Chapter Four: Harms Way
I can't go back again. I can't go back again.
But you asked me to love you and I did.
Traded my emotions for a contract to commit
And when I got away, I only got so far. The other Me is dead.
I hear his voice inside my head.
"Fuck this guy!" Cyra cursed as the ULTIMA was hit with yet another blast from Commie's chopper. The hull groaned and shook, knocking boxes and supplies off the shelves. Dr. Possible and Shego were showered with small boxes and various medical equipment
Kim gripped the handles of the steering pedestal tighter "Weapons! Do we have any weapons on this thing?"
The dark woman nodded quickly. Cyra moved to Kim's side and reached in front of the pale woman "Yes we have-" Sparks erupted from control panel silencing Cyra's reply. She cringed when the white hot sparks touched her skin and looked away from smoldering metal "Never mind…"
Kim grimaced and cursed inwardly. Not good.
"Wait, I have something that might work!" Cyra suddenly perked up, her visible yellow eye light up. She rummaged through bag she had brought along, labeled 'Just In Case' "Ah ha!" Cyra shouted triumphantly, hefting a reloadable RPG out of the dark blue bag "Here we go!"
Kim looked over her shoulder at Cyra, her eyes widening in alarm
"What the- What are you doing?" Kim shouted her hands still on the gyro.
Smirking Cyra loaded a high explosive warhead into the muzzle "I'm going up to teach Commie a lesson he ain't gonna forget!" She pointed to the hatch above her.
Kim looked at her in disbelief. "Are you insane!"
"Cyra, you're still bleeding!" The doctor said.
"Hey! Eyes on the sky lady!" Cyra shouted at Kim. She then turned to Doctor Possible and continued in a lighter tone "Now don't you worry none, this'll just take a second." With a wink and a smile Cyra climbed up through hatch in the roof of ULTIMA.
Cyra poked her head through the opening first and looked around. Commie and his chopper were right on their ass. She growled and lifted herself up onto the sleek roof of the ship. Not anticipating the strength of the wind or the bullets that came from the chopper, Cyra lost her balance slipped, slid and rolled down the roof of the ULTIMA onto one of its wings. At the last second before she was swept completely off the ship, Cyra extended her claws and with one hand dug into the metal stopping her from falling. She hung there, half on half off the ULTIMA for a second trying to catch her breath. Cyra flexed her left hand which was, fortunately, still holding the RPG firmly. She snarled and swung her legs onto the wing. Onyx claws grew from her feet, ripping her boots and digging into the roof or the ship, preventing her from falling again. Bullets danced and ricocheted off the ULTIMA as she aimed her RPG at the white chopper
"BOOYAH MOTHERFUCKER!" She smiled widely, revealing her short fangs and pulled the trigger.
Commies eyes widened in horror as he saw the warhead fly directly at him. He had no time to scream before his ship exploded in a fiery blaze of metal and glass.
With a satisfied smirk, Cyra retracted her claws from the ship's hull and slipped back inside.
Shego was still screaming and thrashing on the metal table, her back arching off it despite doctor Possible's attempts to hold her down. The screaming stopped suddenly and Shego's body went ridged. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she spoke in a voice deeper and more sinister than her own; "Crerdram uk sra aorsr rakakbar! Hork uk sra vrura! Oma kosad su korr kruk sra raoqamk sra usrar su reka kru rarr! Daod, aeas draokems, Oreum krikbark bamaosr ik! Cuka craomka srek aorsr rurd sud Oreum!"
Kim's radioactive detector started to ping in warning.
She risked a look back. Shego resembled someone from an exorcist movie. Drool dripped from her open mouth and blood trickled from her ears "Mom, get away from her!"
"What the hell are you saying?" Cyra loomed over Shego.
"Avodamad kruk sra aorsr su virsa sra rikomk! Proeka Oreum!" Shego spat the last words, spraying blood and saliva all over Cyra's face. She began to laugh again
"All right, that's it" Cyra growled as she whipped the spittle from her face "Shut the fuck up!" She yelled jabbing two needles into the green woman's neck
"Ha verr reka!" The words came out as little more than a gurgle and Shego's body went limp as she slipped into unconsciousness.
Anne let out a breath of relief. At least she's sleeping now. "What did you give her" Anne croaked
"Just a 'lil something to help her sleep!"
"Ok, should be smooth salin' from her on out!" Cyra plopped down into the copilot seat. She propped her feet up on the fried motherboard and pulled out a cigarette.
"Cigg anybody?"
Kim huffed in annoyance and turned her attention back to flying
/
"Oy Fion? Is that the ULTIMA?" Kolie spoke to Fion through her headset in her native tongue. She had waded through the drifts of snow surrounding their part of the mountain to look for any sign of the ULTIMA. She stood knee deep in the frozen white powder with her eyes turned skyward, but felt no cold. Under her ever present sunglasses her eyes widened as the burning hulk of the ULTIMA came into view. She gripped her gun tighter.
"Radar confirms." Fion's voice sounded through Kolie's ear piece. Kolie adjusted her scarf. "They don't look like they're doing so good" She remarked noticing the flames spouting from the engine
"Onboard sensors detect massive damage to both engines and-" The rest of Fion's report was drowned out by the screeching sound of rock on metal. The ULTIMA slammed into the frozen ground and slid, coming to a stop only a few yards in front of the bluff Kolie was standing on. The jet groaned and creaked. Kolie cringed and shielded her eyes from the firelight and miscellaneous debris that flew her way. Hopefully everyone is all right.
She began to trudge through the snow once again although this time her steps were quick and determined.
Kim groaned and scrunched her eyes together. Her head had hit the control panel when the ULTIMA hit the ground.
"Is everyone ok?" The younger red head asked, glancing around the damaged interior of the jet.
"Yes" Dr. Possible said shakily.
"Cyra?" Kim called, unbuckling her seat belts. There would be bruises where they were tomorrow
Cyra, who was partially buried under boxes of medical equipment, jumped up with a broad smile on her face "Let's do that again!"'
