While the look on Ron's face was surprisingly thoughtful, Kim decided that the drive home had been too quiet for too long. "Naco for your thoughts?"

"I guess... I'm disappointed. I mean, it was great, just..."

"Anticlimactic?" Ron did not respond, so Kim tried to reassure him. "I thought you did good for your first time. And we've got plenty of time to practice. The more we learn about each other - in that way - the better it will get."

The blond was silent for a long moment before asking, "That wasn't your first time, was it?"

Oops, Kim thought. Well... no time like the present. "The first time I had sex with someone else... no." Kim tried to guage his reaction before continuing, "The first time I had sex with a guy... yes."

"What's that supposed to... what? Wait... you mean... really?"

"Yeah."

"Uh... wow." Another silent moment, followed by another question. "You sure kept it on the down-low. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Honestly? I didn't want you to freak out about it, didn't want to risk losing my best friend..."

"KP, that'll never happen. I've always had your back and that's never going to change. It's just... really?"

"Yes, Ron, really."

"Well, I can't say I have a problem with it. I should probably say sorry in advance for all the threesome hints I'll probably drop from now on, though. So, who was it? Anyone I know?"

That was surprisingly painless. Kim suspected it hadn't really sunk in yet. "...The answer to that is why I thought you would freak out."

"Tara?"

"No."

"Yori?"

"I hardly know her!"

"Not Bonnie!"

"No," Kim assured him, though she didn't sound nearly as horrified by the concept as he did, "She's... older. Out of high school."

"Amilia?"

Kim glanced sideways at the blond. "Why are you listing all the girls you like like?"

"I don't know, I'm just-"

"Ah-ha! You do think Bonnie's a hottie!"

"Aah! No!" The silent treatment from the driver's side didn't take long to break him down. "Well... kinda, physically, yeah... I mean, if there's one sure way to stop her talking, it's-"

"Do you think my mom is hot?" the redhead interrupted.

Warning, Ron Stoppable, warning! "Uh... is that a trick question?"

"I'm just curious to know if the part of you I had inside me half an hour ago has ever been played with while you were thinking about my mother!"

"Okay, fine, yes! I'm a hormonal teenage boy! Alright? Can we move on now? Please?"

Kim didn't let up just yet. "Did you ever imagine me with another girl?"

"I'm not answering that."

"Cheerleader orgy, huh?"

Ron stared, horrified, until his mouth could work again. "Ugh! How?"

The teen hero smirked. "I guess I know you too well for your own good."

"...Well, if it's any consolation, you were always the center of attention," Ron admitted on an upbeat (yet worried) note.

Kim couldn't hold it in anymore and started giggling. "I'm just messing with you, Ron. I'm not angry."

The relief in his voice was palpable. "You're not? Okay then..."

"So the thought of me being with another woman isn't new to you."

"Well, I dunno. Fantasies are one thing, but I never thought you would actually... what exactly have you done?"

"What haven't I done?"

"...Huh."

"What?"

"I just thought... this..." Ron frowned, took a breath and started again. "I thought sex would be something we'd learn together, KP. Now it's just another way you're out of my league."

"Ron, doing it with a guy is completely different."

"Not all of it. And you still haven't told me who she is."

Kim took a deep, calming breath. This was it.

"You remember how I said Miss Go is like a big sister?"

"Yeah."

"Shego definitely isn't."

"Well of course not, she's..." Another of those revelatory blinks. "Shego."

"Yeah."

"You. And Shego. Together." Ron pointed the tips of his forefingers together to illustrate. "With... with the sexing."

"Uh-huh."

"...Stop the car. Suddenly I really need to pee."

Kim pulled the sloth over and watched her boyfriend step out. "Don't go too far!" she called, suddenly worried he'd walk into the trees and just keep on going until the shock eventually wore off... or he hit the coast, whichever came first.

Ron did return in just a few minutes, with a thoroughly confused expression on his face as they set off again. "How..." He scratched his head. "When..." Stalling again, he raised his hands in resignation and finally let off a frustrated, "Why?"

