A Little Shorter then I wanted but it's needed since it's taken me so long to get this out.

Thank you all for your continued love and I hope to post sooner!

Lair

Of all the things Shego had imagined behind the false wall of the wardrobe, it hadn't even been close. A slate stone stair well seemed to head downwards, the flicker of Edison bulb sconce lit down the turn where light seemed to be more prominent. As she and Drakken exchanged a look, it was agreed that there was no doubt of the lair comment.

Her eyes scanned the stone and stairs. They were uneven and looked to be naturally carved and the warmth that felt like a welcoming wall made her all the more curious. No moss or moisture grew along its stone... something that stood out as curious given this had seemingly been un-entered in decades. Every nerve in her being became alert as Drakken took a step over the lip of the wardrobe and toward the hallway. On instinct, her hand yanked him back by the shoulder.

"Shego-"

"We agree this is a lair, right?" asked Shego sternly. Drakken nodded, "In a cabin that you have said was laden with traps at one point... why would you just casually walk into a secret tunnel?"

"Well I- It's well lit—and," he let out and annoyed growl and crossed his arms, "Fine, what do you suggest, Ms. Ninja."

Shego's eyes darted around them to one of the discarded hat boxes and quickly picked it up. She gave it a hardy toss down the stairs. Watching closely as it bounced on each step, but nothing seemed to be triggered. Before she could grab something heavier to test for any weight triggers, Drakken had taken the hat boxes cleared steps as an all clear.

"Well that was anticlimactic- Ahk!" Drakken screamed.

An arrow shot passed his head and thus began the defense trigger. Shego launched herself forward, sending she and Drakken down the stairs as she attempted to dodge the projectiles. It wasn't well planned out, nor was it a perfect execution as they hit the landing, but they made it. Shego held a crouched stance as Drakken lay a few feet in front of her, having not stuck the landing she'd tried to throw him into.

"Drakken?" asked Shego as she eased her stance and glanced around the doorway for more danger.

"You threw me," came a muffled grumble.

Shego glanced at him, where his face was still facing the floor.

"You're fine,"Shego answered for him as she slowly stood and walked over to him. She glared, "What were you thinking just walking into a trap like that?"

"The box made it," whined Drakken as he pushed himself off the ground.

"Did you see me test the weight?" snapped Shego, "We're you trying to get turned into Swiss cheese?"

"I thought that was the test," glared Drakken, "Excuusse me, for not being aware of the various tests you had lined up."

"Since nothing else is flying at us, I think we're in the clear," said Shego as she began to look around, "We'll figure out an exit plan..."

Shego trailed off as she began taking in the surroundings. The lights that had crept through the floor of the storage room, were lights that surrounded the whole ceiling of the long rectangular lair. A long table ran along the longest wall in front of them. Various sketches and images were pinned along a cork board in front of it. There were well placed bins that held a dust covered array of nuts, bolts, and various small tools. Much like the home in Greece, the one short wall was lined with old filing cabinets, but atop them was a large apothecary slab of drawers that nearly touched the ceiling. Looking over it, there seemed to have once been a sliding ladder that allowed one to reach the top portion of it. All that remained was a rusted old track where it had once been placed.

Knowing she should still be on alert for more traps, she was more focused on taking in the sight of an old Company lair. Under the long table, there were various drawers she was certain contained much like she might find in the filing cabinet. Perhaps even old contracts and names, and the inquisitive part of her that had once spent days researching villains back in Go Tower was practically screaming to dive into them.

"You know I thought it would be bigger," Shego said casually.

Drakken looked up from where he was looking at something in a drawer near the end of the long table. Something small and metal rested in his hand as he looked around them.

He frowned.

"It's a vacation lair at best I assume," he sounded slightly offended by her statement, "It's a little dated, but compared to the hole in the wall in Greece-"

"Whoa, calm down. I was just teasing," snorted Shego as she made her way to the files, "It's better then our old backup lair."

"I heard that," stated Drakken, "Do you know how much that island cost?"

"Majority of which was a giant stone head to look like you?" asked Shego. Drakken rolled his eyes and resumed looking at whatever he'd found in a drawer.

Shego casually leaned on the nearest file cabinet and watched Drakken grin at whatever trinket he'd found. Her hand pulled at the file only for it not to budge. It took only a second to see the old keyhole on the side before she sighed and began to open drawers at the table in search of the key.

I doubt blasting open a filing cabinet would go over well...

The reality that Drakken might even object to her going through the files, was only a small inconvenience as she opened another drawer to see numbers and letters that seemed like cryptic notes. She kept glancing at Drakken, wondering if he was aware she was even looking for something, but he was focused on some sort of spinning top he'd found. Shego paused her searching and raised a brow as he readied spinning it.

