A/N: Alright, so I've had this written for days but have kept adding more and more and tweaking it.

I also would like to start updating at least once a week, but I'm aiming for twice a week starting in November.

A/N: By Popular demand... finally some dark insight into The Dollmaker.

I would love to thank bcbdrums for editing this chapter. Thank you SOOO much!


Villains Retreat Part 7


Drakken assessed the current situation as he looked around their crowded room. In their quick escape, they'd made it out only to find most exits blocked by Global Justice and a majority of their peers unable to escape. Shego and he had clearly not grabbed anyone, so in a lapse of judgment and hopes of saving face among other villains, they had let them in.

His eyes still scanning over the room, he saw Cleopatra, Carmella, and Hench sat on the couch, with Hench still coming to. Drakken rolled his eyes. Eddie, who apparently had lost the room key in his reckless chair-wielding abandon sat on the step up to the patio doors with Duff, a black eye on one and a bleeding lip on the other. Pandora and Hermes seemed to have worked whatever issues the two had out, as they sat overly close near the door. Drakken glared even more at the sight of Dementor sitting on his bed next to Camille, both comforting Camille's cat. As he finished scanning the room, his eyes fell to Shego. She was alone in the small kitchenette, her eyes fixated in a daze and rubbing her arm.

Drakken's mind spun back to the foggy sight, the horrific face of someone who vaguely resembled a person. He'd once seen pictures of Dr. Botox, a handsome woman once upon a time, now replaced in his mind with the image of a pseudo-skin mask sliding, and the over chemically-treated skeletal face beside Shego's. He didn't know how or what had pulled him out of the disgust and horror he'd felt. He had looked at Shego, the skeletal hand on her face, and his reaction of pulling out his trinket to shoot... He hadn't thought, hadn't even focused... It had been an automatic reaction out of nowhere. Then the flight came, grabbing Shego's wrist to leave and also grabbing... His hand gripped his pocket and he navigated towards Shego. He expected the eye contact to signal annoyance or a shared glance at the space being filled in anger. What he hadn't expected was anger towards him.

"So now we're just having a little villain shindig, are we?" she snapped at him before he could even enter the kitchenette. Logic dictated she was probably defensive because of her personal space being invaded and the events that had recently transpired.

"Well you're always saying we should have more," he snapped back, but when did he ever listen to logic.

"We could have ditched them in the halls. Now there's a lot of villains missing and they're going to search rooms, you idiot," she hissed.

"Well seeing as they were all corralled in front of Eddie's, I don't think we could have slipped by silently," glared Drakken, throwing his arms up in annoyance.

Their argument fell flat as a pounding came at the door. Shego's eyes narrowed and she scanned the room. There were silhouettes of GJ agents through the small light fading behind the curtains of the wall of windows. There was no way out, and Drakken saw it in her eyes. Before anyone could act or plan, Hench stood up and straightened his coat and looked around. Carmella made motions for everyone to head to the kitchenette. Drakken didn't have to look at Shego to feel the vibration of rage as she practically sat on the sink for everyone to fit. They heard the door open and Hench began his speech.

"Can I help you?" asked Hench calmly as everyone shifted a little more to fit in the kitchenette.

"Yes, sir, we are looking for wanted criminals..." a Global Justice Agent began.

"Well I can assure you, I am here alone, and I would like to keep it that way," said Hench. Drakken raised a brow. There wasn't even a waver in his voice.

"Sir, may we have your name?" said the agent.

"Certainly. Jack Hench," said Hench. Shego nudged Drakken who looked at her confused face, and they both shrugged.

"Hench Co's, Jack Hench," said the agent, "Well we should have a look around, as your company caters to..."

"Myself," said Hench, "I can't control my customers, the same way a convenience store can't decide who purchases a candy bar and who a bag of chips. You most certainly may not look around. Do you have a warrant? Because I have some of the best lawyers if you don't. So I'd take your foot out of the door, sir."

"You are being uncooperative..." Drakken and Shego watched as the figures by the doors got closer.

"This room is listed under a Mr. FiveSix... Is that supposed to be a number?" said another agent. Drakken cringed as Shego raised a brow. "5643?"

"Yes, I don't use my name, are you insane," laughed Hench. "Are we done here?"

"We suggest not leaving your room until the search is done. The power grid will be shutting down shortly. If you refuse to let us search, then leaving this room would be hindering our investigation," said a third voice.

"I have no problem staying in here while you do your searches gentleman, good day." The door closed and locked. Hench came into view and held up his hand as Cleopatra opened her mouth, and he casually picked up the phone. "Yes, I need several dozen candles delivered to this room. Immediately."

