In Memoriam Feminae Viridis
By Ken-Zero
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine; they belong to Disney.
--
That night, Kim heard some of the most feared words in her young life.
"Kimberly Anne, you have some explaining to do."
Kim Possible winced; she hated it when her parents used her middle name like that. Not like she wasn't already intimidated enough, confronted by both her mother and her father with their arms crossed and frowns on their faces; the Middle Name Factor made her feel all of nine years old again instead of her actual eighteen.
"Well, missy?" Dr. James Possible asked.
How can I even begin? Kim wondered with not a little amount of despair. "Look…Mom, Dad, I…I had to."
"You had to what?" Anne pried.
"I had to…bring…" God, the frowns aren't moving. This is so frustrating! Why can't they just let it be?
They made no response, instead continuing their parental double-teaming. The guilt Kim felt over Shego's injury only added to her mounting frustration, until she finally couldn't keep it in.
"I had to bring Shego home with me, okay?" she vented. Her hands involuntarily clutched into fists. "Look, it's my fault she ended up there, and it's up to me to make it right. To do that, I have to keep an eye on her until she gets better. Since I'm still here, it made sense to bring Shego here. Why, did I do something wrong?Does it not make enough sense?"
She felt her stomach contract almost painfully when her snippy response caused her parents to only intensify their frowns. Great…so not what I wanted to do. Before they could say anything, and with the feeling of tears prickling her eyes, she said, "I…I'm sorry…it's just…" She closed her eyes before the tears could spill out, her head bowing down to match.
The feeling of a hand on each shoulder made her look up at her parents. Both were still distinctly unhappy-looking, but neither had the frown they were sporting just a second ago. "Kim, I know you're under a lot of stress right now," her mother said gently, "and I know you feel responsible for what happened—and rightly so—but you do still live here with your parents. We would have appreciated some warning, or even asking for permission."
Kim made a noise halfway between a laugh and a sob; she felt her shoulders shake heavily just once. "But it's Shego…you wouldn't have said yes."
She felt each hand tighten on her shoulders, but it wasn't painful. It was…supportive. It felt nice. "Of course we would have," her father said warmly, comfortingly. "Kim, she's been here before. You know that. She's also recovering from being in the hospital. That would make it doubly yes. We aren't concerned about her being here; we're concerned that you took the liberty without at least informing us. We do live here, too. We like to know what's going on in our own house."
When Kim nodded, her parents drew her into a hug, and she sniffed once as she returned the gesture. A minute later they released her, with her father moving his hand from shoulder to head and messing up her hair. Kim squawked and ducked away from the offending limb while trying to smooth her hair back down; her parents chuckled.
"Go get her settled in, Kimmie," Anne said, ushering her daughter off. Kim was relieved to hear the nickname again, and, after drying her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, headed up to her room to do just that.
When she was out of earshot, her parents looked at each other worriedly. "Kimmie seems to be taking this harder than usual," James said quietly, turning his gaze back towards the stairs to her bedroom. "Is she going to be okay?"
"I don't know," Anne replied, sliding her arms around her husband's waist and laying her head on his shoulder. "I'm worried, too…these last couple of days have really been bad for her. I should have told her to ease away from that second mission."
James chuckled. "You know she would have found a way to go, regardless. Still, I think this will help, in the long run."
"…How?"
"Control, I guess, if what you told me is accurate." Indeed, Anne had called James while he was at the Space Center, informing him that both she and Kim would be at the hospital for a while because of a "certain patient's" quickly-healed serious injury. "Kim has to know just what she's capable of, if she lets herself fly off the handle like that. And she has to learn how to deal with the consequences."
Anne looked up at him, smiling faintly. "When did you get so smart?"
He buffed his fingernails on her back, smirking a bit. "This old guy's a rocket scientist, remember," he said playfully. "I do have a few things working up in this ol' noggin."
Reminded once again why she loved her husband so dearly, Anne snuggled closer. "I still hope they both come out of this okay."
"Relax, hon. Anything is possible for a Possible."
--
Meanwhile, upstairs, Kim was splashing a bit of cold water on her face in the bathroom to help wash away evidence of her emotional encounter. She looked in the mirror and blinked, a bit shocked at what she saw.
Her hair was a mess, still mussed from her dad and his antics earlier and generally looking worse than it did after a particularly windy skydive. She had thick, dark circles under her eyes from a few days of troubled sleep; she wasn't exactly lacking in rest, just peaceful rest. Her eyes themselves looked dull. She looked…haggard overall, and it didn't sit well with the normally cheerful girl. Then again, with the way the last few days had gone, she wasn't too surprised with how ragged she felt.
Sighing, she dried her face, grabbed Shego's catsuit from the dryer in the laundry room next door, and went into her room, only to be greeted by a…fairly unusual sight.
Shego was lying on her bed. That in itself wasn't so odd, but the pose…all curled up on one side, hands by her head, her knees almost touching her elbows, even clutching Kim's Pandaroo…
The teenager was only able to keep the "Aww!" in by sheer, titanic force of will.
--
Shego's eyes tracked Kim as she entered the room through the hole in the floor, but she made no move to get up from the bed. Everything about the piece of furniture positively screamed "Comfort!" Shego was of no mind to disagree.
When Kim had left a little while ago after escorting Shego up to the loft, then hearing the distinct noise of people arriving downstairs and leaving to greet them, the green woman had taken the opportunity to explore. Hey, she was naturally curious. The room was safely cut off from the rest of the house by means of the staircase leading up to its only trap door, and only the windows afforded any other chance to get in…or escape.
