Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

Revelations of Destiny	By : Kellendros Category: Kim Possible > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 63461 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 59
- 60
- 61
Kim sighed and flopped back onto her bed in nothing but her birthday suit, stretching and wriggling around a little on the soft sheets before rolling over and looking at her diary again—or rather, the special diary she’d started upon coming to live with Shego nearly three weeks ago. She didn’t know what would become of it, but she couldn’t go without putting her thoughts down on paper—she’d been doing so since she was around six years old after all.

It had been an interesting summer so far, to say the least, and certainly full of adventure—just from all the amazing places she and Shego had gone to while she’d been here. Of course, there’d been a handful of actual missions that had come up as well, usually derailing their plans for the day, but surprisingly, Shego seemed to take it in stride, save for some vocal grumbling, maintaining a very fluid timetable and rescheduling anything that was disrupted so that they could get to it later—and they certainly had.

In Italy alone they’d visited Rome, taking in the Coliseum, Parthenon, and Vatican City, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the canals of Venice and all the incredible historical landmarks of the ancient water-bound city, the gardens and museums of Florence, and of course, a return trip to Milan for sights a little less pedestrian and indulgent than the inside of shops and spas.

By then Kim had spent enough time in the air flying the Piper Cub to qualify for the final certification on her pilot’s license, so Shego began teaching her how to fly the noticeably more complex “black” helicopter the pale woman had appropriated from Drakken—though it certainly wasn’t black anymore. To Kim’s surprise, Shego had had it repainted in sectional black and dark purple, complete with the oval KP logo Kim used on her website boldly displayed on either side of the aircraft.

With the increased range the craft brought to their day trips, being five times faster than the Cub at cruising speed, they were able to expand the scope of their travel, visiting the Acropolis in Greece, the Reichstag and Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, along with the beautiful Sanssouci palace in Potsdam and the fairytale wonder that was Castle Neuschwanstein, the Blarney Stone, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the National Museum in Ireland, the remnants of Hadrian’s Wall and Stonehenge in England, and Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, and the British Museum in London. Shego even managed to convince Kim to visit the Louvre in Paris, despite the (admittedly almost minimal) risk of running into Ron while they were there—though honestly, she didn’t have to try very hard.

Of course, that was just the places they’d seen; there were many other things that had been equally interesting and outstanding along the way—though not all of them necessarily happy and fun. As Kim flipped through those entries in her diary, some—most—brought a smile to her lips as she remembered the events that had prompted them…

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 13, Wednesday, Early Morning

Kim smiled softly as she sat on the sidelines of the interconnected mats in Shego’s gym, a dreamy, mesmerized look in her eyes as she watched the lean, powerful form of the older woman twist and flow with feline grace as Shego stepped through an elaborate sword kata, the slightly curved, flaring blades of the twin Chinese broadswords trailing broad, dissipating swaths of brilliant lime-green energy as they slashed and spun around her in fluid, tumbling, snapping arcs. It was a whirlwind display of lithe, smooth-motioned quickness, power, and precision that would have been a thing of beauty even without the trailing lines of fire surrounding the pale amazon. With them, it was an enthralling dance of physical prowess beyond compare.

Eventually Shego came to a stop in a broad side-stance, one arm and sword extended directly out from her at shoulder height, in line with her forward leg, while the other bent back and up to hold the second blade above her head, perfectly horizontal and aligned with the first, the curving, razor sharp edge directed at the ceiling even as the other blade’s faced the floor. After a few moments of complete stillness, Shego released her power and dropped her arms, standing up straight and joining her swords together while she did. As she turned and headed for the heavy sheath resting on the floor near Kim, intent on returning the blades to their proper home, she couldn’t help but notice the redhead staring at her with a smile that bordered on goofy.

“Yes?” Shego drew out the word in a long, questioning tone as she arched one sable eyebrow dryly.

Kim broke into a broad, full-fledged grin as she responded; “That was just so cool! I didn’t know you could do that with your powers.”

Shego snorted softly, resuming her course toward the sheath by Kim.

“Oh really? Then what exactly did you figure my gloves were?”

“What do you mean?” Kim’s brow furrowed with a quizzical look.

“I wear clawed gloves, remember? I also use my powers while wearing said gloves. How exactly did you figure I did that if I couldn’t channel my energy through stuff?”

“Ahhh… I dunno.” A faint blush proclaimed Kim’s embarrassment over missing the obvious. “I guess I never really thought about it, it was just something you did.”

Shego gave another soft snort while picking up the thick sheath and sliding her swords into it. “I suppose there’s no reason you should have… anyway, yeah, as long as I can touch it, and as long as it’s not too big, I can charge pretty much anything with my power, though it gets a little tricky with things that have a lot of parts that aren’t solidly connected to each other; the weaker the connection, the harder it gets. Chains are a real bitch to do… same goes with filled or layered cloth like winter coats or stuffed animals.” Shego snorted and grinned to herself. “Don’t ask how I found that out.”

“Ok.” Kim grinned for a moment, her imagination more than able to provide likely details, then grew serious as she asked; “But if you can use your powers through stuff, why don’t you? I mean aside from your gloves…”

“Well for one, it’s not like I really need to use anything; I can hit ten times harder than the heaviest mace, slash through stuff the best swords would bounce off of, and fire ranged blasts only slightly slower than a semi-automatic, with a whole hell of a lot more punch to them. On top of that, the more material I have to work with, the harder it is to keep under control if things go wrong; there really isn’t much to my gloves, but I’d likely blow the crap out of a sword or staff if my concentration slipped—and believe me, the last thing I want to be doing in the middle of a fight is picking splinters outta my hide, wood or otherwise.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Kim pondered for a moment, then asked; “But if it’s harder to use your powers through stuff, why do you use the gloves at all? To protect your hands or something?”

“Sort of, but not exactly; aside from indirect accidents, I can’t hurt myself with my powers even if I wanted to.”

“What do you mean?”

“Haven’t you ever wondered why I’ve never set my hair on fire while we’re fighting or anything like that? I mean sure, as long as I’m keeping it simple, controlling my powers isn’t much harder than throwing a punch or a kick, but even if it was as fast and easy as blinking, no one could react quick enough to stop accidents like that. But even so, it’s never happened, right? That’s because my powers have absolutely no effect on me. Here, I’ll show you…”

“Ok.” Kim responded while following Shego over to the gym’s control panel, where the other woman set down her sheathed swords before picking up the pencil Kim used for taking notes on their exercise routines. Straightening, Shego reached behind her and grabbed her long, loose braid while turning to face Kim.

“Ok, check this out.”

Shego carefully wedged the blunt end of the pencil into her braid, then bent the green-tinged black rope of hair back so it fully covered the writing implement lengthwise. Holding up the now rigid length of braid, Shego summoned her power in her right hand, twisting the energy to the jagged whine of her cutting planes, then wiggled her fingers in a little flourish before flicking them out to barely graze the length of hair. A second later she banished her power with a mischievous smile.

“Now hold out your hands.”

“Ahhh, ok…”

There was a hint of confused hesitation in Kim’s voice, but she complied nonetheless, holding out her hands next to one another. As soon as she did, Shego stepped forward and held the length of braid above Kim’s slightly cupped hands, then opened it up, whereupon the pencil immediately dropped out into Kim’s hands—or rather, the five separate pieces of it did.

“Ta-daaa!” Shego grinned as she straightened out her braid and held it taut in front of her, showing that it was completely intact.

Kim looked at the neatly severed lengths of wood and graphite in her hands and gave a little smile of wonder. “Neat!”

“Yep. As far as any part of me is concerned, my powers don’t exist. They can’t affect me even if I wanted them to.”

Kim nodded for a moment, then suddenly sobered, dumping the pencil pieces into her right hand and lowing her arms while giving a puzzled frown.

“Hang on a minute… if you can’t be affected by your powers, why did you dodge the bolts I sent back at you with that hubcap last summer? Or for that matter, how exactly do you have ‘the ultimate depilatory system built right in’?”

Shego colored slightly at that, but answered without hesitation; “I can’t be affected by my powers, but my suit can if I get hit by a blast I’m no longer in control of. If you haven’t noticed, my blasts tend to melt or explode things, so if I was hit by one, I’d either have to deal with superheated synthetics burning into my skin, or the impact and shrapnel from a chunk of my suit blowing up. Either way not something I’m in a real hurry to experience again. As for the other thing…”

Now Shego did hesitate, fiddling with her hair for a few moments before dropping the braid and forcing herself to look up as she continued.

“I sort of cheat. While figuring out how to do something else, I discovered that if I really, really concentrate, my powers work on the oils and other… gunk, that collects in your pores, so, if I do it, they superheat and literally blow the hair out follicle and all. It stings like you’re being eaten alive by fire ants, and I’m sure I’d be looking at all kinds of infections if it weren’t for my healing ability, but hey, it works, so I use it. Better than the mess of hot wax anyway…”

“Oh yee-owtch!” Kim winced sympathetically, shaking her head slowly.

“Price you’ve gotta pay for lookin’ good Pumpkin.” Shego smirked wryly.

“Ahhh, yeah, anyway…” Kim gave her head a sharper little shake as she quickly changed the subject. “What did you mean by ‘indirect accidents’ then?”

Shego gave a little sigh. “Well, while they’re active, my powers turn aside any heat given off by whatever I’m holding—so long as I’m putting out more heat anyway—turn aside shrapnel if I’m focusing them for concussion or kinetic impact, and shield my hands like armor if I call up my cutting planes, however, as soon as I stop doing any of that, the protection goes away, and believe me, you only need to forget about the fact that you’re holding a smoldering piece of concrete once before you take steps to make sure it never happens again.”

“Oooowwww…” Kim was right back to wincing.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Shego grimaced faintly at memories of accidents past. “Anyway, you done with the twenty questions yet?”

“Well, there is one last thing I’m wondering about…”

“And that would be?”

“Why don’t you use your powers to cook with? I mean, if you can heat up a pan what’s the point of using the stove?”

“Heh… that would be because I don’t have enough fine control for that. All I can do is hot, ridiculously hot, and surface-of-the-sun, but none of those are good for anything other than boiling water.” Shego grinned matter-of-factly.

“Ok, I get it.” Kim laughed. “Wouldn’t want you imitating me…”

Shego smiled back at Kim and, after the girl bent down and dumped the pieces of pencil she was holding onto her notebook, the pair headed back out onto the mats to continue their training.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 14, Thursday, Shortly After Supper

Kim was curled up on the living room couch, blissfully unawares as she focused on the half-finished sketch in her diary, her pencil waggling idly between thumb and forefinger as she tried to figure out how to finish up the shading without screwing up what she’d done so far. Unfortunately for her, someone else was interested in what she was doing as well, someone who made a living at being very quiet and inconspicuous—at least when she wanted to be.

“So what are you doing Princess? Drawing floor plans and security layouts in case you need them later or something?”

Kim started at the sound of Shego’s teasing voice behind her, and the pale beauty took full advantage of the redhead’s surprise, leaning down to pluck the book from Kim’s hands before she could stop her.

“Hey, give that back!” Kim scrambled up to reach over the back of the couch awkwardly, grabbing for the book with just a hint of panic in her voice, but Shego twisted and turned, presenting her back to Kim while she looked at what the teenager had been working on.

“Why? Something in here you don’t want me seeing?” Shego teased, giggling ticklishly as she kept Kim’s reaching arms and clutching hands at bay with her sides and back.

“Yes! C’mon Shego, give it back! That’s my diary!”

