This is the product of the nightmares that have been plaguing me since Valentine's Day. Again, this is most definitely AU. I need to get this out of my system, and I'm sorry for the cruddy poem. As always, italics are thoughts. Amarok is the name of a giant wolf in Inuit mythology. It is said to hunt down and devour anyone foolish enough to hunt alone at night. Yes, there's a little tribute to Nicole Sullivan in here, with the hair color and name.

Disclaimer: I don't own K.P. and Co.

The auburn haired teen groaned lightly as she awoke. Her head was throbbing, blood pulsing in her ears. Her mane languished limply over her shoulders. Her arms were outstretched as manacles held her pinned to the wall. One was also adorned around her neck and legs, but these were left together, leaving her in a pose similar to one of someone being crucified, a most unpleasant thought in her current predicament. She doubted she would feel if someone drove the nails into her already, for her head was hurting that much. She groggily opened her eyes, their olive orbs straining in the darkness when someone spoke, and Kim stiffened with what had become almost loathing.

"How are we feeling Kimberly Anne?" taunted the man as the lights flickered on and revealed his scarred, discolored face. His bluish tint gave him the appearance of one who had suffocated yet lived, but this was not the case, no matter how many dangerous green-eyed women wished it were so. He strutted over in front of her, much like a ragged rooster with nothing to crow about, relishing the helplessness of his victim. Kim turned her head away from him in disgust, and Drakken frowned. "Come now, that's not the way to treat your host."

"T-this isn't t-the way you t-treat guests either," coughed Kim, refusing to look at him, weakly struggling against her bonds.

"At least I have more class than a certain blonde sidekick, I'm sure you love dates at Bueno Nacho all the time, don't you Miss Possible?" quipped Drakken, grinning at his own wit. Kim rolled her eyes and spat on the floor in response; her head was woozy, still continuing its constant drumming like a soldier, more annoying than Will Du with his stupid amateur cracks and regulations. The mad scientist's smirk, if it was capable of being called that due to a lack of anything more than idiocy being displayed, dropped. "For his own good, Kimberly, I suggest you fully cooperate."

"R-Ron?" Kim stumbled over the familiar word; her speech was slurred worse than it should have been and she knew it. The pounding in her head would not go away, and it was hard for her to pay attention as the man in front of her continued to rant his blue guts out, Kim dully noted. Her olive eyes were glazing over not two seconds into the rant this time, and she only halfway listened despite her best attempts, if only to find out if Ron was safe. She was just not capable of that right now, not with her worry over Ron and her head suddenly deciding that it felt like a good day to reveal its contents to the world by splitting down the middle. This is killing me, where is Ron? Stupid headache...

"'s always about the sidekick, isn't it? I assure you... Shego will see to that. Now you on the other... yes your sidekick is safe but not for long if you don't pay attention. I already told you... Oh c'mon, Shego didn't rough you up that badly," continued the disgruntled man as Kim shook her head to clear her thoughts, all the while asking for Ron. Drakken's voice drifted in and out as Kim struggled to even remain conscious. At least she usually tries to listen, but this is ridiculous! "... I told you, Stoppable is fine... yes, yes, he is... now... what the heck is wrong with you, do you have wax in your ears?"

Suddenly, she stiffened visibly against her bonds, much more so than when the man had entered the room. Drakken stopped talking, staring at her, indigo orbs widening in alarm. A piercing scream erupted from Kim even as she went completely limp in her bonds. Her head collapsed on her chest, eyes shut tightly, hidden beneath her vivid hair as it swept slowly forward to cover her face. Even as her captor raced over to the monitor to check her vitals, her heartbeat continued slowing, and the device gave off an ear splitting alarm. By the time Drakken had reached the computer, the steady then infrequent beeping had ceased. The man stared uncomprehending as it continued to give no indication of a pulse or heartbeat. Hurrying back to his prisoner, Drakken ripped off his glove, pressing his fingertips to her neck. Nothing. Drakken began to pace back and forth, muttering incoherent phrases, then sat down, staring at Kim's body. No breaths were shifting through her, not the faintest movement was detectable as she was fully slumped against her bonds. The man placed his hands over his face, pressing the tips of his fingers into his eye sockets, trying to ease the sense of guilt that was overwhelming him. This isn't my fault, right? I mean, she was perfectly healthy up until a few minutes ago. She shouldn't have just keeled over.

