After they had said their goodbyes to the Possibles, the couple was on the road. Kim had agreed to drive for the first half of the trip and Shego the second. They were hoping to get to Go City by the afternoon.
As Kim drove, Shego called Betty and put the call on speakerphone.
"You sly dog" was the first thing Shego said when Betty picked up.
"I take it you opened the gift? And Merry Christmas to you too, you ungrateful-"
"Really? Is this how you two are if I don't intervene?" laughed Kim.
"Merry Christmas, Kim," said Betty on the other end. "And yes, how else would I get anything across to that stubborn girlfriend of yours?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," waved off Shego. "I'm more or less surprised you're giving me time off..."
"Think of it as a favour to Kim. After all, our successful partnership has given us a lot more clients, Shego."
"And how did Will take this? Did he shit his pants-"
"-Shego! Language!" shushed Kim as she turned on a blinker.
"Yeah, Shego, watch your language!" laughed Betty. "No, he didn't. He didn't seem fazed at all. He merely said it would give him more time to draft up a new budget for the next quarter."
Shego sighed. "Honestly, Betty, we should set him up on a date or something. He's such a boring guy."
"I'll leave that to you..."
"Yeah, sure, I'll set him up with some crazy chick that'll scare him off... Whatever. How is your mother?" asked Shego.
Kim smiled. The two friends, however rude they were to each other, still managed to be civil and caring on Christmas Day.
"She's been good, she's been harping on both me and Sheldon to go date or something." Betty paused. "Kim, he's my twin brother."
"Wow, you have a twin brother? I didn't know... So many twins..." murmured the redhead as she merged lanes.
"If you thought Betty was a pain in the a-" Kim gave Shego a stern look before focusing back on the road. "Uh, butt... He's much worse."
"Betty is not a pain in the butt," laughed Kim.
"But Sheldon is, Kim. I can guarantee you that my brother may just drive about anyone up a wall. Not just him, but his dog, Pepe, too," replied Betty. "Anyway, the family's good, Shego. Also... Thank you both for the gift... And the card."
"Hope you'll put it in good use, Bets. You're difficult to shop for," said Shego.
Betty snorted. "You say that every year, yet the gifts you get me are quite all right. I especially like this year's since I can clearly see you left the shopping duties to Kim."
Kim laughed. "Shego was with me the whole time. She just stood with me."
"Hey! I picked out the colour..."
"Yes, if I had let Shego give you an orange-based ink for your new fountain pen, I'm sure you'll get some calls about colour clashing on the contracts you sign."
"People have uses for orange ink," pouted Shego.
"I'm sure they do," replied Betty dryly. "Honestly, you're a top notch designer yet you wanted to buy me a fountain pen with orange ink?"
"When I sketch, I do it in orange."
"You sketch digitally and use a light box for your paper sketches," added Kim. "It's different than signing contracts on paper, Shego. One doesn't just use orange ink anywhere and everywhere..."
"Fine, fine, sure, it's not practical, but-"
"I appreciate it though, Shego," laughed Betty. "I should go. Pepe's throwing a fit of sorts... Probably didn't get a bone or something." She audibly sighed. "Have a good one and see you in a few weeks! Oh, and Shego? Behave." The woman laughed and hung up before Shego or Kim could reply.
"Well, she certainly thinks I'm the one who misbehaves," chuckled Shego. "But, Miss Possible here is-"
Kim gave Shego a look, daring her to continue.
"Ok, ok, we're equally mischievous..." Shego held up her hands in surrender as Kim grinned.
"You just drive me crazy, that's all," Kim commented as she focused on the road. "And then I do crazy things."
Shego placed a hand on Kim's hand, making sure not to startle the redhead as she drove. "Me too, but hey, that's what makes everything fun." She gave Kim a peck on the cheek.
"Tell me about your family, Shego."
"What would you like to know, apart from the fact that Horace is a jerk and Matthew is self-centred?" laughed Shego.
"Well, how about your parents?"
