Oddly enough, Monique felt plenty terrible once the words "I love Ron" were out of her mouth. But guilt was an emotion she could push away easily—one didn't become a teacher by giving into sad faces. What right did she have to feel guilty? It wasn't her fault, this entire situation of Kim being alive! No one's fault, it was a freaking miracle and Monique was not about to deny that. But what was that supposed to change? So what if Kim and Ron had been stuck at the hip since pre-K? That wasn't her problem. Her fingers leapt to her eyes to brush off the tears. She hated this, though. She truly hated this. Her best friend was back from the dead. Couldn't she be happy for five minutes about it, like she was supposed to and like she wanted, without having to worry about Ron getting stuck in the middle? And for an almost exhilarating split second she hated Ron. Wouldn't that be all the more convenient if Ron did not exist? She blinked a few times; she had no desire to cry in front of Kim, screw the past twenty-four hours and their emotional torrents!
Kim just sat there on the couch, hands tightly in her lap, nervous smile over her face.
She looked so young, Monique thought suddenly. They had been teenagers the last time they had seen one another, but Kim had grown. It was her expression, mainly, Monique decided.
Naïve.
"I love Ron," she repeated. "I fell in love with him. I'm sorry." Why was she apologizing?
Kim's smile only wavered slightly. "Monique. You can't…" Then the smile fell apart as Kim swung away from Monique. "Oh. I didn't think… Monique!"
Kimmie breakdown, came the automatic thought. Just like high school. "Kim, let me go get you something to drink." Of course she would have to get up from the couch to do that and for the time being Monique was frozen to that stupid clearance fabric slipcover. And she had made Kim cry. Great. The girl spends six years in a cell only to come out and find her life still ruined. "I have… I think I have juice as well. Maybe some Dr. Pepper. What do you want?"
Kim shook her head with the slightest movement, yet her hair shook. She stared at the ground, eyes wide and red.
The piercing needles of guilt returned, and Monique once again shook them away. They returned just as fast and accompanied with something else that she could not quite place. It hit her in the stomach, though.
"No," Kim said softly. "No, thanks. I'm fine. I'm not thirsty. Oh, no, no, I'm not fine." Her head shot up and their eyes met. "Monique, I am really sorry, but I have to go."
Monique found herself on her feet. "Kim, I did not mean to upset you."
Kim nodded in agreement. A reflex, it seemed, to the simple fact that someone was talking. "I know. I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that I'm really not sure what to think anymore. I'm so confused. I'm sorry about what I said, it was really, really stupid to say. Dumb."
No, it wasn't. It was probably what she was feeling. Monique took a deep breath. "I don't know how far I can apologize for this—"
"Don't apologize for it."
"It just sort of happened, Kim. I didn't mean for it to happen."
Kim stood up and marched for the door. "I'm sure that everyone thinks I'm totally crazy right now and I probably am. I don't know what I was thinking."
Just stop talking, girl, Monique told herself. Just stop talking. You've always been the cool one. Don't talk. "Kim, you were dead."
Kim froze, one hand on the doorknob. Then she let it go, whirled around, and threw her arms around Monique. Monique hugged back fiercely. "Monique, I have to go before I become angry with you. I can feel it. Goodbye."
Then she left.
Monique still stood by the couch, the old thing with the cute little slipcover she had made for it. All her crafty little doodads of fashion. Then she collapsed into it, squeezed a pillow to her chest, and bawled.
She cried until her throat ached, until she had put about half of what she felt into tears and her make-up ran. How she hated raccoon eyes! She hadn't cried like that in… heck, she didn't know when was the last time she had cried so hysterically. Probably not since Kim had been killed. Or the Kim clone. Either way, it had been Kim enough. She had been sick about that forever. She had cried plenty then. She had hurt, she had mourned, and then she had pretty much moved on because that was the healthy thing to do.
It wasn't fair. Her best friend had died. Then she learned that it had not been her best friend. Her best friend was alive and back in Middleton. It was supposed to be wonderful. And it was. Monique had never been so happy. She had danced around her apartment for forty-five minutes after Ron dropped her off. It was only from sheer exhaustion she had left bubbling glee to fall asleep. She was happy, she was thrilled, she was exuberant, she was in need of her classroom thesaurus to come up with more words to describe her feelings. But that other feeling had been there the whole time. It was the reason she hadn't said anything last night about the engagement.
