Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but DJ, Duckie, War Hawk, Andrew, Carmen, Carmen the second, Cassandra, Tomik, Silvia, Laszlo, Marton, Axelle, Theygo and Tigress.

A month passed. Tigress's health was steadily going downhill. I tried to do whatever I could to help her, but she was stubbornly independent. The Gos, Lipskys, and Stoppables had become like family to me, relatives I didn't like included. So it was no surprise when they invited me swimming at a small, slow (if it even moved) river. I accepted the invitation gladly. It was too hot even to sunbathe.

I had failed to win over Uncle Hego or Carmen, and I couldn't decide what Ella or Tomik thought of me. Other than that, I was pretty confident that I had won the rest of them over.

Marton had become like my kitten the past couple weeks. We were playing in a shallow part of the river, Kim's watchful eye on me, warning me if I started playing too rough with him. Actually, I was playing with anyone who would play with me, and bugged whoever wouldn't (mostly Uncle Hego, who can be used as a raft/floatation device. Until he pushes you away with his super strength and causes a mini-tsunami).

"Man, DJ, since when are you so playful?" Andie asked. I smiled and tickled his feet to answer him. He yelped and I resurfaced, "Be careful with those claws! You're going to cut me up with those things!" He exclaimed. I giggled.

"I am not!" I insisted. I ducked back down and swam away.

A wave of homesickness gripped me. Mom took Duckie and I swimming all the time in the summer. Duckie was the one I would drag under the surface. I wanted to go home just as much as ever. I shook my head and forced the homesickness back.

Laszlo was just at the river's edge. I grinned to myself. Easy target. I burst towards the surface and snatched him off the bank, dragging him down. He started screaming and I laughed before dragging him to the bottom. He fought against me, panicking. I held on tight. He beat his fists against me and began gasping. I let him go immediately and his limbs spazzed. Oh no. Oh no. I grabbed for him again before being roughly shoved away. I went to the surface.

"What the hell is wrong with you, DJ!?!?!" Andie screamed at me. Laszlo sputtered and coughed.

"I was only playing. He was the one freaking out," I insisted.

"He can't swim!"

"And how was I supposed to know that?!" Worried and furious faces looked at me alike as I got out of the river. I shook myself off, wondering why a nine-year-old couldn't swim. Bringing that up now though would only get me grief.

Little did I know that was the beginning of the end.

&&&

I walked back to Tigress's lair, feeling frustrated. Like I was really going to let the kid drown. You'd think they'd know me better. Especially Andie.

I glanced up as I saw an unusual orange out of the color of my eye. There was a grouping of boulders that were perfect for laying out and sunning on. That was exactly what Tigress was doing, lying in a dark bikini, her eyes closed. She opened them as the wind shifted, turning towards me.

"Hey, DJ. Care to join me?" She murmured. I bristled and stalked over beside her.

"Depends. Are you going to bite my head off again?" I growled. She sighed.

"I think you're taking that a little too personally. It's been what, a month?" She huffed, "That's a great way to start a heart-to-heart, Tigie," she murmured to herself.

"What "heart-to-heart"? You pretty much told me you never wanted anything to do with me and that you dumped me in a back alley to cause my father pain," Contradictory to my words, I sprawled out on a rock beside her.

"Would you have preferred me to lie to you? Would you have preferred me to tell you I was starving and homeless and couldn't afford you or that I was a freshman in high school trying to get my diploma? I thought you deserved better than lies," she sighed, "Even as shallow and selfish as the truth is," she murmured. I thought about this for a minute.

"Guess I would prefer the truth," I admitted.

She stretched her muscles and I curled my knees towards my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I was on my side, facing her, but she remained on her back, eyes closed and arms above her head. I couldn't help but glance at her tumor. How much longer did she have?

She laughed suddenly, startling me.

"It's sad, really. I've spent so much of my life lying and manipulating that I can't even be honest. I don't know how to be loving and kind and all that sentimental crap. But I want to with you. It's a little late, and I understand if you don't want to get attached to a dying woman who's been so callous to you," she hesitated for a long time.

