Yet Another Kigo Fic! – Chapter 12

By Ken-Zero

Disclaimer: I'm sorry. In spite of my best efforts and some other not-entirely-ethical moves on my part, I still don't own Kim Possible and friends.

One of the many saving graces of Go University is that many of the basic needs of its students are taken care of by the school itself. For those needs that remain unfulfilled, the area immediately surrounding it could easily be considered a typical "college town," in the same way that the University of Michigan has Ann Arbor, University of Rochester has…well, Rochester, and the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters has Salem, New York.

Though everyone knew that last one was merely fictional.

It was in this "college town" capacity that Kim found herself clinging to Shego's back as they rocketed through the streets of Go City. She lost count of the number of vehicles they passed and wove through and around, the number of vegetarian/vegan stores, the number of hemp-based product stores, the number of organic foodstuff stores, the number of sushi restaurants, the number of people walking around on foot, and the number of times she almost screamed from pure adrenaline and sensory overload. In fact, at the moment, she was probably not quite able to count anything except for the number of times Shego cussed someone out for stupid driving. That, some small part of her mind thought, was ironic in the extreme.

Finally she felt their momentum cease, and she dared to actually look forward. She nearly fell off the bike in relief when she saw their present location.

"Welcome to Smarty-Mart, the absolute savior of college students far and wide," Shego proclaimed as she doffed her helmet and shook her hair loose. Kim could only marvel at how, in spite of their high-speed initial travel and then the acrobatic maneuvering of the speed bike through the crowded streets, Shego's mane of black hair remained mostly undisturbed. It was probably, she considered, because there was just so much of it that the wind could do nothing.

Shego grinned at Kim as they both dismounted. Kim's hair was a bit wild, but the real frazzled look came from her eyes. "Did I scare you, Princess?"

Kim's wild-eyed look locked with Shego's own eyes. She didn't answer for a second or three, but then she broke into the most enthusiastic grin Shego had ever seen. "Let's do that again!"

Shego blinked—the response wasn't quite unexpected, but the energy behind it was—but gathered herself and smirked back in response. "Fear not, we will." With a grand flourish of an imaginary cape she spun around back toward the shopping center. "Come, my Princess," she said, as dramatically as possible. "Your subjects await your inspection of their goods."

Kim didn't stop laughing until they were well inside.

Aisle after aisle of low-priced consumer-pleasing commercial goodness stood before Kim and Shego as they entered, and she had to admit—this particular location looked far nicer than its fellow in Middleton. Of course, that may also have been because Kim was pretty desperate to stock her dorm. She may not have had Ron's culinary expertise, but after the disaster that was her home-ec class back at Middleton High and how Ron had saved her from potentially huge amounts of embarrassment, she felt reasonably confident that she could at least craft something edible, if not a seeming masterpiece every time she took to the kitchen. No, that was Ron's forte, and if the sensation that was the naco was any indication, he was destined for great things in that regard.

She smirked inwardly. Ron might even give Emeril and the like a run for their money. And with his Mystical Monkey Powers, as chaotic as they were…well, look out, Iron Chef.

Shego watched Kim space out for a moment as they entered and assumed that she was simply amazed by the quality and quantity of all the products contained within Smarty Mart's four-walls-and-a-ceiling. Actually, now that I think about it, it's been a long time since I was last here. Idly she wondered if it was still laid out like she remembered.

Kim returned to reality and Shego realized she had her chance to find out. "C'mon, Princess," she said, grabbing Kim's hand and half-dragging, half-coaxing her along. "We've got stuff to find." She made a beeline for the back of the store, turned right as she passed the end of the aisle, and stopped short when a sign proclaimed they had entered Produce Country. Shego nodded. "Yep, they haven't changed the layout at all."

Nabbing a convenient shopping basket Shego began to pick out various items for both cooking and regular consumption. Kim watched her work; it was actually slightly disconcerting, since she'd never seen Shego acting so...domestic before. The weirdness factor only increased as she watched Shego weave between various other shoppers without a care in the world. She kept at it like she'd driven her motorcycle earlier, just without the high-speed adrenaline rush. For Kim, watching Shego was mesmerizing, especially since she was doing it with affection and not trepidation and anxiousness.

