Kim Possible: Senior Year, Conclusion
Dinner was…nice. Shego had to say, although she didn't have a lot of practice in sitting down with families. Cally's friends had gone home to their own parents, and Cally was practically bouncing out of her seat, between Kim and Shego. Cally veered between draining Kim's brain and Shego's brain. When Cally let them, the others got words in edgewise. Andrea fought to keep the grin off her face as Kim and Shego warded off the continual barrage.
"And that was when Killigan tried to turn all of Japan into a golf course to teach them a lesson for beating him at his own game." Kim sighed. "You know, maybe he would just be better off buying an island and turning that into a golf course."
"Not going to happen, Kimmie." Shego said, "He feels that if they'd only give him another chance, he could beat Tiger Woods." Cally blinked.
"Why doesn't he?"
"Because one of his demands is that there be minefields on the greens." Ron interjected.
"What happened to him during the ah, chaos?" Izumi asked.
"He had a no holds barred, last man standing golf game with his neighbors." Kim said. "I guess he figured it might be his last game…" She shrugged. "It's kinda scary—in some ways the loonies handled it better than everyone else did."
"maybe if you're already crazy it couldn't make you any more crazy?" Cally asked.
"That's…." Dr. Possible paused, "Entirely possible—not that I think anyone wants a chance to check their data!"
Too soon, Dinner was over.
Too soon because now Cally was dragging Shego up to her room. Shego didn't whine. Supervillains, or mercenaries did not let on they had no idea what to say, and desperately wanted someone better equipped (read: anyone) to follow them up. Shego started running through what so say…and then they got to Cally's room and Shego could only say one thing.
"A door poster… you have a door poster of Kimmie?" Shego said, feeling the emotion of "Their just ain't no justice" come over her.
"Isn't it great?"
"Um… yeah." Cally looked at Shego, as Shego was looking around the room. KP bed spread, screen saver…
"How much is she losing…." Shego asked herself.
"What?"
"Oh, it's just that Kimmie doesn't get paid for any of this."
"But she's a hero." Cally asked, "Should she?" Shego censored the first thing that came to her mind and thought hard. Then she grinned.
"Cally….you get an allowance?"
"Yeah…"
"And you do chores?"
"Yeah." A frown accompanied that.
Bingo.
"Well how would you feel if you did chores with no allowance?"
"Bleh."
"Uh-huh… and see, people don't' want to pay Kimmie for a lot of stuff." She paused, and with a mental groan, continued, "Not that she'd charge for helping people…but are bedsheets really helping?" Cally thought about it.
"Mom said, those sheets were really expensive." She said, and Shego bet there was an entire story of wearing down her mother's resistance in that single sentence. Still…
And I think maybe Dr. Possible should convince Kim to retain a lawyer.
Cally looked up at Shego and face looking very serious, spoke up with a question of hers.
"Kim said you were a hero again." She paused, "Why?"
Well, because some lunatic was about to destroy the worl-no. Shego paused, and thought about it. Monkey Fist hadn't been the reason. If it was anything, it was helping Kim and Ron, so she'd start there.
"I… wasn't really a hero, but Kimmie, well she'd been hurt pretty bad, and Ron was the one who she needed, and so…." Shego paused, "I kinda helped them on their way to Japan."
"Japan?"
"Great place, Cally—you should go there some time." Shego said.
"I could?"
"Well…" She paused, "I think your mom and dad might have something to say about it.'
"What about you? Aren't you kinda my mom?" Shego suddenly looked down into Cally's green eyes and realized something.
Mouse trapped. Cally's thinking that if mom and dad say no…well now she has a third option. She was definitely Shego's birth child.
"I…" Shego paused, "Let's work on getting to know each other first." She laughed, "Because if I'm kinda your mom, I've missed a lot of Christmasses."
"That's ok." Cally replied.
No. It isn't. Shego thought, but she stomped on it. What was in the past, was past. Then, like most kids her age, Cally was off on a different tangent.
"Aren't you going to fight evil with Kim? I mean, you all could do it and-hey! You're old, so you could drive them!"
"Kim has a permit now…and….hey!" Shego suddenly mimicked Cally's tone, "Did you just say I was old?" Cally looked startled, but rallied gamely.
"how old are you?"
"Just turned twenty five." Shego said. Cally blinked.
"Wow, that's younger than any of the mom's at school—I mean in my class."
"Ah." Shego said, "But I any case, I think Kim and Ron can do the hero thing…besides, I'm not really…ready for it right now."
"Why not?"