Kim gave her a sidelong glance and moved to help her mother to her feet. Freaking' insane. The red head leaned over Shego, looking intently at her face to see if there had been any new damage since the crash. She brushed a stray lock of raven hair out of Shego's face.
"Ah that was great!" Cyra stretched popping the kinks in her back and neck "Nothing like a near death experience to get the blood flowin'" The tan woman examined her hands and face. "Looks like I'm all healed too"
Kim began to undo the restraints that held Shego down "How far away from the mountain are we anyways?" Both she and Cyra glanced out into the frozen tundra beyond the ULTIMA.
"Well, looks like you actually managed to land this beast a only a few yards away from an entrance to the mountain. Way to go carrot buddy!" Cyra clapped Kim on the back.
"Do you have a speech impediment that prevents you from saying my name?" Kim said hotly, her patience with the yellow eyed woman wearing thin.
"A what?" Cyra scratched her head in confusion.
The redhead huffed in annoyance.
Anne was too busy wrapping up Shego in a thermal blanket to hear the exchange. She disconnected Shego from the IV and secured the blanket around her.
Cyra moved to pick Shego up but was stopped by Kim's arm. The tan woman looked up in surprise.
"I got her" Kim said simply.
Anne watched her daughter as she gently picked Shego up, but turned away when Kim planted a kiss on Shego's pale forehead.
Cyra cleared her throat "Ok let's go for' this thing explodes" Kim nodded and Cyra wrenched open the metal door, allowing Kim and Anne to pass easily.
Kim was the first to see Kolie through the blowing snow "Hey!" She called.
Kolie waved her gloved hand in acknowledgement and jogged the rest of the distance to the ULTIMA
"Howdy Kolie!" Cyra said brightly. "Whoa you're actually out of the house! Good for you, Blondie!"
Kolie nodded and gulped down a breath of air "Is everyone all right?" she panted, her hands on her knees.
Kim responded "Bumps and bruises, nothing to bad"
"Oh and you have Shego, I am very glad!" She peered at the unconscious Shego. Kim gave a terse nod and tightened her hold on the sleeping green woman.
Anne tentatively stepped out into the snow. She shivered. Perhaps a dress and heels had not been the right choice for an outfit today.
"Hallo' maim I am Kolie" The be speckled woman stuck out her gloved hand.
Anne recognized her as the woman on the screen. She gave her a weary smile.
"Anne" She shook Kolie's hand.
"It is pleasure to meet you I have read much about your surgeries-"
"Enough with the chitchat!" Cyra barked "I'm freezing my tits off out here!" She rubbed her hands up and down her arms.
"As much as I hate to agree with Cyra, it is really cold out here and we need to get Shego inside"
"Correct correct, my apologies, come the entrance is just this way."
The group, led by Kolie, walked up the bluff and paused to rest atop it. Kim glanced back at the still burning ULTIMA just in time to see it explode.
Kolie whimpered. "Fion is going to kill me!"
"Come on ya dumb ass! I'm freaking cold!" Cyra shouted and grabbed the blonde woman. Kolie found herself being dragged by the collar to the entrance of the mountain.
"Here I'll take Shego yeah? Put her in medical bay you warm up first" Kolie offered. The group was standing in an antechamber of the mountain, brushing off the snow from their hair and clothes.
"I'll come with you" Kim said firmly, shaking her head
"But you should really-
The shorter red head fixed Kolie with a look that a look that broached no argument.
Kolie gulped. "Eh if you insist"
"I do" Kolie nodded and turned to Cyra.
"Cyra, please give Doctor Possible some tea, she looks about to pass out."
"My pleasure!" The brunette slung her arm over Anne's shoulders, intending to steer the doctor towards the meeting room.
Anne shrugged Cyra's lanky arm off her shoulders and stepped closer to Kolie "Wait, I'm going with you."
"She'll be fine come get warm and you can see her later" Cyra drawled.
"No, I'm the doctor here and I'm coming with you!"
Kolie and Kim exchanged glances. "H'okay! Right this way."
The two red heads followed Kolie down a corridor and into the medical bay, which was only one small room crammed with a hospital bed, cabinets and a wheelchair. Kim gently placed Shego down on the hospital bed and unwrapped her from the thermal blanket.
Tapping her chin Kolie surveys the room "I think I got everything you'll require but if not make list and I get it for you, yes?"
"This will be fine, thank you" Anne looked around, finding a drawer labeled 'Surgical supplies' in neat handwriting. She snapped on clear gloves and pulled a scalpel out of the drawer.
"I'm just going to give her some water and check on her wounds" Kim reached for Shego's hand and held on to it tightly. "She was severely dehydrated; I started to give water on ship but…"
"Here, hook her up to this it will replenish nutrients and give calcium for strong bones" Kolie pulled a bag of murky white liquid from a metal cabinet mounted on the wall.
Anne took it and dutifully attached it to Shego's IV "She must have been in a lot of pain."
"Yes and after too, when our bodies start to heal they reknit all things broken or torn. We become super sensitive and have a heightened response to pain and, uh pleasure." Kolie coughed and continued. "Before we engineered this mixture we had to eat pounds of raw meat and liver to heal properly. Blech" Kolie shivered in disgust. Eating raw liver was not a present activity.
Kim stood silently, absorbing and filing this information away for a later date.
The older red head nodded. The doctor took the scalpel and carefully cut Shego's bloody clothes away. Blushing, Kim turned around to face the wall.
"I've never seen anything like this before! Anne gasped in amazement as more of Shego's pale flesh came into view. The once gaping bleeding wounds were now much smaller; the healed wounds left no scars. Anne gently prodded Shego's ribs collar bone and arms; she found that most of the woman's bones were healed.
"We heal quite rapidly" Kolie replied.
Anne already knew this on some level, but seeing it with her own eyes made it all the more real. She dipped a cotton ball into a bowl of water Kolie had provided and started to clean the wounds.
"I'm just going to clean her up, help me roll her." The younger redhead turned around and helped her mother roll Shego onto her stomach.
"If you all heal like that where did these scars come from?"
