3:42 AM - The Possible Home, Middleton

The street was flooded with overwhelming darkness, lit up occasionally by bursts of bright green plasma and random explosions.

Kim stood just in front of her house, staring down the oncoming destruction. A few feet behind her, her family stood rooted to the spot in fear. In truth, they were probably safer out here. It would only take one blast from Shego's hands to set the whole house ablaze.

"Oh, Miss Doctor Possible!" Shego's voice rang out, a singsong quality to it. "Can Kimmie come out and play?"

The question was barely done when a streak of green roared out of the darkness, impacting at Kim's feet and sending her rolling for cover. There was no place to hide, though. The darkness seemed to spread every second, and even now, Kim had lost track of her family. But she didn't have time to debate whether or not she should search for them, as a powerful hand seized her shoulder.

"Tag," Shego whispered in her ear. "You're It, Princess."

Not even bothering to turn around, Kim aimed a kick at where she expected Shego's stomach to be. However, Shego was ready for it, and caught her ankle ahead of time, easily forcing Kim to the ground, now that her balance had been compromised.

"Don't feel bad, Kimmie. We'll still play with you, even if you're not so good at hiding. Won't we, Michelle?"

Kim gasped as a footfall sounded right next to her ear. It was now so dark that she couldn't make out anything. She only had a moment to wonder if this surrounding darkness was part of Michelle's Go Glow.

Suddenly, a pale face emerged from the darkness, grinning unnaturally wide, and a hand that seemed to be pouring out black smoke reached for Kim's face, drawing closer and closer, until...

Until Kim woke up, soaked in sweat and trembling.

It was not the worst nightmare she'd had about Shego and Michelle that night, but the fact that she was having them at all was what kept Kim from going back to sleep.

She wanted to believe that the dreams were a warning. Something was telling her not to give up on finding Michelle, even if she didn't do it for Team Go. Whatever Michelle's Go Glow was, it shouldn't be in Shego's hands any longer.

Reaching over to the nightstand to fumble for her Kimmunicator, Kim brought up the address Wade had determined was Drakken's current residence. She was tempted to leave right now, in order to prevent any of her nightmares from coming true. But, she decided to wait until tonight.

If Kim was going to be fighting for her life, she at least wanted to know for sure that the darkness was natural.

6:35 AM - Drakken's Lair

"I'm REALLY sorry, Auntie Shego!" the girl pleaded as Shego glared across the table at her. "It's just that this hasn't happened in so long, I forgot to warn you!"

"So tell me now," Shego insisted angrily.

Michelle's bottom lip poked out and trembled adorably. "When I don't take in enough heat, my body sort of...contracts."

"And what happens if you still don't get enough?"

"I don't know. My family never let it get that far," Michelle replied. "At least, if they did, I don't remember it."

"Wait. So you could age twenty years in a day if you got enough heat?"

"In theory."

"So how old are you?"

"I don't know," Michelle admitted softly. "Mom might, but she always says there are more important things to be concerned with, like my powers."

"And it never occurred to her your age is directly related to your powers?" Shego asked in disbelief.

The girl bit her lip. "Mom...she doesn't like to be questioned. It irks her."

"It irks her," Shego repeated slowly.

"Her word, not mine. She doesn't get mad, she gets irked. You don't want to see her mad."

"Oh? What's she like then?"

Michelle shrugged. "No one knows. She's never gotten mad. People just seem to know better."

"So...you've never made her mad?"

"Nope. Just irked."

"Yeah." Shego stared at her for a moment. "Okay, I have to say this. I never, ever want to meet your mother."

Michelle looked startled, but not exactly surprised. "Why not?"

"Oh, I would punch her face in, because I tend to get mad, not irked, and anyone who tried to explain the difference would get the same treatment."

For several seconds, Michelle didn't say anything.

Shego wondered if maybe she'd offended Michelle by badmouthing her mother, but she'd warned the girl that family wasn't a preferred topic.

"Could you show me?" Michelle asked abruptly.

"What?"

"How you'd hit her?"

Shego's jaw dropped. "WHAT?"

"Show me how you'd hit her!" Michelle insisted, a big grin on her face.

"Oh. Well, uh..." Shego stood up uncertainly and moved away from the table. "How tall is she?"

Michelle didn't even blink. "Same as you."

"Skinny?"

The girl shook her head. "Same as you."

For some reason, that bothered Shego a great deal. "What's she look like?"

"You."

"Wait, wait. Your mother...looks like me."

"Exactly," Michelle agreed, nodding.

"So...if I asked you to draw me a picture of your moth-"

"I'd ask you to pose for it."

