I don't own these characters; Disney does.
18: Free
Shego woke up to an empty bed surrounded by the darkness of night. She groaned, tossing a little to feel for Kim, but finding nothing but cool sheets. Her tired mind did not want to accept that the bed was missing one person, so she continued searching until she managed to get to the end of the bed. Nothing.
"Damn it, Pumpkin. Where are you?" Shego grumbled into the dark. Despite the fact that Kim had taken to beating her up in their sleep, she could not get a full night's rest without that petite body pressed against her.
The pale woman climbed out of bed and left the captain's cabin wrapped in nothing more than a long shirt. Emerald eyes scanned the deck for the redhead, but saw nothing. Climbing the nearby stairs, she found Kim parked on the gunwale of the poop deck. Dark green eyes watched the currently calm ocean.
"Princess, what are you doing out here?" Shego inquired, even though she could guess. She wrapped her arms around Kim and pulled the smaller woman to her. She briefly wondered how she had managed to get along in life before meeting Kim, but that did not matter since Kim was there now.
"Shego…" Kim sounded like she wanted to cry, but no tears fell from her eyes. Burying her face in the warmth of Shego's neck, she tried burrowing into Shego's calming presence. She wanted to believe if they got close enough, she would stop seeing ghouls from her past and everything would be all right. Shego would be able to keep all the monsters at bay and then she would have time to gather herself and heal.
"What's wrong, Princess? Tell me what to do," Shego whispered, caressing the captain's shoulder. She needed to do something to get this torment from the strongest woman she had ever met, strong in power and strong in character.
"I don't know. I just can't sleep anymore. I keep seeing Josh's body, his lifeless eyes staring back at me. I keep seeing all the blood, feeling it all over me. I keep seeing that man…" Kim trailed off. "That man" was how she referred to Pete, the sailor who slaughtered her fiancé as revenge against her for being able to defend herself.
"He can't hurt you, Kimmie. He's not here now and if we ever meet him again, you know we'll get justice for you and for Josh," Shego said. She did not like mentioning Josh, but he was gone, so he posed no threat to her.
"I know, but for some reason, he just keeps invading my thoughts and haunting my memory. His actions keep taking over my mind. It's not even like I see him doing anything horrible to me or to Josh. I just keep seeing his eyes or Josh's body. I think about what he wanted from me and I can just feel his intent through my skin…" She shivered a bit as the thought ran through her mind.
Shego leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to Kim's forehead. "He can't get you, Princess. You wouldn't let him and I wouldn't let him," she vowed and she meant it. She would crush that man when she saw him, she promised herself. He would pay for his crimes.
"He might not be able to get me, but what if he got someone that I loved? What if what happened to Josh happened again?" Olive eyes locked with emerald ones and Shego understood the fear there.
"It would never come to that, Princess. I promise you. We both can take care of ourselves and he wouldn't catch us by surprise. No way a coward gets that lucky twice in a lifetime either. I promise you, he will not get lucky again," Shego said firmly. She was touched that Kim was concerned for her and that Kim worried about losing her.
Kim did not say anything, just allowing Shego to hold her tight. The pale woman eventually picked Kim up and carried her back to bed. She laid Kim down, embracing her tightly and gently stroking her hair. The redhead settled down and soon her breathing evened out. Shego remained spooned close against Kim and eventually she fell asleep as well.
This scene quickly became the norm and Shego did not like it. She wanted to do something for the captain, but there was nothing to do. Kim could not figure it out either. She did not understand why the nightmares kept getting worse.
-8-8-8-8-
The Anything's Possible was awake and active. Everyone was doing their job to make sure the ship ran well and was also ready for any prizes that might happen along. Monique secured all of the lines. Bonnie cleaned the guns down and checked on if any of them needed maintenance. Wade sat off to the side, creating more ammo to replace all that they had used on their past couple of adventures. Yori, surprising everyone, fixed boards on the ship, showing off her limited carpentry skills. Ron made breakfast. Shego was at the helm and Kim looked over the map.
