Story: Green, Black and Blue (all chapters)

Title: Green, Black and Blue
Author: Allaine
Email: eac2nd@yahoo.com
Rating: T
Spoilers: Takes place after "An Unacceptable Sitch". Ignores the events of "Go Team Go".
Feedback: I hope everyone who was so helpful during the writing of "Unacceptable Sitch" will continue to give me their opinions.
Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.
Summary: As Kim and Shego gingerly try to strengthen the bond of friendship while finding new paths of their own, their pasts follow them everywhere.

_____________________________________

Chapter 1

Shego groaned as she bent over and retrieved her key from the pouch on her leg. After a month of physical training that had been infernally intense, a month in the tropics had seemingly caused her body to feel soft and mushy.

"I _am_ soft and mushy," she muttered. "Making nice with Possible like that . . ."

She frowned. At that moment, she didn't really feel annoyed or disappointed because she'd accepted the hand of friendship offered her. Shego instead regretted afterwards, when they'd been walking in silence back to Kim's apartment. She'd suddenly felt cornered, even a little frightened, and she'd begged off. Shego never even heard Kim's response to her request for a rain check, she'd dashed off so quickly, but she'd seen the disappointed look in Kim's eye.

Shego grumbled. She'd acted like a rabbit darting off the moment it heard human footsteps. Why did she behave like that?

That question, she felt, was as hard to answer as "Why had she gone with Kim in the first place?"

For now, she was stuck with her small, sparsely furnished apartment.

Shego unlocked the door, turned the knob, and opened it. Her apartment was pitch black inside.

Then the lights went on.

"SURPRISE!!!"

She put a hand protectively in front of her face, and then it dropped down, as she gaped in amazement.

Shockingly, Monkey Fist, Duff Killagan, Professor Dementor, DNAmy, and - Junior? The five villains were gathered in her apartment. Some of them looked a little older and a little grayer (Fist especially, thanks to the excessive amount of body hair) since the last time she'd seen most of them, but they weren't exactly easy to forget.

Most incredibly, a banner with the words "WELL DONE!" hung across one wall.

Recovering her wits, Shego crossed her arms and leaned one shoulder against the doorjamb. "Well, well," she purred. "It's like a mug book come to life."

"Ach, I hope you're not serious, lassie," Duff said, rubbing his chin. "I dinna think me mug shots do justice."

"Been a long time, Shego," Monkey Fist told her as he stepped forward.

"Monty," she replied. "What's with the gathering? Bridge club invitation?"

"Everybody knows what you did to the Acceptable Family, Shego," Monkey Fist said. "With a single stroke, you revitalized the entire world criminal community!"

"I was holed up - no pun intended, lass - on me island for years," Duff complained. "My fairways were becoming fouler by the day!"

"I had to take refuge in the jungles of Africa," Monkey Fist said. "It was easier than jail, or what they did to Junior here, or playing their protection racket."

"Protection?" she asked.

"Extortion racket!" Dementor cried, squeezing his fist and shaking it in the air. "Do you realize how much money they charged me _not_ to hand me over to the authorities? I probably could have rebuilt my lair _twice_ with that kind of money!"

"I had to sell some of my prized Cuddle Buddies," DNAmy moaned. "And they don't fetch the same prices they did a few years ago!"

Shego raised an eyebrow. "You're looking better, Junior."

He stood up and shrugged. "You know, private islands. You're looking well yourself."

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?" she asked sarcastically.

Junior smiled. "I would have told you so sooner, but you are so good at disappearing."

"Yes, where have you been?" Monkey Fist asked. "We would have done this sooner, but - "

"Well, first I was in Hawaii," Shego said casually. "But I left after a few days . . ."

___________________

Shego leaned back and sighed contentedly. She'd always stuck to the Caribbean and Mediterranean in the past, but this was a new era for her, and she'd decided to hit the Pacific for the first time. She'd found the quietest little beach on a Hawaiian island. The only other tourist there was a fat man who evidently forgot his sunscreen.

She smiled as she put her sunglasses back on.

Then she heard a noise. It sounded like a dune buggy.

"Ugh!" she growled, propping herself up on her elbows. If teenagers were going to go flying by every half hour in their stupid beach vehicles, she was going somewhere else.

Shego lowered her sunglasses as the buggy came into view. It appeared to be driven by a nine year-old.

Being dragged behind it as it clung for dear life was what appeared to be a large shark with arms and legs. A small blue dog was on the shark-thing's head, pulling back on its ears and cackling viciously.

Okay, so it was a shark with arms, legs, and ears.

She turned her head slowly and watched it roar off in the other direction without slowing down. "Curse you, abominaaaaation!!!!" the shark man shouted as the odd parade vanished in the distance.

Shego blinked once, and then again.

Then she reached over and got her cell phone. "All I ask for is a _little_ peace and quiet. I should've gone to Barbados," she muttered as she dialed her travel agent.

__________________________

When she finished speaking, everyone turned their heads and looked at DNAmy.

"It wasn't one of mine!" she said instantly. "It certainly didn't sound like any Cuddle Buddy I ever owned, and believe me, I owned them all." She tapped her chin. "Maybe I should unpack my bathing suit and fly out there."

DNAmy had never exactly been on the svelte side, and she'd gained at least twenty pounds since the last time Shego had seen her. The thought of her in a two-piece made Shego shiver.

"So you came to throw me a party?" Shego asked, banishing all thoughts of a bikini-clad DNAmy from her mind. "Because I hope you brought alcohol. My cabinet's dry."

"Actually," Monkey Fist said carefully, "we came to make you an offer, Shego."

She wasn't surprised. "What kind of offer?" she asked, folding her arms.

"Since you appear to be without a contract, we thought you would be interested in coming to work for one of us," Fist replied. "After all, if you choose the right one, you could be helping a certain monkey master rule the world one day."

"You're daft, lad!" Killagan shouted. "That's my private eighteen holes you're talkin' aboot."

"You would be most handsomely compensated," Dementor promised. "Certainly anyone would be lucky to have one of your reputation at their side."

"I'm not a sidekick any more," Shego told them. "I'm through taking orders from people. More importantly," she continued, "I'm not sharing living quarters with a pack of monkeys." She turned to look at Killagan. "And I hate golf. And I've worked for enough mad scientists, so that rules both of you out," she added, pointing at Dementor and DNAmy.

"What about me?" Señor Senior Junior asked calmly.

"Well, I do know my way around the island," she acknowledged.

He looked away. "Actually, eh, I am basing my lair in other quarters. It seems my father is no longer interested in world domination. Now he has this insane idea that he can make little naked rodents into popular pets," he muttered.

Shego chuckled. "The old man did carry that mole rat around a lot near the end."

"But Shego, you never had to ask for an equal footing," Junior told her. "You gave me my first lessons in real villainy. I could never be your employer. Only your equal," he said.

She smiled at him. "You know, if things were different, I could really get used to that," she replied.

Junior frowned at her. "Is that a no?"

What surprised Shego was not that she had declined their offers. What surprised her was how little they had appealed to her.

Which suggested that Kim Possible's trust meant more to her than she'd previously admitted. The thought staggered her.

"There is something else we want, Shego," Professor Dementor told her. "While we were waiting, Junior was telling us the most interesting things he'd heard from his father about you and . . . Kim Possible."

Their smiles made Shego think that they'd known about Kim long before tonight. "Yeah, so?" she asked, shrugging. "We both got what we wanted."

"And surely you have all kinds of information on her," Monkey Fist said cunningly. "Information we would pay dearly for."

"What exactly were you looking for, Monty?" Shego inquired. "Me, or Possible?" She was irritated by the idea that this was all an elaborate ruse to gather secrets about Kim's fighting skills. She wasn't able to resent Kim, however.

She was definitely able to resent them, though.

"Let's just say we have different priorities," Monkey Fist answered.

"Yeah, well, any special insight I might have into Kim Possible is too valuable to sell to any of you," Shego said. "I like having an advantage of my own. So I really appreciate the visit, but I'm feeling strangely tired," she went on, drifting over to the front door. "Maybe you all should get back to whatever evil blueprints you're working on."

They didn't seem to be taking the hint, and she opened the door, waving her hand in a 'let's go' gesture.

"Am I late?"

Shego froze. Slowly she turned to look at the voice behind her. "Dr. D?" she asked, astonished.

He grinned at her. Instead of replying, his fingers darted toward her face, as if he wanted to caress her.

Her instincts were as good as they were the night they invaded the Acceptable headquarters, and she just barely snapped her head back, so that his hand parted the air in front of her face. Her first thought was that he'd tried to liberate one of her hairs - always obsessing over cloning her!

As she backed away, however, Shego realized what she'd seen between two of his fingers - a little red square.

"That had better not be what I think it is," Shego said, her voice shaking with anger.

"You're looking well, Shego," Dr. Drakken replied, straightening after he'd almost fallen over when he missed. He stepped forward and closed the door behind him. "Better than the last time I saw you. When was that again? Oh yes, when you visited me in prison. And decided _you weren't going to get me out of there!_ Do you know how long I was in there?!"

"About as long as I was in an Acceptable cell," she snapped, unable to feel sorry for him.

"Perhaps," he said as they formed a ring around her. "Luckily my _true_ fellow villains recently were more generous than you. You know, I did learn one very interesting thing that day I used my mind-control chip on you, Shego. I learned how my victims know what's happening to them, but are powerless to stop it. I think that as much as I will enjoy seeing you beg me on your knees for forgiveness, I will enjoy even more the thought of the real you trapped inside, feeling all that humiliation."

Shego tightened her fists, trying to put aside her rage and focus. She was in a closed space with several villains, none of whom appeared very friendly at the moment. Beating them was possible, but she decided that her main goal was just getting out of there. "You really want to go back there, Doc?" she asked icily. "You remember what I did to you the last time?"

Drakken looked briefly frightened, but he recovered. "I'll have you know I've made improvements! When this goes on, it's never coming off."

"Hm. Uh-huh, right. Why is it every time you bring out that chip, I seem to be surrounded by _dodos_?!"

"Ha, Shego! You still don't know dodos are extinct!"

"She was insulting us, you moron," Dementor muttered.

"Oh, ah, yes, well - you see? That's the kind of disrespect this chip is going to end!"

"Enough talking," Monkey Fist ordered. He pointed a finger, and several small black-and-brown shapes came running out of Shego's bedroom. "Monkey ninjas - "

"If your little chimps got into my closet, you're going to hurt twice as much, Donkey Fist!" Shego warned him, assuming a fighter's stance.

"ATTACK!"

Earlier Shego had felt as if her body was nowhere near the peak level of efficiency it had attained on the Seniors' island. Now, however, as the adrenaline coursed through her veins, she found she didn't feel quite so slow after all. Later, when she looked back, she felt it was one of her finest moments.

Despite being outnumbered, she had several advantages. One, her opponents were practically crowding into each other, forcing them to avoid each other's attacks, while Shego could land her blows wherever she liked. Two, some of them weren't really what you could call "fighters".

Three, she was the deadliest woman on the planet. Kim Possible might be stronger, but that was a question that would probably never be satisfactorily answered.

"Go pound some sand, lassie!" Killagan screamed as she grabbed one monkey by the tail and swung him around her head, striking Drakken in the face. His driver arced toward her head.

She easily dodged as she continued to pummel anything that got in her way. Shego's body gracefully slipped in between kicks and punches, but gradually her body was absorbing damage, especially from the little claws and teeth of the monkeys.

"Would you really hurt your fellow member of the old cellblock, Shego?" Junior asked as he appeared before her.

"No," she said, feeling the wind move behind her. She ducked, and Killagan's club struck Junior in the mouth, bowling him over. "I am willing to let you get hurt, though."

Two minutes later, however, Shego was running low on banter. She was backed against the wall, favoring one leg, as a half-circle of bruised and battered villains cautiously approached her. Except for DNAmy, who had avoided fighting and lurked in the corner.

"To think that you take Kim Possible's side over our own," Monkey Fist sneered, wiping blood away from the corner of his mouth.

"I never said I did," Shego retorted.

"Junior says he learned a lot from his father's security cameras," Fist replied. "Apparently you two were - close."

She growled at him, flashing her claws. But it looked like there was no escape for her. "You come near me with that chip again, Drakken, and I'm introducing your testicles to your neck."

"Now, DNAmy!" Drakken cried.

"With pleasure," she said from the corner as she pushed a button on a device in her hands.

Shego felt the tremors before she heard anything. Turning around, she backed away from the wall as it smashed apart, revealing a gray monstrosity with a single horn on its nose. "A rhinoceros - with a rabbit?" she said disbelievingly.

"Get her!" DNAmy called out.

The creature loomed above her. Finding the ceiling a little low, it tried to leap on top of her.

Shego nimbly darted between its legs and allowed it to crash behind her, momentarily blocking the others' way. Then she realized the convenient escape route left for her through the hole in the wall. "Thanks, DNAmy!" she called mockingly. "For that, here's a tip! Try the South Beach diet!"

DNAmy, who was already comforting her injured genetic creation, squawked in fury.

"As for the rest of you," Shego said as she backed out of the hole, not losing sight of her enemies as they began climbing over DNAmy's pet despite the scientist's cries of outrage, "I will rededicate the rest of my life to ruining the rest of yours!"

She'd been in prison for a long time, but she really needed to catch up on her TV watching. She was quoting sitcoms that were several years old.

Then she vanished into the night, running as fast as her injured leg could take her.

The animal screams of Fist and his ninjas filled the air behind her.

________________________________

Kim covered her mouth as she yawned, shuffling toward the apartment door. She'd been snatched from badly needed sleep by an insistent knocking that refused to stop. "If Ron flew out for an impromptu visit and forgot about the time zones," she thought, "I'm going to leave him out there."

She leaned forward as she reached the door and looked through the peephole. It was dark in the hallway, but the silhouette was unmistakable. "Shego," she whispered.

She'd been very disappointed when Shego bolted earlier that night, like she'd had some brilliant bird in her hands, only to watch it fly away. Kim hadn't complained, though. She understood that even now, their bond was fragile, and she was willing to let Shego determine the speed with which it evolved.

Kim had just hoped it was not the last time she would see the strikingly clad beauty. Evidently it was not.

She hurriedly unlocked the door and opened it. "Shego?" she asked.

"Yeah," Shego said, lurking in the shadows. "Thought maybe I'd join you after all," she added nonchalantly.

Kim opened the door wide. "Come in," she said, forgetting about going back to bed. If Shego had come directly with her, she never would have turned in anyway.

Shego silently walked past her, casting her eyes back and forth suspiciously, as if she expected GJ agents to jump out at any second. She dragged one foot slightly.

"What happened?" Kim asked, worried as she instantly noticed the limp.

"It's nothing," Shego muttered, shrugging. The motion revealed the tears in the back of her outfit.

"Shego!" Kim said, turning on the light. Both women's eyes had grown used to the dark, and they squinted briefly before facing each other. Kim was shocked to see Shego looking like she'd been attacked by a swarm of rats. "You were fine an hour ago!"

"You should see the others," Shego replied, noting Kim's tousled appearance, dressed only in a T-shirt and cotton pajama pants. "You were sleeping," she realized. "I'd better go."

"Absolutely not," Kim said, blocking her way. "You are going to sit on that couch," she told her, pointing the way, "and wait there while I get some bandages."

Shego rolled her eyes. "I can take care of myself, you know," she mumbled.

"Then why are you here? And what happened to you?"

"I'll tell you later," Shego said as she turned toward what was too small to be considered a "living room". It was more of an "existing room".

Kim suddenly remembered the box she'd left on the couch, and she hurried past Shego, shoving the box and its contents under some throw pillows. "I'll be right back."

"What was that?" Shego asked.

"What was what?"

"That thing you obviously didn't want me to see," she said, her eyes darkening.

"Nothing! Just making room," Kim said unconvincingly. She rushed toward the bathroom and hoped Shego would accept her explanation.

"What the hell?!" she heard Shego say as she was getting what she needed from the cabinet.

Trust Shego not to trust her just yet.

Kim slowly came back in and found Shego holding up a wrinkled pile of green and black fabric. "What's this?" Shego asked, looking like she didn't know what was going on.

"You know what it is," Kim said.

"Yeah, but where did you get this?!" Shego began to rise.

"Come on, Shego," Kim said plaintively. "Do you have to try and run off every time something unexpected happens?"

"Yes!" Shego retorted.

Kim sighed. "Do you remember that time Dr. Drakken used those chips on us?"

Shego started. "Déjà vu," she murmured.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. I remember. What about it?"

"Well, Drakken made me wear one of your outfits, and I still had it on when I got home," Kim told her. "My first impulse was to burn it, just so I wouldn't have to remember what Drakken did to me. But, um . . ."

"But what?"

Kim looked exasperated. "Mom didn't want me wasting good material like that," she muttered.

Shego stared for a moment before she grinned. "She had better taste than you did, obviously."

"Obviously," Kim replied drolly. "Anyway, I ended up sticking it in a box and shoving it in the attic, so I didn't have to think about it ever again." She shrugged helplessly. "After that day on the island, I decided I wanted to get it out again."

Shego looked surprised, and then annoyed. "I totally forgot about that time. Guess I didn't want to think about it either. So when you tried my outfit on at Senior's island, it wasn't the first time. It was the second time. But you made it sound like you always wanted to try it out."

"I _did_," Kim shot back, frustrated by Shego's insistence on finding cause for doubt. "I don't think that day counted. I wasn't given a choice. When it was over, I just wanted to get it off and forget Drakken ever used my body like that." She looked away. "It totally spoiled the moment."