Be completely honest, Kim told herself. "I'll start with when. Remember when DNAmy unleashed a dinosaur on Middleton? The thing with the donuts. After that, Shego showed up in my bedroom. She hadn't seen me since Halloween and she... missed me."

"Missed you? What was there to miss, the punching and kicking?"

"Actually, yeah. That's how it started. Every time we crossed paths since then, she'd drop in a day or two later and we'd talk about the fight." Kim glanced over and saw her boyfriend's expression remained perplexed. "She likes fighting me, Ron. Since she joined Drakken, I'm the only one that's challenged her. We both take the martial arts seriously; we may be on opposite sides, but we've earned each other's respect. And frankly, I usually enjoy the fights too."

"Okay... I get that. I can understand that kind of... relationship? It feels good to do well against... a capable opponent." Ron thought about it a moment more. "Actually, thinking back, I guess there was some enthusiasm between you two. But how did that turn into... what it turned into?"

"It wasn't easy, or expected," the redhead admitted. "It didn't take long before we had a fight during one of her visits, but it actually cleared the air between us. She even admitted fighting me had become the favourite part of her job. Then there was teasing, then flirting. Remember that Christmas with Drakken and Shego?"

"And Snowman Hank," Ron felt compelled to add with a smile.

"I knew that eggnog was funky. I mean, it was a garbage pod..." Suddenly Kim heard Shego's voice say, Digressing! and got back on track. "But the following new year's eve, she kissed me at midnight... and I liked it enough to kiss her back. Things progressed from there."

"So... it was just sex?"

"At first. It got pretty serious."

"Do you love her?"

The question sounded too awkwierd to answer directly. "Things changed, after the little diablos. I thought she'd been a part of it from the beginning, which is why I was so rough with her at the end."

"I remember. I'd never seen you so badass before."

Kim winced. "It's not a moment I'm proud of, Ron. I thought she'd used our relationship to set me up, but she hadn't known a thing until an hour before we got there. She'd even made it easy for us to escape because she wanted a rematch, but I went overboard. I can't say we were ever really dating, but that's when we broke up."

The boy slapped a palm to his forehead. "Oh, man, I have the worst timing!"

"Huh?"

"I'm the rebound, aren't I?"

"No, Ron..." Kim reached over and laid a hand on his arm for a moment. "I'd been thinking about you differently since the moodulators, too. I was just worried about what would happen if... it went wrong. You've always been my BFF, and I didn't want to risk that... until I saw how much Yori liked you."

"Ah-ha! You were jealing!"

Kim blanched. "Monique filled you in on that word, didn't she."

"I thought you freaked over Bonnie kissin' me cuz it was Bonnie, but now... a-booyah!" The blond did a little hula dance, as much as one could while sitting and wearing a seatbelt.

"Ron..."

"Okay, I'm done. We're even now." Ron calmed down. "Wow. You and Shego. Uh... how was it? If I can..."

Kim have him a withering look, but answered anyway. "For someone who usually sleeps with hunky guys she picks up on beaches during vacation... surprisingly talented."

"I guess I can't blame you, really. I mean, she is hot. And if anyone can handle her level of scary, it's you."

Kim said nothing for a long moment, and spoke quietly when she did. "She thought we were doomed from the start, but she went with it anyway. We kept it a secret, seperate from the rest of our lives. She was okay with me dating as long as I was okay with her finding some beefy stud to abuse on her vacations, because we both knew we loved each other. But now... I know she'd never share me with you, because... well, you're not just some Josh or Erik."

Ron knew a heartfelt admission when he heard it. "Does that mean you would have told me when we started dating, if you two were still together?"

"Yeah."

"That's... kinda cool."

He sounded a little unsure, but Kim pressed on. "I love both of you. Differently, because you're both different. For the longest time I hoped I could win her back and keep both of you... I guess that's ferociously wierd, huh?"

"I dunno. We're not kids anymore. There's no telling what any random person walking down the street might be capable of..." Ron trailed off.

"You're thinking about the end of the battle, aren't you?" The redhead couldn't blame him for the tangent.