"I think we're in new territory," Kim announced.
"What do you mean?" Shego asked.
"We've left the Atlantic and we're now in the Indian Ocean. We need to pass through here and get to the Pacific."
"Is that so far?" Monique inquired.
"Not really. The Indian Ocean is not very big. We do have to be careful because now we're in waters controlled by other countries aside from the Empire. I really should have said something earlier, but all of the storms seemed like priority," the captain stated. They sailed into a lot of bad weather recently, so they were always looking to stay safe because of that. "The Imperial Navy is very strict in these waters because they don't want anything to start an international incident."
"Unless they've engineered it," Shego remarked with a small laugh.
Kim chuckled. "Well, yeah, that's true. Other nations are already looking for us anyway since we have taken their trade ships. Only thing is, now they can sic their navies on us, too, rather than waiting for the Empire to catch us. We don't want to end up getting chased by a fleet. Or worse, several fleets," she warned the crew. She knew firsthand how horrible it would be for a small company to have to face an entire naval fleet.
"So, are we not taking prizes anymore?" Yori inquired. On any other pirate ship, she would have thought that was a good thing. Her sense of honor made her feel a great deal of distain for stealing, but seeing what Kim and the crew stole was nothing like other pirates. To her, their actions were more honorable than most others that she had encountered in her life.
"Of course we are! Hench is going to feel our wrath until we stop being pirates," Shego declared. Monique, Bonnie, and Wade cheered in agreement.
"We just have to be careful about it. We should also find out what trade routes Hench uses in these waters as well as where it's safe for us and what navies we might have to avoid," Kim pointed out.
The crew agreed with that and they set about gathering that information at the next port they landed in. They repeated the process at the next port, wanting to stay ahead of any officials seeking them out. It seemed like they were going to get out of the international waters without much of an incident, but that was not in the cards.
The Possible crew was headed back to the Anything's Possible after a short stay at the comfortable port. On their way back to the ship, Kim's eyes caught something on the dock. She gasped and grabbed Shego by the hand.
"What is it, Kimmie?" Shego inquired, turning to see the expression of shock in olive eyes. All Kim could do was point to a ship just pulling out of the dock, but her finger seemed to point directly at a sailor on deck. The rest of her body was stiff, as if it was frozen in place. All of the color drained from her face and she looked like she had seen a ghost.
"What is it? I've never seen Kim look like that before," Monique stated. Their captain looked as if she just experienced terror in its rawest, purest form, especially when her body started trembling. Whatever could scare someone like Kim, Monique was not sure she wanted to be there when they found out.
Shego realized she had never seen Kim like this before either… except for the nightmares. "Kimmie, is that Pete?" she asked.
Kim nodded. "That's the ship!" she cried out, body shaking now as if she was trapped in a storm.
"We're taking that vessel," Shego ordered in a harsh tone. Marching off, she tugged Kim with her, hoping somehow just being near her would calm the captain down. The crew followed behind because they had never heard that type of voice from the helmsman. They got the feeling that whatever was going on was important.
The Anything's Possible was launched in record time. The crew had no doubt Shego would have left them if they had not all been present. Shego did not explain what just happened or what was happening. She gave the orders while their captain seemed to be in utter shock. They did not know what to make of this.
"What the hell is going on?" Monique asked, rushing to make sure the sails were right.
"We're taking that ship!" Shego informed the Company, pointing to a speck in the distance. It was the ship that Kim pointed to back at the dock.
"What the hell is so special about that ship?" Bonnie wondered aloud in a snide voice.
"Don't worry about it! Just know we're taking that prize right now!" Shego roared. Her eyes blazed and it would not have surprised them if sparks came from her hands.
Monique pulled Bonnie away, sensing how necessary this was. The last thing they needed was Bonnie making matters worse. To keep the gunner from protesting, she offered to help Bonnie prepare the guns. That got a smile from Bonnie and the whole crew got ready for battle.
"Shego…?" Kim muttered, standing by the helmsman.
