Disclaimer: Kim Possible belongs to Disney.

Rating: Please remember this is rated M.

Contrived

They showed up at Kim's parents' house dressed in their regular costumes. Shego looked weak and injured. Kim looked like a radiant superhero and Athena an innocent helpless child. The conversation with Animatus had changed nothing and would change nothing. He had a vested interest in their survival and both Kim and Shego understood that. He wouldn't take any action to expose them to the world; he wasn't willing to lose his research, his only reason for living.

Ann and James welcomed their daughter into their home. They asked no questions about where Kim had been, and asked nothing about Athena. Shego's presence was tolerated throughout a simple meal of baked chicken breast and brown rice. The meal tasted bland, and the conversation was bland. Kim and Shego expected the whole night would be filled with awkward blandness, that is until Ann casually announced that Ron Stoppable was going to be joining them later.

Kim dropped her fork onto the table and calmly wiped her mouth with her napkin. "Why didn't you ask me if I minded him coming?" She asked.

"He's your best friend, Kimmie," her father answered as if Kim should have already understood why they had taken it upon themselves to invite Ron over.

"You mean he was her best friend," Shego pushed her plate away from her.

"It'll be good for you to see him again, Kim," Ann ignored Shego's comment as did James.

"It's going to hurt him," Kim stared down at her food.

"What do you mean?" James looked over to his wife, wondering if she understood what their daughter meant. "He'll be thrilled to see you."

Kim met her father's confused gaze. "Is he ready to see my child?" She reached out and covered Shego's hand with her own. "Is he ready to see Shego?"

The answer was of course: No, Ron wasn't prepared to see Athena. He wasn't prepared to see Shego. He didn't know what to expect and all he had to go on was what he had heard on the news. Kim's parents hadn't been purposefully vague about Kim's life, they just didn't know any more than Ron already did. Much of the information they had gained was from watching the same breaking newscasts as Ron had.

James stared uncomfortably at the hand Kim had resting atop Shego's. "Ron knows about your... affiliation with Shego." Affiliation was the only word James could use to make sense of his daughter's relationship with the green skinned woman. He didn't understand it, hadn't even accepted it really, and was doing his best to act civil in front of them both.

His gut clenched uncomfortably as he sat across from the two young women. He couldn't quite yet stomach the facts as they had been presented to him. Ann had been the one to talk him into staying for the dinner, urging him to give Kim a chance. In some ways, he realized, it was easier to accept Kim's death than it was accepting her back into their lives.

"Besides," James continued, tearing his eyes away from Kim's and Shego's joined hands, "he's become a fine young man, Kim, and you ought to give him a chance."

"A chance at what?" Shego was much better at handling her anger than she had been before she entered into Animatus's world, but she was not yet re-acclimated to the level of disrespect that was afforded to her in this world. Shego and Kim had been the strongest in their community. They had been the leaders and were only second to Animatus. No one in that world would have dared show her the level of disregard that Kim's father was showing her now. No one would have been brave enough.

She had recognized that there would be a change in her status as she bulldozed her way into Kim's life. She and Kim had even encouraged it by the choices they had made in how they presented themselves. But Animatus's visit had not left Shego wholly unaffected. They came to this dinner because it was necessary, and Shego would even venture to guess that in some way spending time with James and Ann was important to Kim. There was still that part of Kim that Animatus couldn't 'enhance' away and Shego grudgingly respected that part of Kim that could still feel genuine emotion towards her family, her friends, a former life that wasn't even really hers to claim. Against all reason, Kim still wanted their approval and their love. She wanted to prove to them all that she was once again worthy of everything they had so freely given to and for her before Animatus had taken the hero away.

Shego had yet found that same genuine affection towards this world that perhaps she had at one time felt. She had only given brief moments of consideration for her family and Drakken, the man she had spent the last few pre-Animatus years of her life with. She cared little about what her brothers thought of her reappearance and hadn't bothered to ask anyone what had become of the scientist who had employed her.

