"A Sarsaparilla and make it quick."
Drakken snapped as the waitress finally arrived to take the drinks order. He didn't even look at her, he was so focussed on the band that were playing.
"Really Shego, I can't believe Hench hired such a bunch of amateurs, I could do better than this"
He got no reply from his partner, not that he expected one, Shego never seemed to take his concerns seriously. In fact Shego hadn't even heard him, she was too busy staring at the apparition before her. Her mouth moved a few times, before she could even speak, and when she finally did, it was an incoherent garble.
"Wha?"
"And look! Dementor's got a much better table than we have." Drakken continued to moan, he was the same every year.
"Your drink?" Kim prompted. She rolled her eyes as she had been through the same routine every table she served.
Blinking quickly, Shego shook her head to jar her mind back into working order. With a quick glance at her boss, who was still looking to see if he had been given a table appropriate to his status, she finally managed to say something sensible.
"Rum and Coke?" she blurted, unable to believe this was really happening.
Kim nodded and walked away leaving Shego to stare at her receding figure until she felt Drakken tugging at her sleeve. Without waiting to see what he wanted, she brushed away his arm, smoothing down the ruffled silk fabric with a distracted frown.
"I've got to . . . powder my nose." she improvised, standing abruptly and hurrying away, leaving her bemused boss to wonder what she was talking about.
"Sarsaparilla? That's gotta be Drakken!"
Kim smiled as the barman rolled his eyes and pretended to stick his fingers down his throat. Initially suspicious of this renowned crimefighter, he had quickly warmed to the way she approached every obstacle with a cheery attitude, regardless of whatever Hench threw at her.
"Got it in one Fred." She smiled back, it was nice to see one friendly face in this gathering of ne'erdowells, at least half of whom she had sent to jail at some time or another. He turned away to get the drinks, and Kim was just about to pick up the order he had already prepared for another table, when a hand reached out and grabbed her elbow. Kim found herself being spun round, and wasn't surprised to be face to face with a fuming Shego.
"Princess, what the fuck are you doing?" Shego hissed, glancing fearfully at the nearest tables where some of Kim's most implacable enemies were sitting, enjoying the show.
"I'm working Shego, what does it look like?" Kim pulled her arm free, and picked up the drinks on the bar, placing them on the large tray she was carrying. "Now if you don't mind, I've got other tables to wait on, I'll bring your drinks over in a minute."
"Are you trying to get killed?" Pulling on Kim's arm once more, Shego caused the younger girl to stumble slightly in her heels, only her finely toned sense of balance prevented drinks spilling all over the floor.
"Come on, I'm getting you out of here."
"Is there a problem ladies?" The measured tones of Hench caused Shego to finally release Kim's arm.
"No problem Mr Hench, I'm just serving table six." Kim took this opportunity to step out of Shego's reach, quickly disappearing from sight as she hurried away.
"I hope you aren't bothering my waitresses Ms Go." Hench's condescending tone put Shego's hackles up, but she was certainly too smart to do anything so stupid as to give the irritating man the smack he deserved. Controlling her temper, she turned and addressed him directly.
"Alright Hench, what is she doing here?"
Jack Hench smiled. Judging by the reactions his guests were having to his temporary workforce, this party was going to be the talking point for years to come.
"I needed some hired help, and young Ms Possible was kind enough to offer." His lips twitched as he saw the spasm of frustration pass over the green woman's face. Shego was the most fun of all his clients when it came to winding them up.
"Yeah right, you just put a call out on her website I suppose." Shego wasn't buying it, there had to be some other reason. "Don't take me for a fool, she'd never agree to this willingly."
"Au contraire, Shego." The smile on Hench's face dipped slightly at the implied insult that he would resort to force to get his own way. "I happened to do the young lady a favour recently, and she was more than happy to reciprocate." The grin was back as he saw the expression on the woman's face.
"What favour, what did you do that would make her do something like this?" Shego leaned in close but Hench wasn't intimidated.
"Now Now Shego, you know I never divulge the business matters of my clients. There is a thing such as client confidentiality you know. I take that very seriously."
