A/n: Sorry for the delay in posting this. Life is busy. D:

Droosha was starting to feel that tonight's dinner may have been a lost cause.

Guy stared moodily at his plate, poking his food around and avoiding eye contact with everyone. Kelly kept trying to get his attention but he was ignoring her. Maybe they were fighting about something. That wasn't exactly unusual.

She knew why her husband was moody. SheZow annoyed him on a regular basis so it was small wonder that working with her had made him even more so. But Boxter was beyond even his usual complaining about SheZow's antics and was instead quiet. Something must have really ticked him off.

Well, it looked like it'd be up to her to lighten things up.

"So, how did work go today, honey?"

Boxter poked a baby potato around his plate. "Fine."

Wonderful. Droosha turned her attention to her kids. "What about you, Guy? Did you do anything interesting today?"

"Not really," Guy too was poking his food. He'd only taken a few bites.

"Sweetie, how many times do I have to tell you, don't play with food," Droosha sighed.

"Why not? Dad's doing it."

"Guy…" Except that it was true. Droosha tried to catch her husband's eye and give him a good glare. It failed. He was pretty obviously in his own world. Grief, what had SheZow done now? "Oh, look, it's okay. You don't look like you're had a good day; what's wrong?"

Guy looked at her only briefly. "Nothing. Some people are just jerks…"

"Aw, what happened?"

"Nothing," Guy said grumpily. "Why don't you ask Dad about SheZow? I'm sure he's got plenty more to complain about than I do. It's not like I had to work with a bombshell…"

Boxter looked up and frowned. "You're attracted to SheZow?"

"What, no!" Guy snapped. "Like a disaster."

"That's not what it means…"

Kelly had her phone out, googling. "Bombshell: a very attractive woman…"

"See," Boxter sighed.

"… or an overwhelming surprise or disappointment…"

"Honey, put away your phone."

"Sorry, Mom." Kelly slipped it back under the table.

"Okay, fine. Double meaning."

"That last one actually did sound more accurate though, right Dad?" said Guy.

"Maybe…"

"Whatever!" Guys shoved his chair back and it scraped across the tiles with a screech. "I'm not hungry anyway; I'm going up to my room."

"Guy…" But her son was already gone.

Kelly stood up as well but without the drama. "Um, I think Guy had a fight with Maz, so he's kinda… can I go talk to him?"

Droosha sighed. Yeah, definitely a lost cause. "Okay."

Boxter frowned as Kelly left. "Did I say something?"

"Of course not."

Her husband gave a tired shrug. "Good. I've already caused enough trouble for one day."

Droosha picked up her plate and slipped into the free chair at Boxter's right side. For as long as she could remember, on the nights when the kids were out with friends, or had left the table for whatever reason, they'd always sat as close as they could together. Just because they had a family sized table didn't mean they couldn't make it intimate when the chance arose.

Boxter smiled at her faintly. "Hey."

"So what happened?"

Boxter turned his attention back to his food. "How do you know something happened?"

"Sweetheart, it's SheZow. You usually can't keep quiet about the latest thing she's broken. But tonight you seem to be lost in your own little world. So what did she do?"

Boxter drew in a sigh and then just shrugged. "She… she just was SheZow. You know, she breaks stuff, she won't listen. And don't try and verbally spar with her, she gets a bit nasty."

"So…"

He didn't need much prodding now. "We ended up fighting Mocktopus. It didn't go so well. He got away and it could've been worse, but," Boxter paused and prodded a potato with his fork but didn't do anything with it. "I got mad at her for messing everything up and I probably went a bit overboard… I think I made her cry."

"Oh, honey…"

"You know I don't like doing that," he said sheepishly. "And yeah, I was being a jerk but it's never bothered her before. I don't even know why she'd care what I think; I'm just a cop."

Droosha squeezed Boxter's arm. "Look, I know it's hard for you to work with her. But maybe she finds it hard too. Maybe she's actually trying to do a good job."

Boxter smiled faintly. "She does really want that car of hers back. I probably could be a bit less of a jerk."

"Try it. She might listen to you if she doesn't feel like you're going to snap at her. Might get her out of your hair a little quicker too."

Guy was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring glumly at the floor when Kelly walked into his room.

"Okay, so what did you do?" his sister demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"Excuse me?!"

"Come on, you're supposed to be trying to get the Shehicle back, not making Dad's life hell."

Seriously? Was everyone that dead set on the idea he was a complete flop? "How come you automatically assume I'm the one causing the problem?"