She had blinked. Why am I thinking about trying to get away? She quashed the question before it led to any others; too many were popping up in her head for her to deal with at the moment. She'd been getting too frustrated by them; little bits of knowledge that she knew she knew, but they steadfastly avoided coming to the front of her mind to be recognized. Getting angry at it wouldn't solve anything, she knew, even though it still felt like the best course of action. Even that pins-and-needles feeling had returned to her hands at one point before she forced herself to just…stop thinking.
Continuing in her exploration had yielded a closet almost bursting at the seams with trendy, stylish clothing on one side and what looked like everyday apparel on the other. The shadows suggested the closet was deeper than that, though, so she'd pushed on through the clothes…
…only to stop suddenly at the sight of a white bodysuit with blue trimmings pinned up against the back wall. She hadn't known why; the jolt of nervousness sweeping through her was similarly inexplicable, but something had told her that the suit wasn't something to be trifled with. Looking away from it, she'd spotted several pairs of neatly-folded drab green cargo pants and equally well-folded black tops in a pile to the left, with similarly sized piles of purple and black clothing on the right. Four pairs of hiking boots occupied the floor space between.
The sight of the clothing had inspired a feeling of familiarity and excitement that quickly chased the nervousness away. Once again Shego had found herself unable to explain where they'd come from, once again she'd gotten frustrated, and once again she forced herself to just…shut it all out in an effort to make the discomfort in her hands go away.
That had led her back to the bed, reasoning that if she stopped looking her head would stop bothering her. She'd laid on it carelessly until a lump under one shoulder convinced her to reach under the covers…finding a small stuffed mutant that was well-worn with age and use.
And it smelled. Strongly. Of Kim.
Shego'd sighed and rolled onto her side, staring at the stuffed toy, wondering at its ability to keep her so calm.
That was when Kim poked her head through the floor.
Shego watched as Kim finished entering the room. The redhead had quite visibly blushed when she first looked in and locked eyes with Shego, and the pale woman felt a smirk tugging at her lips. Watching the girl move was something of a treat for Shego, because she was so smooth and sure in her movements that Shego was sure—
—Kim flipped away, her cheerleading uniform staying pasted to her curves as she dodged a glowing projectile and a similarly glowing hand swipe, a whirl of purple and gold that righted itself on a counter before leaping backward, tucking into a reverse flip in midair—
Shego gasped.
Kim was at her side in an instant. "What happened? Are you okay? Do you hurt?" She looked to be about two seconds away from trying to do a complete physical examination.
Blinking the mental image…the memory…away, Shego slowly looked over to Kim's eyes. "You're a…cheerleader?"
--
"You're a…cheerleader?"
Shego's words made Kim's heart seize in her throat. Did she really just—
The wondering look in Shego's eyes faded to an all-too-familiar smirk as Kim gaped. The teen simply stared, too stunned at the question. Either Shego had found something, or…or…
…or her memory is starting to come back!
That last thought jolted Kim out of her stupor, and she blinked down at the injured thief. "What makes you ask that?" she asked carefully.
Shego raised an eyebrow at her, the smirk staying in place. Kim turned to look behind her just in case…and let out a disappointed sigh as she saw one of her several trophies for the activity sitting on a shelf across the room from the bed. She stood back up, suddenly weary again.
Shego's next words stopped her cold.
"I remembered."
Kim whirled around again. "Really?" she whispered.
Shego nodded casually, rolling onto her back and stretching out…still holding on to the Pandaroo.
Kim had to turn away again, a blush creeping onto her face. She didn't consider herself a prude, but it was still embarrassing…between Shego holding Kim's favorite Cuddle Buddy so possessively, and the open sweatshirt giving a free view of all that pale, greenish skin...
Shego blushed herself when she noticed what happened, relaxing and pulling the sweatshirt closed before offering a muttered "…Sorry," by way of apology.
Kim half-smiled; it was nice actually hearing an apology from the woman, even over something this small. She turned back, the blush still on her face. "I'm going to get you some clothes for tonight, but I think tomorrow we have to get something for you to wear. You can't fit into my underwear. Well, my bras, at least."
Shego, her own blush having faded, cast a leering eye at Kim's chest. "I'll say," she confirmed, laughing when Kim blushed even harder and crossed her arms over her chest.
God, she doesn't even know who she is and she still gets under my skin. Still, she couldn't help but grin a little at Shego's mirth…and at the fact that something, no matter how trivial, had broken through whatever was holding her memories back.
A minute later she deposited a small pile on the foot of the bed. "You change; I'm gonna set myself a spot on the floor."
Shego stopped in the middle of reaching for the clothing. "Why the floor?"
"You need the bed, Shego." Left unsaid was Kim's vow to not let the injured woman out of her sight. She returned to rummage in a corner well-stocked with stuff.
"And? It's big."
This time Kim didn't freeze; she over-corrected while reaching in the pile for a blanket and ended up falling on her side with a heavy thump.
Shego lowered herself onto her stomach and looked over at the prone hero. "You okay? What's the matter, forget how to stand?"
Kim wasn't able to respond, though, her mind having practically shorted out over Shego's implicit offer. It wasn't embarrassment so much as shock over Why's she want me in the bed? She's my enemy, even if I did almost kill her! Even if she doesn't remember…
"Kimmie?"
Shego's voice snapped Kim out of it. "Uh…no, don't worry about it," she protested, her voice shaky. "I, uh…I move around a lot and I'd probably kick you out by accident or something."
"Mmhmm," the other woman responded. "C'mon. It'll be fine, I promise. I don't bite. Or do I? I don't remember…"
Staring at Shego like she'd grown a third head—this sitch went way beyond only two heads—Kim belatedly realized the thief wasn't being serious about her last sentence. "Not that I remember," Kim supplied for her; she was too thrown by the weirdness to be anything but honest.
