Title: Secret Agent
Author: Lex and Shatterpath
Feedback address: haruka_spork@hotmail.com & shatterpath@shatterstorm.net
Date in Calendar: 4 June 2005
Fandom: Kim Possible
Category: alternate universe to the Disney series Kim Possible
Pairing: Kim Possible/Shego
Rating: NC-17
Advertisement: Part of the FSAC04

Disclaimer: ‘Kim Possible’ belongs to Disney, and we’re just playing adult games with chemistry. No naked mole rats were harmed in the making of this fic.

Spoilers: (from Lex) This story blatantly ignores the continuity or lack thereof within the Kim Possible Christmas Special, ‘A Possible Christmas’ and departs from canon just before the last half of third season.
(from Shatterpath) Actually, it pretty much ignores most of the later seasons, as well as both movies. The only canon thing in here is that KP and Shego fight a lot. LOL!
(from Lex) =P to you, big dog. There are other canon things in here. Like Ron’s clumsy usefulness. And Drakken’s affinity for oddly named things. Not to mention weather machines. Ok, ok, so I had a spiffy idea and took what I wanted from the series! Happy now? I think it’s a feasible idea...

Notes: Lex began this story for Shatterpath, back during the holidays, and was stumped on the ending. Someone once said that if you want a fic, write it yourself, so Shatter took that advice and finished this, as well as acting a beta.

Summary: The puzzle of Shego, solved. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to read this and find out exactly how deep the rabbit hole goes. This message will self destruct in five seconds.

---

Stygian blackness blanketed the forest around her as she slipped through the trees. The entrance was just up ahead, hidden by thick foliage. Twigs threatened to snap underfoot as she threaded her way through the heavy greenery. In the distance, crickets chirped their nocturnal melody, a siren call through the foliage. She smiled to herself to hear them, the constant hum of their mating call as artificial as the massive underground compound below her.

She slipped between two trees and stopped next to a low shrub. Nimble fingers reached under and lifted a branch of the shrubbery out of the way to expose a small camouflaged number panel recessed into a trunk. She punched in a rapid series of numbers and stood back as the tree behind her opened to reveal a dark chamber. She stepped in and entered a different number sequence.

The doors swished silently shut and she breathed a sigh of relief, but did not have much time to relax. The doors opened, showing her into a dark conference room where a semi circle of large desks, all cast in deep shadow, surrounded a single spotlight that shone in the center of the room. She strode confidently into the room and stood in the glare.

“Why did you call for a conference?” That quiet, commanding voice had given her the shakes the first time she heard it, but there were years between that day and this.

“I wish to request reassignment.”

She could hear the shadowed council as two of them shifted in their seats, one leaned back, and another steepled their fingers. One of the council leaned forward, her face coming out of the deep shadow into a lighter patch. The eyepatch became visible, a sure sign that this was Dr. Director, head of Global Justice.

“Unacceptable. You are the only agent in the correct position for the objective in question. You must finish your assigned mission.”

Her jaw tensed. “I understand that. I still want another assignment.”

“Is it too hard for you?” The question forced her pride, shackled to allow her to come here in the first place, to sit up and take notice. It bayed at her inner defenses, demanding that she rectify the affront.

“It is too easy.”

“Then you should see no issue with completing your assignment.” That same smooth voice raised her hackles, all the more because she knew the speaker was right.

“Enough of that. Since you’re here anyway, give us a status report.” Dr. Director waved a hand at her.

“Objective is in sight. All is in readiness for G-day. There will be no further issues.”

“You are still engaging at every opportunity?”

“Yes.”

Dr. Director nodded and threaded her fingers together over her stomach as she leaned back in her chair.

“Very well, then. You will contact us should anything arise that you cannot handle?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent. You are dismissed, Shego.”

Shego nodded her head and turned on her heel, exiting the same way she had entered. It was not until she was back in her pilfered hovercraft that she allowed a frustrated groan to escape her before starting it and heading back to Dr. Drakken’s current lair.

Below the forest, Dr. Director smiled and spoke into the dark room.

“I love it when a plan comes together.”

---

Shego rubbed her eyes then scowled at the ceiling. This was NOT what she had signed up for. She wasn’t supposed to feel this way. It was supposed to be a simple assignment. Pretend to be a villain and fight Kim Possible to be sure she was trained correctly. Then Shego could be an full member of Global Justice.

It had started so long ago, soon after she and her brothers had received their powers. She had been approached by GJ early in her hero career, and been presented with a sweet offer: Train Kim Possible and join Global Justice as a full agent. A chance to be a part of something bigger than just Go City. A chance to really DO something with her life besides be a poor little rich girl.

Shego sighed and sat up. Moping about it wasn’t doing anything. Not like she had been doing for the last two years. She’d been out there, ostensibly helping Dr. Drakken, but in truth, she had been going up against Kim Possible at every opportunity, training her for her future with Global Justice.

A future that did not include being around Shego. She was supposed to be a middle to lower level lackey in the overall Global Justice hierarchy. Kim… Kim would be team leader at worst, Dr. Director’s heir apparent at best.

Shadowed green eyes stared back at her in the bathroom mirror. Who was she fooling? There would never be a way for Kim to see her as a friend. As anything other than an enemy.

The feelings would never be mutual and Shego knew it.

Shego allowed her head to thump against the cool glass of the mirror. The small pain of impact felt good. Calmly, she let a string of curses fill the air around her.

Cleansed, she stood and stared at herself once again.

It didn’t matter. It was almost G-day. Then she wouldn’t have to deal with this any longer, and she could start her own career, her own life...

Telling Kim that she was in love with her would only complicate things. There was really no need to do that, the mission was hard enough as it was. So why did her heart not want to listen?

Shego let her head impact against her mirror again, a litany of curses filling her mind.

---

“What’s the matter Kimmie? Not able to see around that huge scarf Mommy made you?” Shego taunted Kim as they circled each other in the frozen wilds of Canada’s artic north. Shego rushed Kim, her hand descending in a chop directed at Kim’s shoulder, just to the edge of the scarf of which she spoke.

“I’ll have you know,” Kim grunted as she blocked Shego’s chop, “that my Nonny made this scarf!” Kim swept a foot at Shego’s knee.

“How sweet,” Shego sneered as she flipped over Kim’s outstretched leg. “Does she make mittens too?”

Kim let out a frustrated cry and tackled Shego into the snow bank behind them. They struggled in the loose, powdery snow, the tiny crystals sticking to their clothing as they grappled. Behind them, Drakken and Ron circled each other, both distracted away from the small hairless body of Rufus as he scampered closer to the large red button marked: ‘DO NOT PUSH. I MEAN IT.’

Heedless of the printed warning, Rufus slammed his paws against the button. Immediately, the area was blanketed by maelstrom of snow, the air pelting them all with tiny crystals of ice.

“Why did you have to steal a weather machine again?” Ron yelled at Drakken.

“It was left unlocked with the keys in it!” The madman growled and Ron nodded in understanding before being promptly swept from his feet by a sudden strong gust of wind. He toppled into the snow with a desperate cry. Drakken struggled upright against the wall of wind and staggered toward the machine. When he finally reached it, he found Rufus clinging desperately to the driver’s seat, unable to move due to the gale force winds that whipped around them.

He reached over and flipped random switches, pushing every button he could. One of them switched the wind into a freezing rain. Teeth chattering, Drakken continued mashing buttons and desperately flipping switches.

“One of these has got to-HA! Take that, Miss Smarty Pants Shego!” Drakken looked around the suddenly quiet clearing. About fifteen feet away, Ron was still struggling in the snow. A small flesh colored figure dashed across the snow towards Ron. Drakken shuddered and scanned the area. “Shego! Where is a good lackey when you need them?”

