Title: The Ones Left Behind
Characters/Pairing: Kim, Drakken, mention of Drakken/Shego
Rating: PG
Summary: Drakken, alone in the aftermath. Epilogue to I'm not Great with Goodbyes.

The footsteps behind him were light, but nonetheless Drakken heard their approach. They stopped well short of him, and the muscles in Drakken's back tensed the way they always did when he sensed he was being watched. Though Shego was little more than a pinprick of light in the upper atmosphere, he didn't turn to face the newcomer until he lost track of Shego entirely against the stars.

"Possible," he said. Even at her name, she didn't approach further. Drakken glanced past her to the GJ forces, who seemed too preoccupied with damage control to take note of him or Possible. The buffoon and his rodent hung back near the still-smoking husk of the spaceship's fuselage, watching her with anxious eyes. Of course she would be the one to remember that clean up included dealing with Drakken.

"Here to arrest me?" he asked. The thought should have inspired protests and rancor, but weariness had hollowed him. He simply extended his wrists and waited.

To his surprise, she shook her head. "It's not that. I'm…sorry, Drakken. About…" She gestured to the place in the sky where Shego had vanished moments ago. "It was for the best."

He curled his lip. "I'm sure. Tell me, how did it feel to realize that she's been toying with you all this time? That for all your techno gadgets, training, and skill, you only defeated Shego because it amused her to let you do so? Yes, I'm sure you're glad she's gone— if she'd stayed, she would have finally taught you how inferior you are."

She stiffened. At the edges of the crater the ship's crash had formed, emergency vehicles screeched up with sirens blazing. Police and EMTs poured forth, stumbling over loose dirt and debris as they made their way to the GJ teams below.

Absently, Drakken touched his cheekbone. His gloves made a faint sucking sound as they contacted the blood there. He'd have another scar, soon, Shego had told him as she examined the wound. Or at least you will if you go to the same back alley hack you used last time. Why don't you let a someone with an actual medical license take a look at it this time, huh?

He smiled faintly. In her way, Shego sometimes worried about him as much as his mother.

"That's not what I meant," Possible said, jarring him from his thoughts. He frowned, hoping he could intimidate her into leaving. But if there had ever been a point where she had feared him, it was long past. She rubbed her shoulder as her eyes darted from him to the ground.

"Back there, when Kragnor had you hostage, Shego almost gave herself up. She thought our plan was doomed. She thought Kragnor was going to kill you." She paused and bit her lip. When she continued, she eyed him as if gauging his reaction. "If I were her, and Ron were you, I would've done the same thing. Shego and I may not have seen eye to eye, but I understand how much she cared about you. She left to keep you safe. To keep us all safe. It was for the best, but…I'm sorry she's gone. And I'm sorry you had to lose her."

He swallowed thickly. His pain was still too raw for kindness to do anything but burn, and accepting the kindness of his greatest foe was unfathomable in this moment. The tears he'd been fighting since Shego left stung his eyes, and he turned quickly so Possible wouldn't see the first ones falling.

"I'm sure Global Justice needs you more than I do, Kimberly. Shouldn't you be helping them?"

This time, she took the hint. The space behind him was silent a moment longer, then her footsteps retreated through the rubble, until the noisy chaos at the far end of the crater swallowed them entirely. Alone once more, Drakken returned his gaze to the skies.

It was for the best. Maybe one day, he'd believe that.