A/N: Originally this was supposed to one long chapter but since I only got halway through and THIS was half... I figured it was a good idea to end it at this length. Sorry I took so long.

Fever

Drakken wasn't even sure what he was looking at. He stared at the numbers on the computer screen and none of the numbers for the blood panel were adding up. He scowled at it. He didn't even have a healthy one to compare it with to find if something was wrong. He looked at Shego's unconscious form. She'd yet to wake up since she collapsed on the floor of the museum. There was something clearly wrong. He looked at the monitors he'd been able to acquire and bit his lip at her core temperature. It was very high even after he'd tried ice packs. It had only gotten her skin down enough he could actually get blood.

Despite that, her vitals seemed stable. He felt his chest tighten as he looked at her.

This is my fault. I should have just used what I had...

He took a deep breath and cleared his thoughts; he needed to focus on what to do and not what had happened. His mind swam with insults at himself and doubts at his own competence. He pushed away from his desk and walked over towards Shego. He moved his hand towards her head, fully aware that she was still at a high temperature. He could feel the heat through his gloves. He chewed on his lip as he looked at her, he'd avoided letting blind panic take over but it was getting harder to fight.

He began to pace the room again, trying to think of any alternatives. He'd thought about taking her to one of the hospitals, a doctor at the Villain's Inn, or any medical facility... But what would they do? Call Global Justice, lock her into a lab room to run invasive tests... He couldn't let that happen. He slumped next to the bed and looked at her.

"What do I do?" he whispered to himself.

He leaned back against the bed and looked at her closely. There was a sheen of moisture across her ghostly pale face. If it was from her fever or the cool rag he'd kept putting on her head, he didn't know. He tore his eyes from her and looked at the monitor, his hand absentmindedly touching hers only for a second before he yanked it back. There had been a few times he swore he'd seen them give a faint glow over the past days and he needed to be cautious. He was already far too close to her without knowing what she'd been exposed to. Reluctantly he got to his feet, cursing at himself for not grabbing whatever she'd held to run tests on that. He looked at her again and saw the slight twitch in her face just as the monitor spiked.

It was hot as Shego sat next to the fire, a nice relief in the cooling air. The only downfall was that the stars would be clearer away from the orange glow. She looked into the distance where Maverick was still attempting to collect fireflies without much success. She couldn't figure out why he was struggling so hard; they didn't fly fast.

"Why don't you go help your brother?" came a man's voice behind her.

She looked up at the dark haired man from the picnic table from earlier, his tired deep eyes looking at her warmly. His face was slender adorned with a lopsided smile and a nose similar to Henry's. The shadow on his face would make most see him as intimidating but she felt nothing but content as she looked at him.

"Do I have to Daddy?" asked Shego with a sigh.

He laughed.

"You don't have to, sweetie," he sighed, "but you are his big sister and he needs help..."

"I know," she rolled her eyes and got up.

"What have I told you about eye-rolling?" came a woman's voice near the small camper behind the fire.

"It's unladylike," sighed Shego as she picked up a jar.

"She gets it from her mother," smirked the man. Shego smiled at the woman's annoyed look as she gave her own eye-roll, "See. Like mother like daughter."

Shego sprinted into the field as the man and woman began to playfully banter. Maverick was pouting on the ground as she reached him. Shego snorted and bumped into him intentionally and held up her jar for him to do the same.

"I don't want to anymore," he pouted. "It's too hard."

"Fine, I'll catch them all myself," shrugged Shego as she held her open jar. One drifted in on its own and she grinned. "Easy."

"Hey! That's cheating, you're not even trying," he yelled as he got up.

"Maybe you're trying too hard then," said Shego as she handed him the jar. "There you go."

"I don't want it," he crossed his arms. "I want my own. It's not fair."

Shego was about to roll her eyes but stopped herself. She smirked at the jar and then let the firefly go and reached down to grab Maverick's jar and shove it towards him.

"I don't..."

"Are you really going to let the hero get all the power bugs and get stronger than you?" scoffed Shego. "Typical villains...no drive."

Maverick blinked at her and then glared before snatching the jar, a playful smile on his face.

"No way a hero is going to defeat me," and he was off.

It felt like hours passed as they ran and laughed attempting to capture more and more fireflies. Shego was both impressed and irritated that Maverick had gained so many simply because he didn't want her to win. She saw movement through the woods and Henry came sluggishly through the trees, a look of agitation on his face as he looked behind him. She noticed this but ran towards him quickly.

"Henry!" Maverick declared dramatically as he held up his jar. "Join my side and defeat the evil villain She-She with me!"

"I thought I was the hero?" snorted Shego. Maverick shrugged.

"I changed my mind," he replied. Shego smirked and took his jar. "Hey! You can't do that!"

"If I'm the villain I don't have to play nice," Shego laughed. "Come on 'Hego' join me in evil!"

"Aren't you two too old for that silly game?" snorted Henry. Shego felt a wave of annoyance as she saw Maverick's face fall.

"Ignore him, he thinks he's too good for us now he has a girlfriend," huffed Shego. "Probably wasted his last brain-cells making out with that girl from earlier."

"I didn't know he had any left," muttered Maverick. Henry snatched their jars. "Hey!"

"I thought you wanted me to play?" smirked Henry as he opened the jars and tossed them.

"You're such a jerk Henry!" snapped Shego as Maverick ran after the jars.

The retort faded to muffled darkness. Shego felt as if fire was engulfing her and her chest felt tight as if she was being crushed by a car. She wanted to scream but she could only hear buzzing.

