This story is in no way a sequel to "Bat Out of Hell".

A reviewer of BOoH asked that if I do a sequel, please don't base it on "Two Out of Three ain't Bad". Well, this is no sequel, but I had already imagined a scene such as this one when reading another story. And, it could be put in a form to go with Two out of Three. And once the thought was in my head, I couldn't shake it. So here it is.

There is no action whatsoever in this story. It is one long angst-y conversation.

Standard disclaimer: I own nothing of the Kimmiverse.

Note that the lyrics to the song are not included here; they aren't needed and probably wouldn't fit very well. But please listen to the song (written by Jim Steinman, sung by Meat Loaf) before reading. Or after reading. Or just listen to the song.

Bonnie was in the kitchen when Kim arrived at the small apartment. The lovely brunette heard the bolts thrown, and the slight sound of the door coming free from the jamb as it was opened. She paused in tossing the salad and stepped into the dining area. "I'm just finishing up here, Kim. I'll be out in a moment."

Kim noted the unusually quiet tone of her girlfriend's voice. The lights were low in the apartment, two candles unlit on the small dining table. Two places were already set, a bottle of wine was open, and a covered dish sat in the middle of the table. The gentle odor of a chicken dish, with a sauce based in red wine and garlic, was in the air. The scene had all the appearances of a romantic evening, but Kim did not expect that it would end as most of her evenings here did.

Kim shrugged off her coat as she called back, "It's really snowing out there tonight, Sweetheart. The plows are out and the roads are clear, but it's going to be rough on the back roads."

Bonnie came into the dining area carrying a bowl of salad, and Kim took a moment to appreciate the woman's figure. The decade since high school had been good to her. She was in top-notch physical condition, slightly slimmer than when a teen, and she moved with grace. She wore a well-fitting dress, the hem four inches above her knees. Though the neckline was square and not low, her breasts were displayed by the cut and fit.

Bonnie always wore a dress or skirt when with Kim. She owned slacks, and was not hesitant to wear them. She knew she had a fine ass, and did not mind it being appreciated. Kim smiled to recall Bonnie telling her, early on, "I feel a little naughtier in a skirt. Especially with nothing under it. And I always want to be naughty when I'm with you." And that smile she had as she said it, the smile that made Kim swell with desire, had worked its usual magic. Bonnie had gotten a spanking that night, the first that Kim had given her. It had been a long and sweaty night, one of many such that had been spent in these rooms. A year and a half later, the sight of the woman had not lost its effect. Kim inhaled deeply, her pulse quickening slightly.

Dinner conversation was light, if a touch subdued. Bonnie told Kim about a loan application she had handled that week, a humorous story of a young man trying to convince her that because his eleven year old car was really, really special to him, she should accept it as collateral for a large loan. Her humor was gentle, a change over the past year or so, as her bitterness had abated. She was still capable of sarcasm and mockery, but it was no longer her default mode. Kim rightly took some credit for this.

Kim told Bonnie about the two missions she had undertaken in the three weeks since their last time together. Bonnie talked about her night classes at Middleton Law School. Kim listened, waiting. The undercurrents were thick, and she knew something was being left unsaid. Dinner gave way to dessert, in this case gelato, her favorite flavor, with her favorite topping.

"How is it?"

Kim looked up from the small bowl. "It's great, Bonnie. The whole dinner was wonderful."

The brunette nodded. "I'm glad. I wanted our last dinner together to be a good one."

Kim's heart sank. She'd known it was coming, sometime, but had avoided thinking about it. "Bonnie..."

"No, Kim." Bonnie forced her teal eyes to Kim's olive ones. There was a slight quaver in her voice as she continued. "I can't do this anymore. You don't love me. And I can't pretend you do any longer."

Kim looked at her. She could think of nothing to say. "Bonnie, please."

"I love you, Kim. I love you. Say it back to me. You can't. You haven't said it in months. You used to whisper it, back when you could make yourself believe it. Say it, Kim!"

The redhead was silent. She knew Bonnie was right.

"Sex isn't enough anymore, Kim. I know you still want me. That hasn't changed. You haven't gotten bored. I saw you looking tonight. I still have it for you, don't I? And you still have it for me, too. I've never seen anything more beautiful than you, and I don't think I ever will. I'm going to miss that. Not just the sex. Looking at you in my bed. Just looking at you.

"I pretended that was enough, for a long time. How could it be so good, if you didn't love me? It was, though, and you didn't. You don't."

Kim gazed into Bonnie's eyes, glistening in the candlelight, filled with unshed tears. "Bonnie, no. I need you."

Bonnie laughed, a short, harsh bark, and shook her head. "No, Kim, you don't. You need to be needed. You need to be a hero. And I don't need you like that anymore.

"I did, back then, when I came back to town. When I had to admit I'd never be a star, never make it as an actress. Four years of studying dance, another four years of bit parts and begging, and finally back home. The prettiest girl in Middleton is just another midwest beauty queen in New York. Everybody there was Miss Something back in Somewhere, Somestate."

Her eyes were steady on Kim's as she continued, even as a tear finally broke loose and wended down her left cheek. Kim followed its progress as she listened. "I came back to do penance, did you know that? To be punished for being a failure. I knew what a bitch I'd been, what a mean, stupid, arrogant bitch I'd been in high school. And I came back to let people crow, to make me suffer. I deserved it. I even wanted it.

"But you never did that. You just said hello. And when I needed to talk you listened. You didn't hold any old grudges, and you never treated me like a broken bird. When I talked about the job at the bank, you said I could do it. That's all. Not that I should, or that you'd help, or anything. Just that I could do it. So I tried, and I got the job, and it turned out I'm good at it. And the same for law school.

