Save it for another day

Shego's watched as the henchmen moved into the hall. A quick glance told her there were more of them entering from the other doors. Most of the men he saw were armed with stun prods mostly useful for crowd control, but there were a few firearms.

The men wore purple jumpsuits with black belts, boots and gloves, and caps with goggles. The jumpsuits each had a broad white vertical stripe in the center of the chest, with an orange circle with a symbol in it. Shego recognized the symbols as Greek letters. While Shego hadn't ever dealt with the organization herself, she had spent enough time on the seedy side of life to recognize the uniform of the absurdly named Worldwide Evil Empire.

The crowd finally noticed the newcomers, too. The reactions varied from nervous to irritated to downright scared. The intruders started herding people towards the middle of the hall. Future Ways booth was towards the center of the room, in the direction they were converging on. The Possible Solutions stand was by the wall, but far enough away from the doors the men hadn't reached it yet. Kim was standing with Paul and a pretty blonde Shego assumed was Stacy, directing them to get down behind the furniture. She had a focused expression on her face Shego hadn't seen in years. Shego pushed Cindy behind her and addressed the Future Ways people while keeping an eye on the advancing troops.

"Alright, everybody. Get down and stay out of the way. You too, Reynolds."

"Ma'am..."

"Look after these people and get them out of here if you get the chance. Contact Johnson and Brown and have them make sure the rest of our people are safe."

"Yes, Ma'am."

The intruders stationed men by the doors and along the aisle between booths that went around the room. The perimeter secure, four of the men advanced towards Shego. Two of them held firearms in a threatening way, but not aimed directly at her. She saw two more walk towards Kim, who was standing her ground, looking defiant. From the door in her field of view entered a figure in a more elaborate version of the purple uniform. He had a neat beard, an eye patch, and an artificial hand. Shego recognized him as Gemini, the leader of Worldwide Evil Empire. While his men seemed like the usual sort of hired thugs, Gemini radiated an aura of menace.

One of the men at Possible Solutions booth got Kim in a hold while his companion menaced Kim's coworkers with a pistol. The hostages were the problem. If it wasn't for the civilians, Shego would have been cracking heads already. As it was, she was waiting for an opening. Then again, the invasion had been bloodless so far, which maintained the possibility that W.E.E. might depart peacefully if they got what they wanted. Shego couldn't spare the scene another glance, as Gemini stopped behind the men facing her.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Shego was startled when the Future Ways executive spoke up from beside her. He was a lot braver than she'd given him credit for, though not very bright. She just hoped Gemini was the kind of villain who liked to talk. He looked the sort.

"We are merely paying back your duplicity with a move of our own."

"Duplicity? I don't know what you are talking about."

"My good man, it is far too late to play ignorant. Did you really think we would be blind enough to fall into the trap you were preparing in collusion with Global Justice?" Gemini paused for a while at the last two words, looking momentarily concerned.

"What do you mean, a trap? We aren't working with Global Justice, we are being investigated by them!" He darted a glance towards Kim. "Quite without reason." Shego felt like facepalming. He couldn't really believe he could still play innocent, could he?

"But of course. And doubtless your specially retained security consultant has been meeting with Global Justice's pet freelancer to discuss recipes and gossip about soap operas rather than to coordinate plans against us."

The executive gave Shego a sharp glance, to which she responded by rolling her eyes.

"We were just catching up, you paranoid moron."

"Watch your tongue, Shego, or you'll find how I handle people who annoy me." He brandished his metal hand for emphasis. Shego seemed to remember hearing it had a number of weapons built into it. Well, she had built-in weapons of her own.

"Whatever. Didn't it occur to you that I was keeping Kimmie too busy to poke around anything sensitive. You know, doing my job?"

"No, it did not. And calling your supposed adversary by a familiar nickname doesn't make your story any more believable."

"Oh, like you're one to talk, Sheldon!" Everybody turned to look at Kim who had spoken up from across the aisle, her arms still being held behind her back by the purple-clad goon.

"Sheldon? His name is Sheldon?"

"Yep." Kim was grinning despite her predicament. "Sheldon Director, to be exact, the twin brother of Dr. Director of Global Justice."

"Wow. And I thought my family was dysfunctional."