There was a silent moment as he hung up the phone and the figures near the door began to retreat. It was dead quiet until the sounds of the hallway faded and there was not a pin-drop outside before any of them dared shift out of their close quarters in the kitchen. But the relief was short-lived as a knock came at the door again. If ever there was a time to feel claustrophobic this would have been it, and Drakken was learning who among his fellow villains might be—one being Duff who seemed none too pleased to be crammed between him and Shego.

"Ay, care to switch, lass?" said Duff in a whisper that seemed strained. "We'd both be more comfortable, I'm sure."

"Excuse me?" muttered Shego as she shot Duff a glare.

Duff took a step back right into Drakken, who moved farther back into his corner and nearly fell on the small metal trashcan. His footing was off and he had to rest his knee on it and grab the counter to keep his balance. A mental stream of curse words was making its way through his mind as he did his best not to fall. He knew if he did, the commotion would alert whoever was at the door, and he was not aiming to be the reason all of his villain peers—himself included—got arrested by Global Justice. That would not go over well, to say the least. A social pariah didn't even begin to describe it.

"What are you implying?" hissed Shego at Duff.

"Shh," said Camille from where she sat partially in the sink holding her cat, who looked ready to attack anyone who got any closer.

"I was simply saying, I'm nae too keen on feeling like a sandwich, and well..." Duff looked even more uncomfortable and Drakken was losing his grip, the trashcan sliding under his knee.

"Shego," hissed Drakken. He really wished he was wearing his gloves as they had far better grip.

"Well, what?" asked Shego. There was a flare of green in the tiny room.

"Well, it shouldn't bother you because in the game..." Duff was trying to back away and Drakken glared.

"Shego, a little help here," he muttered.

"Shh," came the frustrated hushing of Carmella, whose eyes narrowed even more, seeing it was the three of them.

Shego's scowl turned from Carmella to Drakken before her eyes shot open. In one swift move, she swapped places with Duff and yanked up Drakken by his shirt, making sure the sound of a metal trashcan having someone fall on it and knock it over—which certainly would alert people outside—never happened. She spun around, hitting him with her hair and then focused on the windows.

Drakken leaned against the wall as Camille's cat approached him. He made to grab Shego's shoulder but she shot him a glare. He made a mental tally of why she would glare at him for that, and then it dawned on him: they were in a room with their "social" group and it definitely wouldn't look as innocent as it was, especially among the most gossipy group of villains there was. He tucked his arm behind him, making it obvious he was in no way touching her. Carmella rolled her eyes and Ed raised a brow and shook his head.

"All right, the coast is all clear," said Hench with a wide grin and a large basket of candles. "I suggest we get these lit. The power's about to be turned off shortly and I don't think we all want to be bumping into each other in the dark."

"Speak for yourself," snorted Ed. He raised a hand, but there were no high fives. He looked at Cleopatra. "Babe?"

She rolled her eyes and walked out of the kitchenette with the others. Ed sighed and looked at Drakken, who sidestepped away and shook his head. Camille raised a brow and sighed, but high fived him and immediately pulled out a napkin to wipe her hand. Ed shrugged and meandered out of the kitchen to start lighting some candles with the others. Drakken and Shego both shared a look and shook their heads as they put candles on the small table near where Hench was putting some on the mantel near the television.

"Nice going with the number," Shego said, rolling her eyes. "Did you put it in the wrong place?"

"Maybe it was intentional," said Drakken in slight annoyance.

"Was it?" asked Hench, who stood nearby.

"It's the last four of his credit card, so doubtful," said Shego with a smirk.

"Really?" asked Hench and Drakken saw his brow rise. "You know Dr. Drakken, I do seem to remember an outstanding balance on a few purchases."

"Oh...uhm... Heh," said Drakken nervously. He looked to Shego, but she had already gone, "Ohm, why don't we talk about that."

A short while later, Drakken was cringing at having given his credit card to Hench. Something told him their funds might be a little tight going forward, and he wondered if Shego would mind forgetting to pay herself a little bit longer. He would love to discuss it with her if she wasn't being socially anti-social. Drakken knew she wasn't listening to Camille chatter about something or another, because she was looking at her and nodding.

"So, was that, like, a really weird Global Justice raid or something?" asked Camille to no one in particular. "Like, ew, they looked like robo-Barbie dolls."

"Hey, Drakken?" asked Duff with a smug tinted brow raise.

"Don't even go there, Killigan," responded Drakken, dryly. Duff smirked.

"Aw, come on, we all have our things. Creepy robot girls were kinda yours a while back," said Duff with a casual tone, masking a smirk.

"Were they robots?" asked Hench. "They didn't seem like it."

"Probably some sort of cyborg thing Global Justice is working with," said Pandora. Drakken watched her share a glance towards Shego, who Drakken's attention focused on. Her body language was unreadable.