"It's okay, Princess. We'll teach that filthy mongrel a lesson he won't soon forget! Him and his horrible crew, and especially the fucking rat captain who put such a stain on your character!" A devilish grin curled onto Shego's pale face.
Something inside of Kim begged her to stop what they were doing, knowing Shego planned more than to just take the ship as a prize. But, more of her could only stand and wait. This man, this crew, had taken everything from her. They had slaughtered Josh like some kind of barnyard animal. They had turned her into a fugitive, an outlaw, took away her future, and left her alone in the world to die in a freezing, dark ocean on top of that. What good would it do to let them think they got away with it? They could end up doing it again. Pete could end up pursuing other women like he had done with her, but they might not be as capable of fighting back. He could kill others. No, for once, she thought Shego's way might be the best course of action.
"To the guns! Be sure to load them with real shells!" Shego called out to the crew as they grew closer to their quarry. Her fingers itched for a taste of the bastard who tried to take from her captain. "Be ready to fire!"
"When the hell did you become captain? Shouldn't we be voting on that?" Bonnie demanded. "Who the hell do you think you are?"
Shego snarled, tempted to show Bonnie just what she thought of voting at the moment. But, things did not come to that. Suddenly, a jolt shot through olive eyes and Kim turned her attention to her company. She could not let that man control her or frighten her. She was Kim Possible, after all.
"You heard the orders, Bonnie! We're taking that ship, so be ready to fire on it!" Kim commanded and that got Bonnie's attention back to her gun. The redhead then turned to look at Shego and she smiled at her.
"Glad you could join us for this," the helmsman remarked.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Kim replied with a confident smile. For once, she was glad for Bonnie's attitude. It was the fact that Bonnie was questioning orders that brought her out of her daze. Her attention then went out to their prize. She was glad to see they were coming up on it fast. "Fire!" she called out to the gunners.
Shots exploded from the ship crashing into the vessel ahead of them. Precise shots tore threw the hull and masts of the other ship with ease. By the time the other ship even realized what was happening, they were in no position to do anything more than return fire. Shego saw to it that nothing touched the Anything's Possible and it had nothing to do with her steering. Plasma blasts disintegrated any gunfire that came close to the ship.
"Prepare to board!" Kim called out, as they pulled closer to the disabled vessel.
"Something feels different about this…" Ron muttered to no one in particular. He was not sure what it was, but this certainly did not have the same vibe their other jobs had. Still, he was ready to board as ordered.
The other ship continued to try to fire at them, but their gunners maintained their positions while the captain, Shego, Ron, and Yori used ropes from the rigging to propel themselves onto the other ship. They landed fighting for the most part, all of them jumping onto the ship and going right into various attack moves. Fists and feet were flying as punches and kicks were thrown. Soon the crew of the other ship turned their attention from the pirate ship to the pirates on board, but by then their numbers had already been reduced by the precise hits from the pirate warriors attacking them.
The four warriors took sections of the ship and took on hordes of the sailors. Pistols fired and hatches were swung, but the four pirates showed their skills with frightening accuracy. Shego and Kim seemed to be especially brutal. Ron noticed Kim actually aimed to break bones, which was something he had never seen before. There was a fury pouring out of her that he had never seen before and he wondered if there was something about this particular ship and crew that was different from their other prizes. He ignored the plaguing thoughts and kept his wits about him as he continued fighting.
The Possible Company took the ship with the same ease that they always did. They looted the prize, finding plenty of goodies and treasure to divide amongst the crew. After that, though, things went back to being abnormal.
"Guys, go back to the ship," Kim commanded her crew in an almost cold tone.
"Captain?" Monique said.
"Kim?" Ron said at the same time.
"Listen to the captain!" Shego ordered in a harsh snarl, throwing her hand out.
The Possible crew quickly went back aboard Anything's Possible while Kim and Shego remained onboard. They marched over to their prisoners, the tied up sailors of the vessel. Green eyes heatedly scanned the crew.
"Where is he, Kimmie?" Shego demanded, eyes searching for a demon she felt.