With that, Drakken swung into the driver’s seat and flew off, a trail of smoke emitting from the rear of the craft. He disappeared over the horizon just as Ron began to hear the whirring of helicopter blades. He covered his eyes against the harsh northern sun and peered into the sky.

As they grew closer, he let out a whoop of joy as he recognized the Global Justice insignia. His face split into a huge grin as he recognized the agent that disembarked from the helicopter.

“Will! Glad to see ya! Hey, any chance you followed up on that thing we talked about last time?” Ron smiled widely at Agent Will Du.

“No. An army of naked mole rats will not be installed to watch over all the heads of state.” Will walked past him, surveying the terrain. “Nice… try.”

Ron chuckled and punched Will in the shoulder. “Next time, eh, Willie? So you here to pick up me and K.P.?” Ron looked around. “Hey, where is K.P.? KIM!”

“That is what we have come to ascertain.” Will bent over and picked up an object in the snow.

“Hey! That’s her Kimmunicator!”

“And the only way we have of tracking Ms. Possible.” Will turned to the agents he was with. “S&R, pattern Alpha, contingency Beta!”

The elite agents quickly dispersed, covering the snowy terrain in a wide search pattern.

---

Meanwhile, miles away, Shego and Kim struggled from the snowbank that had broken their descent from the heavens. One of the side effects of the weather machine’s operation was an immediate explosive burst of air, forming a miniature jet stream that obeyed no laws but its own. Kim and Shego, unfortunately caught up in this gust, had ended up being buffeted from all sides before the miniature stream lost its teeth and deposited them in the middle of a nice, thick, wet and now very destroyed snowbank.

Kim couldn’t explain what impulse had made her cling so desperately to Shego’s heavy coat, but it was difficult for her to pry her fingers loose so that they could get up. The women eyed each other warily as they pulled themselves from the snow. Kim remained on nervous alert as she shook the clinging snow from her pants.

Shego shifted forward and laughed as Kim immediately sprang into a fighting stance. “Oh come off it, Kimmie. Do you really think it’ll do me any good to beat you here, where I have no transportation?” Shego scoffed. “I might as well shoot myself in the foot, sweetheart.”

“So, what? A truce?”

Shego laughed. “A truce? With you? How about an agreement that I won’t hit first.”

Kim nodded and relaxed from her fighting stance. “Shelter, then?”

Shego looked around and nodded, pointing at the woods that surrounded them. “Pick a direction, Kimmie.”

Kim began walking into the woods, talking to Shego over her shoulder. “You know, I really hate it when you call me that.”

Shego smirked and watched Kim’s trim figure delve into the trees. “I know.”

“My folks call me that when they conveniently ‘forget’ that I’m eighteen now,” Kim grumbled as though she hadn’t heard Shego’s comment. Or was ignoring it.

They didn’t speak much, hiking through the wet, heavy snow for about fifteen minutes before Shego remembered something.

“What about your friend with the deathly aversion to leaving his room? Can’t you call him on that thing you have?” As much as she wanted to stay near Kim, Shego knew that it would only bring trouble for them to remain in the wilderness.

“The Kimmunicator!” Kim yelped as though the idea had only just occurred to her, and she stopped abruptly to dig through her pockets. Shego waited patiently as Kim pawed at herself with increasing desperation. “It’s not here! Did you take it?”

Shego scoffed. “Like I need a toy. I wouldn’t touch that thing.”

“It must have fallen out of my pocket. Damn it!”

“Now, Kimmie, did your parents raise you to use such language?”

“I don’t see my parents here, do you?” Kim snapped. Shego stared at her for a second, wondering to herself ‘I wanted to throw away my career for her?’ before breaking into her customary smirk.

“Just us and our romantic hideaway.”

“ARGH!” Kim threw her hands up in the air and stalked off, refusing to continue the absurd conversation with Shego any longer.

They continued trudging through the snow, the wetness seeping through their winter clothing and freezing their muscles. Shego cursed her choice of clothing, the slim line of her pants not allowing for any insulation worth mention. At least her jacket was keeping her torso reasonably warm. She eyed Kim’s winter wear with envious eyes, the heavy pants looking a great deal more comfortable than the thin crap she was wearing.

By the time they had stopped to find that Kim was missing her doohickey, her legs had already frozen. Continuing to move was the best thing she could do, since it would keep the blood flowing through the sluggish muscles. Their trek continued for another hour before they stumbled into a small clearing.

There stood a small log cabin. Its rough hewn logs and simple, intact roof looked like heaven. Shego made a mental note to figure out where they were so she could find out who owned what was going to be their home for the night.

“What are you waiting for Kimmie? I’m already a popsicle. If you want to go for the full ice cube look,” Shego leaned in towards Kim, her breath puffing against Kim’s cheek as she walked around her and towards the cabin.

“Normally, I’d fight with you, but I’m way too cold. Warmth first.” Kim stalked toward the cabin, following Shego.

“Aww,” Shego mocked and tried the door, finding it locked. She frowned as Kim stepped up next to her, hefting a rock. Shego looked over at Kim and grinned as she saw the rock. The rock was actually a hide-a-key.

They quickly swept into the cabin, replacing the rock but keeping the key. The interior of the cabin held a pervasive chill and bare furnishings. The only place to sit was either an old rocker or the large bed that dominated the small room. A small camp stove and a cupboard over a stand alone sink basin marked the kitchen corner, and one wall held two doors. One of the doors led to a closet packed with linens and spare clothing, and the other door led to a small indoor bathroom. The toilet actually ran on some kind of electrical circuit that Shego could not figure out at first glance. What it meant was that instead of being consigned to a watery grave, whatever was ‘flushed’ was actually incinerated. Another sink basin stood in that room as well.

Shego nodded to herself as Kim set about checking the fireplace. The large stone structure dominated one wall, a simple mantel providing a surface for some candles.

“So, how do you build a fire?”

Shego stared at Kim in disbelief. “Didn’t they teach you that in Girl Scouts?”

“If I had been in Girl Scouts, they probably would have. Since I wasn’t, what conclusion does that make you draw?” Kim snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. She shivered as the chill in the room seeped through her clothing. The woman could push her buttons so easily!

Shego sighed and stepped forward, quickly laying and lighting the fire. She stared as the flames began to lick at the logs.

“I have no idea how I did that. Why didn’t I just use my hands,” she wondered absently.

“Ooh, admitting weakness. Is that wise?”

Shego shook her head, smiling but not answering. They waited as the temperature slowly inched upward in the small room. The steady dripping of melting snow sounded loud in counterpoint to the hissing and crackling of the flames.

“We should get out of these clothes.” Shego shrugged out of her jacket and laid it over the rocker. Kim was staring at her when she looked up. Why had that comment sounded so illicit and suggestive? “What?”

“Trying to get me naked and vulnerable so you can toss me in the snow?” Kim countered automatically as her brain tried to right itself.

Shego smirked. “As much fun as it would be to have you naked, Princess, I was thinking more along the lines of borrowing some of our host’s clothes so we can warm up and not get sick. Don’t know about you, but I hate being sick.”

Kim shuddered. “Change is good.”

They quickly stripped out of their wet clothing. Shego pulled down some of the voluminous, but dry, clothing from the closet and handed some to Kim. She wondered, if she turned around, would she see Kim’s flat stomach?

Shego shivered. It wasn’t like she didn’t see the girl’s flat, muscled belly all the time. For some reason, to see it now, while they were stuck here, would make it seem so… erotic.

Shego shook her head. She didn’t need to be thinking that way. Not right now. A hand on her shoulder made her jump.

