A/N: This fic is special to me. It is special because I'm proud of the plot, after trying to come up with a good one for well over a year. I'm not exaggerating. But more than that, it is special due to the inspiration, and the two people it is a gift to.
This fic was inspired by two stunning works of art by my two very dear friends, Gothicthundra and split-n-splice. The two pieces of art are embedded into the fic where they match the scenes on my AO3, so please, take a brief journey over there to see the art as FFn disallows links. The two pieces of art are similar yet different, have nothing to do with each other, and were drawn I think over a year apart. I loved them independently as two of my favorite Drakgo pieces, but it hit me one day staring at the similarities that I needed to write a fic inspired by them.
The fact that these pieces were drawn by my two dearest friends (and amazing writers! go read their fics!) is what makes this little story most special to me. So after over a year of agonizing until I could think of the perfect plot, this small fic is a surprise gift for the both of them.
Merry Christmas, SnS and GT!
Finally, Fair Weather
Drakken rushed into the control room of his mountain top fortress lair and hesitated in front of the computer monitors. He lifted his arm to wipe the sweat from his brow, but the leather of his sleeve only served to move the moisture around. He didn't notice however, laser-focused on his plot as he was.
Everything—absolutely everything—was going according to plan. He took a few breaths to try to steady himself, feeling a wave of dizziness pass over him. He sat back in his great chair which had been moved into the lab as a last-minute solution to a postal service failure. He'd wanted a throne, but it was late. Shego had suggested the chair as a compromise.
He reached forward and flipped the switch to turn on the microphone and then activated the group call.
"A-All right," he said, surprised by the nervous tremor in his voice. "Sound off! Is everyone ready?"
"Standing by, Dr. Drakken," Jameson's voice sounded first, followed by a chorus of others as faces of each of his henchmen appeared one by one on the grid the large monitor had been divided into.
"Good," Drakken said, rubbing his hands. "Stealth mode is to be maintained until I give the signal!"
Another round of acknowledgements only did so much to settle his nerves. He paused and wiped sweat from his forehead once again as he mentally ran over his plot. All of the henchmen were in position, and the weather machines invisible until the last possible moment. Every contingency had been considered, every variable accounted for...
He glanced nervously over at the door.
All he could hope at this point, was that Kim Possible had also not thought of every variable. But thus far...it appeared she hadn't. Which he knew was part of why he was so nervous.
It was actually working this time. There had been no setbacks, no interference from meddling teenagers, not one single slip-up... It was going so perfectly it felt impossible, so now before the plan could be brought to fruition he needed to know that the final puzzle piece was in place.
And so he had to wait.
"All right, then... Stay ready!"
"Right, boss!" was one reply among others, and Drakken closed the communication. He stood from the chair and went over the map, seeing all the weather machines indicated via GPS. He also stared for a long time at the blinking red dots over the key location...
It was in motion. It couldn't be stopped now. Either he would finally win, or else... It would be the greatest defeat yet. Worse than the Li'l Diablos, if somehow Kim Possible were to stop him again.
He began pacing in front of the computer.
No, it wouldn't happen. He'd thought of everything this time. The plan was flawless. Now it all depended on...
The door slammed open.
"Shego!"
He halted his pacing as she rushed toward him, the question in his eyes unspoken without need.
"Hurry! Before she finds a way out!"
Drakken spun back to the computer and threw open the plastic cover on the big red button. He paused and looked at Shego, who shared his look of anticipation for just a split second before she turned on the microphone to the henchmen.
"All right, let's roll!" she said, and Drakken pushed the button.
The roof of the lair opened as it was designed, and the pair watched as the Atmosphere Disruptor 2.0 rose out of the ground. It activated with a whir and Drakken watched the computer monitor showing his invention doing its work. It wouldn't be long before the polar vortex was disrupted, and with that enhancing his army of weather machines...the global winter would be unstoppable.
"She's trying to escape," Shego said behind him, and Drakken spun to look at the monitor where Shego was watching the video feed to the bunker where she had lured Kim Possible on a ruse.
"Are you sure she won't be able to get out?" Drakken asked in a mixture of ire and anxiousness.
"Relax," Shego said, though he could hear the tension in her voice. "That's why we used the generator for the monitor, remember? No air vents, no wiring, no loopholes."
"And you destroyed her communication device?" he asked, taking a step nearer.
"I did one better," Shego said and pointed to the door where a small dingy backpack rested. "I stole the side-kick's stash. She's got nothing to work with."
Slowly, a weight started to lift from Drakken's chest, a sensation of floating replacing it. He leaned forward over the microphone to the henchmen.
"Initiate phase two!" he said boldly, and he then switched over to a monitor that was tapped into a weather camera at the news station over New York City. What had been a sunny day that morning was now overcast, and he could already see snow starting to layer around the buildings. He swapped to the next feed over London, knowing that was also the first most likely to show signs. Sure enough, large snowflakes were blowing past the camera rapidly and blocking the view of the darkening city.
He continued switching from camera to camera, starting with more northern cities that were safe as far as his plan was concerned, but then he started looking further south. Tokyo, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, and even Brisbane...
"Shego... Shego!" he cried in excitement, watching as every city was becoming gradually buried in snow.
"Dr. D.!" she responded, and he turned to look at the monitor where she'd tapped into the GEOS satellite circuit. Storms were swirling over nearly every part of the globe now and visibly growing in intensity.
"It's... It's working," he managed, disbelieving even though he could see it. "Shego, it's working!"
