Closures

XX

She should have known what Ron had been planning as soon as they left the island earlier, but it became increasingly obvious when they left Middleton and traveled by hovercraft in the direction of Upperton. As they flew over the downtown area, Shego became increasingly familiar with the route they were taking. Ron pointed towards a parking lot below them. As the craft descended, it was clear that all the spaces in the lot were taken, but Shego didn't care. One of the benefits of being someone who flouted the law was that, well – you could park wherever you darn well pleased.

"Uh, is this really a parking spot?" asked Ron as the hovercraft touched down in the middle of the lot, blocking several cars.

"It is now,."

Shego turned off the craft as the two of them jumped down from their seats and onto the asphalt. She pulled out her remote control and pressed a button. Although nothing visible happened, the hovercraft let off a faint crackling sound for a moment, as if someone had just pulled a static-filled fuzzy sweater from it.

"What was that?" asked Ron.

"Electric field," said Shego. "Just in case anybody doesn't like me parking there and tries to give me a ticket or put a key to my paint job."

"Does that happen a lot?"

"Yep. Sometimes they're actually lying on the ground unconscious next to the hovercraft when I get back. It's probably the best invention I came up with as a supervillain, to tell you the truth."

Shego followed Ron out of the parking lot after watching him nearly poke the hovercraft in curiosity before withdrawing his hand at the last second. As they took a route down the street, she knew exactly where they were going. She had even parked her hovercraft in that parking lot before. She knew why Ron had gotten her to come along now, but she didn't know if she should be feeling anger or thankfulness towards him. Was this what she needed? As they reached the front of the shop, Shego began to feel an urge to run away rising up within herself.

"Here we are," said Ron.

Shego looked up at the sign. Doctor D Cups.

Such an awful, awful name. But that was what happened when Drakken didn't have her around to keep him on the straight and narrow. Emphasis on straight, she thought.

"I'd take a guess as to why you dragged me here, but I think I already know."

Ron gave her a pat on the back, but she was too wrapped up in other thoughts to notice and be annoyed.

"Yep. Closure."

Shego nodded slowly as she stared over the tables and chairs on the patio and into the store's front window. Cars drove by in the street behind them, casting distorted reflections that moved across the glass and melded with other reflections of the surrounding cityscape. It was hard to see inside, but she could make out some customers eating at tables and booths. As she peered more closely, there was a glimpse of blue inside the store. Shego grabbed Ron and pulled him back with her as she ducked into a small alley beside the bakery.

"Look, I can't do this," she said. "What the hell am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to do? He's probably in there with Hank right now – I haven't talked to him in years!"

"I don't know," said Ron. "That's up to you. But it's obvious you never got all of this behind you. Come on, Shego, stealing cupcakes from the guy? Why else would you be doing that if you didn't want it to come to this?"

Shego groaned. She just thought the cupcakes were really good, but even as she told herself that, she knew it didn't explain everything. They were good, no doubt about it, but they weren't good enough to justify the times she had spent surreptitiously scoping out Drakken's bakery 'Scoping out', she had to admit, was a less creepy way of saying 'stalking.'

That was what it all came down to in the end. Drakken.

All that time she had spent with him. All that time she had helped him with his inane schemes until their inevitable failure. Slowly lowering her emotional defenses, letting herself actually be close to someone even if she never really showed it. And just when she thought she had changed, both of them had changed - just when she thought maybe she was capable of really caring about someone - it had all been a stupid mistake. Just an embarrassing side effect of Drakken's Super High Pollinator mishap.

Embarrassing, Drakken had said after admitting he had gone on a few dates with her because he didn't know what else to do. No big deal. Just a misunderstanding – didn't mean to lead you on, Shego.

They had only been dates in Shego's mind, really, and they were certainly awkward enough to preclude any romance, but Shego had been hoping for things to escalate after that United Nations conference. She had let her desires cloud the reality of the situation. Then Drakken had announced he was giving up the supervillain business and going into actual legitimate business, which was just another step in pulling apart a relationship that had never even existed. And finding out about Hank Perkins - that had been the final blow.