"A man named Silas." The blonde woman's face contorted into a mask of pain.
When the blonde woman offered up no further response, Kim's mother went back to work extracting shrapnel and cleaning Shego's wounds.
Ten minutes later, Doctor Possible put down her tweezers and cracked her neck. "Ok all done. I'll just leave her to rest" Shego was now dressed in a light blue hospital gown and resting peacefully.
Kolie smiled warmly. "Very good! Is very late now, and we have all had a tiring day so perhaps I show you to your rooms?"
Kim and her mother both nodded tiredly.
The younger redhead glanced one last time at the sleeping green woman before following the women out.
/
Kim awoke late at night to the sounds of hushed whispering outside her door. Her alarm clock read "4:20 am in bright read letters. She groaned and rolled over. It is way too early to be up. Quietly, she got up from her bed and tip-toed over to her door. She opened it just a crack and peered out.
"I don't trust you Cyra!" Kim recognized the accented voice as Kolie's
"Whaaaat?" Cyra whispered back incredulously.
"Three years. No contact. Not even a whisper!" Kolie jabbed Cyra in the chest "You weren't with us when we helped Shego before but you suddenly show up now?" The blonde woman leaned in "I'm not buying it!"
"Come on man it wasn't a big deal-"
"It was a big deal!" Kolie slammed her palms into the wall on either side of Cyra's head.
"Shego was almost captured then and again today because of you!"
"What are you taking about?" Cyra's yellow eye narrowed.
"I saw you Cyra! You were the one who attacked her first in Baidoa, you were the one who gave her those wounds and you were the one who gave her some unknown drug to 'help her sleep'!
"Accidents Kolie, they were just accidents!"
"Bullshit!" Kolie growled in harsh Russian. "I don't know what your motive is, but I will find out. The blonde woman gave Cyra a final glare, and stormed off. Cyra leaned against wall for a few seconds before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. Shoving herself off the wall, Cyra took a long drag, and blew out the toxic smoke. She smiled to herself and made her way to her room.
Kim watched this all with rapt attention.
/
Kim awoke for the second time that morning but this time, instead of angry whispers assaulting her ears, a pleasant aroma of coffee and pancakes wafted into her nose. She smiled and got dressed.
Descending the spiral staircase she saw that pancakes and waffles along with coffee orange juice and milk covered the large table instead of the usual papers. Her mother was already seated at the table along with Cyra and Kolie.
"Ah, good morning Kim!" Kolie addressed her looking up from her newspaper.
"Morning Kimmie Cub!" Anne said brightly, smiling at her daughter
"Mom!" The younger red head shouted
Cyra sputtered and spat out her cereal. She laughed and banged her fist on the table. "Kimmie Cub! That's the best one yet!" Cyra continued to laugh at Kim's expense until a Brazilian woman wearing an apron and a chef's hat strode in and whacked her over the head with a spoon.
"Hush Cyra!" The newcomer scolded Cyra in a Brazilian accent. "Lord knows I have a few nicknames for you, do you want me to tell Kim all of them" The darker woman questioned.
"No…" Cyra conceded, rubbing the back of her head.
"That's what I thought" She smirked and turned her attention to Kim. "Oh, you must be Kim! Pleasure to meet you!" She offered her hand to Kim "Name's Sade, Kolie here has told me a lot about you!" Sade shook Kim's pale hand vigorously.
"All Good things I hope!" The redhead said sheepishly
"The very best!" Sade abandoned her hand, opting to lean on Kolie instead.
Kolie blushed at the contact but did not look up from her paper.
Kim's mother continued; "Sade just flew in from Brazil!"
"W-wow! Brazil! How was your plane ride?" Kim accepted a steaming cup of coffee from he mother.
"Oh, I didn't take a plane, I flew." Sade winked.
Kim furrowed her brow, not quite understanding. "O-kay…"
"Oh for fucks sake." Cyra said. "She has wings! Big giant fluffy white wings!"
Sade whipped the spoon at Cyra's head "Language!"
"Oh. OH!" Kim said, finally understanding
Sade smiled and nodded vigorously.
"That's really amazing…"
Anne looked at her watch and decided it was time to check in on Shego. She set her coffee cup down and reached across the table to Kolie. "Kolie?"
Kolie started at the touch. She cleared her throat "Yes Doctor?"
"Could you show me where the medical bay is again; I need to check on Shego."
"Ah, yes right this way" Kolie folded the newspaper and took a sip of her orange juice. Anne put her hands on Kim's shoulders, interrupting her conversation with Sade. "Sorry honey, I'm just going to check on Shego quickly"
"Oh, I'll come with you!"
"No, you stay here and eat your breakfast. You can come by after you're done"
"Yeah, you gotta try these pancakes!" Cyra piped up, her mouth full of said pancakes
"Alright."
Anne smiled and turned to leave. Kolie was waiting for her by the door. The short walk to the medical room was silent. Kolie cleared her throat upon arrival. "Well, here we are"
She opened the door for the doctor, allowing Anne to enter first "Now, I made some adjustments…" Anne noticed the metal cuffs that held Shego's arms and legs down to the bed, keeping her immobile. "She won't like it, frankly I don't like it but-"
"Then why?" Anne questioned her angrily.
"For safety! Fion was able to harvest the black box from the ULTIMA and I saw what she was like on there!" Kolie bellowed.
"I just don't want anyone getting hurt." Kolie sighed heavily. "I will be back in a moment, I am just going to grab my newspaper." The blonde woman said softly, not meeting the doctors blue eyes.
Anne nodded silently and watched as the door closed behind the blonde woman, leaving her alone with Shego.
/
Everything hurt. It felt like someone had been jabbing needles into every pore on her body, then lighting them on fire somehow. She couldn't bring herself to move as someone checked her pulse.
"Shego?" A voice said "Do you remember where you are" The green woman began to stir and move slightly at the sound of the distorted voice. A voice that sounded too much like- Shego's eyes snapped open. She blinked as she tried to focus past the pain well enough to understand what was going on. Green eyes cleared and looked up directly into a pale be speckled face. Her eyes widened in terror as the man smiled down at her. "Nonononono I left you behind!" Shego moaned trying to free herself from the metal restraints "No you didn't I'm right here with you." Silas wisped harshly in her ear
"Shego do you know who I am? Shego"! Silas warped into a red head his voice turned more feminine, his prematurely gray hair shifting into familiar red.
