Your standard legal disclaimer thing: I don't own Kim Possible. I will remove this story off the net if they give me shit. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. You all know the drill by now.

Small Surprises, Big Consequences

Chapter 10: Anxiety

Ever since her unusual declaration of gratitude, Shego had returned to her silent composure, unwilling to say anything further on the matter and stubbornly rebuking any further attempts at conversation. Her gloved fingers clenched and unclenched unconsciously around the steering wheel over and over again making stretched leather noises. Kim took in all of this quietly not curious enough to find out what the pale villainess' reaction would be should the redhead see fit to draw attention towards the unusual behavior.

Kim simply sighed and leaned back, content to stare out the window and take in the scenery passing by around them. A repeating image of buildings, and towns flew past, blending in with the background until Kim wasn't seeing anything anymore; just a Technicolor blur intermingled with fuzzy shapes. Staring at such monotony for so long would normally have lulled her to sleep, but she was distracted from such leisure by other items of far greater interest.

For example, what was Shego's mother like? It was always better to have a game plan to play off of but Kim found herself lacking a great deal of what she considered need-to-know information. The heroine cast a quick look around towards her fellow passengers; Shego staring tensely at the road and Agni, hood pulled over her eyes and MP3 player blaring in her ears. Neither seemed willing to give Kim any information beyond the most basic.

However, considering all that Kim had heard, she expected a very strict domineering presence, like some stereotypical school headmistress or, crotchety old hag. Kim frowned and shook her head after digesting that image for a brief moment. The woman couldn't be that old, maybe in her mid fifties at the very latest.

Kim filed that possibility away and shifted her train of thought towards another important (and interesting) matter. Namely, what would Shego tell her when it came time to explain why she couldn't raise her own daughter? And she would tell Kim too, that much was fact. Kim would manage to convince Shego's mother, as far as the cheerleader was concerned, it was only a matter of how.

Kim's own theory regarding why Shego seemed so uncomfortable with the idea of raising Agni was sketchy at best. Her best guess was that something, some event, had transpired eight years prior. Something bad enough for Shego to not only disown her own daughter, but her entire family as well.

Earlier, while Kim had been busy getting her travel bag assembled, she had phoned Wade and asked the boy-genius to go through old news reports from around that time, anything and everything referring to Team Go. Something big enough to make Shego decide to just up and disappear must have had some media repercussions. A person could only hide so much.

Kim's train of thought was suddenly derailed when she heard a sharp hiss come from over in Shego's direction. Carefully, Kim inclined her gaze towards the green-skinned thief for some confirmation on the sudden noise. Shego's eyes were narrowed and staring forward hatefully, smoke rose from between her fingers and Kim could smell burning leather. Turning to look over in that same direction, Kim could see the famous Go City skyline slowly creep up from beyond the edge of the horizon.

Kim thought back on when Hego, Mego and she had roped Shego into helping them save the Wegos and stop Aviarius. The villainess had been on the edge of her seat back then as well. Kim had found Shego's attitude odd at the time, but little by little she was coming to understand that there was much more than sibling rivalry occurring just below the surface of that incident.

Although, comparing Shego's attitude back then to now was like comparing a noisemaker to a hand grenade. Kim had the distinct impression while she watched the stressed-out thief that if she didn't walk softly, she wouldn't be walking at all. Of course, the reason for the increased tension now when compared to then was obvious. Then they had been merely saving Shego's siblings, now they were going to see her parents with her wayward daughter in tow.

Agni sat up suddenly when she noticed the approaching metropolis herself, and swallowed unconsciously. Reaching up, the dark-haired girl pulled down her hood and pulled out her ear buds, shoving the device deep into the folds of her sweatshirt. If there was one thing she wasn't looking forward to, it was seeing her grandmother after the stunt she had pulled.

Skipping school, and stealing from convenience stores was one thing (although she had yet to be caught for the latter), but disappearing for over four days was something else entirely. She'd never done anything quite that bad before, and considering how strict Roza could be for minor infractions (at least Agni considered them minor), the twelve-year-old wouldn't be surprised that the penalty for running away would mean being led to the chopping block.

Swallowing down her unease, the young girl spoke out towards Kim, surprising not only the redhead but her mother with the sudden interruption. "You sure this is gonna work? I mean, you sure you can convince Gram?" Agni was impressed with herself that she managed to conceal her doubts from her words. She only came off as inquisitive.

Kim blinked, and before she could respond with something to ease the girl's concerns, Shego cut her off.

