DISCLAIMER: I don't own anythink. Everything belongs to the rightful owners.

A/N: straight talk - noun Plain, honest speaking (Yes, there might be a pun hiding in there somewhere. I'm aware.)

Anyway, I just couldn't let them go after the last part. And I don't know, if I'll add another part to this. I left the door open for it, though. Let me know what you think, will ya? ;)

Straight Talk

"This seat taken?" Ron was jolted out of his reverie, when Shego sat down opposite him. He confusedly looked around Bueno Nacho to see where Kim was. He might have seen Shego be friendly around Kim but that didn't mean he wasn't still a little afraid of her.

"Kimmie isn't here. She doesn't even know I'm here." Shego put an end to his confusion.

"Then what do you want here?" Ron asked flatly. It had been two months since his breakup with Kim and, though it still stung a bit, he had moved on and was okay with how it had turned out.

Shego raised her hand defensively. "I just want to talk to you. And no, Kim has nothing to do with it."

Ron looked surprised. "About what?"

"About your breakup with her." Ron drew a breath and Shego held up a hand to stop him. "Just… Just let me get this out."

"You know, when she told me, you broke up with her, I was ready to fry your butt. I didn't because she held me back. And also, because she told me, you saw us and then… you didn't make a scene or threw a tantrum or something else equally immature. And I can respect that. But what's been bugging me is that you didn't do that. I mean, she was your girlfriend at the time and then you see her cheating on you. With me, of all people. That must've been a blow. I know, I would've blown my ass to kingdom come and then hers. Why did you… Why didn't you?" Shego exhaled and looked at Ron pointedly.

Ron looked at the table and really thought about why he had done what he had done.

"I guess, I always knew on some level that Kim and I couldn't last forever. And when you were good, I could see that Kim was, how shall I put it, she was falling for you. You could give her things I never could. I was hoping that it had only to do with you being good and wanting to do stuff like that and Kim, well, Kim being Kim. But…" Ron sighed defeatedly.

Shego focused on the blond boy before her and studied him for a moment. He had really grown up since they had first met. Back then he had barely been an annoyance, Kim's sidekick, the buffoon. But here, now, Shego could recognize what Kim saw in him. For all his boyish behavior, he could be very insightful.

When Ron didn't continue, Shego asked, "But?"

"But then I saw you two together. You were leaning on Kim's window and Kim was inside. You said something and Kim laughed at it and let her head fall onto your shoulder." He could recall the moment his life had been turned on its head in absolute clarity. "And I thought that maybe you had her on some kind of mind control." Shego winced slightly and Ron hurried on. "But that didn't make sense, you hate mind control and would never do something like that to someone else."

Ron looked at Shego when Shego smirked at him, clearly wanting to say the opposite. "No, don't even try. You draw a line at taking someone's free will."

Shego acquiesced his point. "Be that as it may… Just because I made Kim laugh doesn't mean you leave her voluntarily."

"No. But then you laughed with her and put your hand on her head. And it wasn't your normal laugh. It was a relaxed laugh. Something I had never heard before from you. And you both looked so relaxed in each other's company. And I thought, hey…maybe they became some kind of friends after all. But then Kim pulled back and looked at you and then you were kissing and it was all kinds of mushy and you were not aggressive and I was confused and… You get it." Ron waved his hand about. He never thought he would sit across from Shego one day and explain to her why he had set Kim free to have a relationship with her.

Shego looked at him. It had indeed been an interesting morning that. She had come to Kim late at night and slipped into her bedroom. They laid on Kim's bed together and cuddled and talked about nothing in particular. They knew they had a reputation to uphold and Kim was with Ron and that was all adding to the complications. Though in the still of the night nothing of it mattered to both of them. And then they had fallen asleep and woken up in the morning tangled up in each other as always. It had been a bittersweet goodbye. Like every time before. Shego had had cracked a stupid joke and Kim had laughed and it had also cracked herself up, then Kim had buried her head in her shoulder, it was all very tender. The boy was right.

Shego grimaced. "It was mushy. Not to think what might have happened if someone else had seen us."