It had to be a trick! That woman, she was always crawling around in her head. Invading her thoughts, her emotions. It had to be her!
Even though the rational part of her mind knew this, it didn't stop her from burning through the metal cuffs that held her hands down. An acrid smell of burn metal filled the room as the superheated metal pooled onto the table
Freeing her hand s of the restraints she tore at her eyes, trying desperately to clear her vision of Silas.
Meanwhile, Doctor Possible had backed up into a metal cabinet and was rifling through it looking for anything to defend herself with
By now, Shego had burned through the leg restraints and was now standing up, albeit shakily. "Why did you put her inside me?" She whispered as she advanced towards Doctor Possible.
"Shego-" Her hands found a scalpel and she clutched on to it "I'm not Silas" Anne said firmly.
In a flash Shego was upon her, with her hand around the Doctor's throat.
"Yes you are, you're Silas and you put them in my head!" She loomed over the redhead
"What are they?" Shego pressed on Anne's throat hard enough to leave bruises. Anne looked deep into unfamiliar green orbs and stabbed Shego in the neck.
The taller woman screamed in pain and clutching her neck, dropping the doctor in the process "You and you're stupid fucking scalpel!" Shego hissed, pulling the bloodied scalpel from her neck. Shego lunged but stopped short and fell to her knees, clutching her head
"No, shut up! Not now!" Get it out getitoutgetitout. Shego began to bash her head against the wall, all the while muttering "get out get out!" Anne could do nothing but watch as the wall became streaked with blood from Shego's head. Thankfully, Kolie returned a few seconds later, with Kim in tow and forcibly jabbed the raven haired woman in her temples. Shego collapsed with a groan. Kim kneels beside her mother "Mom" She started softly "Can you tell me what happened?"
"I-I don't know" The blue eyed doctor replied shakily.
"Did she say anything?"
"I think she thought I was Silas, she said" Anne paused "She said there was someone in her head- a woman!"
Kolie's brows furrowed in confusion
What happened to you Shego?
"Let me take a look at you in the other room yes?" Kolie kneeled beside the shaken woman.
/
Two days since the incident. Two days and Shego was still sleeping. Her mother assured her that Shego was not in a coma but that didn't stop Kim's worries. So Kim sat with the sleeping woman. Reading her stories or just talking with her. Kim couldn't help but think that it was a little weird, to be caring for your arch nemesis. Ex nemesis. Kim reminded herself. Shego wasn't a thief anymore, or her arch foe. So what was she to Kim? Sure they had kissed that one time but Kim wasn't like that. Was she? Kim groaned. Stupid Shego and your stupid lips! The hero thought bitterly You're very plump, kissable lips.
Kim felt herself leaning in closer to Shego's face, she felt herself about to kiss the green woman-
Shego's eyes snapped open "What are you doing?" She croaked
Kim threw herself back so fast she almost fell out of her chair "I uh-" A rosy blush blossomed on Kim's cheeks, much to Shego's amusement.
"Shego!" Doctor Anne Possible yanked back the light blue curtain. "Glad to see you're awake!" She said cheerily, oblivious to the tension in the room and offered Shego a small cup of water, which the green woman gladly accepted.
What the fuck? "Who the hell are you?" Looks down at the hospital gown she was clad in "Where the hell am I?" Did I have another black out? Shego groanedas she sat up. Glancing around the room, she found that she recognized the familiar equipment and faded wallpaper. Oh man... "I'm in Norilsk aren't I?"
Kim nodded slowly.
"And you're here" She pointed to Kim "Along with….." Shego glanced at the older red head while she pulled out the long needle connecting her to the bag of fluid.
"I'm Dr. Possible, Kimmie's mom. Don't you remember?" Anne tilted her head in question.
Shego furrowed her brow and shook her head slightly "Ok…" she began slowly "So even if I am at the mountain that doesn't explain what the hell you two are doing here"
The older red head glanced at Kim then back at Shego "Shego…do you remember anything, anything at all? About Somalia or Drakken?"
The green woman looked at her quizzically Somalia? "Last thing I remember is going grocery shopping for Dr. D….."
Shego inhaled a breath of fresh air as she stepped into the cool cave laboratory. How nostalgic. Shego had taken upon herself to check on the blue doctor every few weeks. "Yo Doc!" she called, not seeing the blue man at his usual table. A door clanged open, revealing a soot covered Drakken carrying a tray of mechanical equipment "Ah Shego! Nice of you to visit!" Shego smiled. Same old Drakken. "How've you been Doc?" "Oh fine, fine. I've been working on something new and exciting!
"Care to share?" Shego peered over his shoulder.
"This is top secret Shego!" He covered his project with his gloved hands "Only the highest level of security bearing persons can see this!
"All right all right, sheesh!" She put her hands up in surrender.
Shego pulled open the refrigerator door and was immediately assaulted with the smell of rotten food and spoiled milk Oh sick! She quickly slammed the door shut. "Christ D, when's the last time you went shopping?"
"Hmm, last week maybe? The blue man replied distractedly, still hunched over the table, hard at work on his project Had to be longer than that, those potatoes were practically growing legs! Shego thought. "Doc, how bout I go pick us up something edible and make you a nice meal?"
"Yes fine, that sounds nice"
"All right is there anything you want?"
"Hm..? just some coco moo" The blue man said, still not looking up from his work Him and that damn 'coco moo'
Shego chuckled and rolled her eyes "Gotcha" She grabbed her keys and walked over to the door she entered from but stopped short, remembering something "Oh I almost forgot, I got you a refill on your pills" Pulling a paper bag from her leather coat she tossed it too the blue man.
"Thank you Shego" he said sincerely, looking up from his work.
Shego nodded "Don't forget to take 'em ok?" she said solemnly, and then spoke in a lighter voice "Be back in a bit!"