"Oh," Shego said, looking mollified. "So - have you tried it on again?"

"No," Kim admitted. "I took it out, looked at it, but . . . I decided not to, for some reason. Maybe I just needed someone to be there, tell me what they thought."

Shego looked down. "Funny you should mention Drakken and his mind control chips. He got out of prison, you know."

"What?! When?"

"Beats me. But he showed up at my apartment tonight, along with all your old archvillains. They claimed to be there to thank me for stopping the Acceptables, but really they just wanted me to be their sidekick. Then they wanted information on you. Then they just wanted to take over my mind and use me," Shego muttered angrily.

Kim sat next to her carefully. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't feel sorry for me," Shego said. "Because I took them on, and I lived to tell the tale." She rolled her eyes. "Why do I always seem to end up at your place in the middle of the night, with bad guys on my tail?"

"At least you used the door this time," Kim said, smiling a little.

Shego blinked, but then she laughed softly. "I never thought I'd have manners," she said.

"So who was there? Monkey Boy?"

"Yep."

"Killagan?"

"Yeah."

"Professor Dementor?!"

Shego nodded. "All three, plus DNAmy and Senior Junior," she said. "It looks like they've all unretired with the Acceptables gone, just like you."

Kim grumbled. "Great. Almost makes me wish the Acceptables were still in charge."

The woman next to her stiffened, and her eyes flashed. "Wouldn't that be great," she said sardonically, standing up.

Horrified, Kim rose a split second later. "Oh, Shego, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I, I said 'almost'! You know I could never have left you at their mercy."

"You were just speaking your mind, is all," Shego shot back, looking more hurt than angry. "I knew I couldn't - "

Kim's arms shot out. Grabbing Shego by the shoulders, she pulled her into a hug. The brunette stood stiff as a board, stunned by the unexpected gesture.

"Please forgive a girl for a thoughtless remark, Shego," Kim murmured into her ear. "I'm willing to face all those clowns again, if it means having you safe, and as a friend. Please stay. If they chased you out of your own apartment, stay the night. I want you to."

Shego slowly disengaged herself. "All - all right," she said hesitantly. "I forgive you. Just don't say anything like that again!" she added heatedly.

"I won't," Kim promised. "So you'll stay?"

"Fine," Shego sighed. "Only I'm not up for talking. So you'll have to save the heart-to-heart for another night."

"That's fine," Kim said. "Sit down and let me help you out of your clothing."

Shego looked at her and smiled oddly. "You propositioning me?"

Kim flushed. "No! I meant so I could check your wounds."

"Ohh," Shego said knowingly. "You're not interested. I'm not pretty enough for you?"

Kim smiled, still quite red. "Believe me, Shego - if I was into girls, you would be the first one on my list."

Shego smiled back, a little uncertainly. "I guess I believe you. I'm not used to being hugged like that."

"How horrible," Kim said. "You deserve a little affection."

"Uh, Kim? Remember the no talking agreement?"

"Right, sorry." Kim helped her strip to her waist, revealing quite pale skin and a bra. "Just one more thing, though."

Shego groaned. "What?"

"There's just the one bed. I'll take the couch, okay?"

"Well," Shego said, grinning slyly, "if you're sure you're not interested, then there's no reason why we can't share a bed, right?"

Kim's cheeks had been returning to normal, but now they pinked a little. "Okay," she said.

Later that night, as they slipped into Kim's bed having kept the promise not to say anything more, Kim looked at Shego, seeming almost fragile in her white bandages, and wondered how her life had changed so since the night before. And why she liked it so.

To be continued . . .

Chapter 2

Title: Green, Black and Blue (2/??)

Author: Allaine

Email: eac2nd@yahoo.com

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "An Unacceptable Sitch". Ignores the events of "Go Team Go".

Feedback: I hope everyone who was so helpful during the writing of "Unacceptable Sitch" will continue to give me their opinions.

Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.

Summary: As Kim and Shego gingerly try to strengthen the bond of friendship while finding new paths of their own, their pasts follow them everywhere.

_____________________________________

Chapter 2

"Are you sure I'm not keeping you up, Miss Possible?"

Kim discovered you could freeze in mid-yawn. She closed her mouth guiltily. "Sorry, Dr. Director," she apologized. "I was - awoken unexpectedly last night."

"Students," Dr. Director sighed. She wasn't actually there, of course. Her face was merely an image on the screen of her Kimmunicator. The real Dr. Director was at home, using her computer. "Once you get to college, you think you can stay up all night."

Dr. Director yawned slightly herself then, and her one eye blinked.

"Late night yourself?" Kim asked dryly.

The older woman reddened. "Thomas is a typical boy for his age," she replied. "And he is adjusting to having a new mother. So I haven't exactly been able to get a full night's sleep. Of course, when I used to run Global Justice, it wasn't unusual for me to be awake more than twenty-four hours straight, but during my time as a prisoner of the Acceptables, I found that the oblivion of sleep was preferable to the anxiety of wakefulness."

Their discussion stopped for a few moments at that point, as both women looked away uncomfortably. "I apologize," Dr. Director finally said. "I didn't mean to dredge up those memories. I think we'd both like to forget what happened."

"Yes," Kim agreed, trying not to think of Mrs. Acceptable as she fell - was pulled - into the pit. "Well, most of it, anyway. Dr. Director, speaking of GJ, I realize you're no longer affiliated with the organization, but would you be able to get them a message?"

"I do have an open line of communication with the current director, yes," Dr. Director replied. "What is it?" She paused. "Could it be you've reconsidered their offer?"

"What? Oh, no, not that," Kim said, although part of her wondered why she hadn't bothered to consider the possibility of pursuing a career with the GJ. "I got some information last night. It looks like some of my old nemeses are coming out of hiding, now that the Acceptables are gone."

"Really?" Dr. Director asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Dr. Drakken escaped from prison," Kim told her. "And Monkey Fist, Duff Killagan, DNAmy, and Professor Dementor have all been sighted."

Dr. Director looked at her carefully. "I see. From where did you get this information?" she asked.

Kim was unable to answer right away when she heard a noise behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Shego walking behind the couch, clad in an oversized T-shirt and squinting in the light. "You're up already?" Shego muttered in disbelief as she shuffled toward the kitchen. "It's only nine-thirty."

"Miss Possible?" Dr. Director asked calmly. "Was that Shego I saw walking behind you?"

"Yeah," Kim answered hesitantly. Shego had learned to be suspicious of everyone, and Kim was trying mightily to break through her defenses. Being seen discussing her with the former head of Global Justice might just push Shego away. "She spent the night."

"Mm-hm," Dr. Director said.

Kim looked to her right and saw Shego standing in front of the refrigerator, drinking orange juice. "Hey!" she called out. "Would you mind not drinking from the container?"

"Bite me," Shego snapped as she closed the container and put it away. "Who are you talking to, anyway?"

"Uh, Doctor? One minute?" Kim pleaded.

Dr. Director sighed. "Very well. I believe Thomas is trying to get under the sofa anyway." Her image vanished from the screen.

Kim got up and went into the kitchen. "I missed the last six weeks of my classes, so I made arrangements with the university to make up the lost time. I'm getting lessons at home from Wade and Dr. Director, since all my professors are off on sabbatical."

Shego looked at her flatly. "Dr. Director," she said. "As in the woman from the Acceptables' prison."

"Yes."

"The one who lost an ear."

Kim shuddered even as she thought of it, while Shego seemed unaffected. "Yes."

"The one who used to run Global Justice."

"Yes. Her. Look, Shego - "

Shego scowled at her. "Does she know I'm here?"

"Well, it kind of slipped out when she saw you _walking by_," Kim reminded her. "What's the problem? It's not like you're wanted for anything, remember?"

The other woman tapped her nails on the counter. "Yeah," she admitted grudgingly. "You didn't - call her to tell them about me?"

"I called her because I have a lesson now," Kim explained. "Which, by the way, is why I'm not still sharing a bed with you. Otherwise I feel like I could sleep until three. I _did_ tell her about Drakken and the others, but I was going to leave your name out of it."

Shego looked down. "Okay. I guess I believe you."

The words "I guess" almost made her want to scream, but Kim once again reminded herself that with Shego, she was going to have to take what she could get at first.

Then Shego grinned a little. "I'm surprised you got any sleep," she added.

Kim looked at her. "Why?"

"Well, you were sharing your bed with another woman," Shego said indifferently. "One who was barely dressed. And knowing what a prude you are - "

"Excuse me? A prude?"

"Oh, please. You could barely look at me when I was sunbathing topless by Senior's pool. Of course," Shego went on, her grin returning, "you did mention I would be your dream girl if you swung that way, so maybe that overcame your Puritanism."

Kim was growing increasingly redder. "You're trying to provoke me, Shego."

Shego chuckled. "I've always tried to provoke you, Kimmie. It's just now I have to do it without physically hurting you."

"Why?" Kim asked impulsively.

Her smile disappeared as Shego looked at her hesitantly. "Because friends aren't supposed to hurt each other," she finally said. "Isn't that something that geek Stoppable would say?" she quickly added sardonically.

Kim smiled. "He would, actually. Nice, Shego. Don't ever let them see you're human."

Shego glared at her. "What, so you're saying I don't know how to be nice once in a while?" she retorted. "I was asleep in your bedroom the whole night, and I was completely defenseless, and you never tried to hurt me. So maybe I don't want to see you get hurt. Okay?!"

Kim Possible gasped. " . . . Okay," she said, stunned by the extent to which Shego confessed her feelings. She was amazed by how much it meant to her. "I don't think I could ever accuse you of not being nice after that."

"Well, don't broadcast it," Shego muttered, looking embarrassed as she crossed her arms and looked away.

"Shego?"

"What?"

Kim smiled at her. "I was able to sleep last night, because being close to you - that was nice too."

Shego turned her back on Kim and resolutely began digging through the fridge, but Kim saw the surprised, pleased look in her eyes.

"Miss Possible? I believe your break is up?"

Kim groaned as Dr. Director's voice carried in from the living room. "Coming!" she shouted.

"When will you be done?" Shego asked from inside the refrigerator.

"A couple of hours. Why?"

"I need to go back to my apartment, see if any of my stuff survived the fight. Maybe you want to come with me. Just in case they're still there." Shego backed up a little and turned her head so that one eye looked at Kim with a challenging gaze. "I'd like another shot at those rotten bastards with better odds."

Kim quickly nodded. "You got it," she said. "Maybe I can look for clues too."

Shego laughed. "Team Possible, on the job."

As Kim walked back to where Dr. Director was waiting (electronically, anyway), she wondered if Shego had been including herself in "Team Possible". That, however, was something she wasn't going to push just yet. With Shego, you had to take what you could get.

And what she'd gotten that morning was a lot.

_____________________

"Maybe you'd better stay here," Kim suggested as she sat in the driver's seat of her car.

"No problem," Shego muttered, pulling the brim of her borrowed baseball cap down as she sank down on the passenger side. "I hate cops."

"And we wouldn't want to expose these officers to your anger management problems," Kim replied, grinning.

"I don't have anger management problems. I manage my anger very well. I don't keep it bottled up inside. I let it out. It's very therapeutic," Shego shot back.

"Not for whoever you let it out on."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Kim said brightly as she got out of the car and jogged over to the apartment building Shego had been staying at. A black-and-white police car with lights flashing was parked out front.

When she got to the ground-level apartment Shego had told her she was staying in, Kim found two officers with a stout man who was gesturing angrily. "Her security deposit isn't going to cover one-tenth of this!" he said, enraged. Evidently he was the super.

"Is there a problem?" Kim asked.

"Nothing, miss," one of the policemen told her. "Just some property damage."

"I know, I heard it on the police scanner," Kim lied. "I'm Kim Possible. You know, I can do anything?"

"Kim Possible!" all three men said at once.

Kim sighed and smiled. She'd have to get used to greetings like that again.

"Miss Possible, please," the super begged. "Forgive me for not recognizing you. I read all about how you defeated those Acceptable gangsters all by yourself."

Of course, there had been others. But Monique - Oryx, that is - had preferred to remain anonymous, as befit her persona. Ron was used to being overlooked. And Shego had a bit of a "credibility" problem.

"No big," Kim fell back on, instead of trying to correct the man. "What happened?"

"Well, Miss Possible," one of the police officers said, "it appears the tenant smashed up her apartment real good and split."

Kim looked past the officer and saw the hole in the wall. "_Her?_" she asked pointedly, gesturing to the apartment's new back door. She was a little surprised too. Shego hadn't gone into much detail about last night. "What was she, a lady gorilla?"

"We're still trying to find out what happened," the other officer said, "but Mr. Spumoli here says it was his new tenant."

"I never liked the look of her!" Spumoli blurted out. "Her skin was way too pale. But she paid cash, so . . ." He spread his hands helplessly.

"May I?" Kim asked.

"Oh, please, go right ahead. It's a privilege to have you interested in this case, Miss Possible," one of the officers told her.

Kim nodded and squeezed past them into the apartment. Even ignoring the obliterated wall - none of Shego's attackers were capable of doing something like that on their own, and she would have to ask what happened later - the place was a complete mess.

She went over to the pile of rubble that had evidently once been the wall and pulled out something white and fluttery. "Look at this," she said, holding up the torn "WELL DONE" banner. "Maybe a party that got out of hand?"

The original plan had merely been to collect Shego's things, but now her mission included keeping Shego's name from ending up on an arrest warrant.

"Anything's possible," one officer acknowledged. "Right?"

"Absolutely," Kim agreed, nodding to show she got the pun. She moved toward the bedroom, since the rest of the apartment looked like a total loss.

When she came back out, she had a green and black bundle under one arm. "I'm going to analyze this for clues," she told them. "It could be evidence. There were strange hairs on it." She handed one of the officers a plastic cup with more hairs inside. "Send that to your forensics lab. I'm willing to bet those are monkey hairs."

"Monkeys?" the officer said in disbelief.

"Monkeys," Kim repeated, glad Ron wasn't there. "It looks like the rumors might be true. Lord Monkey Fist has returned. Plus, you know how destructive those little guys can be," she added, placing the blame firmly on his shoulders. Since it hadn't been Shego's intention to destroy almost all her things, Kim figured the blame was where it belonged.

"Monkeys," Spumoli growled. "The rental agreement says it in black and white. No pets!"

"I thought Monkey Fist was dead," the second officer said.

"Thank you for your help, Miss Possible," his partner said deferentially.

"But what about the lady I rented to?" Spumoli moaned.

"I'd say the deposit is yours, sir."

Kim hurriedly went back out to her car. She opened the door and slid into her seat. "What the hell happened in there?"

"I told you," Shego muttered.

"What about the hole in the wall?!"

"Oh, that," Shego said. "One of DNAmy's pets. Looked kind of like a cross between a rhino and a rabbit."

Kim's mouth twitched. Her memory of her first encounter with DNAmy told her who Shego was referring to, but she preferred not to have Shego assume Kim was once a Cuddle Buddies fan. That, Kim was sure, would be the source of many, many jokes.

The fact that it was true didn't help.

"Here," Kim said, changing the subject as she pushed the outfit into Shego's lap. "It was one of the only things that survived."

Shego held it up. "Monkey hair," she snarled. "I warned him what would happen if his animals were in my closet."

"Just how many of those did you own?" Kim asked.

"Five," Shego replied unashamedly. "They get torn, you know."

"Have you ever thought of branching out? Trying other colors?"

"Have you ever thought of something other than cargo pants?" Shego stopped and smiled evilly. "Oh wait, you have. Something like this," she said, waving her outfit triumphantly.

Kim blushed and started the ignition. "Stop it, unless you're _trying_ to signal the police," she muttered as she put the car in drive.

Shego shrugged and tossed her clothes onto the back seat. "Now what?"

"Now I wait for one of these clowns to get a hit on my website, and . . . what? What am I supposed to do, go looking for them?" Kim had caught the shake of Shego's head.

"It's not that," Shego said. "It's you continuing to play that sucker's game."

"What?"

"How long are you going to continue saving everyone's asses and getting nothing in return for it?"

Kim pulled over just three blocks from where they'd started. "Now what's your problem?"

"Look," Shego retorted, shooting her a glare. "Let's get something straight here. A lot's changed with you, me, us - but don't go thinking I've grown a conscience here. I'm not going to risk my butt 'doing the right thing' out of the goodness of my heart. I don't want Drakken stopped because he's the bad guy. I want him suffering for what he tried to do to me. And if they hadn't come after me, I probably wouldn't have given a damn that any of those morons were renewing their hopeless quest to take over the world. Not my problem," she said casually.

"Right," Kim said neutrally, narrowing her eyes. "And I should just think like you."

Shego rolled her eyes. "Like that's ever going to happen. You may think you're a killer now, but you're just too damn _good_ to be bad." She shook her head again. "That's your problem. You want to be the good girl, so whenever there's a problem, you take it upon yourself to fix it. For what - a free ride to your next mission? Kim, please. Don't you think it's time you asked for a down payment first?"

"You're saying I should _sell_ my services?" Kim asked, shocked. "That's not what a hero does!"

"Cops get paid," Shego replied, studying her nails. "Soldiers get paid. Hell, even GJ agents get paid. You think they signed up for free?"

"That's different," Kim said.

"How? Look, I can see you wanting to make a name for yourself when you're starting out, but you're a unique commodity now, and everyone knows it," Shego said. "If you tell some corporation that you're taking payment in advance now, what are they going to do? Go someplace else?"

Kim tossed her head. "And what if they won't pay? I just let the bad guys win?"

Shego shrugged. "If this is because you don't like to lose - "

"Excuse me?!"