"I love you," she murmured. It wasn't the normal "I love you"; it sounded more like a secret, an embarrassing confession. But it was sincere.

I really wasn't sure how to react, so I just said "Thank you". We lay out in the sun until it set, then went inside and had the first meal together since I arrived.

&&&

Tigress drew closer to me and I opened up to her in turn. I still thought she was a total nutcase, but it was a forgivable form of insanity. I learned that she had been one of Team Go's enemies and that her villainy had extended for about thirty years (far longer than the average villainy life span). That made sense of everyone's hatred of her. She understood me on a level no one else did; she knew how hard it was to be part of something you either saw in the jungle or a zoo. She knew even more; she knew where we came from, our culture, and why we fell. She says she was too young to remember, but she's never looked me in the eyes when saying that. It was probably too hard to talk about.

I should probably check my cell, I realized. It had been several days since I had even turn it on. My inbox was flooded with voicemail and text messages, about half of them from Andie, Silvia, or Duckie. There was one from Mom; she tried to keep the concern out of her voice. I called her first.

"Hey, Mom."

"Dessie! I was starting to get worried," I smirked. Starting to?

"I'm sorry I haven't called. I've actually been busy getting to know Tigress."

"Really?" I couldn't judge her reaction. It was careful, like she had planned her response to me getting closer to her.

"Yeah. She's alright, but I think she's a few pills short of a prescription, if you know what I mean," Mom laughed.

"That sounds about right, if she's the girl I remember," I smiled and the homesickness came over me again.

"I miss you, Mom."

"I miss you too, sweetheart."

"How much longer do I have here?"

"Couple weeks, I think. Don't think of it like that," I groaned.

"But I miss you."

"You'll be fine," She sounded more like she was reassuring herself, "Have fun with your mom and cousins."

"Yeah, okay, tell Duckie I love her."

"Alright, love you."

"Love you, too." I heard retreating footsteps as I hung up. What was Tigress doing listening to my conversations?

I dialed the Go Tower and Cassandra picked up.

"Hey, DJ, long time no see."

"Hey, Cassie. How's everything?"

"Well, you've got the adults freaked out, since we haven't heard from you since the swimming fiasco. Silvia and I have been worried."

"Sorry, I've just…been getting to know my birth mom."

"About time," she was quiet for a minute, "Maybe we should go see a movie tonight; you, me, Andie, and Silvia. If you aren't too busy with your mom."

"I think I can spare a few hours. What time?"

&&&

"Quit it, DJ," Andie hissed. I straightened, confused. He usually liked my purr. Then again, in the middle of the theater wasn't the best place. I didn't think I was being that loud, though.

He smacked my hands away. I guess I had been kneading my claws into his thighs. My bad. The credits rolled and we got up.

"Remind me never to pick a romance again," Silvia groaned.

"Oh, I'll stop you," I assured her.

We walked out and I took Andie's hand.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said unconvincingly. I decided not to press the matter. Guys and talking about their feelings went together like water and oil.

We walked out and noticed people trying to clear the sidewalk. We looked up and saw a swarm of people clad in strange futuristic outfits gliding on snowboard type things in the sky. One took the lead and the others fell behind, the leader swooping upright a few feet away and above my head.

"Deseerah," A robotic voice called, "Today, the prophecy ends with the destruction of the Prodigy," I gave them a "wtf" look. More people were buying into this prophecy business?

"Hey, listen, there's been a misunderstanding. I'm not your-"

Before I could finish, one of them came flying down, their board knocking into my stomach. I went down on the cement like a pack of bricks.

"DJ!" Cassie screamed.

"We better get out of here, Cassie," Andie insisted.

"But-"

"DJ can handle herself," I got to my feet quickly and moved as they came for me again. A growl ripped from my throat. Dang straight I could handle myself, and I was going to handle them in a few minutes.

They dove at me again and I dodged. I heard a startled yelp and glanced back in time to see Silvia swing one of the hench men off of their board. The person fell with a hard thud. Silvia broke the board over her knee.