"What are you doing?" asked Shego.

Drakken's grin increased as he twisted his hand to spin it.

"It's just a spinning top- Oh," Drakken spun it and quickly stepped away.

The small top spun and then quickly increased speed and began sparking wildly. Shego's eyes shot open as it started to lift off the table. Her eyes glanced at the filing cabinet behind her and she moved quickly towards Drakken to blast the thing in the direction of the cabinet. In a second a small explostion left a scorch mark against the filing cabinet and small metal fragments on the ground. Shego frowned as it had done no damage to the filing cabinet.

"Why would you do that?" Shego turned her annoyance on Drakken, "We are again... in a lair."

"I wanted to see what it did," said Drakken with a casual shrug as he opened another drawer, "Now I know."

"What if that had been a bomb?" Shego crossed her arms in irritation.

"Most of the items in here have probably not been seen since the sixties... and it's under a family gathering place," Drakken rolled his eyes, "Smells like gunpowder."

"Whatever. Can you not test anything while we're down here?" asked Shego as she headed back to her own search.

"I make no promises," she heard Drakken mutter. Shego shook her head as she opened another drawer.

Pushing aside a few small empty boxes with intricate designs, Shego paused. Her eyes darted back to the stairs that were free of any residue to the thin layer of dust that was on most surfaces to the heavier layers of dust on others. She leaned back and looked at the lights that all still functioned even after supposed decades of being unchanged.

"Do you think Motor Ed knew about this lair?" asked Shego as she began inspecting clear hand-prints in some dust layers that should have been deeper.

"If he knew it was here, it would be empty," scoffed Drakken, "You saw how much he was trying to smuggle out of basic items... if he knew this was down here- Oh look, more tops."

"Huh... you'd think there would be more dust," shrugged Shego.

She yanked open yet another drawer and paused at the sight of a picture that looked more akin to Mama Lipsky's hallway. A thin young women with dark hair and eyes framed by large glasses stood dressed as a witch with a large dramatized broomstick. A young girl of around seven stood next to her in matching attire. Shego was about to place it aside as a forgotten Halloween picture when she stared at the little girl again.

"When was your last family trip up here?" asked Shego as she turned the back of the picture around.

"Hmm," said Drakken in thought, "I want to say at most twenty years ago."

"Give or take...?" Shego asked as she looked up from the picture to Drakken.

"Maybe two years," Drakken raised a brow at her, "Why?"

"This picture is only from six years ago," said Shego as she handed him the picture, "So someone's clearly been down here."

Drakken looked puzzled as he took the photo and looked at it for a second. It was greeted with a shrug and an agitated expression before it was placed on the counter.

"Well?" asked Shego as Drakken returned to his treasure hunt.

"Can't say I'm surprised she didn't tell Eddie, but why she didn't tell me," scoffed Drakken. Shego raised a brow, "Emily. Technically the cabin belonged to the three of us but Emily... well she was older and was off doing her own thing... and apparently hanging out in the old family lair."

Drakken began a small rant of feeling excluded from the knowledge, but Shego was focusing on the image again. She was certain she'd seen pictures of Emily on the wall of photos on Thanksgiving, and she knew the young girl was a much younger Lydia... but her mind began pulling back the information she knew about the women... and more so the dark eyes behind the glasses... there was something unsettling about the familiarity of the women. With a shake of her head she placed the picture back in the drawer and continued on with her search.

An explanation of the lack of dust causing her to relax, though her eyes lingered on the now closed drawer as she began rifling through the new one.

"What are you looking for?" Drakken asked. Shego looked up at him as her searching had invaded the drawer he was in.

Shego looked at his raised brow and gave an innocent expression.

"This," she said as she grabbed his hand, "I missed it."

She saw an amused smile flicker across his face before he snorted.

"If you want to open the cabinets, you can just open them your own way," sighed Drakken, "Don't think I didn't notice you aiming that exploding top at them."

Shego blinked as he withdrew his hand and nodded towards the cabinet. She tilted her head to try and read any other expression on his face other than the amusement.

"You're not going to get all dramatic with me rummaging through Company stuff?" asked Shego suspiciously.

"I don't like it," he sighed, "And while I am enjoying looking at old trinkets and designs... there is nothing in those cabinets interest me... but clearly they do you."

Shego glanced to the cabinets and back at Drakken who'd slowed his riffling.

"That doesn't answer my question?" said Shego, "If I look at anything in there... are you going to get all... well, you?"

She watched Drakken's frown slide across his face.

"Why are you so interested in it?" Drakken's eyes were intense and unreadable as he looked at her.

"Curiosity mostly," Shego answered honestly, "Also the fact that one former member hasn't exactly reared their over-plastic head against us over the years."

