A/N: ITS VERY LONG!
A/N: Thanks bcbdrums for the edits!
A/N PLEA: I just want to thank all who review AND read this story. It means a great deal to me as I work hard to write this for you all to enjoy. If possible could you leave a review, even a guest one if you haven't before. I really appreciate it and it lets me know the story is worth continuing. Please and thank you. (It doesn't have to be a long one, even just a small word is nice)
Fever Part 2
Drakken stared at Hego as he processed his words. Hego looked less like the superhero he painted himself as and more like a worried child being caught after curfew. While he had many questions as to what had brought that about and knew Shego would approve...he had the urge to berate him and call him a series of names. But his frustration passed quickly into fear. It bordered on the blind panic he'd been fighting the entire time. They had no stone—a piece of comet, if that's what it was—no blood samples to run panels on, and a disorganized book of miscellaneous rocks and stones.
"Why?" asked Drakken to himself. Hego took it as a question to him.
"I didn't want it being misused," sighed Hego. "Shego constantly mentioned her unease about blood samples and DNA... And would point out how it was always a hero's downfall in comics. After Dollmaker...that's—"
"I know who that is," cut in Drakken. Hego nodded and had a flicker of a smile as he leaned against the table.
"After that incident with Shego, I inquired with Global Justice about the samples. They said they were secure, unused, and untouched. But I knew Dollmaker had greater connections, so I paid their lab a visit." Hego rolled his eyes. "Then when Shego sent word of a Dr. Taxley just a year ago, I had the Wegos wipe any digital data for safety."
Hego's brow narrowed and Drakken watched as the table cracked below Hego's hands where a faint blue light touched it. Drakken took a large step back and turned as the glow grew and the table buckled and splintered. The blue light faded quickly, and as he looked at Shego's brother he saw that scared childish look again before he cleared his throat and took a defiant stance.
"I thought I was doing what was best at the time," he huffed. "Yet another lesson why one should not interfere with right and wrong. I could have simply called Global Justice and—"
"Handed over your sister as a wanted fugitive of the law for experimentation," finished Drakken. His eyes narrowed as Hego vocalized what he himself had worried about.
There was a shifting of emotions yet again. Drakken felt the blame and worry melt into anger and hostility as his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched. He briefly registered that Hego was doing the same.
"At least they would have had more competent scientists and medical staff," snapped Hego. "No offense Dr. Drakken but at least Mego finished medical school."
Drakken balled his fists and did his best not to let his temper rise. Though he wondered how far he could get if he hit Hego hard enough with a chair and ran. Drakken's mind flew back to his makeshift set-up, the glowing stone in Shego's hand, and the gauntlets in his drawer. In between those images, every one of his failed schemes flooded his mind and he narrowed his eyes as he focused on Hego.
"No one asked for your help or opinion, Hego," hissed Drakken. "Going off what Shego indicates...it's not like you to care about anything more than being the hero of Go City. Why start now?"
Drakken expected a pride-filled boast about Go City and Team Go and for Hego to look like the comic book superhero he tried to emulate. What he hadn't expected was the contorted features on Hego's face that yanked Drakken out of his own anger. It was a ghost of an expression on Hego's face before he pulled it back to unreadable. But for a second Hego looked more like the villain of a comic than the hero. Suddenly, the glow of his hands reminded Drakken that Hego was Shego's brother and a superhero. Drakken was the villain. Drakken took a step back as Hego's hands glowed brighter and he dove just as the remnants of the table flew at him.
"You know nothing about me," glared Hego. "But I know you. You're just a self-centered, egotistical villain who my sister had the misfortune of meeting when she was getting her rebellious stage out of her system."
Drakken scoffed and let out a dark laugh at Hego's words.
"Rebellious stage? Shego is a grown woman. You talk like she's some otherwise obedient teenage girl," snorted Drakken. "She went evil well before she met me. Toxic environments at their best, always producing the best villains."
A chair flew past Drakken's head and he had a moment of clarity, wondering why he was still egging the muscle-packed hero on. As if in reply he felt a tightening in his chest.
You did this...
"If it wasn't for you...she would have stayed at Go Tower after Electronique," stated Hego. "But no, someone needed to swoop in and pick her up."
Drakken narrowed his eyes and let out a loud scoff.
"She was under the influence of the Attitudinator, you fool," replied Drakken. "A simple mentally altered state. She was essentially under a form of mind control. If that's preferable to her real self, you're no better than a villain, Hego."
"At least she wouldn't be in this circumstance, would she," glared Hego as he tossed a chair. Drakken didn't even attempt to dodge this one.
Drakken's back smacked into one of the heavy storage aisles with such force it wavered and the chair splintered. Drakken hissed at the pain in his back and head as he slid down the metal. The glow in front of him vanished. He barely acknowledged it as the pain in his head caused his eyes to blur as hot liquid fought behind them. He squinted his eyes to fight the tears, not even sure if they were from the pain at all. He vaguely heard running from the ringing in his ears. Drakken went to slide away from the wall with a groan. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Dr. Drakken, are you all right?" Hego's voice was frantic, but the blue glow in front of Drakken's closed eyes didn't match.