“Oh really? So then you… probably… whoa…”

Shego trailed off as she finally got a good look at the page, her surprised exclamation a near murmur, while behind her, Kim’s struggles to reclaim the book died off as well, reluctant resignation and a sudden sheepish, self-conscious air falling over her as she realized it was too late to keep Shego from seeing what she’d been doing.

“Did you do this?” Such was her state of amazement that Shego gave voice to the idiotic question despite knowing full well the answer.

“Ummm… yeah…” Kim responded almost timidly, not taking advantage of the opening Shego had given her with the inane question.

Shego raised the thick, modest-sized tome higher so she could see the page better, while behind her, Kim unconsciously bit her lower lip in nervous anxiety. There on the creamy, unlined paper was a three-quarter-profile bust of Shego that was anything but simple, despite its humble lead pencil origins. The black-and-white drawing almost leapt off the page, approaching a near photo-realistic quality within the limitations of the medium, and seemed to capture not only the details of Shego’s exotic features, but also a hint of the woman’s roguish personality as well.

Silently, Kim looked on as Shego slowly thumbed her way through the diary, finding equally good sketches of Princess Kimmiekins, a view of the countryside as seen from the widows of Kim’s suite, and her green and black Impala, lingering over each picture for a few minutes before finally returning to the one of her.

Turning slightly to look at Kim, Shego stated more than asked; “You did all these just since coming here? They’re amazing…”

“Really? You think they’re good?” Kim seemed surprised at that.

“D’oy! Not just good; there great!” Shego looked at the sketch again, a wistful smile curling her black lips. “I always wished I could draw like this, but I’m lucky if I can get stick-figures to look right.”

“Well, ummm, thanks…” Kim’s cheeks colored faintly.

Shego caught the hesitation in the redhead’s voice and looked up to find her fidgeting slightly and looking down bashfully.

“No, seriously Kimmie, these are really, really good—and I oughta know; I make a living at stealing art.” Shego smirked as Kim looked up at her sharply, a questioning expression on her face. “Well, it’s part of what I do anyway…”

Kim gave her head a gentle shake and dryly responded; “Yeah well, even so…” the teenager looked away again, almost muttering as she added; “it’s not like it really matters anyway…”

“Why not?” Shego asked, turning to face Kim fully now. “You’re good at this.” Shego paused, grinning wryly as she added; “Not that you really needed anything else to be good at, but you are.”

“You really think so?” Kim met Shego’s gaze with an atypical uncertainty, and the older woman could tell something was going on behind those strangely shy fern-green eyes.

“Yes. Now what’s up with you? Why are you all in ‘it’s no big’ overdrive about this?”

Kim looked away again, hesitantly answering; “Well it’s just… when I was little… I kinda wanted to be an artist… but that’s silly, right?” Kim looked up, meeting Shego’s steady gaze with one far less so.

“Why would that be silly? You’ve obviously got talent, so if you wanna be an artist, be an artist.”

“But I can’t… I mean it’s not really… it’s just so… I don’t know…”

Before Kim could continue her meandering, Shego interjected; “Stupid? Pointless? Childish? Trivial? You can… stop me any time now Princess.” When Kim didn’t say anything, Shego sighed and cut her eyes to the ceiling for a second. “Look, Kimmie, if you like art enough to want to do it for a living, then that’s what you should do—god knows if anyone on the face of the earth deserves a little… frivolity, in their career it’s you. If not, you can still do it for fun like you do now, right? Just don’t let any dumbass ideas on responsibility and growing up make the decision for you, ok?”

Kim quirked a grateful little smile as Shego offered her diary back to her. “Thanks Shego.” she said softly as she accepted the book. Her smile twisted as she added; “You’ve got a… unique, way of putting things.”

“Mmmm, really.” Shego smirked back. “So, judging by those incredibly lifelike sketches you’re a realist, right?”

“Well, mostly, yeah.” Kim sat down while Shego came around the couch to join her. “I’ve done a few abstracts, but for the most part I like to draw things that look like they’re supposed to.”

Shego nodded, and the pair proceeded to talk about various art styles and artists both modern and classical far into the night—and far past their bedtimes as well…

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 15, Friday, Just After Midnight

“Shego? Shego…” Kim’s soft but unrelenting voice slowly but surely roused Shego from her slumber.

“M’glah?”

Despite her thoughts moving at the relative speed of molasses, Shego could tell something was wrong by the tone of Kim’s voice—above and beyond the fact that the redhead was in her room in the dead of night. It was night, right? Shego looked up at her bedside clock to find that it was only a few hours after she had gone to sleep; a little after one in the morning.

“Something’s wrong with your house.” The sound of Kim’s voice brought Shego’s attention back to her, where she stood as a dark, blanket-wrapped shape against the darker shadows behind her.

“What… what do you mean? What are you talking about?” Shego forced herself to concentrate on the meaning of the teenager’s words.

“It’s freezing in here; I woke up because it’s so cold I was shivering even under the covers. There’s probably ice forming on your fireplace…”

Shego blinked several times, processing the information, and then answered; “Oh… yeah… sorry. Forgot about that. Sometimes cold storms roll in from the ocean, hit the mountains, and then blow up the coast while getting even colder from the high altitude air. Since I’m usually the only one here when that happens, I only keep the heating systems on in the fall and winter so the pipes don’t freeze.” Shego yawned, then started to clumsily fumble her way out of bed. “I’ll go start them up…”

“Oh no, I don’t think so…”

The last remnants of muzzy-headedness clinging to Shego’s mind were ripped away with shocking suddenness as she felt Kim crawling into bed with her. Shego froze for a second, eyes suddenly wide in the enshrouding darkness, and then craned her head around to stare over her shoulder at the redhead—or rather, the formless, inky shape of her.

“What the hell are you doing?” Shego’s query was mostly sharp, but there was the faintest undertone of panic in there as well—not that Kim noticed.

“I am not going back to my room just to freeze my ass off for who knows how long while this cavern of a house heats up when there’s a perfectly warm you right here, so move over.” Kim grumbled matter-of-factly—though the last part was a bit redundant, given the size of Shego’s bed.

“Excuse me?” Shego rolled over slightly so she didn’t have to twist her neck quite so much. “I don’t think so.”

This time Kim caught the tone in Shego’s voice and paused in her squirming, looking over to the ever-so-faintly luminous form beside her.

“Oh please. I did not engineer a forty-point drop in the temperature just to get a shot at your admittedly hot ass! I just want a warm bed so I can get back to sleep, all right? You have my full permission to zap the hell out of me if I try and feel you up or anything like that, ok? Now can we please go to bed, or do you wanna be a nervous Nellie some more?”

Shego opened her mouth to respond and then paused, grumbling to herself instead. The last thing she wanted was to admit that Kim was right, but… Kim was right. She was—mostly—overreacting. Sure Kim sleeping with her so soon—in the sense of actual sleep—was a little bit more on the casually intimate side than most people would have been comfortable with, but given everything that had happened between them already, it really wasn’t that big a deal—certainly nothing to be jumping out of her skin over.

“All right, all right, you can stay.” Shego’s voice was a resigned grumble before turning sharply serious. “But I’m warning you now, I can and will blow you out of this bed if any part of you decides to try wandering into my no-no areas, got it?”

Kim snorted at “no-no areas” and, with a softly chuckling, playfully mocking tone, replied, “Yes Dear.” as she slipped her left arm across Shego’s waist in order to cozy up to her side, seeking the other woman’s cold-defying warmth. Settling in, she smiled and, in a tone much more on the wicked side of playful, added; “And see? I’m even wearing this big oversized shirt thanks to the cold, so you don’t have to deal with ‘naked Kimmie’ like you normally would.”

“Jeez!” Shego stiffened more from the decidedly tepid teenager wrapping herself around her than uneasiness over said wrapping—though admittedly, there was a fair bit of that as well. “No, I just have to deal with a fucking icebox attaching itself to me! Fuck you’re cold!”

“M’yeah, that’s kind of the point…” Kim grinned in the darkness.

“Just count yourself lucky I know I’ll get used to this way before you actually start warming up, otherwise your frigid ass would already be hitting the floor.” Shego grumbled only half in jest.

Kim giggled and, smirking wickedly in the concealing darkness, snuggled closer to Shego while replying; “Well, if you want, feel free to feel up that ‘frigid ass’ all you want to make up for it then. Or any of my other ‘no-no areas’ for that matter…”

Suddenly Shego was acutely aware of the fact that there was a point of contact on her arm that went far beyond the firm flesh backing it—“rock hard” sprang to mind—and in mere instants, she felt her breasts begin to tighten as her own nipples stiffened in unconscious response, while at the same time, a faint, dull itch between her legs announced they weren’t the only things trying to stand at attention. Licking her lips in the darkness, she actually had to concentrate a little to, with dry exasperation, respond; “Just go to sleep before I change my mind about this…”

“M’kay…”

Kim’s warm, contented, and ever-so-slightly slurred acquiescence suggested she was already on her way to complying with Shego’s request. Less than a handful of minutes later that was confirmed as, in her hyper-aware state, the pale beauty felt the teenager relax fully, her breathing evening out to a deep, slow, steady rhythm as she did.

Oh joy… Shego grumbled dryly in her head. She’s out like a light while I get to lie here wide-awake for the rest of the night.

Despite her antsy expectations, and despite various distractions of a far different nature that were running through her head as well, sleep slipped up on Shego and claimed her unawares as she found herself relaxing almost against her will, sending her spiraling down into the velvet darkness of oblivion. It wasn’t until several hours later that conscious thought once more beckoned her from beyond the hazy veil of slumber, though this time with much greater difficulty than before—which was saying something.

Though there was an itching, troubling sense of “wrongness” to it, it wasn’t insistence that dragged a very reluctant Shego up from her warm, happy cocoon of contentment this time ‘round, but rather it was irritation that worried and worked at her languorous state until unconsciousness had no choice but to release her from its sleepy coils.

Gradually, Shego became aware of her surroundings, though she still had no clear idea of why she had awoke. Sometime in the night she’d rolled over on her side, and Kim had apparently come along for the ride, because now the teenager was a warm presence pressed tight to her back, with her muscularly slender arm wrapped firmly around Shego’s waist. Even so, it hadn’t been that that woke Shego; the pale beauty found the warm contact surprisingly comforting, right down to the faint, regular susurration of hot, moist breath wafting across her neck and shoulder from Kim’s breathing. No, it was something else that had called her back from the land of nod. A moment later, the mystery was solved.

Behind her, Kim… Kim purred. It was the closest thing Shego could find to describe the languid, liquid sound that rumbled out of the sleeping redhead from somewhere deep inside her throat. A second later the teenager made another sound, still rumbling and liquid, but this time almost bearing the cadence of words; a slurred murmur that hinted at having a clearer meaning without actually delivering it.

Great, just great… she talks in her— whoa! Hello!

Shego’s train of thought was suddenly and violently derailed as she felt Kim move against her, her tight groin rolling forward to press firmly against the sharply curved swells of the older woman’s taut, enticingly muscular ass in an undeniably primal, wantonly carnal fashion.

Oh son of a bitch no, this is so not happening!

Shego wasn’t entirely sure if the wide-eyed thought was a statement of denial or a declaration of intent, but what she was sure of were the growing points of hardness digging into her back and the sudden, echoing responses from her own (treacherous?) body in return, as an (unwanted?) quiver of arousal rolled through her in response to the salaciously sensual sensations assailing her.