Then something else struck her. Shego was being domestic, yes…but the one jarring note was that she was still in her black-and-green jester-styled catsuit. If there could be any doubts as to her identity in spite of the pale green skin and long, thick black hair, the outfit laid them to rest.

And yet…Not a single person showed any sign of recognition that Kim could see. Or rather, if they did, they hid it well. No one made any move to point an accusing finger, to call for help or the police, to have Shego snapped up by law enforcement before she could even think to touch another vegetable. It was, to Kim, surreal.

The rest of their trip to Smarty Mart passed much the same way, except Shego handed Kim the stuffed-to-the-brim basket. Kim sighed, knowing what was coming, and when they proceeded to the checkout she dug out her wallet. She was glad she'd taken it in the pocket of her mission pants, as she didn't have anything else in which to carry it, and leaving at home would be…inadvisable. As they were ringing up Kim could almost swear she saw the cashier—and the bagger, too—shoot Shego covert winks, but she didn't have any proof.

All that meant that Kim had a burning question that she couldn't wait to ask. Sadly, she had to wait, as they went outside, Kim holding both plastic bags full of groceries, one in each hand, and donned their helmets. Shego climbed on the bike and helped Kim on as well, telling her to hold the bags in the crooks of her elbows. They'd help with balance, and holding them higher would keep the bags from hitting the ground or getting tangled in the bike. Kim wasn't sure she believed it, but did as she was told anyway. She was a passenger, after all, and while they may have been within walking distance of the dorms, that was a long walk and Kim wasn't interested in staying on her feet that much longer.

The drive home was much more sedate than before, almost uncharacteristically so. It was yet one more piece of evidence that Shego had an actual human side to her, not just the cranky, sarcastic, supremely confident villainess front she'd worn for so long. Kim kind of marveled at the change, but she definitely liked it. Given how things had gone with the GMKCRs earlier, she also knew the current change wasn't a permanent alteration, just a different side to the enigma of a woman she'd known for going on five years.

Shego offered to prepare dinner, as both were starving, and Kim readily acquiesced. While they ate, Kim asked the question that had been buzzing around her brain for the last few hours.

"Shego, you're still wanted in, like, a dozen countries, right?"

"Fourteen, last I checked," the green woman shrugged. "Why?"

"Well…I was just wondering how you could afford to be so out-in-the-open earlier, especially in your catsuit."

Shego blinked, chewed, swallowed, took a drink of water, and smiled. The grin was downright conspiratorial. "Anywhere but home, and I would be paranoid about being out in public."

Kim thought on the cryptic answer for a second. "So…why aren't you paranoid here? Is it because this's your hometown?"

It was Shego's turn to think. She pondered letting Kim in on the Great Go City Secret. She wasn't worried about Kim letting the secret out; she knew Kim could keep one safe, given that the smaller hero hadn't told her about coming to college here, in spite of their budding friendship, until a few days before she'd actually moved into the dorm. On the other hand…she risked Kim turning jaded against her, or her city, or both. She might have been able to fool herself a few weeks ago into thinking it wouldn't be such a big idea, having Kim not trust her, but now…it would be akin to Shego's parents basically disowning her. As much as she would seem not to care on the surface, inside it would hurt like hell, and she knew it.

Then she thought of how Kim had apparently decided to trust her completely and implicitly, and she decided she owed her that much in return.

Nuts, she thought with a wry mental grin, when did I start to admit I owe anyone anything?

"Well, Princess," Shego began, "that's partly it. See, it kinda goes…deeper than that."

"Deeper?" Kim echoed. She sounded skeptical. "How?"

"It's like this: Back in the time when I was with Team Go, we were actually pretty good at our jobs. Like you, I guess—there weren't many times when the Bad Guys got away." Kim smiled at her, and Shego couldn't help but return the gesture. "Yeah, yeah. No sappy for me, I'm warning you. Anyway, when I left and struck out on my own, the team kinda…fell apart. Hego, overbearing prick that he is, couldn't keep everyone else in line enough, and they just kinda gave up listening to him. To which might I add, I say good on 'em." She nodded once.

"Does anyone not pick on Hego?" Kim asked. She'd met the big blue boy a few times, and as is often the case with two Type-A personalities, they grated on each other. Each was used to giving orders and having them followed. Kinda like me and Will Du, she reflected.

"Last I knew, your buffoon boy didn't, though that may have only been because Hego manages a Bueno Nacho."

