Thirteen hours after taking control of one of the internet exchange nodes and there was no sign of Kim. This is good, Shego thought. She spoke in her two way radio, "Check in." Shego closed her eyes and waited for each team to report back. One by one they reported an 'All Clear' to Shego's relief. The building was secured with henchmen on every floor of the low-rise building. "Good. I'll do another check-in in six hours, keep radio silence unless you run into trouble. Team leader out." She pocketed her radio and went to work.

First of three jammers were installed and ready. Drakken and Shego were working furiously to get everything connected. The equipment was heavy to move and the sweat in their hands made it difficult to work with the flimsy wiring. Despite air conditioning blowing right on them, the servers ran hot and Drakken had poked his fingers so often that blood had trickled onto various connectors. He cleaned his hands and connectors so often it became rhythmic. Splice, divide, clamp, wipe connector, wipe hands, connect, repeat. "Almost done, almost done!" he said as he tossed another wipe to the side.

Annoyed with his muttering again, "Dr. D, for the last time, tell me only when you're done."

"Feh! I was telling myself. You're just eavesdropping!"

"Yeah, continue to keep telling yourself that. My end is done, I'm getting started on the third."

Offended, "This isn't a race, Shego."

"Actually, it kind of is. We need to lock everything down fast. We have another, what, ten hours before we're done? And, that's if we keep up this pace without sleeping." Drakken only grumbled his reply. "Yeah, so, starting on the next one."

For the next several hours, Shego worked on multiple panels in the tiny confines of the internet jammer. Her thoughts lingered on Kim as her task became more repetitive, mundane, brainless. Thoughts of her henchmen overwhelming Kim invaded her mind. Seeing Kim in her mind's eye getting trampled, kicked, beaten, caused Shego's breathing to become increasingly erratic until she finally snapped herself out of it. She took a moment to calm herself. She's not here and she isn't going to be. Not today. Shego really didn't know why she worried about Kim more that day than any other time Kim threw herself in danger's way. Perhaps it was the discovery of Kim's mutual interest. Maybe it was the number of henchmen at her command. Or maybe it was the henchmen's loyalty she hadn't seen before. Somehow, that discount purchase had been the best investment Drakken had ever made, but she'd never admit that. She went back to work and pushed her worries down.

Another hour passed before Shego heard something concerning. She heard her radio click several times briefly. Shego took a breath and thought it might be a good idea to confirm. "Check in."

"Team one, all clear."

"Team two, all clear."

…

"Team four, all clear."

"STOP! Team three, check in." Check in you assholes, check in. Shego was met with silence. "Team one, six, eight, go to team three's location NOW!"

"Moving to target."

Shego was hoping it was just a malfunction or an accident. Tell me you were jacking off, left your post, something, anything!

"It's her, she's here."

Fuck! Why Princess? "Ev-" she cleared her throat, doing her best to hesitate without notice. Any bit of time to give to Kim. "EVERYONE, MOVE IN!" She immediately hated herself for giving the order. I'm sorry Kim, I have to. Those earlier invasive thoughts suddenly became more real to her. Get your shit together. You're evil. Get Drakken and go!

She reached Drakken, "We gotta move. You almost done? Either abort or go faster. We can launch with two."

"I thought of that! Nothing is working!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm getting errors, my-my internet block is getting... internet blocked!"

"Has to be that nerdlinger friend of Kim's. Move your ass, we're leaving." Shego picked up her radio and demanded, "Where's Kim!?"

One of her henchmen held the button to speak back but hesitated. Sounds of the fight was coming through faintly. Kim could be heard grunting and struggling followed by a strange sound Shego couldn't identify. Her henchman finally spoke, "Th-this is team four, sh-she has some kind of-" It went dead.