"I wouldn't put it past them to at least barter with another villain for trades," said Shego quickly. Drakken saw her shoot at look at Dementor and Ed, who nodded. Drakken shrugged, clearly that was the story they were going with.

"Judging by what's going on outside, we're in for a long night," said Cleopatra. They looked to see her glancing out the curtain. "There is an entire brigade out there. Just wondering how they knew there were other villains here."

"Someone could have tipped them off," said Hermes. Drakken saw him look at Pandora, but she shook her head.

"Staff, perhaps?" suggested Carmella, "I mean the resort caters to Villains and the Ill-Reputed, maybe someone just wanted to cause a scene and quit?"

"I did that once," said Cleopatra with a smirk. "I let an entire rat colony go in an exclusive restaurant when my manager refused to pay me my wage unless I did him favors. Pass. The place got shut down, he lost everything."

"Seriously? When were you a waitress?" asked Ed, shock in his voice.

"College, freshman year. I had to have some way of paying for trips that were required to get a PhD in archaeology," Cleopatra responded smugly.

"You were going to be an archaeologist?" asked Shego. Drakken raised a brow as well at the idea that someone as hands-off as Cleopatra had once gone on digs and gotten her hands dirty.

"Actually. I was one, briefly. Thanks," said Cleopatra with an eye-roll.

"Couldn't you have just flirted or dated a flight attendant?" said Camille with a smirk. "I've gotten into first class just for calling someone cute."

"Uhg, I have standards," said Cleopatra, she narrowed her eyes at the young Heiress.

"Pilot?" asked Drakken. Cleopatra glare turned into a coy smirk.

"More like... Airline CEO," shrugged Cleopatra, there was chatter at her statements and some chuckles, "Well I couldn't keep working at a rat-infested restaurant could I?"

"Where did you get a horde of rats?" asked Hermes as he sat down on the floor by the coffee table.

"Biology department, they were mad as hell," said Cleopatra as she sat on the couch across from him.

"I would have been livid if my research rats went missing," said Carmella as she sat next to Pandora who had taken a seat next to Hermes.

"When I was in secondary school," said Duff with a grin, "those boggers on the rugby team wouldn't let me on—"

"Because of your wee stature," said Drakken with mock sympathy. Duff glared but Shego snorted.

"You wanna talk wee, blue boy?" asked Duff flailing his fingers and Drakken smirked. "Ay, as I was saying. Anyways, I decided to add a little powder to their knickers. Showed them."

"Classic," snorted Hench.

"Ah, sad more like it," Dementor chimed in. "I had a teacher that if he caught you looking at someone would make you stand in front of the class and hold that person's hand the whole period. There was a girl I liked, Minga. He made her hold hands with this verlierer creation who teased her. So I filled every inch of his office with dough and the only way out was his third-story window. Got stuck in a tree and lost his trousers," he grinned.

"Aw, that's sweet. Score you some points with Minga?" asked Carmella with a wide grin.

"Nein, turns out she liked him. They two are married now, far too many children and a mild addiction problem," said Dementor with a shrug. He sighed and smiled. "Still pretty though."

"That's...nice," said Camille. She smiled. "Once, I was at a celebrity party... Not going to say who... Okay it was Curious Pup. Anyways, so he is notorious for his stash. So when he wasn't looking I switched it all out with oregano and then sold it back to his dealer so I could get a new D & G outfit."

"Camille, we are talking about silly, juvenile, devious fun," said Cleopatra, patting her hand.

"Not genius rip-offs, seriously, that's hilarious," laughed Ed. "Did he find out?"

"Well he did, but he thought it was someone else," said Camille, her smile faded. "That's an ongoing investigation I'd rather not talk about."

"Right... I once rebuilt the entire school staff's vehicles on the roof of the school building because I was bored," said Ed smugly. Drakken glared.

"Excuse me, I did that," said Drakken with a scoff. "It was four cars and I only asked you to help because you kept talking and it kept you quiet."

"Yeah, but I did it... And I was talking because I was bored, seriously, chill," said Ed with an eye roll. "Why do you always have to have the attention?"

"Seriously?" asked Drakken.

"Seriously... It's like you need constant validation," said Ed. Cleopatra snorted and nearly chocked on her drink.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, his brow furrowed.

"I think she snorted because it's funny how you're telling Drakken he acts like he needs validation, when you're the one taking credit for HIS story," said Hermes.

"Hey if—" Ed was cut off by Camille letting out a shrill scream, and they all jumped. "Whoa, Blondie, what's going on?"

"Oh my god... The cell service cut out," said Camille as she got up and tried finding a signal. "This is so... so... primitive."

"Huh," said Shego, "she should never meet Junior."

"Oh my god," said Drakken mimicking Camille, "could you imagine?"

"Pft!" Shego snorted and Drakken watched as her expression twitched back to the unreadable one she'd been holding ever since the attack.

