Mind Body and Soul: The Parisian Connection

Chapter Three: Love, life, and games

Light.

Pale… light.

Pale sickly light shining in her eyes.

Yori twisted her head to the left and the ache from her eyes lessened slightly. She weakly raised a hand and brushed it against her forehead. Her fingers touched damp moist skin, and the ninja moaned softly at the sick feeling coming from her stomach.

"R… Ron?" Shaky with queasiness, her voice was strained and forced, sounding foreign to her own ears. "Ron, are you here? What… what happened?"

There was no reply. With a deep breath, she pushed up with unsteady hands onto all fours and then paused. Underneath her hands lay cool and rough slabs of damp stone. She stared, having expected to have been at least in the vicinity of Ron's flat.

Anxious, she choked in a deep breath and forced herself to stand. Shuddering, she blinked her gritty eyes clear and took in her surroundings. Around her, walls of thick stone stretched into an overhead roof from which stalactites dripped downward, crafted by time and moisture. In some areas, the long mineral fingers were reddened with the bloody colour of iron-oxide that came from the ancient, thoroughly rusted cuffs that lay hammered into the stone at regular intervals.

Yori turned and noticed a small door set into the imposing cavern she was in. Slowly making her way across to it, the ninja was forced to pause halfway as her stomach rebelled – violently, causing her to fall to her knees and vomit with shuddering heaves.

Wh… what has happened to me?"

A sudden clanking noise echoed around the chamber and Yori forced her head up as the door slowly squealed open and her eyes were assaulted with harsh bright light for a second time. She had just managed to realise that the doorway was covered in thick rusty metal plates, and had small bars set across the tiny window, before a figure blotted out the light as it strode in.

"Ah, Yori my dear. I see you're finally awake and recovering nicely from the poison that my loyal minions and myself were forced to use to… ah, incapacitate you."

"Fist?" She managed, blinking desperately, her expression one of horror. "But… but it can't be. You were stone! I saw it myself - you were solid granite!"

Amused, Lord Fist - clad in the same elegant combat shinobi as before, but this time wearing a gleaming silver circlet around his forehead - knelt down in front of the shivering ninja. Around them, Fists loyal monkey ninjas took up positions around the room. Despite the poison that still flowed in Yori's veins, the insane monkey master was no fool when it came to dealing with Yamanouchi ninjas such as herself.

Reaching down, he grabbed a handful of dark hair between his fingers and yanked, forcing Yori's head up further until they were eye to eye. As she fought to keep her face impassive and her mind clear, he smiled toothily.

"Yes, I know." The Monkey Master told her, a curious expression on his face. "I also know that Possible was turned to stone as well. And yet though I was left as stone, that foolish blond boy managed to save her. A curious little series of events, no? That I was presumed dead but Possible lived?"

Yori shook her head. "We were lucky to save even Kim San's life at that point. To also try and aid you would have been impossible. Without the aid of others we would all have died or been altered to stone. There was no choice… and at the end, it was too late to help you. But you seemed to have weathered such misfortune well. How?"

"Perhaps I have." Fist told her, a sneer in his voice. "Regardless, despite what happened to me, it seems you've been having a very interesting life."

"What do you mea-"

"All those months I was stone, Yori. It seems the world has changed quite a bit in such a relatively short time. That idiot Stoppable, and Kim Possible, going to university and then there is yourself moving to the United States to be with that pretender to the throne of Tai Sheng. So much going on, so much I have missed."

"We have not missed your dishonourable self, Lord Fist! How did you come back from your fate?" Yori snapped, wishing her stomach would stop aching so she could focus on the threat Fist provided. "No power I know of could have saved you from that point…"

To her surprise, Monkey Fist shivered and his face contorted into one of horrified loathing. To her further surprise, the tall man squatted on his haunches and his body language radiated fear.

"You are a ninja, Yori. A believer and user of mystical monkey power, trained by Yamanouchi for – hah - good, just like all the other young men and women being trained there. I on the other hand, had someone else on my side. Someone who," Fist shivered again, "loves me, with all of her heart. And, revoltingly, it seems to be what was needed to save my life."

Yori blinked. "You have a… an… interest?"

"Not exactly how I would describe her, no. What I have is a very annoying woman who plagues my every step and thinks that I… 'Love' her." Fist sneered the word, all the time prowling around the kneeling ninja. He then sighed reluctantly. "However, you asked why I am no longer stone? I'll tell you. The woman who is, let us say, 'interested' in me has skills based in the art of science." He paused in his pacing to shoot a pointed look toward the young woman. "You've met her before."

Yori's memory finally kicked in and she smirked slightly. "Ah, the gorilla lady… she had quite the obsession with you. She liked your feet if I recall correctly."

"Her name is D., my dear." Fist narrowed his eyes at Yori's amused expression. "I'm sure you find it hilarious, but I do not. Regardless, she is the one who saved my life and brought me back."

"How?" Yori thought back to her own days at Yamanouchi and her time with GJ and it's additional training. "She is involved with DNA manipulation. How would that have helped bring you back from being stone?"

"Her talents are not just in that specific area of science, though it is her speciality true enough. While I do not pretend to understand her methods, they are effective. Let us just say that I woke up inside one of her devices… and the experience of having ones stone converted back to flesh was extremely unpleasant. It was, however, nothing compared to what happened once she got me out of that machine."

Yori watched as Fist shivered and felt her own skin crawl.

"She must be quite unwell to wish to be with you."

"Well, driven by different impulses, certainly. However, I have to agree with you that she is insane. Considering how many times I have informed the woman that I have no interest in her whatsoever. Still, I do owe her my life as it is now and I do so hate to leave debts unpaid. Maybe one day, once I have finally become ruler of the Monkey throne, I shall have to consider returning the favour… Perhaps a fruit basket?" He smiled sardonically. "It would be the least I could do."

"She has done nothing but cause the world a great disservice by bringing you back from stone." Yori curled her lip as Fist stared at her. "You seek nothing but power to bring about world domination and cruelty with the skills that Tai Sheng Pek Kwar gives you. At least while you were stone we were all safe from your insanity!"

"Insanity?"

The blow slammed into her face before Yori could brace herself. The impact rocked her backwards, and the young ninja fell in a sprawl, her head smacking into the damp stone floor as she did so. Blood spilled freely from her lip, split and torn from the blow. Her eyes; however, were clear, and they narrowed in anger.

For his part, the self proclaimed monkey king stood calmly in front of her, hands nonchalantly clasped behind his back. As she stared at him with loathing, Fist raised an eyebrow.

"I am no more insane than the next person, though come to think of it, that would be Karos 'Ruler of yoghurt' over in the next village. Regardless, I am not insane. I am driven by the need for power to rule this ball of rock and dirt and I shall have it soon." Shivering at the thought of power, Fist noticed her tensed muscles and smiled sarcastically. "Come, come, my dear. Do you really think you can beat me with your second rate Tai Sheng skills? Have you not suffered enough by my hand this day?"

Focusing herself, Yori shot to her feet, the anger she felt blinding her to the fact that Fist was grinning with anticipation. The young ninja ran at the older man, her fists clenched, and she hurled a series of fast jabs at his waist. Fist raised an eyebrow in wry amusement, knowing full well that the young woman was usually far faster than this, and his own arms slapped against hers deflecting Yori's attacks harmlessly to one side. Yori had little time to adjust her attack as his own arm flashed upwards and a single slap to the young woman's forehead had her gasping in shocked insult.

"Slow… far too slow. Is this what that old fool teaching you and your pupils nowadays? I'm amazed Yamanouchi is still on its feet, let alone a thriving school."

Incensed, she slid to her feet and her left leg shot out into a vicious arc, her foot tensed for a hammer-like impact to the side of Fist's head. But the lanky master dodged the attack and caught her leg, forcing it into an upswing that unbalanced the young ninja and sent her crashing to the floor a second time.

"Of course, it may not be his teachings. We both know that you're not fighting at the peak of your abilities, are you, Yori? After all, having to cope with that nasty little dose of poison in your veins must be taking a lot of energy."

Yori, her breath heaving as she lay sprawled on the cold cobbles, throbbing muscles complaining at the impact, managed to lift her head and glare at Fist, who sighed and crouched down next to her once more.

"I expected more from you than a pathetic little glare and a snarl. Perhaps you really are weaker than I originally thought, perhaps that pretender, Stoppable, really is stronger than he looks." He smiled thinly. "Maybe you're not much use unless you can girlishly prance around with those nasty little razor fans of yours."

Chuckling as Yori turned away, still occupied with fighting the terrible nausea assaulting her system, he sighed with pleasure.

"But then there's even more going on here than you could possibly know, and you, my dear, are only one tiny lynchpin in a very, very clever plan."

"Yours?" Yori managed, before heaving another breath, her head spinning violently.

"Partly, but I do have a… well, a silent partner in this little endeavour you could say. I would love to explain everything to you; sadly I'm not foolish enough to do so. Still, I'm sure once everything is finally completed, it will become clear."

Yori shook her head. "Fist, why have you kidnapped me?!"

"Oh dear, have you forgotten our little conversation already, Yori?" Her captor smirked. "The poison seems to be working better than advertised. Well, as I said-"

"You intend to destroy Ron. That I understand, as cruel and foolish as it may be. I also know that all of is this some way for you to fulfil the wish to gain the power entirely for yourself! However, I do not understand why I am so vital to your plans."

"Oh, Yori, I am shocked that you would say that… that you would consider yourself so below my notice." Fist paused and his smile became predatory. "Considering that many of the rumours I've been hearing are to do with a certain ninja and Ron Stoppable being seen together."

Yori's face paled, but she fought to keep her composure. "He is my friend."

"Mmn. I doubt 'friends' end up being so… intimate. According to a few of my colleagues I've recently reacquainted myself with since being freed from my stony imprisonment, it would seem that in the past few weeks they have been arrested and their world domination plans thwarted as usual. Not, however, by Kim Possible, but by Stoppable and yourself. And quite a few have commented on how, as they were placed into the police van, they happened to notice this certain ninja kissing Stoppable in a very intimate way."

"It is not what you think-"

Fist, enjoying himself, smirked and interrupted. "And then of course there are the recent rumours going around the villain community that the Blood Jade attacked Global Justice, and almost won as well." He grinned. "That rumour, at least, I know is true… In fact, we both know that it is true, do we not?"

"That has not been made public knowledge yet so how do you-"

The sigh echoed around the stony room. "Villain, my dear. That is what I am and people such as myself? Well, we know so much more than those little sheep you call the innocent masses and Shepard around."

Steeling her resolve, Yori slowly forced herself back onto her feet and straightened. "That does not explain how you know the Jade were involved, Fist. Unless…"

Chuckling and grinning as her eyes widened, he nodded. "Why, I do believe you may have just started to understand a little. You're quite correct, Yori in that you are our guest here, my dear. Yes, you heard quite correctly in that they would like me to… take care of you."

Yori shook her head. "No, it makes no sense. They have known about us, as we them, for many hundreds of years. Why now are they suddenly interested in the powers of Tai Sheng? And also, even if they were, then why would they share such power with you? What do they gain from all this, unless…"

Fist stood smoothly and cracked his knuckles, distracting the young woman from her thoughts. "Quite frankly, my dear I don't care much as to their intentions or reasons. Oh, I find their plotting most amusing. If they succeed in what they intend? Well then, so much the better. If they fail, there is no harm done to my own plans and with the power they will have allowed me to gain I will eventually accomplish their task at my leisure." The lanky ninja master shrugged. "I would consider it more than fair after their gift of these!"

Fist beckoned to a Monkey ninja and the primate ambled forwards, clutching a plain dark leather-bound box. With a click, the top slid open to reveal three spaces, lined with dark red velvet. While one of the spaces was empty, the others were full. One seemed to be some form of bracelet as far as Yori could tell. The material was a gleaming silvery colour; precious stones studded the material in strange swirling patterns and seemed to be linked together with coppery metal. The other was a circlet made of the same metal, but this had a single dark purple stone with a screaming primate's face etched into its surface set into the centre.

