A/N: Warnings: mild violence, drunkenness, depiction of suicide.

Also - this fic will be a total of 12 chapters, each with unique titles, and will be updated daily. Sometimes more frequently than that. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3: Shadows come and darken your heart

"Shego!" a familiar, gleeful voice sounded from behind her.

The young, green-skinned sixteen-year-old bombshell turned to see her best friend Donna dodging backpacks and jerseys as she ran toward her through the halls of the high school.

Of course, Donna was the real bombshell, Shego thought as she watched the heads of the boys turn. She had been since middle school. And even before that, in their last year of elementary school when Donna had...developed, boys and girls alike had started wanting her in their circles.

Shego was glad that amid all the chaos of her life, she had at least been able to go to the same school as her best friend.

"Shego, are you coming to the game tonight?" her exuberant friend asked when she finally reached her.

"Eh... I dunno..." she said with a forced half-smile, glancing away.

"Come on! We're debuting our new routine tonight!"

Shego wanted to roll her eyes, but she didn't. Who could know? If her life had been different, she might have wanted to be a cheerleader too.

"I'll try," Shego said, completing the smile.

"Hey! Donna!"

Shego looked away quickly to hide the grimace that immediately came over her face at the sound of her brother's voice.

"Hi Hego," Donna said with a giggle.

"Puh-lease..." Shego said under her breath.

Hego leaned against the lockers and leaned down over the two women. "I'm coming to the game tonight. I'll see you there?"

Donna giggled. "Of course, silly! We're debuting the new routine."

"Then I'll be in the front row, watching you," he said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Shego rolled her eyes, but neither noticed.

"You coming, Sis'?"

Shego shrugged noncommittally. "I guess so."

"Great!" Hego said, giving both girls side-hugs.

The trio walked through the halls of the school side by side, the crowds ahead parting for them. Shego wondered why Hego and Donna never seemed to notice.

"And, uh...if you're not doing anything after the game," Hego continued, looking slightly less-confident for the first time. "Maybe we could all go for ice cream?"

"That sounds fun," Donna said, her bright giggle giving way to a slight blush.

Shego rolled her eyes again, but inwardly she wasn't too unhappy. Donna could do a lot worse than her brother. Namely, any of the other guys in the high school. Which was why Shego had never had a boyfriend.

"Great!" Hego said, his jovial smile returning. "Then I'll see you tonight!"

Donna stopped and waved a shy goodbye as Hego and Shego exited through the double doors at the front of the high school.

"You ever gonna get the courage to ask her on a real date?" Shego asked with a smirk.

Hego dropped his arm from around her, blushing. "Well, this, uh...this is a real date. Isn't it?"

"Not with me along, it isn't," Shego said.

Hego looked a little worried then.

"Do you think she knows I like her?" he said quietly.

Shego laughed. "Hego, everyone knows you like her. There are bets going around on when you two will officially get together."

Hego blushed. "Oh."

"Hey, let me drive this time!" Shego said, running ahead of him when she caught sight of their red convertible in the parking lot.

"Eh..." Hego held the keys up, and then looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "You know Mego will be jealous."

"You know he only has a permit. Now gimme!" she said, lunging for the keys.

He slipped around her and into the driver's seat. "Maybe tonight, okay Sis'? I mean...what if you mess up, and GJ sees you? They might take the car back."

"Grr!" she growled, sliding into the passenger seat.

"Where is Mego, anyway?"

Shego looked around at the rest of the departing teenagers, avoiding eye contact wherever possible. "Over there," she said, spotting his purple hair next to the flagpole. He was chatting it up with what appeared to be two freshman girls. "Ugh, let's just go get him, he'll never leave that captive audience."

Hego chuckled and started the car.

Shego brushed her long hair with a slow, smooth rhythm and studied the motion in the mirror. If the light hit her hair just right, it had a green shimmer. But it really was still black. She wondered not for the first time why her hair hadn't changed color the way her brothers' hair had. And why only hers and Mego's skin had changed color. But all of their eyes had changed color.

She sighed, adjusting her headband and fluffing her bangs before leaning forward toward the mirror to study her makeup. After touching up her mascara she glanced over at the clock. It was 5:55pm. Hego had said they would leave at 6:00pm.

She stepped back from the mirror so she could see her skirt and smoothed it down. She couldn't believe it, but for once...it seemed like she would actually get to do something that normal teenagers do. Other than homework.

A brief knock at the door announced Hego's arrival. "Time to go, Sis'!" he called.