"There." Kim pointed to a sniveling male in the back of the crowd.
Shego stormed through the crowd, all moved away as best she could when she came close. She flung a few out of her way, as they could not move fast enough. She reached down and grabbed the dead man to his feet, holding him up by his throat. Her hold was far from gentle and his eyes bulged from his head as she clutched his neck.
"Is this the filth?" Shego inquired with a snarl.
"That's him," the redhead confirmed.
The pale warrior flung the whimpering sailor to Kim's feet. Olive eyes glared down at him and he tried to move away without bothering to look at her, but with his arms and legs bound tightly made it impossible. His pathetic retreat only caused him to bump into Shego.
"Hey, Pete, do you remember me?" Kim inquired, leaning down so that he could get a good look at her.
And a good look at her he did get. Suddenly, he seemed to forget his fear because Kim did not have that killer look to her that Shego did. He only saw a little redhead. He had the nerve to look haughtily at her, earning him a heavy kick to the ribs from Shego.
Kim sighed. "You don't remember me, do you? Well over a year ago you ruined my life." She shook her head. "You, your crew, and your captain," she added, scanning the crowd for the bastard who refused to believe her a year ago for whatever reasons. She saw him, looking rather bruised and bloodied at the end of the line of men. Served him right.
"Maybe he ruins so many lives that they all run together," Shego pondered aloud, leaning down to grab him by his shirt collar. "Is that it? You ruin that many lives of beautiful redheads that you can't remember?" She snarled at him.
He flinched and whimpered, causing drool to dribble down his chin. She let him go only for Kim to step over to him. Her muscles twitched and her hand turned into a fist all on its own.
"So, you don't even remember what you did to me. For me, it was the worst day of my life, but for you, it was just your average day, huh?" Her body shook. She could not believe what he did to her and Josh did not even register for him.
Her fist went out without her permission and grabbed him. Images of Josh's mutilated body flashed through her mind and without any conscious permission from her brain, her fists wailed on Pete as tears fell from her eyes. Blood from his face splattered onto her knuckles and then her body. Her fist against his face made a horrible impact crunch and everyone winced with each hit.
"He was good man! How dare you take him from me! How dare you kill him because I didn't want you! You're nothing compared to him!" Kim hollered, hand still moving on its own now.
Shego had to pull Kim off of the man to keep her from pounding straight through his skull. She knew Kim would be troubled if she killed someone, even someone like this filth, who did not deserve to stain Kim's conscious. For a moment, Kim struggled against Shego, who thought the redhead might actually get away from her. But, then Kim suddenly turned and started sobbing on her shoulder, releasing an ungodly noise. The pale woman held her and then turned her attention to the ship crew.
"You guys might not remember, but a year ago, my captain here was your guest and you treated her very poorly. Some tried to rape her. Her beau was murdered onboard and you blamed her. You chased her to the railing and watched her jump overboard, not bothering to fish her out when she hit the water. Then just to cover your tracks, you docked and blamed her for the murder and made sure the Navy would still be looking for her even if you thought she was dead. You wanted a just-in-case. Because of that, even though she lived through your horrible treatment, she could not even return home. She could not get comfort for the wrongs done to her. You have no idea how much you have impacted her life," Shego said, shaking her head to them. She then turned her attention to her captain. "What should we do with them?" she asked in a loud voice, wanting to worry them.
The men cowered, wondering what Kim would come up with. If what Shego said was true, they had seriously wronged Kim and many of them knew what Shego said was true. The captain, for instance, remembered exactly what happened. He was the one who had the Navy make out the "wanted" posters to make sure they were not liable for what happened.
"I want five volunteers to come forward. If they give their word to tell the Imperial Navy what truly happened, they can go free," Kim promised. She easily got five volunteers. She actually got more and had to choice pick. Pete tried to be one of volunteers.
"No, no, sir. You stay right there," Shego ordered, kicking him in the hip. He cried out and wiggled away.
