Shego gasped, jumping up as she awoke from her nightmare. Cold sweat dripped down her face, large emerald eyes widened with fear.
"Useless ornament. No, accessory. You're nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing compared to the greatness he is. The Great Blue."
Warmonger's voice echoed in her head. Shego groaned, falling back on the sweaty pillow, trying to force away the sound of that idiot's voice.
"Stupid dream," she muttered, rubbing her face into the pillow, cringing in annoyance when she felt its discomfort against her face.
Her heart filled with dread as she lifted herself from the bed, knowing there would be no chance of her getting any more sleep for the rest of the night, not after that nightmare.
The woman slid clumsily down the stairs, her hands grappling for a hold on the handrail. At last she made it down, moseying to the kitchen. With half-awake eyes she reached in, pulling out a carton of milk. Shaking it gently, she looked into it.
Empty.
Her eyes blazed. Ticked off by this small thing sent her hands in a flash of plasma rage. In a fit she threw it across the room into the trashcan, a strange green fire growing from it.
Shego glared at it, partially blaming the milk for her woes. Seriously Drakken if the carton is empty, don't put it back in the fridge.
Sliding down into a chair at the kitchen table, Shego placed her head in her arms, her shoulders weighed down by the exhaustion which drove into her. She didn't know how much longer she could take this. A month passed since that Warmonger came here, and the sidekick couldn't shake off the alien's presence.
"Will I ever gt a good night's sleep?" she muttered bitterly, rubbing her eyes with two small fingers.
"Shego?"
The woman looked up, eyes widening in fear as she gazed at Drakken. A quick blush rose across her face, seeing her boss in just his dark blue boxers. Looking away quickly, she adjusted her eyes on the swirls of the wooden table. She partially heard his question, "You okay?"
"Can't sleep," she muttered, flipping her hair in discomfort.
"Yeah, me too," he answered almost brokenly. He made his way to the fridge, looking crestfallen as he discovered the lack of milk.
"We're out," she informed him. Her back arched down as she slouched, her arm stretching out over the table for her to examine her green tinted fingernails.
Dr. Drakken sunk down in the chair across from her, looking upset about the milk. He leaned back in his chair, eyes sunken. Shego took a quick moment to look to him, trying not to notice his broad blue chest, spattered with plenty of scrapes and purple-black bruises. Several scars colored his arms, chest and back, not to mention the one below his eye.
He said something she didn't comprehend. Blinking, she asked, "Come again?"
Drakken sighed, "Did you have a bad dream?"
Shego blinked, unwilling to share her experience, "Maybe," she muttered protectively.
Drakken sighed, leaning back in his chair more so his head rested on the frame. "Me too," he answered, knowing her code.
Combing a hand through her long hair, Shego asked awkwardly, "Do you um, do you . . . want to talk about it?"
For a brief moment he glanced to her, considering. "I-" he started, still unsure. "It's just that. . ." Again he trailed off, debating on his trust in her. When he risked another glance to her, he decided his loyalty, however it came out in a way she didn't expect. "Have you ever had a boyfriend?"
The question caught her off guard. Shego sat straight up, eyes opened in a strange shock. Well of course she had boyfriends before, in her past, but why did he need to know? Especially him?!
Judging her facial expression, he backed down. "No, sorry, that's probably none of my business." He slouched down in a way she did earlier. "It's just. . ." he started, biting his bottom lip in a strange fear. "In my dream, there was this girl I liked. She was hanging out with some fake," he risked another glance at her to make sure she was listening. Her eyes remaining on him, he continued, "I mean this guy was a complete drone; it was obvious. No, really like he physically was a drone, but she totally liked him." Drakken looked to her with wide puppy eyes. "I tried warning her about him, but it was too late. He took her away; then I never saw her again."
Tears welling to his confession, Drakken pressed his face into the table, vision blurring. He hid the smirk when he heard Shego's reaction, "Well that sucks. Maybe she was a cyborg."
Drakken chuckled without humor.
"What was the point of the boyfriend question?" Shego asked blatantly, too curious for formalities.
Moving his chin onto the hard table, he carefully responded, "Back in high school there was this girl and she left me for some jock. I," he looked away in embarrassment, "I was scared you would leave me for some other guy, like she did. Halfway through the dream my old crush turned into you. When I woke up, I thought you were gone."
He looked to her now with huge puppy eyes, tears watering his vision. Shego blinked, holding back the scream in her head as she answered nonchalantly, "Long as the paycheck is coming in I'm not going anywhere."
Cold as her words were, Drakken took glee in them, "Really? You mean it?"
"Long as my wallet is happy, so am I," she answered with a nod of her head. She crossed her arms over her chest, giving a half smile.
"Perfect, Shego! I knew you'd come through!" he exclaimed happily. He shot straight up in his chair, eyes brightened. Shego met his with a half-amused smirk, small bags beginning to form under her eyes. She yawned, interrupted as she heard her boss speak again, his tone gentle, "You know, Shego, you're really important to me."
She paused, looking to him strangely as he continued, "Really. You're, you're really . . . valuable. Not like an object but as, as a friend. I'd probably still be in jail or dead if it weren't for you here." His eyes shined with gratitude, "I need you here," he murmured.
Reacting instantly, Shego stood up, striding away from him, slamming the door to her room. She collapsed onto her bed, only praying he didn't see the tears that welled in her eyes upon hearing his beautiful words.
(**)
A loud knock on her door. "She-go! Shego! Please open the door! Ple-ase! Is it what I said last night? I- I didn't mean to make you mad! I- I just was trying to tell you how happy I am you stay here with me as my sidekick! Please come out!"
Shego pulled the large pillow over her head, eyes pinched together, trying to drown out Drakken's words.