"Then I get that. I hate losing too. But I steal for the money too. I don't feel like starving."

"Why not get a real job then?" Kim retorted.

"That's not for either of us, Kimmie. Be serious."

"I _am_ serious."

"Mmm-hmm, right, whatever," Shego said, not even looking at her.

Kim had the distinct impression that Shego had said something similar to Drakken many times. "Why can't you earn an honest living?"

"A better question, Kim, is why you can't. This is going to be your career. You realize that, right? Because if you think you can work a 9-to-5 job, _and_ save the world on a daily basis, then you're deluding yourself," Shego said bluntly. "I don't think employers give that many vacation days in this economy. What's so wrong with doing what you've been doing and making money doing it?"

Shego was very good at provoking Kim into saying things she preferred not to, and this was no exception. Raising what were admittedly unpleasant truths about Kim's future was getting to her as well.

"Because it's something you would do."

Kim closed her eyes for a moment and thanked the higher powers that those words didn't make it from her brain to her mouth. But she realized that Shego wasn't the only one who would have issues to deal with if they were going to continue spending time together.

"I don't want to talk about it, all right?" Kim asked instead.

"Fine," Shego muttered. "Let's go. It's going to take me forever to get these hairs off. It's worse than cat hair."

To be continued . . .

Chapter 3

Author's Note 1 - Thanks to all my new readers who have responded since this story began, as well as those of you who got involved during the writing of Unacceptable Sitch. Remember, you can also email your thoughts to the address below :)

If there are those who aren't enjoying this sequel as much as they liked "Unacceptable", I hope you'll explain why.

_____________________________________________________

Title: Green, Black and Blue (3/??)

Author: Allaine

Email: eac2nd@yahoo.com

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "An Unacceptable Sitch". Ignores the events of "Go Team Go".

Feedback: I hope everyone who was so helpful during the writing of "Unacceptable Sitch" will continue to give me their opinions.

Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.

Summary: As Kim and Shego gingerly try to strengthen the bond of friendship while finding new paths of their own, their pasts follow them everywhere.

_____________________________________

Chapter 3

Shego hadn't stopped muttering under her breath the entire time she'd been using her newly purchased lint roller to remove monkey hair from her outfit. Kim's curiosity had evaporated when she overheard Shego say something about getting her special claws on Monty's head and finding out what chilled monkey brains really tasted like. Kim had grimaced and found somewhere else to be.

This had enabled her to make a very important decision, however, and when Shego held up the green and black outfit and pronounced herself satisfied, Kim just had to break the news to her without setting her off.

"Shego."

The other woman turned her head. "What?"

"I've been thinking about some of the things you said before - about my future."

"Uh-huh."

"The first thing I've decided is there's really no point in me staying here."

Shego looked quizzical. "Here?"

"In this town," Kim clarified. "I'm not attending classes any more. The only thing I need for my studies is my Kimmunicator. Staying here is just tying me down."

Shego smiled slightly. "Be on the move, don't stop. Stay aggressive. Don't just wait around for your enemies to make a move."

"Yeah, well, I think my first stop is in Middleton," Kim replied.

"Why the hell would you want to go there?"

"Because that's my home, Shego," Kim said. "Here, I'm cut off. There, I'm strongest."

"Oh, please," Shego muttered. "Like you need a freaking suburb and your _parents_ to be strong."

"I've never walked alone, Shego. I've always operated as part of a team. Okay, maybe the leader of that team - but that's my comfort zone. Shego," she said carefully, "if I'm going to fight these guys, I need my team around me, not a thousand miles away."

Shego frowned at her. "So what am I? The bad guy you teamed up with for that one special episode, only to go back to being enemies the following week?"

"This is life and death, Shego, not a TV show!" Kim retorted, but she stopped before saying anything more and took a deep breath. She'd known that Shego might feel slighted or offended by the suggestion that the two women couldn't be fine on their own, or threatened by Ron and the other "goody-two-shoes". "I need you to be able to come with me, Shego. I'm the only reason you came to this town in the first place, so there can't be anything keeping you here."

"You're so full of yourself," Shego snapped, shaking her head without looking Kim in the eye. "Like my world revolves around yours. I can go wherever the hell I want, stay as long as I want, and have a great time doing it. And if any idiot with a gun or a doomsday device thinks he can take me down, he's got another thing coming!"

"I'm sure you're right," Kim said quickly. "But when the two of us fight together, there's very little that can stop us."

"Then _why_ do you need your school pals?" Shego demanded, as Kim had known she would. "Why are they so important?"

Kim could have said that she had a bond with people like Ron, Wade, and Monique that her tenuous relationship with Shego couldn't even come close to. Or that they, unlike the brittle, sarcastic Shego, "played well with others". But that would be counter-productive. "Can you hack into any computer on the planet?" Kim asked. "Build technological marvels? Get me any information, any data, like this?" She snapped her fingers.

Shego folded her arms and glared at her.

"Have you been an important part of a hundred past successes of mine?" Kim asked.

"Yes!" Shego insisted.

"You weren't exactly trying to _help_ those times, Shego," Kim reminded her.

Shego's eyes were bitter as she looked away again.

"Ron, Wade - even Rufus - are part of a winning formula. I have no doubt that you and I could be a winning formula as well, but I don't see why we can't all work together." Kim sighed. "Besides, you were right when you said I had important decisions to make, and I can't make them by myself. I need to talk to my family first. And for that, I need to go home."

"Nobody's stopping you," Shego shot back.

"You are," Kim said.

"Me?!"

"I can't go without you. I need Team Possible, but I need you too." She leaned forward and stared directly into Shego's eyes. "This is not about rejection or competition or who's better or who's more important. This is about, among other things, seeing how you fit into my life. But my life isn't here. There's nothing for me here either, except a crummy apartment and a college campus I may never set foot on again. My head tells me to go home. So does my heart." Kim spread her hands. "If you can't understand that . . ."

Shego fell back and looked at the ceiling. "Damn, damn," she whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing. I - just don't feel like sharing you. They can't understand you like I can."

"Oh, they understand me," Kim replied, sensing yet another success. "They just understand a different part of me than you do."

Shego grunted. "At least I'm traveling light."

Kim beamed. "Then you're coming?"

"Only if you realize that I'm leaving the room whenever things get too lovey," she sneered, waving her hand.

"After all, it might be contagious," Kim said.

"Exactly," Shego brooded. "How are you arranging transportation?"

"Oh, I have my ways," Kim responded.

____________________________________

"Thanks a lot for the flight, Mr. Xanthos," Kim said.

"If it wasn't for you, Ms. Possible, that burglar would have stolen a priceless diamond from the museum," David Xanthos replied. "A diamond on loan from my own private collection, mind you."

"It was no big," Kim answered.

Shego looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm sure it could have been a lot worse, but the thief chose not to put up much of a fight," Kim added hastily.

"Too bad he got away," Xanthos said. "Must have run like hell when he saw you."

Shego's claws began tearing through the magazine she was clutching.

Kim chuckled nervously. "Um, yeah," she said.

The jet intercom crackled. "David, honey, we're almost over Middleton Airport."

"Thank you, Rachel," Xanthos called out.

"Honey?" Kim asked. "Do all your pilots call you honey?"

"Only the one I'm married to," he said, grinning at her. "Ah, skydiving. I remember when I used to skydive."

"What happened? Too old for it?" Shego asked sarcastically.

"No, it got boring," he sighed. Then he brightened. "I prefer flying."

"Flying on a plane is more exciting than skydiving?" Shego said dubiously.

"Who said anything about a plane?"

"I think this is our stop," Kim said before Shego could make a retort. "Thanks a lot," she added as both women stood up and strapped their chutes on.

He smiled roguishly. "Alone on a plane with such lovely ladies - it was worth any price."

Shego grabbed Kim by the arm and dragged her toward the hatch. "Yeah, uh-huh, charming," she muttered as she turned the wheel and opened the door, exposing them suddenly to freezing, fierce winds. "Sleaze," she added.

"You're just mad because we got free transportation through my good deed," Kim said.

"And now he thinks you two are even," Shego shot back. "He got off cheap."

Kim frowned and took Shego by the wrist. "Just jump," she growled.

As they rapidly descended, Kim was surprised when she looked over and saw Shego grinning evilly. "Feeling the rush?!" she called out.

"I was thinking how this is the second time you and I have gotten a ride from someone I tried to steal something from," Shego said.

The other time being the submarine commander who dropped them off at Triple-S's island, Kim remembered.

"Maybe we should try that more often," Shego continued. "Whenever you need a ride, I could steal something, and you bring it back." She laughed. "The money we could make doing that!"

Kim just glared at her.

"Sheesh," Shego said. "You're still no fun. I'll have to work on that."

Then she reached over and pulled Kim's ripcord.

"Heeeeyyyyyyy!!!" Kim screamed as her parachute billowed out, leaving Shego to continue her descent.

"Just shaking you up," Shego said to herself as she finally pulled her own cord.

Kim landed amidst the charter planes and two-seaters parked in various places near the Middleton airport, an almost perfect spot. "What was that for?!" she yelled at Shego, who was struggling out of her chute nearby.

Shego's eyes sparkled. "Last one down's a rotten egg," she said naughtily.

"You know I'm going to get you back for that."

"You can _try_. But I wouldn't have it any other way." She turned her head at the sound of an approaching vehicle. "Either that's your folks, or we've managed to violate airport security."

Kim was startled by the incoming SUV, which swerved recklessly between the planes. "My parents certainly don't drive like that. My brothers maybe but . . . " She put her face in her hands. "Oh, no."

"What?"

"Jim and Tim recently became old enough to take the driver's license test," Kim said in a voice that suggested this scared her more than any would-be conqueror.

The SUV screeched to a halt just ten yards away, leaving long black tire marks behind it. The passenger window opened slowly. "Hey sis," a sunglasses-wearing Jim drawled - or was it Tim? "We don't normally pick up hitchhikers, but we're willing to make an exception."

"For her!" his twin brother said, wriggling out of the driver's side window and pointing to Shego. "Hello, nurse!"

"Excuse me?!" Shego snarled, her claws taking on an icy blue tinge.

"Puberty was the worst thing that ever happened to those two," Kim said dryly.

The back door opened, and Kim's heart leapt as a familiar face topped with sandy blond hair tumbled out. "Am I alive?" Ron Stoppable croaked. His legs looked decidedly unsteady, and finally he fell to his knees and kissed the pavement.

"Kimmie!"

Kim's mother circled the rear end of the car and quickly enveloped her daughter in a hug. Kim wrapped her own arms around her mother. "Welcome home," Mrs. Dr. Possible said quietly.

"Thanks, Mom," Kim replied. "But how could you let them drive?"

"Oh, don't pop a blood vessel, Kim," her mother told her. "All they did was sit in front."

"But - then who drove?"

"I did."

Kim looked around. "Who said that?"

Before that mystery could be resolved, another set of arms appeared around Kim and her mother. "KP!" Ron yelled.

"Watch the ears, Ron," Kim said, wincing.

"Oops, sorry," he apologized, letting go. He backed up a few steps and almost ran into Shego.

The former villainess put her hands on her hips and leaned forward so that their noses were almost touching. "Try to avoid touching me, Stoppable," she warned him.

"Shego," Ron replied, stiffening. "Nice tan."

"Ron," Kim said.

"You're sure about this?" her mother asked softly.

"I'm not sure about a lot of things," Kim told her. "But I am sure about giving her a chance. At least I _was_," she amended when she saw Shego looking at Ron like he was a bug on her windshield, while not one but two naked mole rats popped out of Ron's pants pockets and blew raspberries at her. "So where's the driver again?"

"You're looking at her."

Kim turned around and saw nothing but the car.

The SUV suddenly changed from black to red. "Has it been that long?"

Kim's mouth fell open. "_Sadie_?!"

"Long time, no see," the self-automated automobile replied. "Well, okay, so I don't exactly see, but you know what I mean."

"Still driving like you're on NASCAR, I see," Kim said, smiling.

"Believe me, it's a big improvement over the boys. And at least I don't change the radio station twenty times a minute," Sadie replied.

"A talking car," Shego said sarcastically. "How darling."

The car suddenly started up again, backed up, and drove towards Shego, stopping mere inches from her feet. Sadie's headlights turned on at full beam, almost blinding her. "I remember that voice," Sadie said angrily. "You kidnapped my creator once. You _shot_ me."

Shego held a hand in front of her face and looked at Kim. "Mind telling me why I'm being harassed by a deranged motor vehicle?"

"Remember Doctor Freeman? Talking toasters?" Kim prodded her.

"Oh, right." Shego grinned. "Smart guy, if you overlook his vulnerability to _child psychology_."

The car rumbled menacingly and moved forward until it bumped against Shego's knees.

"Shego, please!" Kim pleaded. "Could you tone it down just a LITTLE?"

"Can I use the disintegrator ray, Sadie?" Tim asked.

Shego grumbled. "All right," she muttered. "I'm (God, I can't believe I'm apologizing to a car) - sorry I shot you with a laser cannon."

Sadie revved her engine again before backing up slightly. "I don't have room for all of you," she said. "I'll have to strap you to the roof."

"Now, now, Sadie, she did apologize," Mrs. Dr. Possible said calmingly. "I'm sure you can manage the six of us. And Shego isn't going to do anything harmful to you or Dr. Freeman again." She looked at Shego with the same look she used on her children when they'd done something particularly wrong. "_Right?_"

Kim's mother had to have a good glare to intimidate the likes of Kim Possible, and it worked. "Right," Shego said nervously, backing up a little.

"Where's Dad?" Kim asked.

"At work with Dr. Freeman," her mother said. "They're trying to make rocket ships that can fly long missions without astronauts. We're going to stop there on the way home."

"Wait 'til you meet their newest invention," Jim said.

"Yeah. She's _saucy_!" Tim added.

"Saucy?" Kim asked.

"Mmmm, sauce," Ron said. "Maybe we could stop at Bueno Nacho on the way."

"Mmmm, hot sauce!" Rufus said brightly.

"Nacos!" Ruby chimed in.

"This is why I live alone," Shego muttered.

To be continued . . .

Author's Note 2 - One reader noted earlier that Chapter One paraphrased a quote (Shego's parting shot to her would-be attackers) from the classic sitcom Sports Night, which starred Dr. Director's Felicity Huffman. I just wanted to give credit for that. And if the Xanthoses seem awfully familiar, you're probably right. Kudos if you know why.

Chapter 4

Title: Green, Black and Blue (4/??)

Author: Allaine

Email: eac2nd@yahoo.com

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "An Unacceptable Sitch". Ignores the events of "Go Team Go".

Feedback: I hope everyone who was so helpful during the writing of "Unacceptable Sitch" will continue to give me their opinions.

Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.

Summary: As Kim and Shego gingerly try to strengthen the bond of friendship while finding new paths of their own, their pasts follow them everywhere.

_____________________________________

Chapter 4

The good news was that Sadie was able to transform into an SUV large enough to seat the six of them comfortably - even Shego, who Sadie studiously ignored when she spoke.

The bad news was that Ron and Shego seemed equally opposed to even coming into contact with each other. And since Kim's mother was sitting between the tweebs in front, Kim was forced to sit between Shego and Ron in back.

"We're almost at the rocket testing facilities, Mrs. Doctor Possible," Sadie informed them.

"Good," she replied. "Your father is very eager to see you, Kimmie."

"Yeah, he wants to know if you've been seeing any _boys_," Tim jeered from the driver's seat.

"We keep telling him he'll never have to worry about that from you, Kim," Jim added tauntingly.

"Boys, stop that," their mother warned them while Kim seethed in back.

"I'd applaud their talent for insults if I wasn't so nauseated by the happy family routine," Shego muttered.

"Didn't _you_ ever have a family?" Kim asked.

Shego was a model of consistency. When her past came up, she simply ceased talking.

"Is it just me, or is it getting dark outside?" Ron suddenly asked.

A shadow _had_ seemed to settle over the vehicle, Kim noticed, and she wondered if it was about to rain. The weather forecast hadn't said anything about precipitation.

"Oh, that's just my cousin," Sadie told them.

"You're a _car_. How can you have cousins?" Shego asked sarcastically.

Shego's seatbelt tightened around her body of its own free will, and her eyes bulged as she tugged frantically at the safety device.

Kim sighed. "Sadie, please stop throttling her. She doesn't always think before she speaks."

"Very well," Sadie said in a huff as Shego found she was able to breathe again. "And we were both created by Dr. Freeman, I'll have you know," she said to Shego.

"What is she?" Kim asked.

The shadow suddenly vanished before they'd even had a chance to look overhead.

"She's a - "

"You know, Sadie, maybe we'd better let the doc handle that one," Jim said.

"Your cousin does have strong opinions about her image, after all," Tim agreed.

Kim and Shego looked at each other. "Huh?" Shego asked.

"Totally," Kim said.

"Hold on," Sadie told them as she veered away from the parking lots and drove over a field of grass.

"Whoa," Ron, who hadn't seen the new invention yet either, breathed as they entered a clearing. "E.T. phone _home_."

In front of the SUV was a large spherical ship with an opaque upper dome and a gunmetal grey body. It was at least twenty feet tall.

"Not bad," Shego said appreciatively as she was the first to get out.

As Kim clambered out behind Ron, she heard her name being called. She turned and saw her father exiting the ship through an opening which had materialized in its belly. He had one hand over his head as he beamed.

"Hey, dad," she said as she came over and hugged him. "Nice globe."

"Don't compliment me, Kimmie," Dr. Possible said modestly. "The credit goes to Dr. Freeman." He gestured to the older African-American man just behind him. "Thanks to him, we've made the first real step toward unmanned, artificially intelligent space travel."