"And even then Ron got on his case because they didn't do the naco," Kim reminded her.

Shego shivered. "A fucking disgusting abomination of fast food-ness. I'm surprised it caught on…Did you know, I was so tempted to just…relieve him of his royalty checks when they started coming in?"

Kim blinked. "You knew he made those up?"

"Doy, Kimmie," Shego said with a lazy grin. "Remember, Dr. D, Li'l Diablos, and so on?"

"Right, right," Kim answered, putting a hand to her forehead, fork still between her fingers. "Don't remind me."

"I had to," Shego sassed. "Otherwise you'd never have remembered."

Kim glared at her. "Continue, please."

"Sure, sure," Shego said, the grin still in place. "Oh, and I didn't take his checks because I wanted to see just what sort of stupid-assed things he was going to do with the money he'd get. I had enough material for a few weeks' worth of blackmail." She waved it off with her fork-holding hand. "Anyway…" She stopped and stared at Kim. "Where was I?"

"Left Team Go, fell apart…"

"Right, thanks," Shego replied, spearing another bite with her fork before continuing. "Anyway, it was almost right away that I started doing the evil thing. And let me tell you, it was a blast. Think about it! No one telling you what to do, no pesky laws to get in the way of doing your thing, just you and your skills. I tell ya, Pumpkin, if you'd been in my shoes, I think you'd have made an excellent thief. Almost as good as me."

"No, thanks," Kim said, though she blushed lightly from the praise. She could tell Shego wasn't being arrogant in her appraisal—Kim just didn't have a few of the things Shego did. Super powers topped the list, though Kim didn't doubt that Shego being slightly larger allowed her to do some pretty amazing feats of flexibility and athleticism. Kim had seen some…and was looking forward to seeing just what other ways she could put those talents to use.

The sudden thought made her blush even deeper. Ghaa…since when do I think X-rated?

Shego raised an eyebrow at the sudden coloration, but said nothing of it. The way Kim was looking everywhere except at her told her everything. Inside she was grinning slyly, but outside she kept her expression calm.

"Anyway—there's that word again—along comes Dr. D, then you and the buffoon, and poof, things aren't as easy anymore. Of course, when we start making the news, you and me, the crowd here goes wild."

"Really?"

"Kimmie, I know you don't like to think about it, but you're famous. People love you. In fact, you could probably go just about anywhere and have at least someone recognize you. It wouldn't surprise me to see rabid fangirls here and there clamoring to have you sign your name or something." She let loose her trademark smirk as Kim turned red again. "The sad thing is, around here, I'm the same way."

"You want my autograph?"

Shego bonked Kim on the forehead. "No, you One-Woman Geek Squad. Around here, I'm famous, too. And the fact that neither of us really ever defeated the other…well, it's something of a point of pride here, twisted as it may seem, that I'm your nemesis, and that you haven't beaten me yet."

"Hey, you haven't beaten me, either," Kim protested, rubbing her forehead. "And I'm not a geek squad."

"Sure you are, Miss 'I can scramble rat brains with your plasma, from the outside!'"

"Hey! It worked, didn't it?"

"Sure did, Geek Squad. That doesn't mean you're not a geek for having the idea."

"Just—oh, never mind," Kim huffed. She had to change the subject. "So nobody turns you in because you've got a huge, loyal fanbase here in your home town."

"That's about the gist of it, Princess," Shego confirmed, and Kim settled a bit at the more familiar nickname. She still hadn't heard Shego use her real name, though, she thought. "But you're right, I haven't beaten you either. That's why the 'support,' if you can call it that, is so underground."

"I guess I can see that." She shrugged. "Well, I hope you feel like you can relax with me. I'm not turning you in any time soon, either."

Shego knew that, had known that for some time, and yet she still felt like some weight had just fallen from her shoulders. "Thanks, Kimmie," she said quietly. "I…I think I needed to hear that."

Kim saw her second (in order of time, not extent) best friend in the universe choke up slightly and instantly went for some sort of damage control. She got out of her chair and moved around the small table to behind Shego, draping her arms around the other woman's neck and hugging her from behind.

Shego pressed a hand to where Kim's arms crossed around her neck and leaned her head back into Kim's chest. It was a very comfortable position.