Drakken's eyes shot open before glaring.

"I suppose that it is a good reason," Drakken turned his attention to the cabinets himself, "And if this is an actual archive... might even know who used to own our current property."

Shego lit her hand and paused as she looked at Drakken. Looking for any sign of reluctance or that he may change his mind last second. She may have wanted to dive into the files for her own curiosity but the last thing she wanted to do was start an argument where even if she got her way... would leave a lingering unease. She shot a small blast at a nearby one, but like the other, only a small scorch remained.

"What are those things mad of," growled Shego, a wave of frustration hitting her.

Great, more time to change his mind.

"I assume some sort of heavy industrial metal," smirked Drakken, "I'd like to have the material breakdown to see what it's composed of for our own file systems."

Shego glared at him. Drakken gave a casual shrug.

"To keep them safe, that's all," he responded.

"Uh huh," scoffed Shego, "You do realize if I didn't organize them, you'd never find anything?"

"It would be more helpful... if your organized them in a system not with your re-titling," he rolled his eyes and walked back towards the drawers.

Shego gave another shot at the file system and watched as it ricocheted and hit a nearby tool bench. Drakken yelped in shock as he leaped away from where the blast hit. He gave an annoyed glare towards her but she shrugged it off and gave a final yank at the drawers handle. Giving up on trying to bust in, she went back searching for a place the keys might be.

There's gotta be something worth wild in those...

While she knew it would be helpful to know lair whereabouts of possible danger, in reality... she wanted to know more about Drakken's family history he wanted no part of. It had become a subconscious mystery that she needed answers too... not only for safety sake but for her own knowledge. Her opening of a small box filled with corroded batteries made her pause her efforts. Instead her eyes lingered on the drawer where the photo was kept and then to where Drakken was tinkering with light switches.

She sighed and stood up and crossed her arms.

Is it worth it...

It was a fall in her spirits and her intrigue as she realized that the more they delved and she wanted to know... the more she knew she couldn't not talk to Drakken about what she knew about Dr. Botox and what had been the end of what was hidden in the file cabinets.

What would I even say...

She shook it from her head as she looked towards where Drakken had wondered off, realizing she had not heard him speak since she'd started looking around for the keys. He'd made it down to the opposite end of the room and was staring around a corner that she hadn't noticed before. His eyes were darting rabidly as he looked at whatever she couldn't see.

"I'm pretty curious about whats in those cabinets," Shego said casually, hoping he'd shrug it off, "I thought the Company heads actual lair would be more... vast."

Drakken said nothing, but she watched his brow furrow as his eyes still didn't leave what had caught his gaze.

"If you're going through some sort of emotional moment, words might help," teased Shego. No response, "To be clear, you're the one who took the first step into you're father's old lair-"

"No," Drakken finally muttered, "It's not his."

Shego rolled her eyes and headed towards Drakken.

"Grandfathers, some sort of villainous ancestor-" Shego stopped speaking as she stood next to Drakken.

Finally seeing what had captivated him, she understood why he'd not looked away. The corner's turn was not a hallway but a perfectly carved deep arch in the stone wall. Light with a blue tint lit that stood in platforms in the tucked corner. Strange oddities rested in glass boxes on the platforms, inventions and trinkets of an era forgotten. A leather looking glove that held a needle on the index and thumb where a string of thread followed to a laced spool on the gloves wrist. Old leather goggles made of bronze and copper sat in another box, one eye of it almost like a retractable looking telescope. Some things, Shego could not mentally describe but only question things made of metals and leathers, and certainly dangerous contaminants judging by its age.

This was not the focal point that Shego and Drakken had been captivated by. Not even the two ornate Automaton's that stood on the back pedestal were as interesting as was stood in the center. Nor the old looking photos that decorated the wall beyond it were as unexpected. Standing in the center was the metal blank faced mannequin, adorned in a scaled looking labcoat. Long black leather gloves were laced up its sleeves to right under the arm. A thick dark belt with an ornate serpent emblem in the center was tight around the waist. Thin but tall black boots rested at the figures feet, clearly dated and extremely worn leather. It wasn't that it looked straight out of an old science fiction film, much like Drakken's aesthetic... no... it was the color.

It was a dark and rich blue color, that varied in spots from old faded dye that had been clearly attempted to be stained over and over again. It wasn't just a mad scientist of the past, and it was not lost on Shego that the frame, despite the heavy garment and wide shoulders, was clearly feminine. It was piecing the entire image together with the stories that Drakken had attempted to tell her from his recently acquired storybook. The hand of claws, the menacing heavy fabric, and the way the light illuminated it all.

Dr. Drakken.

Alright let's get to some family secrets...