"Some kind of what!?" Nothing. She turned back to Drakken, "Damn it, I'll slow her down, get the ship ready." Shego went down the halls to meet up with the henchmen, or more precisely, with Kim. It wasn't clear if Kim was winning, it seemed impossible. She didn't hear her fighting as she was getting closer and closer to the last known location and the silence was worrying her. She quickened her pace, Be okay you stubborn little-

"Miss me?" Kim dashed into view and winked with a bit of a pant from just across the way. Her suit's pant leg and hip was moderately torn that exposed fresh bruising from what seemed to be one of the henchmen's stun baton. Her chest heaved with every exhausted breath but the smile on her face showed her excitement.

A wave of relief… of disbelief, washed over Shego. "Pumpkin?"

"I'm disappointed, Shego," a breath, "Now I have to teach you not to underestimate me," she grinned wide having seen Shego was actually worried about her. "I will admit, they were a lot better than your last batch. But this," she pointed a rectangular device, held like a shotgun, at Shego, "made things a little easier." She fired a round. A hyper-sticky substance flung Shego's hand to the wall.

"Ah!"

Another round fired, this time at Shego's foot

"HEY!"

Kim walked over to her, "I'm going to ki-"

"K. P. I GOT HIM! I GOT DRAKKEN! I LOVE THESE WEAPONS WADE MADE!" Ron was extremely hyped over the new devices. Ron and Rufus wore matching sunglasses to make themselves feel cooler as Ron flashed his weapon around.

"Great! I got Shego. GJ will be here in an hour to pick them up." She subtly looked to Shego, warning her of their arrival.

"BOOYAH!"

Kim mouthed words out of Ron's view, 'Just use your glow.' She turned back to Ron, "Ron, run down the other side and see if there's any more hench guys. I'll check down here."

Ron cocked his gun, "Can do!" and ran off.

Kim put her hand on Shego's calf that caused her to raise her brows. Kim slipped a piece of paper with instructions of where and when to find the next letter into Shego's ankle pouch. She gave her leg an extra squeeze with a smile. She brushed Shego's hair behind her ear and leaned in close, "I just turned eighteen by the way." Kim turned around, allowing her strawberry scented hair to cross Shego's face, and headed down the hall with a smile. Kim had a very subtle limp but she was otherwise fine.

Shego was astounded. Goosebumps covered her skin. With her glow she could have ripped her foot and hand free just fine, but her brain came to a screeching halt. It took her a full minute to snap out of it. She scoffed and melted through the goo, You're making things very interesting, Cupcake. Now she had to decide whether to free Drakken or go on another vacation.

~oO0Oo~

After nearly a week, Shego picked up another one of Kim's letters. The wait had driven her mad. She began reading,

'Thank you for the warning. But you forget, I'm usually not alone. You may want to make it harder next time. It was too bad we couldn't fight. Then again, I wouldn't have been much of a challenge for you anyway. It was a long flight to get there and Ron wanted to talk the whole way. To say the least, I was tired.

So, were you really worried about me? Or did you just not want me to interfere? =)'

Shego stopped reading a moment to laugh at Kim's little jab. She sipped at her gin as a warm breeze blew. She was sitting on a stone bench facing a fountain near her gardens. She imagined Kim sitting next to her. She imagined her pouting after being told 'no' to trying her drink. She laughed at the thought of Kim spitting it out after she persisted enough for a sip. When the gust of wind stopped, she resumed reading,

'I hope you didn't mind my little squeeze. I was going to do something a little more daring, but I got nervous. Maybe I'll let you lead that one.'

"Kimmie, you're adorable."

'And my bruises were no big. You've done far worse and looked like I had YOU limping a little. As for your little challenge, I don't mind not wearing my suit, but you might still want to use your powers.'

Shego chuckled, "Sure Princess, keep dreamin'."

'I kid, of course, but I think a friendly spar would be nice. I learned some new grappling moves I've been meaning to show you and not so much in front of anyone else.'

"Umm," Shego took another sip of her gin while not quite sure how to take what Kim said. She continued,

'I know I said we shouldn't get away from our fights, but let's take it away one more time. Next time I get called in, if it's you, I'll make sure to go it alone. Try to pick a nice area.'