Kim rested her chin on the crown of Shego's head. "Shego," she said, equally as quietly as the other's last words, "there's definitely something between us, and if last night was any indication, we both know it and want it. Part of what that 'something' is is trust…and I want you to trust me. There are so many things about you that I don't know, and I really want to, not because of obsession but because I care."

Suddenly things clicked for Kim. That feeling that she'd had the day before—the feeling that she couldn't quite call love because it didn't feel like love—rose from its dormant state, just below the surface, and popped into conscious awareness. And it fit—she knew, now, what was missing, and that that piece had been added. It wasn't so much that she didn't think, or know, that she loved Shego; it was more like she was eminently satisfied with her choice. For Kim, despite all her earlier bravado about not caring for what other people thought of her being together with another woman, she'd always harbored some small bit of trepidation, had a small reservoir of fear over the public outcry and shunning that would accompany such an announcement. And yet, in spite of all the negativity that might accompany that message, she wouldn't trade her current position for all the world, for all the goodwill she'd built up with having saved the place countless times; in fact, she'd be willing to trade that goodwill for some peace and quiet with her…well, what word would she use? Friend? Girlfriend? Confidante? Lover?

She decided to try and ask. "Shego," she said again, into the pleasant silence, "what are we?"

Shego, who'd felt Kim's arms begin to tighten after the standing girl had stopped speaking, squeezed Kim's arm with her hand. "What do you mean, 'what are we'?" she responded. "I'd think it was obvious, given the circumstances."

"But…what can I call you? I mean, it seems like it's going so fast, but also that we were a long time coming, but you're the first girl I've ever loved like this, but—"

"Wait a second," Shego said. She pried Kim's arms loose, but didn't remove them from her neck. She turned in her seat so she was staring up at Kim. "First girl you've what?"

Kim looked down into those green eyes that resembled her own in so many ways, and yet were subtly different—just like the rest of the two of them, she decided. "Loved," she repeated in a whisper. She smiled tentatively. "I love you."

Two things happened to Shego: she felt simultaneously like she was going to explode from happiness, and yet fear rose up right behind it. "Kim," she said seriously, and the slender girl noted the use of her actual name, "you…you can't. I…we…can't."

"And why not?" demanded Kim, privately a bit shocked that Shego, of all people, was being reticent. "I can't stop this, turn it off. I love you, and that's all there is to it."

"Because!" Shego retorted with some heat. Strangely, though, despite the small argument, neither had tried to move away from the other. "Because it just can't happen. Kim, you're a hero to the world. If they see you hook up with another woman, and one who used to be a bad guy at that, they'll destroy you. You can't be happy with me."

"Didn't I tell you this before?" Kim returned. "That if I had to choose between us and saving the world, the choice was obvious?"

"Yeah, but…" Shego looked away uneasily. "Look. You can't just turn away from all that for me. Hell, you've got to stop me from being evil. Add to that, that you can go anywhere and I can't leave here…"

Kim silenced her by removing one arm from around Shego's neck and placing a finger on her lips. "Didn't you just tell me last night that you weren't going anywhere?"

Guiltily, Shego nodded. She still couldn't meet Kim's eyes, and the irritation at being shushed was nothing compared to potentially ruining Kim's life. In spite of her tough-girl image and how much she enjoyed maintaining it, Shego preferred not to think of what would happen to her should she succeed in breaking her Princess somehow.

Once again she was struck by that thought. It used to be that she actively sought moments like this, times when she had power over the smaller girl and could potentially crush her—not physically, of course. Where would the fun in that be, never being able to fight someone your equal again? No, more like what Shego was currently afraid of doing—of crushing Kim's career, ruining all the cheerleader stood for and enjoyed doing for the world.

Kim, though, had apparently no fears in that regard. "Good girl. Now, I'm stuck here for four years anyway. Whether the world likes it or not, I am going to finish school. Maybe even Global Justice can take over. That's what they're there for, isn't it?" She passed over the rhetorical question without even waiting to see if Shego nodded. "Now. You helped me out today, even when you said before that Hell would freeze over first. Well, not in so many words, but…I know that's what you meant. I don't think that means I have to stop you." She smiled slightly. "And I won't be turning away from my world-saving completely. Even if everyone thinks I'm a horrible person for being with you, I'll do what I can. Besides…I'd much rather be happy with you and ostracized, than be without you and in good public esteem."