She believed that it was simply more natural for her not to care about what people thought of her. It was easier for her to let go, and she considered the ability an asset much like Animatus had. He had only ever sought to alter her physical body, never her mind. That's not to say that he didn't on occasion do his best to drive her to the brink of sanity, but he had not attempted to alter her brain chemistry as he had done with Kim.

And still, Shego looked over at her redheaded partner, still despite all his science and all his cold desire Animatus could not completely drive away the part of Kim that simply gave a damn and unselfishly cared for others. Perhaps, Shego conceded, Animatus had been able to dampen it. Kim's intensity of unselfish concern for the greater good for humanity had lessoned throughout their time together. Kim had focused less on what was best for everyone and became more concerned with what was best for Shego, Athena, and herself.

Shego looked back to James who was looking at her like he had the morose desire to peel her flesh slowly from her bones. "Ron deserves the chance to be her friend again ," he said, his words not sounding nearly as hostile as his look implied they should. "He should be given the opportunity to get to know her again. They both deserve that."

"He said he probably wouldn't stay very long," Ann tried to diffuse the tension that was building between her husband and Shego. She didn't want James to jump across the table and wrap his hands around Shego's throat –an impulse he had admitted to having while they were alone in the kitchen earlier. Ann's one and only goal for the night was to survive it and to make sure that everyone else survived it as well. Later, after Kim, Shego, and Athena had left, Ann had every intention of yelling and screaming out all her confusion, anger, and pain until her throat was raw, but for now she would keep herself and her family from turning into something worthy of reality television.

"It'll be good to see him again," Kim faced her mother, not yet wanting to look back at her father's rancor. She had never seen her father so openly aggressive towards another person, and she was uncertain as to how long she could sit idly by and watch her father silently wish death upon Shego. Eventually, she would not be able to hold herself back and would rise to Shego's defense, and Kim suspected her father wouldn't appreciate being threatened with violence if he continued to disrespect her lover. "I just want to be fair to him."

The doorbell rang then, as if Ron had somehow known that it was time for him to make his entrance. James took the offered distraction, and got up from the table to answer the door. Shego, too, took the opportunity to gather her patience by taking Athena to the restroom. Ann and Kim sat across from each other at the table and looked at each other in silence, both with a weak smile on their face. A tenuous connection had formed between them, an understanding that hadn't been given a chance to exist before Kim had died.

It was the first time Ann had felt any connection to her daughter since Kim's return. She almost didn't recognize it for what it was, but she remembered sharing a similar awkward smile with her own mother when she had first brought James over to have dinner with her parents. Her father and James hadn't really gotten along, at first. Her father had never thought that James was good enough for her and her mother was always trying to diffuse the tension that would build around the dinner table.

The memory almost collapsed Ann into a fit of tears. She never thought she would ever get a chance to share a moment like this with her daughter. It was one of the many things she had been certain was denied to her upon her daughter's death. She would be the one that would look disapprovingly at Tim's and Jim's partners while James offered their son's understanding looks and urged Ann to grant some leniency. She wasn't supposed to get a chance to share these understanding looks with her daughter.

"I should get the dessert ready," Ann practically jumped out of her seat. She needed to move, otherwise her tears would begin falling and she wouldn't be able to stop them.

Kim stood as well. "I'll help."

"No, no." Ann kept a smile on her face. "You should go in and see Ron, I'm sure he's not here to spend the night talking with your father."

Kim nodded. "Okay." She looked helplessly around her, hoping something would manage to distract her before she stepped out to see Ron, but nothing did.

Ron's eyes turned to her when she entered the room. They roamed over her body assessing all the changes that had occurred over the time they had been apart. When his eyes fell back into Kim's, there was no hiding the fact that he still believed that Kim Possible was the most beautiful woman in the world.

"Hey," He managed, no other words quite coming to him.

"It's been a long time," Kim joked. "You've uh," Kim had never thought Ron was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on, but he had a certain charm to him that Kim had found attractive. She saw no trace of that charm in him now. His body had filled out, there was more muscle to his frame. He was ruggedly handsome, but he looked worn out and weary. "You look older."