Drakken fell over his desk as green flames spiraled around the room. The monitors were going berserk and Shego's body seemed to shake. Drakken covered his head as the heat swirled around the once-cold lab, grateful he'd had the awareness to move anything flammable or combustible out of the area earlier. His mind fixated on this instead of the panic and fear that was crawling through him. As the heat seemed to fade he opened his eyes and looked towards where the monitors had stopped beeping rapidly and returned to their previous readings. Her body was still, save for her labored breathing and contorted face. Her temperature was rising.

"Ice," Drakken hissed as the panic finally flared passed his mental distractions. "I need more ice."

You need help!

He screamed at himself as he began dragging a bag of ice towards Shego, glad it had only slightly melted in the heat spike. He began pouring it around her as best he could while going over their contact lists for anyone with even basic medical skills. Names swam through his head like ripples in a clouded pond. There were plenty but would any of them be helpful? Would they just run all the tests he already had?

Waste more time.

Drakken watched the temperature slowly begin to drop as the ice liquefied slowly around her. The fear and panic was climbing again. It wasn't for his own safety but for Shego's. He looked at the monitor, watching the colors become foggy blurs in his stupor as he stared at all the names and resources he'd ever encountered, checking a mental list of credibility versus trustworthiness. The idea of leaving Shego in such an unstable state around anyone made his insides ache. As he looked at the rainbow of colors on the screens and then to Shego...it clicked.

"Mego!" Drakken exclaimed.

Drakken couldn't believe how he'd completely forgotten Shego's brother. A medical doctor, and her own blood. Not only could he be trusted with Shego in her weakened state but an extraction of his blood might let him be able to understand the levels more clearly. He knew Mego had no problem giving blood samples, or at least testing them himself. He'd been lucky that Shego had yet to actually delete his contact from his phone like she had threatened. Knowing Shego she probably had figured out a way to block any server nearby from reaching her brothers' website.

Do they have one?

Drakken pondered looking into that at a later date. He heard the machines beep and looked quickly towards Shego, but she didn't twitch and nothing looked off about the machines. It might have just been a small spike. He moved from where he had been anxiously monitoring the surveillance in anticipation for Mego's arrival. He looked at her temperature reading and frowned. It had gone up again. Not as much as it had been, but still far more than it should. He poured more ice around her making sure it didn't physically touch her. He knew it would melt either way.

He looked around the lab. It was too large to keep the temperature down enough and it was the only place the equipment would be able to function. He rolled his eyes as he looked at the walls.

"This is built into caves, how can it not stay cooler?" he hissed to himself. The alarm went off on the computer monitor. "That was fast..."

Drakken could see a multicolored jet headed towards the lair and watched as the monitor automatically switched to thermal—a feature Shego had been adamant about using. Drakken's brow shot up as it showed more than one form in the image as he turned off the automatic attack lasers. Drakken looked at Shego and cringed.

"If she wakes up and all her brothers are here...I may never wake up," he muttered under his breath as he headed towards the door of the lair.

What if she doesn't wake up...

Drakken's body tensed at his own thoughts. His hand touched the keypad and his thoughts began to jumble up with 'What if's?' and some not even pertaining to his last thought. He felt dizzy suddenly but shook it off as a pounding came at the door. Drakken hastily hit the open button and focused his thoughts and expression. It appeared that not all of her brothers had arrived; the twins were absent.

"So what exactly is wrong with Shego?" was asked by Hego before the door finished opening.

"Geesh, Hego," Mego rolled his eyes and stepped around his bulky brother. "Hey Drakken. Ignore him, he has no medical training and he barged into the jet before I could leave."

"There had to be a reason Dr. Drakken would call you here. If she had the sniffles he wouldn't have bothered," glared Hego.

Drakken stood in silence as the two brothers began to argue about things he neither cared about nor understood. Normally he might have listened in only to bug Shego with it, but he was fighting a build-up of anger mixed with a dull thumping in his head that wasn't helping the dizziness caused by his own prior thoughts. Drakken chose instead to walk back to the lab, the two seemed to follow but their argument didn't end.

"Like Shego wants to see your goofy mug when she's sick. You're going to give her nausea," scoffed Mego.

"She probably already is from the scent of your cologne. It could kill a horse," Hego snarked back.

Drakken's head was pounding as they reached the lab, their arguing still continuing despite the fact that if they had looked up, they could have clearly seen Shego unaware of any of them. Drakken wondered if she was suddenly, but he couldn't even get that thought in focus due to the two behind him.

"Are you two done?" snapped Drakken.

His pounding headache wasn't helped by his own outburst. Their eyes turned to him. He wasn't sure if they were going to argue with him or not, because their eyes went wide. Drakken felt sudden warmth coming from behind him and his stomach dropped before the beeping surged. He turned around to see the ice had melted and was drying rapidly as the green flames flared again around Shego.

Her head was pounding as she heard babies crying. She felt so tired and a brightly colored clock showed it was far too early to be awake. Shego climbed out of bed to follow the noise down a narrow, paneled hallway. There was tired singing over the cries clashing with the sound of mobile playing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.' As Shego looked into the doorway of a small nursery, one baby had fallen silent. She watched as the woman was still singing something while holding the crying one. She looked far more tired than just from the child she held. Shego couldn't figure out how she knew that...but she did.

"Mommy, why won't he sleep?" asked Shego groggily, a small whine in her voice.

The woman looked at her quickly, slightly startled. Despite her exhaustion, there was warmth in her eyes as she looked at her.

"He's a baby, sweetie... Sometimes they cry out of frustration. It's natural," said the woman softly.

"Why is he frustrated...he's a baby," Shego scoffed.

"Imagine waking up to things you don't know. He's a baby which means...everything is new and overwhelming until he gets used to it," sighed the woman. "Sometimes crying helps relieve all that pressure. As they get used to it, it will start to fade. You'll see. Mavie used to cry a lot more than them."

"Well its Mav," shrugged Shego. The woman snorted but shook her head in disapproval. "I wanted a sister."