It was a beautiful sunny day in Peru. A warm breeze carried the smells of food and fruit flowers as Shego walked through the market place carrying bags of delicious food. The light reflected off her dark sunglasses and she smiled as three young boys ran in front of her laughing and shouting. She inhaled deeply and smiled. She was always partial to Peru. Shego was broken out of her pleasant thoughts buy the sounds of approaching helicopters. As they flew overhead she immediately recognized them as GJ attack helicopters, headed straight for… "Drew!" She dropped her bags and ran, but to no avail the helicopters fired directly into the part of the Drakkens new home was built. She watched, as did many other locals in horror as it exploded. Hot tears leaked from her eyes as burning pain started in the back of her head. The pain grew and everything went black.
Fragmented images of strange places and people came flooding back to her in a rush. Memories stuck to her mind, like dried blood. The faces of the people she killed washed over her like a river. She saw their faces, covered in blood as she stood over them.
"Oh god." Shego clamped a pale green hand over her mouth. She shot off the hospital bed and darted to the sink. Her stomach lurched and up came bile.
Kim listened to the heaving choking sobs and felt helpless.
"He's dead, they're all dead and it's my entire fucking fault!" Shego gripped the metal counter tightly.
Kim reached out to place a comforting hand on Shego's shaking shoulder, but stopped when the green woman flinched away.
"It's all right Shego" Anne said quietly, hoping to calm the young woman down.
"Alright? No, nothing is alright! You don't know a damn thing!" She whirled around and glared at the doctor "I did that," Shego said, looking at the bruises on Anne's face and neck "and I –" She glanced at Kim, her eyes filled with sadness. "I almost-" She closed her eyes together tightly, willing herself not to cry.
"Where's Kolie?" The raven haired woman asked quietly, her eyes still closed. She clenched her fists.
"I-I don't know but I can call her-"
Shego cut the doctor off with an angry shout
"I need to talk to Kolie right now!"
Not waiting for a reply, Shego moved to the door and flung it open, dashing out into the dim hall way with Kim hot on her trail.
/
"How nice, a big old family reunion" Shego said sarcastically, stepping into the meeting room. Sade, Kolie and Cyra were seated at the table.
"Shego!" Sade said in surprise.
"You're awake!"
"And very angry" Cyra said biting her nails.
"Shut up Cyra." Shego fixed her blazing emerald eyes on Kolie "I need answers from you Kolie. Now."
Kolie chucked nervously as Shego stepped closer to her.
"What can I do for you Shego?"
"Explain to me why you brought them here!" Shego grabbed Kolie by her collar and slammed her body onto the cluttered table.
"H-Help, for you!" Kolie sputtered.
Shego's green eyes widened. She wound up her fist, intent on beating the blonde woman to a pulp.
"You brought humans here to help? And not just any humans, my rival and her mother! What the fuck Kolie?" She spat at the blonde woman.
"Shego." A firm voice behind her said. Sade gripped the green woman's arm tightly, preventing Shego's fist from hitting Kolie.
"Stay the hell out of it Sade!" Shego snarled, her eyes still fixed on the struggling Kolie. "This doesn't concern you."
"When you threaten a member of this team, especially one that helped save your life, it kind of does" Kim arrived just in time to see Sade's hands turn into crystal.
"What the hell is going on?" Kim said to herself.
"Oh ho ho shit!" Cyra chuckled from her spot beside the redhead
"Cyra! what-"
"Don't you worry Red! Shit like this happens all the time!" Cyra said lightly, munching on some popcorn.
"And you!" Shego had shook off Sade's hands and was now approaching a terrified Cyra
"Oh man-!"
A blast of green fire shot from Shego's fist and hit Cyra straight in the chest, sending her flying into the wall. "That" Shego started "Is for stabbing me in the neck with your fucking needles!"
Panting Shego surveys the room. Sade was helping Kolie; Cyra was buried under broken dishes and Kim…. Kim had seen all of it. Damn.
The green womanglared at the shorter red head before moving past her. "I'm so outta here"
"Wait Shego you can't just leave!" Kolie called out to her.
"Yeah? Watch me." She raised a green finger in salute and walked briskly out of the room.
Kim hurried after her.
"Shego! Wait a minute!" Kim panted. Trying to keep up with a pissed off Shego was hard work.
Shego paid her no attention and continued walking. Coming to a door she yanked it off its hinges and tossed it into the tundra. Still clad in the pale blue hospital gown, Shego took a step out into the snow. It melted beneath her feet.
Kim shivered as the icy wind cut through her clothes.
"You'll freeze!" Kim shouted over the howling wind.
"Correction, you'll freeze" Shego said smartly.
"Shego come back," Kim pleaded desperately "At least stay the night, I won't even bug you!"
Shego stood there, her eyes turned sky ward as she mulled the offer over. She turned, and made her way back over to Kim. The red head gulped. "You'd better not," the raven haired woman said with a smile, slapping Kim's cheek lightly "Or I'll knock those pearly whites down that pretty throat of yours" Shego brushed by the shorter woman. Kim stood there for a few moments longer before turning to follow Shego back into the mountain.
Sade was now unearthing Cyra from the pile of junk she was buried under. "So Shego, I'm glad you decided to stay!"
"Shut up; is my room where I left it?"
Kolie nodded. Shego stormed up the spiral stair case.
/
An hour or two later, Shego reappeared. She had changed out of the hospital gown and was now wearing her usual colors. A bright green t-shirt and black leather pants that hugged her curves in all the right places. Kim trailed her eyes down and back up the green woman's voluptuous body. Kim blushed as their eyes met. Shego had been watching Kim, watch her.
Oh god. Kim quickly looked away from Shego's smirking face.
"Oh good, I was just about to call for you!" Kolie addressed Shego as the raven haired woman pulled out a chair and sat down across from the blushing redhead.
Shego didn't reply or acknowledge that she heard Kolie in any way. Instead, she propped her booted feet on the table, pulled a nail file out of her pocket and began to sharpen her nails. Kim smiled slightly at the sight. Some things never change.