"Nope, still alive," groaned Drakken. His back and chest ached for two completely different reasons. "Just going to power punch me to finish?"
"No..." Hego fell silent and in a swift motion Drakken was pulled to his feet. Hego's voice was even-toned. "My apologies. I should have not let my emotions—"
Drakken wiped his eyes and tried to focus on Hego, but a wave of nausea took over and Drakken pulled away from where Hego gripped his shoulder and doubled over to get the swirls and heat from his stomach. He felt dizziness briefly as the light-headed feeling of being ill came swimming. He'd mostly dry heaved into his panting state. The double-vision was fading as the salt of the tears faded away. There was glowing again but he realized it wasn't from Hego.
Drakken took a shaky breath as his eyes focused on a faint blue glow down the dark aisle and under the cabinetry. Drakken's chest pounded and he was aware of Hego apologizing but he wasn't listening. Drakken scrambled forward and down the dark aisle. He didn't even fully stand up in his motions. He didn't need to. His hand darted under the narrow crevice and towards the glowing stone.
He knew Shego had dropped it, but it seemed no one had thought to look for a stone they didn't know was missing. He grasped it and sat back on his haunches to examine it, using the crook of his arm to wipe his face and focus his eyes. He felt a grin spread across his lips as a wave of relief and excitement washed over him. He spun to look at Hego and fell slightly from his wavering equilibrium.
"Hego! It's the comet piece! I found it!" He laughed in excitement as he clutched it for dear life. "We can run the levels... Hego?"
Hego was standing at the end of the aisle with a very confused look on his face. He was gesturing to the wall and back to Drakken before tossing his hands in the air and scratching his head just as his watch went off. Drakken got to his feet and stumbled slightly, but he ignored the pain he felt all over his body.
I have the stone!
Drakken's delirious stumbling halted as he looked at Hego and took a step back. He didn't want to get too close to him with the stone. Hego's eyes never left him as he took long evasive strides past Hego to the container he'd brought. Mego's voice was muffled again; clearly Hego had opted not to put it on speaker. That confused expression was still fixed on Hego's features.
"Yeah, turns out it's a piece of the comet... Yeah... Okay...I'll let him know," said Hego and then Drakken heard him whisper, "How can you tell if someone has brain damage?"
Drakken secured the container and paused in his mental relief and ramblings of what needed to be done as he looked at Hego. Mego had called him not the other way around, which meant something was happening. Hego clicked his watch off the call.
"What's happening?" asked Drakken seriously. His head spun meaning he'd moved too fast again.
"Mego says the ice isn't working anymore," sighed Hego. "She keeps flaring and—"
The watch lit up again and Drakken felt that sinking feeling return to his stomach as this time he could hear the monitors alarming as Hego answered another call from Mego. He tightened his grip on the container as he stared at the watch, the ringing in his ears returning and muffling anything Mego was saying. He needed to get back to the lab...if there was even anything left.
Shego didn't feel well. She felt like her stomach was made of hot lead...but the images and the sounds shifted again. She vaguely recalled the bed she'd been laying in was adorned with a lace canopy. The bright colors, dolls, and stuffed animals seemed more akin to a fairytale princess than her... But, they were hers. She knew it was her room. Though most toys seemed untouched, while instead dozens of books looked worn despite her knowing they were new.
Shego curled up in a large frilly chair, a book she couldn't remember but was excited to hold nestled on her lap. It was thick and heavy and had no pictures, and the words escaped her despite her knowing that she knew them. She felt content, happy, and comfortable. She felt mildly annoyed suddenly as Maverick came into her room. She didn't want him in there but something about his expression made her more concerned.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her book still nestled on her lap.
"Henry called me a baby and kicked me out of our room." He slumped dramatically to the ground and sniffed. "I'm not a baby."
"Not helping your point, Mav," Shego smirked at him. He rolled his eyes.
Shego put her book down and felt annoyance swim over her as she yanked the door open and headed down the dark-paneled hallway to pound on a door. It was her brother's room. She knew that. There was a soft whine from the babies' room that made her soften her knock. The door was yanked open aggressively. Henry stood with his arms crossed and an agitated expression.
"Did you seriously tattle on me to our sister!" he yelled with a scoff towards Shego's room.
Maverick stood outside the door with a smug look on his face that made Shego regret getting involved. She paused however, noticing Henry had his coat on and a bag over his shoulder. Her brows narrowed.
"Where are you going?" she asked. He rolled his own eyes at her.
"Out for a few hours," he scoffed. "I think you two can handle the sleeping brats for two hours."
"You can't leave, you're supposed to be watching us." Maverick looked startled.