Shego wasn't listening. Her mind moved fast when it needed to, and things were starting to fall into place.
"Dammit!" She cursed. Turning away and returning to her seat, only to find Drakken still moaning about some imagined slight to his massive ego. Passing one hand over her eyes, she thought this was going to be a long evening.
Kim sighed as she went back to work. After waiting tables for over two hours, the lights had dimmed and the cabaret started, giving her a chance to take the weight off her feet. It had taken her five minutes to remove those shoes, and other few minutes to rub some feeling back into her toes. Whoever had designed them obviously never wore them for any length of time.
To be honest, she was surprised how well the evening was going. When Hench first dictated his price for replacing the bottle of perfume, she had refused, but he could see how desperate she was and hadn't relented. In the end she had no choice but to give in, although she begun to have serious doubts when she saw the uniform she would have to wear.
Still, a deal was a deal, and although she had been given the tables belonging to all her major foes, he atleast had the decency to give Motor Ed to someone else, so that was something. Plus, after they realised what the situation was, it appeared they got a kick out of having her at their beck and call. Only Senor Senior didn't take advantage, he had been a perfect gentleman all night.
Even serving Drakken and Shego had gone better than expected, the blue man too busy moaning about imagined slights on his status to even notice she was there. True, Shego had made a bit of a scene, but Hench had squashed it before she drew too much attention.
"Come on girls, back to work." One of the bouncers stuck his head round the staff room door. Grumbling, her work colleagues got up and left, leaving Kim to frantically try and do up her shoes, the straps wrapping round her lower calf, as the buckles failed to cooperate. As a result, she was the last one out of the room. Heading back to the main ballroom, she never saw the shadow that detached itself from the wall, intercepting her as she passed through the door.
"In a hurry Princess?" Shego's husky tone brought Kim to an abrupt halt. The older woman, closed the gap between them, causing Kim to back up only to find her back against the door lintel.
"Shego, I've got to get back to work" she said, but her protests were dismissed with a wave of her hand.
"Relax, Hench isn't going to fire you, and even if he did, so what?"
Faced with that logic, Kim had to admit Shego had a point.
"Look, I just want to thank you for the present, you know?" Shego actually sounded uncomfortable, avoiding direct eye contact. "You shouldn't have gone to all this trouble."
"Of course I should." Kim's voice was soft, and she rested one hand on Shego's arm. "I broke that bottle when I had no business being where I was. I couldn't live with myself if I hadn't done everything I could to replace it." She smiled slightly at the sheepish look peering out from under Shego's sleek black hair. "I was glad to do it, this is nothing, really."
"Nothing Huh?" Kim's words had salved Shego's conscience slightly, and for the first time really registered what she was wearing. "You dress like that often?"
Kim blushed as she felt the older woman's eyes rove over her exposed body. "Not as a rule, no." she admitted.
"Pity!" Shego's voice took on a more lascivious tone. "It's much more appealing than that scruffy turtle neck top and combat trousers you insist on wearing." Kim could almost hear the older woman purr as she leered at her.
Her eyes widened as she realised that Shego was actually hitting on her. "Look, Shego, I'm flattered really, but I'm, you know, straight!"
The gap between them vanished as Shego leaned her face up close. Her perfume, that Kim had gone through so much to supply, now filled her olfactory senses, overwhelming them with it's musk. Kim found her breath shortening as the scent filled her head.
"And you've never even been curious what it would be like?" Shego's whisper in her ear sent shivers down her skin, the feeling of hot breath on her lobe, quickened her pulse at the primeval emotions exhibited by this predator.
"Well..." She never finished the sentence. Her eyes, caught in the older woman's intense gaze, followed as Shego's eyes looked up to what was suspended over the doorway. The biggest bunch of misteltoe Kim had ever seen.
Her eyes jerked back to look in Shego's face only to see the feral grin on the older woman's face. Transfixed, she could do nothing as Shego's mouth closed the gap between them. Breathing in short pants, her exposed cleavage was heaving with the turgid atmosphere that engulfed her, until with a final lunge, black stained lips reached their prize.