Kolie rubbed the back of her neck "Well, um we wanted to ask Kim something," the be speckled woman started hesitantly. "And we would like your opinion…" Kolie jerked her head to the kitchen, signaling Sade who was seated next to the blonde woman.
Sade nodded and turned to Doctor possible. "Want to help me make dinner?"
"I'd love too!" the doctor replied, getting up.
Kim pulled a face. This is so weird
"Anything but borsch!" Cyra called to the two women "I'll go crazy if I have another bowl of that slop!" She grumbled. Kolie looked slightly offended, but addressed Kim
"So uh anyways, Cyra Fion and I have been wanting to ask, would you want to stay on as permanent member of our team?"
Cyra nodded in support. "Seeing you work in Baidoa, and on the ULTIMA got us thinkin' that we could really use somebody as levelheaded as you."
Huh? Kim stared, mouth slightly agape at the two women. Did that really just happen?
"No fucking way!" Shego yelled, slamming her hands on the table.
Kolie curled her lip "What if she wants to?" She challenged the fuming green woman.
"Tough fucking shit! I don't want her here!" Shego retorted.
"Well I'd be willing to give it a shot-" Kim started.
Shego snorted, interrupting the younger woman. "You know what, fine! If Princess here can make it through ten minutes of a Ruin video, she can stay." The raven haired woman offered her hand to Kim "Deal?"
"Seems fair." Cyra shrugged.
"What, no! There is no reason for her to see that!" The blonde woman exclaimed, jumping out of her seat.
Ignoring Kolie's protest ,Kim grasped the green hand and shook it firmly. "Deal"
Smirking, Shego called for the computer. "Fion! Pull up video XI-831909"
"Shego, why are you doing this?" Kolie said lowly.
The woman in question grabbed Kim's chair and turned it around, so the redhead was facing the monitor. "If she wants to be part of this team then she needs to know what we do, where we came from"
"'Sides, you wanted to know who Ruin was didn't you?" At the red head's nod Shego smiled and leaned in close to Kim. Shego's warm breath tickled Kim's ear "Watch and learn Pumpkin."
Cyra hit the lights bathing the room in darkness. The huge monitor lit up, casting an eerie blue glow onto the woman's faces.
"Streaming now" Fion informed them.
Kim gulped. No turning back now.
I can do this.
Loud hysterical laughter accompanied by the sounds of clanging metal filled the cavernous room before any images appeared on the screen. Kim jumped at the sounds.
The video was grainy, the colors distorted and static flashed through it periodically. Despite this, Kim was able to make out the center of the video's attention. A blonde woman, the source of the laughter appeared on the screen. She was chained to a wall, her nude body covered in crisscrossing scars and open wounds, blonde hair covered her eyes. Kim looked closely at the woman, who looked almost exactly like Kolie. Deep rich laughter boomed from someplace behind the camera. Foreign words were spoken and soon a jovial young man dressed in a military uniform walked in front of the camera and approached the blonde woman. He was carrying a cattle prod in his hands and a revolver hung at this side. The man walked over to the still laughing woman, with the camera following close behind and yanked on the back of the woman's neck, forcing her head up. Blonde hair fell away from her face to reveal inverted eyes. Black where the white should be and, yellow where the black should be. Kim stifled a gasp. The man wrenched the blonde woman's jaw open and forced the cattle prod down her throat. Her pointed teeth scraped against the metal and she gaged. Kim looked away as the man flipped the switch, turning the device on. She heard muffled laughter and the zap of electricity as it coursed through the scarred woman's body. Suddenly there was silence; Kim turned her eyes back to the screen. Her olive eyes widened as she saw the woman bite through the metal rod still lodged in her throat. The woman smiled as she did so, eliciting panicked shouts from the two men. The man let go of the cattle prod and took a step back, fumbling with his gun. The woman continued to chew on the metal rod, grinding it up into small jagged pieces. Blood dripped from her mouth as she spat the shards into the first man's face. He screamed in pain, clutching his face. The camera man dropped the camera and opened fire on the chained woman. She laughed loud and low, as the bullets hit her again and again. She sat there, waiting until his gun was empty. When it was, she tugged at her chains successfully pulling them from the wall and lunged at the man.
Off screen, Kim heard a blood curdling scream and watched as a shower of blood over the camera. The first man was still writhing in the corner of the screen. Kim could just barely make out the woman, as she stood over the man and savagely tore into his stomach with her teeth. The screen went black, signaling the end of the clip.
Kim sat there, frozen in place. I can't do this
"That is Ruin, Kolie's twin sister" Shego said quietly.
"Her name is Devon!" Kolie shouted, she slammed her fist on the table making Cyra jump. "Her name is Devon."
"Sorry," Shego said, not sounding apologetic at all "Why don't you tell her about ruin Kolie?"
"Devon," The blonde woman stressed the name, glaring daggers at Shego "Is in fact my twin sister. I do not remember much of her before the meteor hit us so I cannot comment on her mental state then. But after," Kolie scrubbed her hands over her face "Her mind seemed broken completely, something happened and her mind it split, creating two different people. Ruin, her protector the monster you saw and Devon my sister. She is Silas's favorite, his prodigy. Unable to feel pain and able to move the ground and even penetrate others minds makes her a formidable opponent."
Shego stiffened at the admission.
"So those are her powers?"
Kolie nodded her head.
"This is who you're gonna be fighting" Shego said harshly "Cannibals, people who eat other people and kill them for fun. Still think you can do this?"
Kim looked from Shego's eyes to the blank screen and back again. She offered no response to Shego's question. Instead, she got out of her seat and slowly made her way up the spiral staircase.
"Well that went well…" Cyra snorted
"That was cruel Shego!" Kolie scolded the dark haired woman. "You shouldn't have showed her that video!"
Shego shrugged it off "She wanted to know. Who am I to stop her?" Smiling slightly, Shego brushed by the fuming blonde woman "If you need me I'll be in the dojo."
