throat, then shrugged off her parka and sat sideways on the bar stool next to Shego, so that she was facing the green woman. "I'm not 'unsure' about my sexuality. I like who I like. Sometimes, that happens to be a woman. And I'm definitely not looking to 'experiment'. That's not my style. I only want to be with someone I really like. But ..." she blushed, her eyes dropping to her lap for a moment. "... I admit I am a little curious. I've never really gone further than kissing."

"With girls?"

"With anyone." Kim paused. "Well ... I did do a bit of 'top half only', with Ron."

"Not something I want to think about, Pumpkin." Shego paused and thought for a moment, remembering the kiss. It had felt like Kim was kissing back, at the time. But then ... "If you kissed me, why did you look so freaked about it, afterwards?"

"Because ..." Kim sighed. "Because you pulled away, Shego. You pulled away and you looked at me like ... like you never wanted to see me again. And I thought I'd just screwed everything up. And then you ran, and I was too scared to chase you."

"Oh." Shego ran a hand through her hair, remembering those painful moments after the sweetness of the kiss. She had pulled away, and she had run. But she'd had good reason. Kim Possible was straight. And crushing on straight girls was always a bad idea. Her thoughts whirling, the green woman glanced at the kitchen door. Still no sign of Max and the breakfasts, though if I know her ...

Placing her finger to her lips to warn Kim to keep quiet, the former supervillain vaulted over the bar and yanked open the kitchen door. Maxine, caught off-balance as she crouched against it to listen, gave a squawk and nearly fell over.

"How are those breakfasts coming, Max?"

"Uh ..." Maxine straightened, trying to look casual. "I was just coming to tell you they'll be right out."

"Great. We'll be sitting over there." Shego pointed to the furthest table from the bar. "Just so you know where to find us."

"Sure thing." Max gave a slightly nervous grin, then leaned in close to Shego as she turned away. "If you're stupid enough to let a doll like that go, Annie -" she whispered, "- then at least be generous enough to offer her my shoulder to cry on."

"Just get the breakfasts, Max."

"So, you really think you like me?" Shego asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence in which the two women had been sitting since they moved to the table.

"I like you." Kim shrugged. "There's no 'think' about it."

"That, I can believe." The pale woman snorted. "We'd make no sense as a couple, Pumpkin."

"Why not? I like you. You like me ..." The redhead paused, suddenly uncertain. "You do like me, don't you? Like that, I mean? That's why you kissed me, right, not some other reason?"

Shego wanted to lie. It would protect her. It would protect Kim. In the long run, we'd both be better off. She opened her mouth to offer some flippant remark, and made the mistake of meeting the redhead's hopeful gaze. The lie died on her lips, and she sighed in defeat. We're going to regret this conversation, I know it. But I just can't do that to her.

"I'm attracted to you, yes. But that doesn't make a relationship a good idea, Pumpkin."

Kim opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it again as Maxine arrived with their breakfasts. The redhead's eyes grew wide as she stared at the mound of food before her.

"Shego! How am I supposed to eat all this?"

"With a knife and fork, doy." The green woman managed a flicker of a smirk.

"But ..." Kim picked up her utensils and tentatively prodded one of the huge, succulent sausages that took up the left side of the plate. "It's bigger than I am!"

"Not my fault you could answer a casting call for munchkins." Shego's smirk broadened. Then she ducked a hurled napkin from the half-scowling, half-laughing redhead.

"Well you could answer a call for the wick-" The younger woman broke off, her cheeks flushing a dusky red. Shego waved for her to continue.

"You may as well say it, Princess. We both know where you were going."

"No." Kim shook her head. "I won't. I know you used to get teased about that at school."

She remembered that? Emerald green eyes widened in surprise, and Shego ducked her head, sure that her own green skin was now a slightly darker shade than normal.

"Anyway ..." The green woman shrugged, idly sifting her beans with her fork, "Good girl. Bad girl. Years of being enemies. There's a list of reasons as long as my arm why a relationship between us wouldn't be a good idea. So if that's why you came to Montreal ..."