"Don't sweat it, Kid. Everything 'll be fine." Shego stated resolutely casting a quick look over her shoulder meeting Agni's gaze with a light smile. "One way or another." She added, turning back towards the road. Kim frowned. It sounded like that last part was Shego speaking to herself rather than to Agni.

"Um, let's try to do this my way. Okay?" She asked cautiously trying to offset whatever violent thoughts her archrival might have been thinking with that last statement.

"Oh?" Shego asked with a sneer. "And what way is that, pray tell, Little Miss Perfect?" She scoffed and turned her nose up at Kim. "Your not the most diplomatic when dealing with me and Dr. D." the thief added matter-of-factly.

Kim sputtered for a moment at a loss for words, but then exclaimed, "Your mother isn't a super-villain!" Using Kim's method of dealing with violent criminals as the basis for this argument was simply ridiculous. If the redhead really treated her enemies the same as everyone else, she'd have laid Bonnie flat years ago.

But Shego wasn't finished, "No, she's way worse. I can deal with super-villains." She snapped glaring at no one in particular.

Kim clicked her tongue in annoyance and decided to squelch this line of reasoning once and for all. "You should know that blowing things out of proportion like this doesn't make my job any easier."

Shego paused and regarded Kim for a moment. Then she smirked and shook her head contemptuously. "Who ever said this was gonna be easy?"

Then, before either Kim or Shego could say anything further, a quiet, mostly ignored third party spoke up. Worry colored the youthful voice. "So, you don't think she can do it, Mom?" Agni asked, this time unable to hold back her trepidation.

With those words, both Shego and Kim fell completely silent. In their senseless bickering, they had lost sight of the reason they were both doing this in the first place. Their arguing probably did little to assuage Agni's concerns, if anything it only served to intensify them. Both women felt cold shame creep up from within, and begrudgingly looked back towards one another apologetically.

Shego took up the responsibility of speaking first. "I-I mean…" she sighed and started her clumsy sentence over. "Yes, I do think Kim can do it. I'm just pissed off and talking out of my ass."

"Yeah, this sitch is a cakewalk compared the stuff I deal with on a semi-daily basis." Kim added quickly.

Agni scrutinized Kim's expression against the validity of her words for a moment before responding with a troubled frown. "Really?"

No. "Yes, this'll be over before you know it." Kim said with a warm smile, in total contrast to her actual feelings on the matter. She idly noticed that the distant Go City scenery was rapidly engulfing the aggressive-looking black vehicle and its occupants.

Still not entirely convinced, the young girl crossed her arms and slouched back into her seat. "Good." She stated, "You'd better live up to all that 'I can do anything' crap." She added warningly.

Shego through back her head and laughed despite herself while Kim just groaned in defeat.

I'm stuck in a car with the two most difficult women in the world.

The three women continued into the city, welcomed by the noise and sights that separated the urban world from everything around it. Intersections were crowded by dozens of living bodies; huge stores and office building dominated the view in all directions. The air was thick with a dozen smells, and not all of them pleasant.

Shego was dead to it all, having grown up in such a setting for most of her life. For Agni, the feeling was even more so, she'd only left these steel and glass confines days ago. Things certainly hadn't changed during that time. Kim however was always taken in by the hustle and bustle of activity of Go City whenever she came by. It was like a huge distorted reflection of Middleton in almost every regard.

During their argument earlier Shego had managed to keep her mind off returning home. Kim was a good distraction regarding that task. Every time she began to feel icy dread condense in her stomach, she would just remind herself of Kim sitting next to her and how ludicrous this situation is; Agni's adorable (in Shego's opinion) little threat directed at Kim had just been the icing on the cake.

However, as familiar high-rise structures began to come into view, Shego's relaxed attitude began to shift back towards doubt and anxiety. With every block, with every traffic light, with every passed skyscraper, Shego got closer to everything she'd happily left behind. It felt as though icicles were forming up and down her spine, cutting into her, making the thief remember days when she was considered by many to be a hero among heroes. A less than happy time for the pale woman.

Shego especially recalled her eighteenth birthday. Everything had come to a head on that ominous date. It was the last time she'd seen her mother or her daughter. That day, she'd thrown everything away, cutting herself from Agni's life almost completely.

The exchange that occurred between Roza and herself that night played before her eyes with crystal clarity over and over, until it was forever seared into Shego's mind.