"What are you up to? Hmm?" Shego was surprised Kim was being so forward. It seemed she was almost accepting, if not encouraging, her villainous ways. Really hope I'm not driving you down a dark path, Kim.

'One last thing. I've been keeping this bottled up inside me for a long time. I just need to get this out in the open to you. I think you're special and just really needed you to know that.'

Those words stuck out. It didn't hit Shego right away. She thought the words didn't need to be held back. Nothing more than a compliment, right? It began to sink in. It was sincere admiration. What could she possibly see in me? It was personal and the words meant something deeper. She put the letter down and again saw there was more on the back, "Goddamn it, I keep forgetting the back." A quick decipher,

'I think you're sexy too.'

Shego sat up immediately after reading the words. "I'm going to need a lot more gin."

~oO0Oo~

Shego, now drunk, yet still quite lucid, brought out paper and a pen. She placed her drink down, hard, on the stone bench she was sitting on. Her back hunched and her hair fell to the sides as she leaned on her forearms to write her reply,

'No no, sexy is what YOU are. I'm like super. I'm fuckin Every time I see you, you're there just adorable and hot. You are You're You're so adorable and hot. I wish you were with me right now, running your hands through my hair and my EVERYTHING.'

Shego couldn't stop laughing at her own writing. Droopy eyed and snickering, she continued,

'I want you. I want to peel your bodysuit right off of you and devour you. I'd fuck suck the skin off you of you. You drive me crazy. And I want to talk to you. I want to tell you everything. But if you knew who I am, what I've done, you'd hate me. They were bad though. They hurt me. They deserved worse what I did to them they to me. I don't deserve you.'

She wiped an offending tear that clouded her vision,

'You should get as far away from me as possible. I'm disgusting and if you knew what I've done, if you knew how despicable I am, money all for the fucking money, you'd never be able to look at me again.'

She wiped her eyes with more frustration as if they were purposefully blurring just to get in her way,

'But all I want to do is look into your eyes and keep looking. I shutter shudder I don't want you to stop looking at me. And when you smile. I don't deserve your beautiful, angelic smile. You make me feel like a alive person. I'm a stain. You make me feel whole. You think make me think we can be hold hands But I'd tear rip you apart and drag my hands you down. I'd make you just like me and it hurts. It hurts so much. So, you have to stay away from me. Stay away.'

She sniffed hard so she could continue,

'You deserve someone who can fight with you. Carry you. Someone who could lift you. It'll hurt, every part of me will break again, but I'll be so happy for you. So long as I can continue just looking. So beautiful. So amazing. So pure. I wish I was good like you. I wish I wasn't broken damaged.'

She held her pen firmly on the paper until it broke and laughed through her tears. She crumpled the paper and set it aflame in her hands. A tortured groan, "Stay away. I'm not what you deserve." She hugged her knees and sobbed.

~oO0Oo~

Shego eventually found her way to her doctor's office. Dr. Mallory Shrinkner looked at Shego with sympathetic concern. Shego's eyes were bloodshot and tearful and she hadn't spoken a word since she sat down minutes ago. Shego was maintaining her breathing so she wouldn't start sobbing again, but Mallory needed her to talk, "Shego, you know how this works. I can't help unless you tell me what's happened and the guessing game doesn't benefit either of us." Shego cringed and took a deep breath. "Alright, alright. We'll do this slow," she said calmly, "I'm going to guess this might have something to do with you and your mystery woman from the last time we spoke." Shego slouched in her chair, brought a slow hand to her brow, and subtly nodded. Having her psychiatrist speak was helping her relax. Mallory asked, "Are you angry with her?" Shego cringed again and shook her head 'no'. "Alright, did she seem resistant to being close to you?"