"You know, I was thinking if that was a Global Justice raid... How did they have time to fit those speakers with internal fog machines?" asked Hench calmly.

"That is a good question, that would seem more like a setup," said Duff. Drakken glanced between Shego, Ed, Dementor, and Cleopatra.

"Is that mini-fridge still stocked?" asked Cleopatra with a raised brow.

"Yes, and highly overpriced..." Drakken was cut off as Shego opened it and grabbed a few bottles. "There is wine in the fridge, too."

"Is there... This night just got interesting," said Carmella as she headed towards the fridge.


"If we were looking for a new level of stupidity, we have reached it," snorted Shego as they sat on the floor around the coffee table.

Several bottles of wine, far too many scented candles, and a heaping amount of mini-bottles had led to everyone agreeing to Ed's suggestion: strip poker. Shego had only got the bottles to try and push the evening's earlier events as far from her mind as possible. But somehow, the stupidity of this was working better. She snorted as she looked at the room. Everyone had become far too invested in the idea, save for Camille who lay on the day bed, pouting about her lack of social media and the fact she'd been denied alcohol and just drank what was probably warm diet coke in a champagne glass, petting her cat and glaring at her phone. She'd calculated that while she had consumed more than the others, they were probably pretty even as her buzz kept fluctuating. If only there was tequila? She almost felt sober on that thought, and drank the rest of her bottle.

"All right, simple poker, nothing fancy. The game ends when someone loses all their gear," said Ed as he dealt the cards.

"Wait, one of you is going to be naked?" asked Camille, she grinned, "Can I join?"

"No," sounded a mutter around the table.

"Ohm, you know I'm not a kid, right. Like, seriously I'm twenty," said Camille with a scoff.

"Fine, go ahead," sighed Pandora as she scooted over. "You've played poker before?"

"No," said Camille, sitting down with a wide grin.

A loud sound came from the glass door; what might have been a knock but was more like a smack. The sudden sound caused them all to be on high-alert and turn towards the drawn curtain door.

"Psst... Shego, you in there?" It was Adrena's voice. Shego got up quickly and opened the door as Adrena dove in and locked it. "Whoa, that whole thing was super freaky!"

"How did you get out of there?" asked Shego, the others looking around as if it was a trap.

"Super easy. Anubis and DNAmy totally made a scene and we all broke for it. I don't know where the others went but they seriously underestimated us with only two guards and... Oooh poker!" said Adrena flopping next to Ed. "And booze... Whoa, I ran to the right room. Hey guys."

"All right," said Hermes as he looked at the cards in his hand. "How much wine is there anyways?"

"Not enough," said Dementor as he poured another glass. "Mein Gott, we're gonna need more if we're going to be in here all night."

"Stop your griping and let's get this going," said Duff as he grinned at his cards.

"Agreed," said Camille as her hand drifted over to Dementor's glass which he slid away without looking up.

"Nice try, not going to happen," said Dementor. "I'm not giving up my share."

"Lay 'em down, guys and babes," said Ed as he grinned and put his cards down.

"So we're not even going to ask any more about what's happening out there?" asked Hench, indicating to Adrena who was sharing a wine bottle with Pandora.

"Doesn't concern us," said Carmella with a sweet smile. "Best not pry. Now, unless you beat my hand...pay up."


"All right, the babes are cheating," muttered Ed as he tossed his belt into the pile as Camille waved a full house.

"Doubtful, since we're all still pretty even Motor Ed," smirked Shego. She glanced at Drakken as he placed his watch in. "Running out of accessories there Doc?"

"Thank you, Shego," said Drakken with an eye roll as she tossed her necklace in, "seems you are too."

"I have five and you have...presumably four, so I feel pretty confident yet," Shego retorted.

She heard a scoff from the other side of the table where Carmella sipped her wine. She sent a glare to Pandora for good measure, but she noticed she wasn't drinking at all.

"Depends, are we playing college style or friendly?" asked Hermes as he dealt the next hand.

"What's the difference?" asked Duff with a raised brow.

"College style means it's a race to skins, friendly means you can ditch your pockets first," said Hench as he sat in his tie, undershirt, and pants.

"That sounds lame," scoffed Ed. "Always college style."

"Ed says college style…" said Cleopatra calmly as she put in her last earring, and Ed's grin fell to annoyance as she continued, "…so friendly it is."

"Good thing, I'm getting down to my skivvies faster than I'd bargained," sighed Duff.

"Ohm...you don't have any pockets," said Adrena with a raised brow as she giggled and took another drink.

"Hey, did you know there's a door behind the fridge?" said Dementor. There was a pause.

"How much alcohol do we have?" asked Ed in a low whisper to Cleopatra, who had a wicked grin.