"She's hurting him," Kim said suddenly, and Drakken jumped in alarm. She still wasn't breathing. Had it merely been his imagination, remorse weighing heavy on his heart and mind already? He got his answer when with superhuman and perhaps inhuman strength, Kim ripped the manacles pinning her arms off the wall, grabbing at the one that encompassed her neck, pulling it off like it weighed nothing, repeating the motion with the bonds on her legs, all in under five seconds flat.

"Wha...? B-but, how?" asked a nervous and stuttering Drakken, scratching his head as Kim walked passed him, her gait steady, tearing off the nodes that monitored her, and still refused to give any indication that she lived. She ignored him and walked out the room. "How, how, how?" The man wondered as he sought comfort in sucking his thumb, curled in a fetal position on the floor. I'm scared. Moodulator Shego doesn't have anything on what just happened.

Kim continued pounding softly down the hall until she reached a room at the end. Stopping before it, she curled her lip in anger before pivoting on her right foot and launching her left one out. The result was the door slamming open, leaving a fair-sized dent in the unfortunate wall. The startled tormentor stopped her taunting, flamed fingertip beneath the blonde boy's nose.

"Pumpkin," the green woman stated simply, releasing her grip on a limply hanging Ron, who was in terrible shape. A large gash above his right ear was bleeding profusely, dripping the warm scarlet liquid down the side of his face and off his chin, and his left eye was already starting to swell. Kim stalked into the room, gazing tenderly at a barely conscious Ron. Shego took this opportunity to act. Leaping down from the flat platform where Ron was held, she lit her fist and aimed at Kim, who didn't react, almost purposefully ignoring the woman and acting ignorant of her intentions.

Shego's fist plunged directly into Kim's chest. The older woman stood, mouth slightly agape, green energy radiating from the hole. Kim stared at it, slight smirk playing across her face. Seeing this was too much for Ron with his wounds, and after a short cry of "K.P!" he went completely limp in his own bonds, unconscious. Kim continued to smirk as she pulled the now terrified woman's fist from her chest, dripping thick drops of blood. Murder was not something Shego was capable of. Kim had always moved before. Almost as soon as it was free the fist lost its power, as Shego continued to stare at it. Eventually she turned her attention to Kim, who, to the green woman's great surprise, bore no wounds, although a large rip near the center of her shirt attested to the fact that the incident had actually occurred. Backing up slowly while keeping her blood drenched arm far away from her, Shego spoke, though her voice sounded hollow almost save for the fact that her face twisted her emotional state back in her face.

"You should be dead," she whispered in an awed voice, barely audible as she continued to put space between her and Kim. Shego flinched as Kim chuckled coldly in amusement, her emerald eyes flickering to the door behind Kim that still swung noiselessly on one of its hinges, the force of her kick having popped it off the other before it even hit the wall. A vicious grin graced Kim's features, transporting Shego back to a night when she had seen it before, for the first time, though it was much more subdued then. (In truth this new grin actually made the evil syntho-smirk of Kim in Ron's post-prom nightmares look harmless.)

"You can't kill what hasn't lived," replied the redhead, closing the distance between her and the tormentor of her ravaged boyfriend. A red glow pulsed from Kim's eyes, and Shego bolted from the room via a door adjacent to the one Kim had entered from. Kim followed, calling to the scared villainess, "Walk backwards unless you want to die, for I will make this even more unpleasant for you if you turn and run." Shego reluctantly complied with this demand, wanting nothing more than to escape at the moment.

"How?" Shego whispered, staring at Kim's cold eyes that were blazing with scarlet fury. Shego kept the space between her and Kim constant as she edged her way down the hallway, not taking her eyes off the teen. "Why?" Dear Diablos, this is scary. I've never seen her like this before, what the heck is wrong with her?

Kim spoke with a cold edge in her voice as she followed Shego, who crept slowly down the hallway, trying to get as far away from the teen as possible.

"Low hung the moon the night of the dance,

Unbridled friendship turned to romance."

Drakken's Diablo plan the night of Kimmie's Prom, Shego realized.

"Soon the mortal would risk his life,

For the demon destined to cause only strife.

Her neck be snapped, her heart may rip,

Yet death cannot hold her in his grip.

Her cold dead eyes will gaze full wrath,

On the very mortal in her path."

Shego gulped nervously, tripping over a device lying in the hall. She crab walked away from the orange haired teen who walked with calm, deliberate steps, continuing to smirk at Shego.

"The wind will strip away her skin,

A skull continues its demonic grin.

Imps will cower, fear, and quake,

As she leaves desolation in her wake.

Her mortal mate will be spared,

For theirs is a bond that cannot be teared.

