A/N: Two chapters in one night, just because I love my fans so much! Nah, seriously, you guys can direct all thanks for the expediency of these chapters to my excellent beta-reader, Joe Stoppinghem.

Disclaimer: Kim Possible and affiliated licenses are the property of Disney. They do not, nor will they ever, (most likely) belong to me.

Dedicated to my wonderful readers.

Chapter 11: Confrontation

Kim woke up feeling very refreshed, a rare and welcome feeling after debacle that had been this week thus far. She was surprised when she looked at the bedside clock and saw that the time was 9:46, much later in than her usual wakeup time. Especially today, of all days, since she had promised herself that she would be back on the road for Go City no later than 9.

'No big' she thought, 'I can always request some kind of air travel and be there in 20 minutes.'

Reassured by that thought, Kim made the decision to first find Alex, and tell him that they needed to be going, then to call Wade and make it so. She showered and dressed in record time, before opening her hotel room door and walking ten feet down the hall to Alex's adjoining room.

She hadn't even knocked yet when the door swung open.

"Ah, good morning, sunshine!" He teased. "I was wondering when you were going to wake up. You missed the complimentary continental breakfast. I would've woken you, but you seemed so tired yesterday I figured you could probably use the sleep…what's up? We're heading out?"

"Yeah," Kim said, happy to have finally been allowed to get a word in edgewise. "Just needed to make sure you were dressed and rea—ready…" She trailed off, as Alex's door had slowly inched its way open as they had been talking, leaving her with a view of his magnificent upper body, sans shirt.

"Let me duck in here and get clothed properly and we can hit the road."

Kim nodded dumbly, rocking back and forth on her heels outside for a moment before deciding that now would be the perfect time to call Wade.

Wade was in the about ten seconds away from working out the final touches on his cold fusion theory when the expected call came in from Kim. As her face appeared on his screen, he couldn't help but notice she seemed…flustered, and not in the same way she had been for the last couple of calls.

"Hey Kim!" he greeted enthusiastically, happy to see any look other than stress on her face for once.

"Hey Wade" Kim replied, her mind seemingly only half-there. "Alex and I are ready to head out as soon as a ride is here for us."

"Okay," Wade said, beginning to type out the instructions for whoever he ultimately decided to give the job to, but then, stopping as one part of the sentence became stuck in his mind. "Remind me, who is 'Alex'?"

"Oh!" Kim started, embarrassment flushing her features even more. "He's the guy that was involved in that accident with me, yesterday. I didn't tell you his name?"

"You told me that his name was, and I'm quoting here, 'Mr. Blake'? From the way you described him he sounded older…" Wade trailed off, letting the implications of his friend's newfound first-name friendliness with the man hang in the air.

"He IS older," Kim affirmed, lowering her voice. "But not like, super old, maybe, early-to-mid thirties? I don't know. Anyway, it doesn't matter. He's just a friendly face who knew his way around the area. And he needs a ride to Go City to report a story, where I'm headed anyway. Since it's my fault his truck got totaled, I figure I owe him, AND he was nice enough to put me up in—get this—a Ritz-Carlton suite for the night…" She finished, slowly trailing off as the implication behind her words dawned on her.

'Hmmm…that doesn't sound as innocent as she'd like it to be' Wade thought dryly. Maybe Ron's doubts hadn't been entirely misplaced. 'Hold it right there Wade! Kim is your friend and has been for years. You know her. Have a little faith.' He shook himself out of his brief lapse of presence, to see Kim staring at him expectantly.

"Well," Kim said, looking a bit more herself now. "What have you got for me, Wade?"

Wade finished typing the instructions, before sending them off to an amateur helicopter pilot whose life had been saved by Team Possible a couple of years ago following a bad crash.

"Alrighty Kim," Wade said triumphantly, "Ride's good and should be there in about 30 minutes."

"Awesome. So where exactly are we headed?"