"Yeah, well. Mom and Dad didn't even bother asking me if I had any plans," sighed Henry. "They decided they need a night out to celebrate whatever Dad's working on...with no regard for what I wanted to do."
"It's not like Mom and Dad go out every night," glared Shego. "You can stay away from your loser friends for one evening."
"You two can be shut-ins like Mom and Dad for all I care," sneered Henry as he stepped into the hall, "but I like to have a social life. I'll be back in two hours at most."
"What if something happens?" asked Maverick in concern. "What if—"
"Uhg! Nothing ever happens," groaned Henry. "Our lives are so vanilla it's milk. Most exciting thing to ever happen is when Grandpa used to tell us about his one-time crime boss friends...before Dad told him to stop."
"If nothing ever happens then why are Mom and Dad always worried it will?" glared Shego. "I think they know better than you, Henry."
"Mom and Dad are paranoid because Dad's a PI and watches too much Magnum," Henry rolled his eyes and jogged down the stairs. "I'll be back. Try not to burn the house down would you?"
"Henry!" Shego yelled angrily.
There was a feeling of intense dread as the door closed behind him. The images swirled and twisted and the sound was a buzzing noise. She knew something was going to happen and her stomach ached with a familiar sense of pain that wasn't physical. Her chest hurt as the feeling of coolness faded into a soft burn.
Drakken ignored the pain shooting through him as he hopped out of the hovercar. Each footstep felt like his body was pulling itself apart, but he focused. His eyes fixed on the container, his vision still a little blurry but not as bad as it had been. He was still bitter about Hego flying the hover car back, despite him knowing it was for the best. He just wanted the headache to subside so he could focus. He felt like he was walking into ice as they entered the lair and up the stairs. In fact, ice crystals had started to form on certain doorways. But as they hit the hallway, Drakken felt warmth. He quickened his pace but there was no fire as he walked into his lab. Shego still lay where she had been when he left.
A heavier sheen on her as he approached and her temperature was slightly higher. Buckets of ice sat liquefied around her and he watched it evaporate in small bursts of fog. He heard wheels and watched as Mego pulled another bucket of ice in with the dolly. It was suddenly clear what Mego had meant by them not working. The lab had become a hotbox despite the fact Mego had clearly turned on the air to full blast.
"You're back," gasped Mego. He sounded worn as he pulled the mask off to show he was doused in sweat. "This is the last of the ice."
Drakken and Hego both responded to this.
"What?"
"It's the last," he breathed and gestured to all the empty containers. "The room's too warm...and I tried bringing her in the ice room... Big mistake."
"You moved her?" asked Drakken. He wondered if the sheen was from the dew out of the ice room.
"I had to," sighed Mego. "The temperature keeps getting too warm, but all it did was deplete the ice when she flared up while we were in there."
"Great going Mego," snapped Hego. "How long will it take the room to form ice again?"
"It's just a cooler Hego... So I'm assuming ice is bought and store there?" asked Mego. Drakken shrugged. "This was all I could gather from the fridge... We could get more... Do we have the comet piece?"
Drakken placed the contained rock down on the small table as he looked at Shego closely. He squinted to focus his eyes on the sheen on her face. There was in fact a metallic color to it as if her body was trying to purge itself of the contaminant for her. He felt stupid as he thought that, as that was the exact point of a fever. The fact it wasn't breaking was more proof of just how high the level of toxicity was in her bloodstream. He stumbled slightly as he turned towards where Mego and Hego stood looking at him.
"How long do you think we'll be able to wait?" Drakken felt his words didn't make sense. He thought for a moment longer. "How...long do you...the stone will take?"
Mego tilted his head and looked at him before glaring slightly at Hego.
"I may need an actual medical facility which could take a few hours at the minimum," said Mego cautiously. "But the more pressing matter is the rising temperature. Ice isn't working because it's melting too rapidly... That needs to be dealt with first before we can counter any contaminants."
Drakken nodded and felt very dizzy as he did so.
"What did you do to him?" hissed Mego.
Drakken wasn't focusing on the Go sibling argument. His eyes darted around the large room and his mind pulled at the idea of an ice room which could be left to replenish itself... He tried to think of a room that could fit all the equipment safely and allow them a way to keep the temperature cool enough for Shego while Mego worked... Then the sudden realization that the heat might simply be a fever which meant it needed to happen... His head was swirling with questions and problems so fast that he barely heard Mego's voice directed towards him as he tried to concentrate.
"A fever happens because the body is fighting a foreign contaminant," stated Mego. Drakken chewed at his lips again and fought the urge to yank out his own hair.
"The ice has been causing problems...?" he inquired. His eyes narrowed. "So we just let her turn herself into an inferno and hope it works out?"
"That would be too risky and even if we get more ice on standby...if she gets too hot it would send her into shock to douse her in ice," retorted Mego calmly, "even if it didn't melt before we got it on her."