That made Shego smile a little. "Didn't know you could be so callous, Princess," she said, some of her normal dryness returning.

"Yes, well, some people aren't immune to the influence of those around them," she returned easily.

Shego chuckled. "Speak for yourself."

"I am," Kim retorted. She crouched down to hug Shego, a gesture the green-skinned woman returned easily.

Primary fears abated, or at least set aside, the ex-villainess said to Kim, "And if you're still interested, you can say we're girlfriends."

"'Kay," Kim answered. She leaned in for a quick kiss. "Um, are you going to…stay here again tonight?" she asked, the last few words out in a rush.

Shego smirked when she saw Kim's face turning slightly red yet again. "If you want me to," she answered, "though we don't have to repeat last night if you don't want to."

"I…well…" Kim flushed even deeper. "Not…tonight. Sorry…"

Shego draped an arm across Kim's shoulders, then stood up herself, pulling the adventurer up with her. "Nothing to be sorry for, Kimmie," Shego answered. It appeared everything was back to normal with her, from Kim's perspective—and indeed, Shego's little crisis was already but a distant memory in her own mind. "In spite of everything, I am female. I know no means no."

Kim grinned. "Hey, you can't rape the willing."

Shego cocked an eyebrow at her. "My, my, Kimmie," she said, sounding almost proud. "You're improving."

Once again, as darkness claimed more and more windows in the dormitory, Shego and Kim climbed into the small bed, clothed this time, and allowed the night to catch up to them as well. Only a scant few minutes after the lights went out Kim felt Shego's breathing slow to a steady tempo that meant she was fairly heavily asleep already. And for good reason, Kim thought, reflecting on the antics of the day.

She smiled hugely when she heard Shego shift and felt the older girl latch onto her, murmuring something in her rest. It sounded suspiciously like a term of endearment that Shego would probably never be caught dead using if she were awake.

"…my Kimmie…" she'd said, almost petulantly, as if someone were trying to take a stuffed animal away from a small child. About the only thing that could make Kim happier was hearing Shego say she loved her, too...but Kim figured it would take something far more momentous to make the green woman ever admit such a thing.

At least, while she was still conscious.

Again three shady figures watched a video feed; again they collectively cursed Kim Possible, and this time they threw in some incredulous disbelief that Shego, villainous sidekick and otherwise selfish thief, was actively helping the annoying cheerleader. It wasn't coincidental this time; they'd arrived together, worked as a team, and left together.

DNAmy was first. "My rats!" she wailed. "Why'd they shrink? What happened to them? Why did they catch fire so easily?"

"Calm yourself, fraulein," Helmut Demenz, also known as Professor Dementor, told Amy. "It appears, in our attempts at fixing the weaknesses in our previous design, we introduced new ones."

"Precisely," said a still-eerily-calm Dr. Drew Theodore P. "Drakken" Lipsky. "We must devise a new technique for ridding ourselves of Kim Possible…and her new sidekick." His face relaxed into something approaching sorrow. "Oh, Shego! Why did you betray me? I thought we were a little evil family! I gave you all I could…" He seemed to not remember—deliberately or otherwise—the fact that Shego had, rather flippantly, told him she was done some time ago. The point had been driven home by her incinerating her contract with him…an inch and a half from his face.

While Drakken pined away for the loss of the only functional part of his previous existence, Dementor and Amy both felt a private bit of relief at Drakken's usual behavior resurfacing. It was far less intimidating than the serious, calm, and almost methodical face the "good" doctor had had since he'd first approached them with his plan.

When it was obvious Drakken had finished, Dementor cleared his throat. "Well, Herr Doctor, we seem to have hit something of a road block."

Drakken finally stopped his whining. "Don't remind me," he said snippily. Apparently it was going to take him a little while to regain his ultra-smooth façade. "Why is it that whenever my plans come into contact with Kim Possible, she always wins?"

Maybe because your plans are always nonsense, both Amy and Dementor thought; both of them completely missed the fact that their own plans didn't survive contact with their mutual enemy, either.

Neither voiced that opinion aloud, though, allowing Drakken to continue ranting. "My rats can't hurt her, my rays can't touch her, my traps can't hold her…and yet I must remove her to rule the world! Curse you, Kim Possible! You think you're all that, but you can't be!"