"Kim, are you worried they won't like you?" The redhead remained silent, so Shego continued. "Don't be. They'll love you, I'm sure. You have a very attractive personality, so just be yourself." Shego put a hand on Kim's knee as a form of reassurance. "My parents are, how do I put it... They're supportive of their kids... My dad, at one point, worked in the mayor's office, helping out with campaigns and stuff like that, but he's been teaching in more recent years. He teaches at a local community college for underprivileged youth. Subjects like economics and history."
"Is that where you got your love of history from?"
"Haha, yeah, we have a lot of history books in my dad's study."
"I bet you used to read a lot as a kid."
"I did, and then I needed glasses since I was reading in the dark and everything..."
"I don't see you wearing them much," commented Kim. "Maybe a few times when I'm over, but not all the time." She pointed to the approaching highway sign. "Going to stop for a bathroom break..."
"I told you not to drink so much coffee during breakfast... Anyway, the wonders of contact lenses," laughed Shego. "I actually wore glasses that day I asked you to go to St. Jude's."
"I remember, but I want to see you wear them more... You'll still be beautiful to me with or without glasses."
"Aw, trying to win some points over with me? Yeah, it's not like I'm blind without them - I can still see, but I have those days where my eyes are either too dry for contacts or I stayed up late working and my eyes are too tired."
"Well, the good thing is that you won't be having anymore late nights for the next few weeks."
"What do you mean?" laughed Shego. "You more than certainly have kept me up well past my bedtime."
To that, Kim blushed and cleared her throat guiltily, causing her girlfriend to laugh heartily.
"You'll see me in glasses at home, I guess. I've always worn them in the Christmas family photos... Anyway, so my dad teaches at the community college and my mom is actually a writer and editor."
"Oh? What kind of writer?"
"She sometimes does pieces for technical journals - she had studied theoretical physics in graduate school, but had always wanted to be an author. She published a few things in the past and then worked to help edit physics journals. She sort of freelances now with editing but hasn't been writing. I'm sure she'll have lots to talk to you about since she's knowledgeable about publishing and writing."
"Your parents seem to have influenced you and your siblings' career choices, whether indirectly or directly."
"Haha, yeah, I guess you can say that. The twins are studying physics, I had studied history... Matthew is actually a magazine editor in New York... It's only really Horace who's not doing anything related to our parents' fields."
"What does he do?"
"He's some sort of manager at Hench Co."
Kim almost slammed on the brakes as she steered the car off the highway ramp. The car jerked a bit and Kim quickly regained control as she slowed down at the service centre.
"Kimmie, what's wrong?" asked Shego. She noticed that the redhead looked a bit shocked, so she clutched Kim's hand when the car was at a stop.
"It's nothing," replied the redhead as she let go of Shego and unbuckled her seatbelt.
"Really? It doesn't look it," said Shego. "Come on, Kimmie, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing," said Kim firmly as she got out of the car.
Shego followed her out the car and caught up with the redhead as Kim headed to the bathroom. "Did I say something wrong?"
"It's nothing... Just a bit shocked that the car jerked around a bit."
"Ok... Are you hurt?"
Kim shook her head. "I just need some fresh air. Can you take over driving for the rest of the way?"
"Sure," replied Shego as Kim handed her the car keys. The redhead then quickly disappeared to the bathroom, leaving Shego to wonder what just happened.
"And you're sure he has no connection to him whatsoever?"
"Only indirectly through Hench himself, Kim. I don't think he really knows him at all. Lipsky and Hench may be business partners and all, but Horace Godeaux seems like just a regular worker bee in the company."
"Ok, thanks, Wade. Sorry for interrupting your Christmas festivities. Please give my regards to your family."
"No problem. I understand your concern, so don't worry. You know I'm always reachable."
"Thanks, Wade. Merry Christmas."
Shego watched Kim close her flip phone from the rear-view mirror.
Something's up, thought Shego. Kim was jumpy all of a sudden when I mentioned Hench Co. Should I ask her about it or stay silent?
