Yes this too has become quite difficult to write for reasons I already explained. Either way, this is the next chapter, I hope it's up to your liking/standards. It has some more information as well.

Enjoy

Barking For Forgiveness IV

Shego's outburst had sure frightened her puppy. Though the long speech that came after it was, even for a puppy, a great bore. When Shego finally finished Kim had curled up on the floor, her head resting on the back of her hands. Her eyes were still open though it was quite obvious she was ready for some sleep.

"It's good to know that I bore you this much." Shego noted. "Let's get some sleep, I don't know what that collar is doing to you but I'm going to find out first thing tomorrow. Now come on princess, off to bed." She offered and she beckoned Kim to follow her as she started heading for the bedroom. Getting the hint Kim immediately shot to all-fours and scampered after the villain, almost tripping as she hastily made her way into the master bedroom. Her puppy brain was completely excited and what was left of her normal brain was acting the same way.

Shego slid underneath the covers and the bed shifted massively as Kim jumped onto it. She turned in circles about 4 times before plopping down on top of the covers. She nuzzled against Shego's side straight through the covers, causing Shego to let out a laugh. She was silenced when Kim's tongue dragged across her lips and for a moment she wanted to scold the puppy again. She refrained from doing so, believing that it could be considered as a goodnight kiss.

She pulled the puppy a bit closer, letting the red head know that she was finally accepting her a bit more. They both closed their eyes, Kim still alert while Shego drifted off into a deep sleep. Luckily the night went by quite peacefully, every now and then Kim would get up and walk around for a bit, before returning to Shego's bed again. Every single time she curled up against her boss, nuzzling whatever body part she could find before falling into a slight sleep again. This went on the entire night and a few hours into the morning as well. It finally came to a stop when Shego started shifting beneath the covers.

Kim's head shot up immediately; her eyes fixed on her owner. She watched Shego's eyes flutter open and their eyes met instantly. This thrilled the puppy, causing her to jump up and growl playfully at the green-skinned woman.

"Good morning to you too princess." Shego said and she ran her fingers through Kim's short red hair. The girl growled in the same manner again and leaned into the touch. "We have to get up, I have to pay a certain professor a visit and you have to stay here and be a good girl, you hear me?" Shego said as she sat up in bed whilst Kim started shaking her behind in enthusiasm again. She wasn't sure if Kim had understood her at all but she really had to get some information about the collar.

She fixed Kim and of course herself some breakfast and took a quick shower before getting dressed. Though the moment she was all dressed Kim started to act a bit nervous. Frowning slightly at the behavior she walked to the front door and grabbed her keys. The moment Kim heard the sound of keys she started barking and charged at the front door, or more specifically at the woman standing by the front door. With a loud 'oof' Shego was toppled over by the red head, who climbed on top of the woman. Shego opened her eyes to meet Kim's bright eyes and sighed, she knew what the girl needed.

"Alright, alright, I'll take you for a walk and then you'll have to be a good girl and stay home, okay?" Shego muttered as she shoved the puppy off of her and got to her feet again.

Those words were completely understood by Kim, whom immediately went in search for her leash. Mere seconds later she came back, holding the object between her teeth. She dropped it in front of Shego, who in a surprised state, grabbed the thing and clipped it onto Kim's collar.

"You're behaving already!" She said supportively, causing Kim to let out a single bark. She opened the door, bracing herself for another run and run she did. Though while Kim was having fun dragging her owner around, at the other side of town some people weren't having as much fun.

James and Ann Possible were worried sick, waiting for their daughter to return. They hadn't made a report about their daughter yet, knowing she was a strong independent girl who sometimes stayed away for days in a row. They didn't know if she was still on a mission, got called away for a second one during the first one or that she was abducted. Without the needed information they forced themselves to refrain from reporting her as missing. They decided to wait, knowing their daughter and believing that she'd show up anytime soon. If not she would at least make a call to reassure them.

Despite all this they went looking for her, not across town but during their trips to work and back home. They kept their eyes open a bit extra, hoping to see a sign of their daughter. A plane, a zeppelin or even a UFO, they were sure their Kimmie would be on board. Even as the days had already past so swiftly, turning into weeks even, they kept hope. It wasn't the first time their daughter had stayed away for so long. It was just a first for them that she hadn't called yet to tell them she was doing okay.