"I wanted a dog," the woman mirrored her whine but smiled as the baby finally stopped crying.

The woman put the now-sleeping baby back down and made motions they should leave. Shego obliged and leaned against the wall across from the doorway outside the room. She looked down at her bare feet against the dark carpet. There was a floral scent that bothered her despite it being soothing. The closing of the door softly in front of her alerted her to look upwards.

"You should get back to bed. We're going to your grandma's for brunch. Don't want you falling asleep," said the woman as she pushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Grandma's talks always put me to sleep," mumbled Shego. "I'm not tired."

It was a lie as she could barely keep her eyes open. The woman's pursed lips and raised brow made it clear she wasn't fooling her with her words. The woman let out a deep sigh and pulled her against her and slung an arm over her shoulder.

"Me neither. We should watch a movie to fix that," the woman stated as they walked down the wooden stairs.

"We should see if they are re-running 'Earth Babes are Simple' again," Shego said. She felt a little more alert as she spoke. The woman looked annoyed.

"You are far too young for that movie..."

"Henry let me watch 'October 31st' and I am way too young for that and I was fine," Shego pouted. "This isn't even a scary movie. It's a romance."

"How about we watch 'Sappy Hours' and call it a night?" asked the woman. Shego pouted harder. "Fine, if it's on we can watch it."

The image was foggy as she felt ice cold around her suddenly. She focused harder on it, wanting so badly to watch the movie. The cold feeling became unbearably hot as she was awoken by a loud noise again. The television was off and the woman held her tightly against her. The panicked look on her face in the darkness made her feel like there was a reason to be afraid.

"Mom—"

"Shh," cooed the women quietly, a forced smile on her face. "Stay here okay? I'll be right back."

Shego nodded. She didn't know why but something about the serious tone behind the sweetness made it clear something was wrong. She waited and then she heard arguing. Yelling. The voices were familiar. The man from the picnic and the fireflies, and Henry.

"Are you kidding me Henry! You're lucky my friends at the precinct called me—"

"We didn't do anything, relax would you," came Henry's voice.

"Shh, the babies are asleep..." The woman said sharply. Silence, and then, "How could you sneak out? What if something happened?"

"Nothing ever happens..." scoffed Henry. "When did you two get so paranoid? It never used to be a big deal. Suddenly curfews and—"

The ice cold feeling was back and the voices faded. The images of the nice house on a dark night vanished as silence and darkness resumed.

Drakken's hand shook slightly as he hurried the ice around Shego. The fire was gone but her temperature had refused to go down. He'd even put it on her which he had been avoiding out of fear of frostbite. As hot as she was he suddenly felt idiotic at the notion. The ice was liquefying far too fast to cause damage. He hadn't been paying attention to Mego or Hego as his ears were focusing on the sound of the beeping and trying to make it stop.

It finally faded to a dull beep and he let out a deep sigh. It dawned on him that the ice had replenished itself each time he'd reached for a new bag. He looked towards Hego as he put more ice down with a loud thud, a look of confusion and clear fear on his face. Mego's mirrored it. Drakken gestured towards Shego about to say that this was the problem when he was suddenly in the air, Hego's hand gripping his collar.

"What did you do to our sister?" he glared. Drakken choked slightly on both indignation and lack of airflow.

"Hego!" snapped Mego. "What are you doing?"

"An experiment? Some sort of—" A purple blast cut off Hego's words and Drakken hit the ground.

He coughed and pulled at his collar to stop the leather from being twisted. Drakken's mind went into hyper-drive as he mentally tried to find any form of protection in case this turned ugly. His mind fell to his plasma shield in his desk drawer, and then paused to chastise himself for not wearing the belt clip already as it would have aided in protection against Shego's fever-fire regardless.

"Drakken are you okay?" came Mego's voice. "What in the heck Hego? What kind of idiot would call us if they caused the problem they called us here for!?"

Drakken could mentally hear Shego make a snide comment at that statement.

"What if this was an elaborate trap? He's a villain Mego," snapped Hego. His expression was serious.

"News flash," Mego retorted, "so is our sister. And it's not like we're in Go City... You need to get out of the city more... Honestly I would appreciate the space."

Drakken wanted to be angry and wanted to find a laser gun and blast the large blue superhero in his lair. The sheer idea that Hego would think even for a moment that he'd done some sort of experiment on Shego and lured them into a trap... However, he'd heard enough of Shego's past to know that that exact scenario wasn't uncommon in Go City. Unlike Mego and his brief meeting with the Wegos...he'd never actually spoke to Hego one-on-one like them. To Hego...villain treachery seemed the only logical conclusion.

Oh, suddenly you're empathic... That's not the word...

"Something happened on our last caper," sneered Drakken. He told himself to pull back. "She nearly melted down an entire museum...and then she just...passed out and hasn't woken up." Drakken gestured sharply towards Shego. "And that keeps happening," he glared. The intensity fell suddenly. "So this...has never happened before?"

"No," said Mego and Hego at the same time.

Drakken narrowed his eyes at the lights of the monitors.

This is your fault... You exposed her to something—

"Has this been her standard reading?" asked Mego as he moved closer to the monitor. He didn't look too shocked by the numbers.

"Yes...is this normal?" asked Drakken. They gave him a confused look. "Shego's never let me test her blood or vitals before. I know the readings aren't normal but are they normal for her?"

Drakken's frustration grew as all Hego and Mego did was share a strange look. Hego, still with a stern look on his face, turned to look at Drakken as if sizing him up. Drakken might have been intimidated...he was... His musings on what size laser he'd need to blast Hego out a window and a good time to do so were interrupted by Mego.

"Do you have hazmat suits around here?" asked Mego. Drakken and Hego both looked at him. "If she has something or came into contact with something that affects her powers..."