Her eyes are gouged, yet die she not,

For the flesh of the corpse will not rot.

Her demon eyes alight and glitter,

The scavengers sit near and twitter.

Ultimate carnage is left in her wake,

Twofold the sufferings she gives you'll take.

Those rattling lungs hold no breath,

There is no ending or her death.

Pain is earned as pain is gained,

For the mortal's wounds you must be trained.

Hold no breath, no hope of rescue,

Long fingernails are there to slice you through."

As spoken, Kim's fingernails grew sharp and long like a sickle, and her canines lengthened, protruding down over her lower lip as she gave a feral grin. After a long pause of watching the transformation with amusement, Kim struck the stone wall viciously, and Shego clasped her hands over her ears in anguish; the sound was strikingly similar to that of nails on a chalkboard. In truth it practically was, but the sound reverberated off the walls to produce eerie echoes, like the screams of past tortured souls attempting to flee their persecutor.

"Pale skin grows more so in death's embrace,

A lithe body shall lose its grace."

By now, Shego was whimpering, as the full extent of Kim's words reached her. Kim's still glowing red eyes grew slitted, like that of a cat; had she a tail, Shego supposed it would be swishing in both pleasure and insanity.

"You cannot escape me, the lightning hellhound,

By Amarok's howl, be cast to the ground.

I will make your troubles compound,

As sure as this great earth is round."

Kim paused, and Shego waited for the deathblow she was sure that was to come. When it didn't, she cracked open her eyes to see Kim staring at her with calculating eyes, amused at the fright playing across the tinged woman's face so openly.

"He lives, Shego, take comfort in this evermore,

Kim Possible has spared you this day from gore."

With that, Kim took off down the hall and was gone, leaving the disturbed woman in her wake. Shego stayed where she was, trembling, unable to move for several minutes lest it summon Kim to haunt her. She shivered, vaguely aware that this was probably as close to seeing her death demon before having her entrails strewn about as she would ever be and live to tell the tale, should she choose to do so. Shego gratefully cast her eyes upward, thankful that whatever being she thought was supposed to be helping her up there had finally come back from their coffee break and kept her from being skinned alive. She had not believed in such things until a few moments ago, but perhaps there is nothing left to not believe in when having faced almost certain death from that 'lightning hellhound', as the creature had so eloquently called herself. Then, gaining what remained of her strength, she headed back to the room where she had held Ron. Kim had pushed her down into a dead end, there was no other way out. She passed Kim ripping the bonds off the wall with incredible force, and noted chillingly other than that she looked... normal. Shego increased her pace and hurried down the second hall to her room, ignoring her boss incoherently muttering on the floor while trying to suck the blood out of his thumb as a coping mechanism if he kept that childish behavior up much longer. Locking the door, she realized a second later that it wouldn't do much good if Kim changed her mind. Stupid door, you're there to keep people out, yet you'd fail against Kimmie coming in here.

Meanwhile Kim shouldered Ron and left the lair, gazing at it in contempt. Those two maniacs had crossed a line this time, and she hoped they realized it, or else she would snap their necks while they were filling her with lead or plasma or whatever else the idiots planned on using to stop her now that they knew. Her boy would be perfectly fine with a few hours rest, Kim noted absently as she brushed his bangs back even though he was completely out. Kim could only sigh in relief that his wounds were not more serious while waiting for her ride, having paused in her mission of getting as far away from the lair as possible to contact Wade to set up aforementioned lift. She was a bit surprised when Ron started groaning, she had thought he would be out longer than that, but her guy was full of surprises.

"Ugh, Kim, where are we?" inquired the blonde boy, his mind not fully caught up to the idea of being awake. He shook his head to clear his thoughts; his temple was throbbing, not surprisingly. Ron was vaguely aware that Kim was carrying him, but he had no recollection of why.

"We're waiting on a ride," Kim informed him, setting him down slowly next to her, taking extreme care. The blonde merely groaned again in response, and started to rub his temple, only to freak out when he saw the blood on his glove, clinging slick and wet to his fingertips.

"I got hurt, didn't I?" he asked, and Kim nodded an affirmative. "Shego was beating me up pretty good, then... Oh my gosh Kim!" Even as he turned around to check her over, he could not help but feel that something was wrong for some reason. "I saw Shego practically stab you through the heart, I'm personally gonna kill her the next time I see her. Here I am moaning about my head and you're probably bleeding to death." He hastily circled Kim, only to be perplexed by finding little if any blood on her, although he did notice that her shirt had seen better days. "But... but.. I saw... she... glow... Kim, I saw her shove her fist through you, glow and everything." Ron started circling Kim, unable to understand exactly why he was having that rather unpleasant image if it had not been real. I know what I saw, because I can't get it out of my head. Nightmares may dissipate eventually, but memories cling for eternity.