Kim tentatively knocked on the door to the dojo. Figuring the green woman wouldn't be able to hear her over the pounding music, Kim slowly pushed the mahogany door open. Her olive eyes settled on a sweaty Shego practicing various fighting styles. She stood in the door way watching as Shego executed many forms of fighting styles . Some Kim recognized others she didn't. Shego noticed the red head after a few minutes. She turned off music, allowing Kim to speak.
"What are you doing?"
"Practicing." Shego said simply.
"Practicing…..?"
Shego rolled her eyes "I guess I'll show you since you helped me learn it."
At Kim's confused expression Shego shrugged and walked over to the wall where a loose electrical wire was exposed. "If you hadn't kicked me into that tower I never would have learned this"
Green fingers gripped the exposed wire. Shego started as a jolt of electricity shot through her. Concentrate. She raised her other arm sky ward and pointed with two fingers at the ceiling. She grimaced as blisters started to form on her arms. Sweat dripped from Shego's face as she let the energy that was building within her go, sending a bolt of green electricity into the ceiling. Panting, she dropped the wire and slumped against the wall.
"Doesn't it hurt?" The younger woman asked quietly.
"Every time." The green woman looked at her arm and flexed. The blisters were almost completely healed. Grabbing a towel off the hook on the wall Shego addressed Kim "So, what the hell do you want?" She dabbed at her forehead.
Kim shifted. "I want to stay as part of the team"
Shego snorted and a wiped the back of her neck "Well, you've got guts I'll give you that"
Kim paled as she was reminded of Ruin ripping the intestines out of a man.
Shego chuckled at the younger woman's expression.
"Come on Kimmie! You're a good crime fighter, but this blood and guts stuff? You don't have the stomach for it."
Kim clenched her fists "I can do it!" She retorted angrily. "Why won't you give me a chance?"
Like a shark circling her prey Shego advanced on Kim. "Little miss perfect," She started in a low voice "Thinks she can do anything. Well I've got news for you pumpkin, you can't!"
She was inches away from Kim's face now. "This isn't one of the Doc's moronic plans of world domination, where the good guys always win, this is real. People die, hero's die. Every day."
"I know that!" Kim said angrily.
"Do you? Do you really?" Shego leaned in even closer. Their faces were only millimeters apart. All kim had to do was lean in and her lips would be on Shego's once again. "Then why are you still here?"
No! I'm not gay! With a roar Kim launched herself at Shego.
Shego laughed and side stepped Kim's attack, tripping her in the process. She fired a blast of plasma at the younger woman's torso; Kim predictably rolled away from the blast and jumped back up.
"You've been going easy on me, haven't you!"
Shego let loose a bark of laughter "Figured it out did ya?"
"Yeah" Kim panted. "I don't know why it didn't click sooner, but in Somalia when I saw you take down those men-"
Shego flinched, remembering how the blood stuck to her that night. "Yeah well," She sent a blast of green fire Kim's way, just missing the woman's head "I couldn't exactly send you to the hospital every time we sparred now could I?"
"Sparing? That's what our fights are to you?""
"Bingo!" The green woman winked which enraged Kim further. "But even Dr. D told you to kill me!" The red head threw a punch "You could have easily done so multiple times but you didn't. Why?"
A dark look crosses the older woman's face. "Killing isn't easy Kimmie. And believe it or not I'm not a fucking puppet." She gritted out, running towards Kim, her hands ablaze.
"'Sides you were a teenager. I may be evil but I'm not that twisted" Kim twisted to avoid Shego's claws. Despite her best efforts, her talons ripped through Kim's shirt, grazing the flesh underneath.
"You're not evil!" The hero lunged at Shego, who deftly avoided the attack.
She snorted "Yeah, ok." Sarcasm was evident in her voice.
"I'm serious!" Take me seriously damn it!
"Whatever, we done here? I need a shower." Shego was getting tired of talking. As Kim ran at her yet again, Shego grabbed her wrists and flung her to the opposite side of the room, where she rolled into the wall.
Kim grunted and looked up. Shego was standing over her, offering her a hand up. She took the pale green hand and found herself pulled up halfway, so that Shego was looming over her, black lips almost touching her ear. "You should clean yourself up too Kimmie. You look like shit."
Shego let go of Kim's slim hand and pushed her back down on the mat. Chuckling, the green woman sashayed out of the dojo and into the adjoining showers.
Kim landed with an 'oof'. "Yeah I'll do that!" She blew the hair out of her face. Bitch.
Kim grabbed her towel and stormed off into her own private shower.
"Yeah I'll do that? Great comeback Possible! What are you sixteen again?"
Damn it damn it damn it.
/
Shego stretched as she got out of the shower. She grabbed a fluffy white towel from the rack and wrapped herself in it. There's nothing like a hot shower after a good sparing session.
Wiping the steam off the mirror, Shego stares at her reflection Damn I look tired. Tired and old.
"You can't run forever "A low voice said from the mirror. Shego's own reflection warped into a pale blonde woman, not unlike Kolie. Scars and stitches that danced along the blonde woman's neck torso and arms.
Ruin "You!"
The woman in mirror licked her lips smiled, revealing rows of jagged pointy teeth.
"Miss me?" She spoke in a voice that sounded like gravel on sandpaper.
"Fuck you! You don't scare me anymore!" Shego lied gripping the towel tighter.
"Liar!" The blonde woman shouted, and then continued in a softer, almost comforting voice "Do this for me, do that for me… Aren't you tired of killing for me Shego? Want it all to end? You know what to do." The woman in the mirror put two fingers to her head and flexed her thumb. A gunshot echoed around the room and blood and brain matter spattered on Shego's face. She flinched and stumbled back.
"Or maybe you like it" Ruin was behind her now, her foreboding presence making the hairs on the back of Shego's neck stand up. "The killing. Being drenched in sweet innocent blood" Shego could feel Ruin's wet tongue as it slid up her neck and onto her cheek "So tasty".
Shego gulped but did not turn to face her apparition "Y-you're not real Ruin" she stuttered out. You can't be real.