He gestured to himself and Hego. Drakken had a mental image of multicolored flames burning his lair to the ground. Drakken knew there were several hundred suits somewhere in the lair from various henchmen and his old synthodrones. Drakken realized Mego was still ranting only because of the deep sigh and eye-roll from Hego.

"Do you know what she was exposed to?" asked Mego. "A location or object? Something toxic in some other evil lab?"

"We were at a museum," said Drakken as he began looking in one of the small metal storage bins for a hazmat suit. He paused. "A rock of some sort."

"Did you run a toxicity read on it?" asked Mego. "It could narrow down... I'm sorry Hego do you have something to say?"

Hego had sighed again.

"Nothing, I'm just imagining having to deal with this every day," said Hego. "At least at Go Tower you just rant about yourself and don't bark orders at people."

"Well tell you what Hego," glared Mego. "Next time Shego gets food poisoning from Beuno Nacho...you can deal with that malady, okay?"

"It happened one time and I still think the Wegos had the stomach flu," snapped Hego.

Drakken's head was pounding again as they argued. He was starting to see why Shego hadn't wanted him to formally meet them all at once. He kept looking at Shego's monitor and hearing Mego's words. He didn't have that stone, which clearly was what had caused this. He had been so worried about Shego and the waking guards that the stone had seemed irrelevant...and transporting it with them might have made things worse either way.

Was it some sort of poisoning that even got through her thick gloves? It didn't make sense unless she inhaled something. He hadn't seen Shego ill a lot; only a few times. Each time had affected her powers in some way, making her strength weak and her plasma blasts either faulty or nonresistant. He looked at the monitors and watched a few numbers climb. He looked at the two heroes again.

"Zip it!" yelled Drakken. Both turned and looked at him as if he'd grown another head. "Your yelling is aggravating Shego."

"It always did," said Hego. He looked at the vitals. "Did you run any tests on the rock?"

"I don't have the rock," sighed Drakken. He tossed the hazmat suits on the desk. "I was more concerned about carrying Shego out without getting attacked by security."

"Not a multi-tasker?" asked Hego with a slow nod as he looked around. "Makes sense."

"What makes sense?" glared Drakken. Hego didn't get a chance to respond.

"All right, so that's the plan. Drakken, you gotta find the stone so you can test it against her blood levels," said Mego. "Hego can go with you as backup."

Hego and Drakken spoke at the same time.

"I can do what?"

"Hego's going where?"

"Unless you want to go it alone and leave Hego and me here to aggravate Shego," said Mego. His tone and posture made it very clear to Drakken he was Shego's brother.

"Are you insinuating I aid in criminal activity?" asked Hego in shock.

"I told you to stay at Go Tower," replied Mego dryly as he began putting on the suit. "Uhg, these things always smell like soap was never invented."

"So like your room?" asked Hego. Mego gave him a death glare as he yanked on gloves. "Fine. Should we take the jet Dr. Drakken?"

Drakken wanted nothing more than to tell Hego he would rather he return to Go Tower, but realistically...he doubted he could get in and out of the museum on his own. No doubt there would be more security since their last visit. Drakken looked at Shego before letting out a deep sigh and narrowing his eyes at Hego.

"We take the hovercar," he replied. "I'll need to bring a small containment unit so you don't get exposed."

"If he does, leave him there," called Mego as the two headed towards the exit.

"That would be the plan," muttered Drakken.

The level of discomfort didn't change as Drakken zipped at high speed towards the museum. Hego had said nothing since they had gotten into the craft. Drakken preferred it, but the silence was making his thoughts wander and wasn't helping his twisting stomach. He was still nauseous from the headache that had now faded into a few slight pains here and there. He had tried thinking about his laser just to keep his mind focused but it only pushed the fear and guilt he was having.

If he had just gotten over his own fear of those gauntlets and had committed to working longer on his laser and finding a way to harvest the stones...she would have never been put at risk. He tried arguing that neither of them could have possibly guessed a simple visit to the museum would have caused any problems other than dodging a few bullets from guards at most.

The gauntlets were at a museum.

Drakken let out a deep sigh at that thought. He became aware Hego had been talking to him.

"I apologize for my brash behavior earlier," came Hego's voice.

Drakken's brow rose and he glanced at Hego next to him. Something about the apology made Drakken more irritated he hadn't blasted him with a laser earlier. Drakken wanted to say something snide and clever but he instead fell silent. It was not in his best interest to antagonize the man next to him for his actions and apology. He needed to keep focused on finding a way into the museum and finding that stone. He hoped the container was secure enough to not affect Hego if they did find the strange stone.

How are you even going to know...

Drakken's thought made him take a deep breath. What if it wasn't even there now? He didn't even know where Shego had gotten it and his only memory was that it looked like charcoal. What would they do then? Break into Global Justice for a blood sample and hope there might be answers there? His thoughts switched to trying to find a way to isolate Shego better in case more ice was needed. He couldn't just make a hazmat tent; the heat she was sporadically giving off would melt it. He mentally began ticking off every single place he could think of that might have an alternative.

Shego would know...

His hands gripped the controls tighter as he saw the museum ahead. His leg was shaking as his mind raced a mile a minute with a mixture of possible resolutions, worry, self-pity, blame, annoyance, and the thought of returning to his unfinished laser. The last thought made him angry and he willed it away as he landed the hovercar.

"Why were you two breaking into a museum?" asked Hego.

"We were enjoying an evening stroll and cultural learning experience," stated Drakken. Hego nodded as if in understanding. "Clearly we were looking for something to steal."

"Decoration purposes?" asked Hego casually. "Needed something more sinister for the outdated cave motif?"