Drakken growled under his breath. He didn't know if it was because of how 'professional' Mego was acting about the whole situation or because of the continual sinking feeling in his stomach. He knew on some level Mego was dissociating himself—medical training at its finest. If he wasn't so focused on Shego's dilemma he might have tried to tear down that professional wall just to have someone with whom he could revel in misery.
"What about an actual freezer...like the one at Bueno Nacho?" suggested Hego. Drakken raised a brow.
"Too sudden and uncontrollable," said Mego. "The sudden heat and cold might cause more damage on a cellular level than the actual exposure."
Drakken looked around the room, his mind falling back to his own concerns about needing a controlled environment. Something resistant and compact... He looked at Shego and her readings. He wondered which of the incomprehensible levels were due to her natural immune response, and which levels were just solid toxins. Mego's concern about her cells being damaged and breaking down was equally incomprehensible. And even in a controlled environment they couldn't prevent cellular damage... There was also no telling if her cells would purge the toxin on their own even if they managed to mediate the immune response. Mego's expression seemed to convey a shared concern. Drakken glared.
Then what? If we find a room... Who has something laying around for concentrated particle cell ionizing...
Drakken's mind went blank.
"That's what it's for," Drakken muttered to himself.
His mind was a mess of numbers and images flashing at once, so quick and so rapid he himself wasn't keeping up entirely. He moved quickly out of the room, ignoring Hego and Mego talking to him. He was mentally creating a layout while figuring out what he needed or didn't need. He made his way down the halls and to the storage room most of his lab currently resided in. He yanked the sheet off of his Tubtonic laser, nearly complete and perfectly intact. He looked at the one, not-quite-invisible seam and glared at the obstruction.
He looked around the room at the assortment of jumbled tools and items and made haste at hazardously dismantling his work. As sheets of metal chunks hit the ground he finally reached it—Protonia's particle regeneration core. He'd intended it to harden atoms and cells... He looked around the lab scatterings for paper and pieces of wires. As he made one turn too quickly, the pain he'd been ignoring came flooding back. He felt extremely dizzy and had to grab onto the remnants of the laser's stand to keep himself upright.
Hego's voice came from behind him.
"What is this room?"
"Where Shego hides my lab stuff to annoy me," he muttered to himself.
If he wasn't so fixated on standing upright or pulling parts he needed, he'd relay the story of how he'd found out she'd once put a majority of his lab in that room before Mego had visited once. However, he was doing his best to focus before his thoughts shifted to something he didn't need in the moment. He was so busy mentally going over things he had or needed and arguing with himself over whether they would or would not work that he didn't notice Hego picking up the things he was shoving aside.
"Do you have a plan?" asked Hego. Drakken finally noticed him holding the varied objects.
"We need a controlled environment. I'm going to make one," he said with more conviction than he actually had.
"You don't have a good plan track record," stated Hego. Drakken felt sudden doubt wash over him. "And that's with my sister's help."
It's not going to work... He knows it... This is another useless—
"So, what can I do to help?" asked Hego. Drakken looked at him curiously and looked around.
"Can uh...you bend sheet metal?" asked Drakken.
Drakken tightened the re-wired particle regeneration core to ionize the table that Shego was being moved to. It had taken several hours and Drakken was sure it was near morning, and Mego had yet to return with the comet fragment. Hego had stopped checking in on Mego and had taken to watching Shego instead as Drakken tinkered elsewhere. He was in what was once a storage room at the lair's side entrance. It was closed off enough and the walls thick enough that with the sheet metal reinforcements they should be able to keep it cool and safe all at once. Drakken stood up and had to brace against the table from the nausea and pain running through him. His dizzy spells from the migraines had made it difficult to focus on the wires, or the work would have taken less time and have had fewer errors.
"Please work," he muttered to himself for the seventh time in the last hour. He flipped the switch.
He waited for the sound he thought it should make. Nothing came and he flipped the switch off and tightened a coil that wasn't loose. He flipped the switch again and still nothing.
Of course it won't work... You made it.
He rested his spinning head against the door-frame. He tried desperately to focus on what he might have forgotten, a small detail if anything. He went over coils, wires, buttons, pins, screws, bolts, amps...and he looked around towards the electrical source that he knew wouldn't work to power both the rearranged device he'd taken from his laser and the room. He made his way to his lab again and slowly entered it more because of his own stumbling than the swirling thoughts he was having. He moved quietly to his desk. He kept glancing at Shego as if expecting her to sit up and catch him as his hand rifled in his desk for the key to the bottom drawer.
"Dr. Drakken," came Hego's voice.
Drakken slammed the drawer shut quickly. He felt searing pain in his hand.
"Eee-yow!" Drakken hissed as he pulled his aching hand from the drawer.
"I didn't mean to startle you," said Hego. He held a look of suspicion on his face as he spoke. "I simply wanted to ask how the room's coming."