"True. But I had seen enough to know that Kim loved you and that, most shocking of all, you…" He looked pointedly at Shego. "…loved her back."

Shego sighed. "You're right. I do love her very much."

"I'll still kick your butt, if you break her heart, though." Ron warned with an iciness in his voice. Shego had never heard the boy get so cold-hearted.

Shego again held up her hands. "I have no intention to do that. And if I should, you'll have to take a number because I'll be whacking myself over the head first."

Ron burst out laughing.

"What's so funny, Stoppable?" Shego quirked a brow. Ron immediately stopped.

"You… you know my name?" He was incredulous.

"Of course, I know your name. I'm not Drakken, I do my homework. I checked up on you as soon as Kimmie became a constant thorn in Drakken's side. I wanted to know how to defeat her, after all." Shego smirked.

Ron creased his forehead. "Then…" He rephrased. "When Kim was such an annoyance to you, why didn't you defeat her? You can cut through steel with your bare hands. I imagine one well placed blow to a vulnerable area would've done the trick and incapacitated Kim for good." He glanced away for a moment. "If not killed her."

"I would never kill her. And believe me, I wanted to incapacitate her. At first."

"What changed?" Ron wanted to understand what his best friend saw in the woman before him. He accepted her choices, but he still didn't completely understand what Kim saw in Shego, in the Shego that wasn't pure of heart, no less.

Shego looked at Ron curiously. And she saw, he wanted to listen and understand. Kim still meant a great deal to him and he still meant a great deal to Kim, even when it wasn't romantic.

She splayed her hands on the tabletop. "Kim resisted. She matched me blow for blow. She wasn't even afraid when I used my plasma and could've done serious harm to her. Kim just smiled and upped her own game. I started to respect her. And really had to up my game, too. I pushed her and she pushed right back."

Ron smiled. "That's Kim for ya. When she wants something, she doesn't take no for an answer." Shego smiled with him for a moment.

"Anyway. After the Lil' Diablo incident, I had some time to think. I had seen what Kim was capable of if she were evil. She might've kicked me into that tower in the heat of the moment, but I can't imagine that when the adrenaline dissipated, she wasn't freaking out about it."

"She was beyond freaking out. Not at first. But we walked down to ground level and when she saw the remains of the tower, she almost broke down. I had to hold her back or she would've dug you out herself. I didn't think that would've been wise." Ron half-chuckled, half-sighed. "And when she saw that you were mostly alright and could walk yourself, she was so relieved." Ron let his gaze drift out the window. "That should've been a big hint." He whispered, not meeting Shego's gaze. "But… have you never talked with Kim about it?" He wondered aloud.

"Uh…" Shego looked slightly uncomfortable. "We…"

"You don't have to answer. I was just wondering." Ron let her off. He knew that some things were not easy to talk about. He tried to change the topic. "So, now that you and Kim are officially together. How did her parents take it?"

Shego suddenly shifted uneasily in her seat. Rubbing her neck self-consciously she mumbled. "They don't know yet."

Ron gaped at her.

"Trying to catch flies, Stoppable?" Shego's annoyed voice cut through Ron's stupor.

"They don't know? How? Why? I thought…" Ron shook his head to clear his mind. "I thought that Kim, at least, would tell her parents about you two."

"Kim, for all intents and purposes, is a chicken when it comes to that. She has told them you two broke up but not that she's seeing me now. And I can understand her on some level."

"You can?" Ron never took Shego for someone that would be so caring, let alone understanding. But maybe the old saying about love changing people was true. "I mean…"

"What do you think?" Shego flashed him a dangerous look. "She might say that she doesn't care who sees us together and though she might not give a crap about other peoples opinions, she cares about what her family thinks. They have a close bond; she doesn't want to lose that. And I don't want her to lose that either. She's doubly worried; firstly, because she as the picture-perfect all-American daughter is suddenly together with another woman and secondly, because-"

"-that woman's you, of all people." Ron finished. Shego only nodded.