"Lovely, are they not?" The monkey master murmured, stroking the gleaming metal with his unsettlingly long fingers before glancing over at Yori and showing an incisor. "And incredibly evil…"

Yori scowled as Fist gloated and her eyes flicked over the odd jewellery that the madman seemed to covet so much. She could not see why these things had secured Fist's loyalty, at least for the moment, for the Jade.

And her previous question still nagged at the back of her mind. That criminal organisation hated Yamanouchi to be sure, she should know, but never to the point where they would actually ally themselves to a crazy Gaijin.

As her soft almond eyes flicked over the ancient pieces of metal, she scowled. There was something about them, though she could not pin down what, that made her uneasy. Her own training, though the majority of her skills lay in the mystical art of Ninpo, did include a proportion of Tai Sheng as a main basis, something Sensei had insisted on.

Now, those skills, along with her Ninpo senses were uneasy about the jewellery in front of her. It was Fist, however, who provided the answer when Yori pointed out one thing.

"They did not provide you a complete set… perhaps they felt you were unworthy after all."

The mutant smiled, and shook his head. "Oh, no. They did give me a complete set, Yori my dear. But you see, I decided to make use of these immediately, and so I gave one as a gift."

Yori shivered at the way he whispered the word and steeled herself. "Really?"

"Mmmn… and perhaps it is down to that little gift I gave you as being the reason why you've been feeling so… unwell in the past few hours perhaps?"

Letting go of her, Fist watched as the ninja's eyes darted down to her right arm. There, clasped tightly around her wrist, the scrollwork gleaming dully in the pale light of the cell, was the partner bracelet to the one still in the box.

Yori swallowed, and a trembling hand traced the gleaming metal and inset stones. A central stone, dark blood-red, pulsed faintly with an ethereal evil. Now that she was closer, she flicked her gaze over the clear symbols of Tai Sheng language, and her eyes widened in horror at the words they spelled out.

Any student from Yamanouchi had learned those words, etched into the deep history, the foundations, of their discipline. Those who were skilled had learned to fear what they warned.

Yori knew all too well, and she stared in utter horror.

"The bracelets of Marajamon! Sensei said that… no, not even you are insane enough to use them!"

"But I am… did you not say I was insane, Yori?" First grinned and stroked the purple stone. "Perhaps I should just go with my more impulsive ideas in the future, this one is working perfectly."

And as she stared up at her captor with mounting anger and fear, the sound of insane inhuman laughter echoed around the stone chamber as the wild eyed man in front of her pounded his chest in a perverted mimic of an ape. Finally Fist looked down at her with a gleam of amusement in his eyes.

"As for you, well… you're going to help me, Yori. You're going to help me become supreme monkey ruler!"

"Never!" she hissed, backing away.

"Oh, you will." Fist smirked. "And maybe it's time I awoke the bracelets power, my dear. After all, they have been asleep for so very long."

So saying, he slid his hand into the ornate box and pulled out the Circlet, sliding it onto his forehead until the gleaming purple rock, almost seeming to glisten with malevolent intent to the young female ninja, pressed lightly against his skin.

Fist stepped back a few feet and Yori watched as the crazed man began to mutter passionately to himself in a low guttural tone. She recognised a few words of power from a language as ancient as the ruins of Tai Sheng themselves, older in some cases.

Suddenly, the purple stone pulsed in his forehead, shimmering with some ethereal energy. Yori barely noticed however, as she bit back the sudden scream that tore at her throat. A scream that wanted to escape her mouth as every single fibre of her being and her soul, felt an intense, numbing cold bite and gnaw into her. She felt as though her very skin wished to crawl from her body and she realised the horrible truth as some part of her mind dragged her eyes down to the cause.

The bracelet around her wrist gleamed with vicious metallic glee, and the red stone in it's centre almost seemed to pulse in time with her heartbeat.

The guttural words continued to spill from Fists mouth, and the ninja staggered as the dungeon began to spin around and around in front of her eyes. Faster and faster it went,

Yori moaned, cursing her lack of foresight, as darkness began to bleed into the edges her eyes. Before she could fight or even hiss the name of the man who had done this to her, the ninja collapsed into a dead faint.

And in the cold of the dungeon, all that could be heard was insane, triumphant laughter.

Middleton

"I dunno, Rufus. Yori was supposed to come home last night."

Ron Stoppable, Team Possible member and current rave sensation at his culinary college, paced the carpet of the flat he and Yori now shared, thanks to the salary Global Justice paid the ninja, and stared worriedly at the clock ticking silently against the wall.

He'd woken on the bright Saturday morning, yawning and stretching as normal, only to immediately realise something was wrong. A feeling that only grew as he brushed the pillow next to him and found it lacking a river of long silky dark hair.

This had been the first thing that had alerted him to the fact she was missing.

When he'd wandered into the kitchen from their bedroom, only to find a total lack of a certain girlfriend sitting at the table sipping orange juice, he became even more worried. The worry had become concern when the spare room, converted into a dojo, had also been empty.

A call to the languages centre had resulted in them telling him that Yori had left that night, later than usual due to her incessant ability to work past her usual paid hours, and had headed off into the night. So, unless she'd decided at that point to visit a bar or club- which was very unlikely- then she was missing.

And someone like Yori, who looked slender but had muscles Ron didn't even know the name of – except that they often felt really rather nice against his hands- and was also trained in marital arts, including his own Tai Sheng. Well, a woman that capable of handling herself, dealing with every minor villain Middleton possessed while Kim was away, didn't just go 'missing' suddenly. Not unless…

Ron shook his head and glanced at the clock on the wall. Missing for the whole of yesterday evening. And now it was three PM! Yori had been gone for nearly twenty hours. She could be anywhere… hurt, frightened… needing him and-

No it's just not possible! It's been silent here in Middleton since Kim and Shego hooked up. All the villains are keeping their heads down for the moment. Honestly, I can't say I blame them.

"Maybe she's already gone out? Something happened at the office, so she'd decided to deal with it before we went to the mall?" His voice was hopeful as he glanced over at his mole rat friend.

Rufus, sitting propped on the coffee table Yori had taken a fancy to a few months back, looked up from the cracker he was munching from a pack Ron had left out, and squeaked in sympathy. "Could be. Mnn hmm!"

Sighing, Ron deflated and shook his head, a frown developing on his face.

"No… Yori's not the sort of person to forget to call me if she's working late, Ruf. And let's be honest, buddy, she'd wake me if something cropped up in the morning - especially as it's the weekend."

Turning, he stared out the window as Rufus continued to murmur sympathetic noises. The warm sunshine lit his face, and he couldn't help but smile at the thought of the young ninja who had become his partner.

We'd been planning for a nice day out, you know? A little shopping - I know she secretly gets a kick out of the Club Banana store, no matter how much she blushes and protests before we go in, a nice meal, and then the cinema to wrap it all up. She was so excited! Well, as much as she normally is about anything."

"Uh huh… sick?"

"Nah. She would have said something last night or yesterday morning, or called me from work." Ron wrung his hands. "No two ways about it, Ruf. Something weird is going on, and I'm really worried. So, only one thing to do."

"W'ah?"

Pulling out his Roncom, and quietly thanking Wade for the umpteenth time that the young teen genius had finally come round and made him his own communicator, he thumbed the switch and waited as the gleaming KP logo flashed into existence on its small screen. Finally, the familiar and welcomed face of Wade Load splashed onto the screen.

"Hey Ron," The young man waved at him, sucking on a diet soda. "Nothing going on at the moment that you need to know about. So, what's up?"

"Could you call Yori for me?" Ron asked, and Wade blinked at the apprehension in his voice.

"Um, sure. Any particular reason as to why? It's just, you look a little worried."

"Can you just call her? Please, Wade. I just wanna make sure she's okay."

"Okay, Ron, okay. " The young man tapped at the keys on his keyboard and waited for a few moments…moments that, as the clock painfully ticked away, became minutes. "Odd, she's not answering…"

Ron felt his heart skip a little, his chest beginning to feel tight. He pushed the feeling back. It was just nerves, that was all. "She's not?"

Wade nodded, preoccupied with his screens and the information rapidly scrolling across them. "No, though to be honest, I've got her main communication network spliced through GJ's system, and for some reason they've been having troubles too. I don't know the details yet, but their sat system seems to be in standby mode."

"Is that bad?"

"Not really. Well, unless something major triggered it. That's the only problem with Team Possible being merely an associated group. If anything goes on inside GJ, it's up to Doctor Director to let us know, well unless I hack into them. But I don't bother because contact from her is usually not a problem. But, right now? I can't seem to get though to her."

Ron nodded slowly, putting his worries for Yori to one side. "Okay, weird times ten."

"I'll keep trying to contact Doctor Director today, but until then, I've gotta work around a huge gap in our communications." The young genius chuckled. "Silly really, I've become so used to them being online twenty four seven that it's really thrown me, losing that network for a while."

"Are we out of contact with Kim then?"

"No… not at the moment. She's got her Kimmunicator turned off and I promised not to remote activate it for a call unless it was literally life and death." Wade decided not to mention to Ron the three minute 'discussion' he had with Shego, or the quiet promise that had made the young man shiver slightly. It hadn't been pleasant. "But she's online; we can tap in using the international call networks if needed."

"Oh, right."

"I just meant that the GJ network is usually the one I turn to for the majority coverage. A lot of the other networks shift or are unreliable. Last thing we need when you or Kim are on a mission is for the Kimmunicator to cut out during a time my skills as a computer tech or analyst are needed, right?"

Ron nodded as the many times Wade had come through in a pinch, especially the whole incident with the rare flower needed to save Kim from vanishing forever, came to mind. "You have a point…"

"Anyway, it's not a problem to contact Yori. I'll try a direct connection instead using one of the mobile networks."

Ron's foreboding only grew as Wade began to type with confidence at first, only to begin to flick his podgy fingers with greater determination across the keyboards.

Eventually, the young man looked up with an equally worried expression on his face and, worse in Ron's opinion; put his soda can out of view. "Um…"

"This has got to be bad news, I can feel it…"

"Well, I'm getting an error message. I think her communicator is damaged somehow, so maybe that's why I can't get her to answer."

"So, she's not contactable right now. The woman I live with and care for is missing without explanation and now I can't speak to her. Wade, that's not helping my worries here." Ron muttered, and Wade flushed.

"Well, there could be an easier explanation too. She could just be out of the mobile network area as well."

"Oh, come on!"

"No, it happens a lot with Kim, which is why my usual way of calling you guys is the satellite system. If Yori's on a mission for GJ, then she could be anywhere… it was the reason for the last time she went missing, right?"

Nodding, the blond teen shared a quick look with his mole rat buddy and both silently agreed on their course of action.

"Look, I'm sure that Yori's fine, but I'll feel much better once I see her and make sure myself. If everything's okay, we can put it down to a case of my Ron-ness doing overtime."

"Okay. I suggest a quick trip to see Doctor Director, but maybe we should let Kim know that Yori's out of contact. She is a part of Team Possible now and-" Wade paused, and then swallowed, again recalling the shimmering emerald gaze and thinned dark lips that had captivated him as they'd promised punishment if a call ended up interrupting 'Princess's' vacation time.

But, he had to admit that Ron's growing anxiety, coupled with coming to understand and become friendly with Yori, including her personality and general nature, was setting off his own alarm bells. "Look, with GJ's network down I'm beginning to wonder if we shouldn't take precautions and also ask Kim to come back-"

"Wade, come on!" Ron protested, ignoring the faint doubt and worry on the young man's face. "It's like you said, she's probably dropped it, or it's broken somehow while she was on a mission for GJ or something. She'll be fine and you're probably right. We'll find out she's doing recon work or something for Doctor Director and then we'll both end up feeling very silly about the whole thing."

"Well, yeah. But look, Ron, I say we just let Kim and Shego know. What's the harm?"

"They're on vacation, we're not." Ron told the tech flatly, also thinking back to the quiet friendly 'chat' that had in no way involved a certain green skinned woman threatening to introduce him to his kidneys, personally, if interruptions that were not 'vital in any damn way!' were involved.

