Kigo

On Being Sheila Gonzalez by Nate Grey

Chapter 2: Secrets and Lies

Had she been a normal person, Shego probably would've gotten sick of her current schedule long ago. However, she was running on pure adrenaline and sheer strength of will one half of the time, and comet power the other half (which was in truth much easier).

Mornings probably would've been better spent in bed (alone), but Shego opted to eat breakfast with the family, and then drive (well, fly) Kim and her friends to school.

From there it was purely a judgment call: either go home and dive back into bed, or find some way to keep herself occupied until cheer squad practice. More often than not, Shego found herself stalking the halls of Middleton High as Sheila Gonzalez. At first, she simply told herself that she was only doing it to be near Kim. And for the first few days, she did walk back and forth past Kim's classes several times. Then she found herself checking on Bonnie's classes, then Tara's, or some other cheerleader's. It occurred to her that maybe this was a bad sign, but stopping never crossed her mind. That, and it was worth it to catch Bonnie drooling in her sleep the one time it did happen.

Practice usually ran anywhere from three to five hours, depending on the difficulty of the routine and how worn out the girls were from the last practice. All of the routines were difficult, though. Half of them were based on missions Kim would've preferred to forget, and the rest were from missions Shego would've preferred to forget. Those were mostly pre-Drakken days, but only Kim knew that.

After practice, Shego always went straight home, where Kim was sure to be unless there was a mission. Wade had figured out that missing practice was out of the question, so he'd even stopped calling during the day if it was work-related. Consequently, though, Kim almost always had a mission waiting for her in the evening. At least, it seemed that way to Shego. But they had both agreed that Shego would not be joining Kim on any missions. Kim's excuse was that Shego needed to spend time with the family when she wasn't around, and Shego's excuse was that a mission might cause her to be late for work.

Shego's security job at the Space Center started promptly at eleven, and she was never late. Even if meant she only had time to greet Kim with a quick kiss as they prepared to go to work and bed, respectively. The job wasn't difficult, after the first few robbery attempts. Word got out fast that Shego was guarding the Space Center, and most people just stopped trying. Shego honestly missed the exercise, but it was easy money and kept Mr. Possible off her back, so she didn't complain.

The shift ended at five in the morning, and Shego had nearly wrecked the hovercraft twice in a rush to get home and spend just over an hour in bed with Kim. It wasn't much, but it was worth it. Kim obviously agreed on some level, because while she was very much a bed hog, there was always plenty of room when Shego came in from work. And the instant Shego slipped into bed, Kim would roll to her and toss a possessive arm over Shego, snoring lightly all the while. It was an unattractive but endearing sight, and Shego welcomed it.

"Got any plans for Saturday?" Kim murmured sleepily as Shego laid down beside her.
Shego blinked, not having realized that Kim was awake. "No."

"You do now," Kim replied through a yawn. "Monique wants to do a shopping spree at the mall."

"What time are we going?"

"Not we. You and her. I'm helping Dad test some stuff at the Space Center."

"Oh." Shego considered that for a moment. "Okay."

At that, Kim rolled over to stare at her, although rather blearily. "That's it? No protests? No complaints?"

Shego shrugged. "Nope. It's just mall time with Monique." As if that needed clarification, she added, "We like Monique. And it's not like you're making me to spend the day with Stoppable." Her eyes narrowed. "Are you?"