For a moment, all Kim could focus on was the fact that she was kissing Shego. Her eyes widened at the thought, and she reached up to push the older woman away, but then the feeling of sensuality took over, the soft touch of those lips on her own didn't repulse her like she had expected it would, and she found herself responding to the sensation of the sweetest kiss she had ever experienced.
Her eyes closed in pleasure, soft shivers running down her spine as she found herself wrapped in an clinch her body suddenly yearned for. Letting the passion take over she reciprocated; wrapping her arms around Shego's neck, she revelled in the touch of bare skin as she ran her hand up the older woman's exposed back until her fingers found themselves wrapped in long black hair, pulling the embrace even tighter.
How long the kiss lasted, Kim couldn't tell. She lost all track of time until the need for air finally brought her back to reality. Suddenly realising what she was doing, she pulled away, albeit reluctently. The skin of her bottom lip sticking slightly to that of her furiously, she stepped back, Shego letting her go although she took the opportunity to let her hands trail down Kim's arms as she did so.
"I've got to get back to work." Kim hurriedly pushed past and as quickly as she could manage in her shoes, raced back to the bar.
Shego watched her go, a slightly surprised look on her face as if she couldn't believe she had actually got away with it. She brought the tips of her fingers to her mouth, running them across the moist skin on her lips just to prove to herself that she hadn't been dreaming. With a dazed look on her face, she returned to her table, only to find Drakken talking to Motor Ed. Slipping into her seat, she tuned out the moronic conversation taking place beside her, closing her eyes and reliving the recent event that had stirred her so much.
Shego grumbled as she headed back from the bathroom. If there was one thing wrong with the venue for this party, it was how far away the toilets were. Not that she minded missing some of the floor show. After the earlier events of tonight, she wanted nothing more than to return home and dream of kissing Kimmie. She hadn't seen the teenager for a while, and assumed that she had finally worked off her debt and gone home.
A muffled squeal as she passed a closet door made her pause. Frowning, she turned to look, her instincts warning her of something amiss.
"That's right baby bet you want this."
The lustful implications made Shego snort with disgust. Probably some lowlife getting it on with his girlfriend. She turned away, heading back to the party.
"Hold her steady, I can't get it in."
The words had barely escaped his lips before the speaker shrieked in fear as the door to the closet he was in exploded. Showered in splintered wood, he covered his head with his hands to protect it, the trousers round his ankles leaving his naked groin plain for all to see.
It was all Shego needed to confirm her suspicions. That and the sight of three other men, holding down some poor girl who was still struggling feebly.
"Bastard!" Her growl turned the potential rapist's bowels to water as he saw a face so filled with fury that it looked almost demonic.
Shego didn't give him time to react. Both hands reached out and grabbed the luckless man around the neck. To angry to even fire up her plasma, she simply pulled his face down to meet her rapidly rising knee, with bloody consequences.
His companions all stared in shock as they saw the man's nose explode in a shower of blood, before scrambling for the door, even as Shego hurled her victim through the opening so that he slammed into the opposing wall with a sickening thud.
She almost went after them, but a stifled groan from the girl brought her attention back to the room. She saw the fishnets first, capped with those ridiculous shoes Hench had made all his waitresses wear. Only subconsciously did she note that the legs were firm and muscular, before the shock of red hair covering the unfortunate girl's face nearly caused her heart to stop.
"Princess, Kimmie, can you hear me?" Shego was on her knees by the girl's side instantly. She reached one hand out to lift her head, snatching it back as she registered the blood caked area where they had hit her from behind. A bloodstained winebottle nearby revealed the weapon that had been used.
"Kimmie, are you OK?" Frantically, Shego checked for a pulse, breathing a sigh of relief when she found it strong and regular.
"Sh Shego?" Kims mumbled croak brought tears to the older woman's eyes as she realised the teenager was OK.
Seeing the younger girl struggle to get up, Shego put both hands under her arms and pulled her up. The ripped corset gave way, but she didn't take any time to admire the view. Instead, she grabbed a large bath sheet from a nearby pile of laundry and wrapped the still concussed girl in its folds.