All they could do was wait and that's exactly what they did. Her younger brothers went to school as usual and they tried not to burden them with their worrying thoughts. Whilst they were worried sick Kim had just forced Shego to run for miles. Finally returning home the woman felt like taking another shower, feeling herself sweat everywhere. She eyed her puppy with narrowed eyes before undoing herself from her clothes and jumping in the shower again.

"Freaking energetic puppy-wannabe." She muttered as she stepped underneath the stream of water. "Got me all sweaty and smelly again." She added as she washed herself for the second time that day. After her second time of cleansing she dressed herself in some clean clothes as well and for the second time grabbed her keys. She quickly looked back to check if Kim was charging at her again but all the red head did was watch her curiously. She tucked her keys in her pocket and opened the front door, checking on Kim for a second time. "You stay and be a good girl, just like I said remember?" She said and with that she left the red head, closing the door behind her.

The moment Kim realized Shego was gone she jumped to her feet. She stared hard at the door and after several minutes she knew the woman wasn't coming back soon. She walked up to the door and took a seat right in front of it. She looked up at it and started pawing it, soft howling sounds escaping her lips and becoming increasingly louder.

Her owner had already driven off, no longer able to hear the howling sounds her 'puppy' was making. She was heading for the local animal-research lab. She knew the creator of Kim's collar worked there; she just didn't know his name. Though luckily that wouldn't be a problem to her. The moment she arrived she just had to ask who had made the collar. Though they denied her to give the answer so instead of being nice she activated her plasma, threatening the researchers for an answer, which, not so surprisingly, came immediately.

"Though I have to warn you," A man said. "Dr. Jerrold has a cold." He said to the plasma-powered woman as he pointed her the direction. "He's in his office, right over there." He pointed and gulped when Shego looked at him.

"Thank you." She said as she deactivated her powers. She headed for the office and without knocking she entered. She startled what appeared to be a man in his late fifties, his hair had a somewhat out-of-bed-look and his glasses hung from his very red nose.

"C-can I help you?" He questioned his voice nasal with a frightened tone to it.

"Yeah, you the doc who made that dog collar?" Shego questioned and he gave a nod. "Good, you're going to tell me everything about it cause if you don't you'll have the taste of my fist in your mouth." She said taking a seat at the other side of his desk. He nodded again; a bit more frantic this time and he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Of course, experiment 303, the dog collar." He started and he rose to his feet. He pulled a file out of a cabinet and flipped it open on the desk. "I started it 2 years ago. It was designed for dogs, those that couldn't behave and had to be put down. It made them obedient, not entirely but it subjected them to a certain height. Once closed around the dog's neck it can't be removed until the dog has learned to be more obedient."

"It can't be removed?" Shego asked with an -I'm-screwed-look- on her face.

"Well maybe if you were to place a great amount of force on one specific spot near the lock it might open but I was very thorough in securing that collar. It also does something to the dog's brain, forcing it to follow certain dog rules as you might call them. Sniffing objects a lot, rubbing up against it, you know the things that dogs do." He explained and Shego just nodded in understanding, her eyes on the file he had opened. It held information about the collar but it said nothing about what it would do to humans. She looked up from it, seeing the man looking at her curiously.

"So ahem, what uh… theoretically, would it uh, do to humans? If.. uh if the collar got put around the neck of .. let's say a girl for example?" Shego questioned trying her best to keep her mind straight. The professor's eyes widened immediately and he flipped the file shut again.

"I certainly hope you're being theoretically because the effects on humans aren't really calculated into the collar." Dr. Jerrold said.

"What would it do to a human?" She asked again and he took his glasses off, rubbing his eyes slightly.

"For humans it would effect the brain as well. It would shut down most of the human habits, like eating from a plate. The human self would think he or she is a dog and therefor it will pick up those habits. As I said, rubbing up against objects to mark the territory. Barking, howling, though obedience will barely be present when it comes to humans. The collar has no effect on how well the human listens to its so-called owner. Yet not every human habit will disappear. If the human is in love it will in fact, no matter the gender, try to make it clear to this person by nuzzling, licking the face and lips. Sometimes they even resort to the obvious mating movements." He explained and by then Shego's jaw had dropped completely.

"Will she, I mean it, remember anything from his or her dog experience?" She finally asked.