"Well, I got hurt by Monkey Fist." Shego said, "And so now, if I get really over excited, I have a seizure." Cally blinked, "A fit." Shego filled in, "I flop around, twitch, faint, and it's really hugely funny for everyone around me." She sighed, and looked over at the window, when she felt a smaller hand take hers.
"Are you scared?" Cally asked. Shego didn't even think of lying.
"Oh yeah…down to my socks." She sighed, "But Dr. Possible has some ideas… and if they work…"
"Will you be a hero?" Cally asked. Shego looked at her and hoped she wasn't about to get thrown out of the room.
"I don't know Cally… I won't be a villain… you don't' have to worry about that…but a hero…." She paused, and thought hard. "I think I'll have to work on just being good before I can go for anything else."
"Oh." Cally said, not disappointed, evidently, but thinking hard.
"But what about Team Go?" Cally asked, "Can't you rejoin them?" Shego quickly turned away from Cally so she couldn't see the grimace that pulled her lips back in a rictus of a smile… and after thinking faster than she had in a long time, Shego turned back.
"We…had some arguments. I don't know if I'd be able to go back…"
"Because you turned ev- I mean became a villainess?" Cally asked. Shego shook her head.
"Nah… that'd be easy…there was other stuff."
"Adult stuff?" Cally asked.
"m?"
"You sounded like my teacher when she says we're too young to understand."
"May…no." Shego paused, "Cally, I can't say everything, but it's just…what would you do if someone you really, really, trusted lied to you, on a big thing."
"I'd be angry…"
"Yeah…and would you trust them again?"
"No… is what they did a secret?"
"For now." Shego said. "I need…. To think about it for a while." She grinned, "What, looking to score autographs?" Cally giggled and went on to another subject while Shego sighed in internal relief. Moments later…
"So, my turn." Shego said, "Tell me about your life."
It was odd, Shego later reflected. Normally, she'd rather have red hot pokers put in her eye than listen to some eight year old… but she was entranced by everything Cally had to say. It was important, desperately so, that she hear some of what she'd never see with her own eyes. Cally's triumphs, and her failures… not to many of the last, because even when she'd broken her arm riding a horse she'd been right back up on the animal the next day.
Funny thing is, she isn't me at that age—I think I was quieter, until the comet came along to shake things up. Maybe it was because she didn't have as many brothers. The conversation continued on, until Shego noticed that Cally's eyes were drooping, despite her best attempts to keep them open. She grinned.
"Sleepy?"
"No…" Cally said, in the process yawning.
"Uh-huh… I think you are… I'll head on back down and tell Izumi."
"Will you be here tomorrow?" Cally asked.
"No…" Shego said, "I have to go back to the hospital….but I will come back…if…" She paused, feeling butterflies in her stomach, "If it's alright with you."
"Oh, it is!" Cally said, waking up enough to give a delighted squeal, not noticing Shego's sigh of relief.
Later, the four visitors were at the door. Izumi had gone up and checked, and came back down grinning.
"Out like a light—just got her shoes off." She smiled, "I'll let her sleep in tomorrow…it's past her bed time."
"Oh." Shego started, and Izumi shook her head.
"Don't worry…it's ok." She paused, "You are coming back."
"Yeah… but I've got to try and get my head fixed first." Shego said. Andrea nodded.
"And I have some ideas—baby came up with some promising approaches, and the neurology lab dearly wants to get their hands on you."
"Oh goody…lab rat time."
"Not at all, Shego." Andrea said, "You wouldn't believe all the paperwork we have to fill out for lab rats…you're actually much easier to work on."
"And for this I gave up villainy." Shego said, as everyone laughed.
"Seriously." Michael said, "Come back—not just for Cally, but for all of us. You are part of this family now." Shego nodded.
Later, in the car…Shego thought about that. Family was something other people had, not her…but now.
Were the Possible's family? They'd let her into their house. Ron certainly acted like it, although right now both she and Andrea were ignoring the noises from the back seat. But then, she got the feeling that Ron was…more forgiving than just about anyone she'd ever met.
But Kim's mother had no reason to be forgiving…she'd tried to take out her daughter on more than one occasion and Shego couldn't see a single good deed making up for all of that.
But Andrea hadn't shown any sign of distrust. And Cally's family, Michael and Izumi at least, had accepted her…
But what do I do with this? If her days of being the international criminal were over…she really wasn't Shego any more.
Was she?
"Naco for your thoughts?" Ron suddenly interrupted her, from the back seat.
"One Naco?"
"Of course." Ron said, "That way I can have all the others you'll buy."