“You warming up?” Kim asked quietly, her voice surprisingly kind. Shego stared back dumbly, then looked down at the slender hand that lightly touched her through the thick cotton of her borrowed shirt. “Shego?”

“Um… sure, I’m fine.” Shego pulled away from the gentle touch and moved to the bed. As she sat on the large, soft surface, she cursed mentally and wished fervently for a large hole to open in the floor and swallow her.

“You sure? You’re shivering.”

Shego stared at her shaking hands. Why were her own hands betraying her? She didn’t want Kim knowing how deeply she was being affected. Before she could assert that she was fine, Kim’s svelte frame was pressed against her side.

“Shego? I’m not about to let you freeze. We’ve got unfinished business.” Shego could hear the smile in Kim’s voice as she stared at the floor. She remained still, her eyes fixed on the floor as her body shook lightly.

Kim sighed and Shego could almost hear her rolling her eyes in her head. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but to suddenly have Kim wrapped around her wasn’t even on the mental list. Not the one she could ‘fess up to, anyway. There were some shadowy places in Shego’s mind that had played out the feel of Kim’s body a thousand times.

The gentle feel of Kim’s breasts against her arm effectively fried what few mental circuits were not frozen. Shego turned her head to stare at Kim, their noses dangerously close to colliding. Shego traced her gaze over Kim’s features rapidly, her dazed eyes taking in the young woman before her. Her visual wandering stopped when she met Kim’s gaze directly. Their eyes caught and held for endless beats, a dangerous and intense current arcing between them. A delicate flush began coloring Kim’s cheeks as they continued to stare at each other wordlessly.

“I… I think I need to lay down.” Shego barely recognized the rasp that emerged as her own voice. Surely some sort of strange creature who sounded like rusty cans being scraped with a metal file had snuck into the room and spoken those words. It could not have been her.

“That’s a good idea,” Kim whispered in hushed tones, hot puffs of breath bathing Shego’s chin, almost making her shudder with heightened arousal.

Shego wasn’t entirely sure how she managed to get under the covers with Kim tucked in next to her. The press of their bodies together made her shiver, which made Kim press even closer. Shego could tell exactly where the curve of Kim’s breasts gave way to the toned muscles of that coveted, and very often bare, stomach.

Kim wrapped her arms around Shego’s quivering body awkwardly, hampered by the stiffness that suffused her bedmate. Her warm hands rubbed slowly over Shego’s shirt covered arm. Shego’s breath came shallowly as she tried to regain control of her errant libido. It did not help one iota that Kim’s arm was brushing against her breasts with every pass.

That last brush was longer than the others, wasn’t it? It was hard for Shego to tell with the buzz of arousal in her brain. There! That was a definite caress. Kim’s arm had lingered over her breasts. How long had she been rubbing Shego’s arm?

Shego turned her head to look at Kim though heavily lidded eyes. Kim watched her, tense erotic hope hidden in the depths of her eyes. The energy that always blazed between them was familiar and suddenly altered into something completely new. Shego leaned in slightly, stopping and staring at Kim. She had moved, too. Closer… Her shining green eyes were definitely closer than they had been.

Kim continued to rub her arm over Shego’s breasts under the blanket that covered them. She had to know now that Shego knew what she was doing. She hadn’t stopped the caresses. She didn’t have the strength.

Kim shifted, bringing her mouth within a breath of Shego’s as her arm drifted over the fuller, rounder breasts in comparison to her own. It was an open caress now, as Kim watched the deep color of Shego’s eyes grow darker and darker. There was something in that gaze that made her body tightened and ache in the most pleasant of ways. She wanted to do more, but was afraid of the signals flashing back and forth silently. What if she was wrong?

It was a singular torture to Shego to lie there and try to ignore the feather brush of Kim’s firm muscles over her erect nipples. Why hadn’t the little tease kissed her yet?

Shego dropped her gaze to Kim’s mouth and a small pink tongue darted out to dampen her lips, making Shego moan almost silently. Kim had to have noticed that.

In the next breath, Shego was dually assaulted, her mouth being passionately ravaged and her breast being fully cupped in a teasing hand. She arched into the sudden contact, her hands clutching at the sheets. Her mind gave up making sense of the situation and surrendered to the demands of her body.

Mouths slanted together and their bodies pressed against one another. Hands driven by a furious passion gently lifted clothing and caressed rapidly heating skin. So much was happening around her that Shego had difficulty determining whether or not she was touching Kim or Kim was touching her.

They gripped each other closely, tightly, their kiss remaining unbroken as their hands wandered with newfound freedom. Shego was certain that this had to be the most perfect moment in existence, tangled with the woman she loved. She didn’t care exactly how they were situated. All she cared was that it felt good and it looked like it was going to continue feeling extremely good.

She was proven right when they shifted, bringing them into more full contact. She was dimly aware of biting Kim’s shoulder in reaction as Kim drew her higher. Kim’s panting and moaning in her ear punctuated every movement, a sharp gasp following a circling with her fingers. As excited as her nerves were, Shego chuckled. She knew Kim heard her, because she was suddenly touched in just that way and was overcome, a short cry wrest from her throat. The pleasure sang along her nerves, dimming her consciousness until all that existed was where Kim touched her. Her fingers worked feverishly, some part of her remembering that the bringer of this mind numbing pleasure had yet to be taken care of. As aftershock spasms of pleasure gripped her, Shego clutched at Kim. In turn, the younger woman gripped her tightly and shuddered, a brief, hoarse scream sounding through the cabin. Was this what they had been headed for all along? Kim’s mind was in a fog as she clung tightly to this woman who had triggered such changes in her. She always had…

They fell against each other, limp and exhausted. Shego fought against it, trying to wake up and remember what exactly she needed to tell Kim. Before she could remember, she fell into a peaceful slumber.

----

Hours later, Shego startled awake, immediately alert. Kim jumped next to her, jarred awake by Shego’s movement. They blinked in the dim light of the now cold cabin, the fire having been reduced to mere embers.

The events that immediately preceded their slumber returned full force to the forefront of Shego’s mind. She stared at Kim blankly as she tried to reason out what she needed to say.

Kim was staring at her as well, her guileless green eyes looking huge in the dim light. Shego opened her mouth to speak but snapped her mouth shut as her ears picked up the growing sounds of helicopters. Kim heard them at almost the same instant that Shego did.

“Damn!” Kim leapt from the bed and grabbed up her clothing. She was tugging on her shoes when Shego rose from the bed and gathered her clothing and shoes. She stared at Kim for a long moment.

The growing cacophony outside alerted them to more than just helicopters. From the sound of it, a squad of snowmobiles were also making their way towards the cabin.

“You need to go before they get here!” Kim looked entreatingly at Shego, frowning worriedly. “Unless you want to be arrested.”

“Look, Kim, I really should tell…”

“It can wait, Shego,” Kim snapped, desperation making her short-tempered. Shego hesitated, uncertain whether or not she should just blurt it out or not. “Go!”

The sharp tone of the order made up Shego’s mind and she fled the small cabin as quickly as she could. She watched from a distance to make sure Kim was rescued before acquiring a helicopter and making her escape.

She didn’t look back.

---

When Shego arrived back at Drakken’s latest headquarters, a dismally damp former water park, she parked the stolen motorcycle she had appropriated after ditching the helicopter. She pulled the helmet from her head and shook her hair free. A heavy sadness had settled in her heart, and a welling mass of uneasiness churned in her gut. She wasn’t sure, but she had the feeling something very bad was going to happen.

“Shego!” Drakken’s very unwelcome voice cut into her musing. “It took you long enough. Was there a shoe sale or something?” Shego growled and ignited her hands. Drakken stepped back nervously and sidetracked desperately. “It doesn’t matter, I’ve got a new plan for getting rid of Kim Possible.”