His short tirade seemingly over, Drakken lapsed into sullen silence. Dementor and Amy exchanged another look before Amy cleared her throat. "But Drakky-wakky," she began, and Dementor hid a shudder at the term of endearment, "you just said that these are all tests, until we get the data we need to put her away once and for all. Now we just need to figure out how to best combine what we learned last time with what we learned this time, right?"

The blue (in more than one sense) mad scientist perked up. "Right…right! You are absolutely correct! This is no time to be moping about. Quickly, bring up the tape again. We may just need to figure out how the…" His voice trailed into mutterings of various aspects, and Amy joined him; after all, it was her responsibility to continue to improve the rats at a basic level before any other alterations were made, and that included altering the sebaceous secretions that had ignited so readily under Shego's plasma the last time.

Dementor cleared his throat. "Herr Doctor, Frau Hall, there is one more issue."

Drakken paused in his sotto voce soliloquy to look up at Dementor. "Yes?"

"Did you not realize how quickly Kim Possible arrived at the scene today?"

Drakken frowned. Amy couldn't be bothered with anything; she was too busy considering various parts of the rat's genome to alter. "What about that?" Drakken asked.

"Perhaps we needn't worry with this grand scheme after all," Dementor ventured.

The reaction was, of course, explosive. Amy, eventually, processed what he had said and turned in surprise; Drakken, though, looked positively baffled and angry. "Are you going soft, Professor Dementor?" he sneered. "You don't see a need to do away with this source of constant annoyance, the one thing that stands in our path to rule?"

Dementor tried not to let his irritation show. "If you would let me finish before insulting me, perhaps you would realize I want that as much as you do," he growled.

Drakken continued to frown, but didn't push.

"Better," the shorter villain said. "Now. If you watch the timestamp on our video, you will notice she appears a scant eight minutes after we enlarged our rats. That is far too quickly for her usual times, even though this is only Go City and not, say, Timbuktu." He crossed his arms. "Either she had advanced warning, or she did not come from Middleton."

Drakken's frown turned from angry to thoughtful. Much as he didn't like working with the stout German professor, the little guy had a point. "We do know this is Shego's home town…perhaps she was in for a visit, since they seem to be awfully chummy now."

The evil trio mulled that over for a moment before Dementor said, "She did just turn eighteen."

"So?"

With a sigh, the German continued. "She is just starting college, Herr Doctor. Which means she is most likely attending Go University, given the data we have."

"Go U," Amy echoed thoughtfully.

"Thank you," Dementor replied. Amy looked confused—but then, he figured, the only time she didn't was when she was working on her pet projects, pardon the pun. "Anyway, assuming that's correct, we could always send something to the university to deal with her. It wouldn't even have to be the rats—it could be something small, like an insect, or maybe…"

The other two listened as he continued to outline a new plan. Eventually they began to offer their input as well, forming a workable idea from the various thoughts and snippets they brought forth.

Shego awoke alone again.

Dammit, she cursed mentally as she rolled onto her back, an arm across her eyes. How is it that I actually miss body heat? An ebon eyebrow quirked as she thought of something else. Or how is it that I miss having her to lean on?

Strangely enough, Shego felt like she was only just now coming to the realization that she was actually involved with her one-time arch nemesis. Oh, sure, there had been some intellectual recognizance of the fact, but having it actually sink in, make the emotional attachment, and stay there? That part was really just now happening.

It almost made her want to cry.

She blew out a long sigh, fully awake now, and fought down the urge to weep. She really, really didn't want to do that—even if no one saw her. In Shego's mind, it meant she was weak, unable to cope with whatever brought on the situation. In fact, if she could avoid said situation entirely, so much the better—and that was the line of thinking that had led so many in the past to assume she was a cold-hearted, uncaring bitch.

Don't make people's problems your own, focus on yourself and what you can do for yourself, and above all don't make people's problems your own, she found herself repeating. It was a code she'd developed for herself in the waning days of her own heroing, when the pressure of what other people wanted, needed, and eventually expected of her had driven her to the brink of madness. People expected heroes to drop whatever they were doing and come help with whatever little mundane problem arose. Look at Kimmie, she thought. She started out with babysitting, then pulling cats from trees, and now saving the world. A wry snort worked its way through her nose.It's a miracle she hasn't snapped yet. And that she graduated high school on time. And with good grades.