(Go City Central Hospital: Eight Years Ago)

Shego stared forward in silence before slowly placing her black-gloved hand against the cool glass separating her from the tiny form breathing slowly and evenly on the hospital bed. Aside from the intravenous drip, the four-year-old was almost completely uninjured compared to when she had been brought in only twenty minutes earlier.

By tomorrow morning, there would be no visible evidence she been so grievously wounded in the first place; such was the nature of Shego and her brothers' bodies. Had it been anyone else, they wouldn't have even made it to the ambulance.

The paramedics in the ambulance had been at first horrified by the searing feverous heat radiating from the young girl as her body overtaxed itself to repair the slashes across her back. The oddly colored flesh and blood certainly didn't help matters either. Shego had to insist that that was not what they had to worry about, despite that it contradicted everything they'd been trained in.

Now though, such drama was replaced by a tense silence within the recovery ward. Shego stood alone and watched, never taking her eyes off the child. However, she didn't step into the room with Agni either, she didn't have the right to approach. Not after what she'd…

The eighteen-year-old grit her teeth tightly, and clenched her right hand into a fist, her claws scraping against the glass until they curled into her palm. It was better not to think, it was better to remain numb, she decided.

Shego's left hand reached up and pulled free her black Team Go mask Hego always insisted she wear. Without even looking, she crumpled the offending accessory up into a tight black ball and tossed it over her shoulder. A dull clamor from behind indicated that the mask had landed in the trash bin, but she didn't even notice. She just stood there waiting for the young girl to wake up. There was something very important that Shego needed to tell her.

Unexpectedly, the teenager felt a silent and familiar presence enter the room with her but consciously chose not to regard it. A tall woman slowly and soundlessly approached at Shego's right side before stopping next to her and regarding the small form resting up behind the glass. Shego sneered and tried to keep from noticing the woman beside her, who herself was making no attempt whatsoever to communicate, merely standing and watching in silence.

The woman in question wore a large dark brown jacket, an untucked white blouse, black slacks and short black boots. Her jet-black hair was tied back near the bottom in a loose ponytail and she, oddly enough, wore a monocle over her right eye. Despite her actual age, she appeared to be in her early-to-mid thirties, and had a sort of classic underplayed beauty. Bitterly, Shego finally looked over at the woman and sneered.

"I'm surprised that you even showed up." She snapped.

The woman for her part merely stood still and showed no indication that Shego's venomous words had reached her. After roughly thirty seconds of silence, the woman inclined her head in Shego's direction. Her expression was passive and still, neither smiling nor frowning. When she spoke, her voice was deeper than initial appearances would lead to and had a rough throaty harsh quality.

"My Granddaughter's been hospitalized. Despite what you like to think, Tasha, I do consider my family a priority."

"Hah! That's a laugh. You care about something?" Natasha Drago AKA Shego smirked bitterly. "Then aren't you going to ask if she's okay? That's what someone who cares would do."

"I don't need to." The woman replied levelly, "If she's alive than she's fine." When Shego looked like she was about to snap at the older woman she added, "Really, Tasha, do you honestly think I'd forget how quickly you and your brothers recover?" She looked over through the glass, "Agni's certainly no exception."

Tasha sighed and crossed her arms. "Wow Mom, I didn't realize you actually paid that much attention." She said, laying on a thick helping of sarcasm. Suddenly the ex-heroine's eyes turned cold. "You were home at the time right? You gonna tell me how she was taken from under your Goddamn nose?" Her knuckles popped as she formed two tight fists, both threatening to explode into heat and light at any moment.

Not flinching from the harsh eye contact, the taller woman answered calmly. "I don't have an excuse. One moment she was there, the next she was not. I do accept full responsibility for that. However, in my defense I had no idea she was in danger of being taken by one of you and your brother's psychopathic playmates."

Tasha sneered and bared her teeth at the implication. "One way or another, what happened was your fault too." She smirked coldly. "Getting old must really dull the senses, eh Mom?"

Ignoring the bait, Roza turned to look down at Natasha, finally giving her full attention to her daughter. The fluorescent lighting glared harshly off the monocle the older woman wore over her right eye giving her any eerie supernatural appearance. An injury when Roza was younger had damaged the fragile muscles that regulated that eye's movement forcing her to wear the corrective lens so that she wouldn't see double. Roza never went into any substantial detail about how she attained such an injury in the first place. Although just about everything in the older woman's life from before Hego was born was a complete mystery.

"Sergei told me what happened earlier tonight, with Agni and that criminal," Roza said, her voice calm and unreadable, "Including what you did."

