Chapter 1

Shego opened a bleary eye, sleep heavy on her eyelids. She heaved out a yawn, stretching out her arms so her back arched against the curve of the sofa. Her leg muscles stretched, warm as the blood flowed back into her stiff calves.

As she became more aware of her position, she smacked her lips together, hating the taste in her mouth from napping. She rubbed her eyes with pale green fingers; the gunk that had formed, she flicked away. A magazine rested in the dip of her stomach, open with the cover facing up. The villainess breathed one more yawn, and brushed off the magazine with a flick of her hand so it landed on the floor.

Her head tilted back so she could stare at the wall behind her, entirely crafted from glass so she could see the sunset over the city. The sliding-glass wall led to a short balcony that overlooked the street below where cars and petty peasants bustled about. Some evenings, Shego would go outside with her lawn chair just to sit and watch the city settle in for the night. Drakken was almost always in his laboratory, or just being useless in general.

Speaking of the Doc. . . Shego glanced at a clock on an adjacent wall. She squinted at it until the lines and numbers solidified. She blinked a few times, rubbed her eyes, and looked at it one more time.

"It's already six?" she voiced, turning in the chair now to look at the city. The shadows were longer now, the sun nearly over the horizon in the far distance. She blinked against the orange glare.

Shego swung her legs over the chair, standing in one swift movement. She stretched her arms to the ceiling one more time, groaning softly. "Another day gone, and absolutely nothing accomplished," she grumbled, cracking the joints in her achy palms. She looked to the hallway that led to the doc's work area. Usually it was busy and loud, filled with sounds of chains whirring, tools buzzing and growling. Now, though, it was silent, which caused Shego to wonder if he was doing anything in the first place.

Her stomach growled at her, hungry. She ignored it. I'll talk to Drakken first, then eat after I make sure he's actually working on something. Knowing her boss, he was probably collapsed over the surface of a counter, sleeping away on top of a blueprint with a pen still held haphazardly in his hand. Ideally, he would be snoring.

Shego approached the door to the hall, her legs aching from laying in the same position for so long. She pulled at the edges of her tanktop so the brim rested right above her navel, showing off her stomach. Her shorts were crumpled, short, and soft; they rested at her upper thighs. She yawned at the door, and opened without knocking in one smooth movement.

She paused in the entryway, looking around in the darkened room. From what was there, she couldn't see anything else, except for the sharp glow of a lamp at a desk, and a man's back facing her.

There were no windows in the lair, letting in no light, and there were no clocks on the wall, either. She would easily lose track of time in here.

Shego's eyes lazily moved over to the figure standing at the counter. She tuned her ears; from his direction, she heard him mumbling to himself, detected the scraping of pencil over paper. He was moving his hands feverishly while he planned something. From what she could tell, he was totally oblivious to her standing there.

Shego cleared her throat. Drakken stayed immersed in his work; he paid her no heed. More strongly now, Shego cleared her throat again. "Hmm, hummf!" she said. "Hey, Doctor D!"

Drakken jumped where he stood. He lifted his head, turned his head and looked over at her. "Oh, Shego. What are you doing here?" He blinked at the sight of her against the light, and she could tell that his eyes had turned a little red. They were irritated at having to work so precisely over such a long span of time.

"Doctor D," Shego started, her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised. "What are you doing? Are you, what, actually working?" The sarcasm in her voice was heavy, and she relished the look he gave her. His lips twisted up in distaste, and he grumbled at her, turning away.

"I don't need any of that lip, Shego, but yes, I have been working this entire time. How many hours has it been?" He had bent back over the counter, picking up his pencil once more.

Again, she looked back to her watch. "Uhhhh, about 12 hours?"

His back straightened back up. He pivoted where he stood and stared at her openly. "Wait, 12 hours? What time is it?"

"'Bout six," she replied breezily. "I just took a nap, was wondering if we were going to eat dinner or not. Obviously," she lazily looked over him in the way she knew he hated, "you weren't thinking about that."

Drakken frowned at her again, irritated with both her and the fact she had caught him off of his guard, "Well, mmph, I don't see what the issue is when there's more important things at stake here."

Shego blinked her eyes once or twice. Her hands rested firmly on her hips, unmoving. "'More important things at stake'? What could be more important than dinner?" Her stomach was growling, but she knew from the light in his eyes that she would not be getting food for a while now.

Drakken's eyes lighted at her questions. "It's more than just some random scribbles, Shego!" he explained. He clasped his hands together, wringing them like the evil scientist he was. "They're important blueprints for my next evil scheme to take over the world! Or at least Middleton. Start out small, as they say!" There was a grin in his voice as he turned back to the valuable prints.

Feeling a little let out, and wanting to get in on the action, she stepped forward into the spanning darkness of the lair's work room. "Let me see," she said, feeling a bit like a child.

Protectively, Drakken shielded his arms over it, like a boy covering his coloring book. "No!" he snapped. "They're a surprise. You'll see. When this is done, taking over the world is going to be the easiest thing in the world!" His dark eyes gleamed. "Just go sit back Shego. Enjoy the peace and get ready to relax."

Relaxing did sound nice, or at least dinner did. Shego's shoulders deflated from their tension. "Fine. If you insist. But what are we going to have for dinner?"

Drakken adjusted the lamp so it shed more light onto the counter and the blueprints. "Oh, I don't know. Order some Chinese for yourself, or some pizza. Go out for all I care, just let me work. Geez, you're starting to sound like Possible's little blond sidekick. Bran Doppable or something."

Being compared to Kimmie's sidekick caused Shego to bristle in anger, and instinctively, her fists blazed into green plasma. The doc didn't notice, though, so she breathed and receded them back into her hands. She inhaled.

"You know what? I could use some relaxation. You're right. I think I will go out for dinner. There's that nice steak place downtown. Really good soup too. I think I'll go there."

Drakken didn't even bother to wave his hand in her direction. "Fine. Go ahead. See you in the morning. Get some 'you' time or whatever the kids are calling these days."

Shego scoffed at him, and she stormed back out of the room. She gathered her things, and changed quickly into a nice outfit. As she was walking out the door with her purse slung over one shoulder, she yelled to him as loud as she could. "Fine! But you're paying for every penny I spend!" She had managed to nab his credit card while he was immersed in his work. Of course, he had left the card inside his underwear drawer, like any child would.

Impatiently, she waited for some kind of reaction from Drakken, a holler, a huff of indignation at least. She wanted something to berate her, but she only received a still silence.

Shego scoffed, slung her purse higher onto her shoulder. As she opened the door to the lair, she finally heard him call breezily. "Okay! Have fun."

The villainness shivered with contained anger, and slammed the door on her way out.

Hey guys, this is Lion! Thank you for checking out my story! Even if you mis-clicked onto it, thanks for reading anyway! :D

I plan on this being a multi-chap story, but I won't be holding it to a schedule. I'm in college and it is absolutely vital that I pay attention to my studies above all else; thank you for your understanding and patience! My conscience will keep me uploading as often as I am allowed. Fortunately, I'm on Fall Break right now and will get a little extra time to write. :)

A bit shout-out thanks to my reviewers over in the Rain story I have uploaded; you guys are the ones that inspired and motivated me to upload this; so thanks! :)

Critique, comments, praises and whatever reviews you want are more than welcome; thank you for taking time to review. It really lets me know how you guys enjoy the story and if I have any problems in my writing. Thank you very much! Hope to see you soon! :)