A few moments later, as Shego was in the process of deciding whether a full-blown emerald energy wakeup call was needed or if an elbow to the short ribs would do, Kim rocked her hips again, though not quite so noticeably this time, and finally murmured something intelligible, something that brought Shego up short and sent all her thoughts right out of her head.

“Corscan…”

Hearing that name from those lips in that way, the connotations it all carried, sent a sudden, complex spike of emotion stabbing through Shego from a point of twisting tightness somewhere between her tummy and her chest. Shock. Shock was certainly a big part of it, along with an equally unexpected undercurrent of disappointment—hurt?—shot through with fine, hot threads of anger tipped with nettling barbs of jealousy.

With her thoughts a formless, chaotic swirl and her emotions coiling and shifting through her like a writhing mass of cold serpents, each spewing hot, burning venom from their thin, piercing fangs, Shego was oblivious to the passage of time, laying still and unawares and wrapped up in her own turmoil until, yet again, Kim spoke clearly.

“Oh Hui…”

The sounding of that second name did not provoke a similar reaction to the first in Shego, but rather it seemed to focus her thoughts, not quite snapping her out of the state she was in, but at least allowing her to regain considerable control of herself.

Ok, get a hold of yourself stupid. You already knew that Kimmie had a… past, so to speak, before she came here—however totally Twilight Zone that seems… Nothing wrong with it, so stop being such a hypocritical bitch already…

Despite the vehement mental declaration, it wasn’t until Kim spoke again that Shego was actually able to get a grip on her tumultuous emotions.

“Tanya…”

Tanya? Who the fuck is Tanya?

Strangely enough, or perhaps not, the completely unfamiliar name served to sharpen Shego’s concentration even further, clearing her thoughts and allowing her to throw off the miasma of jumbled, negative emotions clinging to her in favor of puzzled curiosity, her brow furrowing with a much more intellectual confusion over the mystery, as opposed to emotional turmoil. It wasn’t until several more long moments passed with her fixed on the riddle that she got her final shock, which tore into her with just as much impact as the first had, though to far, far different effect.

“Mmmmm… Ssshhhheeego…”

The sound of Kim crooning her name like that slammed into Shego like one of her own fiery bolts, burning everything else away with its smoldering heat. The power contained in that single rumbling, purring, throaty sound was pure, sensual, liquid pleasure in verbal form; a voicing of hungry desire and exhilarating passion unlike anything Shego had ever experienced before, and she reacted to it as if she’d been pole-axed.

Everything else left her head, swept aside by a hot, indescribable wave of heady excitement that rolled through her with sultry abandon, triggering quivering, shivering ripples of arousal in its wake. Suddenly Shego was aware of every inch of herself as her skin tightened and tingled with growing warmth. She felt the heat of Kim’s body at her back, the moist caress of her breath against her neck, the soft, satiny contact of the teenager’s silky thighs against the back of her own legs, the warmth of the redhead’s arm wrapped around her waist, and of course, above everything else, that sporadic, insistent, primeval rocking of the girl’s tight groin as it undulated against the curves of her ass in an unmistakable rhythm as old as time itself.

Unnoticed, Shego’s breathing and pulse quickened, a dull, warm flush spreading across her body, radiating outward from her various, once again stiffening, aching, itching seats of pleasure. She quivered and thrummed like a tightly wound harp string that had just been plucked, her mind awash with growing excitement to the point where, several moments later when Kim shifted her arm up to instinctively grasp one of Shego’s firm breasts with hot, seeking fingers, the pale beauty neither stiffened nor pulled away, but rather unconsciously arched her back, pushing her chest forward so her soft, yielding flesh was better pressed into that cupping, gently squeezing hand in a cascade of shivering, electric jolts of pleasure.

Even so, despite her growing arousal it was only a matter of time before Shego’s conscious mind finally reasserted itself, spurred on by the realization of what she was doing and what it meant—as well as the inevitable, unwanted, but eminently familiar reservations conjured by her subconscious, the chill whispers of self-doubt drifting out from the dark corners of her mind and dampening her ardor as they had so many times before.

No, no… I can’t… not like this, not yet… it’s too soon… I’m not ready… god why the fuck does this have to feel so good damnit? And she’s not even fucking awake!

With a frustrated groan, Shego forced herself to squirm away from Kim while simultaneously jabbing the unconsciously amorous teenager with a sharp elbow, eliciting a jerking retreat of her own from the redhead, along with an incoherent mumble that somehow still managed to convey a sense of grumbling discontent. The pale beauty vented an aggravated sigh as she lay on her back after escaping Kim’s enticing embrace, bereft of the young woman’s warmth and slowly recovering from her state of arousal. A short while later Shego rolled her eyes and shook her head with a drawn out sound of disgust as, beside her, Kim continued to make sounds of a decidedly ardent nature, the sleeping teen now directing her increasingly frequent pelvic undulations against the mattress beneath her.

Rolling over on her side, Shego reached up and prodded Kim in the shoulder several times with a pair of stiff fingers, growling; “Hey! Wake up and stop molesting my bed already!”

“M’hunh? What?” Kim jerked mostly awake with a start, pushing herself several inches up off the bed and blinking in confusion as her head twitched back and forth erratically.

“I said it’s bad enough you were trying to rape me in your sleep, but my poor mattress can’t even defend itself from you.” Shego chided sarcastically.

“What?” Kim blinked several times before her eyes widened in sudden surprise as she finally noticed the various stiff, tingling, gently throbbing parts of her anatomy that stood testament to her previously unconscious state of arousal.

“Oh god, oh god…” A look of absolute mortification competed with the bright flush spreading across Kim’s features as she rolled over onto her side to face the other woman. “Shego, I’m so, so sorry! I don’t usually… I mean, this doesn’t usually happen unless… oh god, it’s been so long… but I still should have thought about it! I am so, so sorry! What exactly… I mean were you… I didn’t—”

“O-oh calm down Princess.” There was laughter in Shego’s voice as she cut Kim off. “Don’t get your panties all in a knot. If it was a big deal you’d be on the floor right now instead of in this bed, ok? I just didn’t particularly feel like sitting through the whole show start to finish is all. However… entertaining it might have been.” Shego smirked. “I’m just not in that kinda mood right now.”

After a moment’s pause collecting her scattered thoughts and getting a hold of her churning emotions, Kim gave a little nod of thankful acknowledgement, but she couldn’t help adding; “Ok, but I’m still sorry if I freaked you out or anything like that, really.”

“S’ok.” Shego grinned softly and Kim rolled over onto her back, staring up at the canopy for a moment before closing her eyes in lingering embarrassment, muttering; “I can’t believe I did that…”

Shego waited until the color had started to fade from Kim’s cheeks before, with a sly smirk and tone, she casually asked; “Oh you definitely did the deed… but what I want to know is: who’s Tanya?”

“Hunh?” Kim’s brow furrowed faintly and, a moment later, she opened her eyes to look at Shego with a puzzled expression, one eyebrow raised as she said; “Ahhh, I don’t— oh, wait! Ahhh, yeah, Tanya… she’s one of Corscan’s friends. The one we met in Ibiza. Why do you ask?”

Shego’s grin twisted deeper as she detected the faint return of crimson in Kim’s cheeks.

“Let’s just say that while you weren’t doing a full play-by-play of the action in your little dreamland dalliance, you did run down some of the cast involved, and that was the only name I didn’t recognize.”

“Oh, ah, ok.” Kim’s blush wasn’t nearly as bad as her earlier one, but it was still noticeable, giving Shego a small chuckle as the reward for her subtle teasing. A moment later both women jerked in sudden surprise as Shego’s alarm clock went off.

“Jesus!” Shego’s hiss was pure irritation as she quickly rolled over and reached out to silence the shrilling alarm. A moment later she gave a quick sigh that was half aggravated, half resigned, and then levered herself up off the bed, grumbling; “Well I guess we should get up then.”

It wasn’t until she’d slid her legs out from under the covers and sat up fully, slipping her dainty feet into a pair of fuzzy, warm, well-padded tan bunny slippers that Shego noticed Kim hadn’t moved at all. Turning to look over her shoulder, Shego found the redhead propped up on her elbows in a half sitting position, an intent, thoughtful, and decidedly faraway expression on her face.

“What is it?” Shego asked curiously, a hint of concern in her voice.

Kim looked up to meet Shego’s gaze with her bright fern-green eyes.

“I was just thinking… if… if I talk in my sleep when I’m dreaming about that kind of stuff… well, I was dreaming about you for weeks on end there. You don’t think… you don’t think that might be the reason Corscan left, do you? Because she knew what was going on with us? Or at least that she knew something was going on anyway, since we didn’t even know what was going on with us…”

“A-ah, no.” Shego flatly dismissed the idea without hesitation. “There’s just no way that’s it.”

“But why not?” Kim responded insistently. “It all makes sense; the time fits and everything!”

“Yeah, no—coincidence.” Shego shook her head and stood up before turning around to look at Kim, who was sitting up fully now. “First of all, if she was going to book for that, she would have left way before we had our little… encounter, right? Second of all, how the hell would she have even known what happened that weekend? I mean I assume your wiz-kid checks you for bugs regularly, right? Considering how many times I know Drakken alone has tried to spy on you, I figure that’s a given… but, even if she did somehow manage to chip your stuff, it’s not like you talked to anyone about us anyway, right?”

“Well, ah, actually… yes, I did. I talked to Monique like, right after it happened.” Kim paused, then abashedly amended; “Well, maybe not right after it happened, but pretty close. And I talked to her the next night when we met at the overlook too.”

“Seriously?” Shego’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. “You actually told her about that?” Shego shook her head. “I still can’t believe you told someone about us before you had to, but that…”

“Yeah. Well, no, not exactly.” Kim shook her head. “It’s a long story, but Monique’s known about everything for nearly as long as I have. She’s actually the one who helped me work through a lot of it.”

“I see.” Shego gave her head a little shake of her own. “Well, I guess I owe her one then. Anyway, that’s neither here nor there, because even if Herculina knew what was going on, and even if we ignore the timing being all out of whack, that still leaves the third reason why the idea doesn’t make much sense.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, with everything you’ve told me about her, and with my own little fifteen minutes of fame with the woman, I really think the most likely response from her would have been to try and convince you to ahhh… invite me over, so to speak, now don’t you think?”

Kim stared at Shego for a long, silent moment, then snorted into rich, chuckling laughter, shaking her head with a wry, amused grin.

“Yeah, ok, you’re right.” Kim twisted and scooted over to the side of the bed. “That is probably what would have happened. I guess I’m just grasping at straws now.”

Kim gave another little chuckle as she threw off the covers and stood up, inadvertently giving Shego a sudden, quick little thrill as her oversized t-shirt took a few moments to fall from where it was bunched up around her waist, offering a brief, unobstructed view of the firm curves of the redhead’s tight little ass and the enticing diamond hollow nestled directly beneath it.

“Humh, what?” Shego actually had to give her head a little shake to snap out of it as she realized Kim had said something to her.

“I said I guess I should head back to my room so we can start getting ready.”

“Oh, yeah, right.” Shego gave a little stretch and looked around the room absently before heading for the door. “I guess I’ll meet you in the gym then.”

“ ‘K.”

Despite the fact that Kim was more or less right behind her as she headed for the facilities, when Shego emerged from the bathroom a short while later, she was surprised to find the redhead still in her living room—unbeknownst to her, the various curios and sundry works of art scattered throughout the room had managed to catch the teen’s eye to the point of complete distraction, causing her to lose all track of time and purpose as she wandered from piece to piece in curious fascination.

“Get lost did we?”