A pang tugged at Shego’s heart at the sound of her name. “What is it now, the Abominable Snowman?”

Drakken frowned. “Very funny. It’s a Hyper-Nucleonic Psycho-Hypno Ray!”

“Uh huh. And what does this hydro neurotic…”

“Hyper-Nucleonic Psycho-Hypno Ray!”

“Whatever. What does this thingy do?”

Drakken grinned widely, the scar on his face shifting disturbingly. “It… it… what it does isn’t important!” His grin shifted into a petulant frown. “It’s in place for deployment at Ms. Possible’s graduation ceremony.”

Shego leaned against a convenient wall and examined her nails, carefully hiding any hint of anxiety that Drakken’s proclamation raised within her. “Uh huh. Did you get the manual?”

“An evil genius doesn’t need a manual!” At Shego’s glare, Drakken continued, spluttering. “It was in a locked drawer and I didn’t have the key!”

Shego rolled her eyes. “Where’d you get it.”

After a routine manual retrieval, Shego left Drakken to his maniacal laughter and sequestered herself in her room. She needed to contact GJ. Whatever this hypno ray did, it would not be pretty.

She direct dialed into the information desk of the local library. After giving the code phrase, she was transferred to GJ’s CentOps.

The insipid elevator music was even more grating than the last time she had called. Was there a law that required all holding music to make the caller want to hang up? It sounded like a bad knockoff of Barry Manilow. Shego winced. A very bad knockoff.

“Reference Desk, this is Sheila, how may I help you?” Shego stiffened. With that answer, Shego knew that someone was listening on the line. What the hell were the code phrases she needed?

“Hey, yeah. There’s some trivia that’s bugging the hell out of me.”

“That’s why we’re here.”

The irony of communicating with GJ with trivia questions was not lost on Shego. “There was this thing I heard about this guy called Big Brother. What’s that from?”

“The novel 1984, written by George Orwell.”

“And what was that stuff that was made out of people? There was that movie about it.”

“Soylent Green, starring Charlton Heston.”

“And what was that thing with the guy that lived by a lake?”

“Which one are you thinking of? There are several.”

“Um… the guy was like a writer or something, and he had three names.”

“Henry David Thoreau?”

“Yeah, that’s it. What was that book he wrote?”

“The most famous work he did was Walden, which is indeed about a man living by a lake. Was there anything else?”

“One last thing. Wasn’t the name of the goddess of lava Pele, like the soccer player?”

“Yes it is. Was that everything?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Shego set the phone down and cursed to herself. Drakken had probably been listening on an extension. He was worse than her brothers and at about the same level of intelligence, too.

She reviewed what she knew. GJ had been alerted that Drakken was trying something at Kim’s graduation with possible mind control. That man really had a hard on for mind control. And weather machines.

Kim might very well hate her. They didn’t have a chance to discuss what had happened. Not like talking about it would solve anything, but it would at least make Shego feel better.

She sighed and flopped onto her bed. Sometimes she wondered why she had agreed to this in the first place.

---

The week went by quickly. Drakken concentrated on his plans, dropping enough hints that Shego had managed to piece together what exactly he was doing. Her initial guess of mind control was right. Using the Hypno Ray, he was going to try and control the entire graduating class, making them into his zombie army. Or so he put it.

From what he had said, and what little the manual said, Shego knew that the Hypno Ray tapped into the brain waves, realigning and manipulating them until the person being controlled was behaving exactly as ordered. It appeared that the only downside was that the receivers had to be very close to the person who was being controlled. Close as in within six inches of their head. Shego wondered how useful it could be on a mass scale. She could see on one or two, maybe even six people. But to get something that close to such a large group?

Shego found out the night before the big event. Drakken was boasting again, claiming that this would be his greatest achievement. Shego rolled her eyes.

“Of course it will. Those antennas only work if they’re right next to your head. How are you managing that, Mr. Genius?”

Drakken grinned, his scar twisting grotesquely. “Ha! They’re already in place and waiting for my signal!”

“Uh huh. That’s great!” Shego smirked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Drakken wouldn’t be able to take much more of this baiting.

“It is too! The antennas are in their little hat things!” Shego raised an eyebrow. Impressive ingenuity. Inherently fallible, but impressive. Earrings would have been a better idea.

“That’s a great idea, Dr. D. Mmhmm. Absolutely stellar.” Shego’s sarcasm was now roof-tar thick, making Drakken pout and stomp away.

After he left, Shego rubbed her forehead. How was she supposed to handle this?

---

Graduation day dawned bright and clear. The cool air of the morning made Shego grateful for the full length trenchcoat she wore. It was a good thing Drakken was on the outside of the open air amphitheater. This way, she could watch Kim openly and not have to deal with his incessant whining and petulant staring. The brightness of the early morning sun also meant that many people, like Shego, wore their sunglasses.

People milled about as they waited for the graduating class to make their way into the amphitheater. The rows of empty seats just in front of the stage showed where they would be sitting, the white folding chairs shining brightly in the glare of the morning sun. Shego wished the ceremony would start so hundreds of teen butts would be covering the intense reflection of the sun.

Sighing, she surreptitiously cast a glance about the amphitheater. The quiet talking of the crowd was a dull roar, punctuated by the requisite braying laughter of someone, hidden in the throng. A whistle rent the air. Shego, relaxed and alert, quickly spotted the man who let loose with the piercing tone. He was waving at a small group who had just arrived. She quirked an eyebrow behind the dark lenses of her sunglasses. He must have had a lot of coats to save that many seats.

A woman strode confidently across the stage and directly to the podium. The boxes of diplomas, organized alphabetically, waited on the table just behind and to the right of her. She leaned into the microphone and cleared her throat.

“Thank you all for coming to the commencement ceremony for Middleton High School’s Class of 2006. The past four years have seen many changes in Middleton. The coming years will see yet more as these gifted men and women begin to make their mark on the world. From their first steps to their first cars, these students have shown their ability to succeed and shall continue to astonish and amaze the world. We have students who have been accepted to the most distinguished of academic institutions. Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, and even MIT, all shall welcome these, the alumni of Middleton High School. Ladies and Gentlemen, the class of 2006.”

The woman stepped back and clapped, the crowd applauding as Elgar’s ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ was piped into the amphitheater. Shego winced. Why was it every time she heard that, she wanted to drive a spike through someone’s head?

Shego rubbed her forehead. She might as well try to pay attention and enjoy what she could of the ceremony.

“From time immemorial, students have partaken of this, one of our most cherished traditions, that of commencement. A beginning that is born of an ending, commencement is a time, truly, for growth and exploration.”

Shego squeezed her eyes shut. A scene from her night with Kim flashed on the backs of her eyelids. She could see her own hand tracing over Kim’s warm skin, the curves filling her hand with a shattering perfection that, in remembering, made a sob threaten to escape from her lips. Time for exploration, indeed…

She stared resolutely at the stage. The time would come soon enough for her to go into action. Her little mental field trip had only taken a moment, just long enough for the next speaker to approach the podium. Shego sighed heavily. The man next to her glanced over at her, frowning. She glared at him from behind her sunglasses. She didn’t care that he couldn’t see her glare. He could see her frown.

The keynote speaker was actually mildly amusing. Apparently Kim had called in a favor to get the comedian to give the speech. Or so the guy said in the speech. Shego scanned the crowd of teenagers. She had no idea where Kim was. She had avoided looking before now, concentrating instead on staying awake and keeping control.

Shego’s frown deepened. They were going to begin handing out the diplomas soon. She glanced over at where Drakken would be emerging once the melee had begun. He better not jump out prematurely like he was so fond of doing.