Drakken couldn't tell if Hego still believed his sarcastic statement or if he was trying to insult the lair. Drakken was torn between an eye-roll or arguing about the lair and how it was not outdated. It was a similar level of frustration he'd felt when he and Shego had first started working together, before he could tell between her being sweet and encouraging or blatantly sarcastic. Some moments he still had to decipher.

"Should we have called ahead to explain the situation?" asked Hego. Drakken slowly turned to look at him in utter confusion.

"Is... Is that what villains do in Go City? Would they call and say, 'Gee, broke in and melted some stuff but now one of us is sick so we need to see if it's from something we thought about stealing... Mind if you let us in?' Because if so..." Drakken's rant was cut off.

Hego looked slightly embarrassed before his eyes narrowed.

"Forgive me for not being aware of villain manners and protocols," he scoffed. Drakken paused for a moment and smirked.

"Really? You wrote a book on it," stated Drakken. "One would think you knew better."

"You...you know about that?" Hego stammered. Drakken shrugged.

"We all do," said Drakken. "Shego was particularly fond of the dedication page."

Drakken didn't hear his reply as he began looking at the prior entrance he and Shego had used. It was repaired and he saw a new security feature above it. While he himself wasn't incapable of getting in the same way through the window, he knew his laser didn't have the same impact as Shego's blasts so they would need a new way to enter the security room and take out the system. He hoped they hadn't beefed up the number of guards too much.

He haphazardly pulled out the map Shego had printed for him to read on their last mission...which he had not. She had things clearly labeled for him and had even written 'Not Here!' in spots he may have wandered off towards out of interest or distraction. He heard a large smashing sound to his left and looked to see a busted window a few yards off and up in the air. He looked towards Hego but the large man was gone. He scanned around himself expecting to see the man running back to the hovercar.

"Psst!" he heard a hiss right in front of him.

Drakken looked to see Hego slipping through a lower floor window under his and Shego's former entrance point. Drakken quickly looked around and then sprinted towards the window that Hego had vanished through, nearly dropping the container and the map as he did so. Drakken hit the ground hard after the slight drop over antique swords, knocking a few down in the process. Hego closed the window behind him and yanked him against the wall.

"What are you doing?" hissed Drakken as he looked at the faint flickering lights revealing a security feature.

"You're the villain," Hego hissed back. "What did it look like? It's called breaking and entering."

"Aren't you a hero? Where'd you learn that?" asked Drakken. "How'd you miss those swords?"

"How'd you knock them down?" retorted Hego. "Are you always that sloppy?"

Drakken's retort was cut off as the alarms buzzed loudly and the sound of footsteps could be heard down the hall. They had in fact beefed up the security. He was full-on ready to sprint when Hego picked up a display case with the ease of a coffee cup and hurled it at oncoming security. Drakken covered his head as things busted and he looked up at Hego with terrified wide eyes.

"Guess my rock through a window distraction didn't work as good as I thought," sighed Hego before cracking his knuckles. "How many can you take?"

"None," gasped Drakken. He was still crouched on the floor covering his head.

"That's probably for the best," nodded Hego as he picked up a giant bronze vase. "I think Shego prefers you with only one scar."

Drakken wasn't exactly sure what transpired in the next ten minutes, only bits and pieces really. There had been a dozen or so guards and he had planned on actually helping but it appeared Hego had not needed nor wanted any assistance in his fight. Drakken looked at the unconscious people as the alarm stopped. Drakken turned his attention to Hego closing a pin pad and turning towards him. Hego dusted his hands and gave a broad grin that faltered quickly to unease.

"How did you..." Drakken looked at the pin-pad and Hego snorted.

"It's a number sequence. Most common numbers are 1, 3, 6, 9, and 0," Hego indicated to wear on the number pad. "It's a six-number pin system. There are several sequences but most try to use security numbers easy for people to use and the card key indicates you enter the number and slide an ID badge. So. 0, 1, and then straight down 3, 6, 9, and then one more number. Zero."

He held up a key card from one of the guards.

"Also Ted let us borrow his ID," smirked Hego. He looked at the unconscious guards. "Nice guy."

Drakken narrowed his eyes.

"And you are again...a superhero?" asked Drakken suspiciously. Hego narrowed his eyes and stood up straight.

"Yes, I am. I am only participating in such depravity because it is a hole you and my sister have dug," he stated sternly. "And I am only doing this because my sister is in need."

"You looked like you were enjoying yourself," stated Drakken.

"As if I, Hego, hero of Go City...took pleasure in defeating poor guards simply doing their jobs," huffed Hego. "Hardly."

"Really...because I swear I heard you snicker when you hit that guard with the suit of armor and the helmet got stuck," retorted Drakken.

"That was stifled anguish," snapped Hego as he began walking away.

Drakken pursed his lips and wanted to keep questioning Hego but instead took out the map again. They were in a different level of the museum and he needed to know which turns he had to take to get to the storage room. He swallowed hard as he worried about not being able to find that stone or mineral... Drakken wasn't even sure if it was just a dense gemstone if he was being honest.

What if this trip is a waste of time?

His concerns were further interrupted by Hego who was talking to Mego. Drakken looked up at him as he held his watch up to his mouth and Mego's voice came across in a muffled buzzing form. Drakken wondered if Hego's mask held an ear piece of some sort as he seemed to clearly understand what was being said. He didn't like the furrowed brows behind Hego's mask and Drakken felt a surge of panic twist in his stomach.

"What's happening?" asked Drakken quickly. "Another spike?"

"Mego wants to know how many suits you have and where to get more ice," said Hego quickly. He shook his head. "He's using terms to purposely annoy me..."

"Fire or no?" asked Drakken into the watch.

"Mild, not as much as last time," said Hego with a nod. "But the ice is low and part of his suit...melted? How could it melt... What did you do Mego?"

"There is more ice in the ice room. Door off the side of the kitchen," Drakken grabbed Hego's wrist and pulled it to him. "Have you tried running a comparative blood test?"

