30. Count-Down

December 31, 2006

Drakken was nervous. Even though everything was perfect, as far as he could imagine...did Shego think the same?

In preparing for the New Year's Eve date he had halted all evil plotting for the week, which had confused Shego. The henchmen all knew the deeper plan of course, and he resisted looking around on the five-star luxury train to be sure the one who had been covertly invited was there. He'd seen him earlier...and he just had to trust that all would go well. It had so far.

He had decided that going all-out on the date was the easiest way to make sure nothing went wrong. And thus, that was why they were on a five-star train to the middle of the Nevada desert that rivaled most hotels in its luxury. They had already been the recipients of a massage, eaten the best meals Drakken had ever tasted (which he vowed to replicate once back at the lair), and enjoyed letting their guard down to listen to the tour guide on their way to the night's destination.

It was a train specifically for viewing the stars, which while always an option back at the lair, was a pastime he and Shego rarely partook of. And the luxury train had skylights specifically for the viewing of the Milky Way and any other wonders of nature that might present themselves where they could watch from any of the luxury cars on the train, but preferably from the comfort of the bed in their private suite.

At the moment, they were seated on one of the benches—if they could be called that, for how plush they were—in the lounge car, sipping drinks from the bar. Shego had asked him several times throughout the evening what his angle was as elaborate dates were not something they had ever really done, the few attempts in the past being awkward. It had taken hours to convince her it was simply to mark the anniversary of when they became a couple, and that he wanted to treat her like the queen she would one day be when they finally took over the world.

A silly debate about their future titles had gone on for much of the evening as well, with Shego preferring the strangely detached title of Supreme One for herself and Drakken arguing for something more joint such as emperor and empress, or the Latin for king and queen to put that bit of detachment in that she seemed to want. They had just about agreed on Supreme King and Queen temporarily, until they could think of something better that suited both their tastes, when Shego changed the subject.

"It's about midnight, and I know they're going to give another little speech about the stars," Shego said, sipping from her drink, "but we don't need to hear it, do we?"

She took Drakken's free hand and placed it just above her knee at the slit in her dress. Drakken's heart raced as she parted her knees, not indecently, but doubly making her point as if he needed another hint.

While his nerve endings tingled in anticipation of obliging her, he had yet to finish enacting his ever so risky plan. He looked out the window into the dark, where it seemed the train was riding out into nothing. But then he looked up through the skylights, the stars above painting a vast, powerful image in the blackness. While they made him feel small and aware of his place in the world, there was also a sense of promise, as if nothing was beyond his grasp.

"Yo, Dr. D.?" Shego said, emphasizing his initial.

Drakken looked down, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed the henchman he'd brought along seated at the bar. He barely caught the man's nod of acknowledgment as he focused back on Shego, blushing at the suggestive look on her face. He'd not moved his hand from her leg, and she was running her fingers up under the inside of his suit lapel, her nails lightly raking his chest through the fabric of his shirt.

"As good as this suit looks on you..." she began, not hiding her admiration of his figure. She lowered her voice to a whisper and continued. "All it's made me want to do is get you out of it."

Drakken cleared his throat. "In a minute, but, Shego..."

"Hmmm," she said, shifting her leg in seeming hope of getting his hand further up the inside of her thigh.

"Our titles..."

"Should I call you Supreme King tonight?" she whispered, setting her arms around his neck.

Drakken's already racing nerves increased, and he nearly forgot his purpose for a moment. But he cleared his throat again and took his hand off her leg, to her disappointment, and held one of hers.

"Before we rule the world...there's...there's two other titles I've been thinking about," he said.

Shego looked confused, and Drakken was so nervous he felt as if he was leaving his own body as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, velvety black box.

Shego's eyes widened on the box, and she let out a silent gasp before he'd even opened it.

"I was thinking of...husband and wife?"

He watched her stunned face as she stared at the ring he had chosen so carefully, of rose gold and a single white diamond in a unique lozenge cut, flanked on either side with inlaid blue moon quartz. She wasn't speaking, and Drakken felt his voice wasn't his as he continued, his soul desperate for her answer.

"Shego, will you marry me?"

She finally lifted her eyes from the ring to his, her lips still parted as she seemed to be reading his expression. But beyond that and of far greater importance was the joy in her eyes. Relief began to wash over him as all she did was smile, and then finally the tension fell from her shoulders as she released a breath...and nodded.

"Oh—" he started to say, but Shego had nearly knocked him back with a kiss as she threw her arms around him, and he braced himself on the armrest of the bench for a moment before wrapping his arms around her and kissing her back. Her could feel her heart pounding where her chest was pressed against his, and for that moment, holding and kissing the woman who was worth more to him than every dream, he felt that he already had the whole world.

He didn't know how many minutes had passed, but when he began to feel a calming of his searing nerves he reluctantly pulled his lips from the caress of hers. She made a small sound of protest, her arms still wrapped tightly around him, but he felt between them for the ring box and then understanding, she leaned back.

Her bright smile was a match to his as he slid the ring on her finger, and when she looked up into his eyes no words were needed. He gripped her hands tightly and moved to kiss her again, but a small, mechanical whir from the direction of the bar that he realized had been in the background the whole time finally caught his attention. He looked over, Shego following suit a second after, to where his hired henchman for the occasion was pulling a darkened photo out of his mother's borrowed Polaroid camera and adding it to a small stack on the end of the bar.

"What the...?" Shego began, but Drakken squeezed her hands and pulled her focus back.

"There were two blank pages left in the album," he explained. "So I thought..."

Shego kissed him again before he could finish, and he smiled deliriously as she stroked his cheek.

"We can put some of those in there back in our suite," Shego said, assuming correctly that he'd brought the album with them.

Before he could respond to the affirmative, voices from the rest of the compartment and neighboring cars began loudly counting down from ten. Drakken remembered the date as the count reached 'one' and cries of 'Happy New Year!' rang around them. He was about to repeat the sentiment, but the look in Shego's eyes as she smiled at him stole the words away.

"I love you, Drakken," she said softly.

Every nerve in his body ignited again as he looked down at the shine in her eyes, and he knew his were a match to hers. As he closed the distance and pulled her close to him again, the cacophony faded away in light of the only thing that mattered.

"I love you too, Shego."