Wrong guesses lead her to tense up after she shook her head 'no'. Sensing this, Mallory didn't wish to continue as her following questions may lead to more wrong guesses. "How about we try some breathing exercises." Shego gave her an offending look. "Please, just humor me, Shego." She pursed her lips and waited for Mallory to continue. "Thank you. Now, close your eyes and imagine you're in front of a pond." Shego rolled her glassy eyes to a close and complied. "Imagine the pond completely still and breath in slowly."

Shego took a slow deep breath, but before Mallory could give the next instruction, she sighed with irritation and finally spoke, "She thinks I'm special."

"Can you tell me-"

"She called me sexy. I didn't instigate it. I swear I didn't." Her voice sounded sore but not quite hoarse.

"Okay."

"I want her. Sexually. I'm a fucking creep. I'm nothing but filth. I don't know how to get her away from me. She deserves someone better. But, I don't want her away from me. I want her." Shego became tense again and stared at the floor.

Dr. Mallory looked to her seriously, "Shego, when you came into my office, what did you expect to accomplish by being here?"

A little appalled by the question, "What?"

"I don't make people 'happy', I help people help themselves. I can prescribe you medication to assist-"

"They don't work!"

"Alright, fine. But my point Shego, is that you know the answers already. In rare cases, I do offer my opinion. So, off the record, my opinion is that she'd be good for you."

"And how would you know? I didn't tell you anything about her."

"You told me enough to put the pieces together. I may not be a detective, but the only person that could be so troublesome, from the many times you spoke of her before, and yet worthy of the admiration you give her is of one particular… hero." Shego crossed her arms and slouched further in her seat. "Everything in this room is absolutely secure. I'm not here to out anyone."

"I don't care about that," she paused, "I'm not good for her. That's my problem."

"Don't be so sure. I trust her judgement."

"She's eighteen."

Mallory addressed this issue, "When we spoke last time, I wasn't sure who you were referring to. Your mystery love interest was indeed a mystery… partially. I had my suspicions, but it was wiser not to assume. It was wiser to advise you about an average teen's mind. Don't get me wrong Shego, her brain, like yours, is still developing. But her, you, are not average people. To put it in her words, both of you are special."

"But I want her sexually."

"It appears she shares a mutual feeling."

"Are you saying it's okay, just because she's eighteen?"

Mallory lightly glared with a hint of a smile, "My concern the last we spoke was that you would be pursuing a possible relationship with someone who may not have had the same mutual interests; the same level of maturity. A person who may have thought that pursuing you sexually and only sexually was what you wanted. She would have been compromising and neglecting her own needs while insulting yours based solely on physical attraction. Teasing, innuendos, and the like would have reinforced this train of thought. Because you didn't tell me about this person fully, I could only advise based on certain characteristics. Kim, I believe, is not your average teen despite her saying so. Mind you, now, that my analysis has been isolated to her public appearances and of course what you've told me of her. But there's more to this than I think you are aware. Have you thought about anything beyond sexual desire?"

"We're almost a generation apart." Mallory softly glared at her again and tilted her head to the side for not receiving an appropriate answer. Shego folded and gave her her answer, "We have a lot in common and she's fun. I like her, but I don't… I don't want to rub off on her."

"So don't. Shego, your actions aren't compulsory. Far from it. And if anything, maybe she'll rub off on you. You seem to want her to."

"I'm a bad person." Shego could not shake this thought about herself.

"We're skipping around some topics we should discuss, but I fear that as soon I focus on them, you'll leave again. It will help if you allow me to address them."

"Fine. What?"

"Do you want to be a villain?" Mallory knew the truth, but Shego needed to stop lying to herself.

Shego was silent a moment and shifted in her seat. Mallory allowed the time to pass before Shego spoke again, "I want to do whatever I want. As a villainess, I can."

"Can you teach?"

Shego frowned as it hit her, "I think we're good, doc." What she wanted to say was, 'Fuck you!' and that's exactly what Mallory heard.