"Not that you remember, huh? And why would you know?" This time there was absolutely no mistaking the sly grin crossing her lips.
Fighting to control the rapidly rising blush, the redhead studiously ignored Shego's chuckles as she finished dragging her blankets and spare pillow to the floor next to the bed. "I'll be right next to the bed if you need anything," she told her firmly, quieting Shego's chuckles. "I'm going to change and be right back."
"I'm not goin' anywhere," Shego drawled. True to her word, she was right there when Kim came back, though she'd changed as well into the oversized T-shirt and other garments Kim had provided. Kim had to admit that the dressed-down villainess looked absurdly cute in pajamas like that, and her next impulse was irresistible:
She walked up and tweaked Shego's nose.
When she caught up to what she was doing, she squeaked and practically flew across the room to the trap door, disappearing down through it with a hurried "Go to sleep gotta brush teeth morning say night to mom and dad!"
The dark-haired woman blinked in some shock; the little act hadn't brought up any familiar feelings at all, which meant that was something buried with the rest of her memories…or no one had done that to her in a very, very long time.
But if we were…before…she should have, right? Not wanting to aggravate herself this late at night, Shego put as many thoughts out of her mind as she could and slid under the bed's covers.
--
Kim calmed her racing heart as she brushed her teeth. It was the perfect time for some internal monologue.
What the hell was I thinking? I…I just beeped Shego's nose! What the hell what the hell what the hell what the hell what the hell? I mean, she did look kinda cute, in the kiddie way, in my clothes, but still…what the hell? Gah, I don't know if I can deal with this. I hope she behaves herself tonight…I don't want to have to, I dunno, tie her down or something, but if she keeps on being so silly…
Silly…
The word struck her almost like the cold water she used to rinse out the toothpaste. It was the exact word Shego had used during her Miss Go tenure…except back then she'd had her personality altered by a device. She still had basic Shego inside, just switched her polarity to good from evil.
A device…affecting her mind…
Almost choking on the water, Kim's mind whirled as quickly as she did, racing downstairs to her parents to bid them goodnight—and threaten the Tweebs, her younger twin brothers, with certain bodily harm if they so much as peeked into her room overnight—before taking the steps three at a time back to her room.
She stopped short as she closed the trap door again, watching as Shego lifted the covers invitingly. "Coming?"
Kim shook her head quickly. "Not right now," she said distractedly. She held on to her idea, searching for a pen and paper. Finding the items she scribbled a note to herself before setting it down with a sigh of relief.
Shego watched her finish. "Why not?"
"Huh? Oh…no…" It took a second for Kim to remember what Shego was talking about, but she still shook her head, slipping into the makeshift bed on the ground. "G'night, Shego," she said idly, her mind on other things…like who she could ask about building some device to pull Shego's memories to the forefront of her mind and cure her amnesia.
"Night," the villainess called back.
Resolving to start looking up people who owed her favors tomorrow, Kim turned on her side and closed her eyes. The exhaustion and trauma of the last couple of days caught up fairly quickly, and she fell into a deep, thankfully dreamless, sleep.
--
Movement of the bed sheets and some subtle jostling woke Kim in the middle of the night; groggily she opened an eye and turned her head.
Shego had climbed in under the covers with her, joining Kim on the floor; the thief's eyes were still closed, though she'd managed to get out of bed, climb in with Kim, and put an arm under the redhead's waist from behind.
Kim was too tired to do anything about it. Telling herself she'd fix it in the morning, she turned forward again and went back to sleep.
Behind her, Shego smiled.
--
Doctor Anne Possible was a brain surgeon by profession, and a damned good one, at that. She was accustomed to mysteries and complexities, what with her field of work and all, and could take for granted that there were some times that the brain—indeed, the human body in general—looked completely broken but operated totally normally. Surprise was a quickly-surmounted obstacle for her; having patients come in with a ten-inch hunting knife driven into their heads, right between the halves of the brain, and yet being awake, lucid, and even conversational would do that to anyone.
Still, there were times that even she could be surprised by what she saw.
Like right now.
She'd awoken at her usual weekday time, intending to start a pot of coffee, but had gone to check on Kim and her erstwhile patient. Making sure to keep a light tread on the stairs lest she wake them prematurely, she'd gently poked her head through the trapdoor…and froze.
Kim was on the floor, facing the door, just sleeping away. That, in itself, was not so unusual, chiefly because of old sleepover habits. What was unusual was she wasn't alone there; a second head, this one crowned by a mess of black hair, rested its chin in the crook of Kim's neck, and a pale green arm was flung over Kim's waist outside the bedding.
And Kim was smiling.
Almost a full minute after she first opened the door, Anne slowly backed her way down the stairs, letting the door shut with almost no noise. She padded back into the kitchen and thanked her body's muscle memory profusely as she got the coffee ready without a hitch; her mind was otherwise occupied.
They were sleeping together!
She refused to think on that any further until she had the first cup of the morning fog-banishing liquid in her hands. Taking a seat at the kitchen table, she sipped from her cup, staring at the table top as though it would provide the answers she sought.
Okay, Annie, think rationally about this one. First, they're enemies. Have been for years. Second, until a few months ago, Kim was dating Ron, and happily so. She'd crushed on guys before that. No sign that she's even attracted to girls. Third, Kim put her into the hospital a few days ago. While she was upset about it, that's not something that someone would do to their lover. At least, not on purpose…and from what Kimmie-cub told me, she most definitely did it on purpose.
And yet...Kim was smiling. The bed looked unmade, so someone obviously got out of it to join the other on the floor. But who got out of bed, and why? And why didn't Kim separate them again?