"A heaping offering," was her retort.


Some sad attempts at moving the fridge before Shego stepped in, a lock-picking, and another fridge-shove over, and the room now bore two fridges and far too many empty bottles of alcohol. Shego snorted as Drakken drank his water and held a look of concern on his face as the game finally resumed.

There had been a minor pause after the pillow set fire, and they added more cards to the mix. It was Ed who laid down the best cards this time, and Shego tossed her anklet in. The next garment she had was her green dress, but no one was showing much skin yet. She'd be damned if she was going to be the first one out. It figured that the one time Cleopatra wore more layers than her, this would happen. There were a few wallets, and various junk tossed in now. She looked at Drakken who glanced at something in his pocket and then sighed.

"What you got in your pocket there, Drakken?" smirked Shego, leaning over towards him. She was probably closer than she meant to be judging by his sober face as he leaned back a bit.

"It's uh...something…private," said Drakken. He was giving her a look as if trying to convey a message she wasn't receiving.

"Damn, Shego, stop staring at his dick," said Adrena with a snort of laughter that caused a few more bursts of drunken laughter.

"Oh," said Duff wiping his eyes in tears of laughter. "Aye, save it for when he loses."

"Well someone's...cocky," snorted Drakken to wide bursts of laughter.

"Seriously, let's let my Cuz...rise to the occasion and pay up," said Ed with a snort as more laughter joined in.

"Finally, some skin," said Carmella with a snicker as Drakken was the first to lose his shirt.

"Ah man, I got no more dick jokes," sighed Adrena as she finished off her bottle. She shrugged and whistled, and the others joined in.

"You're all drunk," said Drakken with an eye-roll as he tossed his shirt in the pile. Shego would have commented on the tint to his face, but she was concealing her own from Adrena's prior comment, though she shot him a look wondering what he actually had in his pocket.

The game went on with more clothes being added to the pile accompanied by several roars and whistles to a few strip dance-style losses courtesy of Dementor, Carmella, Hench, and Ed. The liquor was dwindling, but the buzz was not. Shego's dress was finally tossed to the pile as she took in the appearance of the other players. Drakken still had his pants on and whatever was in his pocket—how he'd gotten a winning streak and remembered his hair tie was beyond her.

Hench was down to a sock and his boxers, and judging by the level of his intoxication his boxers might be the next to go, along with his last glass of wine. Cleopatra still had her headband, one stocking, and her undergarments. Carmella still wore her undergarments, a corset, and one long glove. Shego cursed at the number of accessories the other women had and made a mental note to just wear her uniform in these settings from now on. Ed still had his jeans on, which seemed to be irritating Adrena more than anyone. Shego was not mentally prepared to go there…at all. She grimaced.

Pandora, who'd forgone drinking, had called it a night. She was sleeping on the small couch, which Shego was tempted to knock a candle on, but there were too many witnesses. Hermes, annoyingly, was winning and still wore a majority of his clothes. Shego was convinced he was cheating. Dementor still wore his helmet and boxers, but like Hench, he was probably going to lose those over his helmet. Camille still wore her slip from under her dress and her accessories had finally run out, but she still had a ways to go; she lucked into a lot of good hands. Certainly Dementor had something to do with that. Duff still had his kilt on and his undergarments…hopefully. Shego was really not interested in finding out if Duff followed tradition in not wearing undergarments. Adrena... Adrena was snoring, and had taken to a fetal position using Cleopatra's lap as a pillow. Thank god. Shego looked at her cards and as she did so, she could slowly feel her buzz start to fade. It wasn't a good hand and no matter what, she was going to have to ditch something.

"Yes... Yes! Another full house!" said Camille, whose sneaking of drinks here and there had made her quite cheerful. It was a little off-putting.

"Oh no," muttered Duff under his breath. Shego silently agreed.

She pondered leaving the game. A sudden current of nerves came swimming in, but she wasn't about to bow out. She for sure could do without Ed making comments, and he would... She glanced around the table and rolled her eyes. Who cares, its strip poker and most of them aren't even going to remember this. She looked at Drakken, and there was a weird twist in her gut as she reached behind herself to unclip her strapless bra. Something about him seeing her topless sent a strange wave of anxiety buzzing through her that she couldn't explain. This was only heightened as Drakken stood and undid his pants and tossed them next to him, and he froze as he looked at her. Drakken wasn't drunk. He hadn't had a single drop. He wouldn't have a foggy memory at all about anything that happened that night. As he looked at her, she could tell he was thinking along the same route. Shego's mind began a roller coaster. Perhaps throwing in the towel was the best thing to do.

"Ay, looks like the game's over," sighed Duff as he stood up to remove his kilt.

"Seriously, whoa, all right, we believe you," said Ed as he tossed down his cards and grabbed his clothes. "Seriously, it's late anyways... All right, who's sleeping where?"