The first of the teenagers was taking their final walk as high school students. Shego eyed the number of people left in their seat. It would take a few minutes yet, of this mind-numbing announcement of name crap. The applause was fairly steady, punctuated by a yell here and there when someone popular walked across the stage.

Shego perked as she saw Kim’s row stand, then she sulked back down in her seat. It wouldn’t be right for her to cheer her. Not when they were about to ruin the ceremony. She watched carefully, her eyes never leaving Kim.

“Kimberly Ann Possible!” The cheers that erupted from the crowd nearly toppled Shego over with their force. Distinguished looking people were making absolute fools of themselves, jumping up and down, screaming, and generally not conducting themselves with dignity. Shego would have rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from Kim. A delicate flush had suffused the young woman’s cheeks and she waved sheepishly to the hyper throng. Shego was barely able to see it from her seat.

They finally calmed when Kim sat back down. Shego shook her head at the wanton display. She would have joined them, if she wasn’t here to facilitate the destruction of this perfect day for Kim.

The rest of the procession went without a hitch. Ron almost stumbled over his own feet, tangled in stray wires. Shego rolled her eyes at his antics.

The last of the students walked across the stage a while later. Shego shifted slightly in her seat.

“Will the Class of 2006 please rise.” The shuffle of hundreds of feet and scraping of chairs sounded loudly. Shego winced as a particularly heinous squeak sounded. “Ladies and gentlemen, switch your tassels. Congratulations, graduates!”

Cheers erupted and Shego barely hid her smile behind a smirk. The pride that threatened to break free was stifled by the sudden decimation of one of the walls of the amphitheater. Shego leapt to her feet, her hands igniting. Damn Drakken and his timing. She swiped at some people, grazing their clothing. One of them turned towards her and she snarled a vicious grin in their general direction before moving toward another batch of people.

At the edge of the throng, she could see Kim leaping over the crowd to stand on the stage. Behind her, she could see Drakken laughing maniacally and sweeping one arm of the oversized mechanical body he wore over the crowd. He spotted Kim and began shuffling in her direction. Kim spotted him and began leaping toward him.

The machine Drakken rode looked vaguely familiar, but Shego knew he hadn’t used it before. Two large mechanical legs supported a platform that looked about ten feet across. It was ringed by computerized consoles and flimsy looking metal railing. Shego would bet that he had picked it up on clearance from that evil genius supply company.

Shego managed to cut a swath through the crowd with ease, her glowing hands reminding all who crossed her of their need for survival. She smirked as she swiped at a passing student’s robe, leaving them with a gaping hole over their butt.

She backflipped between Kim and Drakken’s machine, immediately sweeping her leg at Kim’s knee. Kim flipped over her, pushed off of the large leg of the machine, and leapt into a clear patch of grass.

A small box clattered onto an overturned chair between Shego and Kim. They stared at it for a brief moment before Drakken’s petulant whine rang out.

“Shego! Grab the Hyper-Nucleonic Psycho-Hypno Ray Controller!” He clung to the platform at the top of the machine, his hand scrabbling for purchase against the smooth rails.

Shego’s ears perked as she heard the distant whirring of helicopter blades, almost drowned out by the screams and general melee surrounding them. She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked at him, pinning him with the smug look.

Drakken whined like a frustrated puppy and swung his machine towards Kim, the large metal contraption nearly clipping the graduate’s shoulder. Shego instinctually leapt as the machine swung clear, taking Kim down in a tangle of arms and legs.

They broke apart immediately and circled each other, their arms spread as they watched each other warily. Shego stepped forward and swiped at Kim’s stomach, her ignited hand coming within inches of striking her opponent. Kim twisted out of the way, her leg rising to kick at Shego’s head.

Behind them, Drakken was attempting to figure out which of the buttons would deploy the grabby thingy that he could use to pick up the controller. Just as he selected a button to push, a crowd of burly, well armed agents surrounded him.

“SHEGO!” His scream tore through the air, distracting Shego long enough for Kim’s foot to connect with her side. Her eyes widened and the breath escaped from her lungs in a whoosh. She stumbled back, into the arms of waiting Global Justice Agents. Dr. Director stood just behind Kim, the controller in her hand.

“Sleep for exactly seven minutes!” Her sharp order had an immediate reaction, the controlled graduates collapsing to the ground in an instantaneous sleep. Drakken’s wailing cry of “No!” was stifled as the Global Justice agents hustled the cuffed scientist into a waiting helicopter.

“Dr. Director? There was no need for GJ to get involved, I had it under control.” Kim smiled pleasantly, hiding the bristling anger that Shego knew must be lurking underneath. Shego squirmed slightly as the agents remained close around her.

“Agent Shego had reason to believe otherwise.” Dr. Director’s face was impassive as she compromised her agent.

“Well, Agent Shego was…” Kim’s head snapped around and she stared in shock at Dr. Director. “Agent Shego?!”

“She has been training you for the last two years. Aside from training, her mission objectives included keeping us apprised of any situations you might not be able to handle, in which case Global Justice would step in.”

Kim turned slowly to Shego, the shock clearly giving way to a festering and rapidly growing anger. “I see,” she drawled out in barely-controlled rage. Shego could see their interactions through the years replaying through Kim’s mind. She winced internally as she saw Kim recall their actions of that night. “So that’s what you wanted to tell me.”

“No! No, it’s not.” Shego could feel the agents around her bristle at the accusation. Their commander compromising someone was one thing. For an agent to blow their cover precipitated grave consequences, not the least of which was a summary execution. Shego took a steadying breath and glanced at Dr. Director. “Could we have a minute?”

“You have forty seconds.” Dr. Director nodded at the agents surrounding Kim and Shego, who allowed the two to walk a short distance away. Around them, rescue and recovery was progressing at a blistering pace, most of those wounded already being loaded into waiting ambulances. Shego ignored the bustle and turned to Kim, her face impassive. Only her eyes betrayed the emotion that roiled within her.

“Kim, look, I didn’t plan this. I was brought in so you could be trained to be the best agent GJ has ever seen.” Shego’s voice softened as she risked everything that mattered in these short moments without a chance to think about it. “Your potential is still untapped. You… I… I’m sorry.”

Kim hugged herself tightly, the reality of the situation crushing down on her. Her mind swirled, trying to absorb all of this new information. Her world tilted as pieces began to fall into their rightful places. “Why didn’t you just tell me then so I could have time to think about this? Why did you just leave?” The soft question forced Shego to look away.

“I wasn’t going to tell you this then. I was going to tell you…”

Dr. Director called out. “Time’s up!” The agents would be swarming over them in mere seconds.

“I love you.” Kim’s head snapped up at Shego’s quiet declaration. The unashamed sincerity in that direct gaze was enough to throw Kim off her shakily rebuilt foundations.

Dr. Director appeared next to them and laid a hand on Kim’s shoulder. “What will it be, Kim? You’ve seen how we operate.”

Kim blinked slowly.

“Yeah. I have.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I need some time.”

Dr. Director watched her. “We need an answer.”

“Give me six hours.”

“You have two.”

Kim glared at Dr. Director and nodded once. She then turned sharply on her heel and stalked away, her eyes scanning the crowd for her best friend. She found him, collapsed on the hillside, and moved toward him. Shego watched her silently, oddly at peace with herself for having laid her soul bare.

Dr. Director turned to the now quiet Shego. “I don’t know what you did in that cabin, and quite frankly, I don’t care. I need you both at HQ by thirteen hundred hours.”