"Come on, we've got to get you to a hospital." Shego kept talking, trying to keep Kim's attention on seeking medical attention, and not dwelling on what had almost happened. Leading her through the back corridors, she was nearly at the fire exit when she was intercepted by a man in a smart suit.
"Not stealing my favourite waitress I hope?" he asked, but Shego didn't have time for this.
"Outta my way Jack, she's been attacked." Shego never stopped walking, "She needs to be in a hospital now!"
"Attacked, by whom?" Hench couldn't believe that something like this could have happened at one of his parties.
"The Rat brothers." Shego identified the culprits, a small time gang that had recently grown in ambition. Hench's face darkened at the news.
"My car is out front, Otto will drive you." He was suddenly all business, determined that no employee , even one as temporary as Kim Possible, should get anything but the best attention. "He can get you to Middleton Hospital in about twenty minutes."
"N.. Not M.. M.. Middleton!" Kim stuttered, struggling feebly as she frantically tried to stand on her own.
"It's the nearest place Kimmie, there's nowhere better." Shego spoke softly, almost cradling the hurt girl as she tried to reason with her.
"NO!" Kims shout startled all who were watching, surprised to hear such insistence in her voice. "My mother, she can't see me like this!"
Shego sighed, but Hench had another idea. "Take her to Upperton, there's a man there that can help. Otto knows where to go."
"And what are you going to be doing?" Shego asked, even as she began to move towards the exit, only for it to be opened by a shaven headed man in a large suit that must be Otto.
"I've got a few salutory lessons in respect that need to be addressed." Hench's voice was cold, and Shego knew she wouldn't be seeing the Rat brothers really caring, she half led, half carried the still protesting teenager out to the car.
Ron kicked the stone down the road, putting all his frustration into it. It bounced along before flying off the kerb and hitting a parked car sitting by the side of the road. He winced a bit at the incriminating white chip in the paintwork, but was too angry to really had blown him out again, it was starting to become something of a habit, and for the life of him, he couldn't begin to figure out why. Ever since New Year, a time they usually spent together, she had been different. Whatever business she had had to attend to that night had changed her and it wasn't for the better. She wouldn't even hold hands now, and when he thought about the time he had tried to kiss her well, the less said about that the better.
Looking up, he realised he was in a part of town he didn't usually frequent. It wasn't dangerous here, just run down and slightly careworn, where the less fortunate inhabitents tended to congregate. As he wandered down the street, he passed a few delapidated shops, paint peeling and rotten woodwork a testament to the years of neglect. One of them was a coffee house, and as he looked through the window, he saw something that made his jaw drop.
Shego sat with one arm resting on the shoulder of the sobbing girl, auburn hair covering the shaking head as she cried into her arms resting on the table. When first arriving, she had sat opposite, but one look at the pale visage and she knew she was facing someone on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
She had expected something like this when Kim first called her, but seeing it in reality was still shocking. Quickly moving seats, her first tentative touch had been enough to send the girl into floods of tears. Not knowing what else to do, she squeezed her shoulder and gently rubbed her neck, waiting for the crisis to pass.
Eventually, her gentle ministrations calmed down her companion to the extent that she could lift her face from her arms. Tearstained cheeks, dark shadows under the eyes and a blotchy face all pointed to someone who was seriously sleep deprived, and Shego kicked herself for not checking up on her earlier.
Medically, she had been OK. When Hench's man had taken them to his contact, it turned out to be one of the foremost doctors in the country, Hench certainly didn't skimp on looking after his employees, and in Kim's case had pulled out all the stops. The wound to her head where her attackers had smashed a wine bottle into her skull was fortunately superficial, fixed with a few stitches, but Shego berated herself for not expecting there to be mental issues, even if the girl wasn't actually raped.
She was glad to see when Kim lifted her head and finally looked at her, but it didn't last for long. Even as her erstwhile nemesis gave her a fragile smile, it was wiped off her face with a look of horror, her eyes widening as she saw something over Shego's shoulder.