Annoyed that Mego was trying to drag their mother into it, the eighteen-year-old scoffed and crossed her arms, glaring up at Roza, "If you're gonna bitch at me about killing Bogeyman than you can save your breath. I don't regret it, not even a little."

Roza "tsked" disapprovingly. "Of course I'm not. I could care less; honestly, I would have done the same. Although, I doubt I'd have brought the building down in the process… but you always did have a flair for the over-dramatic."

Tasha's expression soured and she turned away processing that casual admittance. Considering the facts, she didn't for a second doubt that Roza wouldn't have killed the Bogeyman herself. The teen was certain that the woman had been involved in unsavory dealings in the past. What the raven-haired woman did doubt was that she would have gone out of her way to do so, even for her own family. Roza barely gave them the time of day, let alone any indication that she cared in the least.

When she wasn't treated with a response Roza continued unabated. "He also says you assaulted Viktor and told him that you finally decided to quit playing cops and robbers. I admit that I was relieved to hear that," she shrugged. "He begged me to convince you to reconsider, but I don't think that I will. Although, I will say that I certainly don't approve of you striking your older brother."

"I do approve, I totally approve. Hego just didn't get it so I made it perfectly crystal-clear to him. I'm done with this hero crap and I'm done with the whole Godforsaken city." Her tone was quiet and level with very little inflection. This was where she laid all the cards on the table.

Roza caught on to what her daughter was implying almost immediately. Despite this, her reaction to the news was as minor as an eyebrow twitch. She looked down at Tasha and spoke; her words seemed to have lost a great deal of their impassiveness and now appeared cautious. "You mean you're leaving?" Her eyes narrowed, "But somehow, I doubt you mean Agni is as well."

"She…" the pale-green woman looked over into the window and sighed. "I just…" She lowered her head gritting her teeth almost hard enough to crack her molars.

Suddenly she cast her mother a vicious glare, the corners of her eyes moist before snapping. "You were right, Goddammit! Okay? Is that what you fucking want to hear? You were right! I can't take care of Agni; I don't have what it takes."

The teen clenched her eyes shut and turned away abrasively rubbing the budding tears from her eyes. Even then, the chance to let her mother see her tears was simply not acceptable, never acceptable. She wouldn't give Roza the satisfaction. "The whole time you were telling me I couldn't do it, and guess what, I really can't."

For her part, Roza's expression softened ever so slightly. Only someone familiar with her mannerisms would have noticed the difference. And at the time, Natasha was simply too distracted to take notice or even care if she had. "Why are you saying this now? Is it just because she was kidnapped from you?" She inquired. "That's a bit extreme, Tasha, even from you."

The sable-haired woman bit her lip hard but said nothing.

Roza's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms regarding her daughter critically. "Or was it that other thing that happened tonight?"

Tasha's eyes widened suddenly and she looked up at Roza. "What other thing? I already told you, I'm glad I kill-"

Roza cut her off, which was a very rare occurrence. "Don't insult my intelligence. You may not be aware of this but I actually arrived at this hospital several minutes ahead of you. I got a very clear look at Agni's injuries as they were moving her to this room. Even scabbed over it was really quite obvious…"

Reflective emerald eyes widened in horror.

"The angle of the slashes, the shape, their proximity to one another…" She looked down at Shego's right hand. "They were more than a little familiar." Roza then rolled up her sleeve to reveal five long thin scars surrounded by a wide discolored burn taking up nearly the entire length of her forearm. The flesh had healed smooth and stretched like rust-colored leather.

"Unlike you and your brothers, my scars remain with me."

Tasha's words caught in her throat when she saw what her mother was implying. The woman was a freak, and a horrible vicious bitch if there ever was one. "Y-you don't understand, wh-what h-happened back then…"

Roza casually rolled her sleeve back down over the scar not bothering to look back up at her troublesome child. "On the contrary, I do understand. I understand completely." She looked up at met Shego's emerald green eyes with her own ice blue ones.

"If it had happened to me, I doubt I could face my children either." She shrugged dismissively, "In the thick of things, unfortunate events are bound to occur."

The younger woman turned her back away from Roza and crossed her arms clenching her eyes tightly shut. "…She's not safe with me… hell; she's not even safe from me…" She turned to walk back into the hall for some air. The hospital interior was quickly becoming suffocating. "I-I've got to go." She almost bolted for the door before Roza's words stopped her dead.

"What am I to tell her?" She asked inquisitively.

Tasha quickly whipped around and glared daggers at the older woman before snapping out, "You don't tell her shit. I'll talk to her when she wakes up. And then I'm off."