"You're giving me one Naco from an order I buy?"
"Well if I didn't, how could I eat them?" Shego burst into laughter. OK, one secret solved. She'd always known there were depths to Ron, but there was another reason he was right for Kimmie. He made people laugh, without having to stomp on someone else in the process.
"OK, so what Am I thinking, since you weild the ancient forces of mankind."
"Mmmmm…." Ron paused, "The magic eight ball says right now your wondering about what you're going to do now that you can't be a villainess anymore, and you're really puzzled why people haven't been screaming and running for the hills, you like your kid but really don't know where to go from here…. Aaaaaannnnnnddddd, you wonder what happened to your nice predictable life and sometimes blame us."
Shego blinked.
And blinked again.
Then she turned to Andrea.
"So…he's a telepath?"
"It might explain many things." The doctor replied.
"What about flunking tests?" Kim asked.
"Hey, I have morals!" Ron said.
"Nope, not a telepath, just lucky." Shego said.
"Hey!" Ron exclaimed. Kim laughed.
"Got you there…" She said.
"From both sides?" Ron asked.
"Well, Ron." Kim said, "You have to have more self control… and I know if you could read minds, you wouldn't be using any self control." At that point, Dr. Possible spoke up.
"Yes, well when we all get home, Kimmie, we have some work to do."
"What mom?" Kim asked, not noticing (since she couldn't see it) the somewhat…predatory expression on her mothers face.
"Well, Jonathon has brought some white noise generators from the lab, and he wants us to install them around your room."
White noise generators, why would dad want to install them? The only thing they stop is…
Shego's laugh was very understanding.
"Oh, the kids are keeping dad up at night?" Kim suddenly started to turn very, very red.
"Only one of them…"
"Hmmm…well Ron's the ninja… Kimmie... I didn't know you were a screamer…"
"Shego!" Kim said in horror. "I am not a scre- I mean that isn't the thing you say…Ron, say something!" She said, turning to him. Ron looked at her and nodded.
"She doesn't scream, Shego."
"See? Wait! Ron, that' wasn't what I wanted you to-"
"It's more like a lionesses roar." At this point, Kim resorted to ancient tactics long practiced by ostriches, and grabbed a pillow and used it to hide her face, after whacking Ron with it once or twice. A muffled "Mom!" escaped it. Andrea paused, and started to speak.
"Kimmie, after not sending you to military school and shooting Ron into a black hole, you don't expect us to give up any chance to tweak you…."
"My family is evil…" Came the moan in return.
"No, I'm evil." Shego said, "Your family is just smart…and you do know that if you spontaneously combust you'll lose the deposit on the car?" Ron looked at Kim's ears, noting their color.
"Oh man…should I use the fire extinguisher?" Then he found himself looking into a pair of snapping green eyes.
"Do and die, Ronald."
"Ok… I won't. Do I live?" Kim tried, she really tried to keep her evil expression up…but then Ron started trying to imitate her "puppy dog pout"….and she lost it, exploding in laughter as she leaned into Ron. The muffled giggles continued on for a while, and Shego, in the front seat, turned to Kim's mother.
"We're leaving in the morning, right?"
"Yes."
"They do have a separate room, right?"
"Five rooms away…"
"Good. I don't have any ear plugs." Shego grinned, "And something tells me they wouldn't work anyway."
"I don't think so…" Looking out the other window, Shego sighed.
"What?" Andrea asked.
"So, if I get my head fixed… then what?" Shego asked.
"Then you get up the next day." Andrea answered. Shego suddenly got a thoughtful look on her face.
"Get up the next day…with no idea what I'm going to do." The dark haired woman smiled. "Do you know how long it's been since I didn't know what I was going to do?" She smiled, "Well, maybe it's time to try something new…" She didn't say anything, and then breathed on the window, seeing the condensation form. A single slim finger reached out and wrote out CALLY on the window.
OK, Life… I got the hint. We'll try something different now. Time to try and drop some of the baggage. Whatever had or hadn't been done to her, Shego had made the decisions to become what she was.
That was fine. But she could make other decisions, and become something different from what she had been. A small chuckle escaped her, unheard by the other passengers. She'd spent most of her life at villain school and it looked like she might be starting a whole new grade.
Fine. Shego was always good at cramming.
End.
And thus we come to the end of this book—note that not the end of the story, but this part was getting rather long. Stay tuned for the next two parts, Senior Year: Shego, which will cover Shego's numerous adventures, and Kim Possible: Seniors which will cover Kim, Ron and all the Middleton gang's last year of high school.