"I'm not injured Ron," the redhead assured her companion. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the complete truth either in the sense that Ron was looking for, so Kim tried to shove off his doubts.

"I know what I saw. Kim, yes or no, did Shego shove her fist through you?" He was getting too worked up about this, Kim noted. She couldn't really lie to him, so she offered up a similar response as her first.

"I'm not hurt," she stated, waving her hand as if to dismiss the thought from her boyfriend's head. Unfortunately, Ron just wasn't buying the idea that it had not happened.

"Demon nacos Kim!" Ron cursed, he'd like nothing better than to punch a hole in Shego's head for his girlfriend not answering his questions except in a roundabout non-committal sort of way. Kim's eyes widened slightly in surprise; Ron rarely substituted the name of his favorite snackage for a curse word unless he was seriously tweaked. He grabbed her arms, not roughly, but not gently either. "What happened in there, and don't you dare try to tell me it was nothing!"

"Ron...," she started. He's seriously ticked if he's used naco now for what he really wants to say. Kim really didn't know what to say. She could lie, she did that a lot to other people and didn't lose any sleep, but it always felt wrong to lie to Ron so she tried to avoid it. "I don't really know what to tell you. Can we just drop the subject please?" Their ride was now hovering over them, and Kim hoped it would provide enough distraction that Ron would let it go. He opened his mouth to argue, but she placed a slim finger to his lips. "We'll talk later," said the redhead, with no intention of doing so unless forced to by her persistent, slightly overprotective, and mildly insecure boyfriend.

-A few days later-

Shego watched from above, leaning nearly out of the tree she was sitting in, as Ron dropped Kim off at her house. As Kim took off her blue helmet while getting off his beat-up scooter, Shego could just barely hear the two and relied mainly on her observant, if overly inquisitive, emerald eyes to tell her that the two were having a heated discussion. Kim was almost scowling at the blonde boy, who was now only looking slightly worse for wear following the previous mission and what she had done. Kim eventually just walked off, leaving Ron on his scooter, who sighed and shook his head before puttering down the street.

Shego turned her attention to the house, and slipped into Kim's bedroom window unseen. She was surprised; except for the mission gear in the corner, it looked like the average teenager's room. She wondered what she had been expecting instead, since she had been here before, but she didn't get to think on the matter long.

"What are you doing here?" Shego didn't answer, but turned to face Kim. The redhead had snapped shut the hatch door and was in a defensive position. She didn't seem to have noticed that Shego was not in her normal jumpsuit.

"He doesn't know, does he Pumpkin?" inquired Shego, emerald eyes sweeping over Kim's face searchingly. The question caught Kim off guard, and it showed across her face, causing her to step backwards onto the hatch door of her bedroom. "Why?" Kim refused to look her in the eye, swallowing hard.

"Because he worries enough as it is about me being human," Kim replied, dropping her backpack to the floor and easing out of her stance, but she was still tense. Shego raised an eyebrow and gave her a perplexed look. She ripped back a band aid on her forearm and showed Shego a tiny pinprick.

"Do I even want to know?" asked Shego, although she knew she was probably going to get her answer and probably wasn't going to enjoy the information.

"Full-proof synthodrone and android test," informed Kim, shrugging. "Ron figured it out all on his own, quickest way to see if someone is who they say they are and are not something fake tangible-wise." She adhered the band-aid back to her arm.

"I don't suppose he makes you take a clone test in the morning too?" Shego quipped dryly, and Kim gave her a look.

"He hasn't thought of that yet, and don't give him the idea. I do not want him dumping soda on me when I get up in the morning." Shego nodded, gazing about the room. She pointed at a small figure on the nightstand.

"Nice Cuddle Buddy," she remarked, amused.

"Oh." Kim hastened over and shoved Pandaroo into one of the nightstand's drawers. "You still haven't told me why you're here, Shego." She turned around, crossed her arms, and stared at the pale intruder.

"Sometimes it's best to confront your fears," commented Shego simply, shrugging. Kim suddenly looked very embarrassed, and opened her mouth to speak, but Shego cut her off. "To be honest Princess, it's not so much you and your... demonic qualities that scare me as much as it is the fact that you haven't told your best friend from Pre-K, who is now your boyfriend, and is going to worry that much more for your safety."