He whirled over to her and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her in his excitement. Rather than brushing him off or rolling her eyes, he found her staring back at him with a vibrant, evil smile. Within moments they had both begin to laugh until they were both cackling with abandon, and holding each other and spinning around and around as finally, gloriously, his plan was succeeding.
He paused in the spin briefly to reach out a hand and smugly press the button that would send the recording of his demands to various world governments, but Shego hadn't anticipated his halting. He successfully sent the demands, but in that brief moment Shego had crashed into him, causing them both to stumble.
They tripped in a tangle until Drakken's legs hit his chair, and in a moment both were blinking with Drakken gasping for breath as he'd fallen into the chair, and Shego atop his lap. They looked at each other and then continued to laugh harder than before, too overwhelmed with the victory in the moment to care about anything else.
"Oh, Dr. D. look," Shego said through tears as she pointed vaguely to one of the monitors. "Kimmy is trying to escape."
Drakken looked and noticed the cheerleader's eyes blinking at their monitor, and he nodded to Shego as his grin grew more evil. She leaned toward the computer and activated the two-way camera and audio, and cackled with glee as he watched the teen jump away in surprise.
"You're too late, Kim Possible!" he began the practiced rant. "This time I've won! World leaders are already bowing to me!"
He glanced over at the other side of the monitor, and his heart leapt as he saw...the words were true. He clung tightly to Shego out of instinct as what had always felt just out of reach was finally his.
"What's your plot, Drakken!" Possible demanded.
Drakken's smirk grew so broad that his cheeks hurt.
"Oh no no, for you see, if I told you then you might think of some way to..." he glanced at Shego, "impede my victory."
Shego's brow rose and she nodded. "Good word."
"You'll never get away with it, Drakken!" Possible exclaimed, her side-kick and his pet looking very nervous over her shoulder.
"Ah, but you see Kim Possible...I already have!" he exclaimed with a cackle, holding Shego tighter. "You should have stuck to babysitting! Enjoy confinement."
Shego joined him in his mirth, kicking her legs once in reckless abandon as she reached out to close the communication with the teen hero. Drakken laughed along with her as the cheerleader's angered protests were cut off, and he smiled so hard that his cheeks hurt as he emptied himself of emotion.
He had won. He'd finally...
He felt a hand on his cheek and looked down to see Shego turning his face toward hers. She looked just as thrilled as he felt, as they continued laughing together, until her hand tugged his face down toward hers.
The kiss only intensified the floating euphoria Drakken was feeling, and added a feeling like fire racing to his every nerve ending. When their lips parted he rested his forehead against hers as he gasped for air.
"Shego..." he finally breathed in awe.
"You won, Doc," she said softly, grinning up at him.
He stared back into her eyes for a long moment before he glanced over to the monitor. Replies to his demands were coming in. His global winter was truly unstoppable, and apparently world leaders could see that. They were all bowing to him, ready to answer to him if only to save themselves... He would work on loyalty later.
Drakken looked back to where Shego was still grinning up at him, her eyes shimmering in delight and her smile wicked.
"I couldn't have done it without you," he blurted out.
Shego appeared surprised at the uncharacteristic praise, and for a moment her gaze grew softer. Drakken suddenly felt nervous for an entirely different reason, and he cleared his throat and looked back at the monitors.
"I should read the responses and then make my victory speech—"
"Let them sweat for awhile," Shego interrupted, the smirk back on her face. "And the speech can wait. For now...we revel."
Drakken turned back to her. "Oh, I like reveling... Do I...like reveling? What is 'revel'?"
Shego wiped some of the sweat from his forehead and then ran her fingers back through his hair.
"Yeah, you do. And rest. You haven't slept in four days."
"Has it been that long...?" Drakken asked, suddenly feeling tired as Shego's fingers raked through his hair and over his scalp repeatedly. There was something soothing about the gesture that was helping to eliminate the last of his nerves.
Behind him, the whir of the Atmosphere Disruptor became white noise as it supported the weather machines and increased their power and vice versa, in an almost symbiotic relationship with the Earth's actual atmosphere. On the screens, the rushing white of blizzards confirmed his victory even while Shego was murmuring rare affirmations in his ear.
He thought he heard her yawn, and then realized his eyes had slipped closed. He startled and looked to where she was still grinning, but looking notably tired.
"Rest, Doc. You rule the world now. You deserve a break."
He smiled at her as his eyelids felt too heavy, and boldly, he leaned down to kiss her. He felt the smile on her lips as she kissed him back and felt the laugh in her chest as he held her close. Her happiness was contagious and he felt himself floating again as they parted and he looked into her eyes.
He almost told her he'd already had the world, from the moment he had her... Almost. But he shyly bit down on the words and let himself sink further into the chair, one of his hands covering Shego's as she melted into him. Someday, he'd be brave enough to tell her.
The white noise gradually faded to silence, and the hand in his hair eventually stilled. And for the first time in perhaps years, with the confidence of his genius finally recognized through victory, and the peace of having the woman he loved in his arms, Drakken fell into a comfortable, restful sleep.
A/N: Seriously, just look on AO3 where the images are embedded. But here are the art links:
gothicthundra. tumblr. (c)om/post/617070887885307904/bcbdrums-i-hope-this-is-what-you-were-looking
midnightcaptions. tumblr. (c)om/post/186950293410/yes-hello-ill-take-a-side-of-snuggles-with-my