"Everything will remain in his or her memory, just like being in love and being protective. A human would be able to learn human habits even with the collar on. Things like using a spoon or fork, standing on just his or her legs would be more of a task but not impossible." He said thoughtfully. With every word he said Shego felt more and more dread. Their little conversation had made a lot clear and suddenly she realized a few things about her happy puppy. "But that will never happen, the collar is safely locked away. It will do no harm to the dog or human by the way. At one point it just pops off and the dog will remain in the same state as he or she was whilst wearing the collar." He answered and he sneezed loudly. He quickly grabbed a tissue and blew his nose in it, causing Shego to pull a face of disgust.

"And a person?" She asked after the man had apologized for the interruption.

"I don't know but if I got out of a dog-like trance after days or weeks, maybe months, I would be very pissed." He answered and Shego could already picture Kim's outburst of anger the moment that collar would pop off. "I hope you got all the information you needed, normally I'd ask why you want information like that but this time I'll refrain from asking. I saw your green fire and I would appreciate it if I got out of this conversation unharmed." He told her and she just gave a nod, getting to her feet again.

"It's exactly what I needed to know, thanks doc." She said and with that she left the building again, making the researchers cower behind their desks and inventions as she past them on the way out. With the new information she suddenly became very aware of the fact that the collar might never come off of the red head. What was even worse was the chance that it would in fact pop off and that she'd get the wrath of one Kim Possible upon her. She quickly went back home, already fearing that the collar had come off or some other doom scenario.

The moment she reached her door she heard light scratching sounds from the other side. She listened to it and it was quickly followed by a loud howling sound. Her princess was sitting at the other side, howling and scratching at the door, apparently waiting for her to come back. She was at least sure the girl was still in her puppy phase. With that mind-calming thought she opened the door with her keys and Kim immediately started barking. She turned around in little circles, barking as she hopped around Shego in happiness.

"Hello doggie, did you miss me?" Shego asked ruffling Kim's short hair. "You did! Didn't you?" She said in a somewhat baby-ish voice, making Kim wiggle her behind again.

"Arf! Arf arf arf!" She let out excitingly and Shego grinned as she stepped past the girl.

"By the looks of it you've been a good girl." She commented, checking her house for potential damage and stains. Everything seemed to be intact and in the same place. "A very good girl!" She said as she walked into the kitchen with Kim right behind her. She gave the girl a sausage she had made for breakfast that morning. She smiled as she watched Kim eat the sausage, though as she watched the happy puppy she started frowning. Out of the blue she sneezed loudly, startling Kim with the action. "Oh no." She muttered as she felt her nose fill up completely. "Don't * ah choo * tell me * ah choo* I got his cold!" She let out a frustrated sigh as she continued to sneeze. She hoped she hadn't caught Dr. Jerrold's cold but later that night her fear was confirmed, she had gotten his cold.

She had super powers, yes; her body had a high tolerance when it came to pain and germs, though despite all that a simple cold was something she couldn't fight off. Result? She went to bed early that night. Her nose was clogged, her head was hurting and felt heavy, she had a box of tissues next to her and she got a slight fever. It reminded her of the time Kim had sneezed in her face and she got the girl's cold. She had been down for at least a week, hadn't been able to do a thing. She had felt horrible just like she was feeling now. It had been fruitless to hope that would be the last time she had a cold. One sneeze had been enough and now she was down and out.

She looked at the red head curled up beside her, wondering briefly of Kim could catch her cold as well. Dogs couldn't but technically she was simply human. Either way she knew she'd be out of the business for a few days, she couldn't even use her plasma, she felt too sick.

"Unblievble, I can hanle eavy diseases but a miserble little cold takes me down." She muttered in her nasal voice. She petted Kim slightly, happy that the girl was actually with her right now. It made her feel slightly better but she knew that a good night of rest would at least make it possible for her to talk normal again. So with one last hand through Kim's hair she settled down underneath the covers comfortably and fell asleep while her puppy curled up against her again.

She really, really hated colds.

Well Finally a bit of information about that cursed collar, I think some people wanted to know a bit about it. Also finally a small view on the Possible's lives while their daughter/sister hasn't returned yet.

For the record, the last sentence is : Unbelievable, I can handle heavy diseases but a miserable little cold takes me down. Yes Shego has a cold, I think we all saw the episode where Kim gave her that cold. Or it might've been called the flue, I dunno. She was really off of her game that episode. You might wanna check it if you haven't. Not making it up that she feels completely horrible because of that cold.

Yours truly,

WPJ