"So this is where you are eh?" Shego cursed as Ron's angry voice sounded loudly in the quiet cafe, " This is what you blew out our date at Bueno Nacho for?"
Kim's face crumpled at the hostility he was directing at her, mental defences already torn to ribbons were shredded by this new attack she was in no way ready to handle.
"So are you going to explain yours..." he never got to finish. Erupting out of her chair, Shego grabbed him by the neck and began to frogmarch him to the door. Fingers frantically scrabbling at the vise-like grip of the villainous woman, his eyes bulging as he fought for breath, he was unable to free himself until he found himself once more outside on the pavement.
When the green fingers finally released their grip, he could do nothing but rub his throat for a few seconds while his windpipe gasped for air. He looked up, his mouth open to speak, but the look on his assailant's face left him speechless. The angriest he had ever seen Drakken's sidekick before was when he disturbed her holiday once. At the time he thought that was as evil as she could look, but the expression facing him now was much much worse. Fury darkened her skin to deep green, her eyes flashed with anger that he expected them to burn with green flame at any moment. Only the very real danger of green plasma was missing.
"Listen to me, you little shit." Shego hissed, struggling to keep her temper under control. She really was angrier than she could remember, and only the fact that Kim had feelings for the guy stopped her from frying him where he stood. "She is going through something you cannot even begin to imagine. If I hear you bothering her again, I'll melt your face till you make medical history. You understand?"
Unable to do anything else in the face of such ferocity, he could only nod. Shego turned to leave. She had wasted enough time with this idiot, and Kimmie needed her.
"What is going on?" No longer transfixed by Shego's stare, Ron finally managed to blurt out the question he really wanted to ask. He gulped as that demonic visage turned to face him once more. "She won't tell me what's wrong."
Shego leaned into his face, making him lean back in fear. "If she wanted to tell you, she would have. Now how about, instead of focussing on your own selfishness, you leave her the fuck alone to work out her issues. OK?"
The last word was forced through gritted teeth, flames briefly erupting from her hands before she regained control and snuffed them out. Without even waiting for an answer, she spun on her heel and headed back into the coffee bar, leaving Ron to slink away, feeling crushed at the thought that he couldn't help his girlfriend, and even worse, that she didn't want his help.
When Shego slipped back into the chair by Kim's side, she was greeted with the wide-eyed whitefaced stare of the teenager. Tears were still evident on her cheeks, but her first words were out of concern for her boyfriend that she had watched being run out of the building.
"You didn't hurt him did you?"
Shego was still bristling like a lioness protecting her cubs, and her snort at Kim's query about Ron's health spoke volumes.
"As if I would waste my time with the likes of the buffoon."
Kim looked down, avoiding eye contact.
"It's not his fault really, he just doesn't understand." She wrang her hands fretfully, before casting a despairing look at her older companion.
"I just can't bear him touching me." she blurted "As soon as he reaches out, I cringe." she flushed as she remembered pushing him away when he tried to hug her. "It just brings it all back!"
"I know." Shego's voice softened as she stroked Kim's forehead, brushing a wayward lock of hair from her eyes. As far as she was concerned, rape was the worst evil one human could inflict on another. To be violated so brutally, killed something inside you. She was sure that inch by inch Kim was dying inside.
"Listen Kim, this isn't something you can deal with on your own, you need to tell someone."
Kim shot her a frightened look.
"No, not Ron." Shego guessed what the teenager was thinking. "He's got all the emotional maturity of a six year old." She looked into the younger woman's eyes . "I was thinking of your mom."
Kim backed away, shaking her head furiously. "No, I can't." Her voice rose in panic at the thought.
Shego reached out and put her hand on her arm.
"Kim, you have to tell someone. This is going to kill you otherwise."
The urgent tone in Shego's voice broke through the hastily projected walls Kim had been building around her soul, and she just collapsed in a flood of tears.
"B..But I can't" she sobbed. "They expect me to be so strong, their perfect little girl." Tear-filled eyes looked up pleadingly at the older woman, begging her to make things right. "It'll destroy them." Her wide eyed stare and shrill voice told Shego that she was becoming hysterical.