Morning light spilled in through her open window. She growled angrily as he continued to pound her door. "Shego please! Please talk to me!"
The woman groaned. Pulling the pillow off her head, she snapped out, "I'm trying to sleep!"
"We both know you're not sleeping please let me in!"
Her hand blazing with neon plasma, she hurtled it at the door, creating a smudged black mark. "Get lost! I don't want you around!"
"Please! I just want to talk! I'll leave you alone if you do!"
Shego chose not to answer.
After a while, he left. She slept most of the day, wishing she could just disappear.
(**)
Midnight rolled around. The girl snuck from her room, tiptoeing down to the bathroom. When she exit, she made sure to walk extra carefully, not to make a sound.
She slid back into her room, sighing with relief as she closed the door behind her.
"Shego."
She jumped, giving off a little gasp of surprise as she stared at her boss, who watched her from the shadows, his dark eyes glinting in the moonlight. He watched her painfully as she growled at him, her hands blazing green. "What are you doing here! I told you to get out!"
"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong!" he protested, taking a step towards her, then stopping as her hands grew brighter. "You didn't come out of your room all day! I'm worried about you!" His eyes plead for forgiveness, "If it's something I said, I'm sorry! Just please forgive me, please?"
Shego glared, her head blazing with fury, yet her heart chided her to calm down. If she confessed to him, he would understand.
Would he?
Drakken stood as nothing more than her boss, the one who paid her. She didn't see him as a friend on any sort of status. The only meter she placed him on was the professional one. He wouldn't be the one she would confide in or gossip with, even if she practically spent her every waking moment with him.
During her alone thought moment, the woman didn't notice him approach so he only stood a couple feet away. Boldly, he took hold of her hand, the plasma instantly dying down at his touch.
She didn't want to hurt him.
"I want to be there for you in any way I can," he murmured softly, eyes searching.
Shego looked to him, hard eyes melting into puddles of emerald water.
"It's just, last night, your words they. . . they meant a lot to me," she confided in bitterly, shame flushing her features.
"They did?" he sounded pleased with himself, like he accomplished something, which, in a way, he did.
"Yeah it's just that. . ." she sighed, sitting down on the bed. He sat next to her, eyes scouring hers with question. Shego pulled one leg up onto the bed with her so her knee pressed against her chest. She blinked, frowning in thought as she pulled up ways to speak her words. "You see, when I was in high school, I actually was pretty shy, but for a guy, I guess I was really attractive."
Drakken didn't need to remind her of how attractive she still was.
Shego pulled some hair back behind her ear. "Then this guy asked me out. I said yes, obviously. No one paid any attention to me, but it felt so good that he did, you know? I spent a lot of time with him. He would talk with me, make me feel better about myself. I felt like my confidence was growing. Everything was getting better. People were starting to know me for me."
Drakken stared, lost in this world of Shego being a high school student. His heart sunk as she went on more unenthusiastically. "One night at a school dance I asked what made him want to keep me around. Yeah I knew I was hot, but I didn't have a personality that would be anything near attractive to a guy like him." Her frown deepened, turning into a malicious glare, "He said he kept me around for show so I could show him off. I was nothing more than an ornament, an accessory. Me being hot only added to the attention he got since he had such an attractive girlfriend."
Inside his chest, Drakken felt a raging fire flare up in protection for his sidekick. Shego continued on, "So I told him I was done with him. He freaked out, told me I was trash, that I was useless, that no guy would ever want me than because I was hot. He slapped me, and I ran."
She looked down, her finger curling in a lock of her green tinted hair. "Not long after my big breakup, the meteorite hit my family and we became super-freaks. I became the outcast even more. No one so much as looked at me, afraid they would get 'freak germs'. I was dubbed the pariah of my school."
Shego cast her eyes to the floor, shame coloring her face as her weakness hung out in the open. Continuing on carefully, she finished, "So when you told me that I had value to you, that I wasn't just some kind of accessory, it meant a lot to me, and I guess it struck a nerve. Sorry for freaking on you."
Drakken didn't answer. He only shifted a little closer to her, arm moving so it stabilized behind her back as he leaned in. "Shego," he whispered kindly, right next to her ear.
When she turned, it was only halfway. Originally, she intended for it to be a glance, but something compelled her to turn her head. She did, surprised to be met with Dr. Drakken's lips pressing on hers.
She stiffened up, eyes widening. A little freaked out, she began to move back, then stopped. His kiss, it held emotions. Understanding, sympathy, warmth. He cared for her. He wanted her to be happy.
Before she could choose whether or not to react to him, he broke from her, releasing the kiss. His face turned a deep plum violet, giving her a gentle smile of encouragement. Careful, he reached a pale blue hand to graze one side of her face. "You're not worthless. You're not trash. You never will be, and I know you never have been."
Tears began to unwillingly flow from Shego's eyes. Her face scrunched up as she desperately tried to hold back the lump of emotions that welled in her throat. Her eyes pinched shut, pleading with herself to not cry.
She did. The tears kept filing down. One by one. Ten by ten. Maybe even hundred by hundred. All she knew is it felt like forever until her eyes finally worn dry.
Reaching up one arm, she wrapped it close around his neck, pressing her face to his skin. "Thank you," she whispered uncharacteristically. "It, it means a lot to me for you to say that."
She could rest now.
He gave her a brief hug back, staring as she backed up for the slightest of moments. Moving her hands up to his face, she kissed him back.
Her lips were still wet from her tears, but they contained so much emotion for him. Drakken pulled her close, kissing her back with much enthusiasm.
"Oh no," he said in between breaths as her hands began to twine in his hair. He breathed into her, heart accelerating. "You are definitely not useless."
She bit his bottom lip playfully, growling at him, "Dirty pig, just shut up and kiss me."