As everyone filtered out and found somewhere to sleep, or rather try too, Shego quickly tossed on her dress and jumped up. Her mind was swirling with that awkward feeling. She looked over at Drakken as he was pulling his pants back on and she found herself staring a little too long for her own comfort. All right, you are way too tired. She was just about crawl into bed, when she saw that Carmella had drifted over to talk to Drakken, still in her corset and undergarments. Any attempt at figuring out her own thoughts stopped as she glared. The candy queen seemed flirty if not overly friendly like she had been in the café. Drakken was holding his shirt and looking slightly flustered, even glancing around to see where she was no doubt. Shego watched his shoulders go rigid as Carmella got far too close. Carmella was insane and vindictive and Drakken had dumped her... Shego began walking towards them, ready to strike if she was plotting something.

"Someone's jealous," giggled a drunk Adrena as she leaned against Shego. "You're all green."

"I'm always green," Shego rolled her eyes. Drunk-Adrena was far more annoying than regular-Adrena. Hench was there now, and Carmella had stepped back.

"Hey all I know, one minute you're staring off eye-stripping and then Sweety started chatting up Blue, and you got all—" Adrena gestured to Shego and almost stumbled, and Shego saw her hands had ignited, "—rage faced and freaky glow."

"Maybe I'm just tired and moody," said Shego. She was in fact those things, and Adrena wasn't helping. The day had just one big disaster.

"Hey, I feel ya. That corset is an eye-catcher," yawned Adrena. "I'd be up for some freaky good fun."

"Carmella...god…no," said Shego, she felt her body physically cringe, and Adrena raised a brow.

"Huh..." Adrena looked at her and shrugged. "Maybe I was wrong... Or maybe I was right... Just wrong person. 'Night."

"...I'm going to kill her when she's sober," growled Shego. The adrenaline junky couldn't be more wrong about the situation.

She looked around as everyone seemed to drift off and Carmella disappeared into the doorway to Ed and Cleopatra's room, where half the group had split off. Shego found herself standing by the patio and looking to where Drakken, the insomniac, had begun cleaning up the mess. Her mind—now void of sound, drink, and distractions—played back the comedy act fiasco from earlier. They had been laughing and having a good time without the comedian, and then in one second, everything changed. Something was sobering about it, how fast everything could change.

Her hand touched her arm and she felt her stomach twist and knot. Somewhere Botox might have her DNA and was splicing it... Or Global Justice found it and confiscated it for their own testing.

Her chest pounded, and she could feel a tightness in her body. She needed air. Her head was spinning. She wanted to rant, the yell, to let everything out… But she didn't know what. She glanced towards Drakken. I can talk to him about... She shook her head as images of her blood being used for horrible and disturbingly familiar scenes played out. She needed some sound other than the snores and moving of dishes.

"Shego," Drakken's voice startled her, and he was glancing around as he stood in front of her. When had he gotten so close? "Now that everyone's asleep..."

"I need some air," said Shego. She didn't listen for his protests of reasoning it might not be safe. She headed out the French doors, and as she got to the bench on the darkened patio, her thoughts rang again: How had he gotten so close?


Drakken looked through the glass as Shego sat in the darkness. He knew she had only gone to sit down because he could see her in the faint moonlight. He agreed to give her space mentally; she was probably processing the day, and the awkward game had only been a temporary distraction. Still, it might calm her nerves if she knew... He was going to get blasted for interrupting her 'alone time,' but it was worth the risk. He slid out onto the patio and walked cautiously towards her, he heard her sigh.

"Are you kidding me? You should know better," snapped Shego. "Whatever you have to say, save it for later. I don't want to talk."

"Shego, about today with your DNA," Drakken began. If he could say it real fast, she might not blast him.

"Are you serious right now? I swear if you make a comment or a joke about this I will send you flying," said Shego. "And if you ask me about cloning, I will—"

Drakken knew where this rant was going. Perhaps he should have waited, but he didn't want the temptations to get to him or his mind to wander off-point in his attempt at sleeping. He pulled the silver tube out of his pocket and shoved it towards her. Her aggressive rant stopped and she looked at it before taking it in her hand. He waited for a solid minute before deciding now that he had given it to her, he could feel comfortable chalking this day up to something to leave alone in his memory banks.

He was nearly at the door, and halfway through metaphorically erasing the day and maybe retiring his toothpick shooter... Or modifying it... Maybe I could make it bigger and more stable.

"How did you get this?" asked Shego. There was paranoia to her voice and Drakken raised a brow.

"When Botox let go of you and dropped it, I snatched it before grabbing your wrist. You seemed...distracted," said Drakken, turning back to her. He still had not the faintest idea what had come over him at that moment. Maybe seeing Shego so unfocused.