She reached out and grabbed the teenagers shoulders, giving her a little shake to jolt her out of her panic.
"Seeing you break down will destroy them" she insisted. "If you tell them, at least they can begin to understand what you are going through." Shego's voice took on a pleading tone of its own as she prayed her words would get through.
As Kim continued to stare, Shego realised she was on a knife-edge. One wrong word and even she wouldn't be able to halt the spiral of despair this poor girl was hovering on the edge of. What made it worse was that she knew the only reason Kim was in this position was because of her. That bottle of perfume, that had seemed so important mere days ago, suddenly faded into insignificance as she faced the human cost of the subsequent events.
In an attempt to get inside Kim's head, she cast her mind back to her own Hero days, dredging up long buried memories of how it felt to be the last hope of desperate people in the face of certain disaster.
Tears pricked her own eyes as she remembered the pathetic pleas of people on the edge, desperate for someone to create miracles in the face of unsurmountable odds. A sob rose up in her chest as suppressed emotions threatened to break free, but she ruthlessly forced herself to rise above it for Kim's sake.
"Kim, listen." She reached out and took both of the girls hands in her own, forcing her to meet her gaze. "Being a hero doesn't stop you being a person. Trust me, I know more than anyone, nobody's perfect."
She took a deep sigh as she opened herself up more than she had done with anyone for years.
"When I realised I was a lesbian, it nearly destroyed me. I was a pinup for every teenaged girl in Go City, lauded by every respectable group in society as a role model for daughter's everywhere to aspire."
She gave a sideways glance at the redheaded woman who was interested despite herself. "Obviously they didn't know me very well."
Seeing Kim smile even slightly at her aside gave her the strength to carry on.
"People's expectations rarely match reality, and when you break them, well they tend to take it personally."
She sighed as she remembered the vitriol she had had to suffer when she finally came out.
"But there was one group of people I could count on to back me whatever decision I made. My family stood by me and faced down every bad word and snide comment thrown in my direction. Backed me to the hilt and damn anyone who couldn't deal with who I was."
Her expression softened as she remembered the cameraderie she felt as her parents and brothers supported and protected her through possibly the most difficult stage of her life. Looking at the rapt girl beside her she reached out and ruffled her hair.
"Do you honestly doubt your family would do any less?"
Kim looked at her for a long time. As the seconds ticked by, Shego feared that her mind had shut down completely, but eventually she spoke.
"You think so? You really think they'll understand?"
Shego let go of her hands, only to gather the smaller woman up into a tight embrace.
"Do you really think your mother will think less of you just because you need help?"
"But I can't stand it." Kim's voice wailed as she tried to express the depth of her despair. "Even my father scares me, I can't be in the same room alone with him, and as for Ron..."
Shego squeezed her briefly. "Well with regards to Ron, I really can't help you there, not my area of expertise you might say."
She was rewarded with a scandalised chuckle, but Kim's next question totally threw her.
"What's it like? You know, being a lesbian."
"Huh? What you mean liking women instead of men?" Shego had never really thought about it for a very long time. "Not much different I guess, except for less snoring." She tried to make light of the issue, but Kim wasn't one to be deflected.
"Is it like that kiss, you know, the one beneath the mistletoe?"
Shego drifted off slightly as she recalled the kiss she had stolen from this very woman not one week previously.
"No Kimmie, it's rarely as good as that. You were something special."
She cringed even as the words came out, not wanting to remind her of the events that occured later that night, but Kim wasn't phased. Instead she stunned the thief once more with her next comments.
"Kiss me?"
Shego wasn't sure she had heard correctly.
"What, right here?" She looked about. Admittedly they were in a secluded booth seat and the coffee bar wasn't very busy anywat, but still."
"Please!" Kim's plaintive voice cut through to the older woman's heart. "That was the last piece of happiness I've felt since I was ... attacked." she stumbled over the words. "Since then, nothing. I don't feel anything, just numb. I need to know if i can still, you know, feel!"