Shego had spent a lot of time feeling bitter about the whole thing. After she tore up her contract and left Drakken behind, she spent a lot of time not doing much of anything, until finally she embarked on her foray into supervillainy, deciding it had been a mistake to let herself get attached to someone. She was too good for that. She was a better supervillain than any of those other louts, Drakken included.

Once she had saved the world and actually sort of enjoyed it, Shego had begun to wonder about the course of her life. It made her wonder just how evil she really was. But she pushed all of that away after the debacle with Drakken. The whole thing had made her think she was getting too soft, that she had let Doctor D lead her astray with his own change of heart. She would be a supervillain. She would reclaim her independence, cut those hidden weaknesses out of herself and burn them into oblivion. Shego didn't need to play second fiddle to anyone, and she would get back on track. Back to her roots.

If only things had worked out that way.

"You okay, Shego?"

"What?"

"You were grinding your teeth there for a minute," said Ron.

They stood together, hidden in the alleyway. A few pedestrians glanced at them as they passed. Shego found it bizarre that she was in this situation with Ron. Here, now, mere feet away from Drakken. Ron seemed to be trying to do her a favor, but she was his enemy. Maybe he was nursing the hope that she'd turn into a good guy.

Shego let out a short, barking laugh at the thought, but just as the sound rang through the alley, the irony of the situation struck her. She had been a good guy, once. Shego had tried to turn to supervillainy after being hurt by Drakken as a way to reclaim herself, rediscover her identity – her roots, was the way she had thought of it – but her roots were with Team Go. Her deepest roots. Her oldest, most embryonic identity, one that she had rejected long ago, sloughed off like a useless skin as she blossomed in evil. And yet, somehow, her evil skin was just as bad a fit as the good one had been. She had no idea who she was anymore. Maybe she had no identity at all.

"Who am I?"

Ron scratched his head and thought very seriously about the question.

"Is this a trick question?"

Shego shook her head. Whatever virtues Ron had, deep philosophical ruminations on the nature of identity were probably not among them. It had mostly been a rhetorical question anyway.

"You're Shego," said Ron. "Whoever that is."

Shego stared at him, trying to figure out what he meant, if he meant anything at all.

"Why are you helping me?"

"I dunno," said Ron. "It was cool of you to let me hang out on your island for a while, and that whole thing on the yacht was pretty fun. A little scary, though. And it just seemed like you could use a little push in the right direction with the whole Drakken thing. It seems like you're having some of the same problems I've been having, and I thought we both needed to move on a little bit."

"Hmm. So this isn't some lame attempt to get friendly with me? You're not thinking I'm going to move on and turn into your little Miss Go sexy teacher fantasy or something, are you? Because I don't see any Attitudinators around."

"Dude, Miss Go was kind of creepy," said Ron. "So no. I already told you, I know you're the way that you are, okay? I know you're not going to change."

Shego wasn't sure why she was asking the question – just out of interest, maybe – but she asked anyway.

"Do you want me to change?"

The clatter and din of passing cars filtered into the quiet alleyway.

"Well," said Ron, "it would definitely be easier for me and Kim if you didn't go back to fighting us and trying to take over the world all the time. Is that what you meant?"

Shego laughed. She wasn't sure what she meant, but she supposed Ron's answer had been kind of obvious. And the question, really, was whether she wanted to change. Shego doubted she would ever be like Kim and Ron, at least. Beyond that, it was a question for which she did not have an answer. Not yet. She'd have to shelve it for now.

But she knew one thing she did want. Something she needed, in fact. Ron Stoppable had been surprisingly perceptive in knowing exactly what it was, too, and Shego was finally accepting it. She had to get over her immaturity, her hangups, her past – she needed closure.

And she was about to get it, too.

