Another Heist Part 3
The soft music of piano and violin echoed across the dance floor. They had made it through a whole song already without Shego having had a single thought of the heist. Her mind had been comparing the moment to the last time they had slow danced at the previous ball, and how she would have much preferred to not be coated in layers of makeup. She glared at the slight smudge on Drakken's black jacket from the few seconds she'd attempted resting her head on his shoulder.
"Kind of wish we were here as us," scoffed Shego. "Or at least had better quality makeup."
"The disguise is essential to the heist," Drakken shrugged. His brow furrowed. "I'm not exactly happy with it either."
Shego watched his eyes dart to a window that clearly reflected them in its tinted surface. Shego's brow raised in annoyance. She'd been voicing her agitation at not being able to get closer to him while it was clear he was annoyed by his appearance. She tightened her grip on his shoulder and hand to get his attention back on her. His expression hadn't changed as his eyes found hers. Shego didn't know if it was the light, the glasses, or the fake complexion, but she was very aware that his black eyes had more dark gray in them. It almost made her forget she was trying to get his attention.
Almost.
"I know it's essential to the heist, but may I remind you...this was also supposed to be my Christmas gift... So can we focus on me right now and not your own issues?" smirked Shego. Drakken rolled his eyes.
"And you call me conceited," he snorted. "Fine...yes. It is also your evening too... Though, what appealed to you other than the heist last time I'm curious?"
"Well for one...it's nice having an actual date," she responded. "Any ball I went to with my brothers was dateless and boring. It's nice not having to dance with pompous and senile old men... Well, at least not senile."
She snickered at Drakken's scoff at her joke.
"Just you wait... I'm still finding a way to make your fortieth a national holiday," he smirked.
Shego shook her head and looked at his shoulder again, wondering how much of a risk it was to try resting her head there. Her thoughts were cut short by Drakken's scrunched face as he looked at her. Clearly, he wanted to say something but was overthinking it.
"What's that face for?" She restrained herself from making a crack at his appearance. Something told her there was something going on with it in his head.
"You called me Drew," he grumbled.
"So?" shrugged Shego. "I thought we were Sheila and Drew tonight, anyway."
"That's another thing... It was supposed to be Andrew... And you called me Drew in front of people we know... Was it a jab—"
"No," scoffed Shego. "If you listened...I was making a jab at Motor Ed. Doy!"
She watched Drakken's face display multiple emotions before looking skeptical at her for longer than she thought necessary. She was about to argue that it wasn't a big deal and state it wasn't like when she'd used to do it to get under his skin...that it had just happened...when it clicked. She thought of his reaction to her calling him handsome back at the lair and his glare at his reflection. This was bothering him more than she thought.
"So what if I call you Drew?" she asked cautiously. Wide eyes and a shifty response were the answer. "Okay fine, but then why is Andrew so different?"
"Because— Nghn...never-mind," he grumbled. She was going to press when Drakken pulled away as the song ended. "We need to focus on tracking down Valentine before the others do."
Shego stood on the dance floor for a few seconds after she could no longer see Drakken in the crowd. She felt her concern fade to anger as she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. She had half a mind to march over to that table and just grab the ring and leave without him if he was going to have an attitude for no reason worth at least complaining about. Her eyes darted towards the empty table where she knew said person was seated and her anger vanished. She saw a familiar blonde woman standing over the empty chair of Shea Valentine and saw something small falling from the woman's hand and into what she assumed was Valentine's wine glass. Shego's eyes flew back to the culprit and met theirs.
Shego's gaze narrowed and she fought the urge for her glow to escape as she looked after the woman weaving through people and tables. She moved swiftly after the retreating woman, not caring who saw her use a few chairs as speed leverage, though most had moved to the dance floor anyway. The woman had almost reached the hallway exit when Shego made a flawless landing in front of her. The terrified squeak the woman let out fell to silent horror as Shego let her hands heat up.
"Hello...Maisy, is it still?" Shego's eyes narrowed at the Villain's Inn's former bartender.
"She-Shego," she stuttered, nearly falling back over a chair.
"Out getting new toys for your psychotic friends again?" hissed Shego. She stepped away from the hallway to keep guard behind herself. "Should we expect a drop-in?"
"I'm not—" She watched Maisy's eyes dart to the side. "Yes."
Shego's eyes narrowed at the shifty behavior and she smirked.
"No they're not," scoffed Shego. "If you were trying a scare tactic...you made a very bad choice."
Maisy took the opening to the hallway as an escape route. Shego couldn't help the malicious smirk on her face as she followed after her. Getting revenge and keeping her cover... It was suddenly making up for the briefly soured evening.
Drakken looked over the tables that still held name cards on them. Some had been tossed aside. He was choosing to focus on that specific task over the internal squirming that was hearing Shego say that name so casually. In truth, there was no difference between it and Andrew, but Andrew wasn't a name associated with failure... Simply a similar one. It was bad enough that Motor Ed used it from time to time, but he expected that from his cousin. The only association his cousin had was simply that—relation. But Shego was different. She knew more about his aversion to that name... It had been a point of minor mocking for her over the years.
Logically...he knew if it wasn't for the makeup he kept glimpsing in reflective surfaces...it would not have earned such a reaction. He spotted his face again in a silver serving tray in passing and the sight made his skin itch. He had half a mind to storm over to Shego and complain instead of walking away like he had. He could let the dig at Motor Ed while using his name slide... But she had also registered his name on the guest list when setting up their reservation. She'd registered them as Drew and Sheila— His mind stopped racing and he looked back at the dance floor.
That's who she wanted us to be tonight...