"Why do you even want to know?" countered Kim. She had moved from in front of the nightstand to sitting with one leg beneath her on the bed. Shego sat herself down in the chair at Kim's desk.

"Motives, drive, things like that," Shego responded. She noticed the confused look Kim was still giving her. "Why you haven't told him, what are your reasons for not doing so, blah blah blah," she clarified. Kim looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap.

"It's just, well, how do you tell someone who is prone to excessive panic that you're not human? That you're going to outlive any grandchildren you have because anything short of being burned alive does no long-term damage? Though I suppose it's hard to burn alive something that's already dead," Kim mused. "That this voice in the back of your head torments you, encourages you to embrace your full potential, and slaughter the innocent? That this voice in the back your head isn't your own inner dark side? They say everyone has their own inner demons," stated Kim, and she gave a bitter laugh," but somehow I don't think this is quite what they meant."

"Kimmie," Shego said suddenly, interrupting Kim's train of thought, "you go to church right?"

"Yeah, why?" inquired Kim, wondering just where the older female was going with this.

"What happened when you were baptized?" Shego asked curiously.

"I don't know. I was a baby then," responded Kim, shrugging. She had never really thought about it, being as busy as she was with all her extra-curricular and world-saving activities, but she supposed it was a good question.

"When you say already dead, do you mean...?" Shego trailed off, and Kim nodded, motioning for her to come sit next to her. She reluctantly complied, and a small sound of surprise escaped her when Kim placed two of Shego's fingers on her wrist.

"You feel anything?" Kim asked, and Shego shook her head. Kim then moved the fingers to her neck. "How about now?" There was another negative response to this and Kim let go of Shego's fingers. "Last question, do I appear to be breathing?"

"No," Shego said simply. Kim closed her eyes for a moment, then grabbed Shego's hand again, placing the fingertips on her wrist once more. The pale female's eyes widened in surprise when she now felt a dull throbbing against her fingertips. "You've got a pulse now, how did you...?" Okay, I'm seriously confused now, even more than before.

"I can't explain it really. I just thought about it. It's kinda like flipping a switch, or turning off your glow powers," described Kim. Shego gave her an odd look.

"I can't turn off my glow powers."

"Did you ever try?" questioned Kim, wondering why she was pressing the issue. She supposed it was just to try to get Shego to understand her explanation.

"Well..., no," Shego replied slowly. She had never thought to even try such a thing before, but she supposed it was possible. After all, there had to be a way Hego kept his stupid secret identity. Then again, Aviarius knew that he worked at Go City's Bueno Nacho, so it wasn't really a secret identity. Still, sometimes when she saw him he had black hair, and the other times he had blue hair. Mego's hair wasn't really an issue since he had dyed it every color under the sun before settling on purple after the comet hit, and the twins had always been redheaded. The only issue she could really think of was Mego's skin pigmentation.

"You probably could if you tried. The worst that could happen is nothing happens," stated Kim, shaking Shego from her thoughts.

"Or I can't turn them back on," muttered Shego. She suddenly wondered what she was doing sitting there next to her enemy on her bed, conversing with her as if they were at least acquaintances.

"They should just snap back on like they do when you call the plasma to your hands, it might just take a few seconds," Kim countered.

"How do you know so much about this? A heartbeat and super powers aren't exactly the same thing," retorted Shego.

"Gut feeling, well, you know what I mean. Besides, you never know unless you try. Now close your eyes and focus on your powers, but dimming it down until you can't feel them bouncing around in you anymore." Shego glowered at Kim for a moment. "I'm not gonna try to kill you while you're powerless if that's what you're thinking."

"I'm never powerless."

"Glow-less then." She got a hard stare from Shego before the pale villainess reluctantly closed her emerald orbs and focused. Shego bit her lip for a few seconds before reopening her eyes, and Kim got the shock of her life. It wasn't just the eyes though. She grabbed a mirror and gave it to Shego. "Never figured you to be a blonde," commented Kim.

It was true. Shego's hair was a light platinum blonde color with just a hint of red interspersed throughout it. There was a sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her nose, ending just below the corners of her now ice blue eyes. There wasn't a trace of green flesh anywhere.

"I forgot how much I looked like a cheerleader," remarked Shego, and Kim made an irked noise that was ignored.

"Funny though, I would've figured the comet would've changed your hair to green if it did change it," Kim pondered. After all, it turned Hego's hair blue, she knew that much for sure.

"It's probably biased against girls. Personally, I think I look better with black hair and green eyes. I could do without the green skin though."