"That was the smoothest ride I've ever been in!" Dr. Freeman said enthusiastically.

Sadie made a displeased noise with her engine.

"Other than you, of course, Sadie," he quickly apologized.

"Wicked cool, Doc," Ron said. "You built your very own UFO!"

A small white sphere attached to a flexible metal cable suddenly grew from the middle of the ship and focused on Ron, who took a step back. "I am no mere object, and I am most certainly not unidentified!" a woman's voice said. The sphere pulsed with a soft light with every word said. Then the sphere, which was either the ship's mouth, eye, or both, shifted to point at Dr. Freeman. "Doctor, I told you!" she said petulantly. Her voice was different than Sadie's, and sounded more mature, smokier. "This drab grey coloring is so not me. It's ruining my reputation, don't you see? Wouldn't I look better like this?"

The ship shimmered briefly and changed from grey to hot pink.

"Now, now, we talked about this. You look very nice like that, but it doesn't really have practical uses."

"Like she's practical," Sadie muttered.

"I heard that!" the spaceship snapped.

"Um, the machines are arguing, KP. Make it stop," Ron said as he took cover behind Kim.

The spaceship took in the presence of Kim and Shego. "Hmm," she said thoughtfully. "Dr. Freeman, won't you introduce me to these lovely ladies?"

Kim blinked while Sadie made a disgusted noise.

"Sappho, this is my daughter, Kim Possible," Dr. Possible told her.

"This is Kim Possible? I've heard so much about you!"

Kim looked at her father. "Sappho?"

"S.A.F.O. Self-Automated Flying Orbiter," Dr. Freeman explained.

"You named your spaceship _Sappho_?!"

"She's a little more high-strung than I expected," Sappho observed.

A lazy smile spread across Shego's face. "I'm glad someone notices. Sappho, I'm Shego."

"Shego?" Sappho asked. She sounded intrigued. "Nice name."

"You too."

"I've heard of you too. They say you're quite the bad girl."

"I'm the baddest of bad girls," Shego said proudly.

"Oh, Dr. Freeman, I _like_ this one," Sappho purred.

"This is turning into a weird conversation," Kim murmured.

"It's working for us," Jim said. He and his brother had identical naughty smiles.

"You would like her," Sadie muttered. "She has no respect for others, just like you."

"Hey, Sadie, let's race - first one to the moon wins," Sappho shot back.

"They sound like you and your brothers," Ron said.

"And I don't see why I should have to go into space without passengers," Sappho complained. "It would be so _lonely_. Couldn't I even have just one? Shego, you'd want to see the rings of Saturn with me, wouldn't you?"

"I'm exchanging banter with the USS Enterprise," Shego muttered out of the corner of her mouth to Kim.

"How about going to see Uranus?" Tim suggested. His brother sniggered.

"That's it, you boys have homework!" their mother said, glaring at them.

"But it's summer!"

"Anything's possible for a Possible. Now get in the car, we're leaving."

"Bye, Dad," Kim said, smiling at how the innuendoes had gotten just a bit too thick for her mother to take. "Nice meeting your, um, invention."

"Remember, honey, family dinner tonight."

Shego grabbed Kim by the arm. "If you even think of asking me to join you for family dinner, I'm going to have to kill you," she warned Kim.

Kim smiled even more broadly. "Well, you could try, anyway."

"Nice meeting you," Sappho said as they left. "Any time you ladies want to take me for a test flight, you just come over."

"How about me?" Ron asked.

Sappho looked at him. "Mmm, sorry, I'm busy."

"Darn," Ron moped. "She's just like the girls in Florida."

Rufus and Ruby shook their heads and sighed.

_________________________________________________

"I thought you wanted to catch up," Kim said.

"I do," Ron protested. "I just also need to catch up on supplies. Besides, I thought you got over your prejudice against Smart Mart."

Kim grumbled as she followed Ron into the complex. "It was a lot easier when I had a $100 gift certificate."

"Ooh, a ten-pound bag of tortilla chips for four bucks!"

"Ron, come on. It's been over a month. I thought you wanted to talk."

When he looked back at her, Kim was startled by the thoughtful look in his eyes. "What's the deal with Shego?" he asked.

She sighed. She _knew_ this would be the first topic. "What's that supposed to mean?" she replied with a question of her own.

"Look, I understood the thing with the Acceptables. She was the only person you could turn to while you were hiding out. But that's over now! You can go back to saving the world, and she can go back to stealing it."

"Ron, that's exactly what I don't want her to do," Kim snapped as he put thirty pairs of white athletic socks (fifty cents a pair) in his cart. "I want her to be my friend, not my enemy."

"_I'm_ your friend."

"Yes, and so is Monique. I'm allowed to have more than two, right?"

"Not when friend number three is, hello, evil? Criminal record as long as my both my arms and one of my legs? And a monkey?!" He paused. "Okay, so maybe she's not a monkey, but she was definitely descended from monkeys!"

"We're _all_ descended from monkeys, Ron," she reminded him.

"Don't even joke around like that, Kim."

"And Shego is _so_ not the drama, Ron," Kim went on. "Sure, she's difficult to get along with - okay, and so maybe she goes out of her way to be rude - but when she lets someone get close, she's really not a bad person! And she wants to try being friends too."

"Maybe she's just using you," Ron said seriously.

"Not the way she fights me so hard sometimes," Kim replied.

"Would you believe her if she made it easy?" Ron asked.

She didn't have a response to that for the moment, and they walked on in silence.

So Kim didn't have any difficulty hearing the conversation on the other side of the shelves.

"So, what are the newest figures?"

Kim stopped. It couldn't be . . .

"Sales have risen seven percent," another voice replied, "since we began advertising more. It's not adding much to profit margins though."

"Give it time," the first man assured the second. "Soon we will dominate the world!"

Kim grabbed Ron by the arm and practically dragged him into the next aisle. "All right, Senior Senior, give it up!"

Señor Senior Senior looked up, surprised. "Miss Possible? What a splendid surprise!"

"Planning to dominate the world again, Señor? I may owe you for last month, but I can't let you do it."

The other man, who was dressed like a Smart Mart employee, looked at Senior, confused. "Is she from out competitors?" he whispered.

Senior smiled craftily. "Oh yes, Ms. Possible. I will cover the planet - with these!" And he gestured behind him.

"Uh, KP? I think you're overreacting here."

Kim looked up and realized she was in the pet department. And behind Senior Senior, in an enclosed space they couldn't escape from, were several naked mole rats. "What?" she said.

Ruby excitedly scampered out of Ron's pocket and ran over to where the other mole rats were. They all chittered energetically.

"You see, Ms. Possible, recently I became the new owner of Smart Mart," Senior explained.

Ron was kneeling in front of him before he could say another word. "May I kiss the ring of the Lord of Smart Mart?" he asked humbly.

Senior looked at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"Don't mind him, sir, that's just Ron, one of our best customers," the other man said. "You know, Ron, we're having a special in Aisle 138 on toaster pastries."

"Dude, you are the best! I'll be right back, KP." Ron dashed away, leaving Rufus with just enough time to decide he'd rather stay with Kim - or more appropriately, Ruby and the other mole rats.

"At any rate," Senior continued, "after spending some time with Stoppable's pet last month, I realized what excellent pets these animals made. So I purchased Smart Mart with the intention of making the naked mole rat the world's favorite pet. It has been a slow process," he allowed. "If only I could find an appropriate spokesperson . . . I would do it myself, but I am not quite as 'hip' as I used to be. Oh, where are my manners? I haven't even introduced you!"

"Introduced me?" Kim asked weakly, convinced she'd fallen into the Twilight Zone the moment she set foot in this place.

He reached into his pocket. "This is Ricardo."

"Hola!" the mole rat said.

Kim stared. "You know," she said slowly, unsure of how to respond, "Ron has two mole rats now. Maybe he'd be a good pitchman for your product."

"Hmmm," Senior mused. "It's an idea, although people do have a tendency to forget his name. Still, I will consider it. So, Ms. Possible, how is Shego? I have not seen her since the day my son was rescued."

"She's okay," Kim said. "Actually, she's in town with me." She wasn't there, of course. Ron had wanted to talk to Kim alone, and Shego had seemed more than willing to find some place far from the rest of Kim's family. Kim didn't even know how they were going to handle Shego's sleeping arrangements. She was so uncomfortable around the Possible brood that she would probably sleep in the back seat of the car before sleeping in the same house with them.

"Really? You must tell her to come in some time while I am here. I'm conducting a tour of my establishments. I have only a few thousand to go. I could get her a great deal on those outfits of hers."

"I don't think Smart Mart is her idea of - wait, you sell her outfits here?"

"We sell _everything_ here, Ms. Possible."

Señor Senior Senior, she decided, was much scarier as the owner of Smart Mart than he was as the would-be world conqueror. "You know," she said, changing the topic of conversation to _her_ career, "Shego says your son gave her a hard time the other day, along with a bunch of other villains."

"Ah," he said. "I was very proud of Junior when he told me how he wanted to take over the world . . ."

It figured, she thought.

"But my work prevents me from helping him. Anyway, he is truly a man now, and I am sure he can take over the world on his own. That is, if you and Shego do not get in his way," he added, smiling at her.

"Do you know where he is now?"

"Unfortunately, no. He has his own hideout. I could ask him to leave Shego alone in the future - I thought I taught him better manners than that - but he may not listen to me. Sons, they want to be independent, they don't listen to their fathers," he sighed theatrically.

Kim hid a smile.

"I won't ask you to go easy on my son, either," he said.

"Good," she told him. "I meant it when I said I owed you - "

He waved a hand. "You got my son back. We are even, Ms. Possible. Although," he suggested, "I could get you thirty percent off one of our mole rats."

"You know, I think Ron has enough for both of us."

To be continued . . .

Chapter 5

Title: Green, Black and Blue (5/??)

Author: Allaine

Email: eac2nd@yahoo.com

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "An Unacceptable Sitch". Ignores the events of "Go Team Go".

Feedback: I hope everyone who was so helpful during the writing of "Unacceptable Sitch" will continue to give me their opinions.

Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.

Summary: As Kim and Shego gingerly try to strengthen the bond of friendship while finding new paths of their own, their pasts follow them everywhere.

_____________________________________

Chapter 5

"You're going to love the Planetarium!" Monique assured her as, looking smashing in the latest Club Banana clothes, she pulled into the parking lot.

Kim, who was dressed more relaxed, didn't pay much attention to what was outside as she swiveled her head to look at Monique. "When you said we were going out on the night scene, I didn't realize we were going to a _light show_," she said, perplexed.

"Oh, it's all that, Kim. _And_ a bag of chips." Monique winked at her before she got out of the car.

Only when Kim exited the passenger door did she understand what Monique had been talking about. The Planetarium was the name of the place they were going to. "Looks busy," she said, impressed. "Is it new?"

"Open five months ago, and yes, it's busy. Don't worry, though," Monique said breezily. "They know me here."

Sure enough, Monique dragged her past the line of twenty-somethings waiting to get in, flashed her smile at the bouncers, and was allowed in.

Kim blinked and looked around. "Wow," she said. "Live band tonight?"

"House band," Monique said. "They do a great business here. Oh, and when all the lights go out for a few seconds, don't go into 'danger-save-the-day' mode on me. It's part of the shtick here. Hey!" she said brightly to someone as they flitted past.

The interior of the club had an outer space theme going for it, but it wasn't like a geeky TV show. The art on the walls was dark colors, rich planets, and swirling clouds of dust and nebulae. It gave the place a surreal look, without it being disorienting. "I'm surprised you have time for a reputation on the nightclub circuit," she murmured. "Considering what you spend a lot of your after-dark hours doing."

"It's all about creating an impression," Monique said quietly. "Sort of a Bruce Wayne thing. Except everybody knows I'm no fool. Plus," she added, "I do pick up information here. A lot of customers are into the raver/Ecstasy thing, and it lets me know where some of the dealers are."

"Wait, I thought you were just stopping random crimes," Kim reminded her.

"There are crimes taking place every night in Middleton," Monique said. "Sometimes the only way to stop them is to go to the source."

"Taking on drug dealers? That's dangerous, Mo!"

Monique looked at her calmly. "You don't have a lot of experience with this sort of thing, do you?" she said sympathetically.

"Excuse me? Kim Possible? I can do anything?"

"Your exploits seem to range more toward the world conquerors," Monique pointed out. "You really don't tangle much with drug dealers and muggers and the like."

Kim scrunched her brow. "Well, no, I guess not," she realized.

"That's why I do this," her friend said simply. "You handle the big stuff. I sweat the small stuff. Come on," she added before Kim could reply, taking her by the wrist. "This is an off night, and work is not on the table for discussion."

"Monique . . ."

"Do you _want_ me to ask about you and Shego?"

Kim's mouth clamped shut.

"I thought so. Ron's always wigging out over it. Only he can't talk about it in front of Xita, because she might get jealous, so it's my ear he pours it into." Monique sighed. "I never really tangled with this Shego girl before that night in the Acceptables' home, so it's not something I obsess over. If you say you know what you're doing, then I trust you."

"Thanks," Kim said softly.

"So when I tell you that I know what _I'm_ doing," Monique went on.

Kim sighed. "I trust you."

"That's my girl."

"I just worry."

"Worry's fine. It's what friends do. Just don't let 'worry' turn into lecture mode, okay girl?" Monique finally spotted what she was looking for as the crowd parted for an instant. "There we go," she said.

"What?"

"Mixed drinks, girlfriend. I'm twenty-one and I want a margarita."

__________________________________

"Donovan was all right, but he wasn't all that," Monique said dismissively. "And since I started my new nighttime gig, I haven't had much time for dating." Her eyes sparkled as a good-looking young man passed by, and she waggled her fingers at him.

"No time for dating?" Kim asked dryly.

"Flirting, yes, dating, no. What about you?"

"Ugh, don't ask. I wasn't seeing anybody even before I started hiding on an island." She hesitated. "Whatever happened to Josh?"

"Who, Mankey? To quote Kim Possible, 'Ugh, don't ask.' There is no justice in the world."

"Why?"

"I _told_ you not to ask. Now you're going to get it. He's still at Boston College."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So who else do we know who went to study in Boston?"

"Well, there's . . ." Kim looked at Monique in horror. "No."

Monique nodded solemnly. "Yes."

"He's seeing _Bonnie_?!"

"She's still studying ballet at the Boston Conservatory," Monique confirmed, grimacing. "Last I heard, they were living together in an off-campus apartment."

"She's certainly got the prima donna act down," Kim said. "It's just - Josh and Bonnie? Hello? It's official. Karma doesn't exist," she sighed, leaning back in her seat.

Monique laughed. "I'm sorry, I know you used to like him."

"_Used_. Emphasis on used! Pre-owned, even," Kim assured her. "If he'd willingly spend his free time with Bonnie, then he obviously wasn't worth my time."

"Kim . . . Kim!"

"What?" she asked irritably.

"Uh, are you sure they didn't put rum in your Coke? Because you kinda zoned out on me after the Josh thing."

"I did?"

"Not the first time, either. What's on your mind, Kim?"

She sighed. "Shego. I haven't heard from her since I left with Ron earlier. She's pulled another one of her disappearing acts."

"So?" Monique asked. "Like I said, I only met her once and I don't judge, but I hear she's tough putting up with. I hope you're not saying my wit and personality aren't enough to hold your interest?" she said in mock offense, putting a hand to her chest.

"No," Kim said. "Just that the last time she disappeared, I didn't see her for a month. I always wonder if the next time I'll see her will be the last time."

"Mm-hm."

"What mm-hm?"

"You really do like this woman, don't you?"

"I - I guess I do," Kim admitted. "I've worked pretty hard to maintain this friendship. She doesn't make it easy for me, I'll tell you."

Monique nodded. "Do you care about her?"

Kim thought about it. "A little. We're more alike than either of us would admit. I don't think I could fight her again. I wouldn't want to hurt her."

"Kim."

"Yeah?"

"You don't have - feelings for her, do you?"

"Feelings?"

Monique looked pointedly at her.

"Oh!" Kim blurted out, realizing what she meant. "God, no! I mean, I like her, but - are you kidding?!"

"I'm cool with it if you are," Monique said, shrugging. "But you might want to tell Ron yourself if it's true, or otherwise he'll have a meltdown."

"Monique, trust me," Kim said. "There's nothing going on. I don't think Shego could let anyone in that far."

Monique smiled. "Fair enough. In that case, I think it's time we found you a man."

Kim chuckled. "Not really high on my list of priorities, Mo."

"Who cares? Let's dance!"

And so it was that a minute later, Kim found herself next to Monique in a large crowd of sweaty people moving to the beat of the Planetarium cover band as it moved proficiently through a series of hits.

Kim wouldn't have believed that one could even move in the throng, but with the pulsating beat, she tended to close her eyes and feel the music, and like those times at the beach, at some point she discovered that the tides had separated her from Monique, blocking her from view.

Before she could think about going to find her, the lights went out.

The cheers from the crowd eased the tension that momentarily settled in Kim's body, reminding her of Monique's earlier warning. As the lights came back on, albeit it on a dimmer setting, she understood why. The ceiling was alight with glow-in-the dark stars and white-light galaxies that created an otherworldly atmosphere above the darkened dance floor. It rotated very slowly, inducing an almost hypnotic effect that was amplified by the dreamy tune that emanated from the band.

"Sometimes when this place gets kind of empty

Sound of their breath fades with the light

I think about the loveless fascination

Under the Milky Way tonight."

