Chapter 26

"I had a feeling you were keeping things from me, but this's just ridiculous!" Ron uttered in awe as the large gates leading to a small, yet very luxurious, estate opened. The white building was located at along the coast, with it's orange roof pleasantly melting into the sea scenery behind it. The whole place was surrounded by neatly kept gardens, and a rocky road leading straight to house.

"Can't a girl have a few... dozen secrets?" She fake pouts, then pecks him on the cheek. "Now get inside, this isn't even the half of it!"

"There's more to it!? More to an already awesome mansion in Cuba?" Ron asked half rhetorically.

"Oh the surprises in store, surprises for you Ronnie." She grins mischievously. She leads him up to the main doors, and opens them for him a bit too excitedly.

Predictably the place is extremely high standard. From the white marbled floor, to the paintings that should be in a few of the world's museums, not on Shego's walls.

Ron decided to keep the questions to himself on that one. After all compromise was a key to a successful relationship with someone who used to be your enemy. He dropped their bags as she ushered him deeper into the estate. A few wings and doors later, and they ended up at the garage.

"Sheila what are we doing in...OH MY GOD!" Ron squeaked when he had saw what was in the garage.

A brand new black Dukati EVO wrapped in a green ribbon. Ron stumbled over to it on shaky legs, and dropped to his knees wrapping his arms around it.

"I missed you so much, baby." He sobbed, hugging the bike.

"A girl could get jealous at how you're look at that bike." Shego seethed a tiny bit, suddenly feeling unbelievably threatened by an inanimate object.

"Hush. I'm having a moment here." Ron mumbled playfully, stroking the bike's handles. If he turned around right now he could see Sheila's not quite cute pout.

"Ugh! Fine I'll be on the beach or whatever! You can spend the whole day with your precious bike if you want!" She grunted and turned on her heels.

But before she stormed out of the garage a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. She felt Ron's chin on her shoulder as he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you." He whispers sweetly into her ear.

"I thought you'd be making love to it all night?" Shego asked, her vexation not wholly swayed by his hug.

"In due time, Sheila. But I believe I must show my appreciation to my wonderful girlfriend all night first." He chuckled, speaking surprisingly seductively. A small shiver of pleasure went down her spine. But she wouldn't have him make it that easy to get back in her good graces.

"How would you even wo... wait, I don't wanna know." She said feigning grumpiness and untangled herself from him. She headed out of the garage, to hide her burning cheeks.

"Nature finds a way." Ron said with utter and absolute certainty, actually giving Shego pause to worry about him.

"Let's head to the beach before I find out more than I want about you." She shot back without much malice, from the hallway.

Shego regained her composure quickly and showed him their room, where they changed into their swimming gear. She made sure they changed with a door between them, to reinforce her faux cold shoulder. Ron changed into simple shorts, while Sheila might as well have gone naked considering the skimpiness of her swimsuit.

'Her body should be illegal.' Ron thought while absolutely not staring at her fit rear. He gulped trying to keep his composure at least to the water. He was not about to make a fool of himself by not being able to restrain his hormones.

But did she have to sway her hips so much?

"Here we are! What do you think?" Shego asked, oblivious that Ron's perception was rather focused elsewhere at the moment.

"Beautiful." Ron breathed out, marveling at the sighs, of the beach of course. The white sandy shore gently disappeared beneath turquoise water. Two sunbeds sat under a large wooden umbrella stood close to the sea itself.

"I know, and totally private. A three kilometer long beach. Just. For. Us." Sheila smiled proudly, accentuating the last three words.

"Ok I gotta ask, how?"

"Let's just say that Fidel wanted something really bad, and I mean very bad, and I just so happened to be the only one with the skills to get it. This is a token of his eternal gratitude." Shego explained.

"You probably won't tell me what it was?" Ron asked, but he knew the answer already.

"Sorry Ronnie, but even I have to follow certain rules. Trust me, having a post-soviet secret service on your back is nothing pleasant." She smirked.

"Well I've never been the type to pry." Ron grinned back. He dropped his shirt and ran to the ocean, diving in without a second thought. The water was pleasantly cool considering the hot day.

He felt a pleasant shiver as the water enveloped him. He resurfaced a few moments later, feeling born anew.

On the shore Sheila stared, more than she should have. Droplets of water shined on his wet skin, as his body literally glimmered in light. Over the months after the invasion Ron relentlessly trained both his body and soul, almost dropping his goofy facade entirely.

