10. 'This is...wow... I think this is the best thing anyone has ever given me'

December, 2005

Drakken's anxious expression that he was failing to get under control wasn't helping Shego's own nerves. She looked down again at the framed candid photo of the two of them that he had given her.

She did remember the event. It had been at their last 'evil family picnic,' as he insisted on calling the events shared with their henchmen, and it was right before the pie-eating contest. They had been teasing each other, for once the mocking and snark entirely lighthearted and mutual, and they had been standing behind the table where the rest of the competitors were all taking their seats. She couldn't remember what the joke had been about, but they had shared a knowing look and smile right before bursting into laughter. And apparently, one of the henchmen had caught that moment on camera.

Her heart twisted at the image of the two of them together, appearing so happy. She wasn't sure what the feeling in her chest was, and so she tried hard to force it down, only for it to be eclipsed by another even more worrying. She had prepared nearly the same type of gift for him, which suddenly felt less meaningful now that he had done it so much better. And what if she'd misunderstood his focus on the photo albums at Thanksgiving? Had he only been going on and on about the past and sharing pictures because he'd thought she was interested?

"Shego?" Drakken asked again, and she looked back up to where he was twiddling his thumbs and altogether failing to hide how worried he was that she didn't like the gift.

She set the frame down and bit her lip as she walked toward the Christmas tree. There was also the added concern that he had this tradition of exchanging a single gift a week early...and she had only gotten him the one. She could always come up with something else, but it would be meaningless compared to what she reluctantly admitted was heartfelt.

She would deal with the why of her own intentions later. But at the moment...

She returned to the sofa with the gift, not even remotely as nicely wrapped as his had been, and dropped back into her spot. She shoved the torn wrapping paper to the floor before scooting over and picking up her framed photo, and then set the gift for him on the cushion next to her.

Drakken looked uncertain and still very worried as he wordlessly and hesitantly moved to take a seat at her side.

"I'm sorry," she began, and he paused as he'd begun to pull at the wrapping paper of her gift. "I only got you one gift. So since you wanted to do this...silly tradition, you won't have anything else from me on Christmas morning."

"Oh..." Drakken barely replied, looking even more uncertain and perhaps sad as he continued to undo her poor wrapping job. Shego looked down at the framed picture in her lap and felt that twist in her heart again. She had no idea what his reaction would be now... Would he be disappointed?

She looked up and watched his face as the paper finally fell away, and then his lips parted. He stared for several moments, blinking in apparent shock before his eyes darted to hers for a split second. She caught a look of stupefied wonder on his face before he was staring down at the gift again.

He lightly touched the small image on the cover of the album before silently flipping it open to the first page. He studied the images there for a long moment, before slowly turning to the next.

"Sorry I didn't find pictures as nice as this one," Shego said, noting the poorer quality of the photos she had collected from the henchmen, security cameras, villain conventions, and even mug shots over the years.

She clutched the frame of his gift to her tightly as she recalled each ridiculous event again and glanced sidelong at the photo album she had made for him while he began flipping the pages, giving each a long look. All of their lairs and as many capers as possible were represented, right along with things like their evil family picnics with the henchmen, bowling nights, karaoke nights, and even some images from moments before failure. The one she had been most uncertain about including was the photo strip she hadn't been able to bring herself to destroy, but was at least amusing in memory now that the event was months past. She watched Drakken's eyes linger on that sequence of images with a slightly furrowed brow before he turned to the final pages with some of their most recent capers-turned-failures, but also the only image of just the two of them she'd been able to find.

This one was also at the lair, and was a happenstance capture from one of their henchmen. Shego realized suddenly that based on the man's response when she'd been asking for photos, Drakken had made it to him first. She rolled her eyes at the potential gossip that would ensue due to the coincidence, but rather than mulling over that potential embarrassment she tried to gauge Drakken's response to the gift by watching his face as he hesitated over the final picture.

It was, surprisingly enough, from right after the very same pie-eating contest that Drakken's photo had been from. Drakken had beaten her in the contest by a single slice of pie and about fifteen seconds, and his immediate gloating had prompted her to shove a piece into his face. The photo captured the moment immediately after that, as she was cackling and he held a fork pulled back with a generous bite on it, ready to fling into her face.

The food fight that had followed had concluded what had been arguably the most enjoyable evil family picnic they had ever had. But by Drakken's still features, Shego wasn't sure the gift was bringing back the memories fondly. Was he bothered that she had done the same thing as he did? Did he think including images from failed plans was a form of humiliation? Or their various mug shots? She took a deep breath.

"Since we're not exactly photo people, it was hard to find stuff that's really...album-worthy," she said, trying to soften the blow from the less-than-meaningful gift, even though she had meant it to be heartfelt. She shrugged. "But since you seemed so into your mother's albums, I just figured..."

She trailed off as Drakken rubbed the corner of his eye with the heel of his hand and then sniffled once before letting out a shaky breath. Shego lifted a brow, but then everything inside her suddenly melted as he turned to her with a broad grin and tears in his eyes.

"Shego, this is..."

He looked down, and she followed his gaze to where she was was still tightly clutching the picture he'd given her. She lifted her eyes to his again, and he swallowed and looked atypically shy as his smile broadened. That twisting feeling in her heart began again, coupled with a warmth that made her uncomfortable.

"Sorry I won't have another one for you to open on Christmas," she said, trying to shift the mood away from feelings she wasn't about to try to analyze.

"That's okay," Drakken said almost solemnly as he smiled. "This...is the best gift I've ever been given."