"It wasn't." Kim shook her head, then blushed as she realized that her emphatic denial might seem like an outright rejection. "Not ... not that I wouldn't be interested." The redhead paused, taking a deep, shuddering breath as she realized the words she had just spoken. "But ... when I decided to come here, I had no idea you even liked me. I just wanted to apologize for kissing you, and to ask if we could still be friends. I never ... well, you said a bunch of times you weren't into me, so it never crossed my mind that you ... you know ..."

"That I might be hot for your admittedly fine ass?" Shego grinned as Kim's cheeks flamed red from her coarse comment. "Look, when I said I wasn't interested, I was telling the truth -" she saw the redhead open her mouth, and held up a hand to forestall the expected outburst. "When I said it, it was true. By the time the tournament was over ..." she trailed off, and shrugged.

"After you bandaged my hand."

"What?" Shego blinked at the apparent non-sequitur. Kim blushed and suddenly found something very intriguing about her Canadian bacon.

"The first time I realized that I liked you." The redhead explained, glancing up through her fringe. "Was when I was making coffee, right after you bandaged my hand."

"Oh."

"When did you ..."

"Look Kimmie." The green woman interrupted. It's time for some tough lov -- some tough friendship. "We just went through a really stressful situation where we had to have each other's backs. Yeah, we learned a lot about each other. Even got to be friends. But don't make it into more than that. You -"

"No."

Shego blinked, taken aback by the vehemence in Kim's voice.

"What?"

"I said no." The redhead repeated, her words firm, but her lower lip trembling ever so slightly. "No. You don't get to do that. You don't get to take it back. You like me. You said so."

"I know what I said." The green woman sighed and rubbed her eyes, her breakfast temporarily forgotten. "Look, Kimmie ... all I'm saying is that we were just in some exceptional circumstances, and maybe you're reading more into what you feel than is really there." Seeing the younger woman shake her head, Shego pressed on, trying to make her point. "I mean, if you weren't completely straight, don't think you think you would have been attracted to a woman, at least once, before this?"

"I have."

"Huh?" The quiet answer took all the wind out of the green woman's sails.

"I have." Kim repeated. "Been attracted to another woman, I mean." The redhead put down her cutlery and took a deep breath. "I haven't told anyone about it before now, but while I was in Paris, I had a crush on Dominique."

"Dominique? The lesbian girl you were friends with?"

"Yeah." Kim fidgeted with her napkin. "After Ron told me he'd met someone new, I was pretty messed up for a few weeks. Dom was a rock for me. She really helped me hold it together. And I know what you're going to say -" the redhead anticipated Shego's planned interruption. "- and yes, it was another set of exceptional circumstances. I'm not going to deny that. But it doesn't change what I felt then. Or what I feel now."

"So if you were attracted to her, why didn't you act on it?" The green woman challenged.

"Because Dom wasn't interested in me like I was interested in her."

"I find that hard to believe." Shego couldn't resist the opportunity to give Kim's figure a frankly appraising stare, engendering a gratifying blush from the younger woman.

"I don't mean that she wouldn't have slept with me." The redhead clarified. "She would. But that would have been all. Dominique doesn't do relationships."

"Nice girl." Shego's eyebrow flickered.

"She was always honest about it." Kim defended her friend. "Dom always made it clear, whenever she met someone, that she wasn't looking for anything long-term."

"You don't know me all that well, Princess. How do you know I'm not just interested in a good time, like Dominique, but without the honesty to say so?"

"Well for one thing, we aren't in bed right now."

The green woman coughed in surprise at the quick rejoinder, then gave a throaty chuckle.

"Fair point. But think about it, Kim. Sure, you and me sounds like something out of a storybook; two enemies who fall in love. Real Romeo and Juliet stuff." Shego paused, waiting for the redhead's nod of acknowledgment, then continued. "But the thing about Romeo and Juliet is ... and I hope I'm not spoiling the ending for you ... the thing is, they died."

Kim gave a chuckle of her own. It wasn't the response Shego had expected, and she gave the redhead a half surprised, half angry look.

"Sorry." The teen hero looked genuinely contrite. The redhead speared a piece of pancake on her fork. "It's just weird hearing you cite Shakespeare to make a point."