"Well, how could…"

"I tried to do what he told me; I tried to do the cop thing! But no, that's not good enough for him, he has to act like a jerk and blame everything on me!"

Kelly frowned, then came across the room and slid up next to him on the edge of his bed. "What happened?"

"We ran into Mocktopus, it didn't go so well and apparently that's my fault." Guy risked a glance at his sister. "Dad thinks I'd make a lousy cop."

"How do you know…"

"Because he said so!"

"Well, it's not you, you know," said Kelly. "He just thinks SheZow'd make a lousy cop."

"It's the same thing," Guy sighed. "He just doesn't know it. Maybe I should just tell him who SheZow is, that'd show him…"

"Guy! You can't tell him!"

"I know, I'm not serious…" But it would show him. For a moment, Guy let himself imagine the look on his father's face when he found out his son was SheZow. He'd freak. And then he'd have to apologise for being such a jerk.

Or would he? Would his father's opinion of SheZow change in the slightest if he found out who she was? Maybe he'd still think SheZow was a failure. Maybe he'd be even more disappointed in her.

"Look, it can't be that bad. Just go and have another go tomorrow. You'll do fine, little brother. Promise."

"It is that bad, Kelly," Guy groaned. He put his head in his hands. "Tomorrow is going to be lousy."

Guy made his way down to the police station. What was his father going to find to gripe about today? A part of him had thought working with his father might be fun, even if he was forced to do things the 'right' way. How wrong he'd been.

Well, he could be a jerk if he wanted to. This time Guy was ready. He wasn't going to let his father upset him again.

When Guy eventually arrived, as SheZow, at the Megadale Police Station, he found his father waiting for him at his cop car, as he had the previous day. This time Boxter had two cups of coffee with him. It looked as if his Dad was looking forward to the day as much as he was.

"Well, I'm here," Guy huffed. This time he remembered to get his SheZow voice right from the start. "I'll try not to work up too much of a damage bill today."

Boxter smiled at him sheepishly. "Here…" He passed him one of the coffee cups.

Guy almost dropped it. He'd kind of been expecting an insult. "What's this…?"

"A peace offering."

"It looks more like coffee…"

Boxter just rolled his eyes, then let out a sigh. "Look, I know I was a bit of jerk yesterday. I'm… I'm sorry. I know you're actually trying – even if it is just to get your car back. So, maybe if we stop fighting so much, we might both be able to get out of each other's hair a little quicker, yeah?"

Guy stared at the cup, chewing his lip.

"You didn't actually do that bad of a job, but it would help if you'd listen."

Guy smiled faintly. "Yeah, I guess."

"So, are we good?" Boxter asked. If Guy wasn't mistaken, he sounded like he hoped for a positive reply.

"Yeah, we're good." Guy glanced at his coffee again. "But I'm not sure I should drink this…"

"Oh?"

"No, I just mean, like, I can run at over 200 miles an hour, do you really want to give me caffeine?"

Boxter winced. "You're right. Tell you what; I'll buy you lunch instead. Deal?"

"Deal," Guy grinned. Things were starting to look up.

Boxter took the coffee off of him, then looked about as he tried to decide what he was going to do with it. A bark sounded from inside one of the nearby cop cars.

"Oh, hello, Sandy," said Boxter. He walked up to the passenger window and scratched the dog's head. Then he put the coffee cup inside and removed its plastic top.

Sandy immediately stuck her face into the cup and started lapping.

Boxter returned to their vehicle. "Well, ready to catch some villains?"

"Without breaking anything?" Guy grinned.

"Preferably."

"Can I drive, today?"

"Don't push it."

They both got into the car. But before they'd even pulled out of the lot, Sheila popped up from SheZow's ring. "Shemergency, Shemergency. Coldfinger is stealing equipment from Megadale University."

"Seriously, what frequency is that thing running on?" said Boxter, still jumping a little, though this time he knew what it was. Once again the police scanners had yet to say peep on the crime in progress.

"Somewhere between smoking hot and sizzling she-megahertz, sweetheart," Sheila said. "So, do you believe me? Or are you going to wait for that arcane scanner of yours to confirm?"

Boxter eyed Sheila warily. "I can drive in that direction…"

"No wonder you guys never get anywhere in time," Guy sighed.

That was all it took to kick his father into gear. Boxter's eyes narrowed. "I'll get us there on time." He slammed a foot down on the gas and the police vehicle tore away with a screech of tyres.