Ron chuckled. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kim hurried to apologize. "I didn't mean... it's just a surprise to see you." She took a few heavy steps towards him and forced her arms apart so that she could bring Ron into an uncomfortable hug.

Ron's arms wrapped around Kim's slender frame, but oddly he felt more breakable in her arms than she did in his. He had never felt physically superior to Kim, but hadn't ever felt quite as feeble as he felt now. He pulled away from her, not quite able to meet her eyes. He had promised himself before he ever raised his hand to ring the doorbell that he would not fall apart when he finally got a chance to look into Kim's eyes, so thought it best now if he didn't look into her eyes at all. He felt no hope that he would not crumble into a massive heap of tears if he took the chance to look directly into Kim's eyes now.

"You look good, Kim." He felt his cheeks beginning to flush, and instantly was transported back to a time where he loved Kim and Kim had briefly loved him back.

"Yeah," Kim laughed somewhat self-consciously "I know I've changed."

Ron did his best to smile back. "Only for the better."

"Thanks, Ron."

"Well," James looked between the two young adults standing in his living room, "it's good to see you two together again."

"It's just like the good old days." Shego sarcastically added as she sauntered into the living room, Athena held firmly in her arms. She positioned herself as close to Kim as she could. Athena reached out for her other parent and Kim wordlessly took her daughter into her arms aware that Shego was displaying their familial togetherness for Ron's benefit.

Ron, to everyone's surprise, didn't even flinch. He cautiously approached the child Kim held in her arms and guilelessly smiled. He briefly introduced himself to the toddler. "She looks a lot like you," he told Kim. "She looks like the both of you," he added giving Shego the briefest of looks. "She's beautiful."

"Thanks." The common courtesy fell out of Shego's mouth before she could take it back. She was unaccustomed to acceptance, and had already prepared herself for another confrontation. Ron Stoppable had never liked her and she had never felt any particular affection for him either.

"Yeah," Ron dragged his eyes away from Shego and forced himself to look at Kim. "So Wade called me up. He said something about you going out to save the world again."

"What?" James asked. Kim hadn't bothered to mention anything about world saving during dinner.

"Dad it's nothing," Kim covered her eyes with her free hand.

"It's not nothing, Kimberly," James vitriol turned once again to Shego. "Was this your idea?"

"My idea?" Shego laughed. "I hope you aren't serious."

The idea was ridiculous, James realized. Shego didn't care about the world. "Why would you want to do this, Kim?"

To Ron, the answer was simple despite the complicated reasoning Shego and Kim had manufactured. "It's who she is, Mr. Possible."

"You would go along with this?" James turned to Ron, feeling like his only ally had abandoned him.

Ron dropped his gaze towards the ground. "No," he shook his head. "I wouldn't."

"What?" Kim asked. "What do you mean?"

"I watched you both die, Kim. I don't want to see that again. So, I'm not gonna try to talk you out of it, but I won't be there for it either." Ron's eyes never left the floor. This was the first time he had ever told Kim that he wouldn't be there watching out for her., and the admission had surprisingly hurt Kim's feelings despite her every intention of denying him a place at her side. She felt rejected.

"Okay." Kim whispered. "But if you change your mind, I wouldn't mind having you by my side again." It was a lie. She would mind his presence. She minded it now.

"I can't believe this," James's anger had finally become too much for him to hold onto. He needed to leave and give himself a chance to calm down. Ann had been in the kitchen for a longer time than necessary so he knew she had already hidden away from their daughter and he felt no shame in hiding away either. "I need to go to work."

"Dad." Kim attempted to stop her father but he paid her no attention. He walked away from her, not bothering to say anything else.

"It's time we leave, Kimmie." Shego reached out her hand and let it land onto Kim's hip. "Why don't you go say your goodbyes to your mother."

Kim gave Ron an apologetic smile and then walked away, not at all concerned with leaving him alone with Shego. Ron looked around the room nervously. "I should probably go," he muttered. "It was good to see you both."

Shego raised her brow. "Both?" She was starting to get the distinct impression that Ron Stoppable didn't hate her like everyone else seemed to.