Unfortunately for Shego, it wasn’t until after she spoke that she took note of exactly where Kim was standing, otherwise she might have chosen another course of action, like trying to sneak into her bedroom without the redhead noticing, or quietly retreating back into the bathroom and closing the door until Kim left. As it was, a sudden, innate sense of dread rose up in her even before Kim turned and confirmed that she was indeed holding a small case in her hands, exactly as Shego had somehow instinctively known despite not being able to see it previously.

For her part, as soon as Kim looked over to see Shego standing there with a slightly queasy look on her face, she knew she was right about what she had discovered, and her expression shifted to a mixture of disbelief and wry amusement. Shaking her head, she grinned as she spoke with incredulous laughter in her voice.

“I knew it! Even though it was crazy I knew I was right as soon as I saw this!” Kim held up the jewel case and waggled it. “I sat through six weeks of Ron playing this every spare minute he had when it came out! I can’t believe you built the house from Tomb Raider!”

As Kim laughed good-naturedly, though admittedly with just a bit of teasing bite, Shego stalked across the room with a brusque stride, plucking the well-worn case out of Kim’s fingers as soon as she reached her, growling; “I did not build the house from Tomb Raider.”

Shego squatted down and returned the game to its usual place next to her faded Play Station game console, reluctantly grumbling; “I built the house from Tomb Raider two.”

“Oh, that’s so much better.” Kim laughed dryly.

Shego sighed and stood up while slowly counting to ten. She’d known it was going to be bad, but honestly, now that it was happening, it wasn’t quite as bad as she’d feared—though still plenty bad enough. Shaking her head slowly, she drew a deep breath and spoke in a resigned, self-conscious tone that was only somewhat defensive.

“Look, I’ll admit it’s a little… whimsical, ok?” Shego paused, her eyes narrowing slightly as she forced herself to add; “Maybe even juvenile… but… those games helped keep me sane while I was growing up. Sure my brothers bought them, but after they were done with them, late at night or early in the morning while they were all asleep and I had some time to myself, I’d put them in and go off to another place for a few hours. A place where I could blow off steam shooting up everything that moved and run around exploring stuff and figuring out stuff all on my own, at my own pace, with no pressure and no expectations and no one telling me what to do or how to do it.”

Shego gave a soft sigh, staring off into the distance with unseeing eyes.

“I liked being Lara. I liked everything about her; the freedom, the determination, the smarts, the aristocratic flavor, the toys, the wealth; everything. Hell, odds are I’d be her if it wasn’t for the fact that we differ on one key little issue—that being where the treasure goes after you take it.” Shego smirked and shook her head. “Who knows? If I’d been a few hundred million richer starting out maybe I’d have gone that way anyway.”

Shego focused her attention on Kim once more.

“Anyway, that’s the deal. I’m not some girl game-geek or anything like that,” Shego gave a brief, resigned sigh, “but, I did have enough stars in my eyes that when I got my first few obscenely large paydays doing what I do, one of the very first things I did was run out and hire a topnotch construction firm to build this place just like I wanted it. Hey, what can I say?” Shego made a face and shrugged her shoulders while raising her arms slightly. “I was barely nineteen and I had what I thought was more money than god at the time, so I went a little nuts. All things considered, there are worse things I could have done.”

Kim gazed at Shego with her big, warm, fern-green eyes and a gentle, indulgent smile, not saying anything, prompting the other woman to, after a long moment of silence, demand; “What?”

“Nothing.” Kim casually dismissed, her smile curling slightly deeper.

“Don’t try that innocent little ‘nothing’ act on me Princess; I know there’s something going on in that head of yours.”

Kim gave a soft chuckle. “Ok, ok, it’s just that you’re turning out to be full of little surprises like this is all. I never figured you to be so… whimsical.” Kim smirked outright. “It’s… neat.”

“Neat?” Shego cut her eyes to the ceiling and shook her head before turning and heading for her bedroom, dryly muttering; “Lord, save me from perky teenage cheerleaders…”

Behind her, Kim laughed and headed for her own room, grinning as she went.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 17, Sunday, Suppertime

Kim sighed as she closed the front door, turning and heading deeper into the main hall as soon as the lock ratcheted shut with a reverberating thunk. She’d woken up to the insistent, shrill chirping of her Kimmunicator this morning, and the news that Professor Dementor and a small army of remote drones had taken over a top-secret research facility in the Baltic Sea.

The only good thing about the mission was that it had been fairly close by—comparatively speaking. The rest of it had been hours of tedious, nerve-wracking creeping through the cramped guts of the massive artificial island that comprised the facility, all while avoiding the deadly lasers, toxic gas, and energized fangs of innumerable spider-like robots ranging in size from a football to a very large dog. Now she was worn out, aching from a variety of minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises—along with a few more serious ones—and hungry—not to mention disappointed and annoyed that it had taken so long that her plans for the day were shot.

“Hey Kimmie, rough day at the office?” Shego’s gently teasing voice drifted out into the hall from Kim’s left as she rounded the flower display.

“Yeah, you could say that.” Kim answered in a dull tone as she turned to find Shego leaning up against the archway leading to the living room and kitchen, dressed in casual cream slacks and a light, loose blue blouse.

“Well, supper’s ready whenever you want it. Would that be now or later?”

Kim paused, one foot on the bottom stair, and sighed again. “I’m starving, but I think I need a shower first… and a change of clothes…” Kim looked over to Shego. “Maybe in forty-five minutes or so? No more than an hour for sure…”

“Ok, no problem.” Shego pushed off the side of the archway and headed back into the corridor behind her.

Kim went upstairs with a somewhat greater liveliness about her, and true to her word she showered, dressed the few wounds she had that needed dressing, and changed clothes in just under forty minutes, returning downstairs and entering the dining room right on schedule.

“Feeling better now?” Shego’s voice came from the kitchen as Kim sat down at her usual place at the table.

“Yeah, that shower really helped. Now I’m just a little tired as opposed to feeling like crap. Still hungry though…” the last part came in a high, clearly prompting tone.

Shego chuckled and picked up the tray she’d just finished preparing, carrying it out to the table and setting it down in the middle, between her and Kim’s place settings, before removing the lid without preamble or flourish.

“Well there you go then.” Shego stated with a dry humor as she set the lid to one side, revealing a selection of tacos, fajita wraps, and quesadillas, along with a couple of slightly more healthy looking stir-fried vegetable salads.

“Oh wow!”

“Yeah, I figured you’d be going into withdrawal from lack of fried, processed Mexican food by now, so there you go.” Shego smirked as she sat down.

“Not quite that bad,” Kim laughed as she started loading up her plate, “but yeah, maybe just a little. Thanks.”

“No problem”

After a few silent minutes stuffing her face to quell her gnawing hunger, Kim filled herself up enough to slow down and comment; “Hmh, looks like Ron was right.”

“ ‘Scuse me?” Shego looked up with a vaguely puzzled expression.

“Oh, nothing… Just that Ron was complaining the Bueno Nacho over here tasted different. He didn’t know if it was because of changes the new management made or if it was because he’s in France, but he was sure of it. I thought he was just imagining it, but I guess he was right after all—though I don’t know why he was complaining; this tastes a hell of a lot better than the Bueno Nacho we get at home.”

“Well I’d sure as shit hope so, given I was the one that made it.” Shego declared dryly.

“Hunh?” Kim looked up to meet Shego’s exasperated gaze.

“Me, myself, I. I made everything here. You really think I’d go out to some grease bucket when I could do better myself? With half the fat and real meat no less?”

“Oh, wow, sorry, I just thought from what you said… you really made all this?”

“Every last fried, cheese-soaked inch.” Shego quipped.

“I should have known when I tasted it.” Kim shook her head. “Well, thanks a lot then; it’s really, really good. A lot better than Bueno Nacho for sure…”

Shego muttered something just barely unintelligible, and Kim looked up again, inquiring; “Sorry, didn’t catch that…”

“I said you’re laying it on a little thick there, don’t’cha think?”

“What?” Kim’s tone was confused and just a tad shocked.

“You, always with the ‘oh this is so good’ or ‘wow this tastes great’ or ‘incredible’ or whatever. I told you I’d feed you and I will, so just lay off the BS already!”

“Hey! It is not BS!” Kim responded sharply. “I really mean it; if I didn’t I wouldn’t say it!”

“Oh yeah, right. Because you neeeever say nice things to people that you don’t really mean…”

“Well maybe I do, sometimes, but not this time! I really appreciate your cooking!”

“Yeah, sure, whatever….”

“What the hell is your problem?” Kim all but shouted. “Can’t you take a goddamn compliment without turning into the Wicked Witch of the West?”

“Apparently not!” Shego did shout. “So just keep that crap to yourself from now on!”

“Well I certainly wouldn’t want to upset Cookie McBitch with any more compliments, now would I? So if that’s the way you want it then fine!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

The room was abruptly plunged into a crashing silence as both women ended their shouting, but it was only a matter of moments before Kim began a sporadic, petulant grumbling under her breath, muttering and giving her head sharp little jerks as she picked and pushed at the food on her plate with equally sharp clanks and clicks of her fork.

“Oh would you give it a rest already?” it didn’t take more than a few minutes before Shego broke the silence, such as it was.

“What? Now I can’t even sit here and eat?” Kim looked up with a sharp, accusing gaze.

“Maybe if that was what you were actually doing!”

“What the hell is wrong with you? Seriously! How can be such a bitch about a fucking compliment?”

“Because it’s not just a fucking compliment! They never are! They never have been!” Shego shouted back.

Despite a very strong instinct to fire back with both barrels, Kim paused for a split second. Somehow, she got the sense that Shego wasn’t talking about her, but something entirely different. That still didn’t stop the snap in her voice as she demanded; “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Nothing.” Shego responded with flat dismissal, shaking her head as she did.

“Oooh no, you started this, now you’ve gotta finish it! Tell me what this is really all about!”

Shego gave a harsh sigh that was almost a growl and ground her teeth together, the muscles of her jaw working visibly for a few moments before she grudgingly snapped; “All right, fine. If you really want to know, I’ll tell you.”

Kim remained silent, simply staring at Shego with her sharp fern-green eyes, and after a moment the other woman continued; “You remember how I said I learned how to cook in order to keep my brothers healthy?” Shego waited for Kim’s nod before going on, staring off into the distance with unseeing eyes as she did. “Well I cooked, and they ate, and never said a goddamn word of thanks. Not one word. Except…” Shego raised a finger, pausing for a long moment, “except when they wanted something. I could always tell when something was up when they said something about the food in front of them. Never anytime else, just when they were playing an angle—then they were all smiles and thank-yous and can-I-have-some-mores and this-is-goods. Only then…”

Shego gave a long, deep sigh, and as she did, the last of the fight seemed to bleed out of Kim along with it, replaced with a sad little hollow feeling.

“I’m sorry Shego, I didn’t know.” Kim’s voice was soft, with an air of regret to it.

“No reason you should have Princess, no reason you should have.” Shego’s mirroring tone was casually dismissive.

After a shared moment of silence, Kim broke the stillness, her voice still quiet. “I guess I had the exact opposite problem…”

“Hunh?” Shego looked over to the subdued redhead curiously, and Kim lifted her gaze to meet Shego’s dark green eyes with her own lighter ones.