"Kim put Yori and me in the hot seat while she was away. And that was only with a lot of cajoling by Shego as well. If we tell Kim what's happened, she'll worry, fly back, and then Shego will get mad. I don't know about you, but I like my kidneys right where they are, thanks."

"Well… okay. But for the moment I'm going to ask you keep your Roncom on at all times, okay?" Wade pressed a few buttons on a hidden keyboard obscured by the camera angle, and with a gentle chime, a map replaced his worried expression. On it, Ron's location was pinpointed by a flashing red dot. "That's where you are, or at least where your locator beacon is coming from."

"Sure, I'll be mucho relieved that you're watching over me. Thanks, buddy."

"Just be careful, Ron. Oh, and when you see Doctor Director, could you ask her what's going on at GJ? It's a bit annoying that some of Team Possible's satellite coverage is down."

"I will, and Yori's fine… it's all gonna turn out to be one big joke."

But, if that's so… why do I keep trying to convince that uneasy cold ball of ice in my gut of that fact? And why are the senses Sensei helped me develop really, really, unhappy at the thought of her all alone out there right now?

Because it's never been a problem before…

International Airspace. Heading towards Paris

Oh Jack, I've never felt so in love… I'm sorry I doubted you and-

Click.

This is DJ Huston and we'll be giving you the best tunes twenty four sev-

Click.

That's right, Angelina. Kim Possible and Shego were recently seen in a local club together and the green villain was getting a little… fresh with her new beau. The local religious authorities have decried Ms Possible's "decent into sin" as recently put by Pastor Jackson-

Click.

Shego seems to be enamoured with her new "captor", so maybe Kim has a new sidekick after all and-

Click, click.

Kim Possible and Shego were spotted in bikinis and-

Click!

Shego kissing Kim-

Click!!

They've nicknamed the new Team Possible craze "Kigo" and-

Kim Possible threw down the remote attached to her in-flight entertainment system and huffed out a breath of annoyance as she glared at the small screen. Over twenty channels of entertainment and music and nothing - absolutely nothing - was able to take her mind off one person.

Shego.

For the umpteenth time, her light green eyes strayed to the circular stairs that lead up to the sky-bar; where the person in question had retreated to after a particularly heated argument in front of every single first class passenger in the compartment. An argument that had been completely and totally all her fault, she mentally reminded herself.

Annoyed with herself, Kim forced her eyes away to stare at the figures on the screen in front of her and pretended that the longing desire chase after Shego was nothing more than a desire to confront the woman in question and get her to apologise for being an insufferable ass!

"Excuse me, Ms Possible?" Kim looked up to see one of the stewardesses hovering next to her. The woman smiled. "I wonder if you'd like a drink?"

"No. Just go away." Kim told her bluntly, and missed the flicker of shock that shot across the woman's face even as the redhead turned back to the small screen.

Focused on the small flickering figures, she was certainly not thinking about how her girlfriend hadn't come back from the damn bar to apologise after four hours of being upstairs, alone, guilty and shattered! And crying… yes, crying for how she had acted towards her new love!

After another ten minutes of waiting for Shego to not come back and apologise, Kim growled and slid to her feet, heading for the lavatory.

I can't believe that after all this she's still not saying sorry about what happened! It's not MY fault that she couldn't control herself at the resort. It's so like her to be so… so… inconsiderate and stubborn! After everything I've been through, WE'VE been through; would it kill her to just think about what she's doing?!

The teen's thoughts were momentarily interrupted when she glanced at the door to the toilet sitting next to the first class gallery and found it occupied. With a sigh of annoyance, Kim leaned against the wall and waited.

"You okay?" A voice asked quietly from behind the curtain and Kim tilted her head with minor interest to listen to the conversation.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

There was a sigh and Kim smiled wryly at the exhaustion in the female voice. Obviously, one of the pristine female models the airlines employed was feeling the strain. "But, did you hear those two going on?"

"What? Who, oh… Kim Possible and that green woman she's with?"

Kim stiffened as the other voice chuckled. "You mean Shego, her girrrlfriend… it was in all the papers, and they just loved the whole thief and the hero angle. But, yes, those two. I think the romance isn't running smoothly, in fact I thought we were going to have a punch up in first class, jeez."

"Really? All I know is that you could hear their little "chat" at the back of the plane!" The voice sighed and then chuckled in reply. "Still, it was an interesting little talk, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Can you believe what they were saying though? I mean, the sheer gall of telling somebody something like that. Bitch…"

Kim blinked and didn't notice the smug grin that crossed her face. She felt justified in the way she'd handled Shego now that two other people had overheard their argument and agreed with her. Shego would have to suck it up and listen to her in the future.

"Which one?" The other voice asked and Kim rolled her eyes.

"Kim Possible, who else would I be talking about? Talk about relationship issues, let alone trust."

Kim blinked in shock and the grin disappeared. What?!

"Oh, come on…" The other voice replied, amused at the annoyance in her colleague's tone.

"Come on nothing! If my boyfriend started spouting off about how I never listen and that I need to change to keep him happy, I'd kick his ass! God knows I kicked that other bum out of my home when he started going on about me staying home, doing what I was told, and being a good little lover! What's the difference?"

"Didn't Possible say that she'd done something nasty to another woman? Besides, she's a thief, Kirsty. Maybe she's trying to change her for the better, and we don't have any idea what-"

"She's dating her." The voice now linked to Kirsty snapped back. "You don't go around changing people you love! You saw the press conference with me, Allie, and whatever she's doing is just dumb!"

"Kirsty…"

"I mean it! You don't go around confessing you're in love with a woman like her unless you're sure of it! You sure as hell don't do that if you're a famous woman, not unless you're head over heels!"

"We don't know what happened to cause that argument, Kirsty." Her friend sighed and the curtain rustled slightly next to Kim as her hand reached around and gripped the edge. "Let it go. It's none of our business how that got started. I'm just glad that Shego woman is up in the bar and that Possible is still in her seat."

"Yeah, I know." Kirsty sighed as the curtain was pulled back, and both air-hostesses stepped into the now empty corridor. "It's just that I saw Shego's face when she stomped upstairs. I felt for her. Stupid really. I know she's a thief and all, and Possible probably had good reason to snap at her, but still. She looked really upset… kinda sad too."

"We see it all in this job."

"Don't I know it…"

As both women walked off in different directions, neither noticed the lavatory door was engaged, and they certainly wouldn't have noticed the woman just sitting down back into her chair a few rows down.

Inside the lavatory, Kim sat down on the closed toilet lid, her face pale and conflicted. She glanced down and noticed that her hands were shaking, and forced them to still through sheer force of will. Her green eyes flickered to the mirror and she stared at the reflection of herself as it stared right back.

The conversation she'd overheard had disturbed her. Had she been harsh towards Shego because she wanted to change her in some way? Was she really like that?

She didn't want Shego to change, well… that much. She loved the green woman. But behaviour such as she showed at the resort was just unacceptable now they were well… intimate.

Kim shook her head. Since the time spent at the "pleasure" of Kara Fang," the redhead shivered slightly. "Shego had been surprisingly fantastic at changing her attitude towards quite a few things. In fact, before this little event, Kim was so proud that she was making what seemed to be a genuine effort to behave.

But now, now it was all going to hell and Kim cursed that bitch Stacy and how, now, thanks to the horrible blonde bimbo, it looked like Shego was back to her old tricks. Damn that wannabe beach model! Still, the thief hadn't tried very hard to rein herself in, had she!

Luring her into a meal, letting her be lulled into thinking that she had been the only thing on the green woman's mind! When in truth - Kim scowled - she'd probably been plotting and praying that a good meal would make her sleepy; all so Shego could go sneaking out and play at being a bad-ass mercenary again!

In fact, why hadn't she just gone the whole hog and stolen the damn Ferrari instead?! Kim scowled. She probably would have too, if it hadn't been almost impossible to have pawned it anywhere on such a small island.

God knows she couldn't have gone for a joyride. Couldn't have risked me waking up and finding out, could we?!

The redhead snorted in annoyed justification, closing her eyes.

I just want her to be a little bit more responsible, to listen to me sometimes! I don't want her going off half-cocked and ending up in trouble. Oh, and as for the stealing. Why she still wants to act the bad gal is beyond me. If she'd just try a little harder to behave, maybe we wouldn't have these problems.

She seriously just needs to act a bit more like me, maybe then she'd think before blowing stuff out of proportion!

A camera.

That was what had started this sorry chapter in Kim's life. Not a threat of world domination, or a ransom demand for kidnapped family members. Not a single potentially catastrophic event.

No. It had been a bimbo with a digital camera.

Okay, Kim had felt a little anxious at the thought of someone snapping a few money making photos of herself and Shego in such a compromising situation. But it hadn't been worth pursuing, right? That's what she'd told Shego, right?

That was what she'd have done… the sensible, no better, the right thing to do in that situation. And that was why she was so angry, right?! For the green woman just not thinking that the smart and, and… thief way would have been to just leave it alone, not draw attention and remain incognito!

Her anger had nothing to do with the gut wrenching fear coiled in her belly over the thought that the woman who had slept beside her, pressed smooth lips against her skin, and begged to… to make love to her, was pretending. Pretending to have changed, just so she could end up getting her nemesis into bed. Right?

The redhead surreptitiously pressed a hand to her stomach and shook her head violently.

No. No! She's changed, Shego's changed. She came away, turned away from what could have been quite a good punch-up with that blonde cow! Kim argued with herself. Anything to stop the roiling in her belly.

"But, then she took it to the bar…" Kim found herself whispering quietly, while a headache threatened to introduce itself. "I caught her… anything could have happened if I'd not been there and… and…"

"You're right, as always. They don't matter and you do."

Without anger, without even disappointment in her tone, Shego had turned away from that awful, awful, woman and left. Left with her and just dropped it.

For her.

And the uneasiness Kim had felt, staring at that bar table, the tension in the air, it had turned to relief. Relief that had become that same forbidden tingle she'd always felt around the thief, especially when Shego had her trademark smirk going on.

Catching the bad girl in the act and, somehow, beating her.

But then everything after had shattered that image for Kim. Smashed it, allowed the uneasiness in her gut to slink back, and lead them to a snarled argument a few hours ago.

Was it such a bad thing to want to make her lover… well, more presentable for her image or at least presentable to the world? After all, Kim admitted, she was a world class hero and having Shego acting like that around her could damage her reputation. That was important, very important to the site, to her missions and Team Possible.

Sometimes she couldn't trust Shego to behave like she wanted… like she needed someone with her to act and-

Kim's eyes snapped wide and her mouth dropped open, some part of her brain finally putting the pieces together, coming upon a startling realization, and making her replay the last few thoughts to have run through her head. Blinking, the young adult paused and put a hand across her open mouth.

What did I just think to myself?!

Okay, so she was a hero, she saved the world from villains and clinically insane people on a regular basis, but she'd never really bothered with her image. Well, not really. And okay, Ron screwed up on a regular basis, but he was a sidekick and so it hadn't really mattered to anyone as long as the team had come though. She'd never thought her image had mattered more than the Team's.

Had she… had she?!

"They can say what they like about me, and some of the papers are. But as long as my family and friends are with me and on my side… as long as you're here, then it's so not a drama."

Words, exchanged a day ago, echoed inside Kim's head until it hurt. Running that memory back, especially now, her own words almost took on the tone of denial…

The red haired hero shook her head violently from side to side, finding this self exploration vastly unpleasant.

No, I don't care what everyone else thinks. Kim fisted her hand so tightly she winced as her nails cut into her flesh. And I don't want to change Sheeg… I don't! Not like that! I'm not that type of person!

But god, the fear she'd felt when she'd realised Shego had finally had enough of that stuck-up blond. The chilling, bone freezing fear that she'd go too far… Kim could still taste it as Shego had turned to glare at the awful woman with that same, knowing, glint in her eye.

"Because my temper, and I have a short one as people will tell you, is rapidly wearing thin, you trumped up little bitch!"

"Always a bad girl…" Kim whispered to herself, and rubbed her forehead furiously, almost as if she could will the entire debacle to go away.