"Everybody shut up!" Gemini raised his prosthetic hand, which was crackling with electricity. "We're on a schedule here, so let's get back to business before my younger sister decides to join us." He took a moment to collect himself.

"What ever the situation is, we were promised certain items, and we are going to collect such items. And, since we are here," he made a sweeping gesture at the exhibitions, "we might as well see if there are any other goods we might like. If everybody remains calm, no bystanders will be harmed." He narrowed his eyes at the Future Ways executive and Shego. "Only double-crossers."

Shego had heard enough. She looked at the executive. "How do you want me to play this?"

"You heard him. These criminals mean to steal our property. Stop them!"

"My pleasure." Damage control it was. Shego's mouth opened in a predatory smile as otherworldly green glow engulfed her hands. It was good to know where one stood, and it had been way too long since she could solve her troubles by punching them. She was going to enjoy this; she had a lot of frustration to work off.

Shego opened by throwing a barrage of glowing spheres at the people in front of her as she dashed away, both to get in cover and to draw fire away from the Future Ways team. Her bolts were a lot less dangerous than bullets, and much easier to dodge, but they were very eye-catching and made most of the opponents in view duck into cover, which had been her intention. Two of the people standing right in front of her hadn't had enough warning to get out of the way and had the wind knocked out of them.

Her first move had to be to help Kim with her captors and get her in the game to even the odds. Shego looked up towards the Possible Solutions booth, just in time to see one of the men flying through the air, out cold before he hit the floor. His partner was lying slumped on the ground. Kim was already charging a third man, moving faster than was easily believable. Right. Why had she thought Kim would need help, exactly?

Shego concentrated on her own situation. She wasn't dressed for this sort of work, in her jacket and skirt: she had prepared for nosy investigators, not armed intruders. She would manage. She wasn't concerned with the guys with stun prods, as her glowing hands were more dangerous weapons and they hesitated to get near, but the people with guns were a problem. The W.E.E. goons didn't seem to be any more competent than Dr. Drakken's henchmen, but any idiot could score a lucky hit. There were also a lot of bystanders around, and with her history she didn't want to have to explain civilian casualties. She decided to stick to the evacuated side. It would limit her movements, but should keep civilians out of the line of fire.

She fired off bolts of force to keep the gunmen in cover while she worked along the various stands to get into close quarters with her opponents. When she managed to isolate someone, she made short work of them with punches powered by her glow, making sure to not mangle them too badly while putting them out of the fight. The air was filled with shouts and curses, panicked screams, meaty thuds, and occasional gunshots. The invaders were showing more restraint with firearms than Shego would have expected.

Sometimes she managed to sneak glances at Kim, doing much the same as her, but relying on amazing body control and tactical awareness to avoid being targeted. She was poetry in motion, and Shego found it difficult to tear her eyes away from her. Kim was constantly moving, dashing in and out of cover and ambushing people who thought they were out of reach. When she hit someone, they stayed down. Kim's attacks were more brutal than what Shego remembered and sometimes she thought she could hear bones breaking. She didn't know if this was Kim's standard operating procedure these days, or if she just took exception to the use of deadly force in a public place. She was glad her days of battling Kim were behind her; she didn't think she could stand up to this Kim in her current condition.

"Oh, you useless cretins, how can you not be able to handle two women?"

"Give them a break, Sheldon. I haven't seen a letter earlier than lambda yet, I think you already dealt with the more competent half yourself."

"I don't tolerate insubordination or incompetence, Miss Possible."

"That must make it hard to live with yourself."

"Enough. I see I have to deal with this myself, again."

Gemini pointed his artificial hand towards Shego, fingers extending. She dove into cover as a barrage of micro-missiles detonated on desks and stands around her. There was a moment of respite for her as he then turned to target Kim, forcing her to retreat, too. Shego popped up to launch a volley of her own. Gemini dodged most of the green missiles, deflecting two with his hand crackling with power. He remained standing in the open, commanding firing lanes through much of the hall. His few remaining lackeys had sought cover.

Shego's cover disintegrated and she was forced to move. Gemini also had some sort of energy weapon built into his hand, and Shego barely stayed ahead of the blasts. Suddenly he whirled around and a quick glance told Shego he had switched targets to drive Kim back. Shego tried to take advantage of the distraction to close in on him, but he turned the fire back on her, forcing her to scramble into cover. She threw another volley of blasts at him as she did so. Maybe it would buy her some breathing room.