His muscles were now well defined, eyes sharper, yet they still retained the inner kindness he possessed.

'Shouldn't this be the reverse? I'm the adult here!' Shego thought briefly while ogling her boyfriend.

"Come on in! The water's great!" Ron shouted, bringing Shego to her senses.

Shego's body moved before she could think about it. She dove into the water expertly, and swam right to him. She hugged him against her, placing a lustful kiss on his lips. Returning the favor Ron responded with a passionate kiss of his own. Gone were the worries and problems of the day. Gone were the questions and anxiety.

It was just the two of them.

Everything was perfect.

Nothing was perfect!

Kim growled as she tried to make something resembling a hair style, to no avail unfortunately. Her hair just refused to cooperate. Finally giving up she put the brush aside and tied it into a ponytail. Which looked horrible, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

It was third day after the fateful mission to the Genesis facility, and she could not get more than an hour or two of sleep at a time. That wasn't the worst however.

By now she was certain that she suffered some form of PTSD. Because the abomination that currently sat on her bed and tutted at her messy hair could not be real.

Or she was going insane.

"You really want to go out like that?" Legion asked, shaking his severed head which rested in his hands. "You look terrible!"

"That's rich coming from you!" Kim shot back, annoyed as hell.

"Touche, but the fact that only you can see me makes it moot." Legion relied casually. "So what are we going to do today?"

"I am going to have a good time with Monique. You stay here and don't follow me!" Kim told him.

"I already told you that it doesn't work that way, Kimmy. I am stuck in your head now, so whenever you go I go."

"Ughh!"

Kim stormed out of the room, leaving the house before anyone could ask her if she was alright or not. Their pitying stares were making her crazy!

Well, crazier.

She immediately went for her car and started the engine.

"Don't forget to buckle your seat belt." Legion spoke, sitting in her passenger seat. "Can you see everything in the mirrors?"

Kim gritted her teeth, ignoring the apparition. She drove to the mall, the scenery of rapidly rebuilding city giving her a little bit of comfort.

Legion rambled on along the way, but Kim tuned him out, trying to focus on the road. After a few more minutes Kim arrived, and quickly headed to where Monique was waiting for her.

"Ohhh I suddenly want some chocolate!" Legion chuckled creepily. "She's just my type."

Kim held the urge to roll her eyes. The deranged man went forward, ogling Monique from all sides. Which were many considering he could move his head around as he pleased. Finally he moved his head to her hair and took a deep sniff, inhaling her scent.

"Kim is everything alright? You're staring..." Monique asked puzzled by the extremely blank look on Kim's face.

"Oh, sorry. I haven't been sleeping well lately..." She explained lamely, taking a seat and ordering a coffee from the cafe.

"I got just the remedy to wake you up a bit. What say we talk about our last phone call, hmm?" The girl leered, wagging her eyebrows.

"I'm not talking about Ron!" Kim protested with a blush.

"Well not exactly about Ron, but a certain part of him..." She wagged her eyebrows again.

"Ohhh I realllllly like this one!" Legion smirked, putting his head on the bar to watch the two of them.

"I didn't see anything!" Kim exclaimed fiercely. "I walked in on them, and he was under the covers with a... with a stupid grin on his face!" Nope Kim could not bring herself to say more aloud.

"And Shego was there, right?" Monique urged visibly excited.

"Errr... yeah... beneath the sheets...doing...things..." Kim choked out, red as a tomato. She didn't know how Monique did it, but she got her to spill the beans. Either that or Kim needed to get this off her chest worse than she thought.

"What kind of things?" The dark skinned girl was enjoying her squirming way too much.

"Stuff... I shouted and startled Ron, and Shego started to cough..."

"Oh my! So that's what they were doing! Damn. I always thought that she wouldn't like giving bjs." Monique mused.

"Monique!"

"What? I mean come on. We're adults now, don't go getting embarrassed by the minor stuff." She waved her hand dismissively. How was she so comfortable with talking about these kinds of things, Kim thought horrified. "Still that's goddamn hilarious! You walked on them and gave Ron and Shego a surprise hahah!"

"Why did she have to fall off taking the covers with her..." Kim said absentmindedly her face in her hands. She paused, and her eyes widened in horror.

"AHA!" Monique jumped to her, feet pointing a finger at her bestie. "So you did see it!" She shouted, drawing the attention of everyone in the restaurant.

