A/N: Thanks again the bcbdrums!


Good Girl Gone Bad


This was a nightmare. Right?

Shego didn't know anymore. Her mind was racing back and forth as she ran up the steps of the lair. It was like she was having an internal struggle of right and wrong, but everything was surrounded in golden light or made her ill. Her chest was pounding and it had nothing to do with her running.

She'd narrowly escaped her brothers, now more evil then even Electronique, all their goodness reversed. She wanted to mourn that, feel pity and help them...but she had fled. Fled, because her own mind was in shambles. She'd been afraid? It didn't feel like her, but then it did.

She ran past the few henchman they still had and toward her room, darting by the door as Drakken worked in the lab. She heard him call her name, but she needed to get her thoughts in order. A list of places to go, to hide, seemed to spin in her head but nothing was clicking. She knew she shouldn't be there. In a villain's lair? But this was where she lived.

I can't live here. They know where I am.

She slammed her hand against the buttons and let the door slam behind her as she entered her room. She felt her breathing finally slow and as she closed her eyes and let her head rest against the metal. It finally stopped spinning…

She slumped down to the ground and replayed the lights of the Attitudinator hitting her and Team Go. The looks of her brothers' eyes, the laugh of Electronique, the darkness—it all reminded her of a time she wanted to forget. But this time, it was as if her courage had been torn away with her evil essence.

They can find me.

The thought scared her. She couldn't fight all her brothers alone. She considered telling Drakken what had happened, but she felt even more uneasy. The image of him laughing at her or kicking her out or handing her over to them for a deal with Electronique...

He wouldn't do that.

He was a villain. She hadn't exactly done him justice when he'd been turned good. What if he repaid that favor?

Her mind was a mess now. Where would she go? Where could she hide? She paced her room, crossing and un-crossing her arms. She thought of all of her choices, all of her options. She could get money from her account? Her stomach twisted at the idea of using that money, gained by questionable means. But she would need funds to go anywhere. If she only took some, it would be less morally wrong. Right?

Where is somewhere evil-me would never go?

The thought flared like a light-bulb above her head.

Middleton.


Shego hoisted the duffle bag tighter on her shoulder. She couldn't change out of her normal attire just yet; she would do that when she got to the nearest city. Wearing anything else would draw attention from the henchman or from Drakken. She caught a glimpse of herself in the metal door to his office. Perhaps she should have forgone the headband as well…

She jumped as the door slid open. She hit the wall and hissed, not sure if Drakken was coming out or if she'd set off the motion-sensor. She wasn't used to not waltzing in.

"Shego?" came Drakken's voice. So it was the sensor…

"Yes, Dr. Drakken?" she blinked at her own voice; she sounded so formal.

"Are you headed out?" His voice was wasn't getting closer, so she glanced inside. He was sitting at his desk looking down at a paper.

"Ohm, yes," said Shego, her hand tightening absentmindedly on the strap of her bag.

"Could you grab some pickles? We're running out. I'd have one of the henchman do it, but they don't seem willing since the pay cut," said Drakken as he tapped his pen.

"Ohm... Sure," said Shego. She didn't like the strange stirring in her stomach.

"Great. See you later then," said Drakken. Shego fought with herself over telling him she wasn't coming back. She could fake being mad and a fight.

She didn't. She simply left.


Shego lay in her guest bed letting her thoughts process. She couldn't remember a time that she'd overthought anything so much.

Yes I Can.

When she was younger she would lay in bed at night thinking about a different life, unhappy with everything around her. Like now. She was going to face her brothers tomorrow. Back in Go City. Flashes of her youth, being the hero, and saving the day all flooded her mind.

She should feel pride for all the good she had done. Shame for the evil she had been doing. Yet, she couldn't place her feelings beyond...

I don't know what I want.

She thought lying low and being a teacher would give her peace. And it had. But only for a few days. She wanted to date the nice man. He was kind, strong, everything good...everything she should crave. Instead, she still felt a void. Like she didn't fit anywhere.

She would never want to be a hero again, even if her brothers weren't evil. She couldn't go back to Team Go. Likewise, the idea of evil made her physically ill. She could no longer fathom it.

Still, emotions and morality aside...she was lost.

