A/N: This idea is entirely split-n-splice's and she generously let me write it. Sorry it's late.

17. Peppermint

December, 2005

Drakken set the fifth tray of cookies on the kitchen counter in the lair and then set his hands on his hips, proudly surveying his work. He had cookies to send to his mother, to Eddie, to Duff Killigan, some sabotaged ones for Professor Dementor, and a tray just for himself and Shego. He grinned and cast the pink oven mitts down on the counter, deciding to fall asleep listening to the Snowman Hank soundtrack before he cleaned up the kitchen.

"Dr. D.?"

"Ahhhh!"

"Whoa, jumpy much."

"Shego! How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me!"

"Clearly not enough," she said with a smirk.

"The oven is still hot, I could have been burned!"

"Sheesh, didn't know you had sole ownership of the kitchen," Shego said, pushing between he and the hot oven and heading toward the fridge.

"Oh, like you ever do anything in here besides microwave frozen dinners."

Shego turned back to him with a glare that stopped him cold. She looked almost hurt, and definitely angry. He replayed his words in his head and tried to figure out what he'd said wrong, but Shego yanked open the fridge with such force that it startled him out of the thoughts.

"Maybe I came in here to make something," Shego said in an uncharacteristic low voice.

Drakken blinked in surprise. He wondered if she was serious or if he should egg on the argument—a more comfortable place to be with Shego, especially lately—but in the seconds he spent in indecision, she had started forcefully pulling some things out of the fridge.

"Uhm...Shego?"

"Going to make something, I told you," she said, and he could almost hear her teeth grind. He blinked repeatedly, and then came back to the moment.

"Oh, that's...good! You should experiment more in the kitchen. It's the only way to get the skills," he said with a confident nod.

Shego looked at him and rolled her eyes very pointedly, and Drakken bit his lip. He began moving the cookies out of the way to give her space as she started organizing things, her brow furrowing even as she moved with deliberate intent but clearly unfamiliar with the kitchen, though she didn't ask him where anything was stored. After a moment he began paying attention to the ingredients she was gathering and realization struck.

"Shego... Are you...making cocoa-moo?"

"Hot chocolate," she said with emphasis, rolling her eyes at his giddy expression.

Drakken suddenly wondered why, but before he could voice the question she continued.

"And before you ask, I happen to like my grandmother's hot chocolate better than yours. So I'm making that."

Drakken considered for a moment, and then grinned as he let any confusing thoughts evaporate and bounced to her side.

"How did she make hers?"

"Ugh just watch," she said a bit harshly, so Drakken did.
He observed as she moved without confidence, seeming to think hard before each action she took from her choices of ingredients, to how to combine them. It wasn't long before his patience was stretched to its limits. He took a deep breath.

"No," Shego said before he had even formed a word.

"But Shego..."

"No, I don't want your advice, and trust me this stuff is good."

Drakken twiddled his thumbs, and then, "It just seems like you don't know how to make it!" he said in a rush, tossing his hands up to block any impending green blast.

Shego rolled her eyes. "It's been almost twenty years!" she said as she whisked cocoa powder into milk on the stove-top.

"Maybe...I could help?"

"Dr. D."

"Well I know how to combine ingredients, and you don't," he said, cringing once the words had left his mouth.

They stared at each other for a few moments before Shego sighed.

"Fine..."

"Is the chocolate bar to melt inside of it?" he asked.

"Yes..."

"Then you'll need a double boiler."

"Are those oatmeal chocolate chip cookies?" Shego asked abruptly, her whisking halted as she stared at the hot cookie tray Drakken had placed on the counter.

"Oh. Yes."

"Those are my favorite!" Shego exclaimed, her expression clearing for a moment before her eyes narrowed on him. "How did you know...?"

Drakken grinned nervously. "I...might have called your brothers? You know, they really need to do something about the security at that tower. Anyone could spy on them there..."

Shego sighed and hung her head, leaning forward with her hands on the edge of the stove. Drakken was surprised the heat wasn't bothering her.

"Sh-Shego?"

"Don't call them again. But the cookies will be great with this hot chocolate," she said with a thoughtful smile seconds before her brow furrowed lightly again.

Drakken prepared the double boiler to melt a dark chocolate bar and watched as Shego continued to whisk the milk and cocoa and honey together on the stove-top. After a few moments, her expression cleared and she paused to get the vanilla extract.

"Just a cap-ful..." she said, sounding like she was recalling a memory. Drakken smiled then and pictured a young dark-haired girl with an older woman, watching eagerly as she prepared the treat. It was strange to imagine Shego as a child or interested at all in cooking.

The vanilla added, Shego stirred some more and looked confused. She turned to the ingredients still laid out on the counter, and Drakken's brow also furrowed. The two things that remained made no sense, and yet he could see already that something else was missing.

"Should you really be...experimenting on an old recipe?" he asked.

"I'm not!" she snapped, and stepped away from the stove toward their coffee cupboard. Drakken hurried to take her place stirring the cocoa and watched as she brewed up some espresso. He didn't like the idea of coffee in his cocoa, but it was her childhood treat after all. Though...he was getting less confident about it by the moment, noting the remaining ingredients and lack of one.

"Shego? Ah...you'll need corn starch in this," he risked.

She stared back at him blankly, probably not even knowing what the ingredient was. He watched as she seemed to be searching deeply through her memory, and again his mind presented him with the image of a young girl leaning on a counter watching her grandmother cook.

"Oh, yeah," she said, looking slightly unsettled before her eyes brightened a bit. "Uh..."

"In that cupboard," Drakken gestured, and Shego moved to get it. "This reminds me of Italian hot chocolate, but with its own unique twists."