Kim sank to the counter hiding her head in her arms, trying to ignore insanely annoying laughter of Legion.

"Ok, that's some comedy gold!" He chuckled.

"Comedy gold!" Monique somehow found a way to sync with Kim's insane mental projection.

Legion fell to one knee.

"Marry me!"

Kim was positively creeped out. Legion wrapped an arm around Monique's waist, and with the other started to rub his face against her hip.

"I wanna die..." Kim mumbled.

"So my little liar that was your big, pulsing secret." Monique was merciless. Let her find a chink in the armor, and you're so done for.

"Ok fine! I saw it, okay?! And no he's not ginormous... just... normal I guess..." Kim finally relented quietly, not wanting to draw further attention.

"Huh? Figured he, with all his awesome powers, would've had a "weapon" to back it up." Monique rubbed her chin.

"Can we please stop talking about this!" Kim begged.

"Nuh-uh. I wanna to hear more about Ron's "abilities". Seems like an interesting subject." Legion interjected. If looks could kill, Legion would be dead... or at least dead again.

"Whoa, ok! No need to try and kill me again. C'mon Kimmie don't be so stiff about it."

This time Monique was on the unintentional receiving end of Kim's glare. She decided to drop the subject for now.

"Sooo... how about we go to see a movie?" She proposed quickly.

"That... sounds good." Kim replied still a bit angry, but deflating.

"Cheer up, there are a lot of people with bigger problems than this!" Monique patter her shoulder. Kim sighed seeing legion waving to her.

"Yeah, but I sometimes wish we could go back to a time before all of this. What I wouldn't give to foil another one of Drakken's ridiculous plots." A ghost of a smile crossed her face. "But noooo. Now he's living the high life on a government payroll. I bet he has nothing to worry about!"

Drew Lipsky, aka Drakken, felt like fainting. His life was supposed to be easy living on government payroll. Not having to provide for himself like old times.

'Keep it together, Drew! You've done things way more dangerous than this!' He tried not to panic. He straightened his newly acquired G.J. Science Team uniform, having ditched his old and blue lab coat.

Today he decided that it was time to make a decision. Time to finally prove that he was the man he imagined himself to be!

'Oh God, I can't do this!' He almost managed to run away, but the door leading to Dr. Director's office slid open with a quiet hiss; sealing his fate.

"Come in, Drew." Betty invited him, not even looking up from her papers.

The reservations for a table at a fancy restaurant never burned so painfully in his pocket as he stiffly walked into the office. Yes today was the day he would, probably, invite Betty to dinner. He didn't even bother with making a list of what could go wrong. It got way too long.

"I see that you finally said goodbye to your old coat?" Betty told him, noticing the new look. "I have to say... it looks good on you, Drew."

"Thanks Betty. I thought I needed a bit of an upgrade since I'm no longer a super villain." He replied, managing to not stutter.

"Did you throw it away?"

"No?"

"So you have plans to use it in future?" She asked playfully, noticing his squirming. "Gonna go back to being bad?"

"W-Well it was a large part of my life for so long. I... I thought I'd keep it as a memento." He quickly explained. "But I've closed that chapter of my life!"

"Relax Drew. I'm joking." Bettry offered him a small amused smile.

"Oh... Oh, I see?..." He rubbed his neck nervously. Silence befell them as Betty watched him with keen interest. To tell the truth she knew exactly why he came here today. After all she wouldn't have been the head of G.J. for so long if she wasn't good at her job. So the fact that he went through the effort to book a table at a very exclusive, very expensive, restaurant, got a new lab coat, and sprayed himself with some good cologne, was already well known way before he got to her office.

No she wasn't a stalker at all.

"Well Betty, you see... I've been wondering if you would like to..."

At this point she really had to force her face to be passive. His own was starting to get purple, and anymore of this and she would burst into giggles.

"Go out with me to dinner!" Drakken finally choked out, looking like he just ran a marathon.

"I-"

"Oh forget it! I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable!" Drakken stood up and was about to leave, when Betty stopped him with her business voice.

"Drew, sit down."

He obliged instantly.

"When you ask someone a question it's common courtesy to wait for an answer." She berated him. "Now as I was about to say..." She did have a bit of a sadist streak though, and before the silence became too uncomfortable for him she smiled. "I would love to go out with you, Drew."