"Coming!" she said, grabbing her purse and hurrying to the door. Despite herself, a smile started to emerge on her features. It might actually be fun to watch Donna cheer, and Hego drool, and then be entertained by his attempts to say flirty things over ice cream.

That last thought caused her to chuckle as she ran down the stairs of their family's apartment building. Hego may have grown into a hunk—Global Justice's weight room having a lot to do with that—but he was still clueless when it came to girls.

She reached the car park and opened the passenger door of their car, only to find Mego sitting there looking giddy.

"Hey, Sis'!"

She blinked at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I invited those two frosh girls to the game tonight," he said, grinning.

She rolled her eyes as she slid into the back seat. "Yeah? So what happens if you actually like one of them?"

"Huh?" he said, turning around in the seat to look at her as Hego started the engine.

"What about the other girl? They're probably friends, right?"

"Uh..."

She chuckled. "You aren't going to get either of them. They'll pick each other before they pick a guy. And if they are willing to stab a friend in the back for a guy, then they're not worth it."

She noticed Hego was looking at her through the rearview mirror now too, curious.

"You've got a lot to learn about girls, Mego."

The purple skinned teen frowned deeply and slumped down in the seat with a harrumph. Shego shook her head with a grin.

Just then, a chorus of beeps in a catchy jingle sounded from all three of their wrist watches.

Hego gasped. "Trouble!"

"Awww, man!" Mego whined, sinking lower in the seat.

Shego didn't say a word, but her heart sank. She knew it had been too good to be true.

"Dr. Director, this is Team Go. How can we be of assistance?" Hego said into the wrist communicator.

A screen flashed on in the car's dash, and the face of Betty Director appeared on the small, static-covered box.

"A new threat has arrived in Go City," she said.

"Whatever it is, Team Go is ready for it!" Hego said.

Shego rolled her eyes.

"A new villain calling himself Aviarius is attacking downtown with a giant condor."

Hego gasped. "He could damage historic architecture, not mention putting civilians at risk of injury by falling guano."

That drew a chuckle out of Mego, but Shego was the one now slumping in her seat. She had actually been looking forward to the game, and ice cream afterward. Even if Hego was going to be fumbling over himself making passes at Donna the whole time.

"Hego...what if you guys handle this one on your own?" she said.

"What?" her brothers said in unison, turning to look at her in shock.

"Yeah. And I'll cover for you at the game, and...I'll see you there later when you're done?"

Mego frowned at her. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Yeah," Hego added. "Team Go fights as one!" he said, raising a fist triumphantly.

"Ugh," Shego said, burying her face in her hands.

Hego had turned the car around and pulled up next to the curb at the apartment complex. The twins, already dressed and masked, were bouncing under the street light waiting for him to stop.

"All right, hop in Wego!"

"Yay!" the twins squealed in excitement as they climbed into the back.

Shego buckled them into their booster seats, checking that the straps were extra secure. She knew better than to argue about five-year-olds fighting crime, since they had started when they were two. But since their last birthday Global Justice had trusted the twins to go on missions with their teenage siblings without chaperones.

Shego was still livid about it. But Hego and Mego never seemed to see the problem.

"Sis', they were practically born with their powers," Hego always said. "They know how to use them better than we do. They're perfectly safe!"

"Ready to suit up?" Hego called back to her, giving her an encouraging thumbs up.

She rolled her eyes and nodded. Hego pressed a control on the dash and the car transformed, laying all their seats down like something out of the Fearless Ferret. In less than a minute they wore skin-tight Power Scout knockoffs in matching patterns of black and their signature colors, with black domino masks. Except for Shego, who had refused to wear a mask. She said that since they were superheroes growing up in the public eye that masks were redundant, given their alien appearance.

"Team Go is ready for action!" Hego said as the car returned them to their proper upright seating.

"Oy," Shego said, slumping down as soon as her seat locked into place. So much for cheer routines and awkward ice cream dates.

The so-called Aviarius was standing on the edge of a balcony screaming something, and the condor was swooping down towards terrified civilians.

Team Go stood on the sidewalk looking up at him. Hego and Mego were frowning, faces set in determination. Shego looked bored, with a hand on her hip. And Wego were bouncing excitedly in front of her.

"We're missing Donna cheering for this?" Shego said, looking up at Hego in annoyance.

She got a lot of satisfaction out of the way he hesitated.

"Can we go get him, Hego? Can we?" the tiny twins begged in unison.

"Not yet," he said, kneeling with a grin and patting each of their heads. "First, we need a plan."