"That...sounds familiar," Shego said, returning to the stove with the corn starch. Then she stared at the box and her brow furrowed further.

Drakken was pleased he was able to piece together the recipe for the most part, the espresso being a surprise. And there were still the very strange ingredients sitting on the counter that he was afraid to ask about.

"This will be quite the treat. You should try cooking more often, Shego. Did your grandmother have other recipes you enjoyed?" Drakken asked.

Shego opened her mouth to respond, but then closed it and simply nodded. She handed the corn starch to Drakken, and he measured an appropriate amount into the mixture and turned the burner a bit lower. He watched then as she went back to the two strange ingredients on the counter and began puzzling over them.

"Ah..."

He bit his tongue on his nerves as between fresh mint leaves and mint tea, she selected the tea, and then got a smaller pot he assumed to brew it. But before he could ask why he noticed the chocolate on the double boiler had melted, and he hurried to add that to the mixture.

"Shego..."

"Oh wait, the coffee," she said, and he sighed in relief as she set the tea down and went back to the espresso machine. He added the melted dark chocolate to the pot and whisked it as Shego poured out a small cup of espresso. When she returned and poured it in the pot, she gave an uncertain glance up in Drakken's direction before speaking again. "I remember the coffee because it was a secret between us. Our parents wouldn't let us have coffee, so our grandmother said 'just a small cup won't hurt.'"

"Starting you on a lifelong addiction at what, age ten?" Drakken teased.

"Something like that," Shego replied with an uncharacteristically soft smile. But the coffee added to the mixture that Drakken continued to stir and nothing else left to do, she looked back to the box of tea in confusion.

Drakken held his breath and felt himself getting more and more tense as she started to pull out teabags and appeared to be mentally calculating how many she would need. Hit bit his lip, and finally when it was clear she was about to brew tea to add to the cocoa he couldn't take it.

"Shego, stop."

She turned to him with a petulant and almost hurt frown.

"There is no way your grandmother put tea in the hot chocolate."

For a moment it looked like Shego might blast him, but instead her emotions wavered toward distress, which took Drakken by surprise.

"But it definitely isn't mint leaves, so it has to be tea!"

Drakken studied her for a moment, not quite understanding.

"I'm...not sure what you think you remember, but..."

He trailed off. As he had spoken, Shego had sighed and leaned on the counter, her eyes downcast and looking almost defeated.

"...Shego?"

"That's the problem," she said quietly, her jaw tense.

"What is?"

"I..." She balled one hand into a fist and hit the countertop. "I can't remember."

Drakken paused, unsure why she was so upset.

"It...was a long time ago..." he ventured.

"Everything before the comet is fuzzy."

Understanding struck, and Drakken's lips formed a soundless 'oh' as he watched Shego's face growing more and more distressed. He knew there was a line there he couldn't cross in discussing her past. He thought for a moment and cleared his throat to gain her attention. She looked up, ready to fight back should he say something untoward.

Drakken nodded nervously toward the tea bags as he tried to maintain calm for her sake. "The tea. What are you trying to remember?"

Shego blinked at him, her expression tense, but finally she gave a resigned sigh and stared down at the pot that Drakken was still dutifully whisking.

"There was always this amazing taste of mint that started out faint but grew stronger with each sip. I can't remember how she made it. But I know there weren't any mint leaves..."

Drakken eyeballed the tea bags and considered Shego's words. For a third time, the image of a young raven-haired girl came to his mind, standing at her grandmother's side and handing her ingredients, taking a turn to stir as the older woman wiped her hands on her holiday-themed apron...

The metaphoric light bulb came on.

"Put the tea away," Drakken said gently and not without some hesitation. It was still Shego after all, and her trust was fragile.

The volatile woman looked up and studied his expression, and then after a few moments she slowly began to stuff the bags back into their small box. Drakken knew she was taking a personal risk, trusting him, and he didn't dare let her down.

The hot chocolate had reached its perfect temperature on the stove-top and he took it off the burner and began to pour the thicker concoction into two mugs for the both of them.

"Whipped cream?" he asked, and she nodded. Usually he would prefer to make his own, but he was eager to calm Shego's anxieties about what was clearly a beloved holiday tradition. When she brought him a can from the fridge, he took it and made artful swirls atop the rich, brown liquid in the mugs, which she watched with patience and curiosity.

His heart ached for the side-kick he shouldn't love—for the way she was looking at him with anxiety and trust, for the lost memories she would never get back, and for a childhood stolen... He smiled gently and held up his hand in a gesture that she should wait, and then took up both mugs and indicated she follow him to the living room.

Once there he sat the mugs down on the coffee table, and Shego crossed her arms and looked less trusting and almost hurt. But he was certain he knew what memory she had forgotten. He crossed the room to the Christmas tree and heard her take a breath.

"It won't be the same without the—"

She stopped as Drakken turned back around, producing two candy canes he had pulled from the tree's decor. Shego stared as he returned to sit on the sofa, unwrap the confections, and place them inside each mug. He glanced up at Shego with a knowing smile as she looked between him and the mugs. He picked up his and started to slowly stir the hot chocolate with the candy cane.

"That...that's it," Shego said, almost disbelievingly. And by the faraway look in her eyes, Drakken could tell she was someplace else entirely.

She slowly sat down as he sampled the drink for himself, which was surprisingly good. He turned to tell her so, but the sentiment died on his lips when he noticed her eyes shining with un-shed tears. It took but a moment to decide it was best not to say a word, and he instead remained silent as she picked up her cocoa and slowly twirled the candy cane through the drink.