"Oh, God," Shego whispered, shaking her head. Then her eyes widened. "Oh, GOD!"

"What?"

"Your parents," Shego said, her voice trembling. "Do they...uh...do they still...?"

Michelle stared hard at Shego. "You don't really want to know that, do you?"

"GOD!" Shego threw up her hands and began to pace the room, muttering to herself.

"Are you mad at me?" Michelle whispered.

Shego stopped short and looked at her. "No, Michelle. I just-"

"Michi."

"What?"

Michelle cleared her throat quietly. "My closest friends...back when I had them...called me Michi. And so does Uncle Mego."

"And your parents?" Shego asked, choking back bile.

"Never," Michelle said quietly, looking down.

Shego felt something wash over her, and while it might have been nausea, she suspected it had a lot more to do with the way the girl looked as if she hadn't had any close human contact in a long time. There was no way Shego could really know that without asking, and yet it explained a great deal about why Michelle was willing to take a blind risk on a relative she'd never even met before.

With a sigh, Shego returned to the table and knelt beside the girl. "Look, I...you don't...why'd you tell me that?"

Michelle sniffled a little, her large, green eyes staring up at Shego. "Everyone who really, really loves me, calls me Michi."

"Come on, you don't really mean that," Shego said at once, not even believing her own words. And there was certainly no reason why she should be putting in a good word for Hego, not after what she'd just learned. But it seemed like the thing to say at the time.

"I do," Michelle murmured. "I was hoping...maybe...you could call me that, too." She quickly lowered her gaze back to the floor. "Eventually."

Shego just sat there, not sure how to respond. Did she love Michelle? Not really, but she wasn't about to tell the poor girl that. On the other hand, Drakken had a point; if Shego hadn't liked Michelle, she wouldn't still be here. And the idea of sending Michelle away, while it had seemed like a very real possibility just yesterday, now seemed cruel beyond belief...beyond Shego, even, and that worried her.

She had become attached, after all.

Damn.

Shego hesitantly raised her hand and patted Michelle gently on her head. "Like I said, I'm new to this whole...family thing. So why don't we just see if we can work our way up to the pet names, okay?"

Michelle didn't look happy, but she did seem satisfied. "Okay," she whispered. "But...what do I call you?"

Normally, anyone calling Shego "Auntie" would've made her feel old, which of course deserved a good jab to the gut at the very least. But when she really thought about it, there was no telling how old Michelle was, and as it stood, having a kid calling her "Auntie" was way better than a teenager doing it.

"We'll worry about that later," Shego said at last, standing up and crossing the room. "Right now, I need to vent."

Michelle perked up at once. "You wanna talk?"

"No, I want to wreck stuff," Shego explained slowly.

"Oh." Michelle looked confused, and then hopeful. "Could I watch?"

Shego stared at her uncertainly. "Why?"

"You're going to blow stuff up, right? I need the heat."

"So now...I have a reason to blow things up?" Shego muttered to herself.

"Only if you want me to keep existing. And you could probably just aim at me if you really wanted to, but..."

"Would it hurt?"

"I don't THINK so, but I've never really tried it."

"Maybe we should wait until you're...uh...grown."

Michelle beamed at her, shortly before hopping up and running over to cling to Shego's legs.

Shego stared down at her. "You know, if you were trying to tackle me, you needed more of a running start. We'll have to work on that."

Michelle giggled. "I'm hugging you, silly!"

"Oh. Because THAT makes more sense."

"It does! It's what you do when you like somebody!"

"You, uh...ever hug your mother?"

"Sometimes," Michelle said, looking thoughtful. "But it's not as nice. It's like...she's not really there to enjoy it. Like it's work for her."

Shego shook her head, and without really thinking about it, knelt down and drew the girl into her arms. "You can think of her, if you want."

Michelle pressed her face into Shego's neck. "Why would I? It's nicer to think of you."

Shego held the girl at arm's length. "But don't you miss her?"

Michelle shook her head. "Mom isn't the kind of person you miss. She's the kind you're glad to get a break from every now and then. She won't miss me, either. Not right away, at least."

"The more I learn about this woman, the less I like her."

"We get that a lot, actually." Michelle tugged on Shego's hand. "Can we go blow stuff up now?"

"Yeah, sure, why not," Shego sighed, allowing her niece to lead her out of the room. "But you better be good at dodging flaming debris. I don't like to stop once I've started."

7:01 AM - Go Tower, Go City

Mego was jolted awake by the sound of two fists pounding on his door. He looked at the alarm clock at his beside, and was shocked to see how late it was. He never slept this late.