And you didn't really mind that bimbo lost her car, at all… did you? Kim admitted to herself. Not until you'd realised just exactly who had decided to see if Porches floated… and that she'd lied to you to do it. No, all you felt to that point was a smug satisfaction that justice had been served and you hadn't lost your halo. Talk about hypocritical…"

"No… no…" The redhead bit her lip, worrying it between her teeth as she ruthlessly examined her personal flaws, some part of her too far down the list to stop now and save her ego.

Unbidden, the memory of her trying to make Ron a little more presentable, crossed her mind. The event had turned him into the vainest, most image obsessed person she'd ever met… including Senior Junior and that was saying something.

But, even though she'd seen Ron, thank goodness, return to his normal, scruffy, dependable self, she examined that long passed event with new eyes and the uneasiness grew in the pit of her stomach.

Had she buffed Ron up to make him feel better about himself… or for herself? After all, once he'd started acting like a male Bonnie and practically rode his ego, even Kim could admit it had caused her to fume at the sudden switch in, well, attention.

But I learned my lesson and-

Keeping up with Bonnie and outsmarting her at every turn for captaincy of the cheerleading team, how much of that was to keep her image?

I… my image…

The high school end of year dance, how quick was she in dropping everything like a hot potato to find someone, anyone, who had ranked high enough in the school opinion poll to match her reputation?

I chose Ron in the end! The redhead thought with something close to desperation. That's all that matters in the end. I chose him! Because I'm not like that!

"I don't care about my damn reputation!"

Kim blinked, wondering where the hoarse growling voice had come from, and raised a hand slowly to her mouth as she realised it had been hers, a small blush of embarrassment at the outburst creeping on her cheeks as she wondered if anyone had heard her outside the cubicle.

"I don't have an ego!" She hissed, only to recall a piercing green gaze, deflating her annoyance at herself almost immediately.

It all came down to her Shego, and that was the main point. Shego was hers.

If she really didn't care what people thought, if her reputation as a hero didn't concern her as long as she did what was right herself, why hadwhat happened been such an issue?

"That wasn't the problem… she did something so… so stupid! She could have been hurt, or caught or… or sued!" Kim barely noticed she was talking to herself. "Shego needs to stop being the bad girl and just think before she does something even worse!"

Okay, so she'd found Shego attractive for being herself, for being the quintessential 'bad girl', Kim knew. And, Kim shamefully admitted as she stared into her own green eyes, that was what she found so attractive.

Because, underneath that prickly shell was a far deeper person who was secretive, surprisingly loving, and- most of all – was fascinatingly complex.

Kim could even admit to the undeniable fact that it was because Shego did look at the world with experienced and cynical eyes that had interested her during their meetings. And with her experience of life as their encounters continued, Shego had only become more caustic and coolly sarcastic about everything. But despite this, the woman that was slowly opening up to Kim was captivating.

It was who Shego was, and Kim meekly admitted as well, what she was that spoke to the redhead's core.

So why, she asked herself with brutal honestly, did she suddenly want to change that? Who was she to judge the experiences that had made the green woman look far less favourably on the world and people living on it. Experiences that Shego had barely begun to explain to her in any form of detail at all.

Six months, and suddenly how Shego thinks and acts isn't good enough anymore, not up to my standards as a lover? Am I reallythat shallow… or worse, do I trust her that little?

The silence that answered her discomforted the redhead and Kim bit her lip as the harsh words she'd aimed at Shego a few hours ago trickled into her memory.

"Can't help yourself and besides, you have to keep your hand in don't you? A little thrill, a little thieving… being sneaky. I bet you loved every second, didn't you?!"

Why did I say that? Everything Shego's done has been to make me comfortable, happy… loved. God, I know, more than anyone, that Shego's a physical person. So why… why did I say that?! Punish her in a way I knew she couldn't fight, because I know her right down into her soul?

"Hey!" A sudden banging on the door broke her out of her musing and she jumped as the door shook slightly under each blow. An annoyed voice came through the plastic. "You've been in there for twenty minutes! What are you doing in there, eh?!"

"O…okay. I'm sorry, I... I'll be out in a minute."

Shaken and a tad embarrassed, Kim fell back onto the lavatory seat and hung her head.

She'd treated Shego like the old days. No, far worse. And, when she came right to it, for what? For some insignificant bonnie clone, who didn't deserve to breathe the same air as the woman she loved, let alone register with any significance in their lives to trigger such a heated argument.

And okay, so the whole silent treatment had been shockingly effective, and Shego had obviously been unable to take it anymore, hence the ranting confrontation in the cabin. But still, she couldn't recall the last time she'd acted so… so childishly in not speaking to Shego, in not sitting down with her and working it out… like that time with the Tweebs and the hair singeing episode.

All she could think of was the way those gleaming emerald eyes had been so… betrayed.

Oh my … I…. I've treated her so badly, I… Didn't I learn my lesson with Ron? What is wrong with me and relationships I desperately want to work?!

With what she had seen originally as completely justifiable anger now turning to misery, Kim moaned. She looked up into the tiny mirror and shook her head at the reflection that stared back, her green eyes shimmering with moisture, tears beginning to track down her smooth skin and she barely suppressed a sob.

I… I've screwed us up before we'd even got started.

Unlocking the door, Kim pushed past the annoyed passenger who glared at her as she squeezed out of the small lavatory space, and walked slowly back to her seat.

Maybe that graffiti in the Middleton girls' restrooms was true. 'Kim Possible, drain cleaner for relationships'.

Sinking into the leather chair, barely noticing the eyes that slanted in her direction, taking note of the wet trickles down her face, Kim remained motionless for an hour, tears leaking down her face.

Ten minutes of silence later, the hero scrubbed roughly at the wetness on her cheeks and fisted her hands tightly, a look of steely determination on her face before standing up and taking a deep breath.

The look on her face made any of heads turning in her direction spin back to find something, anything, safer to look at.

I've gotta put this right, because I'm not losing her over this… not over MY issues. I love her too damn much!

In the sky-bar, Shego sat at the curving line of lightweight metal tabletop; the thin barstool tucked tightly underneath, and stared moodily at the streaming clouds underneath the plane as they shot past the window next to her shoulder.

She raised her shot glass without bothering to check what type of alcohol was inside it and sucked the contents down in one go. The violent crunch of the ice cubes at the bottom of the glass had the few passengers around her glancing up in shock and mild alarm as the pale green woman chewed viciously.

Damn it! Damn it all to hell and back! Goddamn Kimmie and her holier than thou attitude! And for what, a bitch who would have spat on her as much as given her the time. I stood up for her and look where it got me. Damn, damn, Kimmie!

"Another!" She snapped at the barman who, having done this multiple times in the past few hours, silently reached down for the vodka and refilled the glass. "And leave the damn bottle!"

Concern flickered in his eyes for a second, but the barman shrugged and left a clear bottle of Russian vodka on the bar. He silently promised to keep an eye on the strangely coloured woman who continued to mutter and flick her gaze restlessly between the window and its view of crisp clear sky, and her shot glass.

"Turning me to drink, Princess, I hope you're happy," Shego muttered and then sneered into the distance. "Perfect little Pumpkin… I should'a steered well clear the first time I met her." Green eyes scowled. "I don't even like pumpkins… especially when they're in a pie!"

"Excuse me?" Asked the man next to her, surprised at the snarled whisper seemingly in his direction.

"I wasn't talking to you, okay?" The pale woman snapped at him, making the man flinch and pay exaggerated attention to the laptop he had brought with him.

Snorting, Shego turned back to staring at the shot glass in front of her, searching for the solutions to questions she hadn't even thought needed answers. The first and most demanding of which, was what the hell did she do about the situation that Kim had dropped them into?

Okay, yeah, okay. So maybe she'd gone a little too far with Silicon Stacy and her plans for swift revenge and satisfying victory against the little beach tart. Maybe flipping the Porsche into the pool had been one step too far, maybe. But still… she'd insulted Shego to the core and, worse, ripped into her Kimmie. In her opinion, she'd dealt with it just fine. 'Silicon Stacy' had deserved worse.

But of course little Ms Perfect was offended by how she'd dealt with it. Little Ms Perfect expected her to swallow insults like that and let some blond bitch insult the woman Shego had chosen to be with! And then Little Ms Perfect found out, which she wouldn't have if she'd just let Shego handle it and enjoy her damn holiday! The holiday Shego had made for Kim, the perfect holiday… just for her!

Annoyed, the green woman twisted to the man sitting next to her and waved a hand.

"So, you do something like this for her, try to prove that the days of you both pummelling each other, and placing her in mortal danger via villainous traps constructed by a crazy blue wiener-man, are over, and where does it get you? " She glanced over at the man next to her, green eyes wild, the effect of which was to cause him to freeze in her glare, like a deer caught in headlights.

Swallowing, he slid his laptop closed and as the insane and angry looking woman next to him seemed to expect a reply, stammered, "I… I dunno-"

"She tells you off like a kid! Snaps at you, tells you how 'disappointed' she is in how you can't control yourself, and that you've done something bad to someone. Even when it's to someone who goddamn well deserved it too!"

Shego snorted, lost in her own world. "Oh, and then she 'conveniently' forgets that you've always been a bad girl… that you are a bad girl, and that bad girls makes her goddamn wet because she can't be one herself! That's what she does! And that's so not hypocritical of Princess Perfect, is it?!"

The sarcasm bit into her words like ice and another shot slammed its way down her throat.

"Plus, just to make it even more of a bum deal, I've gotta put up with a blond buffoon who has a power that comes from his greatest fear, a female reject from some Jackie Chan movie who's read every single fortune cookie proverb ever made, and a naked mole rat that seems to have more intelligence than his owner! And don't get me started on her twin brothers from hell. How they managed to set my pride and joy on fire I'll never know! It resists plasma for goddamn sake, so… so… well, yeah!"

"I've… I have to…" The businessman next to her stood up, and swallowed as a hand tipped with razor sharp black nails shot out and grabbed the bowl of peanuts next to his wrist. With a scrape it slid across to the pale, raging woman, leaving faint trails in the metal.

"Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it… the aggravation, the annoyance. I mean, I've made changes, huge goddamn changes! I'm working for a group I used to work my ass of to stay away from. I've given up being a thie-" She broke off, hastily looking around, before her free hand tightened into a fist and an ugly, bitter, smirk flashed across her face. "Self employed security tester."

"Okay, okay, so I've not done that, but let's say I've changed how I use my skills. I'm being a, hah, fucking good girl now. I've swallowed my pride, swallowed the crap they've dished on me, the fucking looks I'm still getting even months later! I've worked so damn hard to be accepted by everyone that means a single goddamn thing to her! Even that one-eyed harpy she has the sparkle eyes for… we won't even go into the fact that Pumpkin doesn't have a clue how the real world works, how GJ works!"

"I… I…"

Ignoring the nervous stammer next to her, the green woman chomped peanuts and sloshed more vodka into her glass as though it had personally offended her in some way.

"Hell, why beat around the bush? I've changed everything I can change before I'm just no longer me but someone else! And what's she done in return? Eh! EH!!"

Part of her, the darkest part, yelled at her to leave. Fuck Kim! No relationship, even with the cute redhead, just was not worth the aggravation that she was experiencing. Besides, 'people' she'd leaned to her own bitter disappointment were eventually just no damn good. Sooner or later, they left or hurt you in some way that just couldn't be fixed. Her mother, her father, and eventually her own brother had proved this too her. But for some stupid, selfish reason, the softer part of her, the bit she left buried and often tried to ignore, had hoped that Kim might be different.

Hell, there'd been a connection between them even when they'd first met. Even while they had fought, pounded on each other, there had always been respect for each other, heck even more that neither wanted to act on.

But recently, all she seemed to be getting from Kim was uncertainty, and worse she wondered if it was uncertainly over them as a couple, as lovers.

Uncertainty? Hell, that doesn't even cover the little fight we had, just so that I could convince her to come with me on this little jaunt! Most people would jump at a month's holiday to all the top resorts, with someone who, damn you, Kim, loves them and wants to make them happy!