"They were going to mount you on a wall like a trophy. I did the right thing. What worries me is... that it was so easy. I guess we've both been through that moment of hate, huh?" Ron watched his girlfriend nod before continuing. "I've been thinking... I should go back to Yamanouchi when you go to college. It's not like I've got anything better to do, and, well... I think there's stuff I need to learn."

"For how long?"

"I dunno. But I'll come back for every holiday. I'm the monkey master, it's not like they can stop me."

"So... what happens to us?"

Ron thought about it, adding tonight's revelations to what he'd already thought a lot about. "You know I don't want us to break up. But... this thing you have with Shego? Maybe... maybe the world would be better off if I let you go."

"The world has nothing to do with it, Ron. This is about us."

"Kim, two aliens in one spaceship conquered the whole world in minutes. What if it's a whole fleet next time?"

"Then we'll deal. We always do."

The blond shrugged, unable to deny her statement. "Then I guess what I should ask is... do you want to stay with me if it means you can't be with her?"

"Shego's a free woman now. She still has stuff to deal with, but it'll be okay for us to be friends, now."

"So you get one friend and one special friend, either way..."

The teen hero's heart jumped. "You mean that?"

"Oh, it'll hurt if you choose her over me, can't deny that. Time apart would help us both deal. It might not be the same, but I'd still be your BFF. The question is, which way do you want it?"

Kim hesitated. "I've already hurt her. I don't want to hurt you too."

"That doesn't really answer the question, though, does it," Ron pointed out.

The rest of the drive back to Middleton was mostly silent.

Shego stared at the spot where the Possible home used to be. There were still a few bits of wall standing, but otherwise...

Familiar footsteps approached from the left and Kim's voice said, "One of those alien war machines landed right on it."

Shego glanced at the girl. "Where'd you come from?"

"The Stoppables live just down the road. They're letting us stay until we sort something out. Thanks for saving dad and Ron, by the way."

The (former?) villainess turned her eyes back to the ruined house without comment. "Was the battle suit in there?"

"...No. Wade has it. I wanted him to check it over and... wash the funk out after cousin Larry used it."

"Is it ready?"

"Uh... I dunno."

"So call him and ask."

Kim did so, and the battle suit was indeed ready. The girls drove to another point in the suburbs. Wade was waiting by the curb, case in hand, glancing occasionally at Shego with a worried look. The green girl took the wheel of the Sloth while Kim changed in the back seat, who observed they were heading into the city.

Eventually they reached a street blocked off by collapsed buildings. Shego parked the car and got out, waiting for Kim to do the same before tossing her the keys. "We go on foot from here."

"Where are we going?"

Shego pointed over the rubble. "That way. Consider it a warm up exercise. Think ya can keep up?"

The superpowered girl didn't wait for a response, and Kim wasn't about to ignore such a challenge. She managed to maintain a short distance behind Shego as they jumped broken buildings in a single bound, heading into the center of what looked like the most devestated spot of the tri-city area. When they came to a stop, the redhead watched her companion look around, nodding occasionally.

"Shego, what are we doing here?"

The green girl waved both hands at their surroundings. "Whaddaya see, Kimmie?"

"Rubble?"

"As far as the eye can see. Doesn't matter how big the fight gets, how much damage we do, because everything's already smashed and there's nobody around for miles."

Suddenly it all made sense. "So... this is it."

"Yep. No evil plots, no distractions, no boyfriend issues or delusions of betrayal. Just you and me going at it, no holds barred, until one of us doesn't get back up... unconscious or dead, however it turns out. Point is, we keep at it until one of us is beaten." Shego spread her stance and raised her clawed gloves to an aggressive position.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Kim said.

"Do you really want it any other way? Don't you want to see how this turns out? To get this done, once and for all?"

And suddenly, all the emotional turmoil Kim had been experiencing over the past few weeks vanished and was replaced by a decade of training. Exercises, martial arts, cheerleading... she'd soaked it all in like a sponge. There was nothing 'the girl who could do anything' could do better, no better way to express everything she was.

No one else she needed to express it to.

Kim smiled and took her stance.

Shego grinned and ignited her glow.

"Okay, Kimmie. Let's dance."

The End

This kigo will return in

AFTER BOUTS