A/N: Credit for this idea goes entirely to Split-n-Splice, although I did tweak it. Please note, I did not read this after writing. There are likely mistakes...

9. Cat

"Drakken!"

Drakken jumped at the sound of Shego's roar as she stalked into the lab. He spun in his wheeled chair to see her advancing toward him with a look of anger, her eyes slightly red.

"Yes?" he squeaked out, but he didn't think she heard him as she got so close that he shrank down in the chair and pushed it back against the edge of the workbench. She loomed over him, hands on her hips and reddened eyes wide in anger.

"What did I tell you about getting a pet?"

Drakken thought hard. "That...we're only allowed to have things that can kill Kim Possible?"

"And," Shego snarled, "that we have to talk about it first! So where is it?!"

Drakken shrank further, her voice getting louder with every word.

"Where is what?" he squeaked.

"The cat! Don't you remember I'm allergic!?"

Drakken swallowed anxiously and shook his head. "Sh-Shego I didn't get any cat."

Something in his face must have spoken enough truth because after her eyes widened, she stepped back and began looking around in confusion.

"There's a cat in this lair somewhere. But if you didn't bring one in... Who did?"

"The nose is so tiny!"

"It has fluff between its toes."

"But the claws are so sharp!"

"Look at the pokey tail!"

"I used to have a kitten, but my dog ate it."

"Lux! It'll hear you!"

Shego and Drakken looked at each other, Shego through puffy red eyes that were weeping. Drakken sighed and opened the door all the way as he finished descending the stairs.

"Boys..."

The henchmen startled at the sound of their boss's voice, all turning around on the sofa in a hurry and trying to conceal the small gray kitten that Jameson held, which Drakken had already seen.

"H-Hi, Boss. What brings you down here? Bowling practice isn't until tomorrow."

"You know the rule... No cats. Shego is highly allergic."

The henchmen all exchanged nervous looks, and a few of them tensed when they spied Shego lingering in the stairwell. Finally, they brought the small creature forward and set it up on the back of the sofa.

'Mew,' meowed the cat.

"Aw but Boss, it was lost... Me and Tony found it," Jameson said, turning to lean on the back of the sofa. "It was lost and all alone."

Drakken sighed. "If you want a pet, you just have to follow the lair rules..." He gestured tiredly. "Nothing that can kill you unless its housed in a terrarium... Nothing that has to go out frequently... And no cats."

"But Boss..." Tony whined and held up the kitten in front of Drakken's face, "just look at it!"

Drakken bit his lip as he looked at the tiny creature, bringing its small paw up to rub its face as it rested calmly in the large henchman's hands. He understood completely why the men had fallen prey to the kitten's charms.

A familiar sound of burning air behind him signaled the igniting of Shego's glow. He swallowed nervously.

"It has to go. Today," he said, decisively, and hoped he sounded that way. "Give it to...one of your mothers or something, just get it out."

The henchmen all deflated, and Drakken turned and headed back to the stairs, sighing in relief. Now it was up to them to listen...

When he arrived at the stairwell and saw Shego's furious glare, he took another breath and looked back over his shoulder. The henchmen were all petting the kitten again.

"Boys?" he called back.

They tensed and looked up.

"You realize what will happen if you don't get rid of it?"

Shego's hands flared brighter next to him, and the henchmen recoiled in fright.

"I-I'll call my sister and see if she wants it," Tony said.

Drakken nodded, and then closed the door. Shego's hands went out as she walked beside him.

"Thagk you," she said, her voice unrecognizable for how swollen her throat had already become for the allergy. Drakken knew that without it, she could have made the henchmen give up their new pet with a single glare. But she wasn't about to appear weak in front of them, so it had been up to him. Even though she had been no help when they brought in a pet he was allergic to. He grimaced.

"I hope you remember this the next time they try to start an ant farm."