"Wait for me!" said Ron as Shego left the alley and turned into the fenced patio in front of the bakery. She burst through the door, its bell chiming hysterically, and looked over the room with an imperious gaze as Ron squeezed in behind her. Every customer in the room, and a handful of employees, turned their heads as one towards the noisy new arrival. Shego looked over the room's occupants and did not see Drakken, or Hank for that matter – maybe they had gone back into the employee area. Several of the customers caught her eye, however. Three very familiar customers.

"Shego! What a coincidence that you are here too!"

Junior stood up from the booth and waved enthusiastically, while his girlfriend and father took a little longer to look back at who had just entered the store. Señor Senior Senior gave them a nod, and Bonnie slumped back into her seat with a groan after noticing that Ron Stoppable was standing behind Shego.

"What are you three doing here?" said Shego as she walked up to the booth.

"My son was quite taken by the taste of those cupcakes," said Senior, "and insisted that we take a trip to eat more. I, of course, could not stand any more of his incessant whining, and here we find ourselves. Won't you join us?"

"Uh, I have other business here, actually."

"How unfortunate."

"You're telling me."

Shego's other business appeared on cue in the form of a blue-skinned man who came out of the employee door wearing an apron and a white chef's hat perched on top of a black quasi-mullet. Behind him, Hank Perkins appeared, dressed in his usual sharp-looking business suit, although he was also wearing a white apron over it. Drakken had a plate of cupcakes balanced in his hands, but upon seeing his old partner in supervillainy, he dropped the plate to the ground with a crash.

After a moment of paralysis, Drakken's voice came out in a forced squeal. "Hello Shego," he squeaked. "Long time no see!"

Shego stared at Drakken, a mixture of feelings pouring into her, released from floodgates hidden deep within herself. They were in such a jumble that Shego couldn't pick out one from another, and for a moment she felt hesitant – even afraid. Maybe she wasn't ready for this. Drakken and Hank stared at her silently, and from the expressions on their faces, Shego could tell they were a little nervous as well. Hank in particular. Their own fear encouraged Shego, reminded her that she was always in control. She forced the fear back down.

Ready or not, Shego was on the spot. It was time to get her past behind her.

"We need to talk," she said. "Now!"

She pointed towards the employee door and walked towards Drakken, grabbing him by the arm before he could decide on a course of action other than standing still and cowering. Hank followed the two of them behind the counters, leaving Ron alone in the shop as they went into the back room.

Shego looked around the employee area. Several teenage workers, who had been busy slaving away in the back, scattered out into the store itself as they sensed something was about go down, leaving Shego and her two bumbling shop owners alone in the room. She noticed a baking oven dominating her surroundings, looking more like something from one of Drakken's old lairs than a piece of equipment that could be found in a bakery. It was definitely Drakken's style, at least. But enough sightseeing. Shego returned her attention to the purpose of her visit.

"What brings you to my shop, Shego?" asked Drakken.

"You."

XX

Ron took a seat in the booth with the Seniors and Bonnie, twiddling his thumbs for lack of anything better to do. He watched idly as one of the bakery employees picked up the cupcakes that Drakken had dropped and began to sweep up the broken plate scattered across the floor. Shego had needed his moral support to come here and do her thing, but now it looked like she was ready to handle it on her own. He listened with the other occupants of the booth as the sound of faint voices came from inside the employee area.

"So, we meet again, Ron Stoppable."

"Junior, dude, we already saw each other twice this weekend. Why do you keep saying that?"

"I do not know. I think it is just for the dramatic effect."

It was pretty dramatic. Ron had to give him that.

Led me on... opened up to you and you...

The bakery began to grow more quiet as the other customers began to pick up on the faint conversation going on inside the employee area. Several people froze, their hands halfway to their mouths in mid-sip of coffee or mid-bite of cupcake. Ron looked around at the booth and coughed nervously.

"So Bonnie," he said, "what have you been up to lately?"