She vaguely recognized the song from the stations that played older music. Kim bet it was a signature piece in a place like this, considering the lyrics. But the melody was alluring, and Kim found herself swaying gently, eyes closed, as she allowed herself to be mesmerized, free.

"Lower the curtain down on Memphis

Lower the curtain down all right

I got no time for private consultation

Under the Milky Way tonight."

When she felt strong arms circle her waist, Kim wasn't even surprised. This was a song to dance to. This was a song to dance to with someone else, and she didn't even open her eyes to see who her benefactor was. Kim smiled and raised her arms, letting them fall gently on the shoulders of the person across from her. He stiffened momentarily before relaxing, and the two swayed in unison, utterly bewitched.

"Wish I knew what you were looking for.

Might have known what you would find."

Kim felt the lazy smile tugging at her lips as she opened her eyes.

In the dark she saw Shego's eyes, like impossibly dark pools in the dimly lit room, staring intensely back at her.

"And it's something quite peculiar

Something shimmering and white.

It leads you here despite your destination

Under the Milky Way tonight."

A small corner of Kim's brain trilled alarmingly, but a greater concern to her for the moment was the way Shego's eyes reminded her of dark pits - the kind of deep holes that people might plunge to their deaths in. Shivering with the memory of Mrs. Acceptable's death, Kim sought refuge in the music and the arms linked loosely behind her waist. She tightened her own grip briefly.

Shego, meanwhile, was unreadable as she didn't even blink. Her hands shifted slightly as she threaded her fingers together behind Kim's back.

They circled each other like planet and moon, forces of nature too strong to allow them to spin out of orbit.

Then the song ended, the lights rose again, and Monique called out to Kim.

Kim and Shego stared at each other, the trance broken. The blood rushed into Kim's face as she immediately yanked her arms back from Shego's shoulders - oh God, her neck too. Shego followed suit an instant later, and the two backed away from each other uncomfortably.

"Hey, Kim, great place, huh?" Monique said as she arrived. She hadn't seen them dancing. There were too many people in the way. She looked at Shego in her black slacks and spaghetti-strap green top. "Shego?"

Shego looked at her. "Oryx," she replied. "Been a while."

"Hey, ix-nay on the Oryx-ay!" Monique hissed. "Some of us actually try to hide our other identities, you know?"

"Sorry," Shego muttered. "You fought well."

"That's Shego," Kim said, laughing nervously. "All that matters is what kind of punch you can throw."

"Is there a problem here?" Monique asked, looking at Kim.

"Nope, no problem, none at all," Kim babbled.

"Don't look at me," Shego added, and she appeared to be taking her own advice. She didn't even look at Monique as she spoke, her eyes locked on Kim's face.

"Oh-kay," Monique mumbled. "How did you know where to find us?" she asked Shego.

"I didn't," Shego replied. "I was looking for a good time. Thought I'd let Kimmie here have her 'family dinner'," she said, mimicking her mother.

"It's after ten. How long do you think it takes us to eat?" Kim asked.

Shego shrugged. "It's not something I have a lot of experience with," she said. "They made it sound like an event."

"I have to use the ladies' room," Kim said before Monique could reply. Then she darted off in another direction.

"Kim, the ladies' room is in the other . . . " Monique called after her helplessly. "Oh well, I guess she'll find it."

"Which way is it?" Shego asked quietly.

Monique pointed in the opposite direction.

"Thanks. Like I said, you fight well. Maybe in a year or two you could be somebody," Shego told her before she unconcernedly left in the direction Monique had shown her.

"Thanks - I think."

Kim was a frazzled bundle of nerves by the time she found the ladies' room. What the hell - what had she been _doing_? Dancing with Shego? All right, she'd danced with Monique, but _not with her arms around her_! "It was the song," Kim said to herself. "I'll never listen to THAT song again. Or maybe the ceiling. Maybe it's like those disco balls Junior had that one time . . ."

Entering, she found a long line of women waiting for one of eight stalls to become available. She sighed and got in line.

Five minutes later it was finally her turn. She didn't need to use the bathroom; she just needed to sit alone and collect her thoughts.

Kim opened the door and went in. She turned around to close and lock the door.

Shego shoved her way inside and closed the door behind her, shocking Kim, who backed away and almost fell over. Without looking she reached behind her and fingered the latch, locking it. "You want to talk about it?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper.

She was Kim Possible. She could do anything.

And she had no idea what to do right now.

To be continued . . .

Author's Note - the song lyrics are from "Under the Milky Way," by the Church (1988). I don't have permission to use them, yada yada.

Chapter 6

Title: Green, Black and Blue (6/??)

Author: Allaine

Email: eac2nd@yahoo.com

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "An Unacceptable Sitch". Ignores the events of "Go Team Go".

Feedback: I hope everyone who was so helpful during the writing of "Unacceptable Sitch" will continue to give me their opinions.

Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.

Summary: As Kim and Shego gingerly try to strengthen the bond of friendship while finding new paths of their own, their pasts follow them everywhere.

_____________________________________

Chapter 6

"What do you think you're _doing_?" Kim hissed at Shego. "Get out of my goddamn stall!"

"Hiding is beneath you," Shego snarled.

"What hiding? I'm here to use the bathroom! Why do you always pick fights in bathrooms anyway? And hey, this is a public bathroom. As in, other people are here, and I am NOT having this conversation with you in public!"

"Since when have I ever cared what other people thought? And what exactly is 'this conversation'?"

"Hey, I agree with the first girl. Could you two take this outside?"

Shego glared at the wall separating them from the girl in the next stall who had spoken. "Excuse me," she told Kim, unlocking the door and storming back outside. She drew one of her gloves from her handbag, slipped it on, snapped her fingers, and pressed her palm against the door of the next stall over.

"Shego!" Kim gasped.

"Don't worry," Shego said drolly. When a circular patch of ice had formed in the center of the door, she cocked her arm back and elbowed it forcefully. Shards of frozen metal buckled and cascaded into the stall, showering the woman inside with ice.

Kim's face dropped into her hands as the girl screamed. Shego reached an arm in and grabbed the shrieking woman. "How about you give us a little privacy instead?!" she growled. "Kim would appreciate it."

She let go, and within thirty seconds, not one but all the stall doors opened and frightened women ran out of the ladies' room. Kim could hear the beginnings of an uproar outside.

"Did you have to do that?" Kim moaned.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just we'll be _banned for life_."

"This isn't my town," Shego said. "It's small. It's smaller than either of us. Speaking of you and me, how about we talk now?"

Kim glared at her. "About _what_?"

"Denial, Kimmie? Come on! You're saying there's nothing to talk about?"

"You really want to talk about it? Fine! Why did _you_ sneak up on me and put your arms around me, Shego?"

"You didn't seem too upset."

"My eyes were closed! I didn't know it was you."

"I never knew you were into picking up strange guys on the dance floor," Shego replied, looking unconcerned as she sat on the counter where the sinks were. "Although I don't know many men with arms like mine. AND I'm pretty sure you opened your eyes _before_ the song ended."

Kim turned away. "Before we start talking about me, how about we stick to the first question? Namely you?"

Shego put her hand on Kim's shoulder and spun her around before Kim even knew it. "I told you, I don't share," she said calmly, but her eyes were dark and intense.

"So?"

"You're the one who wanted me to let you into my life," Shego replied. "So I did. Suddenly it's Ron and Monique and family dinners. Well I am marking my territory, Kim."

"We're not wolves, Shego," Kim shot back, "and you don't own me."

"You're not like them," Shego said stubbornly. "You're like me. You don't need these people. They hold you back."

"They are my _family and friends_, Shego. Is this concept so completely _foreign_ to you?"

"We're friends, aren't we? So I think I grasp the concept just fine."

Kim exhaled, frustrated. "This is going in circles. Why do we always have to fight over who takes the next step forward? Look, I didn't want to be dancing alone. That's why I let you touch me. And then, when I knew it was you, I - felt safe. I . . ." She waved a hand, trying to make it sound like it was nothing. "I had a sudden flashback to the Acceptables falling, and I didn't want to think about it, so I held onto you. Happy?"

Shego took a step back, startled by Kim's candidness. Suddenly she seemed like the nervous one.

"This," Kim added, "is where you tell me what you're holding back."

Shego licked her lips and assumed a posture that was almost defensive. "I - " she began to say.

They both heard the ladies' room entrance open. "Do you _mind_?!" they asked in unison, whipping their heads around to look at the new arrival.

"Kimmie, can't I take you anywhere?"

Kim stared. "Monique?!"

Shego took in the all-black outfit. "Which name am I supposed to use now?" she asked sarcastically.

"Oryx will do," Monique said, her voice slightly modified by the mask that covered her face while allowing her to breathe normally. "They're about ready to call the police out there."

"Why are you dressed like that?" Kim asked. "I thought you didn't like to be seen."

"I keep a spare in the car," Oryx replied. "And when they come in here and find the room empty, I think it'll add to my reputation."

"How's that going to happen?" Shego asked, not believing it.

Oryx took Kim by the hand and led her to the stall furthest from the door. She removed a device from a pocket and pushed the button. Some of the floor tiles slid aside, revealing an opening.

Kim looked behind her at Shego, then back at Oryx. "Where does this lead?"

"A few years ago some geeks were using the old subway tunnels below Middleton . . ."

"Robot wars, right, I remember," Kim said.

"Yeah, well, they've moved on to greener pastures, which means I've started using them for high-speed travel from one part of the city to another. I can come to the Planetarium, leave through here, fight crime, come back, and everybody thinks I was here all night," Oryx explained.

"Where'd you get the technology?"

"Wade."

"_Wade_?"

"Nerdlinger. It figures."

"He needs someone to test out his devices. And you were out of the game until recently. He volunteered his services. Could we maybe go now before club security decides to come looking for us?"

Kim sighed. The night had become progressively more surreal. "I hope my outfit won't get too dirty," she muttered as she leapt down.

"After you," Oryx told Shego.

"Thanks," she said dryly. "Where next, the Batcave?"

"Do I look like I have that kind of money?"

"You could always steal it."

Oryx put her hands on her hips and looked at her. "You ever steal something from my town, and you'll answer to me."

"Whatever," Shego said, but Oryx stopped her when she tried to pass.

"And if you ever abuse Kim's trust in you," she said icily, "I will personally see to your destruction."

Shego bared her teeth. "As long as the rest of you don't hold her back, we'll get along just fine."

"Hold her _back_?"

"Uh, guys? It's kind of dark down here."

Shego brushed Oryx's arm aside and disappeared into the hole.

Oryx shook her head and followed. But she did something first.

Two minutes later, when two bouncers and the manager went inside, there was no sign of anyone. The only thing they found was a small card with the word "ORYX" written on it.

The "R" was underlined.

____________________________________

"Wooo-HOO! Express elevator to Hell!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"

Kim sighed and held on.

Shego had a look of maniacal glee in her eyes as she bore down on the stick. The ship descended at an angle that was almost perpendicular to the earth's surface.

Ron looked at Shego, his face drained of color. "You really are from Hell," he croaked. "You're going to kill us all!"

"Oh, Ron, so not the drama," Kim assured him.

"Pulling up . . . 3, 2, 1, NOW!" Shego barked. She yanked back on the stick and pulled so hard that she almost stood up in her seat.

The ship's descent slowed as it banked in a parabolic curve and began ascending again. Ron was plastered to his seat. He would have screamed again, but his lungs were flattened and he couldn't inhale.

"Sappho!" Shego ordered. "Can you execute a rolling maneuver?"

"Can I _roll_?" Sappho asked in almost rapturous ecstasy. "Honey, I _rock_ when I roll."

"Please put your trays in their upright position," Shego crowed, "and zip your pockets if you've got any loose change."

"Take it easy, Shego," Kim cautioned her. "This vehicle is one of its kind, and it cost a fortune."

"That's what test flights are all about, Kimmie," Shego said. "Testing for flaws."

The ship made a sniffing sound that suggested its opinion on the likelihood of finding flaws.

"Sappho, let's try a slow roll followed by an Immelman, okay?" Shego asked.

"I leave my controls in those _capable_ hands of yours, Shego," Sappho purred.

Kim rolled her eyes. Ron's eyes rolled back into their sockets.

Shego glanced at Kim, and the heroine was struck by how alive she was. She was almost breathtakingly beautiful at that moment.

Had the words 'breathtakingly beautiful' just crossed her mind? In connection to Shego?

"Hey, Kimmie!"

Kim looked up. "Huh?"

"You were looking a little zoned out there," Shego said. "Didn't think that would freak you out."

"No, I'm - fine," Kim said. "I was just distracted."

"In that case, we'd better land," Shego replied. "Stoppable passed out."

_________________________________

"Those were some very, um, entertaining flight patterns," Dr. Possible said to Kim when he met her on the airfield.

"Shego was flying for the last few minutes," Kim explained. "Her piloting skills are a little more daring than mine."

"Sappho?" Dr. Freeman asked. "The control tower said something about a second, pink ship being spotted up there. Know anything about it?" he asked wryly.

"Sorry, Dr. Freeman," Sappho replied. She sounded beat. "Sometimes I just lose control of my color functions in the middle of a particularly good maneuver."

Ron slowly crawled out of the ship. "I don't remember any good maneuvers," he whimpered.

"How was my little girl, Sappho?" Dr. Possible asked.

"Kim is a very adept pilot, Dr. Possible," Sappho told him. "But Shego - she can drive me _any_ time she likes. When she sat at the controls, her fingers were _especially_ skilled."

"You've got a dirty CPU, Sappho," Sadie responded. Dr. Freeman was sitting behind her wheel.

"It's not my fault if only one of us appreciates the need for speed," Sappho said.

"Girls, let's not fight," Dr. Freeman pleaded.

Shego came over, grinning from ear to ear. "That was five by five," she breathed. "I've never handled a ship that was so responsive to my touch."

"Those two are made for each other," Sadie mumbled.

Kim glanced behind her. "Oh, Ron," she said, concerned. She went over to him. "It's a good thing you didn't eat first," she added as she helped him up.

"Please don't mention food again," he mumbled. "And the word 'beer' is off-limits for the rest of the day."

Privately Kim wondered if Shego's piloting display had been intended to reduce Ron to this state. Or if she'd known Kim wouldn't be fazed by the acrobatics, and wanted her to compare her response to Ron's.

"When will you understand that this isn't a competition, Shego?" she thought. "You don't need to 'win'. I want us to be friends. What more do you want?"

For her part, Shego watched Kim tending to Ron, and her eyes narrowed into angry slits. She and Kim were a breed apart. Why didn't she _get_ that?

She barely acknowledged Sappho's warm farewell as she got into Sadie's backseat and stewed.

"Is something wrong with her?" Dr. Freeman asked his colleague quietly.

"Don't worry," Dr. Possible reassured him. "Kim says she's always like that."

_____________________________________

"Wade," Kim said as her Kimmunicator went off. "When did you start helping Monique with her nighttime activities?"

Expecting just to pass along his information, Wade stared at the viewscreen. "Don't you want the sitch?"

"You're damn right I do. What's the sitch with you and Monique?"

He looked uncomfortable. "I'm not sure that's any of your business, Kim. It's kind of private."

"Oh, please. She already told me all about it."

"She _did_?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "We've only gone out a few times, Kim. Nothing's happened yet."

"Nothing's . . . " Kim's voice trailed off. "Wade?" she asked menacingly.

Shego chuckled from behind her. "What we have here is a failure to Kimmunicate," she said.

"Yeah?"

"I was talking about you helping Oryx with your technology. What were _you_ talking about?"

Wade started sweating. "Uh, the same thing?"

"You're _dating_ Monique?!"

"I'm eighteen," he said defensively.

"_Dating_?!"

"We met one night so I could give her a couple gadgets I came up with. We got to talking and . . ."

"How come I wasn't told? And how come she gets to see you in person and I don't?!"

"For a minute there I thought this wasn't all about you."

"Shego, do you mind?" Kim hissed at her. The brunette smirked and held her hands up.

"We're both adults, Kim," Wade said. "We would have told you and Ron if it started getting serious. What's the big deal?"

Kim grumbled. "Nothing. What else is new?"

"I found out where Doctor Drakken is hiding."

Shego and Kim both tensed. Shego's fingers made strangling motions in the air. "Where?" Kim asked.

"It's one of his old abandoned ones. Looks like he saved money by refurbishing it. It's in the mountains in northern Mexico."

"I know where that one is," Shego said quietly.

"Thanks, Wade. We'll take care of it." Kim turned it off before he could say anything else.

"That was abrupt," Shego noted.

"What?"

"Not even a goodbye? And so concerned about his personal life? I'd almost say you were _jealous_," Shego said, smirking.

Kim flushed as she glared at her. "It was a shock."

"And?"

"And - and I'm the only person who's still single," Kim sighed. "Ron, Monique, Wade . . . even _Bonnie_ has someone. Where's mine?"

Shego looked away, tapping her fingers restlessly.

"What, no snappy comeback?" Kim asked.

"I'm not much of a talker. I'm more of a doer," Shego muttered.

"True," Kim said.

"You . . ."

"Yes, Shego?"

"You - wanted to know why I danced with you," she said apprehensively.

Kim nodded, now focused on Shego. "Why?"

"When I saw you dancing alone, I wanted to tell you something," Shego murmured.

"What?"

Shego tossed her hair, looking anxious.

"Shego, you can tell me anything," Kim said. "You may not like to share, but you have to share some things with me."

"I - " Shego got up and sat next to Kim. "Like I said," she said softly, "I'm a doer, not a talker."

She put her hand on Kim's shoulder, leaned forward, and kissed her.

To be continued . . .