Anne continued back and forth in her mind for some time; each time she reasserted the reasons why the two girls upstairs shouldn't even be in the same room, let alone the same "bed," the fact of Kim's expression would jump right back to the front of the argument. She was probably ninety percent sure that Kim was straight as an arrow…but given this morning, that ten percent was starting to worry her—not because she would find it discomfiting, but because of Kim's own self-image. As much as Kim's heroing work meant to her, and in spite of (or maybe because of) having two doctorates for parents—and younger twin brothers who were probably well on their own way to the same—Anne knew Kim took great pains to appear as "normal" as possible in her social life. That had been probably the cruelest aspect of high school…but now that that particular part of life was over, Anne had hope that Kim would allow herself a chance to appear as what was normal for her.
If that meant her daughter was gay…then so be it. More power to her, I say. Still, she sighed into her cup; something told her it wouldn't be that simple. It might even be Kim herself.
Before she could ruminate any further, her husband came into the kitchen already dressed for his day. "Morning, Sunshine," he said in his perennially cheerful way, stooping to kiss his wife on the cheek on his way to the coffee pot. He didn't need the caffeine; he just liked how it tasted.
Belatedly he noticed Anne's thoughtful, almost pensive expression. His own brow creased as he watched her stare at the table. His own cup forgotten, James crossed the room and put his hand on her back. "What's the matter, hon?"
"Birds," Anne said distractedly. She blinked slowly as she looked up at him.
"Birds?" he echoed. Surely she wasn't so confused by the animals…
"…You know, like the birds and the bees?" When he nodded, she continued, "I think we may have to revise that to the birds and the birds…"
Incomprehension ruled his features until she sighed again and pointed a thumb at the stairs leading to Kim's loft. The confusion turned to surprised realization as he picked up on what she was talking about. "Kimmie-cub? You think?"
"I don't know, James." She leaned her head against his solid warmth as he moved his arm across her shoulders protectively. "I just don't know."
--
It was only a short while later that Kim stirred. She was almost disappointed at having awakened, given the early morning chill in the mid-autumn weather and how pleasantly warm and comfortable her floor-bed was. Why, it was almost like the blankets had completely molded against her, keeping her secure and safe and heated and content and…
The ticklish feeling of moving air on her neck made her turn, and her sleepy mind registered Shego's presence after a few seconds of staring at the thief's face.
That cleared some of the cobwebs from Kim's brain quite quickly, and she almost cried out as she extricated herself fairly violently from both Shego's grip and the blankets. She stood over her door, panting as the short adrenaline shock wore off. Shego, disturbed by the sudden movement, opened her own eyes slowly. A hint of recognition passed through them, and she smiled lazily. "Morning, Kimmie," she greeted the redhead.
It was a few moments more before words came to Kim. "Shego!" she hissed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Of course, it was only right after she said that that the memory of Shego's entry in the middle of the night popped up.
"Being comfy," the green woman answered honestly.
"But this is the floor," Kim protested. It was obvious that, in spite of the shock, she still wasn't completely coherent.
"And? It had you, and you looked like you were enjoying yourself."
"It had me"?! What the hell? "What do you mean, 'It had me'?"
"Me: bed. Big, empty, kinda cold. You: floor, bedding, and two is always more body heat than one. Since you wouldn't come up…" Shego figured the conclusion was obvious.
"But…if that's…Shego, I thought you were straight!"
"Am I?" The ebony-haired woman pushed herself to a sitting position in the bedding.
"Aren't you?"
"Don't remember, Pumpkin." She tapped the side of her head. "And damn if it isn't still frustrating."
"You don't reme—what?"
Now it was Shego's turn to be confused. "What, what?"
"You just called me Pumpkin…" Kim's voice was hopeful, almost breathless. She'd gone from confused to excited in about two seconds flat, and it kind of unnerved Shego.
"Did I?"
"Yeah…" Kim dropped to her knees before lunging forward, throwing her arms around Shego's neck and squeezing.
Stunned at first, Shego slowly returned the show of affection, hugging Kim to herself. Mission: Get In Bed accomplished, she thought. Now…why was it so important to me?
A light sniffle broke Shego out of her thoughts in time to allow Kim to pull away and wipe a tear out of the corner of each eye. "Sorry…" she whispered, before clearing her throat. "You used to call me that almost all the time. I just got excited."
"If I get that kind of reaction every time, I'm gonna try harder at this remembering thing," Shego returned with a smirk. She was rewarded by Kim blushing again, but the smaller girl looked away sadly after a moment.
"…We should get downstairs, let Mom and Dad know we're awake," she said finally. Shego wondered what the sudden melancholy mood was for, but didn't get a chance to ask before Kim stood up and exited the room. Shrugging, Shego picked up the pajama pants she'd discarded during the night and slid into them before following Kim down, wondering just how much Kim might have enjoyed it if she'd known Shego hadn't had them on.
--
By the time they arrived downstairs, Kim was all smiles again; Shego's desire to remember more—and thus, remember their old animosity—paled beside the fact that she actually had remembered something—namely, one of her old nicknames for Kim. The more she thought on it, the more she realized it could have been a fluke (how difficult could it be to come up with that nickname, given the color of Kim's hair?), but it didn't matter. For the moment, she was happy for even the smallest perceived bit of recovery. Shego excused herself to use the restroom, and Kim stepped into the kitchen and waved a greeting to her parents, a small, satisfied smile on her face.
Anne noticed the smile first, and she paled a bit as she thought, They couldn't have…could they? "…Morning, Kimmie," she said as calmly as she could. "Why the smile?"
"She remembered my nickname," Kim said, almost dreamily.
Relief flooded Anne, and she felt somewhat guilty for it…but, she admitted to herself, honestly, she wasn't ready for that kind of reality quite yet. "That's good," she said encouragingly. "Anything else yet?"