“Five, six nights out of the week since I was a little girl, it was takeout, frozen dinners, or leftovers. Don’t get me wrong,” Kim hastened to add, “it wasn’t like my mom didn’t care about what we ate or anything like that, it’s just that she didn’t have the time for anything else, and my dad can’t cook anything unless it involves a barbeque grill.” Kim sighed softly, and then smiled wistfully. “But that just made the times mom was able to cook for us more special. I knew how much of an effort it was for her on top of everything else she did, and I appreciated it that much more because of it. Some of my favorite memories are just of sitting at the kitchen table watching as she made Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Oh, I… guess I can see how you would then.” Shego’s voice was sympathetic, with just a hint of contrition as well, and Kim gave her a gentle smile and nod in return. Shego drew breath and released it in a deep sigh, then forced herself to concede; “Look, I’m sorry I went off on you, ok? It’s just… well, you know… I can be a real bitch sometimes.”

“Yeah, you can.” Kim smiled, teasing laughter in her voice. “But I guess you’ve got an excuse this time, so I suppose I can forgive you… and I suppose I can try and reign in my enthusiasm at mealtime as well. Wouldn’t want to get on your nerves more than I have to.”

“And I suppose I can try and keep from biting your head off when you don’t.” Shego returned ruefully.

Kim nodded and the pair returned to their meals. After a couple of minutes of eating quietly, Kim looked up and, with a hint of amusement in her voice, asked; “So, first fight?”

Shego stared at Kim for a second, then her black lips twisted in a half-smirk as she teased; “I don’t know, maybe. I mean on the one hand we were shouting, but on the other the dishes are all still intact and neither of us is bleeding… hard to tell.”

Kim snorted and shook her head with a wry grin of her own, taking another bite of quesadilla in lieu of replying.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 18, Monday, Early Morning

Kim took a deep breath and held it for a long moment before slowly releasing the air in her lungs in a controlled fashion, falling just short of a sigh. After the last extended, particularly grueling exchange with Shego, they’d both sank to the mat and, in mutual, unspoken agreement, ended up on their backs lying in opposite directions, with their heads resting to each other’s right, only a handful of inches apart from one another, while they stared up at the ceiling soaring high above them.

As her heartbeat and breathing slowly returned to normal, Kim pondered the details of the minutes-long, high intensity flurry of blocks and attacks she and Shego had engaged each other with, seeking to ferret out any flaws or mistakes on either of their parts. She and Shego had been training together regularly for a week now, barring the one morning they’d missed when they went to see Pai Mei, and Kim had not only returned to her top form, but also managed to achieve the last few goals Corscan had set for her before the woman had vanished. Unfortunately, Kim wasn’t entirely sure where to go from there, other than increasing the difficulty of her training by doing it on the uneven posts and balance beams Shego had available, as she knew Corscan had intended for her as the next stage of her training. Aside from that, she just couldn’t puzzle out the next step—but she was certainly going to try her damnedest to figure it out. For her part, Shego had improved steadily as well, though at a very, very slow pace that would have been unnoticeable to those lacking the level of skill she and Kim possessed. Even so, the less-than-rapid progress didn’t have her frustrated, but rather encouraged her to keep up the effort, given she was improving, however gradually.

Continuing her excruciatingly thorough study of the exchange, Kim was slowly but surely put off her train of thought by a recurring idea that just wouldn’t go away, however much she tried to put it out of her head. After several long, increasingly frustrating moments, she had to give voice to the troubling notion that was hounding her.

“Shego?”

“M’yeah?” it was more of a grunt than an actual word.

“Aren’t you… I mean, you’re not… worried, about doing this with me, are you?”

“The hell?” Shego opened her eyes and turned her head to look at Kim—or rather Kim’s ear, since the teenager kept looking up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry, but that’s not vague enough for me. Could you be a little less specific please?”

Kim snorted softly before elaborating; “I mean us training together. Sure, you’re getting better, and I’ve caught up to where I should be, but this is a lot different than the actual fights we’ve had. We’ve fought more in the last few days than the last two years, and, well… we’ve gone way past just knowing how each other fights now. Aren’t you worried about that? I mean, if… if it doesn’t work out with us—or knowing you, maybe even if it does—aren’t you worried about me knowing all your moves? Having nothing to fall back on if you need to?”

“O-ho, that.” Shego answered with laughter in her voice, returning her gaze to the ceiling above. “Why would that matter? Sure, you’re learning everything I’ve got, but so what? I’m learning all your moves too, so the playing field is still level. I know your stuff; you know mine… all that does is makes it more interesting. Now it’s about how we use what we have, whether we can out-strategize one another, and if we can come up with new surprises on the fly. Same game, different rules—or would that be: same rules, different game?”

Shego gave a soft laugh, then, after a brief pause, continued.

“Besides, until you learn how to do this,” the pale beauty stretched her right arm up towards the ceiling high above, waving at it with her fingers while briefly igniting her power, “I’m always going to have an edge you don’t, so what do I care if you figure out everything else?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Kim answered in a noncommittal tone after a long delay. Truth be told, she was feeling kind of guilty now. Since they’d started training together, she hadn’t exactly been holding back per se, but, she had been holding back a few things, out of some vague sense of “just in case.” Now she was feeling bad because, as far as she could tell and unlike herself, it seemed Shego hadn’t been doing the same, instead being completely open with it.

Still, there was nothing to be done about that now, but, she was certainly capable of making up for it from this point on. With a quick but deep sigh, Kim forced herself up off the floor, pausing briefly in a curled sitting position before fully rising to her feet and turning to look down at Shego, who was still lying on the floor behind her.

“Come on, let’s try it again. I think I’ve figured out where that little drop on your back roundhouse is coming from.”

Shego took a quick breath and then raised her legs up to her chest without bending them, digging her shoulders into the mat and doing a straight-legged kip up to flip herself to her feet. Turning to face Kim, she growled; “There is no ‘little drop’ in my back roundhouse.”

“Oh really?” Kim raised an eyebrow and gave a wry little grin. “Then why is it that whenever you use one and I block you’re off balance no more than ten moves later?”

Shego raised an eyebrow of her own and gave her lips a little smack, dryly responding; “Yeah well I’ll believe it when I see it…”

Kim gave a soft chuckle and settled into her stance; Shego was nothing if not confident in her abilities…

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 18, Monday, Evening

Hmmm… my Shego senses are tingling…

The wry thought flitted through Shego’s head as she looked up from the TV Guide she’d been flipping through, one sable eyebrow raised quizzically. Kim had been gone for a while now—far longer than it should have taken to get a drink—and there’d been faint and not-so-faint sounds drifting out from the kitchen ever since she’d disappeared—sounds that seemed a little… excessive, for someone just getting a glass of juice.

Standing up from the couch, Shego tossed the TV Guide on the coffee table and wandered into the kitchen, only to come to a complete stop as she found Kim standing at the counter, leaning over several containers of leftovers from the night’s supper and wolfing down the contents so intently she hadn’t even noticed Shego’s arrival. After a few moments staring at the redhead in surprise, Shego gave her head a quick shake and spoke in a dry, demanding tone.

“What, exactly, are you doing? That’s supposed to be for tomorrow night too you know!”

“Mmph!” Kim started and looked over her shoulder to find Shego watching her with a stern look. Chewing and swallowing quickly, she hastily tried to explain; “I know, I know, but I couldn’t help it; I’m just so hungry! I figured it was just me adjusting to the diet, and I tried to ignore it, but it just kept getting worse the longer I waited. I’m hungry all the time and I’m starting to feel crappy too! I need more food Shego; I actually ate a stale bag of Cheesy Poofs I got from Ron yesterday, and I hate Cheesy Poofs!”

Shego drew breath and opened her mouth to retort, then paused for a moment before closing it without saying a word. Her hard expression slowly softened to one of gentle resignation, and she finally spoke with just a hint of contrition in her voice.

“Ok, so obviously my calculations are a little off—though you should have told me about this sooner. I’ll tell you what, for the next few days I’ll cook up some extra portions for you, and we’ll see what it takes to keep you satisfied, all right?” Shego held up a warning finger. “But you have to promise not go hog-wild with it; just eat what you need and nothing more, ok?”

“Ok, I promise. Thanks Shego.” Kim smiled gratefully at the older woman’s understanding. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“Enh, whatever. What’s done is done…” Shego casually dismissed Kim’s apology as the girl returned her attention to the food in front of her. Turning to leave, Shego paused for a moment, adding; “Might as well bring that with you now instead of eating it here alone in the dark.”

“Ok, I’ll be in in a minute.” Kim replied through a mouthful of pasta, reaching out with one hand to grab a tray to put the food on while shoveling another forkful into her mouth.

Shego just shook her head with an amused grin and left the kitchen, still smiling softly as she went.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 20, Wednesday, Just After Suppertime

“Are you sure you ate normally Pumpkin? You didn’t try and eat any extra or anything?” Shego asked in a disbelieving tone.

“Yes Shego, I did what you asked me to do and ate whenever I was hungry and only ‘til I wasn’t hungry any more, not ‘til I was stuffed or anything. Hell, if anything I was a little hungrier than I usually am while I was doing it.” Kim answered for the third time in as many minutes.

“Damnit! This doesn’t make any sense then.” Shego griped.

“What is it Shego? Would you just tell me?”

Shego sighed before answering. “You ate what should have been over three days worth of food for someone with your height and build in just two days. And, you’re telling me you always eat like this. It isn’t fair god damnit, it just isn’t fair.”

“What?”

“You! Standing here in my kitchen looking perfect with all those curves in all the right places and none of them has an ounce of fat to them and you eat like a horse! It’s just not fair…” Shego looked off through the dining room to the greenhouse, not really seeing anything, half distracted over the puzzle and half annoyed beyond words.

“All those curves in all the right places, eh?” Kim inquired with a hint of sly playfulness.

“Yeah.” Shego responded idly, not really paying attention.

When she finally turned away from the greenhouse, Kim was standing right next to her, smiling, with one eyebrow slightly raised. Shego had time to get out “Wha—?” before Kim throatily murmured “C’mere you,” her hands gripping either side of Shego’s waist tightly and pulling her in close.

Craning upwards, Kim kissed Shego with a demanding hunger which, given her surprise, the taller woman was only just beginning to respond to before it was over.

“Ahhh, not that I’m complaining Kimmie, but what was that for?” Shego asked with a hint of breathlessness in her voice when the kiss finally broke.

“God you’re dense at times.” Kim smiled and shook her head with a slight chuckle before kissing Shego again. This time Shego was ready, and she kissed Kim back with equal intensity—or at least, Shego thought she was ready.

As the kiss deepened and lengthened, Shego felt her toes trying to curl as Kim worked her soft, supple lips against hers and slid her tongue out to meet Shego’s with a curling, gliding proficiency that Shego had never before experienced—though she’d certainly imagined it countless times over the years. When Kim finally came up for air, or out, as the case may be, Shego’s head was starting to swim and she wasn’t entirely sure which way was up anymore.

“Whoa.” Were she in the right frame of mind to have noticed, Shego would have most likely been quite disappointed with herself for the unintentional imitation of Keanu Reeves’ stunned delivery of the same line in The Matrix.

“Liked that, did we?” Kim said smugly as she leaned back from Shego and smiled contentedly.

“Yeaaaah, you could say that,” Shego answered shakily, a touch of a goofy smile plastered across her face.

“Well, no more for you ‘til you tell me what the big deal is over how I eat.” Kim said as she let go of Shego and moved back to where she had started out at the far end of the counter.

Shego whined in the back of her throat and then ground her teeth together as she realized what she’d just done.

“All right then, fine,” Shego said tightly. “You eat too much. No, seriously; with the amount you eat you should be at least as big as I am, if not bigger—or a serious lard-ass, even with how active you are. But you’re not. That’s impossible—no pun intended. If you had a metabolism that high you’d be falling apart, or at the very least, bouncing off the walls with excess energy.”