"I won't press, Shego, you know that. My job is to remove thorns and splinters. Sometimes it hurts the more I pull. We don't need to talk about this today. Perhaps another time when you're more comfortable. But for the reason you came here today, my advice is to talk to her," she paused for Shego to acknowledge. When she did, she continued, "Is there anything else I can do for you?" She was left in deep thought, but eventually she shook her head 'no'. "Let me know how it goes. I'd like to know how this develops," Mallory smirked.

~oO0Oo~

Shego stretched her legs on the roof of the building. A museum of art close enough to middleton that she wouldn't have to wait long for Kim to arrive. She took one last look at the building's blueprints before stuffing it back in her ankle pouch along with her lock picks. After flipping a few switches to force the security cameras to loop the same still scene, she secured a harness to the floor of the roof and plunged from the ceiling window. She went down only enough for her head to clear the opening and stuck anchors on the ceiling to get herself to a desired painting. She hung upside down in front of it and used plasma from her fingertips to cut out the artwork around the edges of the frame. She rolled it up, stuffed it under her harm - careful not to crush it, and traveled back to the open window. She flipped a switch to return the cameras back to a live feed, spun slowly, grinning at all them, and blasted them. The alarms set off, lights flashed, and it wasn't long before the cacophony of distant sirens were heard; all of Shego's favorite songs. Shego drew the shape of an arrow on the roof with the rope cord and pointed it to a distant alleyway. Covered by shadow, she waited.

Kim arrived sooner than she expected. Only twenty minutes by helicopter. Kim stood in the creeping moonlit end of the alley and smiled, "Think you can lose everyone but still get to the docks?"

Just hearing her voice again made Shego happy, "Only if you think you can keep up," she grinned.

"I'll catch you, don't you worry, I always do."

Shego got up, "I'll try to make it fun for everyone." Her hands lit up and she dashed to the roof tops. Kim immediately took chase. Shego shot plasma at Kim, close, but not direct, to gain attention from police. They were, after all, supposed to be enemies. Shego was leading Kim to a bridge where they would redirect their route to throw off the police. After several roof tops, "Get ready Kimmie, this one's tricky."

Shego leapt right off a high building onto crane that lead to the ground safely. Kim took a deep breath and leapt as hard as she could, just making the edge. Her heart was pounding and she couldn't help laugh at the thrill. The height alone was dizzying.

"Come on Princess, don't stop now." Kim smirked and sprinted towards her down the crane. She landed on the ground with a roll and was catching up to Shego again. Shego took a right down a tunnel under the bridge which had several openings, but only one lead to the docks. Shego exited the tunnel with Kim right behind and sealed the door with her plasma. "They'll be going in circles for a while. Now, let's play." Shego was still thinking she'd be fighting Kim.

Kim only smiled and stopped to catch her breath. She chuckled lightly and walked past Shego and gave her shoulder a light squeeze. Kim looked in her eyes, "I missed you."

~oO The End Oo~

So, I just discovered that FF destroyed some of the formatting I had for the letters that Kim and Shego wrote. They are supposed to be indented with justified alignment so it would be very easy to identify letter versus conversation. Maybe it's not a big deal, but I'm all about presentation. And strikethroughs, for Shego's letter, are apparently NOT supported. So, there was supposed to be some stuff that was meant to be "scribbled out" by Shego, but I had no way of showing you. So rule of thumb, until I can figure out a better way to communicate this, if it isn't coherent, Shego scribbled it out. Sigh. HEAVY SIGH.

Aside from that, I'm hoping this leads into "Worth It" well enough. I'll be working on my sequel to JALV until November. I'll be re-revising my XMas story for December. Then I seriously hope I have my sequel ready by January.

Thank you for reading and thank you to those who've been leaving reviews (not just comments). They mean a lot to me - - and I'll let my narcissism slip out a bit - - I enjoy the attention :)

I'm going to leave this story incomplete while I take in the reviews, do another revision, and then seal the deal. Thanks again!