"Oy," Shego said. "Okay, here's what we'll do. Hego, you throw us up there. Mego, you get in that weirdo's face and once he's safely away from the edge, restrain him. I'll take down the bird."

"What do we do?" Wego asked her.

She looked down at their excited, chubby faces framed by curly red locks. She missed their hazel eyes though. She missed everyone's hazel eyes, including her own. But she couldn't say no to their smiles.

"Okay, you surround the guy so he can't escape while Mego distracts him."

"Yay!" the twins cried and began dancing around.

"Now wait," Mego said, "that's a dumb plan. I should take down the bird. I can just grow as big as a skyscraper and grab it."

Shego rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but I can't exactly go shooting that idiot. I might hurt him."

"Shego!" Hego exclaimed, trying and failing to cover the twins' ears. "Don't use the s-word!"

She frowned and crossed her arms. "What else do you want me to call it? I aim, I fire, things get destroyed."

"It's useful when we have to fight giant robots," Mego said with a smirk.

"That happened once," Hego said.

"Ugh!" Shego said, throwing up her hands. They were starting to draw a gawking crowd, as they always did, and if they didn't act soon people were going to start talking. And that was the last thing she needed. "Look, just do my plan. C'mon!" she said impatiently.

Hego blinked at her intensity, but opened his arms. Mego rolled his eyes and picked up the twins. And a moment later the four younger siblings were launched upward, surrounded by a blue aura. Shego watched as Mego adjusted his angle until he was aimed at the tall man on the balcony. She could see now that he was dressed in the guise of a bird, and a lousy guise at that.

The strange man noticed them then, and his eyes widened as Mego landed in front of him and smoothly set the twins down, not missing a beat as he ran forward and shrank down until he was nearly invisible.

"What!?" the bird-man cried, looking around for the purple man who had vanished. It was his undoing as instantly Wego multiplied and surrounded him, the copies beginning to climb him with wild giggles.

"Over here, bird-brain!" Mego chirped, tickling his ear.

"Wha-? Where!?" Aviarius cried, scrabbling at the side of his head.

Shego couldn't help but chuckle. They were good at what they did.

She turned her attention to the condor as it glided beneath her and spread her arms and legs to slow her fall. She timed it perfectly so she landed on its back and gripped tightly to its feathers. The bird reacted to her presence by pulling up out of the glide sharply, jarring her. But she grit her teeth and held on as the bird let out a cry of distress.

From where she was, nearly ten stories up, the crowd on the streets below were indistinguishable from one another—just blank faces—but the cheers they sent up as Team Go fought for them were exhilarating. She had to admit, she did enjoy the worship.

She ignited her glow where she gripped the bird's feathers and in a few moments, it was aflame. Cruel, she knew Hego would say, but it was efficient. The bird started to fall as it panicked, and Shego grinned as she held on.

"Shego!" he heard the expected complaint come up at her from below. She looked past the feathers and saw her blue-haired brother frowning in disapproval. He leapt up, his super strength carrying him far higher than a normal human could jump, and caught the falling condor. He held it with one hand and began beating out the flames with the other. "Shego, this is a living thing! You can't just set it on fire!"

"Why not? It stopped it," she said with a smirk. He growled in frustration and she laughed. The best part about what they did was the chance to annoy her brothers.

He landed effortlessly on on his feet, the condor still struggling in panic. Shego reached up and focused her glow over the bird's head. In an instant, it passed out from the pressure.

"Ah," Hego grunted as he set the bird down. "Thanks."

"I just want to get back to school," she said, studying her nails. They hadn't been damaged thankfully.

"How are Mego and Wego doing?" he asked, looking up to the balcony.

Three waving hands, two red and one purple, signaled the victory of their younger brothers.

"They got the guy. Can we give him to the cops and go already?"

"Well, we also have to make sure this bird gets safely to Animal Control. Aren't condors endangered?"

"Ugh!" Shego threw up her hands. "Global Justice can do all that! I want to do normal teenage stuff for once. Please Hego?"

Her brother's face twisted in indecision, and she sidled up to him.

"Donna will be disappointed if you're not there," she said with a smirk.

Hego blushed. "Ah, well. Okay. As soon as we get Wego back home."

Shego's face bloomed into an actual smile. And she waved at the crowds this time when they finally climbed back into their car, meeting their eyes.

Shego happily played with the twins throughout the drive, only half-listening as Hego debriefed with Dr. Betty Director.

"Yes, Animal Control is there now," she was saying. "I still don't understand though why you didn't wait for them."

"Well," Hego said, blushing, "there's a basketball game tonight. And there's this girl on the cheer squad..."