“Well, actually…” Kim said before trailing off.

“What?”

“I have been feeling kinda… antsy, for the last few days now. I haven’t been doing nearly as much here as I would be if I were back home. And…” Kim trailed off again.

“What, there’s more?”

“Well, since we really haven’t been doing much around here, most nights after you go to bed I have to spend two or three hours doing exercises and yoga in my room in order to wear myself out enough to get to sleep. And since I turned twelve or so, I’ve usually only needed about five or six hours of sleep a day too.”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“Nope.”

“Oh for the love ‘a…” Shego threw up her hands in disgust. “Ok, fine, you’re just as much of a freak as I am in your own way! I’ll figure out a new food plan for you as if you were a linebacker and we’ll tweak it as we go ‘til we find out exactly what works for you, ok?”

“Ok Shego. But you know this would be a lot easier if you’d just let me get my own stuff to eat too.”

“O-ho-ho-ho-ooh no! You might be able to eat at twice your weight every day, but if you keep eating the crap you’ve been eating you’ll still die in your forties, overactive metabolism or not. And as long as you’re living here I’m not gonna help you into an early grave. And don’t even think about using how incredibly screwed up me saying that to you is to change the subject!” Shego ended with a growl.

Kim just rip-snorted into a chuckling laugh, shaking her head and smiling ear-to-ear.

“Ok mom, I’ll be good. Far be it for me to tell you you can’t double your workload cooking for me if that’s what you want. But you know,” Kim continued, raising an eyebrow as her expression shifted to something entirely less… wholesome, “we really need to figure out something for me to do so I can sleep at night besides pushups.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah; I’ll see what I can do Innuendo-Girl. It’s not like I’m not horny too y’know—you think I like not being able to have someone scratch that itch even after all these years? I’m trying to work through this as fast as I can, all right?” Shego’s voice was all growling frustration.

Kim sighed. “I’m sorry Shego. If I’m making things hard on you maybe I should go home for a few days. Give you time to cool off and let you have some time alone to think about this.” Kim grunted in amusement over how absurd the next thing she was going to say sounded. “I did move in with you awfully fast after all.”

Shego chuckled and smiled wryly in return, a peculiar amused expression on her face. “That you did Kimmie, that you did. But strangely enough, I seem to remember it being me that wouldn’t take no for an answer on that particular point. And I was right. Trust me Princess, having you here has been a whole lot more productive than it would have been if I were here alone, stewing in my own juices…” Shego’s smile twisted into a wicked grin as she added; “And I really didn’t intend to make that pun there either.”

Kim laughed and gave her head an appalled little shake, grinning all the while.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 22, Friday, Late Afternoon

“What, in the hell, do you think you’re doing?”

Kim started at the sudden, unexpected sound of Shego’s sharp growl, the folder of neatly typed pages that had so engrossed her practically flying out of her hands as she jerked upright, uttering a sharp cry of surprise. Her head whipped to her left an instant later, to find a scowling Shego stalking across the room towards her.

“Oh! Shego! I ahhh… didn’t hear you get back… I was just… looking for you…” Kim stammered timidly, a chagrinned blush spreading across her cheeks.

“I’ll bet you didn’t!” It wasn’t until Shego reached down and snatched the folder out of her hands that Kim noticed the woman was wearing her full villain’s regalia, right down to the clawed gloves. “And I sure don’t see how you thought you were going to find me in here either!” Shego shook the folder crossly.

Kim half rose from the couch, while Shego turned and started gathering up the other folders and papers spread out on the coffee table, angrily stuffing them into a heavy accordion folder while muttering; “I knew I should have put this crap away before I left! God damn it!”

“I’m sorry Shego… I came in here looking for you after I got back, and I saw all this stuff lying around… I just couldn’t resist looking at it, and then once I did…” Kim trailed off, looking down at her lap shamefully as Shego turned to glare at her.

“What? The intercoms weren’t working?” Shego snapped, returning to stuffing papers into the accordion folder.

“I didn’t think about them?” Kim offered sheepishly.

“And apparently you didn’t think about how it’s not a good idea to go reading other people’s private papers too.” Shego growled, closing the big folder and straightening up with it, heading for her office. “Maybe I should just go pop the lock on that little diary of yours and give it a read, how’d you like them apples?”

“Oh come on, that’s so not the same!” Kim protested, rising from the couch. “They were just lying there out in the open…”

“So that’s going to be your excuse then?” Shego shot back over her shoulder, not even slowing down.

“Well, no, but…” Kim trailed off with a sigh, taking a few steps towards the office door as Shego disappeared through it. By the time the other woman got back, Kim was waiting for her with remorseful eyes and a penitent look.

“Please, Shego, I’m really, really sorry, ok? I know I should have kept my nose to myself and I apologize. It’ll never happen again, ok? I promise. If you… if you really want to, you can even read my diary to make us even.” The last was not said without some hesitant reluctance.

Shego came to a stop, crossing her arms and looking down into Kim’s liquid green eyes with her own hard, sharp ones. After a few long, silent moments she gave a deep sigh and shook her head.

“All right, fine.” Shego lowered her arms with the resigned statement. “I guess it’s partially my fault for working on that stuff out here instead of in my office, and I did leave it out for you to find instead of putting it away like I should have.” Shego whipped her right hand up, index finger sharply extended. “Partially. Very, very, partially.”

“Ok. Ummm… do you… wanna…?” Kim trailed off, but Shego still knew what she was getting at, and shook her head with the faintest of eye-rolls, turning and heading for her bedroom.

“No. That never ends well, and it sure wouldn’t make us even either.”

“Ok, if you’re sure.” Kim couldn’t resist a final attempt at evening the scales as she trailed along behind Shego, as much as the other woman’s statement secretly relieved her.

“Yeah I’m sure.” Shego’s answer was firm and final.

Kim followed Shego into the bedroom, and she actually managed to stay quiet for as long as it took the pale beauty to unbuckle and strip off her gloves and boots before the question burst from her.

“Shego, is all that stuff I read true?”

“O-ho-ho-oh no,” Shego looked up sharply, “we are so not talking about this!”

“But why wouldn’t you want to talk about it Shego?” Kim was genuinely perplexed. “You’ve bought nearly half a million acres of rainforest through the Save the Rainforest Fund, and single-handedly support all those women’s shelters and that AIDS clinic in—”

“That’s exactly why I don’t want to talk about it!” Shego snapped, glaring at Kim. “You with your eyes all big and doey, sighing as you feel all warm and fuzzy inside because big bad Shego isn’t really as bad as you thought! I am! They’re tax shelters, got it? Great. Big. Tax. Fucking. Shelters. Nothing more, nothing less! Just me protecting my ginormous ill-gotten fortune the best way I can! Great big sucking money pits to balance out my bottom end that just happen to be altruistic, because that’s the easiest way to maintain great big sucking money pits! That’s it! That’s all it is! Got it?”

“Ok, ok, I got it! You’re the Big Bad, just looking out for yourself! I’ll never bring it up again!” Kim hastily lied, raising her hands in a placating gesture even as she bit her tongue to keep from smiling. She might not be a financial genius, but even she knew the sheer volume of things she had read was way out of proportion for any tax-related numbers juggling.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much… Kim was grinning ear-to-ear on the inside. Whether it was from a genuine sense of charity or merely a guilty conscience, it was nice to know for certain that at the very least Shego had a conscience, even if it was a little… warped, by her particular world-view.

“Damn straight.” Shego grumbled, returning to stripping off her costume.

“So ahhh, just how ginormous is your fortune anyway?” Kim asked curiously after enjoying the show all the way to the end, drinking in every rippling curve and valley of Shego’s smooth, taut, tea-green body as she twisted and bent her way down to just her midnight green bra and thong.

“Ginormous enough.” Shego replied while straightening and folding up her suit.

“Rap star ginormous or Bill Gates ginormous?”

Shego set her suit on the bed and then looked up at Kim with a dry expression, one eyebrow raised. “Remember when the Seniors were in the poorhouse because Junior’s a naïve idiot?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, for a while there, before the old man went all E.F. Hutton on Crack and rebuilt everything with the reward money Junior got for turning him in, I was pretty close to pulling ahead of them.”

“What?” Kim actually coughed sharply. “You’re telling me you have nearly a billion dollars?”

“Last time I checked, yeah.”

“But… how? It’s not possible!”

Shego gave Kim a sickly-sweet smile and mocked; “I’m Shego; I can do anything!”

“Shego! Seriously, how can you possibly have that much money?”

Shego gave a soft sigh. “Well, first there’s the little drop in the bucket that was my share of the Go family trust fund I inherited when I turned twenty-one—only a few million, but better than nothing. Then there’s the fact that I’m one of the very, very few freelancers out there with genuine super powers; I don’t even get out of bed for less than a half-mill Pumpkin.” Shego grinned smugly. “On top of that, I’m good enough that with those super powers, I can take on jobs that would normally require upwards of a six-man team all by my little lonesome, with no partners to split the take with. That adds up to a lot of Doe Ray Me real fast Kimmie. Then you add in some really, really high-end finance managers aaaand the fact that I kinda know whose stock is going to fall and whose is going through the roof every now and then, what with me being the one doing the industrial espionage causing it and all. Roll twenty-five mill into something that turns it into a hundred-and-fifty a few times and it all adds up pretty fast, if you know what you’re doing… and I do. Or at least, the people making a smaller fortune handling my bigger one do.”

“But… still… that’s just crazy!” Kim shook her head, still in shock. “And if you have so much money, why do you even bother doing this anymore? Shouldn’t you be sipping lemonade on the sandy white beach of your own private island or something?”

Shego snorted on her way to the closet, turning her head and grinning wryly at Kim. “Oh please, I don’t do what I do just for the money.” Shego paused, raising her right index finger for emphasis. “Don’t get me wrong; the money’s important, it’s just not the only reason I do what I do.” Shego continued on her way, entering the closet as she offhandedly concluded; “Besides, it’s not like you’re one to talk.”

The instant the words left her lips, Shego cringed, shoulders hunching and exotic features twisting into a wince. Oh god, maybe she didn’t hear me! Fuck! Please let her not have heard me… Unfortunately for Shego, her ardent, anxious wish was not granted.

“What was that?” Kim’s voice was sharp and inquisitive; the girl was on the hunt, and Shego felt doom closing in.

“Nothing…” Shego exclaimed with excessive nonchalance, praying Kim would let it drop—but of course, she didn’t.

“No, why did you say that?” Kim was at the door now, looking in with intent, demanding eyes.

Shego sighed and closed her eyes, shaking her head back and forth slowly. Yet again she was in trouble thanks to her big fat mouth yapping something before clearing it with her big fat brain and her big fat common sense. Raising her gaze, she looked at Kim with her best cajoling eyes.

“No reason, no reason at all…”

“No, you meant something by that, I just don’t know quite what. Now spill already!”

Shego sighed again. “Look, it’s not really my place to say, ok? Can you just let it go? Please?”

“So there is something to say.”

“God damnit.” Shego muttered, looking down and shaking her head again.

“C’mon Shego, I thought we said we were going to be honest with each other.”

Shego growled and looked up at Kim again. “It’s not really my secret to tell, ok? I should have never brought it up…” Shego gave an aggravated sigh. “But I can tell by that look in your eyes that you’re not going to let it drop, are you? So I’ll tell you, but only if you promise me on your very bestest good little hero girl’s promise that you won’t say a word about this to anyone—and I mean anyone, understand? This’ll just be between the two of us and no one else, deal?”