Well, he was never allowed to sleep this late.

Normally, he'd either be walking Michelle through her latest exercise program, or eating breakfast with the twins. Of course, Michelle being gone might explain why he wasn't working with her...but not why Hego had yet to burst in and ordered him to get up.

But it obviously wasn't Hego at the door now, he wouldn't have bothered to knock, and Galgo had never bothered to visit.

"Mego, it's us!" one of the twins whispered.

"We need to talk to you!" the other hissed.

For a moment, he debated whether or not he should let them in. He didn't feel like talking to them, or anyone else. All he wanted right then was to go back to bed, and pretend none of them had ever met Galgo.

"It's about Michelle."

Seconds later, Mego was back in bed, but now the twins had joined him as well, though they sat at the edges, perhaps sensing he was still in a bad mood.

For several seconds, not one of them said a word.

Finally, one of the twins spoke. "Do you think she'll ever come back, Mego?"

It was a question he'd asked himself many times. Part of him was glad Michelle was gone. Maybe she could talk to Shego, convince her to care about her family one last time, long enough for them to band together against Galgo, and...what? He wasn't sure, exactly. Galgo's Go Glow was a carefully guarded secret. Not one of them seemed to know what it was, not even Hego (though he continued to insist that it was both massively powerful and vital to the structure of the team). If it weren't for the little hints they'd gotten over time, they might suspect she didn't have any powers at all.

No one ever said no to Galgo. At least, not if she didn't want them to. Often she was perfectly content to let Hego bully people into doing her will.

Anyone who got in her way, from teammates to criminals, all came up against a roadblock, and amazingly, it was Galgo herself, not Hego. There was something so frightening about her constant confidence, so terrifying about the way she could just look at a grown man, and bring him to his knees in seconds, leaving him a quivering mass of fear.

Yet even that wasn't as bothersome as the impact she had on the team.

Hego had changed. Since Galgo had joined the team, he had become her puppet. Oh, he still lead the team, and Galgo never actually ordered him around, but it was clear she was wearing the pants at all times. Even worse, Hego was so far gone that he didn't seem to know or care. But there was no talking to him, or trying to talk the twins into a revolt. They feared Galgo most of all, and while Mego couldn't prove it, he was almost certain she had threatened to harm either them or himself, as they surrendered almost immediately to her will every time.

Michelle had been their only real source of hope, despite being the one who should've deferred to Galgo the most. From the start, behind her sweetness, Michelle had always had something of an independent streak. It didn't help that she was virtually locked in the tower from birth. Galgo had gradually cut off all her contacts with the outside world, and pushed Michelle more and more towards taking her rightful place as a member of Team Go. The problem was, Michelle couldn't control her powers when she was upset. And because she couldn't even leave the grounds, she was always a little upset, even when she seemed happy. While Mego had figured that out early, Galgo seemed to think it was merely something she had to work out of her daughter. Needless to say, it hadn't gone all that well. Michelle had given into her mother's demands all of her life, and Mego was amazed she hadn't left sooner.

"Maybe it's our fault," one the twins offered.

"We should've been nicer to her."

Mego snorted. "Don't be stupid. She loved all of us. She didn't leave because of you, or me. She left...because she had to."

It had been a slow day...for Michelle, anyway. Her parents had gone out to deal with an incident at the airport, and left strict instructions for Mego to keep Michelle out of trouble while they were gone.

Neither of them minded that part so much. Michelle never seemed to get tired of hearing her uncle talk about himself.

But Galgo had specifically told Mego that they were not to leave the tower for any reason.

"Not even if it burned down?" he asked, jokingly.

"Not even then," Galgo had replied without missing a beat.

The trouble was, Michelle was getting harder to say no to. Every time he had to explain that she wasn't allowed outside without one of her parents, he had to watch her expression sag with disappointment.

Sure enough, they weren't alone five minutes before she begged him to take her outside. And again, Mego had to refuse.

"Can't we just go up to the roof, then?" Michelle wheedled.

Shortly after Michelle's birth, a corner of the roof had been converted into an elaborate tanning station. Not that Michelle ever tanned, of course. She simply...glowed to varying degrees, depending on how much heat she'd stored up in her body. The roof was often the only place outside Michelle was allowed to go, and even then someone went with her. It was technically part of the tower, and Michelle was looking a little pale (for her, anyway), so Mego didn't see the harm in an hour or so of exposure to sunlight.

Michelle was thrilled (or at least, a great deal happier than she had been) when he said yes. She practically dragged him up to the roof and stretched out on her personal "tanning couch," which was black and fairly worn out.