Hego nodded as if listening to the buzzing and Drakken felt a twinge of unease pitting in his stomach. He felt slight nausea again but shoved it off as just guilt trying to edge its way in. He swallowed hard and felt slightly warm but shook it off as Hego finally spoke after a beep noise ended the call and he pulled his wrist from Drakken's grasp.

"You have an ice room next to the kitchen?" asked Hego in confusion. He stood straighter and looked at him. "Dr. Drakken are you feeling okay?"

"Fine," lied Drakken. The room spun a little as he turned to walk towards where the map indicated. "Was he trying to get more blood or did it just happen again?"

Hego grew silent and stopped walking. Drakken looked at him over his shoulder. His expression read unease and Drakken wondered if something else had happened at the lair that he wasn't disclosing. He began to think of every possible outcome and he had to stop himself because he was already feeling the forming of a headache and he didn't want to further aggravate it with paranoia.

"Mego can't compare a blood sample," sighed Hego. "All our DNA was compromised by the comet. None of us read the same. Well, except the Wegos. Theirs is very weird."

"So genetically," Drakken paused. "It changed your DNA completely?"

"Sort of, it's similar in patterns I guess. It's more a Mego question... Just our baseline levels are all different," Hego shrugged. "That's why getting this...whatever it is...is so important. Mego has a theory—"

"What if we can't get it?" asked Drakken. He scratched his head in frustration. "Is there somewhere else she might have a blood sample out there?"

"I only know of two samples of blood that were taken," said Hego. "The one is at a lab outside Go City and the other Global Justice acquired in the hospital after the comet."

Drakken didn't know what he was feeling as he nodded and turned to keep walking. It was a mixture of emotions really. Interest, confusion, a sudden renewed wonder about the Go DNA that he couldn't touch... A reminder that Shego was already going to be livid upon finding out he'd taken a sample. Then the reality that if the stone wasn't there they would have to find a way into Global Justice. And though Hego was surprising him with his slightly devious actions, he doubted he could be relied on to break into Global Justice.

He'll probably call them and completely forget Shego is a wanted woman.

Drakken would cross that bridge when he came to it. He thought about Shego back at the lair and wondered if Mego had gotten the flames under control.

She could hear soothing words and panic as that painful heat ran through her body again. Dampness touched her forehead. Shego didn't feel well; her stomach ached and her body hurt. She couldn't sleep and the woman was sitting at her bedside. She kept placing a cool rag on her head, but it burned. Her whole body burned. The woman didn't look like she should be sitting at her bedside tending to her ailment. She was dressed in a dark pink dress that looked ready for a fancy dinner. Yet she didn't move.

"How's our little girl?" came a male voice.

The dark haired man crouched down at the bedside and looked at her with the same concern as the woman.

"I don't think we should go," said the woman. "She's still got a fever and—"

"We have to go Maia," said the man with a heavy sigh as he looked at the woman. He gave a sweet smile to Shego. "We'll be back right away okay? I'll bring you your favorite ice cream."

"Ken..." the woman's voice was stern but there was a deep concern behind it.

Shego was too tired to turn and watch them leave but she could hear them talking.

"Ken, the case briefing can wait a few more days," she heard the woman's voice, "I'm worried about our daughter. She's never sick..."

"I'm trying to get everything finished so we can get our life back to normal," he pleaded. "We can't keep looking over our shoulders and worrying...with the case finally closed."

"I know you took this cold case for personal reasons, but whatever it's stirred up—" the woman trailed off. "Henry, where are you going?"

"Out," came the annoyed voice of Henry.

"It's late—"

The heat became stronger but then suddenly she felt the icy water from the cool cloth finally sink in. She felt herself finally drift off to sleep.

Drakken watched the door fall to the ground with a loud thud as they reached the storage area. He raised a brow at Hego who had been adamant that his way of opening the door would be less destructive than Drakken's laser gun. Hego didn't make eye contact as he hastily picked up the door and placed it against the wall. Drakken mused that one minor scorch mark would have been far less invasive than the ripped holes in the wall and the wobbly door handle. He chose not to point this out as his main focus came back.

The room was seemingly untouched. Simple caution ribbons wrapped around the area where they had been. Some melted shelves still seemed to be hanging loose. There was a wave of relief that sheer luck at probably needing specialists to inventory the chaos might be their saving grace. He felt the smile form on his face only for a second as he looked at the ground where Shego had collapsed the second time. The dim light from the display cases made an almost perfect outline in a metallic sheen of where she'd laid before he'd scooped her up. His mind flicked back to the dampness on Shego's head. Was that sheen moisture or something else?

"Probably best if you stay put. Don't think this place needs another fire," said Drakken as he held up the container.

"Do you want me to stand guard?" asked Hego confidently.

"For what? The guards you massacred?" scoffed Drakken. Hego's eyes narrowed.

"I simply incapacitated them so you can finish your fiendish deed," scoffed Hego.

"What about the guy on the ceiling fan?" asked Drakken. There was a pause.

"Some may need medical attention," muttered Hego. "Which I will personally see to as soon as you get that rock."

Drakken continued walking towards the aisle and watched as Hego began looking through books to kill time perhaps. Drakken turned down the aisle and felt his heart sink into his already twisting gut. The ribbons weren't the only thing after all. The melted section was unchanged but as he looked closer...no stones remained. His eyes fell to his melted device on the ground and then along the circle of metallic sheen that had been where those flames had surrounded Shego. Before a meltdown or anger could form, his eyes darted back to his device.

"Hego, where do you think one might keep a crowbar and wires around here?" asked Drakken as he leaned around the corner. Hego looked up from where he'd been playing around with an old helmet. "What are you doing?"