Has she become that tired of me, that quickly?

That thought came from deep within and the green thief hunched her shoulders in defence.

"I… who are we talking about?" The man, now regretting ever having come to the bar, let alone the plane, asked timidly.

"My Kimmie! And okay, I suppose I'm being a little unfair, I know." Shego growled, huffing and looking out of the window. "So, I know finding out that you prefer woman is a big 'teenage life crisis' giving deal. I can understand that, coping with it is a bastard sometimes. And yeah, I know dealing with the damn papers and all the crap they can shove on top of you when you're… popular is crappy enough."

"But that's not the point! She hasn't changed what she does, or who she is, or had to work to make amends when she's pretty damn certain she shouldn't have to! She's not had to deal from the bottom of the pack, knowing that the person opposite is a better card player, and know she'll probably end up regretting it one day." Shego's voice suddenly went very quiet, almost regretful if it had been from anyone else. "That she's never ever been lucky enough for the good stuff to stay with her…"

The businessman, making a quick decision now that the crazy woman wasn't looking at him, backed away and scrambled as quickly as possible for the steps down to the business class cabin area. Not noticing this, Shego waved a hand at his vacated seat.

"You want a drink too? It's crappy to drink alone."

Not waiting for an answer, the green woman snapped yet another shot down her throat and this time the glass creaked under the stress her fingers applied onto the surface. But before she could pour another shot of the premium vodka, another hand slid over the lip of the glass and tightened gently.

"I think you've had enough of that… don't you?"

The quiet voice raised the hackles on the back of Shego's neck, and the green woman stiffened in her chair, refusing to turn around and face the woman that could, oh so easily, slip past her defences and hurt her if she did.

But, as her eyes slid almost of their own will across to where a shimmering set of paler sea green eyes stared at her face, Shego sighed inwardly. It seemed that when she decided to refuse to do anything for Kim, some part of her slid the word almost in front with sly ease.

Every time I turn around… no matter where or why, there she is… when I do and don't need her. Shego ruminated, as she turned away and sulked at how easily Kim could find her. Like some two-legged bloodhound. Kimmie always knows how to find me. She finds it so very easy.

In fact, the green woman thought as the hand pulled the glass firmly out of her grasp, Kim could find her almost as easily as the hero could piss her off in ways she never thought, hah, possible.

Damn it… nowhere to hide this time.

Kim gazed at the woman who had made her life both unpredictable and dangerous, and now made it even more unpredictable, but satisfying and exciting for completely different reasons. She was shocked to see just how badly their argument had affected the pale woman she loved.

Having had a sudden attack of reality forced onto her by the harshly amused discussion of the two air hostesses, the redhead had been forced to come to the conclusion that when it had come to putting the woman in her place, she'd had as much a hand as Shego had.

She had also come to rationalise that, when it came down to it, destroying a piece of property was a lot less… well, wrong, when compared to physically threatening the person in question with major bodily harm when you had dragged that person out of earshot.

And so Kim Possible had taken a good long look at how she had punished Shego with silence, the one thing she had instinctively known in some way that the green thief would be clueless in fighting against. She'd taken a good long look at her actions, had sat in her seat examining herself again and again, and after what felt like an eternity had come to a decision.

A quick trip to the food prep area at the back of the plane, followed by a pleading argument with one of the surprised air hostesses, and then ten minutes of very tricky work, ended with the redhead clutching a small box tightly to her chest and ignoring the curious glances from the other passengers, heading with some trepidation in the direction of Shego's location.

The mere act of walking up the steps to the bar had been quite daunting, even for a woman who saved the world on a regular basis. Whether it was due to her own apprehension at the way she'd spoken to Shego, or the look the thief had given her as she'd walked away, one full of anger and upset and betrayal, she couldn't tell. But, she did know that when she'd finally taken a deep breath and made her way up to the bar floor, the sight of Shego hunched over a bottle of alcohol had caused the guilt at her reaction, justified or not, to punch a ball of ice into her gut.

She barely took in the neat and modern style of design that formed the sky-bar, certainly didn't notice the thick blue carpet that silenced her footfalls as she walked quietly forwards, and the 1920's sculptures and light fittings were ignored. Kim was fixed on the figure at the far end of the small room, as far away and isolated from everyone else as possible.

Shego…

The dark haired woman she loved sat hunched at one end of the bar, and Kim had winced as she watched the barman fill shot-glass after shot-glass of what looked like premium vodka, and then her own fern green eyes had widened at Shego had banged the bar and gestured at the bottle with a snarled demand. Kim had felt her own hand clench slightly with worry as the man had shrugged, obviously not wanting to get involved in the young pale woman's misery, and left the bottle exactly where it was.

A bottle that was snatched up and tilted so that clear liquid sloshed into the small glass, overflowing and splattering onto the bar top as the bottle shook slightly in Shego's hand. That action alone made the redhead become more worried and apprehensive than she had been walking up the steps.

How much have you been drinking, lover? And how much of that is due to me… to us…to what I've done to us?

She'd listened to Shego's grumbled complaining to the man shifting uncomfortably next to her, watched as, with each shot of vodka, Shego had become more worked up about a certain redhead, and had seen her chance when the businessman had discreetly made a run for it. A chance she took by quietly walking up to the green woman and, as the bottle tilted once more towards the shot glass, she reached out with her free hand and slid it over the lip of the glass.

"I think you've had enough of that… don't you?"

Her heart dropped with the way Shego's back stiffened and the luscious dark locks of her hair hid her face as she dropped her head a few inches. Hesitant, Kim reached out and gently touched the back of the thief's neck, and closed her eyes in relief when the green woman shivered slightly, but did not pull away. Maybe things weren't as bad as she thought.

The thief's voice was quiet and, to Kim's dismay sounded weary. "Correct me if I'm wrong, little cheerleader, but I'm older than you. And because of this teeny weenie little point, I think I'd know if I've had enough or not."

Inwardly wincing, Kim nodded and quietly slipped into the seat next to the woman she loved. "I'd believe that, if it wasn't for one tiny point."

Shego slowly, oh so slowly, turned her head and Kim watched one gleaming emerald eye flick into life through the strands of black. The expression was one of resentment… and something else.

"And what tiny point would that be, Kimmie? I'm sure it's something that a bad, naughty, and quite evil thief, like me, needs pointing out from a perfect goodie two-shoes like you. So, come one, hit me with it." Shego stared at Kim and for some reason, possibly alcohol related; she let her resentment spill out. "I mean, I know how 'disappointed' you are with 'us', with me."

"Shego-" Kim whispered, upset and uneasy as her own words came back to haunt her.

"No, no… that was the word you used, right? 'Disappointed' I'm turning out to be a no good, uncontrolled, self-discipline lacking, waste of your time, right?!"

Kim's eyes widened in shock. Oh, what have I done… stupid, stupid!

"Still, I can understand why you feel that way though. You know, with how I defended your goddamn honour by eeevill stuff. Bad stuff that good girls don't mess with, no matter how much the bitch deserved it!" The words came fast, and blurred with emotion. "Still… at… at least you're talking to me now, right? Rules and lectures are better than the whole silent treatment I've been having!"

Turning away, Shego bit her lip and Kim watched her hand fist over the shot-glass once more as her voice became bitter. "So, come on Possible, get it over with. Tell me why I can't drink, and then later maybe we can go over some sort of ten step plan for making me the perfect, sweet, innocent, and boring lover you'd like. That's what you want, right?"

"No! God no!" Kim blurted, only to bite her lip at the burning gaze that slashed at her.

Shego snorted. "Screw it; you probably just wanna make me into one of your 'respectable' pals. How about we make me into Monique? 'BFF girl!!' or how about polite and 'it is my honour to giggle' Yori. Oh, fuck it. Why not make your life complete and turn me into good old dependable, dumbass Stoppable? Make me become anyone but who I am, right?! But I got news for you, Kimmie! I can't be anyone but me!!"

The green woman let out a huff of breath, and embarrassed at her outburst, looked away once more.

An uncomfortable silence slid into place between the two upset lovers.

For her part, Kim sat next to Shego, feeling numb. While she'd known that they had their… problems in this relationship, the outburst from the woman she loved had shaken the redhead. While she'd come to embrace and enjoy the fact she loved Shego, there were still parts of the woman next to her that Kim had trouble accepting.

No, be honest to yourself, Possible. You haven't even tried to discuss, accept and move on with Shego about her being a thief. You've shied away from talking with her about it, papered over the problems, and never brought it up yourself.

Kim sighed, making Shego glance over, and though her gaze was heated and angry, Kim could see the uncertainty she was trying to hide.

Maybe I've never wanted to think about the big question. I mean, how do you come to terms with the fact that you've fallen big time for a woman who used to earn cash from assaulting you, theft, and generally being a pain to every single law enforcement agency you know?

A thief, a mercenary, a contracted bodyguard for a super villain; the green woman had been all of those in her life, had met Kim because of them. And Shego had been well aware that Kim was vastly uncomfortable knowing she had such a past, or even worse for the redhead, maybe even fallen for her because of what she'd been and done. The scent of a strong willed, kick-ass, bad girl… who may have shown a side of herself nobody else had seen.

Maybe it had been cowardice on her part, Kim admitted privately. The girl who could do anything, too scared to peel back why Shego was so attractive to her. But honestly, could she be blamed for that?

But then, Shego hadn't been the one keeping away from those problems. Indeed the thief had brought it up once or twice, uncomfortably but she had done, and it had been Kim herself who had told her each and every time that it wasn't something they needed to talk about. At least, certainly before Shego had sprung this vacation surprise on her, not something she'd wanted to discuss for a long time.

"Obviously I was wrong." The hero whispered.

"Oh really?" Shego muttered, mistaking Kim's whispered words as an answer regarding her copious alcohol consumption. "Wrong about what, exactly? Do tell."

"How about over how much I should apologise for how I acted?" Soft fingers curled around Shego's wrist, making her shiver. "I'm so sorry…"

The green woman felt the hero's other hand slide onto her left shoulder, and with a gentle tug, slowly rotated her seat until the redhead found herself looking into resentful, exotic, and shimmering emerald eyes.

"That I overreacted, that I got so caught up in what you did…" Kim watched as Shego's eyes flickered, a swirl of emotions that ended with them settling on accusation. She continued, the hand that gripped the wrist sliding up to gently rest on Shego's other shoulder. "That I never considered a far more important thing, out of all of this."

"What the hell does this have to do with-"

"What I forgot was why you punished that awful woman." Kim leaned closer, her young face soft with regret, and it was the regret that had Shego stay utterly shocked. "And what that meant about us."

"Why I did what I did?" Black lips repeated, and then thinned with annoyance. "I did it all for you! Haven't you gotten that in your head already, or are you doubting that too?!"

"I know, but there's a problem," Kim admitted, and sighed, making the green woman blink. "And it's my own problem. Well, two problems actually."

"I'd like to say I give a damn, but I don't. I told you I don't wanna deal with this until we're at the hotel." Shego muttered.

She then fell silent, only to break it again within a few seconds, cursing the redhead and her effect on her. "Fine, wanna enlighten me, Possible?"

Inwardly, Kim winced at the use of her surname again. "I've got two problems being with you." Kim felt Shego stiffen, but continued quickly. "One is that I'm actually… well, a little image conscious. All those years being top dog at school, all the projects, cheerleader captain, and stuff, add in the whole saving the world and being a hero angle and, well… you know. A thief and a hero… not a good thing for the reputation."

"Well, well. You're actually admitting to me that you're vain?" Shego finally smirked and Kim felt a little relief at how natural it looked. "Could have told you that myself, little Miss Freshman."

"I've never considered it before. Though, well, it might be true." Kim admitted.

"Might…" Shego repeated with a bit of a huff and snort in her voice, and smirked again, the sight making Kim relax further.

The redhead nodded and held up a finger and thumb tightly pressed together. "A teeny bit… okay?"

"Okay," Shego nodded, and shifted ever so slightly on the chair. She may not have noticed, but Kim did, that her initially hunched and defensive body moved a tiny bit closer towards the hero, and her crossed arms moved to a comfortable slouch. "And the next?"