"She remembered that I was a cheerleader," Kim said after a moment, taking that time to think over the night previous. "I think that's it—at least, that's all that she told me."
Anne smiled reassuringly at her daughter. "Well, I don't think I need to tell you that in cases of amnesia, anything is better than nothing."
Kim nodded. "Yeah…I can't help but worry that she's going to remember us fighting or something next…and then what? What do I tell her?"
Anne's expression grew serious. "That is your decision, Kimmie, since you are so bent on taking responsibility for this—a fact which makes me both proud and worried. If and when that time comes, you'll have to choose what to tell her—the truth, which would be best, or a…modified version if you feel the truth would be dangerous to her." She didn't enjoy telling her child to think of a little white lie, just in case...but amnesia patients were fragile during their recovery, and Anne didn't want to risk adding any damage to what was already there.
"How do I know which to choose?" Kim almost pleaded.
"You may just have to think…were your positions reversed, what do you think she would do for you?"
Kim was saved from having to answer right away by Shego herself entering the kitchen. She waved a greeting to Anne. "Morning, Doc."
"Good morning," Kim's mother replied courteously. "How're you feeling this morning?"
There was a…knowing tone in her mother's voice that made Kim glance at her curiously; Anne, however, was watching Shego, and paid Kim no mind.
"Great," Shego answered honestly. "If you don't count the frustration factor."
"I'm told that's normal for amnesia. Just take things slowly. Kimmie told me you remembered her cheerleading last night."
"Yeah," Shego agreed, sliding into the booth seat across from Anne while Kim stood next to her. Part of Anne's mind registered the distance—or lack thereof—between the two, but she saved the fact for later.
"It was weird," Shego went on. "I was thinking about something, and then whoosh—I had like a four-second snippet of something else. It looked like Kim showing off in a fast-food place." She looked up at the girl. "Do you always backflip off of serving counters?"
Kim blinked. But…that was like the first or second time we fought…does she not remember being the one fighting me? "No," she answered slowly. "Just that once. It was a mission thing."
"Mission thing? What's that mean?"
"It's a long story," Kim said evasively. She felt bad about not answering, but she didn't want the reality of her missions to ruin the fragile peace that existed between them at the moment. Maybe when we're not at home…I can tell her later.
Shego could tell Kim was hiding her real answer—again, with the infuriating question of how she could tell—but she put it aside for now. Seeing Kim clam up in thought, she turned back to the girl's parents, focusing on the father. "So, are you a doctor too?"
James took a second to answer; he looked like he was trying to decide if she were playing him or not. "Yes, I am," he said finally. "I'm just not a medical doctor like Anne is." The pride in his voice was evident as he patted his wife's elbow, and she smiled at him. "I work at the Space Center a few miles north of here."
"Ah. So for you, everything is rocket science."
"You betcha," he answered, smiling. Apparently his doubts were just…gone. "Matter of fact, we've got a launch scheduled for about a week from now. Which reminds me," he continued suddenly, looking at his watch. "I'd better scoot now before Ray adds another zero to my numbers." He rose, kissed Anne on the cheek, and was out the door in under ten seconds.
"Bye, Dad," Kim called dryly. The other two chuckled.
A faint "Bye, Kimmie-Cub!" could be heard as James' station wagon rolled down the driveway.
"So, what are you two to up to today?" Anne asked a moment later.
"Well…" Kim began. "Shego can stay for a while, right?" When her mother nodded, she continued, "So I was going to take her shopping for some extra clothes…she doesn't have anything more than what she left the hospital with, and she won't fit in most of my own clothes. Her…it's…she's just…bigger than me."
The way she had her arms folded under her breasts and her head turned to one side, blushing, told both Shego and Anne exactly what Kim meant. Shego smirked as she slid over in the booth to put an arm around Kim's waist and pulled her close.
"Hey, some of us got it, and some don't, and that's okay," she said, the smirk turning into a full-blown sly grin as Kim didn't resist…though her blush did intensify at the contact, and she did tense up.
Anne cleared her throat, and both girls looked back at her, though Shego didn't release her hold on Kim. "That sounds like a good idea, Kim," she said, making note that neither girl protested the contact. Then again, Kim didn't relax, either. "Just make sure to be home before eight; your brothers will be coming home then, and I'd rather they didn't blow up the house. Again."
Kim nodded. "We'll be here."
--
Shopping with an amnesiac Shego, Kim found, was every bit as fun as shopping with a mind-altered Shego had been…in a different way.
Whereas Miss Go, Shego's too-nice alter ego, had simply treated the Middleton Mall like a place of wonderment, her almost childlike excitement making the time pass quickly, Shego as herself was cynically, sarcastically entertaining. Quietly disparaging remarks were the order of the day, especially when they walked by some of the more…eclectic storefronts. More than once Kim couldn't help but giggle at the comments Shego made, in spite of the fact that Shego herself essentially didn't let Kim free from her grip. At all.
The day passed quickly. Even as Kim found herself having fun, though, it was still tinged with a feeling of melancholy. She'd taken pains during the day to put herself in situations that might have provoked some familiar teasing—in one accessory store she'd even put a tiara on her head for a moment, but Shego had simply shaken her head. Kim had been hoping it might trigger something, even if it was only the other common nickname Shego had for her, but the word "Princess" failed to cross Shego's lips.
Still, the day wasn't a total waste. Without the effects of a mind-control device, Shego was free to act as herself, and Kim could easily spot the hints of her usual personality. However, without the memories, there was also not the burden of their opposite histories between them. It was a…confusing dichotomy for the teen hero, made all the more so by Shego's apparent decision that they were bosom buddies—at the very least. Sometimes her more suggestive or personal remarks made Kim think that the green woman possibly considered them more than that.