It was so stupid. Kim and Ron had been six years ago. And they had dated what, a year? So they were best friends. So what? Ron loved Monique. She was the one wearing the damn ring.
And it wasn't like she had stolen Ron the moment the last bit of earth was in place over the coffin. Not that she had avoided him. Ron had been Kim's boyfriend, Monique her best girlfriend. And the two of them had been friends, all right. Nothing wrong with that. She had visited him in the hospital after the shooting. She still remembered that. He was hysterical over Kim, so was she, but he was the one with his shoulder all torn up with bullets. He was the one that had witnessed the whole thing. They had talked, comforted each other. It wasn't until four years later that he had specifically asked her, as a date, to a water park. They had been close before then, but wasn't that to be expected?
How had Kim put it? The girl had accused her of helping Ron through a hard time! She had practically told her that it was okay, she didn't have to date Ron anymore, and the chore was over.
It made her angry just thinking about it.
But she couldn't be angry about Kim. Kim was alive and Monique was happy.
She really hated emotions sometimes.
When she had control over herself, she grabbed her phone and dialed Ron. He answered quickly.
"Monique! How are you doing, sweetie?"
He sounded stressed, himself. She sighed. "Not fine. I just talked to Kim."
Silence. "Oh. She came over?"
"Yeah. She came over and she's still in love with you."
It was his turn to sigh. "Yeah."
Are you still in love with her? Ugh. She wished she could ask that. But that wouldn't be fair to anyone. "Ron, she asked me to break up with you."
"You're not going to obey her, are you?"
She laughed, bringing with that a few more tears. Good. That was what she needed to hear. "No, I'm not going to break off the engagement because I love you."
"That's good." He sounded like he had something else he had to say. That was the problem with phones. Communication could only be so personal.
"I thought you would approve. But she still loves you. You still care for her, don't you?" Her first hope was that he would say yes. You didn't spend half your life with someone and not care for them.
But what would that mean?
"Of course I do, Monique. You know what she means to me."
The sob snagged in her throat.
"Monique, are you okay?"
She sniffed. "Ron, I'm sorry. I'm just so confused right now."
More silence. "Monique, I love you."
"I know."
Kim had always imagined that there could be worse things than that cell. She wasn't that stupid. People were tortured everyday in ways she could not comprehend. Wiles had not exactly tortured her. She had a bed. She had books. The things she had read during that time… the classics: Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Dumas, Bronte, Darwin. Historical documents. Maps. Science books. The occasional trashy novel. She had activities. She could write, draw, paint, exercise. The food had been all right.
But they days, months, and years had blended into one another. It was not like she had no way of recording time. She could always know the when. She knew how much time passed. It was always there in front of her. And she had known things were changing on the outside. She wasn't stupid.
Why wouldn't have everyone moved on? She remembered hoping they would, if they didn't find her. She wanted to be rescued, she did not want them to give up hope. But neither did she want them to be sad.
Goodness, had she really thought of herself as dead in there? After the first little while, maybe. She had tried everything to escape. But it had been no use. Not possible.
She just couldn't believe Ron and Monique had fallen in love. Her mind fought over it, the logical stating the obvious "why not"? Monique and Ron were friends. She wanted what was best for them. In spite of the truth they had both thought her dead. Not pleasant, but logical.
Then her heart chimed in, screaming that Monique had stolen Ron.
"Kim?" Shego called from somewhere above. "You all right down there? You're not wussing out on me?"
Kim shook her head, suddenly recalling where she was. The middle of nowhere, Wyoming. Night time. The building was cement and steel, planted like Area 51 in the middle of sagebrush and dust. The stars stretched head, solid and gleaming. Kim breathed in the air. So, so fresh. Unbelievably fresh. Her hands were wrapped around the rungs of a latter. "No, Shego. I'm not."
"You'll get to relax, I promise." There was a thump above—Shego had reached the roof. "Just help me out tonight."