Shego panted as she crouched behind a desk. She'd forgotten how tiring it was to use her Glow this much. She really should have kept up practice, but there weren't that many facilities where she could cut loose with her power. Gemini didn't seem to be running out of steam any time soon. It was time to try stealth. She wished she had some more suitable clothing for skulking around.

She popped up to take a look at Gemini, throwing a few more glowing bolts at him, even though she sweated with the effort. With his gaze averted she moved, crouching low behind cover. She peeked carefully from behind a stand and, seeing he was facing the other way, lunged across the aisle between the booths to get out of sight again. She almost ran headlong into Kim, who'd apparently gotten the same idea.

"You know, I thought these guys were idiots for doing a daylight heist, but I think he might be able to deal with the police single-handed."

"Good one." Kim gave her a quick smile, which Shego answered with a flat stare. "Yeah, that hand is inconvenient. He seems to have improved it over the years he was laying low."

"Well, I've got dangerous hands myself." Shego displayed her elegant hands, green glow coiling around clawed fingers. "I could deal with him if I could just get close enough."

"Well, if you could disarm him, that would be handy." Shego gave her another stare. "I took care of the stragglers, so you should have a clear lane."

"What, in the last twenty seconds with him firing at you?"

"Yes. Just be careful, okay? With all the weaponry packed into that thing I'm guessing it'll go 'boom' if damaged. I'll give you an opening." Kim turned to go, and Shego grabbed her arm.

"Just... you be careful too." Kim flashed her a smile and leaped over a display.

Shego started working her way closer to Gemini while staying out of sight. Happily Kim's distraction helped her pinpoint his location by sound alone.

"Five years and not one call to your twin sister. I'm disappointed in you, Sheldon." Kim's line was answered by a burst of fire from Gemini.

"My name is Gemini. And I have nothing to say to my younger sister."

"That will make for very awkward conversation when she visits you in jail, Sheldon." There was more firing and a frustrated growl when he failed to connect. Shego could relate to the feeling. She had tried and failed to land a solid hit on Kim often enough.

"I'm afraid I'm not headed for jail, Kim Possible. I will depart on my own once I've made an example of you." Shego took a quick look at the situation, and her heart almost stopped at the narrow margin Kim evaded the shots with. Kim moved with incredible precision, but between distracting Gemini, drawing his fire away from civilians, and trying not to get hit, she didn't have much room for error. Shego wanted to rush to intervene, but if she wanted to be sure of her opportunity, she needed to get just a little closer.

"Skulking away with your tail between your legs, you mean. I'm afraid your men won't be going anywhere."

"I have no need for those useless specimens. I will rebuild my organization, and Worldwide Evil Empire will be reborn, more glorious than ever."

"Just like the last four times, huh, Sheldon? It just seems to get more and more pathetic. Today was a pretty pitiful showing."

"It's not over yet."

"Oh, yes it is."

Shego was finally in position. When Gemini whirled at her voice, she struck. Her glowing fingers sheared right through the metal of his wrist. She played it safe as she wasn't sure how much of his arm was prosthetic, and she didn't want him spurting blood all over the place. She had time to think that Kim had been right as the severed hand detonated. The world briefly turned blindingly white before everything went black.

Shego opened her eyes and found herself staring at Kim's face, against the background of a high ceiling.

"How long was I out?"

"Just a couple of seconds. Take it easy."

Kim's face disappeared, and Shego tried to sit up to find it again. The room suddenly started spinning. Kim instantly reappeared and pushed her gently back down.

"I think you might have a concussion. You hit your head pretty hard falling down. Just lie down for a while, okay? I need to secure some people."

"Yeah, lying down sounds good." Shego closed her eyes as she tried to get the world to settle down. Concussion would explain the sudden splitting headache.

After a minute Shego was feeling better, minus the headache, and she carefully sat up. She was glad to find she wasn't feeling nauseated. She took a look around. Kim was checking on the purple-suited intruders while the civilians were milling about, looking confused and worried. Gemini lay near her, his arms bound behind his back. He didn't seem to be in too bad a condition. Shego looked down at herself and didn't see any obvious injuries. Her clothes seemed to be intact, too. The explosion had probably just stunned her. She gingerly felt the back of her head and found a bruise.