"The room," sneered Drakken as he clutched his hand. "Needs a stronger power source."
"Like jet fuel or—" Hego's inquiry was cut off by loud beeping.
Drakken's eyes, looking at his own throbbing hand, darted up towards where Shego lay, a dull faint flame rising higher as the beeping soared. She wasn't stationary as she had been before. She was shaking and her hands were clutching blindly at the sheet Drakken had covered her with. Drakken's heart pounded as he and Hego took cover as flames shot out around them. He rested his head against the desk as the heat rose.
"It's getting worse," he whispered to himself.
Shego sat in the large soft armchair in the living room. The striped pale pink and white wallpaper was the only thing she noticed besides the clock. She watched as the black cat clock ticked, its tail swinging. It was late and Henry wasn't back yet. She pulled her knees up to her chest and couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding, but she didn't know why. The clock ticked to ten and she looked out the window waiting for a car that should have been home an hour ago.
She felt like she didn't want to be there, and all she wanted to feel was worried and angry. Her eyes narrowed at the clock as she knew Henry should have been back two hours ago and he still had yet to return. The twins were upstairs with Maverick and she knew she needed to check on her younger siblings, but she didn't want to leave the clock and the window. The quiet thud of small footsteps near the top of the stairs didn't do anything to change her focus.
"She-She," whined Maverick with a yawn, "the baby won't go to sleep."
"He's not crying," she reassured him. "Let him stare at the mobile-thing."
"Yeah, but...if he doesn't go to sleep now...then when the other one gets up he'll be extra cranky," pouted her brother. "They're closer to my room than yours... I have to hear it first."
"Nothing I can do about it," she sighed. "Sing him a lullaby."
"I tried," pouted Maverick. "The other one started to cry."
"Let that be a lesson," giggled Shego.
Maverick rolled his eyes and whined his whole walk down the stairs before flopping on the couch.
"Where's Mom and Dad?" he gave a muffled whine into the couch. He suddenly gave a devious grin. "Henry's not home yet... He's gonna be in so much trouble."
"What's new?" snickered Shego.
"He's been sneaking out a lot," said Maverick. Shego looked at him. "He told me not to tell but he was a jerk today so..."
Shego tossed a pillow at her brother who gave a slight laugh.
"You can't not tell me things like that," smirked Shego. "How are we going to torture him without this information being shared?"
"I was mad at you for hiding under my bed and scaring me last week," he glared. "I still am."
"I told you...that wasn't me," smirked Shego. "That was the boogie monster taking my form—"
"Stop it!" Maverick yelled and threw the pillow back as she laughed. "It's not funny."
The pillow hit a lamp causing it to smash to the ground. Shego fought the louder laugh that wanted to break free as best she could. Maverick looked wide-eyed at the mess he made and it only egged Shego on. She laughed as she helped him pick up the mess that he didn't find funny at all.
"They're going to be so mad," he sniffed. "Mom really liked that lamp."
"You're going to be in so much trouble," hummed Shego. Maverick glared at her.
"You started it!" he yelled and the sound of a car coming up the driveway stifled her laughter as Maverick panicked.
"Oh no," he muttered.
"Someone's getting in trouble," teased Shego.
Maverick sprinted up the stairs and she snorted as she picked up the pieces of the lamp and placed them on the end table. She went to sit in her chair but paused as she looked outside at the cop car in the driveway. She rolled her eyes and went to open the door and mentally wondered what Henry got into now. When she opened the door two officers were walking up the steps. She knew them both, but didn't know how. They were friends?
"Hey, Honey," said the one. His soft voice cracked and Shego saw his red tinted eyes. "Is you're Grandma here?"
"No, Henry was supposed to be watching us," said Shego. "What did he do now?"
The two men looked at each other with uncertain eyes and Shego took in their saddened expressions... The feeling changed. Shego could feel anguish screaming through her body.
She didn't want to remember this or relive it. She could feel herself physically trying to get away from the images and the emotions. She felt like she was on fire and her head ached as the images still tried to force their way in. It wasn't going away with the icy feeling again like it had before. They shifted and changed but it still felt the same.
Shego felt confusion, fear, and internal pain she couldn't fathom being real. She was curled up on the couch, the one she'd watched movies on with the woman. An older woman with graying dark hair was holding her tightly to her squishy side. It didn't make her feel any different, but she herself was trying to fight the emotions. The older woman's face was lined with mascara that had run down her cheeks. They heard the front door open and there was a surge of hope running in her mind as she looked up.
Henry walked into the living room with an agitated expression that turned to confusion as he looked at Shego and the older woman. He gave a defeated look and crossed his arms.
"I told Mom and Dad I was going to the pier," he sighed. "You didn't have to call Grandma and the cops, sis."
"Henry," said the woman with a soft cracked voice.
"I did. I ran into them in town, I swear," said Henry defensively.
"Henry, sweetheart, sit down," said the woman as she reached out to him.