Chapter 7

Title: Green, Black and Blue (7/??)

Author: Allaine

Email: eac2nd@yahoo.com

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "An Unacceptable Sitch". Ignores the events of "Go Team Go".

Feedback: I hope everyone who was so helpful during the writing of "Unacceptable Sitch" will continue to give me their opinions.

Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.

Summary: As Kim and Shego gingerly try to strengthen the bond of friendship while finding new paths of their own, their pasts follow them everywhere.

_____________________________________

Chapter 7

For the first few second, Kim was so stunned by Shego's action that she didn't even move. It was only when she felt the merest hint of the tip of Shego's tongue flicking against her lips that she reacted. She flinched so violently that she almost fell over.

Shego's eyes had been closed, but now they opened as Kim slid away from her. Her pupils were impossibly wide. Comprehension set in, along with dismay. She pulled back.

"What was _that_?!" Kim asked, her voice almost a shriek.

"What do you _think_?" Shego retorted, taking refuge in her vicious wit. "This isn't exactly the place I wanted to do that, but at least I've got privacy."

_This_ was the home bleachers overlooking the football field at Kim's old high school. Kim's bedroom had been swallowed by one of her twin brothers years before, and at any rate she had seen how Shego hung back from entering her house, as if she were a vampire denied permission to enter. She'd brought Shego here for that exact same reason - the privacy the other woman demanded.

Kim just stared at her.

Shego watched her sullenly, forcing Kim to initiate a discussion or drop it. She seethed as she waited. Anger was always better than pain.

"What was it supposed to mean?" Kim asked, almost reluctantly.

Shego almost repeated her earlier question, but she ground her teeth instead. "I told you we were alike, Kimmie," she growled. "And I told you I don't let people into my life by inches. If I give of myself, I expect the same from you." She paused, clenching her fists tightly in her lap. "I am the only person who will ever deserve you, Kim. No one else can understand you the way I can."

"But, but," Kim stammered, "I'm a girl! And so are you!"

"No big," Shego said casually.

"Big!" Kim insisted. "This is SO big, this is SO the drama, this is . . ."

"Run out of catch-phrases?"

Kim glared at her. "Stop messing with my mind!"

"This is as honest as I'll ever be, Kim," Shego said calmly. "If you can't comprehend that, then the one with the problem here is you."

"This is you marking your territory again, right?" Kim pleaded.

Shego looked at her flatly. "You asked me why you were still single. It's because you're head and shoulders above them all, Kim. They can't even reach you, let alone touch you. Our battles prove that we were meant for each other. I mean," she said, a touch of desperation entering her voice, "that's why you said you wanted to be friends, right? That's why you went to the effort of getting me to open up? Because you know it too, right?"

Kim closed her eyes and looked away. Her steady exterior belied the knot of anxiety in her stomach. "I always mean what I say, Shego. I wanted you as my friend. But I can't accept what you're offering. I'm sorry, but I just can't."

"But - you always said anything was possible."

She opened her eyes and looked into Shego's. "Not this," she said quietly. Kim stretched out a hand.

Shego jerked away like it was Kim wearing the special gloves instead of her. "You goody-two-shoes BITCH!" She lashed out with her fist, catching Kim on the temple and knocking her over, making the metal bleachers echo. She stood over Kim for a moment, her face twisted, before she screamed and turned around. She leapt down the steps and began running.

Kim struggled up and shook her head in an attempt to clear it. "Shego . . . Shego!"

But Shego rapidly vanished into the shadows, leaving Kim to wonder if she really wanted to stop her.

"Oh God," Kim whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I'll never see her again."

________________________________________

Sappho was awakened by a rhythmic pounding on her hull. "Activating exterior detection systems," she thought as she looked to see what was causing the disruption.

Shego pounded on the ship again. "Damn it, wake up," she said, gasping for air.

"Shego? It's late, and Doctor Freeman has gone home for . . ."

"One more flight," Shego said. "I'm leaving town, and I won't get another chance."

"Oh!" Sappho said, disappointed. "Well, I suppose - "

The door slid open, and Shego staggered in, drained. She fell into the pilot's chair.

"Where are you going?" Sappho gingerly asked after a minute.

Shego raised her head slightly. "If I give you some coordinates, could you pilot yourself there?"

"Of course, but wouldn't you rather - "

"I'm not in the mood right now," Shego interrupted. "Maybe later."

The hangar doors slowly opened as Sappho activated the building mechanism. The dashboard controls slowly came alive. Their twinkling lights reflected off Shego's haggard face. "Where to?" Sappho inquired.

Lifeless eyes blinked once. "Mexico," she said.

__________________________________________

Kim slumped over the steering wheel, too emotionally exhausted to even think about driving. "Sadie," she said out loud. "Think you could handle the driving tonight?"

"Of course, Kim," Sadie replied, having volunteered her services as Kim's transportation for the night after dropping Dr. Freeman off. "Is anything the matter?" The automobile paused. "Where is - that woman?" she asked, unwilling to say Shego's name.

"She'll show up," Kim said without conviction. "Just head for home."

"Certainly, Kim."

There was silence for a few minutes as they drove. "You ought to put your seat belt on, Kim," Sadie gently reminded her.

Kim laughed bitterly. "Why? Are you going to have an accident?"

"Well, no, I don't get into accidents, but - "

"And even if you did, would it matter? After all, I can survive a car crash. I can do _anything_. I'm _Kim Possible_."

Sadie slowly pulled over.

"What's wrong?" Kim asked, surprised.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Kim."

"I'm just tired."

"Tired would not explain the way you said your name just now, Kim. 'Self-loathing' is not an emotion I've come to associate with you."

Kim looked down at her lap. "I can't talk about it. Not with you, not with Monique, certainly not my parents. Or _Ron_ . . ."

"Kim, you would be surprised at the number of times Dr. Freeman has shared his troubles with myself. Not to mention the stereo, the toaster - " Sadie made an aggravated noise. "Perhaps even Sappho has been there for him a time or two. You can tell me anything. I'm a machine, after all."

"Where do I begin?" Kim asked plaintively.

"How about beginning with what happened between when you and Shego went outside, and when you returned alone?"

Kim sighed. "Shego hates me again," she whispered. "And it's all my fault."

________________________________________

"I mean, what is the fucking _point_?!" Shego screeched. "Why do I even think that Miss Perfect would even consider me good enough for her? Why do I even try?"

"Perhaps it isn't you," Sappho ventured to suggest. "I am told that humans of the same sex rarely interact in a romantic way. Couldn't it be that she simply doesn't have the capacity to feel that way for another female?"

"You didn't see the horror in her eyes," Shego said darkly. "Like a rat had crawled across her face. Kim Possible put me in the hospital a dozen times, but I never _imagined_ she could hurt me that badly with just a look."

"She was surprised, was she not?" Sappho asked. "Maybe if you give her time."

"She slammed the door in my face, Sappho," Shego snarled. "She said it was NEVER going to happen. What - that I would never be good enough for her? That I would never be more than damaged goods?"

"Shego!" Sappho said, bewildered. "You are putting too little stock in yourself. In just a short time I have found you to be the very best kind of human."

Shego lapsed into brooding silence again, and Sappho waited for a minute before prompting her. "Shego?"

"I was an orphan, you know."

"Um, no, I did not know that."

"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't. Nobody knows. Except Kim," Shego said with an ugly look on her face. "I never told her, but I bet she knows. Miss Know-It-All probably knows everything about me. Or thinks she does, knows I'm a nobody with no family, not like HER."

" . . . "

"My parents were in a car crash," Shego continued woodenly. "They survived the crash, but not the chemicals that spilled out of the jackknifed tractor-trailer. They died a few hours later at the hospital - enough time, at least, to tear me out of my mother's womb one month premature. The doctors say the chemicals are what made me like this," she explained, gesturing to her face. "I was in the hospital for two years, charity case. They weren't sure if I would be toxic to the touch, so I didn't really get held a lot."

"I - see."

"Then, of course, there was the orphanage. Most parents didn't want the freakish girl," Shego said. "All the doctors were sure I'd be developmentally disabled too, and nobody wanted a retarded kid either. I was in a few foster homes, but . . . it's not easy, not being wanted. Guess it didn't help my personality," she added wryly.

"Shego . . ."

"I guess that's why I worked for Drakken all those years," Shego mused. "He needed me so much, it was almost funny. Of course, he _was_ a loser. Not like _Kimmie_, who _never_ loses. Why would she ever want me?"

_________________________________

"We've been through so much together the past couple months," Kim said helplessly. "I told her I didn't want us to be enemies any more, not after that. Why doesn't she understand? Why can't we be friends?"

"Obviously Shego wants to be a little more than friends," Sadie pointed out.

"But I can't!"

"Can't is an odd word. Can't what? Want that?"

"I can't give her that."

"I thought you liked her?"

"I do! Just not the way she likes me."

"You're sure of that? Kim, what is it about Shego that you like the most? What is it that always draws you to her?"

Kim closed her eyes and leaned back. "Her passion for life," she finally said. "She has this wild, untamed energy - she's not like me. I have to keep control."

"Why?"

"It's just the way I am. She flaunts responsibility, obligations, rules, everything!"

"So you're afraid that if you get too involved with her, she'll make you lose control too?"

Kim sat up. "I guess, kinda?" she said hesitantly.

"We appear to be getting somewhere."

________________________________________________

"And her stupid friends, and her stupid family!"

"Dr. Possible is a very nice man."

"They all look at me like I'm this criminal reject, and it's - " She put her hands on her hips. "If you hurt Kim, I'll kill you," she mimicked, assuming a sanctimonious tone of voice. "They don't like me, they don't want me around, they don't think I'm good enough for her either." Shego folded her arms and steamed. "They're all such _good_ people," she sneered. "That's who Kim wants to be with, the _nice_ people. Not the bad girl."

"They need to be given time, Shego. I'm sure if they got to know you the way Kim - "

"Fuck them!" she screamed, and Sappho could only respond with shocked silence. "I don't need them. She sure as hell doesn't need them when she's got me, but she doesn't get that. She'd rather be with them. So screw it, Sappho. Screw it. If I'll never be good enough for them, then what's the point of being good? Might as well give evil another try."

"Shego, no."

"Besides, there's only one place I've ever been accepted," Shego went on stubbornly. "That's where they all think I belong. Well, they got their wish, and I hope Kim's happy when I k . . ."

"When you what, Shego? When you what?"

"When I show her," Shego said, her eyes burning. "I'll show her who's better. Then it'll just be me. Me against - "

Shego didn't finish. Instead she screamed despairingly before falling out of her chair and onto her knees. She pounded the floor as her breath caught on sobs so wracking that her stomach hurt.

"Shego," Sappho whispered.

The young woman looked up, her hair in disarray. "You take me where I want to go," she hissed, "and then you leave me there, and you go home. And you will not say another word. Got it?!"

" . . . Yes," the ship's intelligence said unhappily.

Shego brought her knees up to her chest, curled against the bulkhead, and waited.

______________________________________

"So you said no because you're afraid of how your family and friends would react if they found out you were romantically involved with a woman, and not just any woman but Shego," Sadie said calmly. "Because your life and your future are complicated enough as it is. And you're afraid Shego will compromise your self-control if you let her in."

"Yes," Kim insisted.

"Did you say no because you're not attracted to her?" Sadie asked quietly. "Because those are very good reasons, Kim, but they don't tell me how your heart feels on the subject."

Kim sucked in her breath. "Sadie . . ."

"It's not a difficult question, Kim. The appliances and I are in agreement on this matter. You humans sometimes make the yes-or-no questions the most difficult, when in reality it's just a question of a 1 versus a 0. Do you? Or don't you?"

"I - "

Alone at this hour, Kim forced herself to ruthlessly analyze how she'd felt around Shego the past couple months. Mainly she thought about the times when Shego had tempted her so with the visions she offered, and Kim had declined only because she couldn't live that life.

And when she'd held Shego in her arms, before she opened her eyes, her instincts told her it felt so right.

"I do," she whispered. "She told me how she felt, and I felt the same way, and the way I _treated_ her . . . oh, shit!" she yelled. Her eyes welled up as she pounded the steering wheel.

"Easy on the car, Kim," Sadie said.

"Sorry! God, I'm screwing up so badly tonight! What's _wrong_ with me?"

"Kim, I can't tell you what to do about Shego," Sadie replied, sighing. "I'm just a car that's driven people around the block a few times. It's up to you to decide if all those other reasons are enough to keep you from starting something with her. But maybe don't you owe it to her to tell her how you really feel?"

"You're right," Kim said miserably as she rubbed at her eyes with her arm. "She was so hurt, and it wasn't because of her! It was me. Sadie, we've got to find her. She could leave town!"

"I've got an almost-full tank, Kim. I can drive all night."

But when the sun came up and the urgent call came in from her father's lab, they hadn't found her.

________________________________________

Dr. Drakken flared his nostrils as he worked intently on his current project. Soon - soon the world would be cowering at his feet!

He heard an odd noise, and he looked up.

The large iron doors to his lab looked unusually shiny.

Then they fell down with a thud, cracking into a hundred pieces. Little chunks of ice skittered across the floor and knocked against his shoes. Shego stood there, her arms outstretched as if she'd just pushed the door over. Which evidently, his genius reasoned, she had.

Drakken gulped and cowered behind his chair. "Shego! How did you find me?!"

"Same way Kim Possible found out," she said sullenly. "She could be here any day now."

"Kim Possible! I've got to - "

"Yeh-ba-ba-ba," she interrupted, raising a finger. "Something else occurred to me on the way here."

"Something - else?" he asked nervously. "Other than pulverizing me?"

"Yeah, something else. I realized that technically, I'm still under contract."

He blinked. "You are?"

"I figure you owe me five years' of back pay."

"What? Back pay?! You let me rot in jail!"

"I was in jail TOO, you know!"

"As a visitor!"

She sighed. "How about I forget about the back pay, you forget about the prison thing, and we call it even?"

Drakken gaped at her. "Um, okay?"

"Good," Shego said. "So what's the next evil scheme?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because I'm under contract, remember? I - work for you."

"You - you mean you're coming back to me?" he asked, stupefied. "As my sidekick?"

Her shoulders slumped. "Yes, Dr. D," Shego muttered. "As your sidekick. You want something stolen, I can get it for you. I'm good at that, at least."

A broad grin broke across his blue features. "Why, Shego, that's wonderful news! Let bygones be bygones, that's what I always say."

"I've never heard you say that," she said dubiously.

"You know what I mean!" he shouted. He went over to her and put his arm around her shoulders. She tensed momentarily before she deflated and allowed him to shepherd her over to the worktable. "Anyway, it will be just like old times!"

"Good," Shego said.

"Currently I'm concocting a mad scheme that will turn the people of the world into my mindless puppets!"

"Didn't you already try that?" she asked uncomfortably, remembering the chip.

"No, I mean I'm literally going to turn them into puppets!" Drakken said excitedly. "You know, with the strings and the wooden noses that get longer when you tell a lie?"

Shego stared at him. "Just like old times," she thought.

"Oh, and Shego, remember what I said before? About you groveling before me, begging for forgiveness? That nasty little business the other night?" he asked airily.

"Yeah?"

The hand on her shoulder moved slightly and pressed something against the nape of her neck.

Shego's body spasmed for a moment before returning to normal.

"You can start now," Dr. Drakken said evilly.

Blank eyes looked back. "Yes, Dr. Drakken!"

To be continued . . .

Chapter 8

Title: Green, Black and Blue (8/9)

Author: Allaine

Email: eac2nd@yahoo.com

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "An Unacceptable Sitch". Ignores the events of "Go Team Go".

Feedback: I hope everyone who was so helpful during the writing of "Unacceptable Sitch" will continue to give me their opinions.

Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.

Summary: As Kim and Shego gingerly try to strengthen the bond of friendship while finding new paths of their own, their pasts follow them everywhere.

_____________________________________

Chapter 8

"Glad you could get here, Kimmie," her father said as Kim staggered out of the car.

"Sorry I didn't come home last night," she replied, yawning.

He took in her drawn, exhausted appearance. "Evidently," Dr. Possible said, mystified.

"Hey, KP."

The voice came from behind Kim, startling her. "Ron? What are you doing here?"

"Because I might have a mission for you, Kim," her father explained, "and I know how you like to have Ron with you."

"Mind if I go fill my tanks, Dr. Possible?" Sadie asked. She too sounded beat.

"You might want to wait just a moment," he replied. "It looks like Sappho has been stolen."

"What? Stolen?!" Kim gasped.

"_Someone_ came here in the middle of the night and flew her away without proper clearance or authorization," Dr. Possible said.

"That's crazy," Sadie said. "Sappho couldn't have been stolen. That would be like me being stolen. Neither of us would let strangers activate us without our permission."

"Car chooses the driver, not the other way around?" Ron asked.

"You better believe it, buster. Sappho probably flew off for a joyride."

"Security footage showed a lone figure entering the hangar minutes before takeoff," Dr. Possible told them, disproving that theory

Kim felt her heart sink. Sappho had only the best things to say about Shego the last time she flew. Of _course_ she'd be willing to give Shego another spin, no matter what the hour was. Which explained how Shego was able to make herself so scarce. She'd left the city entirely. "Uh, Dad?" she said anxiously.

"Dr. Possible!"

Her father turned around. "Yes, Dr. Freeman?"

"She's back!" The other scientist stopped running and pointed behind him, panting heavily. Sure enough, the familiar gray sphere was slowly coming in for a landing.

"Please be inside," Kim thought to herself, but she knew Shego was gone.