Shego stood up. Other than a spike in the headache she felt fine. She walked towards the Future Ways group. Reynolds was scanning the room, the executive was on the phone, and Cindy was giving her a strange wide-eyed look that looked half worried, half wondering. She didn't really care about the rest of them.

"Reynolds, I thought I told you to get them out of here."

"The opportunity didn't arise, Ma'am. It's clear now, right?"

Shego grunted in response. "Did you get in touch with the others?"

"Yes. The rest of the delegation is in their rooms, and the guys are waiting for instructions. Uh. Johnson said Miss Possible never left the presentation."

"But of course he did." This time she already had a headache. "Do you have any restraints on you?"

"No, Ma'am, but I saw a bunch of zip ties on a shelf."

"Grab them and help Kim secure..." Shego looked at the executive who had finished his phone call. "These criminals who clearly had designs on Future Ways property."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Ah, never mind, the cavalry's here."

People in blue uniforms were entering the hall, much to the consternation of the people present. They weren't the police; Shego recognized the Global Justice uniform. It looked like they'd finally gotten their act together. A Global Justice officer finally saw fit to start reassuring the public and direct traffic. It was time to make a discreet exit.

"Oh, hi guys." Kim walked beside her while addressing another Global Justice officer.

"Dr. Possible."

"Please, don't call me that. It sounds weird. You finally got cleared?"

"Uh, we were still waiting for authorization. Given the circumstances we figured it was better to move in anyway. Easier to beg forgiveness and all that. I don't think anyone's going to get hung up on just when the paperwork arrived."

"I wouldn't think so. You'll want to arrest him, too." Kim pointed at the executive. "Do you have the VP?"

"The boys are bringing him down now." He turned to point towards the vice president being escorted through a door by two GJ goons.

"On what authority?" Shego turned to address the officer in charge. "If I understood correctly, you're not even supposed to be here."

"Oh, we have full authority to conduct a terrorism investigation in this country. Informing the local government is more of a courtesy, though a courtesy we would ideally like to observe, to maintain amicable relations in the future. Given we just wrapped up pretty much the entire W.E.E. I don't think anyone's going to make an issue of it."

"You mean Kimmie and I did."

"Your assistance is noted, Miss."

"Miss Green! Why are these... people manhandling me?"

Kim spoke up before Shego could. "Oh, that would be my doing. I told Global Justice to arrest you, seeing how you are suspected of providing material support to terrorists."

"This is preposterous. You have no evidence."

"Well, Gemini there more or less confirmed you'd been working on a deal. I have it on tape."

"You can't put any weight on the accusations of a known terrorist. He was merely trying to frame us." The executive spoke up as he was being handcuffed.

"We also have surveillance footage we've gathered over the past two months."

Shego turned to address the Global Justice officer. "If you've been just doing surveillance for two months without moving in, it can't amount to much." A thought struck her and her eyes narrowed. "Or were you setting up a trap for Gemini? Way to endanger the civilians, heroes."

"We would never have authorized a plan that places so many civilians in danger. We had no idea W.E.E. was going to show up in force."

"Yeah, that might have been my bad." Kim looked sheepish. "I probably should have seen it coming, but I was, uh, a little distracted." She gave Shego a look.

"I thought you were keeping me distracted so your buddies could work in peace."

"I was kinda the only operative on the scene, until these guys could get here. The other so called investigators were for show. I just, uh... anyway, that's not important right now." Kim turned to look at the vice president. "What's important is the smoking gun on your laptop."

"I'm afraid you are misinformed, Miss Possible. There is nothing relating to any illegal activities on my laptop."

"Well, no, not anymore, since you deleted it. But I did make a copy of the files."

"When the hell did you manage that?" Shego instantly knew she shouldn't have said that, since it was more than a little damning. She blamed the concussion.

"Just twenty minutes ago, while your man Johnson was looking at Holo-Kim."

"You mean while I was telling him to... Oh, that's just unfair."

"Miss Green." The vice president's voice was very calm. "You're fired."