They sat in silence for a while, when Shego spoke up again. "But she has told them she is seeing someone else now. And they have asked her to bring that someone. Tonight."

Ron knew that 'asked' essentially meant 'ordered'. "Well, uhm, good luck, I guess." He chuckled nervously.

"Thanks, buffoon." Ah, they were back to insults. That was slightly less scary. "I was thinking of asking you about pointers on how to handle Kimmie's family. I have limited experience with them, as you know, and I don't think they'll take it too well that Kim is dating a world-renowned criminal now."

Ron scrutinized Shego. She sat across the table with an air of nonchalance, but when you looked closer, you'd see that she was a bit unsettled. And she didn't wear her suit, Ron observed. The casual clothes she wore instead made her blend into her environment more. She looked as normal as she could get. And right now, Ron noticed as he thought again about what Shego had said, she was looking for advice on how she should deal with Kim's family. He crossed his forearms on the table and got a conspiratorial expression, leaning slightly forward.

Shego noticed and also leaned forwards.

"Well, they're Possibles. Anything is possible with them. You might be surprised how they'll handle it. Anyway, her father always threatened boys that took Kim on a date to strap them to a rocket and shoot them into a black hole if they hurt her feelings. And he fully meant it, too. Her mother would try to lighten the mood on that threat, but believe me, she wouldn't stop him when it came down to it. She would probably cut your brain out beforehand and put it in a jar to display in her office."

"They can't be that dangerous." Shego whispered not quite believing what the boy was saying.

"You better believe it. After all, how many parents would allow their 16-year-old daughter to jet around the world and fight supervillains on an almost daily basis? When you stay on their good side, though, you'll have no problems with them. Although…" Ron trailed off intentionally.

Shego narrowed her eyes digesting the information. "Although?"

"Watch out for her brother's. They're devious little geniuses." Ron leaned back with finality.

"I think I can handle them." Shego also leaned back. "I got four, after all."

"Hm, we'll see." Ron challenged. Shego only raised her eyebrow in response. "I'll still kick your butt, if you screw Kim over."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Mystic Monkey powers, remember?"

"Plasma powers, remember?" Shego echoed. They stared at each other for a while challengingly.

"Still… I just want to make sure you're serious about this. I still care about Kim a great deal and I don't want to see her get hurt." Ron changed gears.

Shego looked at him openly and sighed in defeat. "To be honest with you, I have never been more serious about anything in my life. I want to do this right. I can't change who I am, but I can try to give this my all and try to make Kim happy."

"And that's all I'll ask of you. To do what I couldn't." Ron shrugged when Shego looked at him incredulously. "I want to see Kim happy. I wanted to be the cause, but I wasn't."

"You know, you're very mature with that-" Shego's phone rang. She looked down to see who it was and started to beam.

"Kim?" Ron asked.

"Kim." Shego smiled at him and took the call. "Hey. What's up?"

Ron looked at Shego and her behavior when she talked to Kim. Her posture was relaxed and her eyes were in a soft expression. Ron saw in that interaction just how serious Shego was about her relationship with Kim.

He got up and brought his tray away to give Shego some room and privacy. When he returned he found her still in the booth. He had expected her to vanish. He sat down again.

"So, were does this leave us?" He questioned. He didn't want to fight with her anymore. He recognized that they would probably never be the best of friends but they would be friendly towards each other.

"Not friends, if that's what you mean." Shego spat.

"Not at all, not at all. We? Friends?" Ron guffawed shortly then sighed. "Well, here's a thought, maybe we're just interested parties that work together when necessary. Otherwise…"

"…we don't interact. I can get behind that. Who knew you could be so grown-up?" Shego finished.

"Must be my training." Shego only raised a brow to that. "After graduation I plan to go to Yamanuchi and learn more about my powers. College isn't something I want to do. And that is something where I might actually make a difference in the end."

"Monkey Master Stoppable. The world won't know what hit it." Shego smirked and got up. Looking at Ron she frowned. "I don't believe what I'm about to say. It was good talking to you. See you around, Stoppable." And she walked out of the restaurant.