She seemed to be in a reflective mood, so Mego didn't bother trying to entertain her.

"Uncle Mego," she said after a while. "What would you do if I jumped off of the roof?"

Mego nearly dropped the bottled water he was holding. "What? Why would ask me that?"

"I want to know," Michelle said simply, staring at the sky.

He sighed. "Michi, I know your life isn't great, but that doesn't mean you should just throw it away."

She blinked and looked at him. "Uncle Mego, I wouldn't die from it."

"How could you NOT?"

"For one thing, the area alongside the tower is...?"

"Covered by the laser defense grid," Mego replied slowly, his eyes widening. "So you-"

"Would just get stronger as I fell. And if I did it directly after a tan, I'd be more than strong enough to survive, and that's only if I decide I want to hit the ground. I could easily just convert my bottom half to gas and glide off."

"You've thought about this," he said.

"Every time I come up here."

"You...you'd run away, Michi?"

"Only from my life. Not from you, or the others. I just...I've never been free, you know? I always have to be somewhere, or be doing something I really don't want to do. I can't...live, Uncle Mego. I just exist, and that's it. I'm supposed to be the strongest member of Team Go, and I can't even leave the tower to go on a mission."

"And jumping off of the roof is the best idea you have so far?"

"It's the easiest. Mom just assumes I'm not confident enough to do it, so she hasn't changed the defenses yet. But you'd be surprised what I can do, if I feel like I have to."

Mego took a deep breath. "I'd push you."

Michelle looked at him again. "What?"

"If you were going to jump, I'd push you."

Michelle reached over to squeeze his hand. "Thanks, Uncle Mego."

"Just promise me you'll practice in your room first. The last thing we need is another member caught up in a media frenzy."

For some reason, Michelle looked away, toward the edge of the roof. "Do you think...she would've jumped?"

"Shego? Definitely. Only she would've wrecked Hego's room first."

"Do you think she'd like me?"

"I don't know, Michi. But if anyone could manage not to like you, it'd be her. Don't take it personal; I don't think there's anyone she does like. Not even me."

"She must get lonely," Michelle mused aloud.

Mego shrugged. "Maybe. But I think she'd rather try her luck alone than with us. Well, she's not exactly alone, there's that Drak-"

"Am I interrupting something?" Galgo asked softly as her shadow fell over them.

Neither of them were fooled by her tone. Galgo only spoke softly when she was extremely angry.

"No, Mom," Michelle replied quickly. "Uncle Mego was just-"

"Telling stories of the past again, no doubt starring him?" Galgo's black lips curved into a disapproving frown. "Dear Mego, can you not appreciate that we would prefer for Michelle to live in the present? There are, after all, some things about the past that are better left...unsaid." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I do hope we understand each other."

Mego said nothing, but he wasn't foolish enough to look away.

Galgo stretched out her hand. "Come, Michelle. If we hurry, we can make up for wasted time in your regimen."

"Yes, Mom," Michelle answered dutifully, allowing her mother to pull her up and away from Mego. As they started across the roof, though, she looked over her shoulder and mouthed "thanks" to Mego.

It was enough for Mego that Michelle didn't see their time together as a waste, like Galgo did.

Almost enough, anyway.

Hego stared at the fish tank expectantly, but there were no fish.

There wasn't even any water, for that matter.

All that the tank contained was a large, black rock, resting atop soil and dead leaves.

Not for the first time, he wondered why his wife insisted on keeping such a thing in the corner of their bedroom. It wasn't very pleasant to look at, nor did it seem to serve any real purpose. Galgo would sometimes sit and stare at it for a while, even run her fingers through the soil occasionally.

But he couldn't throw it out. It was important to Galgo, and so it was important to Hego. That had to be enough, since there was no other reason why he would allow something so unseemly to remain in his bedroom.

"Darling," Galgo said, even as Hego turned to face her. "What are you doing?"

"I was...admiring your rock," Hego answered uncertainly. "It...captivates me, for some reason. I can't really explain it."

"No need to explain," Galgo said dismissively, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Men are always distracted by beautiful things."

As her fingers brushed along his neck, Hego remembered something. "Michelle."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry, dear. I know you miss her, but I'm sure that we'll get her back very soon."

"Shego could harm her."

"She could, yes. But I don't think she will. Our daughter is much like me in that respect. It's very hard to resist her wishes."

"She can't protect herself from Shego's evil. She needs us."

"Michelle is a good girl," Galgo assured him. "In the end, she'll do exactly what she's supposed to. Trust me."

In the fish tank, apparently unnoticed by both of them, a few of the leaves rusted briefly, and then grew still.