Drew looked at her with almost childlike wonder. He visibly tried to calm himself... it took him a few seconds.

"Well I'm glad that you accepted." He said overtly official, almost making her laugh again. "I booked us a table at Le Expensive restaurant next week."

"Just enough time to adjust my schedule." Betty nodded, albeit her time was already reserved for it.

"Exactly! I know that you're busy." He smiled happily. "Ok, so I'll be going so as to not occupy your time anymore." He stumbled over his words a bit, obviously very excited.

"See you around." She nodded politely, and went back to her work as soon as the doors slid closed behind Drakken's surprisingly wide back. Surely the result of all the time he'd recently spent in the gym.

But her mind wasn't into just that.

It was not like Drew was the only man interested in her. She was acutely aware that her figure alone drew looks from almost every male she came across. With only a select few of said looks considered appropriate.

Yet that was mostly what almost every male would do in terms of personal interaction with her. Due to her position as head of G.J. most thought of her as completely out of their reach. Even when she tried to approach some of them, they backed away in fear of her unleashing hell if they did something she did not like.

Which wasn't true. Betty could be called many things, but petty wasn't one of them, aside when it came to Sheldon. But that was an entirely different matter.

That said, she did not live in celibacy. Yes she had the occasional lover now and then, but both of them knew that it was purely for physical pleasure. Still she felt lonely at times, and the clock was ticking. She was already over forty, and had come to terms that she would not have a biological child, seeing as her non-existent family life was not going to change anytime soon.

But at the very least she would like a person to speak to at night or wake up to in the morning.

Drew Lipsky was not perfect, far from it. He was loud, obnoxious, had an extremely high opinion of himself, and wanted to rule the world at one time... but that was what was on the outside.

Getting to know him Betty discovered that Drew was a brilliant scientist. A keen mind that had been mistreated most of his life. His whole Drakken persona was what he aspired to be. It was his shield against his own insecurities. He did not want to rule the world, not really.

He just wanted to be appreciated. And despite not getting the appreciation from the world, he went on to risk his life and fight head on against the alien invaders. Even playing a crucial role in defeating them.

So the least Betty could do for him, as a thank you, was to give him a little bit of respect. It worked like a charm.

With his inventions, including the Diablos, they accelerated reconstruction of the Earth by years. And she would make damn sure that the world would know who to thank.

Drew Lipsky was a complicated person, but he also had that inner courage and determination to try again, or try to do what most would deem impossible.

Like inviting a certain Director to dinner.

"Well Drew, let's see where it goes from here." She went back to typing as the image of Drew doing a victory dance in his room was saved in her file for later use.

Havana City Center

"No way." Ron uttered baffled. What he just heard was so far inside the realm of impossibility that even a person like him could not believe it.

"He's excited, like its his first time." Shego mumbled, still processing the idea. "Never thought he had the balls to ask. I was so sure it would be Betty to make the first move." She commented, looking at the wall of text Drakken sent her.

"I guess people change. Have you noticed how buff he got?" Ron asked. "I mean it's insane. I couldn't get that much muscle mass, and I train like crazy."

"To tell the truth he was always well built. A few times he walked around in a towel, and I could swear he wasn't the nerdy scientist type." She giggled before taking a sip of her wine.

They were now currently sitting in one of many stylish restaurants in the city's plaza. The night was hot, so they indulged themselves with some cool drinks.

"It was obvious that he liked her, but what about Dr. Director? You think she's into him?" Ron asked, playing with the umbrella in his non alcoholic drink.

"I have no idea, but she better not hurt him. The blue idiot gets way too committed sometimes." Shego frowned.

Ron chuckled, taking a sip of his drink.

"Always knew you were a softie for good old Dr. D."

"Someone had to make sure he didn't get to crazy with his ridiculous schemes." She rolled her eyes.

"Remember how I made him scream my name at top of a Bueno Nacho tower?" Ron asked with a sly smile.

"Nah. I was busy getting electrified by the Princess. But he told me later how that side kick was rude and shouted at him." Sheila shook her head. "Or how you went crazy with all that cash you won."

"Don't remind me. If I had it now I would be so much wiser with it!" He wailed.

"You're still rich as hell with the nachos earnings." Shego deadpanned.

"Well yeah, but inflation is starting to put a number on me. Plus the factory start-up cost will take a large part of it. Oh well, if I can help people then I don't mind." He closed his eyes, relaxing back in his chair.