Bonnie tapped a well-manicured fingernail on the cream-colored tabletop as she stared impassively at Ron.

"I'm going out with Junior, living on our island. What do you mean?"

"Well, I meant like, what are your plans? Did you go to college or anything?"

Bonnie snorted. "Why in the world would I do that?" she asked.

Ron gave up his feeble attempt at conversation as it fell rapidly into a death spiral. In the increasingly oppressive silence that began to cover the bakery, the conversation in the employee room sounded like it was ratcheting itself up into an argument.

How could I know that... employee relationship wasn't more than...

Ron was surprised to hear that Drakken seemed to be raising his own voice in response to Shego.

Can't believe... don't give me... were holding me back!

"So, you and Shego," asked Junior as he politely tried to ignore the increasingly violent argument raging in the back room, "is there something going on there?"

Ron hesitated a moment.

"Uh, probably not."

"Probably you say? But you just hesitated, did you not?"

Junior peered more closely at Ron's transparent attempt at a poker face, and felt a rare moment of insight hit him like a brick wall.

Ron Stoppable, you sly dog!"

Junior held out his hand for a high five, and while Ron spent a few moments trying and failing to prevent a blush from spreading over his cheeks, he finally returned it. He didn't want to leave Junior hanging, after all. And he supposed he was kind of surprising that he would get lucky with an older woman, even if it was only just the one time.

"Please," said Senior, "let us be more mature."

"Sorry father."

Ron jumped at the sound of something crashing and breaking in the back room. He looked up as an employee approached the booth with a tray of cupcakes in hand.

"More cupcakes?" he asked.

Junior nodded vigorously. "Most definitely!"

Why... blaming me for hangups that aren't... have to move on!

Senior watched his son a little distastefully as Junior dug into the fresh batch of cupcakes, and Bonnie would have joined Senior's disgust had she not been busy looking out the window and waiting to be elsewhere.

AM moving on... is how I'm doing it!

Ron grabbed a cupcake of his own and took a bite as the arguing ceased, and the sound of scuffling broke out in the employee area instead. Soon, it was punctuated by what sounded like a thud. He hoped Shego would be finished with her closure soon, as he had some business to attend to. He joined Bonnie in looking out the window pensively as he finished his cupcake. Tasty, for sure – tastier than anything he would have expected from Drakken – but they lacked the Ron factor.

After a few more minutes of awkward silence, during which a number of the customers had filed out of the bakery in anticipation that whatever was going on in the employee area might spill out into the actual dining area, the yelling and shattering sounds died down. Ron watched the employee door expectantly, until finally it burst open, vomiting Shego forth like a victorious conquerer in green and black, emerging from the belly of the beast. She left the counter area and walked over to the booth where Ron was sitting, grabbing his hand and shaking it unexpectedly.

"I gotta hand it to you, Stoppable - this was definitely I needed."

"No big!"

Drakken and Hank trailed out of the employee area a few moments after Shego. Ron noticed that Hank Perkins was rapidly developing a black eye, but the two of them seemed surprisingly calm.

"You guys okay?"

"Oh yes," said Drakken. "I think Shego and I came to an understanding."

Ron winced at the sight of Hank's eye. "What about you?"

"I'm swell."

Judging by the inflamed eyelid, Ron wondered if Hank's pun was intended.

"Sorry about that," said Shego as she slapped Hank chummily on the back. "I guess I just really needed to let out some rage that I never really took care of. But no hard feelings anymore, alright? And my beef was with Drakken in the end, I know you weren't really responsible for any slights against me."

Ron was amazed at Shego's sudden change in attitude. It really was like she was a new woman; although Ron had thought she needed closure, he wasn't used to being so blatantly right about something. He had seen Shego taking sarcastic pleasure in things, or taking a kind of morbid happiness at landing a good kick at Kim Possible, but the genuinely happy vibe she was radiating now was not something he was used to seeing in her.