Shego felt angry now as she looked at her ignorant brother unaware of what was happening as he ignored the older woman's request and instead rambled on with excuses and a story about running into their parents in town and how they weren't happy with his actions but they hadn't stopped him from going to the pier. That he would have been home sooner but there was a roadblock and he had to go around. The entire time the older woman kept speaking his name softly and in comfort. Shego's blood boiled and she felt all her other emotions fade away as she screamed loudly and shrilly just to stop the excuses and the comfort.
"Sh—" the older women began with wide eyes.
"Whoa," muttered Henry as he took a step back. "Sis what the—"
"They're dead!" she yelled. It hurt more as she said it and the tears returned. "You said nothing was going to happen! Well it did!"
"Honey," the older woman was reaching for her but she smacked her hands away. "Please..."
Shego could hear bubbles of the conversation as it started to fade. Henry's expressionless face as he stood in his own trance, the older woman trying to calm her down as Shego yelled at her brother out of her own pain. She felt the emotions swirling but the burning was fading as she felt her chest tighten and her breathing become painful.
Drakken tossed his still-smoking coat to the ground and let out a sigh of relief as he crouched down next to the table where Shego lay. He felt extremely hot and more nauseous than before, but the fire was out and her thrashing had subsided. He glanced at the smoldering coat on the floor across from him, glad it was fire retardant... He saw only a few holes...for the most part. His hands burned suddenly and he quickly yanked off his gloves as they seemed to have started melting.
"Dr. Drakken?" called out Hego. Drakken pulled himself up.
Hego had suggested smothering the fire as some of the equipment had started to break down around them. Drakken nodded over at him as he assessed Shego again. He used part of the remaining cloth she hadn't burned or kicked off her to wipe her brow. The metallic color in fact transferred to the material, the sweat and heat working overtime to purge Shego of the impurities in her body. Drakken looked at the scorch marks on the table, the fabric and his coat marred with holes. Shego's uniform even had holes in it.
"She just got these," muttered Drakken as he tugged off what was left of Shego's gloves. "The heat is growing hotter."
"Is she burning out more of the contaminants or just...burning?" sighed Hego as he kept his distance.
"I don't know," snapped Drakken as he tried to untangle Shego from her kicked-off sheet. "Where is Mego?"
As if on cue the man in question came in through the doorway holding the fragment container and a large bag. Drakken realized after a second he no longer wore his regular mask and the bag was clearly from a medical supply facility by its thick white lining.
"No worries, I have returned," sighed Mego. He gave a tired cocky smirk at Drakken. "I know you missed me."
"Shego's combusting at a higher degree," said Hego sternly. "Did you go change?"
"Yes, in the jet," sighed Mego. "I couldn't just waltz into a facility as Mego, could I."
"I broke into a museum, you could have done the same," muttered Hego.
"Well?" asked Drakken, still standing next to Shego.
"Got what we needed," grinned Mego as he held up the bag. "How's that room going? We're going to need that for this to work otherwise she'll just burn these right out of her system before they can take effect."
"What are they?" asked Hego as he grabbed the bag and Mego snatched it back.
"Very highly concentrated chemicals that no one is allowed to carry," snapped Mego. Hego looked at him. "Never you mind how I get what we need."
Drakken looked at them with a raised brow. His mind focused on the room and the power source. He started thinking about the gauntlets in his drawer and if they might cause more problems as a power source than help. They were unpredictable. His mind recalled the beeping of the device at the museum as Shego had toyed with it to bug him. He let out a small snicker at the memory now, as he remembered her antics that whole evening. He sighed as he looked at her and tried to figure out an alternative. He heard his name and looked over at Hego and Mego.
"Hego said power source-wise there's an issue?" asked Mego. Drakken nodded. "What about using the comet?"
"What?" asked both Drakken and Hego at the same time.
"Well it doesn't affect you...but you can enter the room, " Mego began and then raised a brow. "Drakken, you should really wear gloves regardless."
Drakken nodded and then followed Mego's gaze to his hands. He'd been absentmindedly holding Shego's hand since he'd taken off her gloves. He retreated quickly and nodded. He hadn't even been aware he'd been doing so but as Mego pointed out there was no telling what he might pick up and what might affect him. He thought about his own dizzy spells and nausea and had a brief moment of concern before dismissing it and going to wash his hands and grab some spare gloves from his room. As he did so he wondered about what Mego had suggested; it was similar to his own thoughts about how Shego's powers had affected the device reading.
By the time he reached his room he felt a wave of exhaustion hit him and he couldn't remember when he'd last slept. It took a great amount of energy to cross the moat as he went to wash his hands and get new gloves. The tasks completed, he shook his head and tried to fight his heavy eyes as he took another stride over the moat to exit his room. He'd grabbed a few pairs of gloves just in case of another flare-up. Drakken tried to figure out how to test the theory of the comet piece safely and if it would create further problems or not.