"If you betray me, I will find you just like I did now," Kim vowed, accepting the men because as far as she recalled, they were not a part of the group that made moves against her. She nodded to the lifeboat. "We're not too far from land. You should easily make it back to the port with that boat."
The men nodded and hurried for the boat to get going. Kim scanned the remaining group. Shego watched her captain, feeling oddly proud of her. Kim was being menacing, but also working to clear her name in a noble manner.
"What's next, Kimmie?" Shego inquired.
"You know what? I say we conscript them into the Company," Kim declared.
Shego arched an eyebrow, confused for a moment. "And…?"
"They will be given orders and if they don't comply…" Kim trailed off.
Shego shivered and marched over to Kim. She leaned down to speak into the redhead's ear. "You are vicious, Princess. It's really turning me on," she whispered.
Kim waved her off. Shego knew conscripting them into the crew meant they were subject to the Company Possible's pirate code. Kim quickly wrote a repeat of their Articles of Agreement for the prisoners. They were forced to sign and those that did not were moved to one side of the ship. Once that was done, Shego smirked and dished out an order to their new crew. They were to salute their captain. None were able to because they were tied. Shego laughed.
"Disobeying orders already?" the helmsman taunted them.
"All right. Consider this a combat situation and consider this your first and only order. If you don't want to be a part of my crew, toss yourself overboard. If you do, confess your sins to me and be appropriately punished for it," Kim announced.
Kim quickly noticed no one moved to even try to jump overboard. They were not only cowards, but they were disloyal cowards, so easy to betray their own captain and company. She shook her head. They confessed more sins than she thought possible. Even Shego could not believe many of the things that they did.
"Marooning?" Shego guessed their punishment.
"Marooning," Kim agreed. Based on the things they confessed to, marooning seemed light.
"What?" the men all screamed.
"What about Pete here? Marooning for him is too good," Shego said. Kim agreed, but she did not know what to do about him. Shego smirked. "Can I take care of him, please?" she implored, poking out her lip to make sure she got her request.
Kim shrugged, knowing Shego would go beyond what she thought was right, but at the moment, she did not care. They took control of the ship. Monique took the helm of the Anything's Possible to follow the other ship. She was even more experienced with it thanks to Shego being lazy much of the time and not wanting to do her own job now. The Possible crew speculated about what was going on, but they did not get any answers because Kim and Shego remained on the other ship.
They came across what they thought was the perfect island hours later. It was small and out of the way. Kim was not sure how long the Hench Company crew would last on it, but she did not care. They did not care when Pete tried to rape her, they did not care when Pete killed Josh, they did not care to know the truth, and they did not care about so many other people they wronged, so she no longer cared about them. They were forced off the ship and had to swim to the tiny piece of land and Shego took care of the Hench Company ship, blasting a large hole in the hull. They watched the ship drift off, taking on water. It was below the waves before while still in sight.
"He was in there, wasn't he?" Kim asked Shego. She suspected Shego left Pete on the ship, knowing she was going to sink it.
"He was. But, I untied him. He had a chance, more than what Josh had," Shego pointed out.
Kim nodded to that. Shego did not go into detail, but she had left a few roadblocks in Pete's way, but he still had more of a chance than Josh. After all, he was not stabbed to death in his sleep while already being weak from seasickness.
With that done, the Company Possible was on their way again. Kim and Shego did not bother to explain what just happened to the rest of the crew. Shego knew Kim would get to it in time, but at the moment, it was just too much to deal with. That night, Kim did not bother to try to sleep, having too much on her mind.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Shego inquired, pulling Kim's body to her. She buried her nose in Kim's neck while settling deeper into the mattress.
"There's nothing to talk about yet. I'm just trying to process it all. I'll talk about it, eventually," Kim promised.
Shego nodded and she was able to fall asleep with no problem. Kim remained awake, not just that night, but the next few. Some of it was thinking, about the past and the future, and some of it was just spent watching Shego in the dark.