Ron's eyes shifted to Shego's face then just as quickly shifted away. "I was there when you both um...died."

"I remember." Shego blandly replied. "I was there, too."

"Yeah," Ron unnecessarily cleared his throat. I uh...saw that..." He took a deep breath and forced himself to look into Shego's bored expression. "You died trying to save her."

Shego knew Ron was a liability. Kim knew it as well. He was too dangerous to have around. "Is that what happened?"

"You don't remember?" Ron couldn't quite tell if Shego was being serious or not. He could never read the woman well and he knew better than to try, but despite what Shego silently implied she did remember what had remembered on the day of her death. She and Kim had never talked about it, not explicitly, but they both remembered their last moments of life.

"Your friendship has always meant a lot to Kim," Shego's bored tone gave away no answers to Ron's question. "Thanks for stopping by."

It was a dismissal and Ron understood it as such. He nodded and said a brief goodbye. He wished Kim well and said that he would be in touch, and then walked away. Shego carefully watched him go.

Kim returned from saying her difficult goodbyes to her mother and then she and Shego left. They did not return to the apartment they had been occupying. Animatus had found them there and they were not ready to return. Instead, they went to another hideaway they had found in the forgotten depths of Middleton.

"What do you think we should do about him?" Kim asked after Shego had shared with her what Ron had confessed to knowing.

"It's hard to say," Shego answered as she scrubbed away the makeup she had earlier reapplied. "We always knew he could be dangerous."

Kim stared at her partner's reflection in the mirror. "If he knows the truth about what happened, then why does everyone still hate you?"

Shego threw the towel she had used to wipe away the faux layers of pale green that covered her body and then turned to face Kim. "He's one voice of truth amongst millions of liars. No one has bothered to listen to him."

They both knew that if people started listening then they would have to start answering questions that would unravel the story they were asking everyone to believe. Everyone knew that they had fallen, and everyone believed that they had died. Ron had actually seen what had happened. He saw Kim dive for the hovercraft and he saw her fall short. He saw Kim grab onto Shego for support and he had seen Shego reach down to do her best to pull the hero up from a deadly fall.

Drakken saw nothing; he accelerated the hovercraft and Shego had latched on to whatever she could to prevent herself from falling. Kim's weight versus the force of acceleration was too much. She could have kicked Kim free and saved herself, but she didn't. Instead, Shego made a conscious decision to let go. She decided to die alongside Kim. Shego didn't kill Kim; Kim had killed Shego.

And as Animatus had awoken their 'enhanced' bodies he knew the truth Kim had not yet discovered. He knew that Shego had somehow fallen in love with her self-declared enemy. He coveted that knowledge and used it to manipulate his experiments and to control his subjects.

Kim and Shego both clearly remembered the last moments they had spent inside of Animatus's world. They clearly recalled looking at the monitors and seeing the various versions of themselves. On most of those screens, the Kim and Shego shown were not lovers. In some of them, they hardly even appeared to be friends. For whatever reason, in whatever circumstances Animatus had created, Kim and Shego simply weren't meant to be together. Their union wasn't inevitable destiny; it was contrived destiny, and some small part of Ronald Stoppable understood that. Kim had not loved her enemy, because if she had then she would have let go of Shego before they fell; she wouldn't have taken Shego down with her.

"I do love you," Kim grabbed onto Shego's hand and pulled the other woman down onto her. She laid back onto the bed thankful for the weight settling atop her.

"I know." Shego whispered before she took possession of Kim's lips with her own. She ran a hand down Kim's body, pushing any thoughts of Ron Stoppable deep into the back of her mind. He had only seen a shadow of the truth. She pulled her lips away from Kim's. "I'm going to fuck you until you're begging me to stop."

"Ugh," Kim grunted as Shego's nails tore roughly through her clothes taking bits of flesh away as well.

Ron could never understand this. He could never understand what Animatus had turned them into.

Kim blindly ripped at Shego's own clothes, darkly satisfied when she caught the sent of Shego's blood mixing with her own.

No one could understand them now, not even their original selves.