Kim was of two minds on the issue. Part of her screamed out the wrongsickness of it all—Shego was, after all, Kim's enemy. Guilty feelings or no, fraternizing with the enemy was madness.
On the other hand, her guilty conscience was telling her to suck it up and bear with it until Shego got her head back. That included playing along with anything Shego considered "normal" until then—including pretending to be the woman's best friend. Or more…can I do that? Can I act like…like a…like a girlfriend? To another girl?
The facts that she hadn't run screaming, or shoved Shego's hands away, or told her off…those facts suggested that yes, indeed she could. And it weirded her out a little.
Her internal debate came to a screeching halt when the two shoppers entered the food court and ran into two people Kim was completely not expecting to see: Ron, and her best gal pal Monique Dawkins.
To say that Kim's friends were a bit shocked at the sight would be an understatement. Here was their best friend with her absolute nemesis clinging possessively to her waist while, stranger still, Kim looked torn between returning the gesture and looking uncomfortable.
Monique thought fast. She had to get the story behind this one, because the whole setup was even weirder than when the green woman had been their teacher for a week. As the two approached, she stood up and waved them closer.
As soon as they entered conversation range Monique shouted, "Kim! GF, I am so glad to see you! Naco Boy here ain't finished with his lunch and I need to run to the little girls' room. You, girl, are coming with." She emphasized her point by clamping on to Kim's free arm.
Confused, Kim only nodded. As Monique dragged her off she turned to the equally startled Shego and said, "Be nice to Ron!" And then they were out of hearing range, Kim stumbling along behind her determined friend as they banged through the restroom door.
Monique released Kim's arm from her iron grip, folded her own arms across her chest, and fixed Kim with her best Look. "Okay, Kim. Spill."
"What do you mean?"
"Uh-uh." The African-American girl waved a finger at Kim. "Don't you be givin' me the ignorant thing. What's with you and Green Girl?"
"Shego?" Kim swallowed. "She…I…uh…" Try as she might, though, Kim couldn't get the words out.
Monique watched her friend become increasingly agitated. "Okay, Kim. Keep it simple. Why's she hangin' on you like an affectionate barnacle?"
"I…I don't know, Mo," Kim answered, wringing her hands. "I think she thinks we're a…a couple or something."
"Mmhmm. And why would she do that when a week ago you were tryin' to kill each other like normal?"
Kim winced at the end of the phrase, something which gave Monique pause.
"Almost…"
"What, Kim?" Monique leaned in closer.
"I almost did." Kim's troubled green eyes shone with gathering tears. "I almost killed her, Mo! Again!"
Monique, of the opinion that she clearly hadn't heard correctly, waved her hands in a "rewind" motion. "Whoah, there, GF. Exactly how did you almost do this? And twice, no less?"
Kim marched over to a paper towel dispenser, grabbed a sheet, and blew her nose. Returning to in front of her friend, she spoke in low tones. "The first was back in high school—the whole Li'l Diablos thing." Monique's nod spurred her on. "Then a few days ago we were fighting, and she teased me about me an' Ron, and I overreacted and threw her across the room and her head—oh, God, Mo, her head!"
Monique hurried to comfort her friend, who looked like she was making a herculean effort to not break down…and mostly succeeding. After a few moments of sniffling and wiping her eyes, Kim continued.
"She hit the edge of a bench, Mo, and it almost broke her neck. Instead it cracked her head open…and now she can't remember anything."
Monique stepped back, holding Kim at arm's length. "She's got amnesia?" she clarified, and Kim nodded. "Well, that's better than dead, right?" Again, Kim nodded, getting herself back under control.
"She…she's remembered some things," the hero sniffed, "but I think she's remembering them the wrong way. Like she remembered me being a cheerleader, and one of the nicknames she always used for me." Something very much like a fond smile graced Kim's lips for a moment. "I tried to get her to remember the other one earlier today, but it didn't work so well."
The black beauty narrowed her eyes. "Nicknames? Were you two going out before all this, anyway?"
"What?!" Kim's indignant squawk almost made Monique crack up laughing; she still couldn't help but smile.
"Chill, GF. I was kidding. Still, though…why is she so attached to you know?"
"Like I said, I think she's remembering them wrong."
Monique thought for a moment. "Is she remembering wrong, or just not remembering everything?"
"What do you mean?" Kim's confusion was evident.
"Think of it this way: if you were in her shoes…and you remembered your encounters except for fighting…what would you think?" Monique watched expectantly as Kim thought it through.
And think it through Kim did. Monique had a point; if she had only a snippet of her and Shego's past encounters to rely on, and none of them had to do with fighting each other…
The rising blush on Kim's already-ruddy cheeks told Monique she'd hit the mark. "You see what I'm sayin' now? If you two weren't tryin' to beat the hell out of each other, you could forgive people for thinkin' you two were an item. And that's probably what Shego's doin'."
With a sigh, Kim nodded.
"So what are you gonna do about it?"
"Huh?" Kim said again.
"What. Are you. Going to do. About Shego. Acting like your SO?" She had to make sure to break it down in chunks Kim could comprehend.
The blush returned to Kim's face, but the steely Possible determination returned to her eyes, as well, and for the first time in a few days Kim felt…confident.
"I'm going along with it," she said evenly. "At least, until Shego remembers everything."
Monique eyed her sideways. "…You sure about that, girl?"
"Surer than I have been since I did this to her."
"And how long will you keep it up? How far will you go?"
"Until she remembers everything," Kim repeated. "And we'll figure it out from there. It may go back to normal between us, it may not. We'll see."