Ruin's lip curled up and a growl, she smashed Shego's head into the tiled wall. "Stupid cunt!" Satisfied when blood began to drip from the green woman's head, Ruin let Shego go and watched as she crumpled into the ground. Kneeling on the damp tiles of the shower stall, Ruin smiled at Shego. "I'm real to you, and that's all that matters." The scarred woman whispered in a green ear. Shego felt her hot breath on her face. It reeked of carrion. Shego resisted the urge to gag.
"I'll let you in on a little secret 'cause I like you so much," The scarred woman patted Shego's head and got up. Walking back over to the mirror, she cackled "He's coming for you next!"
"NO!" Shego screamed and smashed the mirror she was standing in front of. Thirty-two Shego's stared back at her. Sixty-four eyes: emerald eyes, accusing, soft, wretched. Crimson blood flowed from the wound in her hand as Ruin's laughter echoed and faded around her. Shego was left alone in the silent room with thirty-two pieces of mirror. On the floor, the scattered shards catch the light and dazzle like flames.
She hadn't moved. Ruin wasn't really there with her. Shego closed her eyes in relief.
"You ok Shego?"
Kim's concerned voice startled Shego out of her ravine.
"Yeah," She cleared her throat "Just saw a spider" She retracted her hand and flexed it a few times.
A few minutes later Shego exited the shower bundled up in a coat, scarf and mittens. Kim was leaning against the wall near the shower, waiting for her.
"Going somewhere?" Kim queried innocently.
Shego wasn't buying it. "Yeah." She replied, narrowing her eyes at the redhead "Out." She brushed by Kim without another glance. Shego quickly descended the stairs and slipped into a a narrow corridor before Kim could catch up to her.
"Do you think that's wise, letting her go like that?" Kim asked Kolie, coming to the bottom of the stairs
"Probably not" The woman shrugged, eyes never leaving her newspaper "But maybe this way you'll get to talk to her yes?"
The younger woman nodded and grabbed a warm looking coat, hat and scarf from the closet. She dashed off down the hall way. Several seconds later she poked her head back in the door way.
"Hey Kolie, did you see where-"
"Second door on your right, then turn left, right and go straight" Kolie replies, sipping her tea.
"Thanks!"
Kolie nodded tersely. Women.
/
Kim followed Kolie's directions and soon found herself face to face with a tall wooden door.
She looked at it warily.
Kolie had warned her not to open any doors, specifically dusty rusted door such as this one. She had told Kim that there might be skeletons lurking behind them. Real dead people skeletons, not figurative secret skeletons. The thought made Kim shiver despite her relative warmth. Still, she figured that where ever Shego was going lay right behind this door.
Gripping the brass doorknob tightly she scrunched her eyes closed and prepared to be attacked by skeletons.
She was pleasantly surprised however when the door swung open to reveal a small storage area that was devoid of skeletons. Kim sighed in relief and stepped through the doorway and into the storage room. The door swung shut behind her but she didn't notice, preoccupied with the task of finding a way out of the room. Spying an exit sign at the far end of the room the redhead jogged towards it. Stumbling over a loose floorboard Kim crashed into the swinging door and found herself flung out of the storage room and into the main bar room, where she landed on her hands and knees. The bar patrons looked up from their drinks for a moment, glaring at the new comer. Kim picked herself up and waved sheepishly. The patron's turned back to their drinks silently.
Kim heard Shego's voice by the end of the bar and approached her. There, at the end of the bar sat Shego. Three places separated her from the closest bar patron.
The green woman was too busy ordering and drinking a green drink t to notice Kim's arrival. It was only when Kim sat down on the stool next to her that Shego seemed to notice the redhead. The green woman groaned and put her head on the table. "What in God's name do you want?" She whined.
Kim gathered her courage and spoke; "Why did you kiss me?" Kim asked quietly.
"Huh?" Was Shego's slightly slurred response. She downed the rest of her drink.
"Why did you kiss me and then leave right after?" The redhead said, louder this time "You disappeared! Poof! Gone! For four months Shego, I didn't know where you were or if you were ok-"
"Like that ever bothered you before!" Shego hissed.
"You were working for my arch foe back then!" Kim shot back angily
"So what, nothing's changed! Just 'cause Drakken's dead doesn't mean im any less evil then before." The green woman turned back to her drink.
"Yes it has, something has changed." Kim said softly "I didn't care whether you lived or died back then but now I-" She bit her lip and glanced down at the warped floorboards "I think I really like you Shego."
Oh no. This was NOT happening.
Shego pursed her black lips "I'm not nearly drunk enough for this conversation" she said to Kim "Try me again in about four shots." The raven haired woman flagged the bartender down.
"You want anything?" She asked Kim quietly.
"Uh water please." Kim croaked, willing herself not to cry.
Shego spoke to the bartender in fluent Russian.
It suddenly dawned in the green woman that Kim might not be legal. "Wait, you're legal right?"
"I'm twenty three, Shego." The younger woman replied bitterly. Twenty three and all alone.
"Twenty three huh?" Shego whistled as she trailed her eyes over Kim's body. "You grew up nice." Kim blushed under the green woman's heated gaze.
Kim gratefully accepted the glass of water the bartender brought. Taking a gulp, Kim realized too late that the 'water' was actually vodka.
The redhead pat out the bitter liquid "This isn't water! Its vodka!" She exclaimed to Shego's amusment.
Shego roared with laughter, attracting the eyes of some bar patrons "Vodka means water in Russian!"
Kim blushed and looked down at the table, setting the glass down.
"Come on Kimmie, drink up!" Shego smiled at Kim "Just one." She tilted her own shot glass in invitation.
Why not? Just one won't hurt me "Ok" she returned the smile and lifted the glass to her lips.
A/N:
Wow, I'm almost sorry it took me this fucking long to update this. Almost. Hrmmm..I probably need a betta, but that involves human interaction so that might not happen.
Anyways~ I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who've read and reviewed or favorite this story. Also, good news! I know where this story is going!
Also, I'd like to be able to tell you that the more reviews I get on this, the faster I'll update but I can't, so I won't. Reviews just make me happy so do it, yo!