Come Forth Lazurus!

Can't keep up the emotions. Rabbi Katz thought. The fact of the matter was, after the events of the past several weeks, everyone…was a bit drained. Him included, but his job didn't end just because he was tired, and Margaret and Cindy were unavailable. Margaret didn't even want to be in the same room as Shelly, and Cindy was keeping watch on the older woman.

And the others…. Were young. If not in the maturity sense (Katz could count on one hand all the adults he knew who could have endured what Kim and Ron had—and he wasn't among them), but in the informational sense. In any case, they were scattered, either at home or in the hospital, and most of them dead asleep. It'd been that kind of night, and when the parents of Felix, Bonnie, Zita and Monique had heard the (carefully edited) course of events, they'd had a half dozen emotionally draining reunions, confrontations and generally hysterical "thank God you're ok/How could you do this!". Ron's parents had called, but not come. Some might consider that cold, but Rabbi Katz understood—too late maybe, but at least now they were honoring Ron's desires.

"Shelly." Katz said, sitting by her bed. The teen looked over at him, eyes exhausted but clear. Her burned hands were bandaged and by all examinations, she was in fine health—if anything, recovering faster than she should. Comet Power.

Katz saw the Rosary in her in her hands, and blinked, than remember. Ron had gone to her apartment and had returned… and he'd had something in his hand.

"Ron?" Katz asked. Shelly nodded, hand holding on to the Rosary.

"Yes…he brought it back." She said. There was a sense of… not passivity to her, Katz thought, but of someone who has just climbed the summit of the greatest mountain and is resting…because they've seen even greater mountains in the distance.

"We're going to have to work on some legal matters." He said, "You don't have a guardian, and while in a few years it won't matter, right now that could cause some problems." He paused, "Especially since according to Ronald you have just over three million dollars in bearer bonds and gold."

"I don't want it." She said. "It's blood money."

"Maybe, but you do need some of it." Katz looked at her. "I won't tell you to take it all—but Shelly, right now you're a teen with no family, no home, and no established place in life—that's a very big strike against you, one that money could go a long way in rectifying. There's no reason you need to take it all…but you need to keep enough of it to give yourself a starting point."

"I-"

"And as for blood money…." Katz paused, "That is only if you had a knowing role in its accumulation—if not, I sincerely doubt God or man will be overly concerned." He smiled, "But after Ronald's…ah, experience with large sums of money, it'll probably be placed in a trust fund, with a court appointed guardian." That sparked some interest.

"Who?"

"Mmmm… I'm not certain." Katz said.

"I want it to be you, Rabbi."

"Me? Shelly, I'm honored, but I'm not-"

"Ron trusts you. I trust him." Shelly said, in a voice that brooked no argument. Katz shrugged.

"Well, it will be up to the court…but I'm certain they'll take your desires into account." Which brings up another question… Judge Wilkins, yes. He'll be easy to explain this too—and understand when I don't explain it all.

"What about my apartment?"

"That's…another problem. Shelly, I don't think it's a good idea if you live alone."

"You think Shego may come back?" She asked, evenly.

"No, but I think you still have a certain amount of guilt, and aloneness is never a good thing."

"So-" Katz raised his hand.

"In fact, Felix's mother has mentioned that she's gotten used to having two other people in the house… and if things go with Ron the way I hope and pray they will, she's perfectly willing to let you live with her and Felix."

"Rabbi…." Shelly trailed off. "After everything I've…"

"Yes, after everything you" Katz stressed the word, "Have done. She's not inviting Shego."

"Can I think about it?"

"Certainly." Katz said. "But… Felix's mother can be….very insistent."

"So when's Shelly getting out?" Kim asked Ron. A few days later, and both the teens were sitting in the van, in front of a familiar house. Ron's hand's only had light bandages, and Kim looked, save for a few bruises, like she had before Shego's sudden "reappearance" a few days ago.

"Probably in a day or so—they want to keep her under observation."

"Mom still thinks Shego is just hiding, doesn't she?" Kim said. Ron shook his head.

"She'll be thinking that for a long time, KP." Kim nodded, as they turned the corner to the house—not Kim's house.

"I still think I should stay in the car." Kim said. Ron shook his head.

"Nope. This is a package deal, KP… I'm willing to go back…but not without you. They need to understand that right now." He frowned, "And I wish you would let me-"

"Demand an apology from your mom and dad?" Kim gave a small laugh, "Ron, you know they think I nearly got you killed—and they're still pissed at me. And they're right." Ron started to talk, but Kim overrode him. "I did get you involved and that was why you ran into Shego. They'll do this for you, in spite of me, and I'm not going to risk screwing it up…because this is for you. Not me." Ron pulled the car up into the driveway, and looked at Kim, taking her hand in his and kissing it.

