"Did you get a copy of the photo?" Kim asked sourly, pointedly not deigning to roll over and face the villainess as she closed the window behind her.

"I dropped by the hospital one day while you were at school, to make sure you couldn't interfere. I laughed and laughed, and laughed, and then I locked it away somewhere very safe." Shego paused to roll the teenager onto her back and plant a kiss on her lips to forestall the impending pout. "Your mom was right, you should have left me for the police... but I appreciate what you did. For the most part."

"For the most part?" Kim repeated dubiously.

"You did take advantage, pumpkin. You're the hero, you're supposed to be the good girl. Consider yourself lucky that it wasn't as boring as dodgeball and dodo birds."

"Hmph." Kim considered Shego's words as the green girl started to undress, and something struck her. "Did anything else happen while you visited mom in the hospital?"

"There was a very comfy hug," the villainess accentuated the word to imply there was more to it, "And I may have given her lips a lick..."

"Which pair?" Kim asked with a raised eyebrow.

Shego snickered, then demonstrated by flicking her tongue out at the lips just below Kim's nose. "She appreciates the attention, you know. She actually told me. It was... sweet." The green girl sounded slightly surprised, as if she hadn't expected anything other than lust to enter the equation when it came to Ann.

"She likes to be sexy," the redhead admitted as the villainess slipped into bed beside her.

"She is that. Being alone in the room with her... her knowing what I want, me knowing she likes it... mm-mm-mmm. One seriously sexy momma."

"What about your mother?" Kim asked suddenly, and felt her lover tense. "Sorry," she hurredly continued, "I know your past's a forbidden topic, it just... came out."

"I know, Kimmie," Shego muttered, convincing her body to relax, before forcing out, "I had yet to consider the option when she died. All that started... after."

The teenager quickly put two and two together. "After the comet?"

"...Yeah."

Kim was compelled to pull Shego against her own body and wrap her arms tight around her. Shego responded by putting her chin over Kim's shoulder... mostly so she wouldn't have to look her in the eye.

"The comet killed her?" Kim finally asked.

"It killed both of them, pumpkin," the older girl sighed into the blazing hair she had buried her face in. "And there wasn't anyone else. By the time... things were sorted out, Hego was just old enough to claim guardianship over the rest of us."

"That's why Hego's so adamant about you all using your powers, isn't it? To make it worth the price you all had to pay."

"And why he would freak about how I use mine. You saw how in denial he was during the whole Aviarious thing." Another sigh. "The way he used to go on about it, it sounded as if he thought the trade-off was worth it."

Kim squeezed tighter, and Shego waited for the inevitable 'Sorry you lost your parents, Shego,' to which she would try to reply with, 'So was I,' while trying not to choke on the pity being directed her way.

"I love you, Shego," Kim whispered.

Shego waited, but that was apparently all that was coming. Before she knew it, she'd pulled her face back and around to Kim's, kissing the redhead deeply for some time before other urges kicked in.

Their lovemaking was more intense than Shego expected. The entire experience was one big 'Oh wow, I'm totally crazy for this other person in a way I've never been before' revelation, and if Kimmie's eyes were any indication, she was feeling something similiar. It was something that didn't need to be voiced. There was loving someone, and being in love with someone. This was the latter.

The real surprise was that after such profundity, their mood afterward was as lighthearted as ever. "I was wondering if you were going to show after your Nakasumi kidnap attempt," Kim mentioned.

"Ugh, don't remind me. I can't believe I pulled a Fearless Ferret on that one."

"Fearless Ferret? The old TV show?"

"The 80s movie... the first one, before... oh, never mind. It's not worth seeing unless there's nothing else on anyway, it hasn't aged well."

Kim considered asking what the point of the kidnapping was, but that was a work question; and she didn't want to admit she still had no idea why they would kidnap the man himself. Instead, she chose to ask, "Sooo was it just me, or did you take that fight in the Bermuda Triangle more seriously than normal?"

"It was necessary," the villainess grumbled.