"And if that includes one of you walking down the aisle to the other on your wedding day?"
That was a mental image Kim was less than prepared for, and she swallowed again at the thought. Could she withstand marrying Shego, if this current sitch called for it? Could she, in good conscience, basically sequester herself with her enemy for the rest of her life?
Could Kim Possible, hero, stomach the idea of essentially partnering herself at every intimate level with Shego, villain, and her archnemesis?
Whether I can or not right now doesn't matter. This is something I have to do.
"Then I guess you'd better make room for another 'GF,' Mo," Kim said in utter seriousness.
Monique turned back to face her head-on. She searched her best female friend's eyes but could only see the kind of iron will that Kim had exhibited in the past…and the redhead's natural stubbornness wasn't something to take lightly.
She sighed. "You're sure about this, Kim." It wasn't a question.
"I almost killed her, Mo. And for now I've certainly ruined her life. It's the least I can do. The least I need to do."
"Then it sounds like you're sure." She laid a hand on Kim's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Look, girl; you know you're my BFGF and we're tight and all that, so believe me when I tell you that this is really weird, even for you. But, I'm gonna stay behind you a hundred percent on this one. I think you're way over-obsessing and stressing yourself out over this colossal guilt trip you laid on yourself, but I can see why you did it. And as your friend I will stick by you through this."
Kim smiled gently. "Even if I ask you to be maid of honor?"
That earned a chuckle from her dark-skinned friend. "Even if you ask me to be the maid of honor. Girl, if you don't, I'm gonna tan your ass so hard you'll look like me by the end of the day."
Kim giggled, then pulled Monique into a hug. "Thank you so much for understanding, Mo. You're the best."
"I know," she answered, patting Kim's back. "Now wash your face and let's think up something for when we get back out so it doesn't look like you cried."
Once back out in the food court proper, the two friends rejoined their respective shopping mates. Astonishingly, it looked like the two had actually been civil to each other…but as Ron blurted out as they arrived, it was mostly because they'd spent the last several minutes basically pretending the other didn't exist.
Kim raised an eyebrow at Shego, who shrugged noncommittally in return. "I was a bit creeped out by his little pink thing," she replied, then raised an eyebrow in return as Kim blushed heavily before bursting out laughing. Hmm. She's got a nice laugh…
"Sorry, sorry," Kim said after calming down. "That's Rufus, Ron's naked mole rat."
"Uh huh." Shego eyed the rodent with something approaching disgust.
Any further conversation was interrupted by Kim's pocket ringing. She sighed as she pulled out her old Kimmunicator, its distinctive four-note, two-tone theme repeating itself endlessly until she stabbed the respond button. She never noticed Shego's subtle twitching every time the theme played. "Go, Wade," she said morosely.
"Got a hit on the site, Kim," the boy genius announced through the device, the telltale clacking noise indicating he was bringing information to bear for her. "There's a break-in reported at a high-energy physics lab in Indiana; right now they're not sure what might be missing, but it's only a matter of time. The attacker used all kinds of force to get in there. Sounds like Drakken or Dementor to me. I can get you th—"
"No."
The word was soft, but it stopped everyone cold.
Kim was standing with her head bowed, staring at the tops of her shoes as she clearly grappled with a decision.
"What?" Wade's voice brought them back to reality. "Kim, they asked for you. Just wait there, I'll get you a ride—"
"I said no," she interrupted again.
"Kim…Global Justice has already said they can't dispatch any agents to the area." Wade's voice sounded confused. Kim couldn't tell; she wasn't looking at the device.
She was looking at Shego.
"I don't care," she answered. "These emergencies happened before I started helping, and they'll keep happening after I'm done. Let the police handle it for a change."
"But Kim--!"
"I said no!" she snarled, finally glaring at the Kimmunicator; then, ashamed of her reaction, she went back to looking at the floor.
Wade decided to try one last time. "Come on, Kim. They asked for your help. Are you going to run away from that?"
"I can't risk it," she retorted, her voice small once more.
"Can't risk what?"
"I can't risk hurting anyone else like that. I won't risk it. And I know you know what I mean." With that, she shut off the little blue box.
The other three stared at her, wide-eyed—except for Shego, who simply stared levelly at her.
"Kim, are you sure about that?" Ron asked. He was aware that the sitch wasn't exactly normal right now, but to have Kim turn down a mission that violently? It was more than he was expecting.
"Absolutely sure," she replied. Then, having a sudden inspiration strike, she tossed the Kimmunicator at him, and he caught it easily. "Why don't you go take care of it?"
He looked at the device, then back at Kim…and then he nodded, turning to Monique. "You wanna tag along?" he asked.
With a quick glance at her friend, Monique turned back to Ron and nodded. "I think it'd be best if I did," she answered. "C'mon, Monkey Boy." Waving at Kim, the two departed, and Kim could hear the chatter as Ron got back in contact with Wade.
She started when another hand landed on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Shego now standing behind her, eyebrows raised.
"Want to go home, Pumpkin?" she asked, her voice tinged with concern.
"Sure," Kim replied quietly, hefting the bags they'd already managed to collect.
--
The ride home was mostly silent, as was the house when the two entered. Kim announced her intention to take a nap, and Shego insisted on throwing their new purchases in the laundry. By the time the amnesiac thief returned to the front room of the house, Kim was already laid out on the reddish couch with her eyes closed. Shego half-smiled and moved the teen's feet so she could sit there, too, moving them back to her lap once she was situated. She looked over at Kim and smiled a bit, impressed at the iron will the younger girl had displayed back at the mall in spite of the prodding she'd undergone. "You're really something, you know that?" she murmured—
—"You think you're all that, Kim Possible, but you're not!"