"OK KP…" He paused, "Have I mentioned I love you?"

"Only five times in the last hour." Kim told him and leaned over to kiss him. "Ready?"

"Not even." Ron said, "Ready Rufus?" The mole rat yawned and nodded from the pocket where he'd been riding. With that, the two teens disembarked from the car and made their way to the door of Ron's house. This time, though having to walk with a deliberation far unlike her former liquid movements, Kim didn't need a crutch. Not that she was cured—far from it. Kim frowned. Needing, or not needing a crutch or wheel chair seemed to be dependent on her exercise, the stars in the sky, and whether or not a butterfly landed in South America. Still. She had Ron, and Ron had her.

Ron walked up to the door, and pausing for a moment, opened the door to his home.

Kim's Diary

Wow….that was…brutal. I mean, really, really, brutal. I thought that Ron would walk out twice, and his parents thought about throwing me out, I bet. Lots of yelling and crying, and I just tried to keep quiet. So did Rufus.

Ron's back at his home now, and Shelly's over at Felix's. Felix's mom was pretty insistent…even if Shelly's paying rent. Felix told us that Shelly insisted. I think she still feels guilty. I guess I can see why.

Oh! Ron's new teeth are starting to bud—no more dentures for him….except, well you're not going to believe this.

"Teething?" Ron said in the lunch room, "I'm teething!"

"It's kinda the way you get new teeth." Felix said.

"It's sick and wrong!" Ron said, looking at his lunch—a soft boiled egg, pudding, and something that looked like….eugh. Kim didn't want to know.

"It'll be over in a few weeks, maybe a month." Kim pointed out. "You should be happy that you don't have to worry about dentures."

"If I don't starve to death." Ron muttered. "Why didn't your mom warn me about this…this….horror, KP?" Kim giggled.

"Maybe she felt you could lose the weight?"

"And we can go to Bueno Nacho without fear of losing our food to the bottomless stomach." Monique said.

"You…you would go to…when I can't…. Oh why? Why have my friends deserted me!" Ron threw his head back.

"You also sound kinda mushy." Zita added, sitting on the far side of the table from Shelly. She'd been fully exposed to Shego, and so it wasn't…surprising that she was still a little nervous around her, even after a month. Kim was curled up next to Ron, in a way that probably should have had a teacher bitch at her, but for some reason they got cut just a little more slack than others…not that anyone begrudged them. Ron's teeth might grow back, but medical science was decades from being able to regenerate nerve tissue—so both he and Kim would probably bear their deeper injuries for years more. Kim's mother had worked on a prosthetic eye, one that permitted some level of sight through something that Shelly didn't understand at all—but although Ron could see out of it, it caused headaches and 'felt grainy', according to Ron, so it stayed at home until they got the bugs out of it. Shelly had winced at that, but Ron had just grinned and mentioned what a babe magnet the whole "Pirate of the Vasty main" look was, even as he pulled Kim close. Shelly shook her head. Ron was…. Ron.

"So Shelly." Kim said, "are you still up for a work out after Cheer practice?" Shelly nodded. Kim and Ron weren't on the team, but they both helped out, Ron with the new Maddog mascots (which had him complaining to no end), and Kim with organizing the team. Sometimes, Shelly caught her looking out over the floor, with her friends and former teammates bouncing around, and looking terribly sad.

She'd asked Kim about that, and Kim had given her a grin.

"I can't work with them, but I can help." She paused, "And I'm not going to run away—I'll find another way to help…and not give in." Shelly nodded at that. And Kim had done exactly that. With her working to help drill the newest cheerleaders, Bonnie had been able to concentrate on the best to make them even better.

Which didn't absolve Kim from therapy and she'd asked Shelly to help her with it. Ron had visibly brightened at the idea.

"Hey, cool! The three musketeers ride again."

"Again?"

"Well, they never say: 'for the first time'." Ron had pointed out. "Well, almost never." Kim shook her head, and turned to Shelly.

"So… I kinda need you to help me with…well… it's secret." Kim finished. Shelly frowned.

"Kim… I owe you everything, but is this something dangerous?"

"Dan-no!" Kim said, and grinned, "It's just something I want to surprise some people with." Shelly looked at her and Kim held her gaze for a second then dropped it.

"OK…" Kim said, "I've been doing better recently." Shelly nodded at that. "Dr. Peterson thinks that part of the reason I wasn't doing so well was…well….I mean…" Kim looked embarrassed. Shelly nodded.

"That you were still dealing with the way I tortured you and Ron."

"Shego." Ron said, flatly, "tortured us. You didn't. You saved us." Shelly didn't argue. Ron and Kim had refused to hear anything of her apologies.

"Well." Shelly said, "If you want me, I'll help."

"Good." Kim looked conspiratorial. "But you can't tell anyone else."

TBC.