"I thought you wanted more help than just me." Kim pulled herself the rest of the way up. Focus on the moment. Focus on the moment. She could worry about Ron and Monique later.
"I told you," Shego said. "Change of situation. Huge change. I probably didn't need to break you out in the first place. Would have saved me a bunch of money."
So she wasn't even worth her weight as a hero, anyway. "Well, I appreciate it." She scampered onto the roof. She wasn't wearing her old mission clothes from back in the day. Just jeans and a shirt. It worked well enough. "I thought you wanted me to bring Ron."
"You're the one that didn't want to bring him." Shego settled down, Indian style, in the middle of the roof, one hand clenched around her locket. Kim had never seen her look so happy, so exhilarated. "But that's okay. That's okay."
Kim's intuition wasn't terribly pleased with Shego's words, but Kim really didn't care. She had beat Shego plenty of times. If she tried anything, she would beat her again. "You paid millions to free me, Shego."
"I got lucky. I found something. But don't worry, princess, you're still Plan B."
"And what am I right now?"
"My assistant." She laughed. "Dang, but that is fun to say! I don't care about paying millions. I'll just think of it as some other investment towards Brexton. Fortune came my way. Maybe I had to pay millions for that fortune. Besides, you were always a worthy adversary."
Wow. A compliment. Kim felt herself blush. "Thank-you."
"No biggie." Shego took a deep breath and fell back. "Isn't it beautiful out tonight? I mean, Wyoming's a pretty ugly state, but this, these stars, isn't it beautiful?" She laughed again. "I bet you never would have pegged me for the romantic type."
"No, not really." Kim sat down next to Shego. "Now what are we doing? We're here. You found the place. Now what?"
"We wait. Do you have the time? I have the codes and the plans of this building, but apparently we have to wait until precisely 1:13 AM."
"Why?"
She shrugged. "Let's say I trust my source. Or I had better. Or he will be dead. I swear."
Kim had forgotten just how threatening Shego could be. "You'd do anything for your boy, huh?"
"You had better believe it. In fact, I was going to… never mind."
"Huh?"
Shego sat up. Her face was still glowing. "I've never been the type to reveal my evil plans before they come to pass. It's something I try to avoid, at least."
It was unbelievable Kim was going along with this. But it was better than being in Middleton right now. And Shego hadn't tried to kill her yet. Was she yet another prize for someone that Shego was going to give up for Brexton? She stared into the distance. She could make out the faint outline of mountains. She didn't really care right now if Shego was just going to sell her out. Shego wasn't telling near enough and Kim could not care less. "What else has happened since I've gone?"
Shego shrugged. "Not as much as you might think. Life."
Life. That almighty answer.
"What about Dr. Drakken?"
"Still trying to take over the world. I haven't spoken to him in awhile. I quit working for him about the time Brexton was born."
Brexton. At least Shego had something to look forward to. "About Brexton," Kim began. "Is Drakken the…" Wow, what a weird thought.
Shego raised an eyebrow. "The father?" she said with a smirk. "Hell no. Wow, Kim, but that place did some havoc on your senses. No, Drakken is not Brexton's father in any way, shape, or form, trust me. I should kill you for thinking that. I don't think you've met Brexton's father. No super villain. Nice guy, though. I quite liked him. Sometimes you just need a great guy. Not that Drakken wasn't good. I think he was almost as excited about the baby as I was. Kim, if you ever get pregnant, do not let Dr. Drakken throw you a baby shower. He basically built my kid some weapons. But it was cute he was excited, don't get me wrong."
"I still can't believe you have a kid."
"Like I said, I'm not a bad mom." Shego brushed her hair back. "He's in there, Kim. I know he is. Somewhere in this building is my son and I want him back."
"We're here," Kim said. "Just break in."
"This is no ordinary building, Kim. Not at all. And I've learned patience. It's running out, but at least I still have some. I know exactly how to get in here. Too bad there is a timing for the codes. This is one secure building. And… we still have about fifteen minutes! I can't wait!" She took a deep breath. "So. You miss that cell yet?"
Kim almost laughed. "That was what I was thinking about back there. No, I do not miss that cell. I rejoice I'm not there every time I think about it. But I was thinking about it."
"What did you do all day?"