"Well, Ron didn't really say," Wade started, uncertain. "But I ran through a list of Private Sector Security firms in Go City and I only found two. One is some low-brow place that rakes in maybe three jobs in a year, but the other…Get this: It's owned and operated by a 'Nicole Shana Gough'." He finished, waiting for the recognition to appear on Kim's face.

"That sounds almost like—" Kim's eyes visibly narrowed as she pieced everything together.

"Shego!" The two shouted in unison.

"It doesn't make sense!" Kim exclaimed after a moment. "Why would Ron take a job working for Shego? He's TERRIFIED of Shego!"

"I thought so too," Wade said, "But I guess he's learning to conquer his fears, because you and I both know that it's too convenient to be a coincidence."

"You're right, as always" Kim conceded, a small smile playing at the right side of her mouth.

"I guess you'll find out the answers when you get there, Kim" Wade said, doing a bit more typing before finishing. "There. The coordinates are on the way. Good luck."

"Thanks Wade. You rock!" Kim said, ending the call.

"Well Ron," Wade said to himself. "I sure hope you're ready. Cause it looks like there's a hell of a storm coming your way…"

One state over, Ron Stoppable opened his eyes, and looked around to find himself in a room—and a bed—far removed from his Spartan quarters at the firm. He quickly remembered the previous night's activities, and scrambled out of bed to find his clothing strewn about the room.

'Last night…was…AMAZING!'

He thought happily, as pulled his shirt over his head, completing his outfit. He walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen sporting a big grin, unkempt hair, and an untucked dress shirt, looking for all the world like a man who had just woken up from-well, exactly what he had just woken up from. He was shocked in the most pleasant way possible to find his bedmate in front of the stove, cooking eggs and bacon and wearing precisely nothing.

"Uh, hey…"

Ron started, unsure how to proceed after the events of the previous night.

"Good morning?"

Shego chuckled sincerely, and in Ron's humble opinion, it was the most wonderful sound he had ever heard.

"Good morning," she affirmed. "Want some breakfast? You said bacon was your favorite."

'Bacon in the nude' Ron thought in disbelief. 'She's officially ruined me for other women.'

"Booyah!" Ron exclaimed, his enthusiasm palpable. "The Ron-man is always down to kill a plate of bacon!"

He noted that Shego had yet to deliberately draw any attention to her indecency (not that he would ever call it that) and wondered dimly if she was even aware of her immodesty.

"Er, Shego? Not that I'm complaining…but, why aren't you dressed?"

She chuckled again, sending a hum of pleasure down Ron's spine.

"The better question is: Why are you dressed?"

She said, spinning on her heel to face him, wearing a genuine—and as a result, highly disarming—smile.

"It's not like we have much to hide from each other anymore."

Ron was taken aback at this, wondering if this was going to be the permanent state of things for the day. Not that he minded, certainly, but if so it would take some getting used to.

"You make a habit out of this?" He asked, skeptical.

Shego served him his bacon and eggs, before taking a place opposite him at the kitchen table.

"If you're asking if I make a habit out of bedding younger men, then flaunting my body around them all day in the morning," she deadpanned, watching with some satisfaction as Ron's face turned tomato-red at the word 'body'.

"Then, no" she finished. "But I do like to be comfortable around my home and what's more comfortable than nothing at all?"

Ron was again surprised. "So," he ventured, heading for what may or may not be dangerous territory. "Whenever you're alone at home, you're like…" he gestured wildly at her body "this?"

Shego laughed again, louder this time, and Ron realized that it had quickly become his favorite sound.

"If I am," she said, her voice once again taking that throaty, seductive tone from the night before. "Then that would be something you'd have to find out the hard way, Stoppable."

Before Ron could wonder at what exactly she meant by that. She had left the table again, returning not a minute later wearing her silk robe.

"Oh, man!" Ron whined. "Had to go and shoot myself in the foot, didn't I?"

