Hmm, I wonder if FFn is done being broken...
Short chapter, sorry not sorry.
Might be the last one for a bit while I take a while to catch up on some stuff.


41. Whose Side – 4

Distraught as she was, Drakken's accomplice didn't seem surprised to learn of her ex-friend's treachery. By a few choice words she muttered, he gathered it wasn't even the first time the bubbly blonde had given away Shego's medication for her own gain. He didn't dare question the effects or purpose of the drug for fear of inciting her ire once more – he'd already learned more than she'd wanted him to know anyway, and pushing her tonight could prove to be a mistake.

Needless to say, staying to watch the movie to feign some semblance of normalcy wasn't a priority anymore. Shego held herself, denying his offer of a warm mug of soothing cocoa moo, and requested instead she be taken home.

Drakken didn't object her decision to leave.

The van, however, did.

After several long minutes of troubleshooting the busted old van that refused to sputter to life, Shego climbed out and grabbed Drakken by his now-stained shirt and tugged him back to his quarters in the depths of the lair.

Though her glare was still heated, she'd cooled off enough he wasn't so fearful she'd hurl a ball of plasma at his head for looking at her wrong.

Fries and dinosaur chicken nuggets sufficed for supper as they finally watched the movie in brittle silence. And despite Priscilla Kimbley otherwise wrecking the evening, Shego still obstinately managed to inch closer to Drakken's side of the couch, until she was leaned against him, though Drakken convinced himself it was merely for easy access to his crimp-cut fries as she'd already polished off her own plate.

Cute and cuddly came back to mind and after some time he risked extending an arm around her shoulders, ignoring how tense he himself was and how much warmer she felt beside him the second he did. Shego said nothing and took another fry from the plate in his lap. Whatever wild and witty antics the detective on screen was up to was bound to be lost on Drakken as long as his partner in crime was snuggled up next to him.

It didn't last long, which was both a relief and a disappointment. Within minutes of finishing off his fries, she pealed herself away, snatching up a pack of smokes from the coffee table and moving to the far end of the couch before lighting up. Drakken tried not to watch her puff each time she brought the cigarette to her lips, half expecting and half hoping she'd offer it out to him.

Before he could ask for a drag to sate his own reawakened craving, Shego blew out a long plume of smoke and croaked out, "I'm gonna kill her." She held the cigarette out his way, but Drakken was hesitant now to take the meager peace offering.

He had to assume she meant her old friend. He nodded as he filled his lungs and then licked his lips, wishing he could taste her on the filter. He swallowed back whatever tried to rise from the pit of his stomach then and hummed. "I offered to help you the other day," he said. "That offer still stands." Although offing anyone together lacked a certain appeal at the moment.

Shego let out a small sad chuckle. "Yeah. Thanks," she muttered. "Glad to know you've got my back, dude."

"Any time, sister."

Shego froze for a beat as she took the cigarette back – and it was all the warning he had that he'd said something wrong. In one swift motion, she snuffed out the smoke in the ash tray and crossed the space between them, wearing a glare that read she had a point to make.

Drakken's view of the television was blocked out suddenly as her weight landed on his knees, and his eyes flew wide at the warm hands meeting his skin from the neck up. That was as far as she made it before her momentum petered out, her fizzling palm cupping his cheek gently as she sat frozen before him. The television fell entirely on deaf ears now, as all he could hear was the thud of his heartbeat – hell, he barely even heard her call his name, equal parts hesitant and harsh.

He tore his eyes from her almost panicked face and her teeth sinking into her lip, though letting his gaze wander down the rest of her wasn't much better.

One hand gingerly rested on her thigh, carefully as though testing a pan he wasn't sure wasn't hot, and he felt the reaction of her hand warming on his cheek as her other squeezed his shoulder. Drakken understood then just how literally he was playing with fire as his roaming touch came to a pause as her waist. "Uhm," was the most competent thing he could utter, too slack-jawed and stupefied to brave looking her in the eye.