She'd registered them before the heist plan even came up as she'd been looking over the guest list enough to memorize a name. He had a sinking feeling that if he had bothered to look at the calendar she had made with all his appointments, calls, and projects that the weekend would have been blacked out completely. This was in fact supposed to be her evening after-all... Just with a small twist of action added.
Drakken looked around the tables and then to the table not far from their own. It had been the one Shego was at before; the one she had dismissed and then made them take a seat elsewhere. He narrowed his eyes and moved swiftly towards the table. He didn't even have to squint to read the very elegantly written Shea Valentine on the card. He grumbled incoherently under his breath. He couldn't decide if he was more annoyed that Shego had deliberately pretended not to see the name or annoyed at himself for not noticing that she was clearly prolonging their evening.
His brow furrowed in a conflicting swarm of emotions as he weighed the facts he was slowly gaining. How they could have easily left with the items in hand, but then the evening would have been spent musing on his new projects... Shego could have blatantly told him that she wanted to stay longer while they both kept an eye on the table, but Drakken would have been unable to focus on simply dancing. He followed her logic for only a second before realizing they could have avoided sitting at their table altogether and that won over his annoyance.
"Unforgivable," scoffed Drakken as he looked around the ballroom.
He looked back at the card. The name was so familiar and tangible but he was unaware of how he knew it. He looked at the name Shea and then around again, thinking of the description. Dark hair...attractive. Shego assumed they worked in villainy... They knew science enough at least to know there was great value in the mood ring's technology.
Shea...
His eyes shot open as the name clicked.
"Protonia," he muttered under his breath.
A female voice cut into his thoughts.
"That's my seat... Can I help you?"
Drakken dropped the name card and spun around to see a woman standing behind him. A slender woman around his own age with long dark hair, a very attractive face, and a very concerned expression. She indicated to where the name card had fallen and Drakken felt his own confusion come in a wash. Because while he knew who Shea Valentine was now, this woman...was not her.
"Shea Valentine?" he asked in confusion.
"She couldn't make it," sighed the woman. Her eyes didn't meet his. "So if you're hoping to talk science with her, better luck next time."
There was a series of emotions racing through Drakken; relief, anger, annoyance—then back to curiosity. The woman's eyes hadn't met his, but more importantly, the garish bejeweled ring on her finger was the mood ring...and he couldn't shake the feeling of unease that felt strangely off.
Shego was right... Villain or con-artist.
"Oh doodles. My apologies," smiled Drakken. He took a stab at it. "I'm an old friend and was hoping to catch up."
"Yeah well, looks like everyone is," grumbled the woman.
She looked at her wine glass and Drakken raised a brow as she switched it for one on a passing waiter's tray. Her eyes were still looking at him as if in interrogation and Drakken cleared his throat.
"Perhaps she's at her lab in Mexico for the summer then?" asked Drakken. He hoped he was right in that location; he would have to ask Shego.
Drakken saw the impostor's eyes widen and Drakken knew he'd caught her. The woman in fact knew who she was impersonating, and it confirmed Drakken's thoughts of Protonia. His eyes darted once more to the ring and then he noted the ornate bracelet on her wrist where dark rubies were surrounded by speckled gemstones. He knew both were brazenly there which only meant that her having the facade of Shea Valentine was accurate, and she'd cleverly decided to play a different role that evening.
"You know her," the woman stated, and Drakken saw the unease and felt it again. "Okay, listen. She's my ex-sister-in-law and it's not a big deal... She never goes anywhere so I thought I'd use her name to get into a ball... I'd appreciate it..."
Drakken watched her trail off and her head tilt as if she'd just noticed him despite having been standing with him for minutes. Her direct end to the dialogue made Drakken wonder if the woman was mentally stable. He nodded internally knowing that she had to be both stable and unstable to pull off impersonations of a mad scientist like Protonia. Her silence and the rambling gave him an in to play it off casually, to seem nonthreatening.
"Mum's the word—"
"Drew Lipsky?" asked the woman quickly.
He was caught off guard by her question and wanted to let out a frustrated growl at...yet again...that name. It didn't last long. Drakken felt a strange air of delight wash through him. He quickly looked at the mood ring the woman was fiddling with now. It had turned a brilliant yellow and he wondered if she was intentionally manipulating the atmosphere...which meant the mood ring was working. Her knowing his name was very different though. He doubted she'd been looking for name cards to find a random nobody name... His eyes narrowed... She was a con-artist, so it was very possible.
"Ah...yes." He felt a lump in his throat at acknowledging the name. "Have we met?"
The grin across the woman's face seemed genuine and her hand retracted from playing with the mood ring. The color faded from yellow and Drakken felt the delight fade to his own unease again. He noted the mood ring's short effects. Part of the glitches he was sure, but the woman might not know that.
"Not in a long time." She spoke more loudly than she had, as if in excitement. "The odds are simply...astronomical... Of all places even... You probably don't recognize me. I had some work done... Thing of my ex... And it's been years..."
She was prattling on and Drakken looked around them to see if Shego was nearby. She would be able to tell a con-artist's story-line game...wouldn't she?"
"I'm sorry... So I do know you?" Drakken asked hesitantly.
"I used to live down the street from you... Shawna Green," she said cheerfully. "We went to school together until I moved away in middle school... I mean it's been ages."
Drakken blinked as this settled in. He had a distinct memory of talking of science camp, and the rocket fort came flying back to him. The rest was a faded mix of memories and childhood fog. He had trouble processing and trying to decipher if this was a con. It couldn't possibly be... The only ones who knew of Shawna were Shego and Motor Ed... So this person couldn't possibly know. He looked at the dark hair and light eyes... Her nose was different...she was older... But then it clicked as he mentally aged down the woman before him.
"Shawna," Drakken sputtered.
Yes...truly an astronomical night.
Ah... the plot thickens...