It was not until Kim explained everything to the crew, why they took that ship in the manner they did, and why they did what they did to the crew that she felt some of the edge come off. The whole crew seemed to understand and no one condemned her actions, aside from the fact that she did not say anything before or while everything happened. This brought her a great measure of comfort, knowing she had such dear friends. Betty and Vivian would be proud of her.
"You should know by now, we got your back, Possible," Monique declared.
"Always and forever, like a proper crew," Ron added. Yori just nodded.
"Just like you're here for us," Wade said.
Kim sniffled. "Thanks, you guys. You're the best crew anyone could ever ask for." They all smiled at her, even Bonnie.
-8-8-8-8-
The first night that Kim slept had very little movement and she and Shego were able to sleep through the night. This pleased Shego immensely. But, nights were going to get better for her and she quickly found that out.
Shego crawled into bed next to the captain, ready to snuggle and get some sleep. Kim had other plans, placing sweet kisses to the pale face as soon as the older woman was next to her. Shego did not argue or even ask questions, just accepting the affection. She pulled Kim closer to her and returned several kisses. It was when small hands started to roam, sliding dangerously close to the edges of her nightshirt that Shego had to find out what was going on.
"Wait, Princess…" Shego panted, pulling away slightly.
"Yes?" Kim asked.
"What's going on? Usually, I'm the one pawing at you." It was bit strange to have the tables turned, even though they were still in her favor.
Kim smiled a bit. "Sleep agrees with me, but more so, I feel like mountains have been lifted off of me. I feel like I'm whole again and it's thanks to you. I finally feel free and that's also thanks to you. I feel like… I feel like I can love again…" She felt like she could be with Shego in the manner she had planned to be with Josh.
Shego actually blushed. "And you want to love me…?"
"I already do," the redhead admitted with ease. "I love you. I love you more than I ever thought possible and I want to show you that I do. Since we can't get married legally…" She trailed off. Typically, she would have waited for their wedding night, but this relationship was rather unconventional, even for pirates.
"Married?" Shego echoed and looked ready to reel. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment and then she stared at the redhead as if she was in a daze.
"Too much too fast?" Kim asked, a little scared.
The pale woman shook her head. "No, just shock. Wow, you want to marry me. I'm actually flattered, Princess." She reached up to caress Kim's cheek. "Kimmie, you are the most impressive and amazing woman I have ever met and I want you to know that I follow you happily, even though I make it difficult. I will always be there for you, to support you, and carry you if necessary… not that I think you'll ever need that."
Kim smiled brightly. "That's sweet. Honestly, when I'm with you, I feel things I didn't even know existed. You make me feel so safe and secure. I never thought I needed that until I felt it with you and I realize these aren't bad things. I know I can be myself around you and you'll tease me about it, yes, but you'll appreciate it as well. I know I can depend and rely on you for anything. I hope you know that you can do the same with me."
"Princess, I know all of that and more. It is a shame that no one would ever marry us."
Suddenly, a smile spread across Kim's face. "Hey, since I am a captain, I now pronounce us married. Until death do us part."
"Does this mean we can consummate the relationship?" Shego asked, wiggling her eyebrows. She had been dying to get Kim to that point since they started, but she was never sure it would happen since Kim was the marrying type.
"I was trying to do that before you started talking and making the moment all sentimental," Kim teased. She was very glad for the moment, getting to tell Shego how she felt and finding out how Shego felt about her. Everything seemed so much better in life now, even though she was still a pirate outlaw.
The older woman went in for a much more passionate kiss than they had ever shared before, ending any discussions for the night. Kim returned the kiss with just as much ardor, pouring her feeling into the embrace. They moaned into each other's mouths as hands reached out for each other, needing to feel more of each other, needing to feel more of that overflowing emotion.
Before they knew it — and they did not know how — they were both nude. Their clothing littered the deck right by the bed. Their lips never left each other until their hands had had their fill, mapping every inch of each other and committing it all to memory. Their lips then followed the same path, wanting the same things. This was their freedom, they realized. This was their fortune and they would never give it up for anyone.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: can you say epic sea-battle with the Imperial Navy?