Shego wasn't sure what to do, but seeing the young girl's pleading expression, she relented. Leaning forward, she gently stroked her hand over the redheads hair, tucking a stray tress behind her ear. Her hand continued down until it cupped her chin, and she leaned in and placed her lips on Kim's ruby mouth.
She deliberately didn't try to push, giving her charge plenty of opportunity to back out. She was also careful not to sexualise it, chastely pursing her lips and pressing them on the rosebud mouth before her. After that, all control was discarded, as both women found themselves lost in the sensation as soft lips caressed each other with something more than mere desire, a desperate need overcame them both as they sought to fill an emotional desire that each lacked.
When they finally broke away, Shego wrapped her partner in a hug while Kim hung on as if afraid to let go, her emotions finally getting the better of her.
She felt Kim break down into pitiful sobs, and let the girl cry for as long as she needed. Her own heart was breaking to see someone so strong, broken by circumstances she couldn't control. When this was over, she intended to pay her own visit to the Rat brothers, she was sure Hench would have kept them alive, even after a week of torture. There was no way he would let them off so easily as to kill them until he had extracted the maximum pain from their broken bodies.
"Listen Kim, even the villain community has standards. Hench is so angry at what happened to you while working for him, he has the entire underworld in lockdown. No-one dare move in case he decides they are taking advantage of your condition, and as for those who attacked you..." She shivered at the thought of the agony they were being subjected to.
"No-one is going to ask anything of you that you can't handle, so don't worry about that. You take as much time as you need." She was stroking the teen's hair now, letting her release all the pent up tension and anxiety as the younger girl's body shook with the violence of her emotions.
Slowly the sobs subsided into a more controlled crying, until she felt the redhead stir in her arms. Instantly releasing her grip, she let Kim push herself away, wiping her eyes with the heels of her palms until she could finally see through the tears and look into Shego's face.
"Look at me, I'm a mess." she gave a watery chuckle, drawing strength from her older companion.
Shego returned the half smile.
"Come on, You can clean yourself up in the car."
Before Kim had a chance to change her mind, Shego scooted out from her seat and took her hand, pulling her out of the booth. Kim kept a firm grip on Shego's hand as they left the building and headed out into the parking lot. After climbing into Shego's jeep, Kim sat quietly as they swung out onto the highway and headed back to Middleton.
Shego could see that Kim was getting more tense as they neared her home, until finally, when the car swung onto the driveway, she could see the girl was almost ready to run. Before the engine had even stopped, she had grasped the slim hand of her passenger and gave it a squeeze.
"You can do this." she encouraged, causing Kim to turn and look at her, desperation in her eyes.
"I don't think I can, not alone." Her eyes were pleading as she battled to face up to the task in hand. "Come with me?"
Her voice trembled, as if expecting rejection, but there was no way Shego was going to leave her now.
"Of course Pumpkin, I'll be there." She gave the hand she was holding another squeeze.
"And after?" Kim finally voiced the concern she had really been worried about. What would happen once she had told her family what had happened.
Reading her mind, Shego leaned across the car and cupped the teens face in her hands. "For however long it takes, I'll be there, OK?"
Kim squeezed her eyes shut once more as tears threatened to fall. Seeing the intense emotions wracking her body, Shego lifted the girl over to her own seat, half embracing, half cradling her as tremors once more shook her body.
Once Kim wrestled her emotions back under control, she looked up at the concerned green face peering back at her.
"How about forever, does forever sound good?"
Shego dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose before tucking the teenager's head under her chin.
"Yeah Pumpkin, forever sounds fine to me."
They sat there for a while just letting each of them gain control of the strong feelings coursing through their bodies, until finally, Kim looked up and with a weak smile moved to get out of the car.
"Lets get it over with them." she said as she slipped out of the drivers side. Shego quickly followed, slamming the door behind her. Hand in hand, the two of them headed up the drive to the front door. Kim squeezed her hand as Shego rang the bell and the two of them waited apprehensively until the door swung open, revealing a worried looking Anne Possible.
Seeing who was escorting her daughter and more to the point, the expressions each wore, she stepped back letting the two of them enter the house, shutting the door behind them without a word, knowing that whatever was on their mind her world was going to change forever.