"Yeah?" Shego huffed. "Well, I do have a teaching qualification, Pumpkin."

"But ..." Kim's half-smile turned into a tiny frown of confusion. "You can't really, right? Not if you ran away from home at sixteen. Although Wade said it all checked out ..."

"Trust me, while Wade may be great with computers, I'm a lot sneakier than he is. But it's a little off topic, don't you think, Pumpkin?" The green woman paused a moment to savor a bite from one of Rosie's signature sausages. "Plus, I don't like talking about anything related to ... that incident."

"Okay."

Shego stopped with her fork halfway to her mouth, then set it down again.

"Why do you keep doing that? Asking me a question and then saying it's okay when I say I don't want to answer?"

"Because it is okay." Kim was clearly surprised at the question. She leaned back in her chair, patting her stomach through her sweater. "I'm going to need an extra long run tomorrow morning." She observed, then returned to Shego's question. "I admit I'm curious to know about how you tricked Wade. But my being curious doesn't justify making you talk about something you don't want to."

"Seems you're kinda selective about that, Princess. I notice you're not letting go of the whole 'we like each other' thing."

"That's different." Kim shook her head. "I'm not asking about that just because I'm curious." She paused and gave a smile. "In any sense of the term. I came here with the hope of saving a friendship ... now you've given me the hope of something more, I can't just let that go."

"Ugh. I should have just taken your apology and kept my big mouth shut." Shego speared an individual bean for emphasis.

"Do you really mean that?"

The small, scared tone in Kim's voice sent a pang through Shego's chest. The green woman closed her eyes, not needing them open to see the pained expression on the redhead's face.

"I don't know." The green woman admitted at last, putting down her fork once more and rubbing her temples with her fingers.

"You're scared." The younger woman's eyes widened in realization.

"What?" Shego bristled at the suggestion.

"You're scared." Kim repeated, leaning forward in her chair to grasp the green woman's hand. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Shego. I'm scared, too. I was scared to death of coming here today. I was scared of telling you I was sorry and having you shout at me ... and now I'm scared that I'm attracted to a woman and I'm even more scared that my fear will make me let her walk away." Olive green eyes locked with the retired supervillain's own emerald gaze. "I know that you're scared that if we tried being together, you might get hurt. I'm scared that I'll get hurt, too. And I'm scared that I might hurt you. But I have to overcome my fears."

"Because you're a hero?" Shego couldn't keep the bite out of her tone.

"Because if I don't, I might regret it for the rest of my life." Kim gently squeezed the green woman's hand. "Look, Shego ... I'm not saying we're fated to be together. I can't promise that if we try, it will work out. I can't even promise that you won't get hurt ... though I'll do everything I can to make sure you aren't. But I don't want to look back on this day in fifty years and wonder 'what if we'd taken the risk?'."

"And if we're a disaster together, what then?"

"Then at least we know we tried." Kim answered. "It hurt when Ron told me he'd met someone else. I cried for days. But I got past it. He and I are friends again. And I will never regret the months that we had together." The redhead offered a brave, slightly wistful smile. "I'm not asking for you to promise me anything, Shego. I'm just asking for you to give us a chance. One date. You and me. Then at least we'll know we tried."

"One date?" The green woman stalled. Kimmie's wrong. I'm not scared. I'm terrified.

"One date."

Shego sat without speaking for several long seconds, and the redhead's brave smile slowly faded as the silence grew. Finally, Kim sighed.

"You don't think it's a good idea."

"You and me on a date? I think it's a terrible idea." The green woman said with complete honesty, even as she made her decision, feeling the tiny flicker of hope. "Where are you staying? I'll pick you up at seven."

Author's Notes: Hey, look at that. They actually talked about things and ... well, they haven't resolved all their issues, but they certainly made some progress. Huzzah!

I hope there's no-one too disappointed by the brevity of our two heroines' estrangement, but like I said way back in chapter one: this is not an angsty fic. :-)

(Edit) Since a couple of people have asked: no, this is not the end of the story. I'll make it quite clear when this is over!