"You had the clarity of mind to grab it?" asked Shego, still staring at it. "You?"

"I have my moments," said Drakken as he sat down next to her. Her expression was searching. Drakken's heart sunk and his stomach knotted. "Do you seriously think I would work with Botox to get your DNA? I know you don't trust anyone, but the fact you think that little of our friendship..."

"No, I don't," said Shego. She shook her head and looked at the vial. Drakken clenched his jaw and made to get up. "But I trust you."

"Really? Didn't seem like it," said Drakken. He let out a more agitated hiss than he intended.

"It's been a really bad day," said Shego with a sigh. Drakken stayed seated and watched her look at the vial.

"I know. I was there... I shot someone with a toothpick and saw way too much of too many people I will have to talk to when they're sober." Drakken said, trying to make light of the energy that was playing around them. His efforts gained a small laugh.

"You could have kept this," said Shego, still looking at the vial. Her head was hung low as she held it tightly. "You could have never told me you had this, Drakken. We don't even have a contract."

"No we don't... I could have and you would have never known," said Drakken. His eyes lingered on the vial, all the possibilities he could have had with its contents, and he hadn't even considered it. He just gave it to her.

"You could have made clones, tested it for powers, concentrated it... Everything I worry about when it comes to my DNA," said Shego. She looked up at him with uncertainty.

"You've made it very clear over the years, that's not an option," said Drakken. "Contract or not, I agreed."

"Right…"

Drakken watched her glare at the offending object and he half expected to be yelled at or threatened by the look she held. But as the blood sample tube burst into green flame, he knew she wasn't angry at him.

"Thank you," she said.

"Yeah," said Drakken with a shrug. He was about to stand up and head back in when Shego cut him off.

"They wanted to find a way to duplicate my powers once, to make them perfect," said Shego. There was a stiffness to her as she watched her hand continue to burn.

"Excuse me?" said Drakken with a raised brow, not sure who 'they' might be.

"Dollmaker," said Shego without looking at him. "It was the last thing he needed from me to complete his perfect project."

"Shego, you don't have to tell me this..." Drakken didn't say more at the look she gave him.

"Just... Just shut up and listen," sighed Shego. "I've told you before that the villains that existed in Go City were far more complex than now. There were only a few who held personal grief or obsessions with us out of spite that were of any real concern. Dweller, the one that Pandora talked about... While they favored me for their little games, their tendencies included all of Team Go. Dollmaker, however, was different. Very different."

"Maybe we should talk about this when we get back to the lair, it might be a little less awkward- " She shook her head, and Drakken nodded his compliance.

"He was more mentally unstable than right-out evil. He started out as a collector of unique and one-of-a-kind dolls. Harmless enough. Then he wanted more than he could afford... He made a lot of bad deals and bargains with people like Stitches and Dr. Botox, and found it more inexpensive to make what he wanted. What he wanted was one-of-a-kind things. Somewhere along the way, it went from dolls to living things. Animals, antiquities…but always dolls. He made copies of dolls and would switch them out. We didn't consider him a threat as much as some of the others like Dweller. Just a sad man with an unhealthy hobby. What we didn't know, was that was just the tip of the iceberg. As creepy as his comments seemed, the way he acted…we let it slide. I let it slide, and just chalked it up to another weirdo. I didn't know this ignorance had fueled his interest in something he thought was one-of-a-kind… New… Different. And that he had started to become far darker than we thought."

Drakken watched as Shego uncharacteristically wrung her hands. He wanted to tell her that he wasn't sure he wanted to hear this. By the clenching of her jaw, the stiffness in her frame…his mind was racing to where this might be going. He found himself moving closer, but she didn't notice. Or if she did, she didn't care. The pause seemed longer than it was, and she took a deep breath and focused her gaze on the stairs of the patio and away from him. Her hand moved over on her arm to where a small mark from where the blood had been drawn from earlier was barely noticeable.

"I went to check out a warehouse alone because I thought Hego had asked me to. Turned out Dollmaker had just gained a voice mimic device. As I figured that out, something hit me and the next thing I remembered was opening my eyes to a nightmare. I couldn't move, and everything felt numb and foggy, but I was awake. He'd created…a doll case of sorts, with a stand to prop me up like one of his dolls. Dressed up and painted like them even. I was aware of what I saw, what was happening, but I couldn't move or speak..." Shego's entire posture shifted and Drakken could tell if she had anywhere to actually go right now, she would. "I don't know who they were...or where he got them... Because he didn't clone them."

"Who?" asked Drakken. He nearly smacked himself for even talking, but Shego sat back and looked upwards to the treetops.