And he totally missed Shego's look.

'It comes so natural to him.' She thought playing with her straw. While she had changed sides, probably for good, she was still herself. Such selflessness, while not entirely alien, was still pretty foreign. She had to put an effort into being good. Not to mention the fact that he was willing to sacrifice a large part of his fortune to simply help other people...

"What's on you mind, Sheila?" Ron asked, interrupting her thought process.

"Just the general state of affairs of the surrounding world."

"What?"

"No need to bother you with adult stuff."

"Don't be like that Sheila..." Ron whined. "Now I'm curious, and I probably won't be able to sleep tonight!"

"You thought you were anyway?" She smirked mischievously. "After all it's our first night together... alone."

Ron could actually feel a wave of excitement wash over him. Vacations tended to have fantastic starts, and this one looked to continue that trend for the duration.

"Let's just hope something doesn't come spoil our trip." Ron stated. "I mean what are the chances that some crisis occurs in the middle of our holiday?"

"Stop jinxing it, Ron!" Shego exclaimed. "Unless it's the fiery heat death of the world, we're staying here and enjoying our vacation!"

"I never said anything less than the end of the world would drag me away from spending time with you." He took her hand. "So how we dance? The music from that club over there is pretty kickin."

"Nice diversion romeo, but you read my mind." Sheila smiled and allowed herself to be lead to the open air club.

In minutes they reached a Latino themed (duh) club, where a waving mass of people were dancing with varying degrees of success to the beat.

The two of them stepped into the crowd and joined in. The wild Latino music quickly did its magic, and the pair lost themselves in the music.

They twirled, swirled, and jumped. Flowing like water, fluent in their motions, letting the rhythm move them. The night was hot, but the cool sea breeze kept them refreshed.

Ron brought Sheila closer, wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her deeply, enjoying the taste of her.

Sheila returned the hug, deepening the kiss as they swayed together.

She had to admit, while goofy, Ronnie had his own charm. Once he broke out of his shell, his confidence soared. The way he kissed her, the way he held her. A joyful pride rose in her every time he displayed it, knowing she had a large part in bringing it out of him.

She was never the romantic type, but holy hell she could get used to this treatment! A wide smile blossomed on her face.

And this was only the first night!

Middleton

Like the night before Kim awoke with a gasp, drenched in sweat. Another dream filled with blood and violence. She sat in her bed, her arms wrapped around her knees. She was deathly tired, but she knew the moment she closed her eyes the nightmares would come back.

"You know you really have quite a view from here." Her relentless tormentor said wistfully, sitting on the edge of the second story window staring outside. "How did you get so lucky?"

"Leave me alone!" She snapped.

"Bad dream?" He huffed in mock concern.

"Like you don't know. It's your fault!" She accused.

"That you killed me? Now that's quite the accusation, dear missy!"

"I helped you commit suicide, it's different!" Kim shot back before blinking.

"That didn't come out right, did it?" Legion shook his head a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Stop tormenting me! You wanted to die! You wanted to finally rest in piece! I did what you asked!" Kim breathed heavily. "Why do you keep haunting me?"

"Because you can't get me off your mind?" He chuckled, and moved to sitting cross legged in her chair at her desk, staring right at her. "How did you feel when you took my life?"

"What?" Kim replied, but the look on Legion's marred face made her feel uneasy. Gone was the easy going madness. Now his face was set with stone cold eyes.

"How did it feel when you plunged that sword into my throat?"

"I hated it! I never wanted it..." Kim replied instantly, but she knew that it wasn't the whole truth. "I... felt... relief."

"Oh?"

"I didn't want to die. You were so powerful, and you fought us so easily. I didn't want to kill you, but... I didn't want to die, ok!?"

"Then what did you feel when I was defeated? Beside relief, Kimmy? What did you feel in th darkest and most obscure part of your mind." Legion leaned closer so that she had to look into his sick orange eyes. "Tell me Kim?"

Kim swallowed, feeling a shiver go down her spine followed by her whole body. Her mouth was dry, and her stomach tied itself into knots.

What was this monster implying?! That's impossible! She wanted to look away from those piercing eyes, but he gently cupped her face with his free hand, preventing her.

"What did you feel, Kim?" His voice was like velvet. Her mouth opened before she could even think.

"Satisfaction."

A/N

Quo Vadis Kim?