"I'm not an employee, I'm a contractor. You can't fire me." It was a little inane retort, but Shego wasn't feeling her sharpest.

"Then consider your contract terminated, effective immediately."

"Okay, that's enough. Get them out of here."

"What about the rest of the Future Ways personnel?"

"I don't think that will be necessary. They were kept in the dark."

"If you say so, Miss Possible."

As the prisoners were escorted away, Shego turned away, feeling like she was in a daze.

"Just a few minutes earlier and... I knew I should have just scrapped that thing right then and there."

Shego was surprised when Kim stepped in front of her and wrapped her in a hug.

"What are you doing?"

"Being a good girlfriend and comforting you in your troubles."

"Kimmie, you're the reason for my troubles."

"Well, that just makes me feel worse about it."

The strange part was that it was working. She did feel better with Kim's comforting presence pressed against her. She wrapped her arms around the younger woman and let out a deep sigh. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Cindy giving her a curious look. She wasn't sure how to respond, and gave her a one-shouldered shrug. Then a worrying though hit her.

"You were in the next room while were in the meeting."

"Yes."

"So you heard us."

"Yes."

"Were you recording it?" Shego tried to recall if she'd said anything incriminating. She really hadn't been as cautious as the Future Ways suits.

"Yes."

"That tape's going to sink me."

"Hypothetically."

"Nothing hypothetical about it, Kimmie. In a terrorism case I'm not going to get off on a technicality. Any reasonable person hearing that tape would conclude I was in the know, and there goes my clean slate."

"Well, they would, if anybody heard it. I'm not planning on turning it in."

"Why not?"

Kim leaned back to look her in the eye, but didn't let go of her. "Are you seriously asking me that question?"

"Are you... are you covering for me?"

"Doy. Do you think I want you in prison?" Kim gave her a wry grin. "Well, I want you pretty much everywhere, but I'd prefer to be able to do something about it. Federal prisons don't allow conjugal visits."

"You really are seriously interested in me." Shego's eyes were wide. A warm wave raced through her before concentrating in her chest and in her loins.

"Shego, I nearly botched this job because I was more interested in pursuing you than the investigation. I really am very seriously interested in you."

"Oh." Shego's mind was stuck in neutral. The concussion, no doubt. "Good."

Looking at Kim's face hovering so near hers, with their arms wrapped around each other, Shego was seized by an impulse to kiss Kim. It didn't help that the rush from the fight and the glimpses of Kim in action had left her in a rather amorous mood. What held her back was the knowledge that, though the hall was emptying of people, it was by no means deserted yet.

Yet was that a reason to not follow the impulse? If she was going to pursue a relationship with as public a figure as Kim, she'd need to get over her reservations at some point. With her no longer with Future Ways and Kim's part in the affair mostly concluded, there was no professional reason to hide the relationship. And it wasn't like their current embrace was exactly platonic.

"Oh, to hell with it." Shego wrapped her arms tighter around Kim and captured her lips with her own. Let people stare; she was the one with Kim.

If Kim was surprised by Shego's impulsiveness, it didn't show in the way she eagerly returned the kiss. It almost made Shego forget her headache for a while, as well as her recently ruined career prospects. Almost. She released Kim to draw a breath and stepped back. Shego glanced at the Future Ways people, standing around and looking unsure of what to do, then realized they were no longer her responsibility. She tugged at Kim's hand and headed out of the hall.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

Kim fell into step next to her. "So, we're good?"

"When it comes to you and me, yes. Professionally, I'm afraid I'm not."

"Do you blame me for getting fired?"

"Maybe a little, but mostly I'm kicking myself for letting myself get dragged into this mess in the first place."

"You know, them firing you might be a good thing. It'll make it easier to argue you weren't in on the deal."

"You think so? They can still try to pin it on me. I really don't want to go back to my old life."

"I'm sure I can convince Betty to keep you out of this. You'll be fine."

"Betty?"

"Dr. Director, the head of Global Justice. We're very close." Kim gave the word 'very' a purring emphasis that made Shego feel a stab of jealousy and wonder just how close Kim meant. She decided that Kim was probably just messing with her again.

"Um. Yeah, if you can keep me clear, that's good. I'll owe you one."