She should be laying here thinking about her date, the dinner, and the romantic setting. She'd never gone out like that before. An evening of fine dining, music... No. She had. That had been different; that had been with Drakken and it was all business. She smiled. It had been fun though. An image of them running down the corridors and laughing at their caper being pulled off centered in her mind's eye. Then the sound of footsteps, and Drakken pushing her into the corner...

Drakken.

She shook her head to clear that thought and then a new concern took its place. She wondered if the henchman had listened when she had called a day after leaving to make sure Drakken was brought food once in a while... He forgot too often.

Her mind was now wondering if he'd noticed she was gone yet. She rolled her eyes; he was probably still too wrapped up in his doodles and evil schemes. Her stomach knotted, wondering if he'd place a new ad in Villains Weekly when he saw she wasn't coming back. Her chest tightened slightly. Her brows knitted at that feeling. She wasn't sure what had triggered that.

Villains. That's what triggered it.

Villains Weekly and all its evil deeds. Her moral compass was triggering now; it was hard to believe that she had once thrived on evil ways—that she actively enjoyed all their questionable plans she and Drakken had enacted. All the late nights scheming, the bad Chinese food and thefting ways... She'd already felt bad using the money she'd gotten from the 'bank' and gathering her items. It felt wrong, like it wasn't hers anymore.

She needed to stop dwelling on her past and focus on what needed to be done. Tomorrow they would find a way to get that machine and turn her brothers back to normal. Go City would be safe again.

Then, she could go back to her life. Middleton seemed like a nice place to live and work. She could get to know Steve. She could have a chance at an everyday, normal life. That thought should have been a relief, but instead she felt uneasy.

Is that what I want… Is that where I belong?

She tried to paint a mental picture of a normal life of teaching students and getting a small apartment, of going to dinners and PTA meetings... There was something about it that made her smile, but only for a fleeting second. She was gaining a chance at something she'd thought she'd wanted: simplicity.

As much as it appealed to her, something still didn't feel right.


"Shego, I need you."

Her mind fixated on those single words. It had been for a jar of pickles. She put her clothes back in her closet and looked around her room. She picked up the box filled with a few of her items from her safety deposit box when she'd gotten money from the bank. Her trinkets.

She sat on her bed and made a mental note that she needed to go put them back before the next lair destruction that was bound to occur. She opened the box and shook her head. This had been all she'd taken in her fleeting moment of mental despair: a pair of earrings, some pictures, and Obsidian Diamond.

The smile that had tugged at her lips fell away completely. While there were pictures of she and Junior, a cuff-link she'd swiped from a diplomat...the majority of the box were she and Drakken. The necklace… The photo-booth picture… And his mother's earrings.

There was the stomach twist again.

"Shego?" Drakken's voice came from outside her door. She felt a wave of nausea.

"If this is about pickles..." Shego snapped, probably more then she intended.

"Well, I made you a sandwich," said Drakken, his tone attempting to match hers.

"…I'm fine," she sighed and closed her box.

"Well I don't want it," scoffed Drakken. There was a pause. "So did you go visit your brothers then?"

"Yeah, sure," she got up and opened the door. "Where's my sandwich?"

"You said you didn't want it?" Drakken mumbled through a mouthful.

"No, you said you didn't want it...nevermind," said Shego with an eye-roll. "Did you actually bring me a sandwich or did you just want to pry?"

"...Both," said Drakken. Shego slowly closed the door on him. "Shego... Shego. Fine, I'll be in the lab. I do have a new plan."

"Does it involve sealing jars to inconvenience thousands?" smirked Shego as she flopped on the bed and grabbed the box.

"...I'll be in the lab," was his only response, and she heard him walk away.

Shego picked up the box and looked at the necklace more closely. She smiled remembering the dinner, the dancing, and that evening all over again. Her thoughts fell to Steve and their evening out. It paled in comparison to the night she and Drakken had gotten the necklace. Steve had been nice company, but the conversation didn't appeal to her the same way now. She wondered if she could convince Drakken to pull another heist... Or maybe just a nice evening out.

Her smile dropped and she put the necklace down as her stomach flipped at the image of Drakken replacing Steve and the two of them in a dimly-lit restaurant.

Her mind began pulling her thoughts together from the items she'd chosen to take, the concern she'd had while she was away, and the fact that his words were still on her mind and the way her chest tightened with each thought of them.

"Shego, I need you."

"Oh no." Oh no… This can't be happening.


On Snap! →