With that, Dr. Director and Global Justice evacuated as quickly as they had arrived, leaving Shego to stand amid the groggily awakening graduates. Sighing, she located the trenchcoat she had worn earlier and left quickly. She didn’t see any sign of Kim on her way out.

---

Shego crouched among the dense foliage outside Kim’s house. It would be easier for her if Kim didn’t have the attic room. She flipped onto the sloping roof and crawled over the shingles until she reached the high point of the roof. She flipped onto the flat roof, landing on the balls of her feet, facing the window of Kim’s room.

Inside, Kim was pacing, her hand waving through the air as she spoke to a bewildered Ron. The boy wonder sat on Kim’s bed, watching his friend as she paced, listening intently. Before she could think about what she was doing, Shego was knocking on Kim’s window.

Kim immediately snapped into a fighting crouch. When she saw it was Shego, her wariness rose visibly. Shego flinched inwardly, merely watching Kim steadily.

The redhead slid open her window, ignoring Ron in the background. “Yes?” She could hear how little Kim trusted her in that one word. Stung, Shego looked at her steadily.

“I’ve been ordered to bring you back to HQ.”

“I thought I was to have two hours to decide. It’s been fifteen minutes.”

Shego smirked, slipping back into the sarcasm that had served her so well over the years. “You’ve still got your hour and forty five minutes, Princess. I’m here to make sure you don’t run off with Boy Wonder to the Bahamas.”

Kim laughed shortly, a strangely bitter sound. “Why, you’d rather I ran off to the Bahamas with you?”

“Yes.” Shego cursed mentally, wishing she had not just blurted that out.

Kim sighed, turning her head away. “Come in.”

As Shego slipped through the window, Ron was babbling. “But isn’t she, didn’t she, she’s Shego! What alternate universe am I in, Kim!”

“She’s with GJ, Ron.” Kim’s quiet tone cut through Shego, reminding her why she was here. She cleared her throat.

“If you decide that Global Justice is too much for you, I’ll be heading back to Go City.” Shego flinched visibly at the thought of returning to her brothers. She loved them, true, but they were so… annoying.

Kim stared at Shego. “I decide your career?”

Shego looked her in the eyes directly, keeping her emotion inside. “Yes.”

Kim expelled a breath, the color rising in her cheeks. “That’s insane!” She began pacing again. “What sort of bull is that? You should be able to work there if you want to!”

“If you decide that you don’t want to join, I’ve failed my mission.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Ron suddenly barged in on the conversation. “It’s weird enough finding out that Shego’s been a pod person from Planet X this whole time, but come on! Mission? What mission?” Shego ducked as Ron’s expressive movements threatened to clip her on the side of the head.

“First off, buck-o, I’m not a pod person. I’m an agent from Global Justice. I joined three years ago. I went through the quickie training, then went undercover as evil villain Shego so I could train Kimmie here for a career in global crime fighting.” Shego stared as Ron flopped into Kim’s bed, shaking his head.

“You know, I’m still liking the pod person idea.”

“She’s not a pod person!” Kim snapped. She rubbed her forehead. “Confusing, misleading and frustrating maybe, but not a pod person.” Kim raised her gaze to look at Shego, worried confusion her foremost expression.

Shego inhaled deeply. “My mission objective was to engage with you at every opportunity in an effort to hone your ‘already formidable combat skills’. Anything else was...unplanned.”

Kim turned her head, staring at the floor. “Unplanned? Is that a nice way of saying unwanted?”

“There are a lot of ways I can describe what happened. Unwanted isn’t even remotely one of them.”

The two stared at each other, the silence lengthening between them. Tension thickened Shego’s tongue, a sharp and bitter copper tang. She refused to look away.

“Rufus, I get the feeling we don’t know what they’re talking about anymore.” Rufus chittered in agreement with Ron’s quiet statement. The two women looked at him, Shego’s sudden anger darkening her eyes until they were almost black. Raw untamed power born of fury arced invisibly around her body, palpable even to boy and rat. Ron raised his hands in front of him, to prevent Shego from releasing that energy toward him. “Me and the little guy are gonna go check on that sweet ray thing Jim and Tim were building last week. Kim… we can talk later.”

With a wave of his hand, Ron fled the room. Shego stared at the wall, her sudden anger draining rapidly, hoping that Kim would decide that she didn’t want to talk right now.

“Why did you say that you love me?”

Shego closed her eyes, suddenly very tired. Apparently Kim did wish to talk.

Damn.

“I said it because it’s true.” She stared at Kim’s dresser, the defeat in her voice sounding foreign to her own ears. The clock changed from eleven twenty-two to eleven twenty-three. “For the last three years, I’ve had to put my mission before everything else in my life. What I wanted had to be second to what was good for the mission. That wasn’t a problem… until I starting really interacting with you. Then I suddenly started wanting to say things that I shouldn’t. Do things that would compromise my mission. I couldn’t do that. Finally, I asked GJ to reassign me. They refused and I understand why, but…”

Shego fell silent for a long moment. She could feel Kim’s stare, resting heavily on her. She wasn’t sure if she could make Kim understand, but she needed to try.

“I tried to keep it a secret. I felt I was doing fine… until we were together in that cabin.” From eleven twenty-three to eleven twenty-four. “I don’t know why you did that. I… will always… I’ll never forget it.”

“You weren’t supposed to love me.” Kim’s somber voice made Shego wince.

“No, I wasn’t, but I couldn’t help it.”

“You were supposed to be… you weren’t supposed to love me…” The last word was muffled by a sob. Shego looked over at Kim, startled by the cracking in her voice. “You weren’t supposed to love me.”

“Kim?” Shego moved closer, fear settling into her stomach at the sight of the tears that coursed down the young woman’s face. “Kim, it’s ok.” Slowly, hesitantly, Shego took Kim into her arms, holding the crying young woman close.

“Shego…” The broken sob against her shoulder told her what she needed to know. Shego closed her eyes, knowing what she needed to do.

---

Shego strode confidently through the front doors of Gunther Jorgenson, a subsidiary of Grenwahl & Jones. Gunther Jorgenson was a staple of the community, providing discrete services and eking out a living from the affluent suburb.

Shego cursorily raked her eyes over the few milling about in the lobby. Without a word, she swept past them and onto a deserted elevator. She stared at the buttons for a long moment before pressing her thumb firmly against the one for the top floor. She kept her thumb there for a long moment before pulling her hand back, face impassive.

The steel doors slid silently shut and she waited calmly to be borne to her destination. The elevator was eerily quiet for a moment before a stentorian voice spoke in a bored tone. Shego almost smirked to herself. Her pattern had been uploaded to the official agent roster, allowing her conventional entrance to this branch of Global Justice headquarters.

“Agent Shego, you have sought audience with the Director. What purpose serve you.”

“My own.”

A long moment of silence as the unseen speaker likely called his superior to find out what to do with a rogue Agent. Shego’s mirthless smirk quirked her mouth briefly before fading.

“The Director has agreed to meet with you, Agent Shego.”

The steel doors slid open quietly and Shego stepped from the confining box into the expansiveness of one of GJ’s control rooms. Standing at a console a short distance away, Dr. Director spoke quietly to a young Agent-in-training. With a gentle smile, Dr. Director turned and acknowledged Shego with a slight nod.

“Walk with me.” The Director began walking toward a door along the distant wall. Shego shrugged mentally and followed.

The Director seemed content to walk in silence. Shego chafed, her fingers twitching as her arm swung at her side.

“I’m resigning.” Shego was certain that she had imagined the slight falter in Dr. Director’s confident stride at her words. “I refuse to coerce Kim Possible any further. Particularly after lying to her for so long.”

“Noble, if misguided.” Dr. Director stopped abruptly, turning her head so her uncovered eye took in Shego. “You are on administrative leave. Effective immediately. Return in six months. You will be reassigned then.”