Kim scratched her arm for a second, and then hung her head, biting her lip. This was a big one. Please understand me, Shego.

"I'm kinda hung up on trusting you…"

"Trusting me?" Shego repeated, but this time all amusement had left her voice and her back stiffened. "What kind of trust are we talking about, Kimmie? Trusting me not to steal the last chocolate left in the box trust, watching your back during a fight trust… or giving someone everything that you are kinda trust?"

Kim closed her eyes, held up her hand and let three fingers uncurl as she remained silent. Shego felt her teeth grit.

Six months, six months of goddamn dating and she's still fucking twisted up about us?!

The thought was so painful to the green woman it felt as though someone had ripped a hole deep into her chest, had torn out her beating heart, and then tossed it in front of a fast moving truck.

The redhead in front of her- still sitting there, quiet and ashamed -hurt even worse than Hego's betrayal all those years ago. Shego had never expected to feel such a sensation again, had grown a shell of such incredible thickness around her heart to prevent anything like it from ever happening to her a second time.

And then this… this, teenager had shattered that shell into so many tiny fragments that the thief didn't know if she would be able to rebuild it even if she wanted to.

Her thin black lips opened, closed, opened again and then her voice creaked out in a pained dull and emotionless whisper, rather than the roar of anger she had been intending.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"No… and be fair, Shego, please!" Kim whispered. "We've never really, you know… talked about it, right? We both agreed to deal with it after the holiday."

"Which 'it'?" Shego muttered, but her heart was already sinking with suspicion and the head of rage hammering at her chest slowly began to ebb at the obvious upset her soul mate was in. She had a good idea what Kim meant, and absently pushed at the shotglass. "Shit… this is the 'it' I'd been hoping to avoid for a little while. Like fifty or sixty years."

Kim nodded. "I thought it wasn't a big deal…everything has been so amazing these past few months, but things have been nagging at me for a little." Her voice was rough, quiet, and uncertain. "My heart tells me that I can trust you… but… the rest of me… the rest of me feels differently about everything."

Kim slid into the stool next to Shego and quietly placed her hands onto the bar top. "Part of me, and god it's really deep down, just… panics at the thought of giving so much of who I am to someone who used to attack me, who wanted to kill me. And I can't help but feel that even if they've come to love me. But then that same part is fighting against the part that knows, knows, that every time you've, you know, said those words to me… you've meant it utterly. I know that."

"How?" Shego asked quietly. "Not to sound like I wanna ruin my chances of having a princess dog my every move for the rest of my life, and enjoy it in some sick way, but… how? How do you know it's the truth and not some sick puppy scheme I've dreamed up? I want… no, I damn well demand an answer, Kimmie!"

I… I just do." Kim whispered. "It sounds like something right out of a teen romance, but I know you mean them, right down to the core of… of us."

Shego grimaced. "Urgh, that's damn sappy!"

"Very," Kim agreed. "But true as well. I don't know as much about your past as I want to, I don't know how we're going to deal with the horrible fact that we used to attack each other, and that we tried to hurt each other, but I do know you love me now… however it happened. I know it deep down that you do, and it fights against my uncertainty."

"But not enough for you to trust me…" Shego muttered. "Apparently even saving your life at the risk of my own, multiple times, doesn't cut it sufficiently." She sighed heavily. "If that can't do it Possible, I don't know what will."

"I said I have issues…" Kim told her quietly and Shego looked up and found herself staring into sea green eyes. "I didn't say I knew how to fix them… all I know is that I love you back and I want to try and fix this."

"Okay, so to partially defuse how immensely pissed I am with you about all this, you intended to try and bring up our relationship troubles, add a dash of romantic mush, promise that we'll sort it all out, add some rainbows and fairy drops, and hope that everything will be okay? Shego rolled her eyes, her tone acidic. "That'll work."

"No, I'm trying to explain, not excuse, how I reacted to what you did." Kim looked up. "That Stacy woman was the trigger to something that even you mentioned was still simmering underneath."

"Woo for me being right." Shego muttered, and then sighed. "This holiday is turning into a pain in the ass thanks to you."

"Hey, I said I have issues, Shego, but I'm not going to take total responsibility for all this!" Kim rapped her hand on the bar and the green woman hunched slightly. "Let's not forget something here. You lied to me, you know." She watched the thief stiffen. ""You lied, you did stuff you knew I'd disapprove of, and you went about hiding it. And you hid it because you knew how I'd feel…"

"Look, she was a bitch and had it coming so-"

"Yeah, she did. "Kim nodded. "I've just spent hours alone downstairs figuring that out, and doing some major soul searching too. And while I've also come to terms with that you did it for us… for me, that doesn't change the fact you lied to my face after you promised to try and cut this thieving attitude out."

"I did only say I'd try…" Shego managed, wincing as Kim's soft eyes narrowed slightly before the teen stood up and walked over, her hands sliding softly onto Shego's shoulders. The thief felt her tense muscles slacken and she groaned. "Look, Pumpkin, it's hard to stop myself sometimes. I see a problem, I deal with it. In my own way. "

Kim nodded, the movement unseen by Shego, and her fingers continued to knead the strong flesh of the woman who was both amazing and infuriating to her. "Well, I'll have to just do one thing now then, won't I?""

The exotic vixen in front of her frowned. "What the hell does that mea-"

Shego trailed off as the hands that had been gently kneading her shoulders moved slightly and she felt a small pressure as the bar stool rotated until the thief came face to face with the redhead who had stolen her heart. Those same hands slid upwards, and she felt a subtle pressure play across her skin as they cupped her face lightly, and tilted it back. Long silken strands of green hair, so dark it was almost a gloss black, washed across one of her eyes, only for Kim to reach up and lightly brush the strands clear.

"I love you… it's insane, but I love you so very much."

It completely threw her, and Shego felt her anger and annoyance with Kim drain into utter confusion. "Kimmie, what're you-"

"Reminding you, myself as well, of what we have together and making sure you keep your promise to stop being such a thief around me… unless we need you to be one as part of a mission of course."

"Damn bribery I call it." Shego narrowed her eyes and then shivered as Kim's breath ruffled her hair. "I said I'd try! Try, Kimmie, that's all!"

"Yes, you did." Kim whispered, and as Shego opened her mouth to hotly snap back at her, she found the redhead's young lips gently sliding onto hers.

The kiss was hot, needy, and almost painfully passionate. And yet at the same time, the lips on her own darkly painted ones were so very gentle, and so tender it made the green woman's head spin.

Eventually, Kim leaned back, her lips gleaming from their shared kiss and she stared into Shego's eyes once more. A hazy, delighted expression met her own gaze and the redhead tilted her head as she stepped back, her own becoming more serious.

"I promise to work on my trust issues…I swear I'm going to do everything to make us work. Heck knows you're worth it." Kim murmured. "But you have to promise me one thing… just one thing."

Sobering a little from the thrill Kim had shocked her with Shego focused and growled, her tone a not too subtle warning. "I'm not changing another thing about myself, Kimmie!"

"I'm not asking you to, Shego." Kim looked down, and Shego look on, dumbfounded, as Kim's voice became soft and humble. "I know I've already asked so much… I just never thought about it. You can put it down to my Kimness if you like. Even Ron and Mon know that I've got a major blind spot that I just can't see." The cheerleader leaned forwards and Shego sank into another intense kiss that broke far too quickly for her liking. As she felt her head fall back, Shego watched Kim bite her lip and then continue. "All I'm asking is that you really make sure, darn sure, that you're right in using your skills for any situation."

"You mean stealing, or fighting, or being cunningly deceptive." Shego told her, a small portion of her usual confident tone trickling back into her voice and smirking despite herself.

Ignoring the bait, Kim simply tugged her close and rested her head on the green woman's broad shoulders. "Just make sure there's no alternative that's not just as effective. Like telling the truth maybe?"

"Spoilsport…" The green woman told the redhead and then grinned, the pain she'd been feeling lessening by a huge amount. "But I'll try as long as you promise me, Pumpkin, to chill before you blow your cute little redhead top if I do… sin a little."

"A little." Kim deadpanned, while inside she cheered at the faint smile on Shego's exotic features. "Okay, I can do that, for my one and only bad girl. As long as it only is a little sinning."

"And you know it." Shego told her, her smirk returning without it feeling strained for the first time in two days. Feeling Kim relax and shift slightly into a more comfortable position, the thief reached up and stroked Kim's hair. "Sooo… does this mean our first major relationship crisis is over?"

"Tabled right now, I think. For later examination and both of us trying to hammer out something to deal with what caused it." Kim, indulging in the same wonderful sensations she always felt as she ran her fingers through Shego's elegant mane of hair, nodded lazily, even as her voice failed to hide the utter relief she felt. "But for the moment, we're on holiday. You'll try to be slightly more, well let's say considerate. I've promised to try and not obsess much over the whole 'I've fallen for a thief' stuff. Yeah, I'd say we're okay right now. Anything else isn't important enough to deal with until we get home."

Blinking with sudden remembrance, Kim smiled faintly and reached over, pulling closer the small white box she had been clasping tightly before things had become heated and held it out. Emerald eyes suspicious, Shego simply raised an elegant eyebrow.

"Peace offering," Kim explained simply, shaking the box ever so slightly. "It's part of my apology to you for being a little inflexible."

"A little?" Shego repeated, glancing at Kim and watched with even greater relief as red crept over the young woman's cheeks.

"Okay, a lot more inflexible. I'm sorry for being a little too rigid in my morals."

"So you're saying sorry for being a hero! I find that very appealing right now." Shego purred quietly and Kim Possible, now nineteen, and someone who had faced everything from mutant cockroaches to killer cyber bots flushed even deeper.

"It's not fair. You always make me feel…"

"What?" Shego grinned cheekily. "Not drunk, you need what I've been drinking to have that."

"I… well, inexperienced, and clumsy, okay?!" Kim let out a huff of worry and exasperation. "Like now for example. I never know where I stand with you, I never feel confident that I'll know how to do the right thing in our relationship. I hate making mistakes like this."

The thief smiled lazily. "You said you didn't care about your image." At Kim's silence, Shego chuckled and turning her attention to the white box, shook it slightly. "So, what's in the box, Pumpkin? Something good I hope, considering you owe me for being a bitch earlier… so it's payday."

"You'll think it's stupid…" Came the muttered reply. "And I'm not the only one who screwed up and has been acting a bitch either."

Black lips smirked as their owner took in the bright red flush across the cheeks of the woman in her grasp, and Shego felt utter satisfaction as Kim stuttered into mortified silence as her lover popped the lid and flipped up the cardboard slowly.

"Now then… what have we here-"

It was Shego's turn to stutter into silence as she stared at the contents of the box.

Inside sat a single cupcake, nestled on what looked like the remains of the towletts the stewardesses gave out with drinks, finely shredded. The cupcake itself was nothing special, but the pale green icing, and a single red heart inked on top of that with the letters S and P carefully written in what looked like felt-tip, had the green woman blinking in utter bemusement.

She looked up and Kim was treated to a rare event. Shego was completely baffled.

"I… I really have no idea what to say." She glanced down at the cupcake once more. "You did this?"

"Well, I asked the stewardesses to help me. I can't go wandering around the prep area myself. Also I had no idea where anything was." Kim felt the blush creeping up her neck and cursed how easily it came to her. "I, um, suggest you don't eat it though. I used the felt-tips from a kids welcome pack on the icing; it said non toxic but…"

"Pumpkin, do you have any idea how… corny this is." Shego mumbled, turning the box gently around to get a closer look. "It's like some sort of edible prom date gift… in a really weird way."

"You don't like it do you?" Kim sniffed, scowling faintly. "For your information I worked hard on that. It took me ages to colour in the icing and draw the heart you know. As for getting the stuff to do it, well-"

The redhead broke off as she found a set of green arms slowly encircling her waist, and looked up to see Shego staring down at her, an amused smile playing around her lips. "I think it's very… you, Kimmie."

"What? What'd you mean very 'me'?!" Kim demanded.