"You make a habit of that, I think" Shego said, sniggering more to herself than him. Her mood changed then, looking him right in the eyes. "I seem to recall that you have a phone call to make."

Ron gulped as he, too, remembered, and had hoped his girlfriend (is that what she was now? He made a mental note to ask her later) wouldn't.

"Okay," he said, pulling out his cell phone. "Here goes nothing." He dialed the number, and listened as it rang once, twice, then in the middle of the third ring, the phone was picked up.

"Ron!" Came Kim's surprised, happy voice from the other end. "What's going on? I haven't heard from you in days!"

"I know, KP" Ron replied ruefully, "and I apologize. It was reckless and immature to leave things like that without telling you why—"

"Well you can tell me why in person in just a minute," Kim cut him off, "Because I'm landing on the roof of your building right now."

Ron hung up the phone immediately, cursing.

"What's wrong?" Shego asked, both curious and, if she was honest with herself, a little concerned.

"She's landing on the firm's helipad, RIGHT NOW!" Ron explained, standing up and bolting for the door. "I've got to be there when she gets in!" He exclaimed, rushing out the door in record time.

"I wish you would have dropped me off somewhere before you ran this little boyfriend-errand of yours…" Alex said, stewing on the sidelines as Kim tried several times to pick the lock on the roof-access door to the NSG building.

"I ASKED you if wanted to be dropped off at the city limits, and you said no!" Kim replied hotly, getting more and more frustrated with the lock by the second.

"Because if you had dropped me off at the city limits," he replied, rubbing his temples in frustration, "it would have taken me twice as long to get to where I'm going as if you had dropped me off six blocks before here, like I asked you to!"

"Well if it's any consolation, as soon as I get this door open, you can walk out through the front door of the building and be on your MERRY way!" Kim said, finally beginning to make some real progress with the lock.

After a few more agonizing moments, she was in. "There! Now you can either wait up here while I have it out with my boyfriend, or you can just follow me in and make for the front door. Which do you prefer?"

"I'll take option B, I think" Alex said thoughtfully, before following Kim's retreating back.

Ron had just arrived at the NSG building, only slightly short of breath, when the door opened and a confident looking man of about his height and build strode out. As he himself stopped the door from closing all the way behind the man so as to make his own quick entry, he didn't see so much as feel the man's withering glare on his back.

"She's too good for you, you know."

Ron turned on his heel to make a retort, but couldn't see hide or hair of the man any longer. Deciding that there were FAR more important things to deal with than some stranger's ill will at this point in time, he paid it no further heed as he entered the firm.

The first thing he noticed was that the alarm was active—from Kim's needless forced entry, no doubt—and he took care to disable it before walking up the nearby stairs, hoping to meet his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend on her way down. He had just reached the first landing when he found himself enveloped in a hug so tight that he thought his lungs would burst.

"Ron" Kim sighed happily into his neck, causing him to get slightly uncomfortable. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you."

He carefully broke the embrace before stepping a comfortable distance away, making eye-contact the entire time.

"I wish I could say the same to you," he replied as civilly as he could.

The response hurt Kim more than physical blows ever could.

"Ron," she started, unsure of quite how to proceed. "I don't know what you think you know, but before you say anything, PLEASE let me explain."

"Two minutes," Ron said coolly. "Go."

Shaking off her surprise at her boyfriend's positively icy demeanor, Kim pressed on.

"Okay, so for starters, you should probably know that that guy I've been talking about lately, Sam? He's gay."

Ron nodded thoughtfully at this information, before gesturing with his hand for her to continue. When she didn't immediately, he cocked his right eyebrow at her.

"Aaand?"

"Wha—" Kim was at a loss for words, now. "Well, that was your problem, wasn't it? You thought I was cheating on you with Sam. But I obviously wasn't, because he's not into girls. We're just good friends, that's all. I'm actually the one who convinced him to come out to his teammates on the football team."