There are no answers...
He nodded to himself as he walked down the hall. He felt like he was taking ages to cross the short distance, his mind foggily trying to piece things together and also losing track of focus as he pictured his torn-apart laser, agitated that he had dismantled it so hastily and it might not even work anymore. He felt the heat hit him again as he reached the hall closest to the lab, and as he paused to lean on the wall the heat bled through. He heard the beeping sound again and his exhaustion melted away as he moved towards his lab to see the flames had returned.
Shego leaned against the door-frame of a small bedroom. She'd been standing there for what felt like an eternity, staring at a lace-covered canopy bed surrounded by dolls, stuffed animals, and a few action figures. Everything in the room made her feel like she should be happy to see it, but she didn't feel...anything. She felt numb. She saw the girl with sun-kissed skin, dark green eyes, and long wavy hair from the creek looking back at her. The girl was dressed in all black and looked as she felt. She blinked. The girl blinked. She was looking in a mirror. An older woman with tight dark curls and a forced pleasant smile stood behind her, she too in black.
"Dear, can you see if you can get Mavie out of the tree-house?" the woman asked sweetly. "I'm worried about your little brothers being up there."
"I'll get him Auntie," she said with a slight smile. She felt angry though as she walked down the stairs lined with pictures she didn't look at.
She slowed as she stepped down the staircase that faced an ornately-carved wooden door. Her eyes darted to dozens of people in black and various dark colors. She felt a wave of anxiety rush through her as eyes turned towards her. She focused on her shoes until she had cleared the stairs and only glanced up when she heard a woman's voice. She looked to see the older woman with graying dark hair and tear-stained eyes—the one who had held her on the couch when Henry had returned. She felt a surge of warmth while looking at her. Her voice was weak but sounded similar to hers as she spoke to a man.
"...She was telling me how hard it was on her daughter-in-law when her son died...but at least her grandson was a baby back then... I don't know how the kids..." the woman trailed off as she saw her. "Hello sweetheart."
The look she gave her was sad and soft, but Shego felt more anguished for the woman.
"Have you seen Henry, grandma?" she asked quietly. The woman's hand stroked her hair affectionately as she smiled at her.
"He was outside," she said sweetly. "Did you need something?"
"No, it's fine," said Shego. She didn't want to say anything more and found her way quickly through the crowd.
She felt as if she'd not spoken to him since that night, whenever that was. She didn't know how much time had passed. She could hear some light laughter beyond the door and it made her angry before she got outside. A small group of teens sat on the back porch, sitting closely on the ground and bench, all surrounding the person she'd come to get. Her brother sat with a teen girl leaning next to him. He held a forced smile on his face as if he was trying to enjoy whatever joke the others had made. His dark eyes looked at her and his smile faded.
"Did you need something sis?" asked her brother. He looked alert. "Can I help you—"
"No," she said quickly. She didn't like the group around him but didn't know why. "I'm just going to the tree-house."
She wanted to ask him for help, wanted to talk to him, but instead she found her way to the old rope ladder. She could hear babies giggling and the sound of her other brother muttering as she got closer. When her head made its way through the opening she yelped at how close her baby brother had been to the ledge. Anger roared through her as she looked at Maverick. He yanked the baby back with lightning speed. His smile fell into annoyance but returned when the baby looked at him.
"Do you know how dangerous it is up here for them?" she snapped. Her eyes found the other baby sleeping in the carrier Maverick had brought up there for them.
"It's dangerous down there too," glared Maverick. "It's safer up here."
"What if they fall—"
"I'm watching them," he snapped. The baby gave a sniffle. "You're scaring them."
"Your face is scaring them," she muttered as she moved over to the sleeping baby. "Auntie wants you to come down."
"Why?" muttered Maverick. "So people can gawk at us?"
"You like being gawked at," she responded. She looked out the window as their other brother sat with his friends. "Rather be gawked at than have to pretend."
"Henry's stupid friends are still here," grumbled Maverick. "They're so fake. Acting all nice when they're just punks."
"So's Henry," snorted Shego. "He's probably counting down the minutes before he can sneak off like he always does."
"Already did," came Henry's voice as his head appeared in the opening. "Why are we up here?"
"Go away before they follow you up here," glared Maverick. Henry gave a soft smile that Shego found weird as he pulled himself all the way in.
"They went inside. Probably leaving soon," said Henry. He shrugged and looked at his feet dangling.
"Did you want something?" asked Shego. "Or did you just come to tell us about leaving with your friends?"
Henry looked at her with a furrowed brow and a head-shake.
"I'm not leaving," he muttered. He gave a tired smile. "Can't I just be in our tree-house with you guys?"
"Hmpf," sniffed Maverick as he held the baby tighter and looked out the window.
"Why?" grumbled Shego. "You never wanted to before and Mom and Dad can't stop you from leaving now."