"We need to take this somewhere more private," she hinted. I nodded and we ran.

Only when we started running did we hear shots. Oh crap, guns. This was starting to become unfair. Silvia took the lead, going towards a more abandoned part of the city. Once there, she let her wings unfurl and took off into the sky. The gun shots echoed off of the vacant streets as another dove down towards me. I gathered my muscles, and then leapt, knocking him off. The rogue board crashed with a bit of fire into a building, the rider securely under my pounce. It squirmed.

"Get off of me! Let me go! Help, help!" I realized how small they were. A child? Doing dirty work such as this? It didn't make any sense.

"DJ!" I heard Silvia call a little too late. Someone grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, hauling me onto their board. I flailed, fighting against their grip.

"You're lucky I'm not allowed to kill you," I heard the Darth Vader like voice mutter. I could see Silvia trying to get to me out of the corner of my eye, but the other one still flying on their board prevented her.

I was still trying to figure out what these people wanted as I was being hung like a bandit from their grip. There was a dip down and then a shatter as they broke through a glass window. I was promptly dropped into a jewelry display case, breaking the protective covering with my weight. I let out a low hiss as I felt some of the glass cut into me.

There was a grinding tsking sound as the board powered down and my attacker stood beside me.

"Look at the mess you've made," They scolded me. I got up, jumping out of the case.

"What is your problem?!" I snarled.

"You are," They began calling me every name in the book. I took the time to get as much glass out of my cuts as I could. They then started on calling Tigress every name in the book and I laughed. Some of them were actually pretty accurate.

Then, with an aloof voice, they said it.

"Then again, I guess you can't help it. You didn't choose Shego to raise you," My laughing stopped immediately.

"What?"

"You heard me. Shego is a pathetic mother if-"

They never completed their sentence. I dove at them, pinning them beneath me.

"Take it back!" I snarled.

"Shego's a-" I hissed at their profanity and, in the blink of an eye, I slashed at their face with my claws.

Her mask was ripped enough so I could see it was a girl I was dealing with. Her body jerked and she breathed in quickly as though preparing to cry, reaching for her wrist.

"I can't believe you would do such a thing, DJ," she whimpered, pressing a button.

The uniform retracted away and I saw four angry, bleeding claw marks all down Carmen's face. My heart pounded.

"You tricked me," I growled. She began to cry.

"DJ, how could you?! All I was trying to do was stop you from stealing, from going down the same road as your dear Tigress, and this is how you repay me?! By attacking me like a vicious animal?!" She paused momentarily in her weeping to give me a wink.

"You-"

My own profanity didn't come. Sirens began screaming down, and they sounded like they were heading this way. I glanced outside and saw flashing lights. I stood up and got off of Carmen slowly. A team of policemen charged in, some even behind shields. About three of them were pointing guns at me.

"We've got the place surrounded! Don't even think about escape!" One officer squeaked, his gun trembling along with his body. I put my hands in the air like a good stereotypical arrestee.

"I think we've got a misunderstanding, officers. I wasn't…I didn't mean to…" What was I being accused of again?

A female officer went to Carmen's side.

"Oh, thank god you guys are here. If it had been any later, I think she would have killed me," Carmen blubbered, playing the traumatized victim perfectly. The policewoman glared at me.

"You've got to be kidding me," I murmured.

That was my main thought as I was handcuffed, searched for weapons, and ushered into the back of a police car. I was the one attacked and yet I was getting the blame. I had to hand it to Carmen; she set this up perfectly. It made me wonder who else were behind the masks. Citizens showed fear or relief as the car drove away. Fearful of Tigress the second's coming, apparently, and relieved that the cops had caught me.

I hadn't even done anything.

&&&

The handcuffs were starting to irritate my wrists, but I had to leave them on. Right now, I had to play the part of ideal suspect in order to get out of this. I had spent about an hour lying on a stone-hard mattress in a tiny, solitary cell with two nervous guards posted outside. I had almost passed out from boredom. Now I was in a plain white room with two chairs facing each other across a table. The interrogation room, I presumed.