"Oh, I see," Betty said with a knowing smile. "But Hego, what if the bird had gotten loose? What if the criminal had escaped? As heroes you always have to think of the greater good first. You have a responsibility that is greater than yourself."

Shego glanced up and noticed her brother's smile faltering. She took off her seat belt and leaned forward so Dr. Director could see her face on the screen.

"We'll make it up with extra training this weekend, 'kay?" she said with fake sweetness.

"Yes, you will," Betty said. Shego's grin fell away. "And we'll be going over the new security measures of Go Tower."

Mego sat forward, and Hego's face brightened again. "It's finished?"

"Yes," Betty smiled. "In the middle of Go Lake, Go Tower will be a symbol of good for the entire city. You five are really making a difference."

"Yes!" Mego said, giving a fist pump.

"And we'll show you the vehicle launch bay, and your new living quarters."

"Wait, wait, hold up one sec—living quarters?" Shego asked.

"Yes," Betty said, "as superheroes you must reside in your own heroic hideout."

"Sure, Sis'," Hego said, "it's just like the Fearless Ferret."

Shego grit her teeth and leaned toward his ear. "That's a TV show, Hego," she said under her breath.

"What about our parents?" Mego asked.

"We've already explained it to them," Betty said, "and they understand that the older you get, the more responsibilities you'll have. But you can still visit them on your free time. Now get sleep, you have school tomorrow."

The screen fizzled out and went dark at the same moment Hego parked the car. He turned off the ignition and they all blinked forward into the darkness.

"Is she serious? Visit them?" Shego said.

"Well...it does make sense. We have a public image to maintain, after all," Hego reasoned.

Shego looked out the window at an illuminated billboard of the five of them, striking a heroic pose, their expressions daring evil to approach Go City. Of course, the phone number on the billboard just went to Global Justice. And somewhere in every phone call was a paycheck to the secret organization, she knew. Of course, all of their needs were paid for too. But she and her brothers never saw any of the money, and neither did her parents based on the way they still slaved at the same jobs five days a week that they had had before the comet struck.

"I'm looking forward to that vehicle launch bay she mentioned," Mego said, "maybe I'll be allowed to drive one of their super vehicles without a license."

"But, even the twins?" Shego said, ignoring her purple brother. "They're only five! She can't mean that they'll leave Mom and Dad to live in some...tower in the middle of the lake!"

"Leave Mom and Dad?" the young twins piped up anxiously.

"Well..." Hego said, now starting to look worried.

"Mom and Dad couldn't have agreed to this," Shego said, frowning. "Something's not right."

Mego looked between Shego and his younger brothers, and soon his face mirrored their worried expressions. "Yeah...Shego's right, Bro'. And...I don't really want to leave Mom and Dad. We never see them as it is!"

"Right. I mean, 'see them on our free time'? We get called away from our 'free time' practically every day!" Shego said, throwing her hands up.

"All right, all right," Hego said. "First we'll talk to Mom and Dad, and then all of us will tell Dr. Director it's too much. At least for the twins."

Shego looked at the two red-haired, red-eyed boys who were watching and listening to their older siblings in confusion.

"It's okay Alex. Don't worry Dylan," she whispered to them as she undid the buckles of their booster seats. She had to be quiet or Hego would get on her case for using their real names. But everyone had started calling them by only their aliases so young, she was concerned they would forget that the way the world saw them wasn't their true identity. "We're a family first," she said, leading them out of the car.

They trudged up the stairs of the apartment building—still in costume, but the neighbors were long used to it—until they reached their room on the fourth floor.

"Mom? Dad?" Hego said upon entering, taking off his domino mask.

There was no response from either parent, and Shego frowned as the twins immediately set to playing with their toys, unconcerned with the costumes and masks.

"Mom? We have to talk to you about GJ's plans for the tower," she called, peeling off her gloves.

The light from their parents' room came on, and their dad staggered through the door.

"Dad?" she said, eyes wide. His eyes were glassy, his clothing was unkempt, and he smelled of alcohol.

"Dad?" Hego said, blinking in disbelief. "Are you...are you drunk?"

Their dad looked at the three of them standing there in turn, then at the twins, and then wordlessly stumbled past them and out the front door.

"Dad!" Hego called, following after their father.

Shego watched them go and then headed into their parents' room.

"Mom? Why is Dad—"

She stopped short and choked on her words. And then she screamed.

"What?" Mego called, running into the room and bumping into her. His eyes went wide.

Before them their mother was hanging by the neck from the ceiling fan, dead by her own hand.