"Nothing," she said honestly. "Absolutely nothing worthwhile. I was a prisoner, Shego. Whoever put me in there ripped away my entire life." She shook her head. "It's funny. I had these books in there. I still remember one. The Count of Monte Cristo. I mean, I read it back in junior high, but that was then. It's about a guy who gets locked up in prison. He's innocent, too. That's the clincher. When he escaped, he sought revenge on everyone responsible."
"Yeah, I've read that one, too," Shego replied.
"I remember that sign you showed me last night. I just… I just want to know who would do such a thing."
"What would you do if you knew?"
What would she do? Kim closed her eyes; she could still see the stars. "I don't know. I really don't know. My life was ruined. My boyfriend is getting married to my best friend. Everyone thought I was dead. Do you have any idea what it is like to be the dead girl? I was bored out of my mind. I was afraid I was going to go crazy. I probably did. I went about today and half the time I thought I was crazy. And I don't want to be like that. I hardly even know who I am anymore. In answer to your question, I think I'd probably kill them. Him. Her. Whoever."
Shego said nothing for a long time. Then she climbed to her feet. "It's time. I need my boy."
As Kim watched, Shego made her way over to a spot of roof that neither looked particular special or was in a particular spot of the roof. It was just… there. Of course, Kim had failed to see any doors on the building. It was a special building. Boring-looking, just an abandoned rectangle. But if Shego had not broken in yet during the past three months…
Shego pounded into the floor four times. A portion of metal slid away, and up appeared a consul. "It's time," she muttered. She began to type.
"Time-based password," Kim mused. "You have that information?"
"Yup. All it took was a little persuasion." She kept typing.
"Are you sure you can trust them?"
"I told you. If these don't work, I'll kill him and he knows that."
"Who's 'he'?"
Shego did not reply. She hit a final button, did a rather odd dance of joy, and ran back toward the ladder. "Let's go. Door's open."
Sure enough, a panel had slid open on the building's perimeter and Shego was running through it as fast as she could. Kim could scarcely keep up.
Shego was being stupid, Kim thought. Like she would trust passwords on this kind of security. She thought she was being all patient, but all Shego wanted was her son. Something was going to go horribly wrong.
"Shego!" Kim called. The building's interior was nothing out of the ordinary, visually. Bare metal. A single corridor stretching a short way to another locked door. Shego was already punching in the next password.
"Don't worry, Kim," she muttered. "I'm being careful. He knows I'll kill him if he lied to me. He knows that. If he plays any tricks on me, I will find him and I will kill him."
Shego was crazy. Or maybe Kim was just paranoid. She hoped neither. For Shego's sake.
Shego continued to type. Then she hit enter.
Kim screamed and ducked as a fine, gleaming laser shot over her head. They were all around her, streaming from the walls to create a deadly jungle gym.
"No!" Shego shrieked, dodging a laser. "He said this was the right code! He said it!"
Kim grabbed Shego's arm. Shego fought her away and continued to fight with the consul, bashing in the buttons with her fists. "Shego!"
Shego was crying now, tears flowing down her face as she continued to shriek. But she went green, at least, blasts of green fighting back the lasers as Kim drug her toward the door. Kim's eyes were mostly closed. The laser light was plenty blinding.
"Brexton!" Shego screamed. "Brexton!"
They rolled out into the sagebrush. They lay on the ground, tangled together, as Shego continued to scream and cry. Kim wasn't sure what to expect next. The building to explode? Nah, that would just be a waste of money. She pushed the sobbing Shego away as the lasers finally began to die away. She wondered if she had been burned. She was too tired to check.
What a lousy mission. But she had known it. No matter what Shego thought, she couldn't handle this.
"He told me the codes," Shego muttered. She was crying into the sage. "He sent me the codes. He told me I could go in, find Brexton, and get out. He told me I could."
He had failed to mention the death part. "Who did that? Why would he tell you that?"
"Blackmail," she gasped. "I blackmailed him, and he gave me these and I… oh, hell, why did I believe him?" She screamed again and tore out the sagebrush. "I just want my baby back."
"Who told you?" Kim demanded.
"I found him today. Accidentally. Your computer kid from before. Wade Load."
