Chapter 4: So Where's Shego?

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews. Love it! More, more!

Backtrack in Time: 2 weeks after the Li'l Diablo fiasco, the day Drakken was stabbed

Shego paced her little "hidey-hole" apartment in Florida, trying not to chew her nails. Normally she would never consider the possibility of the thought of the concept of chewing her nails. Her nails were her pride and joy. Her nails were her lovely lethal weapons. Her nails were...well, her number one preoccupation!

But she was so close to gnawing on them that it surprised her. And she was disgusted with herself by the reason. This had never happened to her before. It was so unlike her that she wondered if she was ill or something. But the fact was, she was anxious, bone fide anxious. Why? That was what disturbed her.

She was worried about Dr. D.

She had easily escaped prison within days of the Diablo mess. She'd gone looking for him, as she always did, ready to break him out of whatever dunghole he'd ended up in. I mean, he actually came up with a decent plan this time! she thought. The Diablos were genius! We almost did it! We really almost took over the entire blinkin' world! She laughed out loud at that. Who'd have thunk the dolt would actually come so close? For the first time since she'd been hired by the blue madman, Shego was eager to spring her employer and see what new whacko scheme he had up his sleeve. Obviously he did have a brain and he could use it—maybe not often, but this last caper was enough to invigorate Shego's interest in working for him.

But now he was gone, poof, erased from the surface of the earth. Normally Shego could track him down using her underworld contacts. Normally she could find out what prison he was in, how many guards it had, their routines, their defenses, everything. And then she'd move in like a green bolt of lightening and free him, leaving a glorious trail of destruction behind her.

This time? Nothing. Jack Hench hadn't heard a word. Even slimy Big Daddy Brotherson knew nothing. And Brotherson would have told her the tiniest tidbit of information if he'd known one—Shego was offering half a million dollars for anything on Drakken's whereabouts. Brotherson lived for money. He truly didn't know squat.

She almost bit her nails again, then stopped herself. Why was she offering half a million for info on Drakken, anyway? That worried her, too. Why was she suddenly offering money to find her employer when she usually tried like heck to get away from him? Well, for one thing, he's going to pay me back when I find him, she thought. No way would she dole that much out of her own funds. NO. WAY. And it's my job to find him, she told herself repeatedly. He's my boss. And he'll be so glad to be freed, as usual, that he'll give me a big fat bonus! Yes, that was it. Drakken was her job, her income, and with him gone, that considerable income was on the line. She had to find him!

Yet...

There was something more about the situation. It was like a spark in the air—something was wrong. She had a weird feeling, a bad feeling that somehow he was in trouble. Of course, she had no facts upon which to base her worry. But worry she did. Dr. D doesn't just disappear, she thought, pacing and thinking hard. I always know where he is. I always hear about him. When he's caught, he's in the news. The Diablo destruction is still making headlines. So why isn't he?

Yes indeed. Why wasn't Drakken, perpetrator of the Diablo plot, making headlines?

She stopped pacing. There was only one thing to do at this point. Wait. Wait and listen on all channels—and not TV channels, either. Shego's "channels" were the criminal networks, her contacts, and her instincts. I'll find him, she decided. I've left him in prison before, after all, so it's not like he's going to be surprised that I haven't shown up yet. And her weird worry? It's nothing. Just...just me coming to grips with the fact that Dr. D actually frightened the world. He really proved himself a menace. My stupid boss may really rule the world someday! She almost felt a moment of pride for him, then she caught herself. Yeah, right—the day hippos fly.

She decided at that moment that she would look for some work. Sure, she had savings, and plenty of it. But if she intended to spend time finding Drakken, she refused to use her own money to finance the operation. She would need money to bribe people for info, to bribe people just to get to other people, to travel, to pay for food and lodgings, to pay for equipment, maybe even weapons. Hey, why not put all her expenses during this hunt on Drakken's tab? She had hidey-holes all over the country and abroad. It took money to keep them stocked and ready for use at a moment's notice. And she might need any one of them at any time. She would save a lot of dough if she included those costs on Dr. D's bill, too. Once he was out of jail, he would have no recourse but to pay up or she'd just put him right back in jail!

Shego chuckled at such an evil idea. The minute he sees my bill, he'll throw a fit! she thought. Oh, Shego enjoyed nothing better than to be the cause of a full-out glass-shattering foot-stomping Drakken rant. She thought he was hilarious when he lost his temper, especially when he got so mad that he'd lose the ability to form words and would just make howly grunty noises, waving his arms around like a broken windmill stuck on high speed.

Then her humor abruptly faded. If her persistent worrying really meant something...if Drakken really was somehow in trouble...then she might be in trouble, too. She had her own rear to look after. She was on the top of the Most Wanted List! She could dare to work for a top supervillain for awhile, just for the bucks, but it would be risky.

She came to a humiliating conclusion—she would have to settle for small jobs, at least for now. She had to keep herself out of the spotlight till she knew more. Great, she thought grumpily. Gotta lay low. So it's small jobs. Bank robberies, jewelry heists, stealing stupid technological thingamajigs. She snarled. Dr. D, this had better be worth it.

She had no idea how "worth it" it would become...