Chapter 16: Unwelcome guests

Shego opened her eyes; she was surrounded by the familiar black and green sheets of her bed. She breathed in the smell of her room and lifted her head. This wasn't the room she fell asleep in; this wasn't even the time she fell asleep in.

She sat up and scratched her head, the clock on the table read 2:15. Nothing seemed right at all. Was she just having another weird dream? A sudden draft caught her attention; she looked down and rolled her eyes. "Great, just great I'm confused and naked." She slipped out of bed and began searching her house.

The house was empty. "Where the hell is Kim?" She asked herself.

"I think the real question is: why are you naked?" Kim's voice asked from the front door. Kim stood in the doorway with a bag of groceries. "I did laundry yesterday, so you don't have a very good excuse for naked in the middle of the afternoon do you?" She asked as she shut the door.

"I have no idea what's going on. Last night I was getting ready for war in the Amazon nation and now I'm naked in my house, Kimmie what happened?"

Kim blinked for a moment. "Amazon nation? Are you still drunk from night?" She replied as she walked by. Shego followed her to the kitchen.

"I'm not drunk Kimmie. I'm telling you; just last night you and I were fighting a war for the Amazons. There was this freaky ring, and I was killing people in the forest."

Kim smiled as she set the bags on the counter; she shook her head as she walked past. "I think you just had another dream Shego." She called over her shoulder.

Shego stood dumbfounded. Could all that have been a dream? She looked down to see her hand was bare. It very well could have been a long dream. Kim appeared in front of her with some clothes. "It was just a dream. Now get these one, you can't be walking around naked when the guests arrive." She planted a small kiss on Shego's cheek.

"Guests? What guests?"

"Oh just wake up."

"What?"

"Wake up."

888

Shego awoke to the sight of Kim's face looming over her. Shego could only stare up at her with wide eyed surprise. Kim smiled down at her for a moment.

"I thought you would never wake up." Kim stated as she rung out a wet cloth.

"Where am I?" Shego questioned as Kim cleaned the paint off Shego's face.

"Well last I checked you're in the palace. Must have been some dream you were having." She soaked the cloth again and rung it out. "I've never seen you smile in your sleep." She finished cleaning off the paint.

"I'm sure it would have become a nightmare quickly if you hadn't woke me up." Shego replied rolling over onto her side with her back to Kim. She was too tired for conversation, though she knew Kim would continue even with the subtle hint.

"There's the negativity I've been missing, so how was it? How vast is the army she promised?" Kim questioned.

"Oh a dozen strong. We waited a week, in the forest. Froze our asses off…well…they did. I was just bored, than finally who should come to play, but a small group of men. We mowed down most of them and the rest the palace handled. Wasted everyone's time with that. And finally when Bana shows up she's got about a dozen women with her and says the army is a day's march behind them. So now she gets to wait, I'm getting tired of her."

Kim chuckled under her breath. "Try dealing with her for five years. Better yet, sit through three wars with her and you'll know I've how tired I am of her."

Shego laughed. "Three wars huh?" She reached back took hold of Kim pulling her over her side. Kim yelped in surprise. "Someone most think they're tough shit now." Shego said playfully as she held Kim down with her free hand.

"Hey, I think at this point, I'm about as tough as you." Kim replied as she struggled to free herself.

"I'm going to stop you right here, we are not going to break out the battle scars."

"Why not?" Kim whined.

"Because I've been up for the past week and you know damn well I'd win."

Kim pouted at her answer but gave no retort. Shego was moments from another blissful slumber when she heard someone else intruding on her sleep. "Sorry to interrupt you." A sarcastic tone echoed in Shego's ears.

"No you're not. What do you want Antiope? I want to go back to sleep." She allowed Kim to sit up and slip off the bed to pay her respects. Shego sat up and stared blankly at the woman.

"Well then you're going to love the news I have for you. Dion's army has breached the forest. They are on their way to the palace walls now. The queen wants you and the general in the war room now."

Shego growled and leapt off the bed. "You have got to be shitting me! Are you fucking kidding me! Where the hell is Bana? I'm going to kick her ass right now!" Shego stormed around her room searching angrily for her sword.

Antiope raised a curious brow. "I'm sure you will have plenty of time to…beat her beast of burden but right now we have to prepare for the impending attack." With that she turned on a heel and left.

Shego cursed under her breath, grabbing her sword and followed.

888

Shego was the first to storm into the war room. She found the queen table with her head in her hands. Kim and Antiope followed far behind her. The queen lifted her head sighed. "What happened?" She asked Shego in a near whisper.

Shego scoffed and slammed her fist on the talbe. "I'll tell you what happened, Bana must have been slacking off again and…" Antiope stepped forward and placed a heavy hand on Shego's shoulder.

"Allow me. We need not an angry goddess to explain the situation. I believe Bana was over whelmed by the Dion's army before our reinforcements arrived."

Melanippe stepped into the room and quietly scoffed at the explanation. "Over whelmed in deed."

The queen glared at her sister. "I hope you aren't implying anything at such a time dear sister, we have not the time, nor the energy to argue on such a subject. We need to protect the palace and not to mention the women living within it."

Kim unfurled a map on the table. "Her majesty is right; I suggest we evacuate the citizens to our strong hold to the north. If we hurry we can get them there within a day's march."

Antiope clicked her tongue against her teeth. "We don't have a day, we have a few hours at the most and we can't afford to send escorts with them to the stronghold. We need as many warriors as we can get."

"Well we can't keep them here, else we run the risk of serious casualties and possibly worse." Kim spat back.

The queen cleared her throat and both women fell silent. "You both hold a valid point." Both women frowned at one another. "Sister, we need to send our women and children to the stronghold to protect our race. However, general, we cannot afford to send any soldier to escort them. We will simply have to create a diversion to hold Dion back until our citizen's are out of harm's way." She pointed at the map.

"The path is too narrow for the entire army to march upon us in mass, but that will not stop them from trying to surround us through the forest. I trust the traps were set." She looked up at Shego, who smiled devilishly and nodded. "Good, that should thin them out while we distract those on the path. We'll need to keep them at bay until midday. Then we can retreat into the palace and finish them off."

All the women nodded in agreement to the plan, and cleared the room. Melanippe lingered behind with the queen. She looked at her sister with a wary expression. "It is a possibility that Bana…" She was interrupted by the queen holding up her hand.

"I understand your need to protect me and show me the light of certain situations but, now is not the time for such things. Now please, leave me to prepare for battle." Melanippe gave a solemn nod and left the room. The queen returned to resting her head in her hands.

(AN: Okay I want to get this out of the way before anyone says anything. Kim and Shego are not a couple in this story. I know some of you are going to question it with the dream at the beginning of this chapter but save your time, it's purely psychological. I don't want to hear anything about it.)