He was practically forced to regardless as Shego stooped forward.

Time began moving again in a hurry and Drakken snapped out of his daze the instant he felt her breath on his lips. Before she could close the distance, let alone object to the rebuff, he'd swept her up and deposited her on the couch in his spot instead, dropping his surprised accomplice like a sack of rocks.

"You should get some rest," he decided, tousling her already-tangled hair if only to push her down for a split second longer as he made his hasty escape.

"Drakken!" she snapped over the spine of the couch after him.

"I'll ask to borrow the Beetle in the morning," he announced, his own voice a little too shrill for his liking, as he retired hastily to his bedroom and locked his door behind him.

If she was determined enough to force her way in after him, she wouldn't let a mere lock stop her. He was well aware that Shego knew how to pick locks. Hell, one of his first encounters with her – since she'd assumed the alias Shego anyway – had been when she'd picked the lock to his motel room back in Go City. It really hadn't been that long ago. He barely knew her. Certainly not well enough to allow her into his lap to – to do whatever it was she'd planned to do with him. Not tonight – not ever – and he squeezed his eyes shut tight to swear by it. Besides, she was too invaluable to risk treading into that territory.

A shower was in order. A cold one, preferably.

Drakken was, admittedly, relieved Shego did not sneak her way into his bedroom. He must have laid awake half the night waiting for something – or rather, someone – uninvited to reach out and touch him, but no hands haunted him tonight, ghostly or otherwise. Still worried for his accomplice with the invisible trespasser at large, he did sneak out into the living room once or twice to take a peek. The first time, Shego was just barely awake watching a late-night rerun of Scamper and Bitey. The second time, he had to guess she was asleep as paid programming was droning on when he flicked the television off, though he tried his best not to look too closely at her to be certain.

He awoke before her of course, as per usual. Soon enough, the aroma of coffee pulled her from her beauty sleep and she slumped into kitchen and plopped herself down in a bar stool. He slid her a mug of coffee – creamed and sweetened to perfection – and Shego flashed a sleepy crooked smile at him.

"Buck's hiring, you know," she jibbed, eyeing her coffee, and Drakken arched his brow at her. She sighed and reiterated, "You'd make a good barista."

Drakken said nothing. He merely scoffed and rolled his eyes as he returned to frying up a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs.

He heard her slurp from the mug before slamming it down with a loud clack that made him jump. For a fleeting moment he feared he'd gotten their cups mixed up, but a glance back at the sheepish look Shego wore, and he was sure it wasn't the case. "Sorry," she muttered meekly. "About last night. I-I don't know what I was thinking. Uhm…" She took a long sip from the mug then, looking anywhere but at him.

He could have made a wisecrack and asked what part of last night she was sorry for, but he kept his mouth shut. He grunted instead. After a moment of poking at the scrambled eggs with the spatula, he gave a short answer, "It's alright. Happens to the best of us," and cringed inwardly. If their roles had been reversed – Drakken squeezed his eyes tight at the possible repercussion of that.

Shego was quiet for a moment before he heard her breathy snort that sufficed for laughter. "Yeah. Whatever." Another pause. He dished out two plates and set one before her, taking the spot across from her. "I already have some things here, so you don't have to drive me home first," she declared.

Remembering it was Tuesday and she was due to spend the better half of her day at Buckley's Brew, Drakken's shoulders fell a little. "Good. Saves me the trouble," he said, finding the silver lining.

Her gaze strayed down from the clock. "We have a little time to hang." It sounded like an offer.

Drakken tore his stare away from the strained smirk on her lips and stabbed at his eggs instead. "Not enough time for a game of foosball, I'm afraid," he said, staving back the disappointment.

Shego's eyes narrowed before she snatched up the shaker from in front of him to dump an obscene amount of pepper onto her breakfast. "You don't need me for anything today, do you?"

"No—"

"Good. I'm not coming over tonight."


A/N:

Remember to practice healthy R&R habits and support your favorite authors, y'all~