Chapter 9

Dr. Drakken sighed as the third doctor in the last five minutes was hurled down the aisle of his 'mobile command post' that Shego insisted on calling a RV.

"Shego they can't help the girl if you keep throwing them out..." muttered Drakken as he checked the progress of the rest of his convoy, a convoy that was quite literally his entire base packed into shipping containers and desperately scattering to the winds.

"He said she'll be fine if she rests!" yelled Shego from the back bedroom. "I got rid of him so she could!"

Kim had been asleep for two days now and Shego looked down on her a little worried, that blonde moron had beaten her up pretty good but at least no bones were broken. Shego was worried that Kim just didn't want to wake up.

The last fight must have taken more of a toll on the girl than Shego had thought it had. Betrayal was a poison that could defeat even the greatest warrior. Shego knew that Kim must have been wondering if she was the traitor like the buffoon had said. Shego had been down that road and knew this was going to be hard for the teen, that if she didn't have someone to guide her Kim would fall even further than Shego had.

"I'll be here Kimmie..." muttered Shego as she knelt by the red-head's bed, grabbing the younger woman's hand as if her life depended on it. Only a fool would have interrupted this tender a moment, unfortunately Drakken had never been known for his tact.

"Shego, I hate to pull you away but we need to talk." said Drakken as he poked his head through the door, earning a glare that could, and maybe even did, burn a hole in the said of the RV. Drakken would never know because a second later the thief had hurled a ball of plasma straight at his head. "Shego! I'm serious!"

Shego growled and hoped that Dr. D wasn't wasting her time; for his sake. The doctor lead her down to his personal quarters in the mammoth vehicle, his holographic world map taking up most of the room, a large red X resting over the former location of his lair.

"Is she worth it?" asked Dr. Drakken plainly, his voice carrying a level of seriousness that Shego had never heard before. "Is it worth dragging an unconscious, potential threat with us just so you can finally work out your feelings?"

The thief was stunned; Drakken knew? The oh so oblivious joke of a villain knew about her feelings for her 'enemy'. They'd worked for together for years and he'd never said anything like this to her. How long had he known?

"What are you talking about Doc? She saved me, I save her, just paying a debt." muttered the thief, still rocked by the bluntness of the villain's statement.

"Don't lie to me Shego, I know you, I know how you act and I know the things you used to do in the dark to take you mind off the girl." responded Drakken, putting a touch of fear into the heart of one of the world's most dangerous women. "And you know I take the care of the people in my employ seriously."

"Look Dr. D... Whatever is going on, with this war, with.. with Kim.. Things are going to happen fast. Global Justice crossed a line with us and she knows that." answered Shego in a voice that was far softer than what Drakken was used to. "There's a chance that the girl who can do anything could be on our side. Is that something you want to pass up?"

Wheels started turning in the villain's blue head, Shego had seen that look only a few times, the first time she hadn't understood it and it had resulted in the thief being thrown into an electrical tower. Ever since that night she'd shut down every idea that had come from that look. In less desperate circumstances she would have done the same.

But this time someone had hurt her Kimmie.

Her Kimmie?

Was the young girl sleeping in the other room hers? She hadn't had the chance to work that out before the teen had been hurt. In the thief's mind that was all the more reason to keep Kim around and if the good doctor didn't like that Shego would just have to take charge.

Drakken let her go back to Kim's room after that, not even opening his mouth to respond to his second in command. The doctor had an idea and he didn't want to be disturbed while he worked. Shego walked back slower than she perhaps should have but it was hard for her to see the normally vibrant and energetic teen in that state. She felt like the one person on earth that could actually keep up with her was suddenly gone, even if it was just temporary like the doctors said, it was still chilling.

"Shego?" the voice was so quiet that the older woman wasn't sure she'd heard it, but the idea that she had made her hesitate at the door. What she saw inside drew tears from the thief like nothing else ever had. Kim was finally awake.

"Pumpkin.." said Shego as she stumbled to the bed, her head falling to rest in the lap of the now sitting red-head's lap. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

The younger now former hero blinked in shock at how her... friend? Raised her voice in anger, tears streaming down her face. It was something so alien to the teen that she had no way to respond except by saying, "I'm sorry?"

"You're sorry?" half screamed Shego, her tears staining the blanket from her old room, one of the few things she had from her life before she had worked for Drakken. "You do this to me again and I'll be the next one knocking you into a coma!"

Kim was lying in bed, probably having been cared for by a woman who had until very recently had been her nemesis. Everything that had happened suddenly washed over Kim, the fights with Ron, the flight from Global Justice, the sudden escalation to full blown war between the people she'd thought were the good guys, the good guys that had condoned assassination, and the people she'd thought were the villains, villains that had cared for her and a woman that Kim was suddenly having very strange feelings for. Suddenly the only thing that Kim could think of was Shego. That wasn't right...

It had been a long time since Kim had been able to think of anything but Shego.

Kim had to act, she was a creature of deeds and she grabbed the thief, pulling her up on to the bed with a strength that surprised both of them. Kim pulled Shego up and forced the two of them into a kiss, a kiss filled with the frustrations of years of being so close to each other but never acting on something they both should have known, a kiss that suddenly washed away the hurt of the last few days and forced Kim to think of the now.

It was a kiss that left a burning need in both of the women.

Shego pulled away slowly, part of her excited by what had just happened and part of her scared. She knew that Kim's world was crumbling around her and that she might just be desperately grabbing on to something, anything, to hold it together.

"Kim... are you sure...?" asked the older woman, almost afraid of the answer. She had no reason to be. Kim grabbed Shego and threw her on to the bed, straddling the thief and plunging the pair back into the now as she kissed the thief with a hunger that could only come from lust.

Drakken was momentarily pulled from his work as he heard a door slam somewhere in his command center, he wouldn't have thought anything of it except that something must have been wrong with the door frame because it make a strange moaning sound.

He'd fix it later.