Shego stared at Dr. Director’s profile. Surely she must be joking. Before Shego could do more than open her mouth to speak, the shorter woman cut her off.

“Get out of here. I don’t want to see you until at least November.” The Director’s cold tone broke Shego free of her dumbfounded trance. Unwilling to accept this as more than a bad dream, she stared at Dr. Director’s back as she disappeared through the darkened doorway.

Sluggishly, her body received the signals that her brain was sending, dragging her back the way she had come. Quietly, unobtrusively, she drifted through GJ headquarters, uncaring and unaware of her surroundings until she stood in the wan afternoon sunlight once more.

She shook her head, hoping to clear some of the dust that had settled in her brain. She stared at the green grass, knowing to her bones that even though she had failed, she was somehow, still an agent of Global Justice.

---

The fire crackled merrily in the flagstone fireplace, the sharp tang of the consumed wood a welcome scent. The thick furs that lined the floor were warm under her feet and a can of stew warmed over the camp stove. A small bag of marshmallows lay near her duffel bag for later.

All in all, this second trip to the cabin in the forest was going much more smoothly than the first. Then again, this time she was here as a guest rather than a squatter. The owner had been surprised to find that his cabin had been used, but had laughed when he heard Shego’s take on how she had arrived there. She had omitted any mention of any world-saving redheads. Using her salary as a GJ agent, she paid for two weeks and convinced him to help her get appropriate supplies. That was how she had managed to procure the extra furs that lined the floor, not to mention the stockpile of canned goods and dried meat. So far, his advice and assistance had proven to be sound.

After arriving back at the cabin, she had entered cautiously. She was relieved and yet depressed that the smell of Kim had completely dissipated. She had even brought fresh sheets so she wouldn’t have to sleep in the sheets they had…

Shego shook her head and poked at the stew. It looked about done. She removed it and began eating slowly, her mind continuing to wander, recalling the subtle shift of muscles under the skin of Kim’s body as she came in Shego’s arms. The stew continued to disappear, untasted, as Kim’s gentle gasps reverberated in Shego’s ears. She could feel Kim’s nails digging into her shoulders again. She could feel the solid weight of Kim’s slim frame pressed against her own.

Shego stared unblinking into the fire. Somehow, even though she had somehow royally fucked up, she was still a Global Justice agent. Perhaps she could serve the greater good and save the world.

So why did she still feel the restlessness that drove her out of Go City to begin with?

The memory of Kim’s tears still made Shego ache. In all her life, she had never known true pain until she held a crying Kim in her arms.

She stared sightlessly at the fire, the now forgotten stew held loosely in her hands. She knew to her core that her love for Kim was something that she would have to live with. Something that probably would not fade with time, but might become at least a tolerable, if constant, pain.

Would her life be defined by brief moments of fleeting, insincere smiles? Would she exist from moment to moment, living only for the times when she was in Kim’s presence?

Shego sighed heavily. This trip was less to hide and more to allow her to come to terms with Kim’s rejection.

Kim’s rejection. The words tasted like ash on her tongue, making her bile rise. She allowed the feeling for a moment before brutally quashing it. Feeling like this did her no good. As an agent of Global Justice, it was still going to be in her job description to know as much about Kim Possible as was feasible.

A thud outside brought her to the immediate moment. She rose swiftly and strode to the door, throwing it open to find a naked mole rat, shivering in his little winter cap and scarf, clinging to the sole of an upsidedown shoe. The owner of the shoe was ass up in a snowbank, his legs flailing. His flailing flung Rufus directly at Shego’s chest. She plucked the rodent from the air and stared at the struggling boy for a long moment, ignoring the chattering from Rufus. Sighing heavily, she reached over and pulled the boy wonder free of the snowbank. Her yank on his belt plopped him on his butt in the snow. He blinking owlishly and stared up at Shego for a moment.

“Shego!” Ron smiled widely and scrambled to his feet. “Ok, so Kim’s had this whole down-in-the-dumps thing going on since you left and I asked her about it, but she didn’t really want to talk about it,” Ron rambled, scratching his head and frowning slightly, “I don’t know why, it’s not like I didn’t already think she was gay, but the crush on you came totally out of nowhere. Like, the crush on Angelina Jolie, yeah, I can see, but you?” He scratched his head again. “Well, there is that whole intense staring and grappling thing you two do every time you hook up. I guess I can see how she would end up with massive crushage on you.”

Shego blinked slowly, the avalanche of words from Ron burying her as she tried to sift through them. The only thing that penetrated her mind was his statement of Kim having a crush on her and Angelina Jolie.

“And she’s not talking to me about it so me and the little guy here decided to find out what’s going on with you two.” Ron stopped and looked directly at her, his expression flowing from curiosity to happiness to ‘why the hell am I here’. The perverse amusement of it appealed to her on some level.

There was a strange taste in Shego’s mouth, a tangible smell triggered by a fleeting memory. Trying to identify it, she reached out absently to brush the snow from Ron’s heavy winter clothes. She stopped as what she was doing finally began to pierce her shocked brain and let her see that he allowed her the strange intimacy. Startled, she looked up, only to be shocked all over again at his warm smile. “Y’know, I didn’t really believe all the ‘Secret Agent’ stuff until I realized something. All the times you could have hurt me,” Ron began quietly, Shego hanging on his every word. “You never did. When the whole ‘Agent’ thing came out, sure, I was like, ‘whoa’, but then I got to thinking. Hey, it feels warm in there, and me and the little guy are fierce cold.”

Wordlessly, Shego stepped aside and let happy boy step into her sanctuary. If nothing else, his infernal good cheer lit up the rough, isolated space. That, and he never shut up.

“So, she’s so busy that I knew it was up to me to find you. I got Will Du’s fingers caught in a Chinese finger puzzle.” Boy and naked mole rat both chuckled evilly at the memory and Shego felt parts of her heart and soul shift towards a slow thaw. “And got the coordinates of this place from him. We even got a ride out of it.” Ron settled in front of the fire and set Rufus down to thaw on the thick furs. Relaxing into the heat, he waved his hands at Shego and continued. “Not that she talked much about this place, or whatever happened, but she’d get this weird look on her face when it came up and get all quiet.” His ‘eeew’ face actually cracked a smile as Shego carefully closed the door and sat beside him. The strangeness of the encounter was oddly comforting. Ron Stoppable had always come with his own set of rules. “So, I figured that maybe it’s more than a crush, and I came to find you.”

Silence descended, leaving Shego blinking at the suddenness of it and the truths that hung in the air.

She never really hurt Ron. Maybe it was more than a crush…

“Waitaminute,” she abruptly blurted out. “You caught the unflappable Du in a Chinese finger puzzle?”

Ron grinned smugly and Rufus cackled at the memory. “Boo ya!”

Together they laughed, the beginnings of a very unexpected friendship.

---

Grumbling irritably, Kim Possible rifled through all the various crap she had accumulated over her years as hero and teenager. Wade was beside himself at how old some of the stuff was that he had created for her, and had been adamant that the entire collection be returned for upgrading and replacing. There was far more of the stuff than she would have believed at the start of this particular cleaning project.

“This is what you get for volunteering,” she muttered to herself, waist deep in the depths of her overstuffed closet.

“You know what they say about volunteering,” came a wholly unexpected voice. Scrabbling like a first-grader at her first sports lesson, Kim tried to get her feet under her and get uncorked from the closet. Nearly falling over, she extracted herself from the closet to see that the voice hadn’t been a hallucination. Perched nimbly in her open window, looking like she was debating fleeing, was Shego. Ron was peering over the sill near her heavy boots, grinning like a fool.