"I like my life now, Kim. I like me, now. I help people in my job. They need money, and I help them get it. I help people buy houses and start businesses, and make sure they aren't getting in over their heads. And I'll help more of them in five years, when I'm a lawyer.

"And that's all you. I was bitter and full of bile and spite, and you helped me become a better person. I expected you to gloat, but you never did. I thought you'd make fun of me, rub it in. But you didn't. And you weren't being kind. You just don't have it in you to be cruel.

"It's one of the reasons I love you."

Bonnie's eyes dropped, and her shoulders dropped just a little. "I love you, Kim. But you don't love me. I thought you would. I hoped you would. I wanted to help you, too. But you've never gotten over her, have you? You don't love me, and maybe you can't. Because you can't love anybody until you get past Shego."

Bonnie snorted again. "Two out of three, huh, Kim? I want you and love you, but I don't need you anymore. You want me, and you say you need me, but you don't love me. I can live with my two - lust and love are enough. But lust and need, it doesn't work. Two out of three ain't bad, but it has to be the right two."

"I never wanted to lie to you, Bonnie. You know that." It came out almost desperately.

"I know, Kim. You told me about her, as if I didn't already know. I remember reading it, Kim Possible turning out to be a lesbian, and shacking up with a reformed villain. Some people thought it was horrible, and some people thought it was romantic.

"You didn't tell me you were still in love with her, though. I had to figure that out for myself."

"I don't know if I am. I just can't seem to fall in love with anyone else. Maybe I only had one. Maybe there can only be one girl for me, and I let it be the wrong one. Maybe there's nothing left. Maybe you're looking for a ruby in a mountain of rocks."

Bonnie shook her head. "My dad used to say you'll never find a Cadillac in a Cracker Jack box. But you're not a box of cheap candy. There's love in you, Kim. But I'm not the one that can find it. It's got to be you."

"I don't know, Bonnie. I hope so. I hope I can. But it's hard to believe sometimes. Maybe I don't have it. I can't give you something that I just haven't got.

"I remember how bad I felt when it didn't work out with Ron, how much I felt like I failed him. But it wasn't there, and it mostly wasn't there because I'm gay. I just hadn't admitted it to myself. It wasn't my fault. You know? It was okay, because I'm a lesbian, so it couldn't be him for me.

"And then, there she was. I was twenty years old, free-lancing for Global Justice, lonely as hell. She was bored with going straight, but trying to stick with it. She didn't get scared when I went on a mission. It was just what I did. It felt so good to have that be accepted." Kim stood up, moving away from the table, walking the small sitting room. "You know what that's like. You had to get used to it."

Bonnie stayed seated, turning to look at her lover. "Yes. It was hard. It is hard. It's hard to love somebody, knowing some day they'll go out and not come back. But that's who you are. You might not come back, but it wouldn't be for lack of trying. And not going out, not going on missions, that would kill you too, in a different way."

Kim nodded. "Yeah, I guess it would. But she knew all about it.

"She wanted me, too. She told me that. Not just, you know," gesturing towards the bedroom. "But in her life. A big part of her life. Maybe she wanted me to take the place of the excitement she used to get from crime. I don't know.

"And she needed me. She told me that, too. The night she left. It was why she left. She couldn't stand needing me, needing anyone." Kim sighed. "Maybe, if she'd loved me, she could have handled needing me. But she didn't. Maybe she couldn't. Maybe she can't love me, love anyone. I don't know. It doesn't matter."

Kim looked over at the girl who's heart she was breaking. Had broken. "You say I don't have it in me to be cruel. Shego did. She could do cruelty." A small, bitter smile twisted her lips. "She took me to bed, one last time. She didn't tell me it was our last time. She made love to me, let me make love to her." Bonnie cringed a little, but kept her gaze steady. Kim was lost in the memory, anyway, telling the tale she'd never before spoken aloud. "I remember it was storming out, there was thunder and rain, and there we were safe and warm inside. And she made love to me, then kissed me and got up and walked out."

Kim focussed again on Bonnie. "And she said what you just did. Two out of three, and it wasn't enough. She'd never love me, and she knew it, and she was leaving.

"She's out there, somewhere. I don't know where, I don't know who she's with. She stays out of sight. We hear rumors. There are thefts that almost have to be her. But we don't know. We've set traps. We come up empty." Kim's eyes hardened. "Maybe, sometime, I'll come up against her. Maybe then I can get her out of my heart." She shook her head, chasing the thought away.

"You're stronger than me, Bonnie. I begged her, I wanted her to stay. Even though she didn't love me, I wanted her to stay. I've have stayed with her, knowing she didn't love me."

Kim stopped, as if her spring had unwound, her shoulders slumped. There was silence for several seconds. Then Bonnie spoke.

"No, I'm not stronger. If you took my hand and took me to bed, right now, I'd go with you. And in half an hour I'd be calling your name. And tomorrow, I'd be trying to convince myself it could work, that it was enough, even without you loving me. But it would be a lie.

"I need you to be a hero for me, one more time. I need you to save me, one more time. I need you to leave." Tears were flowing down her cheeks now, and she let them flow.

"Bonnie..."

"Please, Kim." Only the two words, as if she feared that her voice would break if she said any more.

Kim looked at her for a few more seconds. "I'm sorry, Bonnie." She turned to leave.

"I know, Kim."

The hero let herself out the door. The girl who could do anything, except love a woman who loved her, and who was fully deserving of love.

You can save the world, and you can save your friends, she said to herself, pulling on her coat as she went down the hall. You just can't save yourself.

What the hell. Two out of three ain't bad, right?

A/N 26 March 2017: I only just discovered the story "Two out of Three" by daccu65, which he published in 2009. It is based on the same song, but features a different couple. If you liked this story, you may like his. Even if you didn't like this story, you may like his.