Kim sighed. She knew her reaction to the words "Hench Co." really surprised Shego, and even herself. She nearly ran the car off the road when the words came out of Shego's mouth. Hench Co. was merely a business partner of Lipsky Industries, but anything that associated itself with Eric, directly or indirectly, always flooded with memoirs and feelings that should never resurface. The redhead knew her girlfriend would think something was up, so as she walked back to the car, she decided to be truthful and not cover anything up.
"Hey, everything ok?" asked Shego as Kim took the passenger seat.
"Can we talk?" Kim's tone was not annoyed, but seemed a bit defeated.
"Sure." Shego stuck the keys into the ignition but left them dangling there. She turned to face Kim, giving the redhead her utmost attention. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I, uh, nearly ran us off the road when I heard the words 'Hench Co.' I had quickly associated it with Eric."
"My brother working there is bothering you," stated Shego.
"A bit, but I called up Wade to ask about his, uh, involvement in the company."
"I see... To be honest, I don't know what he does there. All I know is that he loves his job there."
"That's what Wade told me too."
"So he's not high up on the chain with enough power to hurt you or The Middleton Daily?" asked Shego nonchalantly.
"No, at least that's what Wade thinks."
"I see..." Shego bit her lip as she furrowed her brow. "Kim, let me be straight with you. The fact that you called up Wade to ask him about my brother, even if it is Horace, doesn't sit well with me. If you wanted to know, you should've just asked. I spent the whole time here just wondering whether I did something to upset you... But it turns out you have your own little private investigator doing the digging for you."
"Shego, it's not like that-"
"You didn't trust my word then. I admit, I don't know much about my brother's job, but all you could've done was ask me and then call Wade," said Shego tersely.
Kim sighed in annoyance and chose her words carefully. "It's not that I don't trust you.. I just reacted instinctively."
"And asking me further wasn't instinctive? You had to call Wade when I wasn't looking for more information? Does he have information on my whole family at an arm's reach?" Shego raised her voice. "Did you make him run a background check on me or something?"
"Shego, listen to yourself! I made you a promise that I'd trust you no matter what. No matter what kind of baggage we had when we first met. You've helped me alleviate most of it. It was just unexpected to me when you said your brother works for Hench Co. I understand why you're upset and I'm sorry I called Wade, but in either case, you'd probably..." Kim faltered and then whispered. "You'd probably still be mad at me anyway. Like you are right now."
Shego sighed and placed her head on the steering wheel. She stared at her knees; she really did not want to fight about this here and now. Reluctantly, after a minute of silence, she said, "It's an invasion of privacy, Kim. I thought you'd at least respect that. You wanted to know about my family and I told you. You could've just asked me more questions..." In a pained voice, she added, "I'm hurt that you didn't."
"I just freak out when I hear about associations with Lipsky Industries and Eric, that's all."
"Why are you scared?"
"I'm not scared of them. I'm scared of-"
"-me hurting you."
Shego couldn't see since she was mostly staring at her knees, but she knew Kim nodded. When she looked up, she saw that tears were forming in the corners of the redhead's eyes. Taking a tissue, Shego carefully dabbed them away and placed a hand on Kim's cheek.
"You know, Kim, sometimes you make it hard for me to stay mad at you... I'm sorry I blew up on you like that... I know you were trying to explain but... It just makes me feel uncomfortable knowing that Wade can access so much information at his fingertips."
Kim nodded. "Sorry... for this mess. I don't like it when we fight."
"It's fine... We'll get through it" was Shego's answer before she shrunk back into the driver's seat and pulled the car out of the parking lot.
Author's Notes: That awkward moment when you realised you gave Shego glasses to wear in the first few chapters of the story and forgot about them. Well, a bespectacled Shego is back. Or will be back.
...This is what happens when you write so many chapters and forget things. Not to mention I wrote most of these chapters almost two months ago. :S
Drama unfolds. Will they actually get through it?
Chapter title is from "The Getting Over It Part" by Blue October.