Kim weighed her options, but she could tell by the equally stubborn look in Shego’s dark green eyes that the other woman wouldn’t say word one unless she gave in and promised. Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that Shego seemed to know something about her that she didn’t, she’d have probably let it go—but since she did, she couldn’t. After venting a little resigned sigh she finally replied; “Ok Shego, I promise I won’t talk about whatever this is with anyone else. Now spill!”

“Ok, fine, but just… go away for a minute and let me get dressed first!” Shego made a rapid shooing gesture with her right hand, raising her arm in Kim’s direction as she attempted to banish the girl, and after a second, the redhead capitulated and left Shego to her own devices. Two minutes later the harried woman exited the closet in a pair of loose black slacks and a cream shirt, to find Kim waiting for her impatiently.

“Well?” Kim didn’t even give Shego a chance to speak on her own.

“Ok, this is something I found out a few months ago, when I was digging into you activities in order to find out what the hell was up with you, got it?” Shego waited for Kim’s nod before continuing. “Now, you know all that reward money you always ‘it’s no big’ your way out of all the time?”

“Yeaaaah…” Kim suddenly got the feeling she wasn’t going to like where this was going.

“Well first, let me preface this by being very, very clear; I don’t mean the fifty bucks someone puts up for their lost cat or the fifty grand for their missing prototype, or the ‘oh thank you for saving my factory, please let me cut you a check’ cash, I’m talking about money you’re legally owed under the law. Like…” Shego snapped her fingers, “like the bounty the government puts up every time someone like me busts out of prison—assuming you don’t put them back faster than they can post it up anyway—orrrr… saaaay… ah! Here’s a good one; remember that microchip you, Monty, Killigan, and I were all after last year? Well, under maritime salvage rights, that greeting card company owed you ten percent of the chip’s value. That’s the kind of thing I’m talking about, not ‘grateful reward’ kinda cash, got it?”

“Yeah, I get it.” Kim answered with no little impatience, wanting Shego to get on with it.

“Ok, well… ahhh… yoooour… parents kinda collect it for you anyway…” The last part came out in a rapid rush as Shego winced faintly, knowing this wasn’t going to be pretty.

“They what!” Kim’s eyes were as wide as saucers and she practically gaped from shock.

Shego sighed. “They collect it and put it into a bunch of trust funds they established in your name, all right? Hey, don’t look at me; I’m just the messenger!” Shego raised her palms as Kim’s expression rapidly shifted to outrage.

“How dare they!” Kim seethed. “How could they?” Kim paused abruptly, her face scrunching up in confusion. “Actually, how the hell could they? I mean literally; how can they do that?”

“Last time I checked, you’re only sixteen and not an emancipated minor; as far as the law’s concerned, they speak for you in all legal matters, including financial. If you’re owed something, they can collect it, whether you said you didn’t want it or not.” Shego answered matter-of-factly.

“Damnit!” Kim snarled, back to angry. “I am so going to tear them a new one!”

“Ohhhh no!” Shego reached out and grabbed Kim’s wrist even as the fiery redhead was reaching for her Kimmunicator. “I don’t think so Kimmie! You made me a promise, remember?”

“What?” Kim stared at Shego in surprise. “But you can’t—”

“Oh the hell I can’t! I knew exactly how you’d take this, which is why I made you promise not to say anything about it if I told you! You deserved to know, but the last thing I need is a pissed off neurosurgeon and a rocket scientist out for my blood!” Shego let go of Kim’s wrist and gestured vaguely. “Dodging cranium evacuation missiles and whatnot for the rest of my life…”

Despite her mood, Kim couldn’t help a little snort at that. Even so, she wasn’t one to quit that easily.

“They never have to know; I can say Wade found out about it while doing something else for me.” Kim looked at the other woman expectantly.

“No.” Shego’s tone was flat. “You made a promise, I expect you to keep it.”

“But you can’t expect me to just pretend I don’t know what they did Shego!” Kim protested loudly. “This goes against everything I believe in! And they went behind my back to do it!”

“Yeah, because you never go behind their backs or anything.” Shego deadpanned dryly. “Look,” she continued, raising her palms apologetically, “I know I’m the last one that should be defending them, but you’ve gotta look at this from their point of view. You ever really think of what can happen to you because you’re in the hero game? Because I’m sure they do. Every time you go out on one of your missions.”

“You know how much it costs for physiotherapy nowadays? Or the lifetime price tag being a paraplegic or quadriplegic carries? How ‘bout the care costs for someone in a coma? Not like there’s an insurance company crazy enough to carry the risks you bring to a policy, now is there? And even if you ignore all that, there’s still the little matter of how the hell you’re going to clothe, feed, and house yourself once you’re out of school, given there’s no job in the world you can hold down while ducking out every few days at random to fight ninjas and robots, now is there? Face it Kimmie, you should be kissing their asses for letting you go out and do what you do in the first place, not bitching at them because they were looking out for yours.”

“But… I… they…” Kim made a noise like a cat being strangled, then threw her hands up in the air and stormed out of the bedroom, shouting; “Why the fuck do you have to be so god damn reasonable and smart all the time god damnit! It’s not fair! Aaaah!”

Shego snorted softly and smirked, quietly mimicking; “I’m Shego; I can do anything.” Following Kim out of the room, she continued in a louder voice. “Because I’m not emotionally involved in this one? And that I think you’re kind of a sap for not taking the money too? Don’t get me wrong,” Shego hastened to elaborate, once more raising her palms to the redhead as Kim spun around to face her angrily, “I get the whole not taking money from the people you help part, that’s part and parcel of the whole hero gig, but seriously, the government stuff? Sorry, but I happen to think you’re a whole hell of a lot more deserving of that cash than some scumbag bounty hunter, and you’re sure as shit more deserving of it than the system it reverts to if you don’t take it.”

Against her will, Kim felt her lips curling into a smile even as her anger bled away. Shaking her head, she dropped her gaze for a moment and gave in to the grin, softly murmuring; “There you go again, with that ‘unique’ way of putting things.” In a louder voice she looked up and said; “Ok, ok, you win. I’ll keep it to myself, even if I’m not happy about it, ok?”

“That’s good.”

“Speaking of good, or rather bad, what exactly were you up to while I was away on that mission and visiting home? Am I going to be getting a call from Wade telling me I’ve gotta bring you in for something?”

Shego snorted and shook her head. “No Kimmie, you’re not. I’m not gonna go into details, but let’s just say I took something very small and very valuable away from some bad men and gave it to some slightly less bad men, ok?”

“Ok then.” Kim nodded. It wasn’t until they were out in the main hall and heading for the kitchen that she spoke again, driven by irresistible curiosity.

“Ahhh, Shego… just… how much money am I going to be getting when I’m… what? Eighteen? Twenty-one?”

Shego raised one sable eyebrow slightly and smirked from her position walking behind Kim. “Well, assuming the seven fairly reputable investment firms handling the funds don’t screw up or have any embezzlers working in them, as it stands now, you should be coming into about twelve-point-six million when you turn twenty-one.”

Shego snorted softly when Kim missed a step, almost tripping over herself, but managed to refrain from laughing outright—mostly by biting her tongue.

“You’re telling me I have over twelve million dollars?” The shocked exclamation burst from Kim like a shot as she recovered her footing and whirled to face Shego, who came to a stop and calmly responded; “No, I’m telling you you will have over twelve million dollars, assuming you bring in about the same amount of revenue in the next year as you did in the previous two, and the various firms handling your money meet their rather conservative objectives for the next five years. You’ve only got about five million right now.”

“Oh, only.” Kim scoffed, though in a good-natured tone, grinning as she shook her head in disbelief. “And to think I took a job at Bueno Nacho to afford that coat the year before last!”

“Heh. Thinking of charging people now Kimmie?” Shego teased slyly.

“No! But I mean if the money’s already there…”

“Heh heh… well, just keep in mind that you don’t get to see one red cent of it until you’re twenty-one—on top of which your parents would have to be nuts to let a teenager have access to that kind of money, even if she does have her feet on the ground as firmly as you do.” Shego grinned.

“Ahhh… Shego? You’ve given me more money in the last few weeks than I’ve probably seen in the last few years.” Kim shot back in dry protest.

“Yeah, and I’m not your parents either. If I wanna spoil my girlfriend I’m gonna goddamn well spoil her. It’s practically my job…” Shego fired back wryly and without pause. “But if you were my kid? Yeah. No. Fucking. Way.”

Kim raised an eyebrow just a hair, shaking her head faintly as she grinned at the pale beauty, thinking of Bonnie and her spoiled ways as she grudgingly conceded; “I suppose you’ve got a point there. Well, points.”

Shego grinned back, and the pair resumed their trek to the kitchen, walking arm-in-arm as they both slipped an arm around the other’s back, hands resting comfortably on each other’s waist.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 24, Sunday, Mid-Afternoon

Shego got up from the couch and headed into the kitchen after she heard Kim dump something in the dining room with an aggravated sigh. The girl was still muttering to herself as she rummaged through the fridge, and Shego paused along the way, taking note of the dusty backpack that had been dropped onto one of the chairs, along with the equally scruffy looking utility belt draped over the back of it.

“Had some trouble on your little excursion did we?” Shego asked as Kim straightened up from the fridge, her arms laden with Tupperware containing the lunch she’d missed.

“Oh, hey Shego.” Kim headed for the counter after nudging the fridge door closed with her knee. “Yeah, you could say that. We couldn’t get closer than a half a mile to the satellite by air, which wouldn’t have been all that bad, except my grapple gun broke going over the third canyon wall, so we had to spend hours wandering around the maze and climbing over deadfalls and dead ends the hard way. Well, I did anyway; Ron’s grapple gun kept working fine, so aside from a few wardrobe malfunctions, it was a walk in the park for him. Anyway, that’s why I was gone so long.”

Shego nodded and set about doing some busywork while Kim ate, as the girl was plainly ravenous and in no position to talk while she tore into her food. It wasn’t until she’d finished and cleaned up the mess left behind that the redhead spoke again, after going over to her backpack and pulling out her broken grapple gun, staring down at the device distastefully as she once again saw the meters of un-retracted micro-cable wound around the housing, the sharp grapnel dangling uselessly from the center of the mass.

“Of course even more annoying is going to be waiting for Wade to get me another one. I hope he can do it before anything else comes in on my site; I really hate it when I need it and I don’t have it.”

“Wait, hang on…” Shego shook her head. “Tell me you’re not completely dependent on Techboy when one of your toys goes on the fritz.”

“Well duh; he is the one that makes all this stuff for me. You know that.”

“Oh god…” Shego rolled her eyes and shook her head again, “no, no, no no no… that’s it, I can take a lot, but I just can’t take any more of this.” Shego stepped forward and held out her hand. “Gimme that thing.”

“What are you talking about? And why do you want this?” Kim was considerably confused to say the least.

“Just give it to me.” Shego demanded, gesturing impatiently with her outstretched hand.

Against her better judgment, Kim handed over the grapple gun, whereupon Shego promptly turned and headed out of the room, shouting “C’mon already!” when Kim didn’t immediately join her out in the hallway.

“Where are we going?” Kim demanded as soon as she’d caught up to Shego.

“The garage.” Shego responded curtly, clearly though not excessively irritated.

“And why would we be going to the garage?”