"Are you guys done?" asked Ron.

Shego glanced at Drakken and Hank before nodding.

"Good, because I had a question I wanted to ask you, Doctor D."

"What's that, Kim's sidekick?"

"I was wondering if you were looking for a head chef."

Drakken, along with everyone else around the booth, stared blankly at Ron.

"What? Why?"

"Because I'd like to apply for the job, if you are."

Drakken pursed his lips at the question. He supposed things had been changing a little between him and his old foes, but he had not expected to get a job request from the buffoon.

"So, you're telling me that you brought Shego here to punch out my boyfriend and then ask me for a job?" asked Drakken. "Don't get me wrong, I think it was good to see Shego again, but this is a peculiar strategy, buffoon."

When Drakken put it that way, Ron thought, maybe it was a bit of a leap.

"I'm a good cook," he said. "I can make cupcakes better than the ones you have."

"I seriously doubt that," laughed Drakken.

"And I can make a lot of things besides cupcakes, too! I know you guys were talking about doing what you know, but I know baking, and you can keep your D Cups as a signature item but sell other stuff along with it. A whole store only for cupcakes and coffee is kind of needlessly limited."

Although he was skill skeptical of the fact that Ron could make a better cupcake than one of his D Cups, Drakken had to admit that the buffoon's confidence was unexpected. He found himself intrigued.

"Tell you what," he said, "You claim you can give me a better product than what I already have? Prove it."

Drakken motioned for Ron to follow him back into the employee area.

"Do you have a fully stocked kitchen back there?" asked Ron.

"Yes," said Drakken. "We haven't really been using it since we got the warehouse kitchen and bakery area up and running and centralized our distribution, but this was our first branch. And we have the Bakinator 2000, which were were going to send to the warehouse, but I still have to work out a few kinks."

"Baking stuff at the warehouse is stupid," said Ron. "Once you get a taste of my goods, you'll be sold on fresh baked goods, made on location."

"Get a taste of your goods?" asked Shego, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"Er, pretend I didn't say that."

Drakken and Hank left the booth as they entered the employee room, motioning for Ron to follow them. As Ron got out of the booth, Bonnie and the Seniors also got up to leave.

"I am afraid we must go," said Senior. "Miss Rockwaller has whispered to me that she wishes to return home and sunbathe, and I am afraid I cannot say no to such a charming young lady. I am ever at the whims of these two, you see."

Ron waved goodbye as they headed for the door, Bonnie giving him an awkward nod and Junior giving him a wink and a thumbs up as he tilted his head in Shego's direction, which Ron hoped Shego had not noticed.

"We shall meet again, Ron Stoppable!" said Junior just before the door closed.

"Are you coming, buffoon?" asked Drakken as he poked his head out of the employee door.

"Yeah, in a minute."

As Drakken disappeared behind the door again, Shego also got up from the booth. She had not been expecting Ron to ask for a job from her old employer, and she was sort of interested in seeing whether or not Ron's cupcakes could actually beat Drakken's, but she did not like the idea of hanging around for a half hour baking contest after she had just gotten her particularly physical style of closure with Drakken and Hank. Her business was done, and she decided it was best to follow the Seniors' examples.

"I'm gonna head out too," she said. "Uh, it's been interesting Ron."

"Definitely," he agreed.

The two of them stood silently for a moment as they found themselves plunged into an awkward silence. Shego was never very good at goodbyes. Why she even felt the need to engage in a formal goodbye with Kim's dork of a sidekick, she was having trouble figuring out. How things have changed, she thought. It used to be that she would sneak away from her one night stands before they even woke up, and yet this one had dragged her across an ocean somehow.

She turned away, about to head for the door, when Ron stopped her with a cough. She turned around and was startled to find him sidling up next to her and bringing his mouth to her ear.