And when Sappho settled down not far from them, her fears were confirmed. "Shego came here last night," she told them, unusually subdued. "She asked to be taken somewhere. I dropped her off and came back."

"Shego?" Dr. Possible asked. "Kimmie, you should have told us she was leaving. We were never properly introduced."

"It was kind of a split-second decision," Kim said.

"Shego's gone?" Ron looked entirely too relieved.

"Sappho, where did she go?" Kim asked.

"Somewhere in northern Mexico, I believe," the ship told her.

Kim was almost rocked by the sudden feeling of dismay. She pulled out her Kimmunicator and brought up the data Wade had sent her on Drakken's location. "Here?" she asked fearfully, holding up the device.

Sappho activated her "seeing eye". "Yes, that was the place," she said quietly.

"Damn," she hissed despairingly.

"Kim?" Ron asked.

"She's gone to find Dr. Drakken."

"By herself? Could she kill him on her own?"

"Ron," she said hopelessly, "as strange as this may sound, I _hope_ she's gone there to kill him."

Dr. Freeman looked oddly at his two self-automated vehicles. "What are you girls up to?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," Sadie said neutrally.

"You were flashing your lights at each other awfully quickly."

"Can't cousins have a private conversation?" Sappho asked, but her voice had none of its sly pleasure.

"Guess you can go home then, Kim," Dr. Possible said, "and catch some shut-eye."

"Actually, Kim," Sappho interjected quickly, "maybe you could come inside for a minute. There's something I'd like to tell you, just between us."

"I think you should, Kim," Sadie added.

Kim nodded. "I'll be right out, Ron."

"Cool. Ruby and I are headed to the Worldwide Domain of Waffles after this. Rufus is sleeping in."

"Waffles!" Ruby said brightly.

Kim went into the spaceship and the door closed behind her. "What did she have to say, Sappho?" she asked.

Sappho paused. "Sadie was telling me that you had quite the night."

"It was no . . . yeah, it was big."

"Shego had a lot to say, Kim Possible. I began recording it when I realized how upset she was. I thought you might like to hear it?"

Kim closed her eyes. Undoubtedly Shego had some very unpleasant things to say about her, but she had to listen, for clues as to what she had planned. "No, but I have to."

"Sit down then."

She did, and she waited.

" - hospital a dozen times, but I never _imagined_ she could hurt me that badly with just a look."

Kim almost leaped back out of the chair. Shego's voice lashed across her hearing. It was raw, ragged, and the venom hit Kim like a physical blow.

She listened to the remainder of the recording with mounting horror as Shego poured out her hatred for everyone, including herself. Once she'd found Shego's insistence on believing the worst of her to be frustrating. Now it devastated her, because she couldn't help but feel she deserved it. Shego had opened her heart to her, and Kim, coward that she was, had run away from it.

"Did you know?" Sappho asked softly when it was over. "About her parents, I mean?"

"Of course not!" Kim said, crying now. "She never talks about her past, not to anyone!"

"I see. Perhaps she told me because I am a machine, rather than a human. Or because she was so angry that she needed to let it out, and I was the closest thing available."

"I had no idea," Kim whispered. "No wonder she's angry with the world. She's been considered unworthy almost her whole life."

"She isn't, though. I know you don't think so."

"No," Kim agreed. "She's one of the most amazing people I've ever met." She looked down. "Thank you, by the way," she said.

"For what?"

"You tried to help her. You were a better friend to her than I was."

"I bet you'd like to change that, though. Correct?"

Kim nodded, anguished. "I can't let her think it was because of her," she said. "And I definitely can't let her throw the rest of her life away on _Drakken_."

"I could have you there in a couple hours."

"Then do it," Kim immediately said. "No, wait. Give me a minute. Open the hatch."

She ran outside to her father. "Dad, I need to borrow Sappho. Shego's gone to Drakken, and I have to go after her."

"Is it important?" he asked.

Kim nodded vigorously.

Dr. Freeman looked unconvinced. "She's been out all night. I really think Sappho needs to recharge for the day."

"Please, Dr. Freeman." It was not Sappho who spoke, but Sadie. "I don't think there's time."

The inventor looked at the car, surprised. He switched his gaze between Kim and the two machines. "I don't know what's going on," he said, "but if this is life or death, then I have to say yes."

"Looks like waffles will have to wait, Ruby," Ron said to the mole rat.

"Actually, Ron," Kim said quietly, "I think I'd better go this one alone."

"What?! But what about Team Possible?"

"This isn't exactly a mission," she told him. "I'm going there to save Shego, not fight her. But if you're there, she's going to get even more defensive than she is now. This has to be between us."

Ron stared at her. He wasn't dense. He could see the streaks on her face, the circles under her eyes, and the determined look. "At least take Ruby," he said. "She did good at the Acceptables' base."

Ruby nodded.

"Thanks, Ron," Kim said, hugging him suddenly. "You're always thinking of me," she whispered in his ear.

"Yeah, well," he replied, embarrassed. Meanwhile Ruby took advantage of the embrace to crawl into Kim's pocket.

Kim backed away. "I'll be back for dinner," she promised.

"You'd better, young lady," Dr. Possible warned her. "Your mother wasn't happy with you staying out all night. You had better not have been chasing boys."

"Chasing, yes. Boys, no." She turned around and hurried back into the ship.

"Kim, you should rest," Sappho told her as they took off. "It will be a few hours, and you appear to be tired."

She nodded. Spending the next three hours endlessly thinking about the previous night wasn't that appealing to her.

Kim expected to toss and turn when she lay down on the sleeping cot that Sappho had built in, but instead she descended almost immediately into a deep sleep.

It was uneasy, however.

______________________________________

_"But - you always said anything was possible."_

_"Not this," she said quietly. Kim stretched out a hand._

_Shego grabbed her hand, pulled hard so that Kim tumbled forward, and kissed her again. Viciously. Her tongue crashed through Kim's lips and invaded her mouth as aggressively as she'd once buried her fist in Kim's stomach. Kim tried to pull away for a moment, but then, so unlike her, she yielded. Her tongue tentatively tried to reciprocate, but Shego wasn't interested in giving. She was only taking now._

_Despite that, Kim couldn't suppress a low moan that was muffled by Shego's mouth._

_At that point, Shego suddenly broke it off. Dazed, Kim could only stare at Shego, who looked back at her with contempt and loathing._

_"Seems possible to me," Shego said murderously. "I guess what's impossible is that Miss Priss could ever admit to being a dirty dyke, shame of the family."_

_Stung, Kim lashed out. "At least I _have_ a family."_

_Shego flinched, and Kim was immediately horrified that she'd even said such a thing. "Shego . . ."_

_"I could have taken you the other night," Shego hissed at her. "I could have broken up that platonic little sleepover you wanted. I could have passionate, sweaty love to you for HOURS. But I guess you were just a tease. I know you enjoyed feeling my hands on that tight little body of yours the one time you were wearing my clothes. But you can't have what you want, so you make the rest of us as miserable as you are."_

_"Shego, PLEASE stop this."_

_"I will NEVER forgive you for those times you made me feel wanted," Shego snarled, even as the tears streamed down her face. "You're the evil one, not me. I wish you were DEAD!"_

_Instead of trying to run, Shego pounced on her. Her hands wrapped around Kim's throat . . ._

Kim bolted awake, hands clutching at her own throat. "Shego!" she screamed.

"Kim?"

Slowly she became aware of where she was. "Sappho," she wheezed, realizing she was soaked with sweat. "How far are we?"

"Ten minutes."

"Thanks."

Kim curled up without trying to go back to sleep. The dream had been much worse than reality, but one thing was true - Kim had been selfish, and she'd hurt Shego. Maybe she was the evil one.

_______________________________________________

"See what you can find, all right?" she said to Ruby as she held the naked mole rat in the palm of her hand. "Maybe you can find Drakken first."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh," Ruby replied before waving and leaping off her hand. She disappeared into the ventilation duct Kim had found.

Kim rubbed her arms, feeling cold. Sappho was waiting a safe distance from the base, in case something happened to Kim and Drakken attempted to steal the ship. If only she could find Shego and get her to understand, however, then Drakken wouldn't even be a problem.

Quietly she crept through the empty corridors.

Then her breath caught in her throat.

The room she'd discovered was dimly lit, but she could still see familiar long legs in green and black, resting on a desk. A black hand was being held out for inspection, and then the woman, hidden behind a high-backed chair, began filing it again.

"Shego," Kim said quietly.

The filing stopped, but Shego didn't respond.

"I know I'm the last person you want to see right now," Kim said as she came up behind her.

"That's not true," Shego said.

Kim didn't know how to interpret that remark. "Okay," she replied, taking it as a good thing.

Shego swiveled around in her chair and suddenly dived for Kim's legs. Kim was caught surprised and tumbled to the floor, Shego's arms wrapped tightly around her calves.

When her ankles felt cold without warning, she knew what Shego was doing. "Shego, please, wait!"

Shego didn't respond, however, and when Kim pushed her away, she looked down and saw that her feet were encased in an uneven block of ice, preventing her from standing.

Then Shego flung herself atop Kim, preventing her from sitting up.

"Shego!" Kim said helplessly.

"Shego must capture Kim Possible!" Shego said emptily.

Kim had never seen Shego under the influence of the mind-control chip. And she didn't see one now on Shego's forehead. But she remembered how Jim and Tim had been under the control of the chip. And she remembered Shego telling her about how Drakken had tried to use it against her the other night. That was enough to make Kim understand. "Oh God, Shego, no, NO!" she screamed, horrified.

Shego brought her arm back and slammed Kim across the face, knocking her head against the floor.

This time Kim's sleep was dreamless.

___________________________________________

"Well, well, Kim Possible! You look different. Is it the hair?"

Kim groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. "How about, I'm _older_?" she growled, looking at Dr. Drakken with hatred. Her feet were free of the ice, but now she was held suspended, her wrists manacled. Her toes dangled a few inches above the ground. Kim looked over his shoulder and saw Shego standing at attention, like a lifeless mannequin. It was so wrong seeing the fiery, energetic Shego like this that she bit at the air between her and Drakken, wanting nothing more than to beat him senseless.

"Hm, yes, that's true," he realized. "I was sure you changed your hair. Didn't it used to be brown?"

Irritated, Kim shook her head and glared at him.

"Well, it has been years!" Drakken snapped defensively. "I can't be expected to remember every little detail! Shego! What color was Kim Possible's hair five years ago?"

"It was red, Dr. Drakken!"

He grimaced. "Shego," he growled, "repeat after me. Kim - Possible's - hair - used - to - be - brown."

"Kim Possible's hair used to be brown."

"Good! Now what color was her hair before?"

"Kim Possible's hair used to be red!"

"Gah!" he snarled.

"What did you do to Shego?" Kim hissed at him.

Drakken looked back at her. "Come now, Possible. You remember the old mind-control chip, don't you? I thought you looked rather fetching in Shego's clothes."

"So did I," she thought sorrowfully. "There's no chip on her head!" she said out loud.

"Ah! But there is a chip on her body. Shego, come here!"

Dutifully she approached, and Drakken turned her around. "See this?" he asked, moving her hair and pointing to the chip attached to the nape of Shego's neck. "This is what makes her my willing slave. I had her groveling at my feet for forgiveness earlier. You should have seen it. It was rather - satisfying."

"You're a monster, Drakken," Kim retorted.

"Of course," he went on blithely, "it didn't sound exactly like her. But that was all right, because you see, you do remember being aware of what I made you do all those years ago, right?"

Kim grudgingly nodded.

"Imagining how Shego felt deep inside her brain," Drakken said, leering, "as she hugged my feet and begged me to take her back - how humiliating that must have been for her! That was a feeling that will warm my heart for weeks to come."

"When I get free - and I _always_ get free," Kim reminded him angrily, "I'm going to annihilate you. And then I'm freeing Shego, and she'll destroy what's left of you."

"Oh, but that's the best part!" he told her. He tugged gently at Shego's chip, and she hunched her shoulders, clearly reacting as if in pain. "It's become fused to her spinal cord," Drakken told her. "If you remove it, even with a sonic phase disruptor . . ."

"She'll die."

Kim stared at him, her mouth a perfect O of shock.

"Shego will look like _this_ for the rest of her life," Drakken said, swiveling around so that she could stare at Kim without a spark of recognition. "And the real Shego will be trapped inside, unable to do anything about it."

"You BASTARD!" Kim screamed at him. She never believed she could hate anyone as much as she'd hated the Acceptables, but Dr. Drakken had just proved her wrong.

He cringed. "You don't have to use foul language," he complained. Then he recovered. "Yes, Kim Possible! As long as I hold _this_ . . ." He held up a remote control that had been in his belt. "She will obey my every command. Shego, hop on one leg!"

Shego began hopping up and down on one leg.

"Suck your thumb!"

Without stopping her jumping, Shego began sucking her thumb like a baby.

"Pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time!"

She took the thumb out and began attempting to obey. She wasn't very successful at it, and she looked pretty foolish.

Kim just stared in disbelief. Somewhere, she knew, the real Shego was inside, feeling utterly mortified. "I'll kill you for this," she swore.

"Mm, kill, that's a good one. Shego, stop that hopping and patting and rubbing! Now go over to the worktable and get that knife. The big one."

Shego did as commanded.

"Stand next to Kim and put the knife to her throat."

Kim paled as this Shego with impostor's eyes walked calmly over to Kim with a serrated knife in one hand. She held it to Kim's throat, and Kim could feel the edge pricking her skin. "Shego," she pleaded, knowing it wouldn't help. If only she hadn't reacted the way she had last night! Now Shego was doomed to a life of servitude, and she was staring death in the face.

"Tell me, Shego," Drakken said cruelly, "deep down inside, how do you really feel about Kim Possible? How will it make you feel to cut her throat and watch her blood spill out?"

"How do you want me to feel?" she asked brightly.

"I want you to tell the truth!" he shouted. "How would you feel if you weren't under my control?"

Shego's face grew curiously flat. "I would be sad," she said.

Kim gasped.

"How sad?"

"Like my heart would break," Shego said softly. "I would never be happy again."

"Ooh, I like that one," Drakken murmured.

"Shego, I know you're in there," Kim said hurriedly.

"Don't bother, Kim. This isn't television! You can't magically make Shego break my hold over her! But go ahead and try, if you want."

"Don't blame yourself for this," Kim told her. "I forgive you for what you're about to do to me. I just want your forgiveness for last night. This is all my fault, and if I could do it all over again, I would have told you that I feel the same way. But I was so scared. We - we always wondered who the stronger one was, who the braver one was. Shego, it's you. You're the brave one." A tear ran down her cheek. "Please forgive me."

There was no sign that Shego had heard her.

Drakken cackled viciously. "And now, Shego!"

There was a noise above them.

"Eh?" Drakken said, looking up.

A little pink shape sailed through the air, aimed not at Shego, but at Drakken. It landed on him, just below his belt.

Ruby's eyes glittered as she bit down hard.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Drakken dropped the device as he crumpled up on the floor, eyes bulging from his sockets as Ruby bit at the most - vulnerable part of his anatomy. He whimpered softly as he lay there, in such agony that he couldn't even pull Ruby off.

"Ruby, get the device!" Kim said, her body filled with a hard satisfaction in seeing him like that.

Ruby let go and grabbed the device. She scampered up Kim's body with it between her teeth.

"No!" Drakken tried to scream, but there was no strength in his voice.

Ruby carefully balanced on Kim's shoulder and put the device in her chained hands.

"Shego," Kim said. "Put the knife back where you found it."

"Yes, Kim Possible!"

Kim shuddered as the knife was taken away, but hearing Shego address her so made her skin crawl. "Now," she said, having no choice, "kick Dr. Drakken. Kick him - very - HARD."

Drakken looked pitifully up at Shego as she went over, brought her foot back, and kicked him across the room. He moaned briefly before passing out.

"Unlock my cuffs."

"Certainly, Kim Possible!"

A minute later, Kim was free. Shego, however, was not.

"Oh, Shego," Kim said sadly, looking at her. Maybe her mother could figure a way to remove it safely . . .

Kim had just one choice.

"With this device, Shego," Kim said, "I could order you to behave any way I choose, right?"

"Yes, Kim Possible!"

"I could even mold you in my image. Make you forgive me."

"Yes, Kim Possible!"

" . . . Shego, from now on, I want you to think for yourself. I want you to continue not caring what other people think. I want you to live life to the fullest without fear of consequences. I want you to hate who you want to hate, like who you want to like, and love what you've always loved," Kim said, her voice trembling. "Basically, Shego, I'm ordering you to be the person you've always been. Don't change a thing about yourself, unless one day you choose to of your own free will. And - I'm ordering you never to take another order from the holder of this device, ever again."

Shego just stared at her for a moment. Then she swayed and fell into Kim's arms.

"Shego? Shego!"

The brunette looked up into Kim's eyes. "Kim?" she whispered.

"Shego?"

She lurched out of Kim's arms, scrambled over the corner of the room, and vomited.

Bewildered, Kim could only watch.

"Shit," Shego finally said, wiping her mouth. "I have never felt so degraded in my entire life."

"Shego, is that you?" Kim asked hopefully.

Shego sat up. "I - think so."

Kim pointed the control at her. "I order you to stand up."

"Screw you, Kim."

New tears sprang to Kim's eyes, but these were not tears of sadness. "Shego," she said, discarding the device. "It's the real you."

Shego looked at her. "I'd like to tear your face off, Kim. Still glad it's the real me?"

"Yes," Kim said honestly. "If you hate me, it's because it's my fault, not yours."

Shego didn't move from that spot. "You could have made me into anything you wanted," she finally said. "Why didn't you?"