Only now were Kim's words beginning to sink in, and Ron began to feel more than a little guilty. That said, however, he still had unanswered questions, and figured the best way to obtain more information would be to press the issue.

"I know what I saw, KP" he replied softly, after a moment. "You kissed him. A short kiss sure, but still a kiss. He gave you a necklace worth a hell of a lot more than the engagement ring I bought for you. You had a page open on your laptop about how to DUMP YOUR BOYFRIEND, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!"

He continued, pitch gradually rising into an intimidating shout.

"And don't even get me started on this 'my love' business, or the fact that you seem to think it's okay to walk off arm in arm with some guy other than me. So what if the guy is gay? You're still obviously attracted to him, and that alone is enough to concern me when you spend so much time close to him, and away from me!"

Kim slouched guiltily, his final two points having hit home. 'Still' she thought, 'I can at least explain the laptop thing, so let's start there until he's calmed down.'

"The laptop thing? SOOOO not my fault," Kim explained, putting her hands out in front of as a simultaneously submissive/defensive gesture. "That was all Veronica. She was looking up some pointers for a mutual friend lacking a computer." As Ron slowly began to look less tense, she continued. "Ron, I love you. You're the only guy who's ever stuck by me through everything. You've been my best friend since Pre-K! You can't possibly think that I would do something like that to you."

By now, Ron felt as though he literally had eggs on his face.

'So I was wrong after all? All of that mental torment I put myself through, and it was all unfounded…oh, man? What the hell am I gonna do now? I can't just take her back, can I?'

His thoughts flitted briefly to the beautiful, scantily-clad woman in the apartment up the street.

'I'm a different person than I was a few days ago, so much has changed. In my head, in my heart…and I don't even wanna think what Shego would do to me if I backed out now, especially after last night!'

"Hello, Ron?" Kim said, waving a hand in front of his face and startling him out of his thoughts. "Anyone in there?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, something he had seemed to be doing more and more lately.

"You know, I didn't miss the bit about that 'engagement ring' you bought for me…" Kim said, walking around behind him to slink her arms around his waist. "You already know what my answer would be" she whispered seductively into his ear. Startled at the sudden closeness, Ron couldn't fight his knee-jerk reaction to pull away quickly. He also couldn't help noting the look of intense pain in Kim's eyes when he did so, only adding to his increasing guilt, and dilemma.

"It's…" Ron began, bracing himself for what would undoubtedly become the worst discussion he'd ever had, "It's more complicated than that, Kim."

The rare use of her first name, combined with the tone in which it had been said, made Kim fear for the worst.

"I…look, regardless of how things actually were, what I thought I saw gave me a serious emotional beating," Ron said, trying his hardest to keep the raw emotion from his voice. "I was in a bad place, KP, maybe the worst place I've ever been. It was a rough night, and then an even rougher day following that." He chuckled, remembering how he'd felt the morning after his first drunken debacle. "But somehow, I kept going. And I'm glad I did, because…" He struggled to get the next words out, as well as to keep his voice as even as possible. "I met someone" he finished, gauging her reaction to every word.

Kim gaped at him, letting everything he was telling her sink in. Just as she was finally ready to respond, Ron continued suddenly.

"It's not like I planned it!" He said emphatically, gesturing wildly with his arms. "I mean, I was a mess. I got so drunk that first night that I crashed into this building! I woke up in the hospital, and once I started working here to pay off my debt…"

"What about your naco money?" Kim asked numbly, grateful for the opportunity to ask a question she deemed 'safe'. She didn't really want to hear him finish this story, given what she'd heard so far…

"C'mon, Kim!" Ron answered, also grateful for the small topic digression, however temporary it may have been. "You know that money is all 'Waded-Up'." He chuckled mirthlessly at the new phrase he'd just coined, before moving back to the topic at hand. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen, but this girl, she's witty, and attractive, and FUNNY, if you can believe that…" He trailed off, realizing that he still hadn't actually said who this mysterious woman was.