“Well,” he sighed in an insufferably smug tone. Kim would have to throw something at him later. “You kids have fun then. I’m off to wreak havoc upon the digital minions of Arcadedom with Rufus. They’re supposed to have the new OverNinja in this week!"

Kim stared dumbly, further floored, as Shego reached down to affectionately ruffle his hair and smiled softly. “Thanks, Ron.” The sweet benediction of her voice was too much, and Kim collapsed onto the floor, her butt protesting the sudden abuse.

“Anytime pal. See ya, Kim.”

Pal? From her ungraceful position on the floor, with gear digging into her backside, Kim contemplated a universe with Shego as her ally. Oh sure, she’d toyed with the idea since the fateful night at the cabin, and further after the graduation fiasco, but now the dark woman had made pals with Ron. Stock-still in the open window, the frigid wind tossing her inky hair, she was a vision, enough to soothe and enflame Kim’s heart anew.

“Come in,” was all Kim’s brain could manage. As graceful and wary as a wild cat, Shego crept into the room and pulled the window closed behind her. Watching the symphony of that sinuous, curvy body woke a deep hunger in Kim, reminding her of why she had chosen to take recent actions she had. “Ron found you.” She almost kicked herself for stating the obvious.

The shock of Shego’s warm smile washed pleasurably over Kim again. “He’s actually pretty great.” Abruptly, Shego crouched down in front of her, clearly uncomfortable. Kim shifted herself into a less painful position. At least that old transdermal microrobotic thing wasn’t jabbing her in the butt anymore. “I’m… I’m really sorry I left. I didn’t… I don’t exactly know what to do.”

Seeing Shego vulnerable like this gave Kim heart. “Did you mean all those things you said to me?”

A long moment passed, only the wind outside making any sound. “Yes,” Shego whispered thickly. “All this time as your enemy...I know hell. Falling deeper and deeper...madly in love with you… never able to say… do… anything.”

Relieved at the emotional admission, Kim rose and went to her unexpected lover. “Look at me.” Flinching, Shego couldn’t raise her eyes from the floor. So Kim shifted, and they touched, knee to knee, equals again. Cupping one of Shego’s cold cheeks, Kim brought the brimming green eyes up to meet her own. “I told Global Justice to fuck off.” Shego’s eyes widened in shock of the expletive. “I don’t like how they treat their people. You should have seen the look on Dr. Director’s face.” Kim grinned. “She doesn’t give up easily, you know.” Shego winced, but remained quiet. “So, we struck a deal. I’ll act as a free Agent to GJ, at my own discretion. It means access to their strengths, and all I have to do is keep them in the know with what I learn and roughly in the loop of what I’m doing. No big.”

Despite the surge of pain at her failure to recruit and what would happen because of it, Shego was happy for her love. Kim stood abruptly, offering both hands, open and friendly. Shego took the offer, letting Kim’s strength pull her to her feet.

“There was one more thing,” Kim continued, looking at Shego intently, holding her hands tightly. “Well, one thing that directly affects you. You’re a free Agent, Shego. Other than a few formalities, you’re your own Agent.”

A free Agent?

Hope began to warm Shego, filling her and making the corners of her mouth tilt up. In that moment, all the dangerous hassle with Global Justice was worth it to Kim.

“Ron’s got a scholarship to Go University. He’s going to see if he can help your brothers out. So… I need a partner,” Kim whispered around the sudden lump in her throat. Shego looked down at their entwined hands, knowing what Kim was going to say. “Can’t think of anyone I’d rather have by my side… if you want to.”

It was enough, sure, and yet it was miles, worlds away from what she wanted. “Think…” Shego’s voice cracked and she squeezed Kim’s fingers convulsively. “Think maybe we could be more?”

“Yes,” Kim breathed in relief, amazed by her partner’s strength in admitting what she didn’t have the courage to. “Oh yes.”

The feel of the other’s kiss was as heady as they remembered. This was even better, as the future was bright and strong. There were still a million questions and details and obstacles ahead of them, but they could surmount anything together. Kim released Shego’s hands, burying one in the thick, raven tresses, tugging the body she had missed desperately tight against her own. Only the taste of saline pulled her away from the sweet sin of Shego’s mouth, to see that the older woman’s cheeks were as wet as her own.

“Well, looks like mom won the bet. Dad’s going to have to deal,” she chuckled unsteadily, feeling warm and happy and horny as hell.

Shock flitted over Shego’s face. “You told your folks about us?”

“So not the drama. Once I realized how I felt and saw that all the tension we had was sexual… the night at the cabin helped with that,” Shego stared in fascination at the pink flush on Kim’s cheeks. “I knew I had to be with you somehow. They were more startled that it was you, of all people, than the whole ‘girl’ thing. To be honest, I think my dad’s almost relieved, since he knows you. My brothers are completely squicked by the whole thing, of course. Although… I think they might have tried to install some cameras.”

“Of course,” Shego chuckled, leaning in for another taste, drinking in Kim’s soft moan. “Mine’ll be the same way. They’ll also be delighted and pissed at me for the undercover work. I think I actually convinced them I’d gone rotten the last time we were all in Go City.”

“They’ll deal,” Kim growled and tugged Shego towards the bed. “Now, I have no desire to talk about our brothers. I do have a desire for you.” They tumbled gracelessly into the bed, Shego ending up on top to pin her lover down and kiss her senseless.

“I’ve missed you,” she breathed behind Kim’s teeth, grabbing the trailing edges of the blue baby-doll t-shirt. Getting her legs under her, Shego sat up and yanked the shirt off, leaning over to bury her face into Kim’s warm chest. It earned a sharp squeal of surprise.

“Your cheeks are still cold!”

Laughing, they wrestled on the bed, as competitive as always. It was a sign of willing surrender that Shego gave into Kim’s strength, allowing herself to be completely restrained. Kim rewarded the sign of trust with kisses, unzipping the heavy coat and stroking the firm body within. Their bodies remembered the dance, and there were soon no barriers between them. There were more tears as they touched and caressed, reveling in the heat between them.

A deep peace settled over Shego, all the tortures of her recent past washing away in the joy of Kim’s wet heat, the press of sweaty skin against her cheek and chest. Kim wept and cried out, writhing on the bed as Shego poured everything she had into wringing a shattering climax from her. Then she willingly laid herself bare and vulnerable to Kim’s mouth and hands and heat. It was near-dark when they at last lay quiet beneath Kim’s covers and watched the snow fall in the gathering dusk.

Shego was in heaven, coiled up nakedly with the love of her life, her future reasonably assured, insulated in this wonderful place away from the deep cold of winter. Kim’s heart beat steadily beneath her ear, the younger woman’s hands lazily caressing her scalp and shoulders. “Did you really tell Betty Director to fuck off?”

Kim’s chuckle rumbled through her body. “Yep. I was seriously pissed off. Part of it was I don’t like strong arm tactics and GJ gave away their hand by letting me know how important I was to them. So, I strong armed them back. We’ll make a great team, and they know it. I just insisted that we call our own shots. No big.”

Oh, but it was. Kim would never know what she had truly given Shego with this promise of freedom. It was almost as heady and healing as the young woman’s love. “Cool,” was all she could manage, feeling fresh tears, when she thought she had wept her last. These… these were happy tears and they felt so good.

“Good thing my family’s not here,” Kim purred softly at Shego once they had both calmed and dozed. Chuckles welled up into feminine squeals of laughter, dissolving into squirming giggles that had the bed torn up possibly even worse than the sex. Curious about some reactions she’d noted earlier, Shego went for Kim’s ribs and the squealing took on a whole new fevered pitch.

It was bliss.