"There were four of them. Girls around my age. They were dressed like me, their hair the same as mine. Some of their hair and features... you could tell wasn't natural or complete. Clearly they had been his original plans, just to create them to resemble me, but they hadn't worked out... So he went for the real thing. His plan, as he told me, was to make them to complete his collection… That he just planned on finding a way to isolate my powers so he could get the color just right... He'd gained my DNA without me knowing, and he'd tried it on two... The others just…had other complications in his attempts to make another me."

Shego grew quiet for a moment. "No one's ever ready to see their mortality... Let alone at the cost of others. I was lucky that Hego apparently put a tracking device on me that Dollmaker didn't find."

"Shego," said Drakken, trying to stop the visions that were pooling in his mind. He could only imagine, and he didn't want to.

"Anyway, so now you know," said Shego quickly. He could see her try and pull back like she always did, but the tears that she was wiping away betrayed that.

"I'm sorry," said Drakken. He thought about the cloning clause, and the mind control. There were a series of red flags, and he'd unintentionally been crossing them left and right.

"Well, what's new." She was pushing hard against showing her emotions, but the wall wasn't slamming up.

It was unsettling for him, hearing this story. It was very obvious she'd made the decision that she trusted him, and the walls that Shego wore better than he wore his own were now clearly down. It made his stomach twist along with the images that wanted to form from her story. She finally looked at him with what he knew was meant to be read as annoyance, but the water in her eyes didn't portray it well.

He should make a joke to pull them out of the silent moment, or say something stupid and annoy her so she didn't feel so exposed. Because while she had told him a part of her dark past, his mind was jumping back and forth to how they had gotten to this point, the two of them sitting there with metaphorical walls being pulled down and sharing something so private on a patio in the middle of the night.

Beyond his reason he found his hand touching her face and wiping away the water there. He tensed up immediately, because so did she. Reality swarmed back like a hive of bees. What am I doing?

Drakken looked at Shego, not sure why she hadn't reacted in anger as his thumb slid under her eye. Instead he saw relief in her features. There was no anger, no fear, nothing of the usual he could read on her face for once. His chest pounded and he had the innate desire to kiss her, and his whole stomach became solid stone. Don't think that. Don't even get near that line.

It took all his will power to not do so as she leaned towards him, and his arm wrapped around her as he moved for her to lean on his shoulder. He felt her go rigid for a second at the contact, but then he felt her shoulders slump and her breathing still. He could hear his voice saying things in comfort, but he honestly didn't even know what he was saying. Whatever he did say apparently was working as he felt her slack against his shoulder.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, nor when he'd started rubbing circles on her hand in a soothing manner, nor when his heartbeat finally settled. All he knew was that, despite the fact he had finally had Shego's DNA in his hands, he had instead handed it over for her to destroy. And he didn't have a single regret about it. Instead, he felt contentment. She trusted him... And for the first time in a long time...he hadn't questioned doing the right thing.

That terrified him more than the tingle he felt in his chest at the smell of her hair.


Shego wasn't sure what her dreams or nightmares might have been, because her last memory of Drakken's voice faded and the next thing she knew, there were seagulls and a growing warmth on her left shoulder. She blinked slowly and looked at the patio ground as the sun began its slow rise. Her mind played puzzle-piecing of the night before: the conversation with Drakken, the vial of blood, and her telling him things she was undoubtedly going to regret. Then a whole new thought occurred as she became aware of the legs next to hers, the movement under her chin, and the breathing above her. More notable was the fact her hand was being loosely held by someone.

She glanced up and realized suddenly she had fallen asleep when Drakken was talking to her, and he'd just gone with it. Her mind played back the evening and all its events, and she glanced down at the scorch marks that had once been the vial. Her chest pounded at the possibilities. He'd had a chance to take her DNA and work on all the projects he'd avoided since their agreement…and she would have never known... But he didn't. And he'd won her trust. She hadn't even known there was trust to be won until she'd watched the vial burn.

She looked at him and recalled the image of him wiping away her tears. Couldn't keep it together, great. She hated that he'd seen that, and she couldn't even blame alcohol this time. Her eyes shot open as she recalled the moment more clearly. She had been going to kiss him. She had leaned towards him and thank god he had those stupid innocent tendencies when it came to those social cues and had gone for a hug.

Thank god.

She looked at her hand on his and slowly moved it away. She heard him start to wake up and moved quickly away from him, holding on to the pillow on the back of the bench and looking out at the water behind them as he stirred.

"About time you got up, Global Justice must have bailed," she said as soon as his eyes opened. She saw Drakken move quickly much in the manner she had. It was reassuring that he was unsettled as well.

"Hmm, yes, looks like it." He cleared his throat. "Ohm, should we..."

"Get the hell out of here before the other's wake up? Yes," said Shego quickly, and the two moved inside much faster than was necessary, both eager to get away from this so-called mess of a vacation.


To the Lair →