"Hey, look," he said in a whisper, "could we keep, uh – well, what happened – could we keep that just between us? Like, no telling Kim? I know you'd want to give her a hard time about it, but things are already hard enough between us. I dunno how she'd feel about hearing I was chumming it up with the enemy. Not that you're the enemy. Unless you are. I mean – well, you know what I mean, right?"

Shego rolled her eyes. Ron was right; although she hadn't had much time to think about it, sleeping with Kim's former sidekick and boyfriend gave her enough psychological ammunition to fling at Kim for years to come. Not that she had even seen Kim in a long time, but she had always assumed she would be back to fighting her old teen foe sooner or later.

"I did you a favor by bringing you here," said Ron, "so just do me a solid in return, okay?"

She looked down at Ron's face, which was distorted into a ridiculously sappy expression that was clearly designed to appeal to her emotional side. His eyes were large and watery, and his lips were extended into a pout. Almost like a dog, she thought. Or a puppy. Shego had no idea how anyone could succumb to such a transparent attempt at emotional blackmail. It was comical.

But then, Ron had done her a favor. And the last weekend had been one of the most unexpectedly enjoyable ones she had spent in months. Perhaps even years.

Now that she thought about it, that night on the yacht with Ron could have unintended consequences for her own street cred. Someone as villainous as she was, even if she wasn't so sure just how villainous she was anymore, was not the type of person who slept with the Ron Stoppables of the world. Even if she enjoyed it, she had the villain food chain to think of. She wasn't sure what she was going to do with her future, or even what she was going to do once she walked out of the bakery door, but maybe it was best to avoid potential embarrassment if anyone found out about the two of them.

"Alright already," she said as Ron continued his pout. "I won't tell anybody if you don't."

"Deal!"

As Shego shook his hand, she began to wonder if that pout of his really had influenced her after all.

"Excuse me," said Drakken as he appeared at the employee door again, "but I thought you were hoping to get a job? I believe you are late for your job interview!"

"Okay, I'm coming! Sorry!"

Shego gave Drakken a nod before leaving the store, which he returned, a little nervously, before letting Ron back into the employee area. Hank Perkins was already clearing a spot on a table where Ron could make his cupcakes. Drakken showed Ron the high-tech kitchen and the specialized, supervillainesque oven that awaited him. A refrigerator was stocked with milk, eggs, and other perishable goods, while shelves of sugar, flour, and numerous herbs and spices lined shelves on a nearby wall.

Ron took a closer look; there was enough for him to work with. He cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

"Get ready for some schoolin'!"

XX

Kim pushed the empty plate away from her as she wondered if her mother was trying to feed her until she exploded. Although it was good food – her mother's brain loaf was one of Kim's favorite meals when she managed to pay her family a visit during her busy college schedule – Kim wondered what she had done to deserve death by overfeeding.

"More loaf, honey?"

"Only if you want me to barf on your nice new tablecloth," said Kim.

"Feed her more!" shouted Tim.

Jim nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "Yeah, we totally wanna see Kim barf!"

"Guys," said James, "calm down a little."

The Possible family had finished their dinner, and while Monique sometimes had an appetite that belied her trim physique, she looked like she was no longer touching any food either. Anne started gathering up the plates and silverware to rinse in the sink and load into the dishwater, while James finished off his plate and got up to help her.

"I think we'll be going back to the apartment now," said Kim. "I did technically miss class today, so I'll have to make sure I'm not here all night long and actually get some sleep tonight."

"You missed your classes?" asked James as he looked back from cleaning the dishes with his wife. "I'm disappointed, Kimmie-cub – you know better!"

"I missed classes all the time in high school, dad. It's seriously no big. I'll just pretend I had a really hard day today and get Mr. Barkin to give me an extension on anything I might have missed!"

"You mean, as opposed to tellin' him you just totally forgot and went shopping instead," said Monique with a barely-concealed snigger of amusement.

"Very funny," said Kim. "Well, okay, completely true, but way to be supportive."

"That's what I'm here for!"