"I wasn't putting anything on," said Hego as he dropped it back on the table. He cleared his throat. "Uh, well it's a museum so they would have to have something in here to open shipping containers."

Drakken knew it was a long shot as he and Hego began rifling through drawers and cabinets. But as the effort continued his hope that there would be a salvageable reading on what was left of his device dwindled... Until he found a log book. It was sectioned off by aisle and he flipped to the one they'd been in. There were pictures, readings, and dates. Unfortunately, a lot of the images looked similar to what he only vaguely recalled from the first break-in. He tried to remember what the settings of his device had been to have caused it to spike as much as it did. The log book readings would have had to have been similar or higher than what he'd seen.

"Hego I need your phone," said Drakken. Hego raised a brow. "Can you call Mego? I need him to give me some notes out of my desk.

"I can put it on speaker?" suggested Hego as he dialed on his watch. Drakken nodded as they waited.

"Now what do you want?" came Mego's voice over the phone. "I'm kind of busy here..."

Drakken's eyes shot open.

"Is it still happening?" he asked quickly. It should have subsided by now...he hoped. He had no idea.

"No, but I'm trying to haul more ice in here in case it happens again," sighed Mego. "Did you find something?"

"Dr. Drakken needs notes out of his desk," said Hego. He smirked. "Think you can handle minimal paperwork without whining?"

"I make no promises," muttered Mego. The sounds made it clear he was moving, most likely back towards the lab. "I've been running all over this place. I finally found Shego's room and a decent sized hazmat suit. What, were all your henchmen Hego's size?"

"You mean manly and not a bean pole," cut in Hego.

"Like a moose on steroids is more like it," snarked back Mego. "All right Drakken. What am I looking for?"

"In one of the drawers there should be a piece of paper with writing next to a laser—" began Drakken.

"I see lots of lasers and papers. More specifically..." Mego inquired.

"It has a tiny doodle of Shego with snake hair," muttered Drakken. Hego snorted. "She was really on my nerves—"

Mego and Hego spoke at the same time.

"No, I get you."

"No explanation needed."

"Can you tell me which drawer...what's in the locked one?" asked Mego. Drakken panicked.

"Don't open that!" he yelled. Hego looked at him and Drakken backpedaled. "Don't open that...it's ohm...very personal."

There was a pause.

"Like Shego's nightstand personal?" asked Mego. There was a hint of fear in his voice.

Drakken felt slightly curious at this but chose to let Mego be the sole person to gain Shego's wrath upon snooping in her room. He went with it.

"Yes," said Drakken as confidently as he could muster.

"What is wrong with you two?" he heard a shuddering response. Drakken felt suddenly very concerned. "Okay I found it... That's actually a really good picture."

"Thanks," smiled Drakken. He cleared his throat. "I need the mass numbers."

"Okay. So may I remind you," scoffed Mego, "I am medical doctor. I have no idea what I'm looking for...and there are just letters on here...and one six."

"It's a code," said Drakken proudly. His smile faltered. "Eh, what do I have next to the small scorch mark Shego made?"

"PlRd1?" responded Mego. "And then what looks like a snake head."

Drakken started thinking over where he'd written those notes and his eyes looked back to the aisle. He'd written it on the paper attached to it so he wouldn't forget the numbers. He heard the faint memory of Shego's voice telling him not to lose the paper if it was so important...and her also telling him to give it to her. Which he hadn't. He was thinking and chewed on his nail before an idea struck him and he hoped it wouldn't come back to bite him later.

"Mego, can you get Shego's contact list..."

"I'm not going back in her room," he practically yelled.

"Nehgn," Drakken growled. "Fine, see if you can find it on the computer. The password is... Oh, what if she changed it again?"

"You don't know the password to your own computer system?" asked Hego in confusion.

"No, I do...most days. Sometimes we change it on each other," Drakken shook his head in dismissal. "It might still be 'cocoa moo'... If not try 'Shego Rocks.'"

"...Those are your secure passwords to your evil computer system with all your files?" asked Hego with wide eyes. "No wonder you two are so easy to track down."

Drakken glared at Hego.

"I need you to see if she has a contact for Hermes," Drakken grimaced as he said it. "He's..."

"An appraiser," said Mego and Hego. Drakken paused.

"He's a friend of Shego's friend Ruby," nodded Hego. "He tried helping us on a number of mysterious art thefts last year."

Drakken raised a brow.

"So, you work with villains regularly?" asked Drakken. Hego looked confused.

"Nonsense. Ruby assured us he had nothing but the best interests at heart," beamed Hego. Drakken bit his lip and spoke cautiously.

"Did...you find any of the missing pieces?" asked Drakken.

"Only one painting...though the curator wasn't so sure Hermes's appraisal was correct...and..." Hego paused and looked at Drakken with wide eyes. "No."

"Yes," nodded Drakken. The look on Hego's face made him wish he had a camera to show Shego.

"The fiends... To think that sweet little Ruby—"

"She goes by Pandora," smirked Drakken. Hego began furiously looking at his watch.

"I can't get in," sighed Mego.

"No need. I shall call the untrustworthy snakes myself," glared Hego as he hung up. "Swindled and blindsided by a common art thief... We bought them dinner!"

"If it makes you feel any better they swindle and blindside villains as well," shrugged Drakken as the watch rang.

"It kind of does," nodded Hego as a voice came over the line.

"Hello?" it was Hermes.

"Listen here you—" Drakken waved frantically. Hego looked confused but continued. "Hermes. This is Hego. We worked together in Go City."

Drakken could hear the underlying agitation but held up the book and pointed to numbers.

"Oh yes. Hego," Hermes sounded smug for a split second. "How can I help you?"

"I need to know what might," Hego squinted as Drakken wrote 'Painite' on the paper, "'paint rite' may be similar to?"

Drakken groaned.