“You’ll see…”

Kim considered putting her foot down, but her curiosity outweighed her frustration, so she continued to follow Shego, though in somewhat brooding silence. When they reached the garage, Shego opened the very first door, entering the big workshop beyond as soon as the lights came on.

“So, what, you’re going to try to fix it?” Kim asked after watching Shego unwind the loose grapnel line and put the gun in a vice.

“Gonna take a look…” Shego answered as she began taking the screws out of the housing with a power screwdriver, carefully setting each one off to the side in the order she removed them.

With the housing removed, the device’s sturdy titanium frame and inner workings were revealed, which Shego promptly began poking around in using a slender probe and a lamp mounted on an articulated swing-arm. After less than a minute she nodded to herself and turned to Kim, motioning her closer.

“Ok, you see this here?” Shego indicated a long, not-so-tightly-wound tension spring hanging loosely on its shaft.

“Yeah?”

“Can you see these faint hairline scratches on the frame next to it?” Shego used the end of her probe to indicate where Kim should look.

“Yes.”

“Well the frame is a titanium alloy, so there had to be a hell of a lot of force and one durable piece of material to make those. See here, this little empty cap bracket?” Shego indicated a loose, broad bracket two inches back from the end of the spring and the scratches. “This is where that coil spring is supposed to be locked down under tension. Now lemme guess; you whacked it on something hard? Maybe noticed it vibrate really hard right then, or when you fired it the next time?”

“I don’t remember hitting it on anything, but yeah, it rattled really funny the last time I fired it, before it stopped retracting.”

“Well, this is why. That coil spring is supposed to provide the tension to kick-start these micro-winches for your fast retraction. Without it, they just can’t get up to speed on their own. Now, I don’t have the equipment here to fix this, but if I did, it would be a pretty simple job, even if some of these motors are burned out and need replacing. More importantly, if you knew what you were doing you could fix it in under an hour, tops—maybe even pull some of that ‘I can do anything’ and MacGyver up a way to fix it in the field if you came across a workshop.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So we’re going to rectify that little deficiency in your skill set.” Shego responded dryly.

“What, you’re going to show me how to fix my grapple gun?” Kim’s tone was just as dry—and a bit skeptical as well.

“No, I’m going to show you how to fix things, this little hairdryer included. When I’m done with you, you might not be able to build something from scratch, but you’ll sure as hell be able to fix anything you’ve already got as long as you can get your hands on the tools and parts to do it with.”

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding.”

“Hey, you’re the one that told me you needed more stuff to do around here. Well, this is ‘stuff’. Besides, do you reeeally like knowing I can do something you can’t?” The corner of Shego’s mouth curled up as she goaded Kim dryly.

“If it involves messing around with greasy, grimy tools and parts and getting my hands all bashed and cut up and stuff like that, yeah, don’t mind at all.” Kim dismissed just as dryly—though not quite as convincingly.

“Oh yeah, really. Because you’re way too girly for that…” Shego quipped, grinning slyly as she decided to slip in another knife. “But hey, maybe you are. Maybe you’re like all your other little cheerleader friends. Now which one is it again that would rather ‘ewww’ and bum a ride with a potential ax murderer than try and fix it herself if her car broke down and she couldn’t get a hold of Triple A? Oh yeah, Bonnie…”

“Oh that’s low Shego, that’s really low.” Kim scowled. “Do not compare me with her.”

“Well if the shoe fits Princess…” With a sigh, Shego decided to ease up on the provocation as Kim glared at her, adopting a serious, sincere tone as she shifted gears. “Look, Kimmie, I don’t care if you turn out to suck at it like most girls do, but since when the hell do you not even try something for such a lame reason as that? You don’t like it? Fine. But that doesn’t mean you still shouldn’t learn how to do it.”

Kim felt her ire draining away in the face of that particular argument.

“All right, I guess that’s a point I can’t get around so well.” Kim grudgingly grumbled. “So even though I so can’t believe I’m saying this, I’ll give it a try—but, I’m going to hate every filthy, greasy moment of it, so you’d better damn well keep that in mind Miss ‘likes to use pain as a motivator’, or there’s going to be some sparks flying, and I sure as hell don’t mean from some metal-grinding thingy.”

Shego snorted, unable to stop herself from grinning. “Duly noted. Just as long as you try your best we won’t have a problem—and I’m pretty sure you’re genetically hardwired to do that, so we should be fine. We’ll start tomorrow, after our trip to the Louvre, ok?”

“I guess; if we must….” Kim was less than enthusiastic to put it mildly.

The next day, after supper, and an amazing six hours spent at the Louvre, Kim found herself standing in the main hall dressed in some of her older, worn, “sensible” clothes, suitable for whatever god-awful mess she was sure Shego was going to put her through. After only a minute or so, the aforementioned Shego, who was dressed in a comparative manner, promptly joined her, and without preamble led the unenthusiastic redhead toward the back entrance of the underground complex beneath the house. It wasn’t until they reached the storeroom and Shego started for the door to the lower hangar level that Kim spoke up.

“So, what? You’re going to start me on your jets?”

Shego snorted and smirked. “Not exactly, but you’re close. You can learn a lot of this stuff from books, but at the end of the day, you’ll learn faster and better by doing, so I’m going to start you on something. We just need to go and find that something, because I’m not going to go around my house picking things for you to take apart and put back together again, and I’m sure as hell not letting you touch any of my vehicles until you’re ready. So, we’re going on a little field trip…”

“Ok then.”

Once they were in the air and on their way, Shego slid her chair back from piloting position and turned to face Kim.

“All right, I found some introductory mechanics and electronics textbooks for you online last night; you can find them in the Ms. Fixit folder I transferred to the computer in your suite and the jet’s onboard systems. It should take us about an hour to get where we’re going, so that’ll give you something to do. If you have any questions just ask.”

“Whatever you say, Miss Go.”

Kim’s good-natured grin took most of the bite out of her grumbled quip, so Shego just gave a little smile and shake of her head before turning to her own research; knowing Kim as she did, the older woman wanted to brush up on what she knew just to be sure the redhead couldn’t throw her on any half-remembered facts.

True to her word, Shego brought the hover-jet in for a landing slightly less than an hour later, and as they descended and the location’s sign came into view, Kim couldn’t help the little groan she gave.

“A junkyard? Don’t you think you’re going a little overboard there Shego?”

“It’s not a junkyard, it’s a salvage yard, and no, no I do not. Where else are you going to find a nice wide selection of the ‘broke’ that we can use to teach you how to ‘fix’, hmmm?” Shego stated matter-of-factly as she set the plane down.

“I guess.” Kim’s grudging concession was noticeably dry.

After about twenty minutes or so of watching Shego pick out an old blender, toaster, and lawnmower, Kim finally had something to say when the pale woman started checking out a specific section of old, junky looking cars with a carefully appraising eye.

“Ok, I get the rest, but why are we looking at cars again?”

“Because once I find something worth restoring, it’s going to be the main project for you to learn most of the mechanical and low-end electronics stuff on.” Shego confirmed Kim’s suspicions without looking up from the rusty engine block she was examining. “And, once we’re done, you’ll also have a nice classic car to tool around in too.”

“Seriously? I’m going to build my own car?” Despite her reservations—and vehicular preferences—there was a somewhat noticeable degree of excitement in the redhead’s voice—though certainly not for the project so much as the outcome.

“No, you’re going to restore your own car. With a little help from me…” Shego responded with casual nonchalance before dropping the hood with a squeal of corroded steel followed by a resounding bang.

“And we can do that in just a few months? Since I am going to have to go home once school starts y’know.”

“It won’t be easy, but yeah, assuming nothing unexpected happens, now that we’re mostly done with your little ‘cultural studies’ projects, we should have just enough time to get it done by the end of summer, given I’ve got a fully equipped garage and all.”

“That’s cool.”

“Glad you approve.” Shego smiled a smug little smile on the inside; motivating a surly teenager wasn’t so hard if you knew what you were doing—especially if you’d been one yourself.

It took Shego nearly a half-hour to find the hidden gem she knew would be buried amongst the various rusting junkers and clunkers strewn about, but once she did, and it passed her inspection, she grinned and nodded to herself in a pleased fashion.

“This is the one Kimmie: a 1971 Pontiac GTO hardtop coupe. They called it ‘The Judge’…”

“ ‘The Judge’?”

“Yeah, I thought you’d get a kick outta that.” Shego grinned at the irony.

Kim gave a slightly appalled smile, skeptically gazing at the rusty, beat up vehicle and trying to imagine how it would look if it were in better shape.

“Trust me Kimmie,” Shego commented, as if she could read the girl’s mind, “once we knock the rust off her, pound her back into shape, replace the interior, get some good tires on her, and finish her off with a slick midnight purple paintjob with some black detailing on the sides, you’ll fall in love with her. I guarantee it…”

“What is it with you and purple when it comes to me anyway?”

“What? Purple looks good on you… now come on, I wanna pay this guy and give him the transport details so I can get out of here—a salvage yard’s a nice place to visit if you need parts and old equipment, but I sure as hell don’t want to be here a minute more than I have to be.”

“I hear you on that…” Kim emphatically agreed, falling in alongside Shego.

Shego smiled and casually draped her left arm across Kim’s shoulders, using her right to indicate an imaginary horizon with a little sweeping gesture. “Just think Kimmie, by the end of summer, you’ll not only have a brand new classic car all to yourself, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you’re the reason that sweet ride is on the street instead of here in this junk pile instead.”

Kim laughed and slipped her arm around Shego’s waist, giving the older woman a little squeeze as they headed for the front office of the salvage yard.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 26, Tuesday, Late Evening

Kim set the TV remote down after lowering the volume on the movie she was watching, then gave a little, careful stretch before settling down into Shego’s overstuffed couch once more. Looking down, the redhead gazed affectionately at the source of both the reduction in volume and care in her stretching.

The evening had started with her and Shego sitting next to one another, but somehow, without either of them really noticing the gradual increments it happened in, Kim ended up lying with her shoulders propped up against the armrest, while Shego had shifted around so that she was comfortably wedged in between the back of the couch and Kim’s legs and hips, with her head resting on the teenager’s stomach, one arm gently holding those selfsame hips, and fast asleep—apparently the pale beauty hadn’t been joking when she said legal dramas put her to sleep.

Kim smiled softly as she studied Shego’s relaxed, peaceful features. She was actually somewhat surprised that Shego was able to sleep so easily given what she’d been doing to her for the last few days. If it had been her, she’d have been so wound up and frustrated from being teased like that she’d be bouncing off the walls by now—of course, that was rather the point. Kim’s smile twisted to an amused smirk at that thought.

Still, it was strange, Kim reflected as she gently stroked a long lock of Shego’s thick mane back from that exotically attractive face. Despite being so horny and sexually frustrated she was sure she could chew nails and crap ball bearings, this was nice, just laying here looking down at Shego sleeping peacefully next to her… on her… whatever. It felt good somehow, just watching the other woman sleep while softly stroking her long, silky hair. Like this was all she really needed.

Oh who am I kidding? Kim was smirking again. If she woke up right now and looked up at me with those dark green eyes of hers and told me she was finally ready, I’d have both of our clothes off so fast her head would spin.

But still, this was nice, in an entirely different, soft, calm, gently comforting sort of way. It felt good and… right. It just felt right…

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kim stretched and rolled over onto her side, curling up a little as she skipped to the latest entry in her diary—not that she needed to read it; the events that inspired the four pages occurred just last night after all, but she was still riding high on those memories and wanted to be sure she’d captured them all in every detail…
- 59
- 60
- 61
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Revelations of Destiny