"No, you won't. I'm doing it just as much for me; I do have a vested interest in you, after all."

"If you insist. I'm afraid my career is finished, either way."

"I'm sure you'll fall on your feet."

"I don't think so. Even if I avoid legal repercussions, this is going to wreck my reputation. It wasn't so hot to begin with, with my history. The clients who don't care about that... well, failing to keep my clients out of jail doesn't really make it easier to find a new gig."

"You should stay away from shady clients, anyway."

"The clean ones don't want to associate with me, Kimmie, especially after this fiasco."

"Well, maybe you need to get a partner. You know, someone with an immaculate reputation."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on. We're basically in the same line of business. Why not join forces? It would give us both new opportunities."

"I don't want your charity, Princess."

"It's not about charity, it's about having you in my life. I was going to suggest it regardless how things turned out."

"I'm not sure it's a good idea to get involved romantically and professionally at the same time."

"Yeah, things can go very wrong, but they can also go very right. Don't tell me you don't want to work together with me."

Given how often Shego had thought about it, she could hardly deny it. "I'm not going to live out of a suitcase. I'm going to have a nice apartment I can call my own, and we are going to have an actual office."

"Maybe we could, you know, get a place together?"

"Yeah, because that's not rushing things at all." She wasn't nearly ready for that, and Kim shouldn't be, either, but she couldn't deny the rush of affection she experienced at the suggestion. Kim really was serious about her.

"Come on, I'm sure you've heard the one about lesbians moving together after the second date."

"Neither of us is a lesbian, Kimmie."

"If we are together, people are going to think of us as lesbians. Bi erasure is a thing. When I'm dating a man, people are happy that I'm finally done with my experimentation and settled down. When I'm dating a woman, people congratulate me on finally coming to terms with my sexuality."

"That's messed up."

"Yeah, it is. But, anyway: partners?"

"We can give it a go." Shego cringed at her instinctive evasiveness. Why was it so hard to say that she liked the idea. "Have you thought of a name for our venture?"

"I have, too. KSS."

"Kiss?"

"Kay es es. Kim and Shego Security."

"We are not calling ourselves 'Kiss', Kimmie. Can you imagine the kinds of job offers we'd get?"

"Do you have a suggestion?"

"I don't see why your name should come first, anyway. Why not Shego and Kim Security?"

"SKS? I like the sound of that."

"On the second thought, no. That's not any better."

"Well, we can figure out the details later. You need to rest."

"I feel fine, Kimmie. I don't think it's even a concussion. There's no nausea, dizziness, or ringing ears. Just a headache."

"Your pupils are fine, too. You should still get checked out. You hit your head hard enough to black out for a second."

"I'm fine. You don't need to fuss." Even if it felt nice that she cared. Shego distracted herself by calling the elevator.

"Well, I'll keep an eye on you for today to make sure it's not anything more serious. I think I've seen enough concussions to be able to tell. Plus I have a neurosurgeon on speed dial."

"If you're going to keep an eye on me, then I guess you'll be accompanying me to my room." The prospect filled Shego with delicious anticipation of a kind she wouldn't have credited mere days before.

"Isn't that where you want me?"

"Yes. Yes it is." Shego's voice was a little hoarse.

They stepped into the elevator. As the doors closed on them, Shego screamed at herself to be honest about her feelings for once. With just the two of them here, there was no-one to overhear.

"By which I mean I want to make love to you." The look of eager joy in Kim's eyes gave rise to all sorts of pleasant sensations. She wanted to throw Kim against the wall and have her right then and there, but she could wait two minutes.

"I really want to make love to you, too." Kim's expression turned a little sad. "But not today. The remedy to concussion is cognitive and physical rest, so no discussing heavy topics and no exertion of any kind. Maybe tomorrow, if you are feeling better."

"Wait, are you seriously telling me you won't have sex with me because I have a headache? You know that's never been anything but an excuse, right?"

"Any brain injury, even a mild one, is a serious matter."

"No, no, no. I don't think you really heard me, Kimmie. I said I want to have hot lesbian sex with you."

"Just wait till tomorrow. Today, you're going to rest. Maybe we can watch something silly on television."

Shego inspected Kim's face for any sign of teasing, but all she found was tender concern. She groaned. It was going to be a long day.