Unflinching, Roza continued. "What are you going to do with yourself?"

The pale teenager scoffed in disbelief, "You care?"

"In my own way," She responded cryptically.

Beginning to feel exhausted from keeping up her anger, Natasha lowered her head breaking her Mother's gaze in order to collect her scattered thoughts. After a moment she shook her head. "I don't know… I'll at least keep in touch with Agni but… I just don't think I can face her…"

Roza narrowed her eyes in a rare show of open disapproval. "Hmmm… I see, well I certainly wont dissuade you."

With a smirk, the young woman reached for the door handle to let herself out. "I'll bet. You were probably just counting the days until I got out of your hair anyway, right?" She was about to step through but stopped when a gloved hand fell onto her right shoulder halting her progress.

"Oh, Shego?" Roza said casually to get her wayward daughter's attention. Roza never used her alias when speaking to her. That alone was enough to stop Shego dead in her tracks.

The older woman continued when Shego looked back at her in surprise. "If you go through with this than don't be half-assed about it." Her words had taken on a slightly frosted edge.

Shego's brow furrowed, not quite catching her mother's meaning, "…What are you saying?

Roza sighed in annoyance and pulled her hand away since she no longer needed to coerce Shego's attention. "I'm saying that if you're leaving for Agni's protection, than coming back would be anathema to that design, would it not?" The frosty edge to her words had gone from cold to freezing.

Finally catching the woman's meaning Shego's eyes widened in horror, not quite believing Roza's words.

For final clarification, she added with a grim and harsh finality, "I'm saying; when you leave don't come back."

(Go City: Now)

Actually hearing her say it… Shego frowned recalling those final parting words before she walked out of the hospital in a numbed fugue.

She and I never could deal with one another, but hearing her just tell me to leave like that, She clicked her tongue in frustration. Dammit it hurt way more than it should've.

I shouldn't even give a shit about that but I do and I hate it. She mentally raged. Casting a quick look in Kim's direction, Shego saw her rival still taking in the city scenery. A cruel hypothetical question suddenly presented itself to the pale thief.

Tell me pumpkin, what would you have done? If that Carroll Brady mother of yours suddenly decided you just weren't worth keeping around? I have a good guess.

Shego had only met Mrs. Dr. Possible two or three times in the past, but in those times she'd learned quite a few things about the nature of Kim's upbringing. Anne Possible and my mom are so totally opposite of one another that I wouldn't be surprised if she was my mom's bizarro double. Stranger things have happened, 'specially to me.

The sound of Agni idly clearing her throat snagged Shego's attention away from her bitter thoughts. Stealing a quick look at the young girl through the rear-view mirror, Shego's internal loathing slowly did a U-turn towards a currently much more vulnerable target; herself.

Am I any better? She wondered, considering her past relationship with Agni in its entirety. Heh, hell no, if anything I'm way worse. Mom didn't disown me till I was eighteen.

She chewed her lip softly as she continued this harsh line of self-inspection. I dropped out of my daughter's life when she was four. Not to mention other less than motherly actions I've taken in the past. She couldn't help but wince reflexively at the memories that mental statement pointed towards.

Let's face it, Sweetheart; this is the pot calling the kettle black. Even now, you're shifting Agni over to someone else, your worst enemy! You have no shame at all.

The villainess cast the distracted hero a sideways look. Kim Possible, her enemy, had agreed to help take care of her daughter. Why? Really, being a good person only took things so far. Was she trying to prove a point to Shego? Good really was better than bad or something equally trite?

She's young and naive… and I owe her big. Bigger than big. And there's no way to balance these books either, not equivalently.

She frowned deeply and slowly pulled up her car to the curb in front of an old three-story redbrick building looming before them. The wear of its coloring and finish showed just how old this piece or architecture was, at least a hundred if it was a day. But it seemed well maintained despite.

Kim looked over the building inquisitively before raising her eyebrow in Shego's direction. "Where are-"

Shego cut the redhead off with a sharp hand gesture as she turned off the ignition slowly. It was Agni who answered Kim's unfinished question.

"Well… we're home."

Chapter 10: End

Author's Notes: Hi, sorry for the long wait. My life is only busy when it's at the least convenient for me. I'll try to be better in the future. Hey, at least I finally got to introduce Roza though. That was fun.

By the way, once again, anyone with any ideas they think would be good for this story, please PM me. I seriously consider all of them and this story needs them. Oh, and lastly, please review, I feed on reviews.