"It's small, cute, a little too sugary for my tastes, somehow funny-" Shego began to list the reasons and Kim's face began to go a darker shade of red, almost to a purplish colour, until the thief paused and shrugged. "And for all those reasons, as well as far too many sappy ones for me to have any desire to mention, I love it. Just like I love you."

"I… okay, that is one of the most backward and sarcastic ways of saying 'I love you' I've ever heard. Plus you haven't said thank you."

"Nah, I don't see it like that… not like that at all, and as for a thank you, it's an apology." Shego pointed out as she stood and stretched lazily. "You punished me… a lot."

"Look-" Kim began, but broke off as Shego took a step forwards and absentmindedly folded the box closed and tucked it under her arm. The simple act had the redhead realising that her lover had already accepted the gift, no matter how amused she was. "Okay, well, I can live with that." Another thought struck the redhead. "We'll be landing soon, and you've been drinking a lot up here. Do you need any help to, you know, get back to your seat?"

"Don't get your little pumpkin head all worked up, Kimmie." The green woman chuckled, smirking at her. "Sadly, no matter how good the hangover would have been, my little drunken periods don't last for very long." Shego tapped the side of her nose. "My power does something to speed up recovery. Personally I think it's a pain in the ass. Especially if I was drinking as much as possible in order to forget how my lover had just attempted to scoop out my heart with a rusty spoon."

"I never meant to-"

"Umm, miss Possible?"

Kim turned at the quiet and urgent whisper from behind her back and stared at the obviously frightened stewardess who had spoken. Something about the way the woman was frantically wringing her hands and glancing around had Kim realising that this was more than going to see the captain to sign a few autographs, as had happened the last few times, much to her girlfriends mild annoyance and obviously strained tolerance.

"If you're worried about us damaging the bar area, don't be. Everything's fine." Kim began, only for the woman to step closer.

"It's nothing to do with… your obviously personal issues, miss Possible."

Shego let go of Kim slowly, other arm still tucked under her cupcake box, and rolled her eyes. "Pumpkin, just sign whatever book, paper, leaflet, ticket, or body part she thrusts at you and let's go, okay? We've got serious stuff to discuss. If she wants a kiss, fine, but no damn tongues!"

"Oh for the love of…" Trying to be polite, the redhead angled her head so she could see the stewardess, and smiled in apology. "Sorry about that. What can I do for you?"

"The, ah, captain was asking if you could come to the cockpit for a few minutes." The stewardess wrung her hands even faster. "He said it was important, very important."

"Uh uh, no way!" Shego snapped, glaring at the woman in annoyance. "Look, Ms Possible and I have things to… discuss, important things. In fact we've just gotten to the good part, the making up. In fact, Kimmie here owes me at least two making ups, maybe even three."

"Shego!" Kim hissed. "Try to show a little goodwill right now, okay?"

The green woman rolled her eyes. "You're no fun at all today." But she sighed and waved a hand. "Fine, go ahead."

"Okay, so what's wrong?" Kim asked the woman quietly, and the stewardess, with Catherine on her name tag, bit her lip.

"Nothing's wrong… the, ah, captain wants you to join him in the cockpit… as quickly and quietly as possible."

Shego, who had caught the last few words, raised an eyebrow in interest. "So it is more autographs! Kimmie, you'll have to print a stamp soon if they keep this up."

"Not now, Sheeg." Kim waved a hand, and Shego narrowed her eyes as she realised the woman she loved had gone into a familiar stance and expression. An annoying one too, in her opinion.

Mission mode.

"Oh come on!" The thief complained, before letting her shoulders slump at the excited and heroic expression, framed by bright red hair that turned in her direction. "Fine," she turned to the stewardess. "Lead on, trolley-dolly."

"The captain said I was to bring Ms Possible. He didn't say anything about you …" Catherine muttered, and then paled as the green woman smirked unpleasantly. "Even if you are Ms Possible's, um… friend."

"I prefer 'corruptor of the innocent' myself," Shego smiled toothily. "It had a certain ring to it and-"

"Knock it off, Sheeg." Kim interrupted and turned to Catharine, her expression firm. Her voice lowered to a subtle professional whisper that even Shego had to crane to hear. "Listen, from the way you keep glancing around and trying not to panic, it's pretty obvious you need Team Possible, right?"

The steward swallowed and nodded slightly.

"Okay, I guessed as much. Well, right now Team Possible is myself and Shego… so lead us to the cockpit and try to stay calm." Cracking her knuckles, the redhead glanced over at Shego. "Coming?"

Shego sighed and shrugged her shoulders, the very image of resignation. "Lead on, Kimmie and where you lead, we green women shall follow… even when we know it's a bad idea and probably means no pumpkin pie this evening."

"Oh, good grief…" Kim quickly muttered under her breath, and strolled off, Catherine scuttling in front of her. Behind, the green woman smirked and ambled after her, feeling far more cheerful than she had in days.

An attitude that was short lived at the brief few sentences that explained why Team Possible had been called to the cockpit echoed around the small room as Kim and Shego both stared at the small group in front of them.

"What?!" Shego snapped at the captain, a large New Yorker dressed in an immaculate flight suit and who also sported an incredibly calm demeanour. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

"I'm afraid not, Ms Shego. This would be why I asked the air staff to bring Ms Possible in here. Of course, if the passengers knew that our landing gear was stuck we'd have a mass panic on our hands."

"Why is the gear stuck exactly?" Kim asked, already typing away on her Kimmunicator with intent. The small device chimed repeatedly to her, and as her fingers flew over the keys, Shego noticed a small wire frame representation of the plane they were in flicking into life.

"We don't know. None of the fault indicators are working except for the fact we know there is a failure in the system. We've tried pinpointing the source, but the best we can do is that it's in the hydraulics somewhere." The captain told Kim in the same calm tone. "David said that he thought he felt a bump on his side of the plane during takeoff, but all the dials were in the green, so we carried on."

"Hmm…" Kim glanced over at Shego and was surprised to see the green woman muttering in annoyance to herself. Shaking her head, the hero turned back to the men in the cockpit. "Okay, so it's pretty obvious I'll need to have a look at it. How long until landing?"

"An hour. I've cleared us to circle if needed, but we'll have to do something up here. It's not like they can send an engineer, and I'm not going to risk an emergency landing unless there's no other choice. I've ordered us to fly as low as we dare to allow anyone attempting a repair as much of a chance as we can given them, but there's nobody skilled at doing anything like this."

"Except Team Possible, maybe." Kim replied, and nodded at the Kimmunicator as the tiny device, which had all this time been querying the in-flight computers of the plane's systems, highlighted a few specific points of the wire frame version in red. "Well, looks simple enough. Won't even need to call Wade as I've seen this problem before when I was helping dad with some flight tests for the space agency. I'd best have a look."

As she turned, Kim blinked in surprise as a green hand clamped tightly onto her forearm and, looking up, stared into the annoyed face of the woman she loved. "Shego, what is it now?"

"You know, this really pisses me off." The green woman snapped, before letting out a huff of breath and letting Kim go. Her arms slid across her breasts and Kim could almost swear the woman was about to pout. "In fact, this is the first thing I want dealt with when we have our little chat. We're on vacation, Kimmie, so this stuff has to stop!"

"What are you talking about?"

"This sort of thing!" Shego waved a hand. "Honestly, Pumpkin, It's getting to the point where it's becoming annoying, even though I love you!"

Kim frowned, anxious to get moving just as much as - she could feel behind her- the crew were. "I don't know what you mea-"

"Stuff like this! The fact that chaos springs up around you and you have to do the hero crap, no matter where we go!" Shego exclaimed, her tone exasperated. "Just once, I'd like us to go somewhere on this vacation where you don't end up somehow saving the lives of hundreds of people. Worse, you always end up dragging me into the middle of it at the same time, ruining my reputation as a hard ass mercenary. It's getting embarrassing!"

Grinning suddenly, and feeling the solid foundations of why she loved the green woman in front of her, the redhead shrugged. "I think you like the fact that I'm a bit of a lightening rod when it comes to chaos. You enjoy the fighting and adventure deep down."

"Oh… that's bull!" Shego muttered, while secretly admitting Kim had a point.

"Also, I seem to recall one act of chaos introduced me to a certain green woman standing really close to me. Besides, you've got to admit that our lives together aren't boring!"

"But… we're on holiday." Shego protested, trying to ignore the tiny flicker of excitement dancing around the base of her spine at the thought of the adrenaline rush she'd experience with Kim. "I like to relax on holiday, Kimmie."

"This is just a quick drop down to the fuselage, a clamber down frozen metal piping, and a few blasts with the laser lipstick. No big at all and actually sounds kinda fun!"

And with that, Kim dashed out of the cockpit, chuckling. Behind her, the green woman sighed deeply, and tugged lightly on the black and green gloves covering her hands. Despite the grim situation, like the redhead, a sly smile tugged the edge of her mouth as she pelted after the young hero.

"That's not the point!" the crew in the cockpit heard her argue as she went through the hatch. "Seriously though, Pumpkin. Have you ever considered that you may be jinxed, or cursed in some way for this stuff to always happen to you?"

"It doesn't happen all the time!" Kim's voice faintly countered and the crew heard one final comment from her partner before they faded down into the depths of the plane and the access hatch hissed shut behind them.

"Uh huh. I say, anyone who can have Lobsteria 'ruler of short crustaceans' attack the pleasure yacht she, and her considerate and loving girlfriend are on… in the middle of the goddamn ocean as well, may I add, has got to have really, really, bad luck!"

Middleton

"Doctor Director, Sir?"

Betty Director looked up from the report she was perusing and raised an eyebrow at the annoyed face of Will Du standing in her doorway.

"What is it Will?"

"I have Ron Stoppable on line three for you. Apparently, he needs to discuss something very urgent. So urgent in fact," Will sniffed "that he was unable to tell me about it. Normally I'd tell anyone saying this to follow the normal channels, but this is-"

"Kim's sidekick, and let's not forget that Mr Stoppable has been very helpful to us as well." Betty put the report down and turned to her communications system. "Thank you, Will. I'll take it from here."

"Yes Sir."

Doctor Director waited until Will left the office and the quiet click of her door locking behind him reached her before she pressed a few buttons.

"Hello, Ronald, how can Global Justice help you today?"

"Um, hi Doctor Director." The voice that came across her communication centre was vaguely worried and Ron's expression on the screen was less than happy. "Ah, I wonder if you could do me a favour."

Betty's single eye rose and she tilted her head. "What sort of favour? If it is something both Kim's vast reservoir of favours and the technical prowess of Mr Load cannot assist with, then I will admit you have intrigued me."

"I was wondering if you could tell me if Yori is on some sort of secret mission for GJ."

"Mr Stoppable, if Yori was on a mission of secrecy for Global, then I would be unable to divulge such information to you unless I decided Team Possible's skills were needed. Considering that Kim is on vacation and unavailable unless the situation is life threatening, that would be a very unique set of circumstances."

Ron scratched his head. "Um, yeah… I…"

Betty sighed and watched as the small pink object sitting on Ron's shoulder just in view of the pickup slapped a small hand across its face. "What I mean, Ronald, is that I haven't sent Yori on any mission for GJ. As far as I was aware since our communication breakdown, she's still at the language centre and as they finish work within office hours she should be with you."

"She wasn't with me last night." Ron blurted out the words, worry forcing a small amount of panic into his voice. "She wasn't with me and I can't get her to answer her mobile phone!"

Doctor Director frowned. Yori wasn't on any mission for Gj that she was aware of, but with the communication system being down, and due to an organisation of GJ's size, they were still phoning around the centres linked to Global in any position, from ultra importance down. International diplomacy and foreign languages was right at the bottom of the list. There was every chance that maybe Yori had been called away by a GJ agent. It had happened before to another languages expert… and Betty had never heard the end of it from him either. So maybe…

"I'm sorry Ronald, but I can assure you I know nothing of any GJ mission. But I will say that we had a little problem crop up recently here and-"

"Yeah, Wade told me your networks are down." Ron shrugged as the one-eyed woman scowled slightly. "Hey, it's not like he hacked your system or anything, even though he could."