The table was cleared, leftovers returned to the fridge, and the twins had finished running around aimlessly – something that never seemed to cease amusing them, no matter how old they became – and the Possible family gathered around their daughter and her girlfriend to say their goodbyes. Anne gave Monique a hug as everyone stood at the front door.

"Any chance you'll be coming around for Thanksgiving?" said Anne. "I'm sure you want to celebrate with your family, but the way I saw you eating my brain loaf, I imagine you could manage two dinners in one night."

Monique gaped at Kim's mother in mock shock.

"I was thinking about it, but now that you say it like that!"

Monique opened the door as Kim gave her parents and brothers a hug. "I'll be in the car," she told her girlfriend, not wanting to spend more time than necessarily in the chilly evening air. Kim gave her arm a squeeze as Monqiue left for the Sloth parked in the driveway.

"I'm sorry about the mission," Anne told her daughter. "When you told me about it, I was hoping you and Ron might end up patching things up a bit, maybe being friends again. But you know, Kimmie, sometimes things don't always turn out quite the way you want."

"That's alright," said Kim. "I think it was worth doing in the end. And as awkward as the mission was, I think Dr. Director made some good points when I was talking to her today. It's not like I never want to see Ron again, and I think we could probably handle more missions together if he was willing to give it a chance."

"I can always send him into a deep space orbit for a few months and give him a little time to think about what he wants," said James with a wink. "Anything for my Kimmie-cub!"

"Thanks but no thanks, dad. I don't want to be unfair to Ron anyway. I guess maybe I had a blame in everything as much as he did. It's a big mess, basically."

"It's called being an adult," said James.

Anne raised an eyebrow at her husband. "You think your life is a big mess, huh?"

James noticed the expression on his wife's face and coughed nervously. "Haha, of course not. I was generalizing – my life is perfect and problem-free, thanks to our marriage, dear."

"I thought so."

"Okay," said Kim. "I'll let you guys work that out on your own. My girlfriend is waiting for me."

"Goodbye, honey!"

Kim gave the tweebs a last wave goodbye and hurried to the Sloth, opening the door to find Monique flipping stations on the radio. Kim turned on the headlights and pulled out of the driveway into the quiet Middleton suburb.

XX

The Sloth pulled into the apartment parking lot, and Monique gingerly stepped out of the passenger side, holding her stomach.

"That was nice brain loaf your mom made, Kim, but I think I ate a bit too much."

"And who's fault is that?"

"Your mom's."

Kim gave her girlfriend a shrug, admitting to herself that Monique was probably right. The two of them approached the covered stairway that led up to their second floor apartment, and Kim looked forward to saying hello to their pet budgerigars before dropping straight into bed.

Despite feeling a little tired, Kim was in a good mood. Normally she felt guilty about skipping classes, even when it was due to missions, but other than the slightly awkward meeting with Dr. Director, today had been a good day off. Shopping with Monique, dinner with the parents. It was just too bad that it was drawing a close as the evening wore on. Kim wasn't sure exactly what she had accomplished on her cupcake-based mission in terms of actually fighting evil or protecting the innocent, but it didn't matter. She felt like she had earned a day off.

Upon reaching the second floor landing, she almost smacked straight into Monique, who had stopped in front of her before reaching their apartment door. Kim looked around her girlfriend and noticed what it was – or, who it was - that had stopped her in her tracks.

"Hey Kim." said Ron. "Long time no see, Monique."

"Heya," said Monique.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you guys."

Kim noticed Ron was shivering a little. The fall weather had been growing colder lately.

"How long have you been standing out here?" she asked.

"Er, just a few minutes," he said. "Or like half an hour. You think I could come in and warm up?"

There was a moment of hesitation, but Kim realized that she was glad to see him there. It was late, but she did want to talk to him. The mission had ended badly, and she had said things she regretted. At least this meant Ron wasn't going to be ignoring her for months again. Maybe people really did change sometimes.

"Of course you can come in."