"Because you might not believe it, but I think you're incredible the way you are. A little annoying sometimes," Kim admitted, chuckling through the tears, "but incredible. And, no matter how scared it makes me, someone I'm attracted to."

She clenched her fists and closed her eyes, shaking her head. "No, damn it, no," Shego muttered.

"What?"

"You're making it so goddamn hard for me to hate you."

Kim brightened uncertainly.

Shego sighed. "Look, I'm not going to say I forgive you, but . . . let's pretend I do, okay?"

"Thank you," Kim said.

"For what?"

"For 'not' forgiving me."

"Oh. You're welcome, I guess."

Then Shego leapt to her feet. "Drakken!!!" she screeched.

Once again, as she had years before, Kim felt oddly disinterested in preventing Shego from inflicting whatever harm she chose on him.

Shego stormed over to the prostrate Drakken, her eyes ablaze with hatred. "Drakken, wake - the - hell - up!" she shouted, shaking him at every word to punctuate them.

Drakken tentatively opened his eyes. "Mommy?" he asked.

"I'll send her your personal effects," Shego hissed, baring her claws.

He screamed.

"Shego, no! You can't kill him!" Kim burst out.

She stared at Kim. "Are you out of your mind? Do you remember what he made me do? What he _tried_ to make me do?" She looked back at Drakken with utter hatred. "I will never forget the way you made me feel. I was screaming in my mind for _hours_."

"You can't do it, Shego."

"Why not?!"

"Because unlike you, I've killed someone," Kim said quietly. "When that happened, I lost the last of my innocence. Don't throw away yours. Don't be a killer like me. We're alike in so many ways, but not that way. I couldn't bear to see what it would do to you."

Shego looked at her for a long minute before finally letting go of him. Drakken turned grateful eyes on Kim.

"Stuff it!" Kim yelled at him. "I didn't say she shouldn't beat you to within an inch of your life!"

Drakken swallowed.

Shego grinned and made her claws into a fist.

"Help? Ow!"

To be concluded . . .

Chapter 9

Title: Green, Black and Blue (9/9)

Author: Allaine

Email: eac2nd@yahoo.com

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "An Unacceptable Sitch". Ignores the events of "Go Team Go".

Feedback: I hope everyone who was so helpful during the writing of "Unacceptable Sitch" will continue to give me their opinions.

Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.

Summary: As Kim and Shego gingerly try to strengthen the bond of friendship while finding new paths of their own, their pasts follow them everywhere.

_____________________________________

Chapter 9

Shego's skin couldn't crawl. Because Drakken hadn't said it could.

Even if her cheeks were capable of turning beet red, they couldn't. Again, because Drakken didn't say they could.

She couldn't even shut her eyes and pretend no one else was in the room watching.

Her hatred for Dr. Drakken was only exceeded at that moment by her intense humiliation, which stung Shego in a thousand different places. She was a prisoner in her own body, forced to watch as Drakken treated her like a trained circus animal.

The pity in Kim Possible's eyes only made it ten times worse.

"Mm, kill, that's a good one. Shego, stop that hopping and patting and rubbing! Now go over to the worktable and get that knife. The big one . . . stand next to Kim and put the knife to her throat."

Shego watched the knife in her hand move toward Kim's throat with increasing horror. Damn it, she'd wished Kim Possible dead last night, but not like this!

"Tell me, Shego, deep down inside, how do you really feel about Kim Possible? How will it make you feel to cut her throat and watch her blood spill out?"

"How do you want me to feel?"

If Shego could have sewn her lips together, she would have gleefully, if only to stop those stupidly airheaded words from coming out of her mouth.

"I want you to tell the truth! How would you feel if you weren't under my control?"

Shego could have spoken for half an hour on the subject, but even with a command like that, she wasn't at complete liberty to speak. It was as if the chip was bypassing Shego, stealing her true emotions and transmitting them to her lips in simple words.

"I would be sad.".

"How sad?"

"Like my heart would break. I would never be happy again."

Actually, it would feel like tearing her own heart out and smashing it underfoot. It would be destroying the only person who Shego ever believed could understand her - even if Kim had failed her so utterly last night. Shego would scream for days if he made her do this. Not that anyone would hear her.

"Ooh, I like that one."

With a titanic effort Shego willed her body to pivot and plant the knife in Drakken's throat, just for saying something like that. Her body gave no sign of responding, and she could only watch in desperation.

"Shego, I know you're in there."

"Don't bother, Kim. This isn't television! You can't magically make Shego break my hold over her! But go ahead and try, if you want."

"Don't blame yourself for this. I forgive you for what you're about to do to me. I just want your forgiveness for last night. This is all my fault, and if I could do it all over again, I would have told you that I feel the same way. But I was so scared. We - we always wondered who the stronger one was, who the braver one was. Shego, it's you. You're the brave one. Please forgive me."

Shego was stunned. Kim - she what? She felt the same way? She couldn't mean that, could she? Goddamnit, why did she have to say that now? Was Kim trying to torture her? _Yeah, thanks Kimmie, I wish we could do this all over again too_, Shego snapped bitterly, but it was just a voice in her head.

"And now, Shego!"

This would be easier if she could go on hating Kim. But if Kim died breathing what-might-have-been on her lips, Shego would truly go insane.

"Cut her throat!"

_Kim, you can't die, you never die, YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE!!!_

Red splashed her vision. She didn't blink.

After all, Drakken hadn't told her to blink.

______________________________________________

"KIM!"

Shego bolted into a sitting position, her head almost striking Kim in the chin.

"Shego? It's all right, everything's all right," Kim said soothingly from behind her, as she sat cross-legged on the floor. Shego had been sleeping, her head resting in Kim's lap.

Panting heavily, Shego turned and looked at Kim as she wiped her soaked brow. "You're alive?" she croaked.

"Once again," Kim said.

"I didn't - cut you?"

"No, Shego," Kim assured her. "You didn't cut me. You never got the chance."

Shego looked down. "It was happening again," she muttered. "But it was different. You died. And . . ."

"And what?"

"You didn't really say that you felt the same way. Did you?" Shego asked, turning her body so she was facing Kim. Her eyes seemed to expect Kim to say no, while pleading with her to say yes.

Kim sighed. "I did," she said. "After you left last night, I realized that my behavior had nothing to do with my feelings for you, and everything to do with how scared my feelings for you made me."

"Scared? But not of me?"

"Well, announcing that I'm attracted to another girl - it's kind of a life-altering decision," Kim pointed out.

Shego shrugged. "That's the difference between you and me. I don't worry about consequences."

"Maybe you should," Kim replied before pausing. "And maybe I should worry a little less."

Shego looked around. "Why are we still here?" she asked, realizing they were in Drakken's lab.

"We're waiting for the authorities to pick Drakken up," Kim said, "and take him back to prison."

She reached back self-consciously and fingered the chip on her neck gently. Feeling it there made her shudder. "I can't believe I've got this damn thing on my neck the rest of my life."

"I think you should talk to Mom about that," Kim suggested.

"For what?"

"Mom's a brain surgeon. She can take a look at it and see if it can be removed safely."

"Fat chance! Ohhhhhh . . ."

Shego and Kim turned their heads and looked at Drakken with identical expressions of loathing. He was on his stomach, ankles and wrists hog-tied behind him. His face was almost purple from the beating he'd taken. "Does it hurt to speak, Drakkie?" Shego cooed.

He glared at them with his one eye that wasn't swollen shut. "No one can remove that chip," he mumbled. "Die first."

"Considering you've never been quite as smart as you think you are," Kim shot back, "I wouldn't go making promises."

"How about, I promise to get out of prison and have my revenge?"

"Your loser friends going to break you out again?" Shego asked.

"Eh, well, we haven't really spoken since that night," Drakken admitted. "After letting you escape, we may have agreed that we could do better on our own."

"Bad call," Kim said.

"But I'll get out on my own," he boasted. "And when I do - gaah! GAAH!"

Ruby had scampered over and stuck her tongue out at his face. Spotting her had brought back memories of the biting incident, and he attempted to curl into a protective ball. But he'd forgotten that his body was basically one big bruise now, and the attempted movement brought fresh waves of pain.

"So," Shego said, dismissing Drakken, "was that why you didn't use the chip to _change_ me? Because you had feelings for me?"

"Shego, I would never do such a thing to anybody, especially you," Kim replied instantly. "Even if I wasn't attracted to you, I could never make you into someone you're not. You have no idea how much I respect the person you are. And I couldn't have respected myself if I had." She looked at Shego. "You must have some serious trust issues if you thought a hero like me would do something like that."

"Everyone I've ever met would have tried to change me," Shego said quietly. "Nobody ever liked me the way I was. After last night I thought you were the same."

"Well, I'm not. I'm a Possible." Kim rested a comforting hand on top of Shego's.

Shego looked almost embarrassed. "I see. So what happens now?"

Before Kim could answer, the room was ablaze with activity as uniformed men poured in. Kim calmly stood up and pulled the startled Shego to her feet.

A slim figure that Kim recognized was the last to enter. "Kim Possible," he said neutrally. "It's been years."

"Agent Will Du," Kim said, while a wary Shego watched, uncomfortable around so many agents of law enforcement. "Glad you could make it."

"It's Agent-in-Charge Du now," he corrected her. "I see you found Dr. Drakken."

"Hey, watch where you're poking that thing!" Drakken shouted as two Global Justice agents slid a pole under his hands and feet. Each one took the pole by the end and lifted it up, so that Drakken resembled a pig being led to the spit for barbecuing. "You can't hold me forever!"

"Actually," Agent Du said as he came over, "we can."

"Huh?"

"Dr. Drew Lipsky, you've been designated a terrorist detainee under federal law," Agent Du explained in an official tone of voice. "This permits us to hold you in Global Justice custody for questioning indefinitely."

"In - indefinitely?"

"It means for the rest of your worthless life," Shego told him.

"Quite," Agent Du said as he gestured to the men. They carried him away.

"Shego, I'm sorry!" Drakken screamed as he was taken away. "I thought we still had a contract! You can _have_ the five years' back paaaaay!"

"So this is Shego," Agent Du observed. "I've heard a great deal about you."

She looked at him suspiciously. "I'm not under arrest, right?"

"Well, you're not wanted for anything. We _could_ take you in for questioning too . . ."

Kim glared daggers at him as she edged slightly in front of Shego.

"But I see no reason to," the agent added. "I've read recent reports, including the one my former boss prepared. Dr. Director has a message for you, by the way, Ms. Possible."

"She does?"

"Yes." He smiled faintly. "You've missed your last two classes, and she expects you at her house at 9 A.M. sharp tomorrow morning for an all-day seminar if you expect to catch up."

Kim groaned.

"Will you need a ride?" he asked.

"No," she sighed. "I have my own. Sappho was worried about you," she told Shego.

"Sappho?" Agent Du said.

"Did she - say anything?" Shego asked.

"She's a spaceship a co-worker of my father invented," Kim told Agent Du. "And she played a tape for me of some things you said to her."

"A spaceship named Sappho?"

"So you know," Shego realized. "About my parents."

Kim nodded. "I had no idea," she said. "I'm so sorry you had to go through something like that, and I want you to believe me when I say I could never think you're somehow unworthy of me."

"Your father's co-worker named a spaceship after a _lesbian poet_?"

Shego and Kim glared at him. "So not the drama," they said in unison.

Agent Du scratched the back of his head. "Hrm, yes. Perhaps you should go now, so we can finish searching the premises."

"Come on, Shego," Kim told her as Ruby scampered up her leg. "Let's find someplace private."

Kim took her by the arm, and Shego smiled at the contact. "Private is good," the brunette murmured.

____________________________________________________

"How about we break for lunch?" Dr. Director suggested.

Kim looked up from her notebook. "But it's only - " She glanced at her watch. "It's twelve-thirty already?!"

"I thought college students paid more attention to the clock than their books," Dr. Director observed dryly.

"Fascinating material, maybe," Kim said. "Or good teaching."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Kim," Dr. Director told her. "Maybe it's because you were keeping your mind off the fact that Shego has been at the hospital with your mother for the last four hours?"

Kim looked away. "I should call," she said.

"Don't bother," Dr. Director said. "If there were news, she would call. Your mother's a very busy woman."

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Kim asked. "I heard you've been having lunch with her."

"Yes, well, we bonded in the Acceptables' base. And we're of the same age, and we're in similar professions, and we have a lot to talk about." Dr. Director's cheeks turned slightly pink. "And I milk her for advice on raising a two-year-old boy," she added reluctantly.

"Thomas has been quiet," Kim observed.

"Sleeping," Dr. Director said. "I should get him up after we eat." The doorbell of Dr. Director's small, cluttered, yet comfortable Middleton home rang. "That must be lunch now."

Kim was surprised. "You ordered?"

"You were too busy taking notes to notice, I gather," Dr. Director replied as she went to the door. "Well?" she asked as she opened it.

"Has she been worried, Betty?"

Kim's eyes widened. Mom?

"She's kept herself extremely busy," Dr. Director said quietly. "Of course she's been worried."

Kim stood up and saw her mother following Dr. Director back in . . . and Shego hanging in the back. "Mom? Shego? What's going on?"

Shego turned around and adjusted her hair. There was a white pad taped to the back of her neck.

"It's gone?" Kim asked, staring at her mother.

"Drew was a very good scientist," Mrs. Dr. Possible replied, "but he didn't know a whole lot about the human brain. An hour of surgery, some localized anesthesia - " She put down the paper bags she was carrying and took from one of them a little plastic baggie. She held it up and shook the dismantled contents. "One mind control chip removed."

Relief washed over Kim. "Thanks, Mom," she said sincerely.

"No matter how busy my schedule might be," her mother said, "I can always make time for my daughter. Or the people she cares about," she added, glancing at Shego, who let her hair fall back and self-consciously looked away. "Now, much as I love having lunch with my daughter, why don't you and Shego eat on the front porch? I haven't seen Tommy in a couple weeks."

"He's been very fussy lately," Dr. Director murmured.

Before Kim could even agree, Shego grabbed her lunch out of the bag and darted outside.

"Is something wrong?" Kim asked, concerned.

"No. It's just that Shego was forced to have conversations with me," her mother said. "She's not big on sitting and talking, I gather."

"She prefers fighting and bantering," Kim admitted as she looked through the bag and found a favorite of hers with her name on it.

"She seems to prefer your company most of all," Mrs. Dr. Possible pointed out. "I think she'll be a very good friend to you, Kim."

Kim smiled nervously before leaving.

When she went outside, she found Shego indifferently eating her lunch while sitting on the roof of her mother's car. "I don't think you're supposed to sit up there," Kim said.

"I seem to recall someone ordering me to go through life not caring what other people thought," Shego said.

"The chip's gone, Shego."

"Fortunately, I was like that before." She hopped down, brushed past Kim, and sat on the bench on Dr. Director's front porch.

Kim sat next to her. "How are you feeling?"

"A little numb is all. Apparently it wasn't the best-designed chip in the world. Your mother said that even a cold shower could have affected it." She gave a little toss of the head. "At least I slept well. Better than the night before."

"Me too," Kim said. They'd shared the guest room in Kim's house last night. Shego had generally avoided her family, content to be alone or wherever Kim was, but Kim thought it was progress that Shego had even come in.

"Progress," she murmured.

"What?" Shego asked.

"Sorry," Kim said, not having meant to say it out loud.

"You know," Shego continued, grinning, "last night was oddly platonic, considering what our feelings are for each other."

Kim smiled. They'd shared the bed, much as they had in Kim's apartment in California. And for all their recent talking, it had been a similar experience. Apparently neither woman was thinking much beyond what to do about their mutual attraction just yet.

"What comes next?" Shego added.

"Well, I think we have to start tracking the others down - Fiske, Dementor, Killagan, Junior, and Amy. Since they've evidently gone their separate ways again, we'll have to track them down one by one . . ."

"I mean about us," Shego said.

"Oh."

Kim's life was as complicated as it had been when she left California. Her classes were coming along fine, and Drakken was out of their hair. But she still didn't know what she was going to do about her education or her career. She didn't know if she was going to say in Middleton, go back to California, or try someplace else. Monique was more of a crimefighter now than ever, with her special tunnels and secret doors. Ron was practically waiting on her decision before deciding where he would transfer.

And her relationship with Shego had taken a turn for the better, but she had no idea what road she was on. How would her parents take it? Or Ron?

"Let's not overcomplicate things," Kim said. "Why don't we just try - I don't know, a date? Just the two of us?"

"Sitting and talking," Shego grumped.

"Sounds like what Mom said," Kim told her.

"Yeah, well - maybe your mother isn't as bad as I figured," Shego muttered.

Kim brightened. If Shego could confess something like that, then didn't they have a real chance? "So, a date then?"

Shego played with her salad. "Don't know why I'm so nervous," she said. "I started this."

"Well, I've responded. Life is always a competition with us, Shego. Why don't you call and raise?"

Fire danced in Shego's eyes. "Is that a dare? Because you know, you did say I was the brave one."

"Prove it."

"Tomorrow night. Seven o'clock . . . a movie, something with lots of explosions."

Kim grinned. "Only you and I would call that a date movie."

After a moment, Shego smiled back.

The End. (To be continued?)

Author's Note - Thanks to all my faithful fans, especially those of you I wrote to. If everyone wants a follow-up, then let your voices be heard in support, and you _could_ see a story like this . . .

_No Living in the Past_

As if Kim wasn't having enough problems reconciling her personal relationships, when Professor Dementor's trail leads Kim, Ron, and Shego to Boston, they encounter the LAST two people Kim wanted to see.