The nasal, petulant whining somehow managed to cut through even the dull booming of an exploding building in the background; the voice's owner, a man whose skin was tinted a light blue, was suspended by the back of his laboratory jumpsuit on a nearby signpost, hanging thirty feet off the ground, while away from the explosions strode Kim herself—
The brief eruption of sounds and images in her head froze Shego's ability to think for a few seconds more after it finished, but she regained her senses before her sudden paralysis woke Kim from her nap. She knew the teen would've picked up on how spontaneously tense her muscles had become.
Just…how the hell do I know that I know that?
Again casting a look at the sleeper, Shego decided to take the opportunity to let her mind wander a bit and maybe dredge up some more of those random flashes. She leaned her head back on the couch and stared at the ceiling, not really seeing it as she considered all that had happened since she'd woken up.
That most recent…remembrance was actually slightly thrilling. For as much as it looked like something out of an action movie, the fact remained that Kim looked quite badass from that perspective…and since Shego figured it was a memory and not a daydream, that meant she'd been at the perfect angle to see the cheerleader stalking away from the blasts, the glow from the fires almost exactly matching the shade of Kim's hair, smudged soot marks on her face emphasizing the stern expression she wore…
A slight giggle escaped Shego as she felt herself get pleasantly tingly at her excitement over Kim in the mental picture.
The redhead cracked one eye open at the noise. "You okay there?"
"Go back to sleep, Kimmie."
Kim smiled briefly before closing her eye again.
Shego had to wonder at her good fortune. Whatever had caused her accident, she'd ended up in the care of someone bound and determined to shepherd her back to her usual self…and from what she'd remembered so far, there was definitely something between herself and Kim that had existed from before. Shego was pretty confident she was making strides back in that direction even now; after all, her first urge after waking up and remembering absolutely nothing, had been to gather Kim up in a hug and wipe the tears away.
Based on the couple of slivers of memory she'd gotten back already, too, Shego figured Kim wasn't of the crying type. It's not like she can…stalk away from a burning, exploding building, keeping a straight face, and then turn around and be all weepy, without there being something wrong with her…or if this, with me, was something major. Idly she began to stroke Kim's leg with her hand, the well-manicured nails dragging gently along the material of the hero's jeans.
Kim opened her eye again, catching Shego staring aimlessly at her foot while a small smile was on her face and her hand was on Kim's shin. She didn't appear to have seen the smaller girl wake.
Kim's chest was tight. The whole sitch was moving beyond the weird and into the sick and wrong. I don't even think I've ever seen her smile like that. And she's totally feeling up my leg!
In spite of her earlier words to Monique, Kim wasn't at all sure that going along with Shego was a good idea. The pale woman appeared to think that they were an item. While Kim wouldn't have minded having her as a friend—though the feeling had dampened a bit up to and including her last mission—what she saw now went so far beyond that it dinged right up against the top of the weirdness scale.
Closing her eye before Shego could see her awake again, Kim thought.
--
Later that night, the Kimmunicator rang its telltale chime again.
Kim and Shego were both in Kim's room again, changing for bed. Kim had insisted they at least change on opposite sides of the room, and it was thanks to that decision that Shego was actually closer to the device. She swept it up, thumbing the same button she'd seen Kim use earlier in the day. "Yo," she said simply.
"Hey Ki—uh." Wade was clearly running on automatic, for when he turned toward the screen in the middle of his usual greeting, he completely stumbled over his words.
"Kimmie's a little busy at the moment, so if you'd like to leave a message, too bad." She made to shut off the Kimmunicator, but Kim stopped her and snatched the device away, an amused look in her eyes even as she told the taller girl off.
"What now, Wade?" Kim asked as she brought it around in front of herself.
--
"What now, Wade?"
The young hacker extraordinaire swallowed nervously as he watched Kim's tired-looking face fill his main monitor. All around him, his electronic fortress produced enough light for him to see quite nicely, which was why his room always looked so dark; the overhead lights remained off, allowing for the harsher, more artificial light from the numerous monitors to illuminate the area.
It also conveniently hid the nervous sweat he knew dotted his forehead from one particular monitor, on which the stern, silent, eyepatched visage of one Doctor Elizabeth Director, J.D., watched the encounter between him and the teen hero. Wade didn't have to ask to know she was watching his performance...and that it would be his turn for some explaining if Kim failed to take another mission.
"Uh," he began, then coughed once, striving to look natural in spite of his quaking insides. "There was another mission that came up—humanitarian, this time," he said hastily. He watched Kim's face begin to darken as he spoke. "They contacted the site looking for any able-bodied volunteers to help evacuate a hospital…"
--
"…evacuate a hospital in a flood zone in southeast Asia. Waters are rising fast, it's monsoon season, all that. I've got a ride on the way—"
"No more," Kim growled at him.
"Kim, come on! They're desperate!" The near-panic in Wade's voice intrigued Shego, who crawled over the bed in her new nightie and dropped her chin on Kim's shoulder to watch, and was rewarded with Wade blinking repeatedly in apparent confusion.
Kim, though, apparently didn't hear that panic. "I said no more," she repeated, her voice deep. Shego could feel Kim shaking, whatever she was feeling causing her muscles to tense to an unhealthy degree.
"But—!"
"Wade!" Kim interrupted, this time only barely managing to restrain from shouting, "give it to Ron. For now, I'm done. I'm off. The team is his."
"But why?!"
"Because." She reached up her free hand and touched Shego's cheek. "I'm not yet finished with my last mission."
--
A/N: Oh, wow. I totally had no idea the last time I updated this was almost A YEAR AGO. Profound apologies to anyone who might still read this.
Mad props to Love Robin for, once again, being a veritable wellspring of awesome ideas.