I hadn't even done anything.

The door flew open and an angry Uncle Hego stormed through, followed closely by Aunt Chloe, Carmen, and Andie. I looked calmly at them.

"Visiting time already?" I joked.

"What were you thinking?! What could possible possess you to break into a jewelry store and do this?!" He pointed at Carmen's face.

"Well, it always looked so cool in the movies, I just wanted to try it for myself," I said dryly.

"This isn't funny, Deseerah! Do you know what you're being charged with? Breaking and entering, property damage, theft, assault," he counted them off his fingers.

"I lost my balance and fell into the building, alright? I'm sorry I didn't land on my feet like most cats."

"Don't mess with me. I saw the damage, and there is no way you "fell" several feet off the ground and shattered a display case on the opposite side of the building by simply "falling"."

"DJ, were you trying to steal something?" Aunt Chloe asked softly.

"No!" I roared.

"Then what's your alibi?" Uncle Hego insisted.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you what really happened. You guys trust your precious Carmen so much, and I'm the daughter of your worst enemy. Forget the fact I've been raised states away from her, I'm just automatically going to turn out just like her, right?" I said bitterly. Carmen tensed up.

"Hego, maybe we should let the kids talk to her. You're coming off very… strongly," Aunt Chloe worded carefully. Uncle Hego nodded.

"I'll be right outside," he threatened, looking directly at me. I gave an exasperated sigh.

"I didn't do anything, and I won't do anything," I stated. They exited the room.

Andie had been glaring at me the entire time, but now I shifted uncomfortably underneath his eyes.

"I was going to try to work it out; maybe it was just me trying to get used to you. But after what you did to my sister… We're through." His words hit me like a dagger in the chest. As if it wasn't bad enough I was innocent and in jail, now my boyfriend was breaking up with me. Over his sister being a jerk.

I shrugged.

"Fine. There's plenty of other fish in the sea," I told him, trying to act nonchalant about the whole thing while really, I felt I was bleeding a little on the inside.

"Andie, do you mind if I talk with my attacker one on one? I want to get a few things straightened out," Carmen's voice trembled slightly. Andie looked at her worriedly.

"Alright. I'll be right outside, too, if something happens," he glared coldly at me and then walked out.

Carmen dropped her pathetic victim act immediately, grinning smugly at me.

"Why are you doing this, Carmen?" I asked.

"Oh, the plan will reveal itself in time," she said flippantly. Her grin dropped into a frown, "Your statement about me was cutting it a little close, don't you think?"

"Even if the truth is absurd compared to your lies, so perfectly tailored to everyone's suspicions about me, I will not hesitate to tell him exactly what happened."

"Okay, let's pretend about the off chance Hego believes you. He doesn't know anything more than what you know, and if he investigates… His heart will be broken," her face was dead serious. I shook my head.

"I'm not going to carry on with your charade much longer," I warned her. She smiled.

"You won't have to."

Uncle Hego came in and badgered me some more, trying to get a confession out of me. I decided to zip my lip; there was no way this biased zealot was going to believe my conspiracy theory. So I sat there and let him go off on me, never telling him the truth while trying to figure out the "plan" Carmen was talking about. Kicking me out of Go City? Too much effort. Getting me in trouble? Why? All I knew was that she was framing me for some reason.

Hours had passed when there was a sharp rap on the door. Hego paused mid-lecture and opened it. My heart soared with new hope.

"Betty!" I cried. Hego bowed his head.

"Dr. Director."

Betty had known me since I was a kitten; she had visited my mother often out of duty for Global Justice. If anyone knew the real me, it was her.

Her eye looked sadly at me, her usually confident demeanor dropped.

"Deseerah," she murmured.

"You know me, Betty. You know I'd never do something like this. Tell them, tell them how it must be a mistake, that I have no reason to steal and me scratching Carmen must have been out of self-defense!" I said eagerly. She shook her head.