"Ron…" Kim choked out, tears beginning to shimmer in her eyes. "Do you have to tell me, or can I already guess who this person is?"

"It's…Shego, Kim," Ron conceded, figuring rightly that she had already guessed that much, no doubt having been given the information on his new 'employer' from Wade.

"God! WHY?"

Kim cried, beginning to lose her composure.

"I LOVE YOU!"

With those words, she fell to her knees, sobbing. "Can't we just go back to the way things were…" She finished, her voice suddenly sounding very small.

"I'd love that, Kim" Ron said cautiously, causing her to raise her head hopefully. "But this situation changes everything. I'm in love with two women, and that's not fair to either one of you…"

His own eyes were welling up now, and he tried his hardest to repress them. After an uphill battle, he succeeded, allowing himself to keep a strong front as he tried to finish the conversation.

"I need to think long and hard about all of this. Please don't do anything rash, like take this out on Shego. This whole sorry situation is entirely my fault." He said, feeling ashamed. "I need to go explain the situation to the other involved party."

If Kim heard him, she didn't acknowledge it, her head once again bowed, and a fresh pile of tears accumulating on the floor. Ron lifted her head up to look at him, and his heart broke all over again at the sight of her tear-streaked face.

"Let me book you a hotel room, so you can stay the night here in the city while we figure this all out, okay?"

Kim shook him off violently, and began stalking away, before turning around to have the final word.

"I can handle myself, Ron!" She spat, adding extra venom to his name. "I'm not some china doll that breaks at the slightest thing. It just so happens I've got friends in this town, who'd be more than happy to help. You go 'figure things out!'" she sneered, emphasizing her distaste with air quotes. "I'll just go find my own hotel. IF you make the right decision, then come find me. Otherwise, don't bother!"

Ron suddenly remembered the man at the door earlier, and his anger began to rise again.

"Friends, huh? Like that guy, who just so happened to be leaving here at the same time you showed up?" He retorted, shaking. "I may have been wrong about this 'Sam' character, Kimmie" he continued, emphasizing Shego's diminutive for added effect, "But somehow I can't see why you'd expect me to see you traveling with some strange man as 'innocent, either."

Kim whirled around at that. "What the HELL! WHY DON'T YOU TRUST ME?" She screamed, shaking and sobbing violently. "This whole thing wouldn't have happened if you'd just had the decency to wait for me to come back and explain things, instead of SPYING on me!"

Ron jerked his face as if he was physically slapped. 'She DOES have a point' he reluctantly conceded to himself. He was jerked from this revelation by Kim's figure moving again.

"Kim, wait!"

He called after her, causing her to stop, but not turn around to face him.

"Regardless of how angry we might be at each other right now, we've been joined at the hip since we were four. I refuse to let this conversation end on such a bad note. So, I'm sorry. You're right, I should have trusted you, and I didn't. And I trust you now, too."

Kim turned around again, as Ron continued to step closer. Before she knew it, he was embracing her, and her tears were quickly staining his shirt.

"I love you, Kim. Regardless of how this plays out, you're my best friend. Forever, and always."

"I love you, too, Ron…" Kim sobbed, her voice a hoarse whisper. "Please, remember that, when you make your decision."

And in seconds, the embrace was broken, and she was gone, leaving a very conflicted Ron Stoppable behind.

"Well Rufus," he said dejectedly, "Guess it's time to go speak to Shego…hopefully I survive long enough to make all of this work out."

He headed for the door, pausing before opening it, a genuine, if fleeting, smile playing across his features. He chuckled darkly, suddenly strangely amused with the whole situation.

"And hey, if I don't, I guess I'll see you soon, buddy!"

Elsewhere, Aaron Xander was less than pleased. No, scratch that. He was livid. His plan had been perfectly on track this morning, but when he turned on the news he was dismayed to find no stories regarding his recently staged theft of the microchip by Shego and Stoppable. This was simply unacceptable, and so it was that he once again opened his video conferencing screen for a conversation with the esteemed Dr. Lipsky.