"I like your eyes. They've got a lot of character. Of course, so do the emerald ones," mused Kim, and Shego actually looked embarrassed, which was easier to tell without the green skin masking a very light blush.

"They're not emerald. Nobody has emerald eyes. They're leaf-colored," Shego argued. Kim shook her head.

"No way. My eyes are leaf colored. Yours are... were... can be totally emerald, especially when you're ticked in a fight," countered Kim, and Shego was surprised.

"And why exactly were you looking at my eyes when we're fighting?" Shego inquired, and Kim shrugged.

"Because they're interesting. But, you're right. My eyes aren't exactly leaf-colored, but neither are yours. Yours are emerald and mine are olive." Shego suddenly burst out laughing.

"How did we even get on the topic of eye color?" She asked between gasps. Kim was about to answer when a knock at the hatch caused them both to jump.

"Kimmie-Cub?" called Mr. Dr. P. from the other side of the door. "Do you have company over?" He popped his head up through the hatch. Kim nodded and leaped off the bed to help her dad with the hatch door. Kim had tightened the springs the other day to keep the door from falling off, but now they were a bit too tight and would snap back onto the head of the person coming up if they weren't careful.

"Daddy, this is um...," Kim started, but Shego interrupted her.

"Nicole," finished Shego politely, shaking the man's hand after rising from her position on the bed. It was at this point that Kim realized that Shego was not in her traditional cat suit but rather was wearing a clover three-quarter length sleeved shirt and black cargoes with hunter green ankle boots. Her hands were completely bare, though she could see sharpened points on the long fingernails.

"Well, Nicole will you be staying for dinner? Anne is making brainloaf," Mr. Dr. P. stated, and Shego cocked an eyebrow as Kim mouthed the word 'No' to her, then made a face like she was gagging from behind her father.

"Um, no I don't think so, I have to get back to the university soon. I just stopped by to visit Kimberly, you have a very intelligent daughter, Mr. Possible," complimented Shego while straining to keep her face straight. It was bad enough she had to say nice things about Kim in her opinion, but even worse to have to say them while the redhead was there. Respect for the teen heroine's fighting ability could only go so far, especially after she knew it wasn't all the result of Kim's hard work, but rather an overlying extension of her 'condition.' Shego briefly considered cutting some slack for Kim in that regard. After all, if she was allowed to have powers, why couldn't Kim? The problem was her powers were still on the same level as their skills, and she had no idea exactly how much Kim was capable of. "Perhaps some other time?"

"Of course. Let us know the next time you're in the area and you'll be welcome at our table anytime," commented James warmly and Kim noted with a frown that the weird blush Shego had produced earlier was fanning out across her face.

"Oh, well, thank you sir," 'Nicole' said as he descended down the stairs once again. Kim turned to her , still frowning slightly, and then shifted her expression into one of shame.

"Hey, you know, I'm sorry about earlier this week. I just lost my temper," admitted Kim as she sat back down next to Shego. "I can't stand to see him hurt. He's always had my back and I try to have his, even if I get distracted sometimes."

"Kimmie, you don't have anything to be sorry for. I was asking for it; if you didn't get to me first, I'm afraid Ron would have," Shego stated. "I don't even know what I was thinking, after seeing him nail those Lo'Wardians, I'm almost glad you got to me first."

The previously raven-haired female clenched a fist for a moment, then closed her eyes. Slowly the blonde locks and icy orbs shifted away, leaving the more recognizable Shego in their place. Reopening her eyes, she gave Kim a small smile, though a thoughtful expression quickly took its place. She hesitated a moment, then spoke.

"Look Cupcake, I'm not telling you that you have to tell Stoppable, but it's in everybody's best interests if you do. Nobody needs a repeat of what happened a few days ago, nor does anybody particularly want to see the buffoon launch himself at somebody in a monkey-intensified rage because he thinks something happened to you." Shego calmly placed a hand on Kim's shoulder. "Just think about it, okay?"

Then the window was opened, and cool bursts of air rippled over Kim's skin as she sat, unmoving, on her bed, contemplating her choices. The redhead sat there for a few hours, simply weighing all her options. Eventually she was left with two.

Grabbing the phone, she hit the redial button and waited. One ring, then two.

"K.P.?" came the question, a hopeful tone easily heard.

"Ron...," started Kim, swallowing nervously while playing with a few of her auburn tresses, never noticing the darkened figure sitting calmly on a branch outside her window.

"Way to go Princess," Shego whispered softly, before dropping down silently to the ground.