"Then how-"

"Ah, I think he said Team Possible uses the GJ network for international communication and email type stuff… even I remember that. And it is correct, right?"

Betty blinked, adjusting her thoughts as she realised that Ron truly had no idea of the devastation GJ had been through. If he had, then Yori's disappearance, more than likely completely unassimilated with this cowardly attack by the Jade, would have worried him even further.

"I see. Well, as I was saying, Ronald. GJ hasn't ordered Yori to do a mission as far as I am aware. However, I will advise you that Global does have agents coming in to obtain resources and personnel on an ad hoc basis."

"Okay, that I get." The blond teen looked up at the ruined and dilapidated warehouse that Wade's transponder signal had led him to.

The area it sat in was less than disreputable. In fact, coming to the warehouse he'd been offered more types of sex, much to his embarrassment, than he'd wished to count, along with drugs, weapons, and the same old goods that had 'fallen of the back of a truck'. It was only the fact that everyone knew he was Kim Possible's sidekick that kept them from attacking, kidnapping or sexually assaulting him. Of course, if anyone had they would soon have discovered that being a Tai Sheng master meant Ron didn't need Kim's help to stay safe.

Frowning at the building and once again staring down at the pulsing dot that marked his Japanese lover, Ron looked at the small window holding Betty Directors face. "But if she's not on a mission, then for some reason she's at an abandoned warehouse just outside Lowerton. I'm here now and it seems empty."

Betty leaned forwards, mouth pursed with worry. "Ronald, I don't think you should be there, and you certainly shouldn't go in. Well, definitely not alone at least."

"But this is my girlfriend we're talking about," Ron waved a hand. "You've sent myself and Kim into way more dangerous places than this. Why can't I go in alone?"

The one-eyed spy sighed and was about to explain that she usually let Ron go into dangerous situations because there was a certain heroic, and oddly almost impossibly can-do, cheerleader who always had his back. But then she recalled the assault on Drakken's lair, and the fact the young blonde had almost died trying to protect and rescue his friend and the women who had tried to kill him on many occasions.

Instead of advising him to wait, she nodded slowly. "Very well Ronald. I suppose it's your call after all. Yori's special to you and I suppose if I was in such a situation I'd not be waiting around either. Just… be careful. Oh, and please call me if you do find her. I'd like to know what she was doing there as well."

"Okay Doctor Director, I'll do that. Don't tell Kim though, she needs the vacaction and I don't see the need to worry her about this. It's probably nothing special and I'll find Yori's just following up some lead or something. So, don't tell Kim."

"Of course I won't, Ronald. As for yourself, try to stay out of trouble. At the first sign of anything, call me back."

Ron nodded absent mindedly. "What sort of trouble are we talking about exactly?"

Betty glanced down at her desk and the bright red file marked 'Jade' with a concerned eye. "Nothing for the moment. But with Kim gone, and Shego as well… and now Yori wandering about in the middle of the night, you can never be too sure. Just... keep an eye out, Ronald."

"I will, see you Doctor Director."

Betty watched the face vanish from the screen and she frowned in worry.

Why do I suddenly feel like we've all gone from the frying pan into the fire... and that the final hand hasn't even been played yet?

Lowerton

Standing in an abandoned carpark, Ron flicked a switch on his Roncom and watched as Betty Directors face nodded once and then vanished with a flicker. Pocketing the Roncom, he glanced across at Rufus. "Well, buddy, just you and me for this one."

"Uh huh." Rufus muttered, and shrugging, waved a small paw in the direction of the warehouse itself.

Nodding, the blonde sidekick wandered up to the rusted goods and services door and knocked loudly a few times. "Hello? Hellooooo? Anyone at home?" At the silence that replied, he glanced over at Rufus again. "Um, nobody's home. But if so, then why's Yori not answering me?"

"Dunno."

"You know, buddy, I'm getting a really bad feeling about this."

The mole rat scampered down his master and ran across to the door, intent on seeing if it was locked. Both teen and pet glanced at each other with dismay as the door clicked open at the application of the molerat's paw.

"Uh oh… not good." Rufus squeaked.

"Okay, bad vibes going off the scale here. It's like that episode of Dawn of the Flesh Eating Nude Biker Chicks from Pluto." Ron whispered, swallowing nervously. "Ruf, I don't know if I could bring myself to decapitate Yori with a potato peeler."

Rolling his small eyes, Rufus peered around the door and frowned at the musty and empty expanse that met his gaze. Pulling back he looked up at Ron and shook his head. "Empty, uh huh."

"Empty?" Ron blinked and pushed at the door gingerly. It squeaked a little as it slowly swung into the darkened room, a sure sign of little maintenance over the years. Poking his own head into the doorway, Ron frowned at the same sight that met him like Rufus. "Okay, this is just weird."

Stepping inside, the teen glanced around. The warehouse was roughly the size of a football field and about fifteen metres high. Grime streaked windows set into the corrugated aluminium roof let in dull and green tinged light, which bounced off fifty or so barrels arranged around the room. Kicking one, Ron heard it make a faint clanging sound, a sure sign that it was empty and he shook his head.

"Why'd Yori come here? If there's anything of interest around this place I'll eat my own trousers."

"Hey!" Rufus replied, yanking gently on Ron's cheek and pulling his face around to the middle of the warehouse. Pointing, the mole rat indicated a small square shape sitting on a small trestle table. "Something…"

"What on earth is that?" Ron muttered. "Good job, little buddy."

Gingerly, the teen made his way over to the small shape and, as he grew closer and was able to see more details in the gloomy light, worry for Yori gripped his heart. "Oh no…"

The shape turned out to be a small, cheap, DVD and television combo unit. Taped to the television screen, daubed in elegant script were the words 'play me!' Beside it, propped carefully against the plastic façade of the television sat the small and blood streaked shape of Yori's mobile phone. The LCD screen was still lit on the device, and as Ron reluctantly pulled out his Roncom and flicked it on, the beeping dot matched a quiet responding chime from the Ninja's phone.

Slowly, Ron reached out to the television and, yanking the paper and tape off the screen, hit the play button. With a flicker, the screen lit and the picture on it was of a face Ron knew all too well, much to his dismay. A face which, if it hadn't been for the insane grin of smug superiority, would have looked gaunt and twitchy as it continued to smile at the blonde teenager.

Monkey Fist. De-stoned and still as ragingly insane as before.

"Hello, Stoppable; you pretender to the Throne of Supreme Monkey Ruler!" The words were hissed from the speaker with venom and Ron watched in silence, knowing that Rufus was doing the same. They both knew the person on the screen, and both knew the danger Yori was in could only be deadly if he was involved. "I know it'll be you that is playing this message. Your little redheaded whore has decided green skin and a sarcastic temperament is preferable to yourself I understand, so it won't be her. As for Global Justice… well, we both know they are less than, efficient, in dealing with people like myself."

Ron glowered at the screen. The jibe at Kim had hit his heart, even if the comments about himself had left him cold. He'd come to terms with what had happened a long time ago. Having one of the sexist Japanese women he'd ever met wishing to spend time with him as a lover had helped as well.

"Regardless, you will now be standing here, hoping to see the little ninja prostitute you exchanged her for. Sadly, Yori isn't able to be there, Ronald, as she is here at my new lair, enjoying my… hospitality."

The camera zoomed out and Ron felt his chest ache with sudden pain as it focused on the form of Yori herself. The young Ninja was chained in the middle of a stone courtyard, her clothing ripped and torn, grime and blood streaking her face, hair and limbs as she looked back at the camera in utter exhaustion.

"Say hello, Yori my dear."

"Ronald… my love…" Yori managed, licking parched lips and, Ron noticed, trying to focus her dark almond eyes- the shape of which he adored- onto the camera. "Trap… don't come."

"Well of course he knows this is a trap, my dear." Monkey Fist loped into view. "He's stupid, aren't you Stoppable, but not that stupid. Regardless, as you can see, she has little time left. I'll be keeping her alive for a while, but not forever."

"Bastard…" Ron whispered, and he heard an agreeing quiet squeaking growl from his shoulder.

"Listen carefully, Stoppable, as you have very little time." Monkey Fist smirked. "We're going to play a little game and the stakes are very high. Lose or deviate from instructions I shall give you and, well… let's say you'll be receiving Yori back very quickly. Via parcel mail in fact."

Monkey Fists face broke into peals of laughter and Ron swore that the next time he met the man, teeth would be exchanged for those words via his fists.

Getting a hold of himself, Fist grinned evilly. "On this DVD there are instructions your little fat friend Wade will be able to access. Solve the puzzle and you'll go to the first… challenge I've set for you. Win that and you'll get the second puzzle and another area with another challenge. This will hold a final puzzle that will lead you to my location and your dear, suffering little ninja whore." Fist chuckled. "The prize for getting here will be to battle myself and die at my hands, but you can set Yori free first, she means little to my plans in the end. It is you I want Stoppable."

"You'll get me, Fist." Ron whispered. "I'll be happy to give you that."

"Now, the rules." Fist leered. "Firstly, there is to be no communication with Kim Possible in any form and for any reason! I warn you, Stoppable, that I have… friends who are keeping an eye on this for me. The very second I hear that you have spoken to her, and I kill Yori in the slowest, bloodiest and most painful way I can think of. Understand?"

"Jesus, Fist… being turned to stone hasn't helped your grip on sanity at all."

"Second, you can explain the situation to Global Justice and your podgy little friend. I have no doubt you'll be needing transport to get to where I am residing at the moment. However, the first rule applies to them as well. Believe me Stoppable… I will know and I will kill her!" The man ranted on the screen, specks of saliva splashing the glass. "And once I've killed her, I'll kill you!"

"I think he's finally snapped completely, Rufus." Ron shook his head. "Yori, I'm coming for you, I promise."

"Lastly, you will do this alone. I want nobody aiding you other than in transport and the puzzles. When it comes to the tests, it'll be you on your own. Oh, the pink thing can come with you if you wish."

"Hey!" Rufus growled. "Nekked Mahl Rat!"

"Those are the rules, Stoppable. The game is on and winner takes all. Do hurry though; I don't think Yori will be able to last without your company for very long. Oh, and to prove I'm not joking about the rules, there'll be a little… surprise for you once the DVD ejects. So, the game begins…"

With that, the screen went black and Ron reached down to pick up the silvery DVD that the DVD combo device spat out from its slot. As he slid it into his pocket, the screen of the device flashed and lurid green numbers shimmered into view. Ron recognised them as a countdown as they began to flicker downwards. He'd also been in too many evil madmen's lairs to be ignorant about what a countdown meant.

"Ah, crap!!"

Dashing for the warehouse door, Ron quickly checked to make sure that Rufus was with him, nodding as his questing hands found the mole rat sitting in his pocket, knowing better than to put himself somewhere he could be knocked off during a mad dash for survival.

As he reached the door and flung himself through it, he felt a displacement of air smack into him from behind, pushing his body though the entrance and into the dirt. The resounding crump of a detonation reached his ears, even as he picked himself up and continued to run, heading for the wide open car parking area around the building.

The second blast came quickly, another shockwave slamming so hard into his spine it forced Ron into the dirt for a second time. The roar of multiple explosions reached his ears this time and the blonde teen turned over in time to see the entire rundown building vanish in an expanding fireball that rained down timber, masonry and hunks of aluminium.

And as he watched, Ron knew Monkey Fist was deadly serious in his threat towards Yori's life.

It was a good job that Ron's love for the ninja was just as serious and blue eyes narrowed in the flickering yellow gleam of the flames.

"Game on indeed… but you're not going to like the outcome, Fist."

To be continued…

Yes, sorry everyone for the LONG hiatus. I have no excuse except to say that I have a girlfriend now, and she is wonderful. :) But I'm still writing. Also, witht he credit crunch, I like many others found life interesting for a while. it's settled a lot now, but we'll have to keep playing it by ear for the moment.

So, as usual, please review, but could we have more than "wow" or "crap". If you don't like it, tell me why... otherwise, how can I improve?

Yours, The Hob.