"Wha—what is it? Who's there?" Came the distressed voice from the other end of the screen.

"Hello, Doctor" Xander said, flashing a toothy grin at his paw—er, 'co-conspirator'. "It has come to my attention that you have yet to share the information I have so generously provided you with, neither with Possible, nor with the Press." He smiled in satisfaction as the Doctor paled in recognition.

"Yes, yes, I was JUST getting around to that. I think I'll call them both right now!" Lipsky replied, visibly sweating even through the conference screen.

"I think that's a fine idea, Doctor" Xander said, emotionless. "Go and do likewise." He reached to end the transmission, when further speech from Lipsky stopped him.

"Yes, but, just one more question?" Lipsky asked, a look somewhere between recognition and confusion on his face.

Annoyed, but patient, Xander sat back and gestured in the affirmative.

"Don't I know you from somewhere? You seem awfully familiar…"

"NO!" Xander replied forcefully, ending the transmission and slamming down the interface in the same motion.

Damn. He had forgotten to apply the identity-obscuring effects to his face. A mistake he would not make again.

"So, how did it go?" Shego asked silkily, before realizing the look of distress on her boyfriend's (was he her boyfriend now? She made a mental note to ask him later) face.

"Not as well as you would have hoped," Ron said, kicking the apartment door shut.

"Oh?" replied the raven-haired vixen, masking her concern with a sultry smirk. "Do tell."

"Well, basically…" Ron started, eyes to the floor, "I just suck at life." He finished, collapsing onto the couch with his head in his hands.

Now more intrigued than concerned, Shego joined him on the closest cushion, before being taken aback at the way he recoiled slightly at her touch.

"Kim was never cheating on me," he stated simply, now rolling the ring he still kept over and over again between his palms.

"She told you that, and you believe her," Shego deadpanned, doing her best to hide the anger slowly building inside her.

'I finally feel somewhat happy for the first time in years, and Possible just thinks she can waltz back into the picture and take that away? Uh-uh. Not gonna happen, Princess.'

"You know, while I would normally think along those same lines too, I can't help but believe her. We've been together too long…" Ron said, voice void of emotion. "You should have seen her in there, Shego. She was the most broken I've ever seen her…and when I told her about us…"

"Was that really wise?" Shego asked, raising an eyebrow in genuine surprise. "She's not gonna come tearing into my apartment looking for a fight, is she?"

Ron waved his hand dismissively. "No, I don't think she's in the emotional shape for that right now…" He trailed off, hoping against hope that the next thing he had to say wouldn't hurt her as terribly as it had Kim, and even more so, hoping that he would live past saying it.

"And, in light of this new information, I think it would be best if we didn't take this…whatever it is, at the moment, any farther."

Shego was hurt, deeply, by those words. But on some level, she couldn't help but be impressed by the maturity the kid was displaying. She noticed at this point, with some amusement, that Ron had squeezed his eyes tightly shut, likely in anticipation of a plasma-fueled death that she almost wanted to give him, but knew she wouldn't. The sight made her chuckle, but only slightly, and the act brought no real pleasure either, given the circumstance.

"As much as I'd like to kill you for saying that, Stoppable" she started, emphasizing the last word to stress that this would place them, once again, on a last name basis,

"I think you're making a very mature decision."

Ron opened one eye slightly, utterly in shock that he had lived this long.

"R-really?" He asked, dumbstruck.

"Of course!" Shego replied, a little bit too sweetly for his comfort. "Now get out of my apartment!" She finished with a bite.

"Yes, ma'am." Ron said, fighting every instinct to bolt for the door, instead getting up and calmly exiting the apartment at a walk.

Once he was gone, Shego ran into her kitchen and vaporized her cupboards, the picture of tranquil fury.

Please, R&R, and thanks for reading!