"I'm sorry what and what?" asked Hermes in confusion. Drakken sighed.

"Painite. I need to know what the energy and material readings of Painite might be so I can decipher a log book," ranted Drakken. There was a pause.

"Drakken?" asked Hermes. "Are you honestly having Hego call me right now?"

"He had the number in his watch," sighed Drakken. "There is a log book with entries that look like energy and material levels and I need to know—"

"He hung up," said Hego. Drakken hissed under his breath as he glared at the watch. "Maybe it was service..."

Hego dialed again. There was a pause and then a sigh.

"If I hang up again are you planning on calling back?" came Hermes's voice.

"Relentlessly," stated Drakken. Hego nodded. "I wouldn't be calling you unless this was of utmost importance."

"Ah...desperation. Familiar," scoffed Hermes. "Why do you need Painite readings? That's a broad spectrum."

"Specifically...those that may be found in a particular cursed item," cringed Drakken. Hego raised a brow.

"That was not specific..." whispered Hego.

"Are you...are you wearing them again?" Hermes sounded angry and slightly forlorn. "Are you mad...? Don't answer that."

"No. No... Shego and I were looking...neighn. Can you just give me the reading!" snapped Drakken.

"Not with that attitude," snapped Hermes. The call ended again.

Hego shook his head in disapproval as he clicked the watch again. Drakken bit his lip as Hego hit it again.

"So is this how you and my sister communicate with fellow villains?" asked Hego. "I'm getting a lot of insight as to why there isn't a villain organization anymore."

"No one wants that responsibility and liability," growled Drakken. He felt suddenly uncomfortable. "It doesn't end well... Call him again."

"Is there a Plan B if he doesn't answer?" asked Hego. Drakken could see the concern as Hego looked towards the book.

"I guess we break into Global Justice for those blood samples," groaned Drakken. "Unless you have some sort of inconspicuous way of attaining them."

Hego wasn't looking at him and continued to hit the call button.

"That a negative then?" inquired Drakken. Hego looked slightly shifty and Drakken raised a brow.

Hermes's voice suddenly broke the silence.

"You are so lucky I can't turn this phone off at the moment," he scoffed. "Do you have a pen to write this down? Mind you, this is only a vague assessment."

"It's better than the nothing I can remember and the melted reading I did have," mumbled Drakken as he wrote down the offered numbers and looked in the book. "How close are these?"

"Depends on the mass and how much of it was corrupted by those hell-hands," was Hermes's response.

Drakken looked through the pages and felt his shoulders slump.

"Do you know of something that might be toxic to someone who has energy focused abilities?" asked Drakken cautiously.

Drakken's internal monologue returned as it berated him for not taking proper precautions—how this was his fault for unknowingly exposing Shego to something possibly lethal. Drakken felt very ill as he thought those words. There was a sudden image of Shego flashing in his eyes where the fire never stopped burning. His hands gripped each other with far too much force and he felt a sharp pain in his thumb. The sharp pain focused him back on the call instantly.

"Well ohm..." There was a strange note in Hermes's voice that Drakken couldn't place. "Unless it was something openly toxic such as pure mercury or—"

"It looked like charcoal," said Drakken. "And it did something with Shego's powers."

There was a pause.

"Where are you?" There was movement on the other end. "Which museum?"

"The Global Exhibition," said Hego. His eyes narrowed. "I'm sure you and Pandora are familiar with it."

"Very," stated Hermes. "Some of the most priceless and valuable things under one roof. Not to mention one-of-a-kind collections of specimens for study. I believe some of Cleopatra's...discoveries that 'never happened' are stored somewhere there."

"Why, is there some sort of cursed item laying around the storage room unchecked...? Or unmarked hazardous materials from..." Drakken trailed off as he looked at Hego and then towards the melted metallic area. "Oh..."

"What?" asked Hego.

"Oh no," muttered Drakken. "They use this place for scientific studies..."

"Such as fragments from a comet that crashed at high velocity to earth," finished Hermes. "Just a guess... And since I don't exactly have connections stranded in a foreign country in the middle of the jungle... It's not my field but you might want to see what's abnormally spiking in her blood."

There were yelling and noises in the background.

"Oh shi—" The call ended.

"Hello? Hermes?" asked Hego. He cringed. "That sounded concerning. Should we do something?"

Drakken shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure its fine," responded Drakken. "This whole museum trip was a waste of time. We should have just broken into Global Justice and hacked the system for the sample records."

Drakken rubbed his face in frustration. What were the odds that of all the places in the world and of all the aisles...of all the drawers... Shego would somehow find a leftover research piece of the comet.

Astronomical.

Drakken glared at his own reflection as he made the pun in his head. He shook it off and mentally tried to figure out the quickest way to get into Global Justice. He wondered if Shego happened to have a map or access to one on the computer at the lab. He shook his head. He didn't want to have to fly all the way back and waste more time. When had he begun pacing?

"Global Justice and where else?" asked Drakken. Hego didn't respond. "Hego?"

Hego was chewing his lip and glaring at his hands. They kept clenching. Drakken had a sudden concern that there might be fragments in the air that had started to affect Hego. With a loud groan, Hego's shoulders fell and he rubbed his face.

"The lab Shego destroyed and Global Justice had the only samples." Hego shook his head.

Drakken sighed to himself. Of course the lab Shego destroyed would have been the only one... Drakken paused and thought back to Shego's tale of Mr. LiteBrite and the lab. How it had been the only sample taken. Her delighted Christmas tale and how Hego didn't know... He looked at Hego.

"You know about Shego blowing up that lab?" asked Drakken cautiously. Hego nodded.

"Of course I knew Shego blew up that lab. She's my sister." Hego let out another deep sigh and finally made eye contact with Drakken. "I know because I did the same to the lab at Global Justice."