"Correction; I knew you," she turned to Uncle Hego, "I told Shego it was a horrid idea to let Tigress sink her claws into her! Teenagers are easily suborned and Tigress would find out what strings to pull in no time to turn our dear DJ against us!" I stared, baffled, at Dr. Director and then shook my head feverishly.

"No, no! It has nothing to do with Tigress! Carmen attacked me and knocked me into the building! I flew to the other side because she was on some kind of hover board! She was taunting me and insulted my mother so I lost my temper and scratched her! I wasn't trying to steal!"

"Deseerah, the least you can do is have some dignity about it and be honest. Lies won't get you anywhere," Betty said coldly.

"I'm not lying!" I insisted.

"Has anyone contacted Shego?"

"I was waiting for your take on the situation," Uncle Hego admitted. Betty nodded.

"Come on," she said, gesturing me to get up. I slowly followed, my hands chained behind my back.

We went up towards the front. In the lobby, the rest of my cousins were waiting, along with Kim, Ron, and their kids. Cassie stood up and walked over.

"I can vouch for her; I saw them attack her! Andie and Silvia saw them too; it was right after the movie…" She pleaded.

"Cassandra," he snapped. She shrank back.

Betty took one of the phones and dialed our house number. She set it on "speaker" and my heart pounded as I heard the phone ring. She picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?" She asked warily.

"Shego, this is Dr. Director."

"Hey Betty. Why are you calling from the Go City jail?" Betty took a deep breath.

"Deseerah broke into a jewelry store and opened one of the cases. Carmen tried to stop her, and Deseerah attacked her."

"Mom, Carmen's lying to them! You know I wouldn't attack someone without a good reason! I wouldn't steal! Mom, you raised me better than that!" I shouted. There was silence on the other line.

And then, the unmistakable sounds of crying.

"Mommy?" I whimpered.

"I'm very disappointed. I thought you were stronger than that."

A wave hit me like I had never known before. I felt betrayed by everyone, ashamed of the pain I had caused my mother, and sad that Andie had broken up with me. And it was all because of Carmen.

Red hot fury that I had never felt before hit me. It burned inside of me, making me want to fight the very feeling itself. The edges of my vision began to turn into a red haze, my lips pulling back. I needed to do something with it, to get rid of this itch. Then, very clearly in my head, the thought of killing Carmen appeared. I didn't shy away from it. In fact, it sounded really, really good.

I clenched my teeth as I closed my eyes, trying to force it all away. It didn't leave as easily as it came, though. I could feel my mouth salivating at the thought of digging my teeth into the little- No! I was thinking like I was hunting prey in the woods! I charged away from them, suddenly glad my hands were handcuffed behind my back.

"Where are you going?" Uncle Hego barked. I didn't answer, because that meant unclamping my jaws.

Most were too shocked to even try and stop me as I ran for the door. I didn't care that I was escaping jail, I didn't care about what I'd have to deal with afterwards, all I knew was that I had to get away from anyone I could hurt.

"DJ!" I heard several yell at me. Silvia blocked my path, "What's wrong?" She urged.

I meant to say "get away" or "not now", but all that came out was an animalistic snarl. Silvia looked into my eyes and then let me pass.

Tears sprung from my eyes as I made it out the door, frustration at my lack of control spilling out. I couldn't head back; I couldn't risk killing her. Because I wouldn't, no matter what my impulses right now said. I needed to get away, faster, faster. I thought vaguely of how strange it was that my mom wasn't the one who taught me to pick locks; it was Duckie. The handcuffs fell from my hands and I went down on all fours. I had to get away. I couldn't hurt her. Yet I wanted to so, so bad.

I ran into the mountains and kept running as far as I could from the city of backstabbers. I ran past the point where my breathing was heavy, past the point where my muscles ached and I felt my limbs were made out of lead. Confused, angry, sad, hurt, and resentful, I collapsed somewhere in the middle of the forest, that burning feeling never going away, scaring me to tears.

&&&&&&

I will not excuse my lack of updates on this story; it is past the point of forgiveness. Please review, if you aren't too offended.