"Okay, why's that?"

"...Because."

"Because what?" Kim pestered.

Shego sighed in frustration. "Because my contract's very nearly finished... and Drakken said it's time to bring our game up to the next level..." Oh, go ahead and admit it. "And you were so smoking hot in that dress, it totally threw me off."

"So that's why you punched through that table so hard you got stuck," the teenager smiled," And thanks for not putting your hand through my face, by the way."

"Your grip threw off my aim, is all..."

"Sure it did," Kim agreed, not believing it in the slightest. "Your dress wasn't bad either. I didn't get a clear view until you were straddling me on the table, but it was nice to see your bare midriff for a change."

"I thought you'd appreciate that." The truth was, Shego still thought Kim's mission clothes were terribly out of fashion - even more so since the brief time they had actually been in fashion - but something about that bare expanse of flesh made their fights all the more... appetizing. The dress during their latest fight had been a completely different kind of sexy. Little Kimmie was growing up.

"The heeled boots and long gloves too," Kim continued as Shego's mind wandered, "But I think you would have looked better in just one colour or the other."

"Oh, please. Even my swimsuit has both colours."

"Hm. I guess I'll be seeing that for myself soon enough."

That's what you think, the villainess thought before continuing aloud, "So, you're sure?"

Kim could barely suppress her smile. "Absolutely... and mom's coming too." Suppression failed entirely as Shego's face went from completely, totally and utterly surprised to what would have been the photo next to the slang definition of the word 'score'. The redhead couldn't help but laugh.

Shego's face went back to a more uncertain form of surprise. "Is she... I mean, will she..."

Kim put a finger to the other girl's lips. "She's coming, don't expect more than that. And don't push, either. I'm not even sure whether or not I'll be able to really let myself go, knowing she's in the next room."

"Guess I better change the reservation to a two-bedroom cabin, then," Shego sniggered, before submitting to her lover's admonishing look. "No expectations, no requirements. Just lots of hopes. Dirty, filthy hopes... speaking of, you are required to bring that blue dress."

"The one I wore to the restaurant?"

"Hell, yes. And you're not allowed to wear anything underneath."

"Who says I was wearing anything then?"

Shego's was appalled. "Oh god, don't tell me I missed that during all those flips, kicks and somersaults."

"No-one to blame but yourself," Kim told her with the same smirk she'd worn during a moment of the fight. "Shame you straddled me on that table, instead of putting a knee between..."

"Ugh. Doesn't matter. I'm fucking you in that dress, this weekend."

"Sounds good to me, as long as it isn't too hot."

"Oh, it's going to be hot, princess. You're going to boil over." One of Shego's hands cupped Kim's crotch and squeezed, eliciting a cross between a giggle and a whimper.

"You'll bring the strap-on?"

"And don't forget Mr. Buttaroo."

This time Kim's response was all giggle. "I didn't actually name it, you know."

"No? Because I've got a nice shiny toy called Mr. Buzzy to introduce you to."

"Oh gosh, really?"

The villainess nodded. "I'd say vibrations are the next step in your sexual degradation."

The redhead blushed even as she grinned mischievously. "I do like it when you hum while you're down there..."

"Well, imagine if I never had to take a breath." Shego was interrupted by a playful kiss, but her mind kept going, and found her voice when her lips were free again. "Though technically, it's more about vibrations on the inside. You can use it on just the clit, but there's a special one for that. Just a small white thing in comparison, but a favourite among girls who are all about the clit."

"Do you have one of those too?"

"I can try to get one by the weekend. Usually I'm more into... filling up all available space."

"You've never tried both at once?"

The green girl couldn't help but grin. "You're learning, cupcake; but no, it's not so easy to do both on your own." She pondered a moment before adding, "I wonder if your mother would do you like that..."

"Shego."

"What? If there's no physical contact between you-"

Kim silenced her with another kiss. "Hush, Shego," was all she said before doing it again. And again, it carried on for quite a while, this time without interruption until dawn.