Come to think of it, Kim was something of a walking miracle. Shego had to wonder how the girl maintained her sanity, juggling all the crap she knew Kim had done back in the day. Shego herself hadn't fared so well; instead of trying the balancing act, she'd left Team Go to finish her child development degree, gotten that done in record time, then struck out on her own. Her general apathy toward the world had developed in about junior high and only increased after that, culminating in something of a devil-may-care attitude through her last days with her brothers. Finally, she hadn't been able to take it anymore and had beaten up a random supervillain that she'd happened to come across in the middle of some heist or another. As she wasn't in uniform, she'd secretly tagged along with the man's henchmen as they returned to their lair, boss in tow; once inside she'd had herself a sneaky look around, absconding with two things: a sense of wonder as to how…similar their lifestyle was to what she wanted; and a magazine with a certain blue scientist's "Help Wanted" ad. The rest, as they say, was history.

Shego gave herself a mental shake as she climbed out of bed. Sure enough, just like yesterday, there was a note nearby from Kim, explaining about classes and how she'd be home at a later point in the day. With a shrug she jotted down her own reply to the note, just in case she wasn't present when Kim came back. She got into Kim's tiny shower and turned the water on, luxuriating in the fact that, with barely anyone else in the building, she had all kinds of hot water all to herself.

She tried not to think of anything at all while she wasted the rest of the morning; for some reason she felt like any more introspection would result in her just getting depressed, which was the last state of mind she ever wanted to be in. So instead she idled the morning hours away with nothingness before finally deciding to take care of some business.

Her first item was going home. Around lunchtime she ventured back to her old neck of the woods and found, almost thankfully, that her mother's car wasn't present. Shego assumed that meant Isabel was out with a client or something, as both of her parents rarely left unless it was business-related. She was wearing her catsuit, as it was the only thing she'd brought to Kimmie's dorm, but went without gloves again. As she grabbed the doorknob she waited patiently; the built-in biometric scanners got her entire handprint and unlocked the front door quickly. That part of her father's security system, she knew, was one of his proudest achievements. Without having a print in the system, the door wouldn't unlock, and without a keyhole to pick, it would be extraordinarily hard for a thief to defeat the several sliding-bolt locks along the length of the door itself.

Her family was far from paranoid; her father just wanted to test his designs himself.

Shego stepped inside and shut the door behind her, kicking off her boots as she made her way to her room. She didn't make it far, though, before her father's voice chased after her. "Rheann," he called, "where've you been?"

Stupid fucking cameras, she thought before she shouted a reply back. "Out and about."

"Okay," was the reply, which confused her a bit. He didn't even want to know where she was? How strange.

She thought nothing more of it, though, and made it to her room, wherein she gathered some of her clothing—several days' worth, in fact—into a duffel bag. There were not a lot of her own things in the room besides clothing; Shego wasn't one for many personal effects. In fact, most of what she owned aside from clothes, she kept on herself at all times—or stashed in some of her hideaways.

After a few minutes spent this way, she doffed her trademark suit and folded it up. Almost reverently she placed it on top of her other clothing. The suit's material kept it from getting too dirty and smelling too much, but it was due for a cleaning, she thought.

She quickly dressed again, not wanting to be caught by her parents while prancing naked around her room. She wasn't really all that ashamed of how she looked—not anymore, really, not with how Kim looked at her these last couple of days—but it would really raise more questions than she wanted to answer—even if it was only one question.

Having finished, she slung the bag over her shoulder and made her way out. She was almost there when her father's voice stopped her again.

"Rheann Cassidy, aren't you going to say bye before you leave again?"

Shego grimaced. Oh, she wasn't about to say bye before…but now, she figured, she just might. If only to have some pleasant last words before choking her father for using her name like that.

She stalked over in the direction she heard his voice coming from: his office. It was also the only room in the house with access to the displays from the various cameras around entry point he'd placed, which is how he'd known she'd arrived.

When she turned the corner and entered the doorway she was in for the shock of her life.

A/N: Holy cow did I have a hard time with this one. Oh well. At least now I have meat to go on for the next couple of chapters. And Kim has a new nickname…though Shego's not far behind. And Wade will return to let us know why the rats did what they did. And Ron may show up. And other stuff. And some more. And now I'll stop starting sentences with "and."

Review, please. I know I've said it before, but reviews are how I can make things better, and I know they're not that great to begin with.