It hurt as she said it, but by the look on Henry's face it hit a nerve. His eyes looked down at the rope ladder.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. Shego focused on the baby, still fast asleep.
"For what? Being a jerk, making them worry, or just because they—" Shego stopped as she saw Henry's shoulders shake. Her anger faded as she rocked her little brother. "It's not your fault."
"He shouldn't have—" Maverick began but Shego shot him a glare and he stopped.
She could feel her own grief desperately trying to crawl out but she didn't let it. There were so many emotions outside the tree-house that it had made her cling to the numbness. It held her so tight it felt like she was suffocating. She glanced at Maverick and saw his face was red but he wasn't crying. She didn't want to hear any more crying. She wanted to go back to her room and pretend it was all a bad dream. She looked out the window to see Henry's friends back on the porch.
"Your friends are waiting for you," she muttered as she fixed her baby brother's blanket. "Don't want to keep them waiting."
He looked at her and then to Maverick. The tears in his eyes made her angry again. It was the only emotion that was fighting through that numb feeling. She wanted to cry and be upset but she couldn't. She wanted him to leave the tree-house and go away with his friends like he always did, like he had the other night. Because if he wasn't there it meant it was still that evening and no one had come to the door that night... This was all her sleeping in a chair, waiting for her parents to come home and too many scary movies. The anger boiled.
"Go away," she heard Maverick say. She looked to see him look from her to glare at Henry. "You're upsetting her and we don't want you here."
Shego wanted to counter this but his words made her feel better. More than someone else had said them and not her. She knew she didn't want Henry to go but she didn't want him there either... She just couldn't decide what to feel and how to stop the anger. Henry looked to both of them and then at the ladder again. He was taking deep breaths as he seemed to try to control his own emotions. He moved quickly and Shego and Maverick were pulled into a forced hug by their bigger brother. Shego felt the anger finally fade and a searing pain in her chest resume she hadn't known was already there.
Drakken heard the beeping finally fade as he tightened the comet fragment's container to the cobbled-up device he'd rigged to the table in the storage room. During the latest flare-up the fire had set off the sprinklers, and he wondered if it had simply blown the power out to the lab. He didn't want to get distracted, even though he was already mentally calculating how much of the lab had been damaged, and wondering if Hego had unplugged the equipment like he'd told him.
He looked at the device he'd made. It was barely more than a series of wires arranged to touch a stone from which he could see a faint glow in the dim light of the room. He'd torn out the light fixture above in case Shego turned the room into an inferno. He'd covered the hole with sheet metal so there wasn't exposed electrical, and it was the best he could do. He slid out of the room and hit the button again.
A soft humming sound began and he could feel the air change in seconds. He let his shoulders fall as he reached to touch the bed in the center. He could feel it already start cooling to the temperature they needed, at least for starters. He didn't want to argue with Mego's math...but he was certain her temperature was normally higher than the medical man's conclusion. Shego always wanted to be warm. He made his way down the hall to where the heat had clearly spread.
Hego was now wearing a hazmat suit as well. A third lay by the door for him and he assumed Mego had made another decision. Drakken might have been irritated or even argued against the bossy demands Shego's purple brother kept initiating...but he would save that for after. He put it on before finishing closing the distance. The sprinklers were dripping, having run their course or perhaps they had been turned off. The scorch marks along the ceiling showed how high the flames had reached this time.
"The room's working," said Drakken. Mego looked up from where he'd set up fluid bags for an IV.
"Once we get her temperature to drop at least ten under the current reading, we should be able to get her fluids started," said Mego. Hego rolled his eyes at him. "What?"
"The way you dictate things around here...no wonder you eat alone at work," muttered Hego.
"Is this still about the suit?" he hissed. "We don't know how it will affect us or Drakken."
Drakken looked at his own covered hands and ignored the silent bickering that was happening around him. He didn't find much use in wearing the hazmat suit as he had already carried, touched, and been around Shego for days. He had been wearing his lab coat and gloves nearly the entire time but he had touched his face plenty, and all the suit did was make him feel more concerned for what was coursing in Shego's veins at the moment rather than any risk of his exposure. He looked at Shego and the fabric of her own suit covered in scorch marks and metallic coloring. He took note of the fabric of the now-wet sheet and the puddles on the floor. They all swirled in a metallic color that looked like oil faded on pavement.
"Her clothes are saturated with the metallic sweat," muttered Drakken as he narrowed his eyes to see the sheen in the light.
"Once we get her in that room, you should probably change her to regulate her body temperature. Leather doesn't help with that," said Mego casually. Drakken seized up as he looked over at Mego.
"Excuse me?" he sputtered.
"Why did you put her back into one of those..." Mego trailed off and looked at Drakken. "Did you not change the original exposed outfit?"
"No," said Drakken. He felt extremely uncomfortable. "Her suit regulates her...temperature and...no."
"So she's just been wearing contaminated material this entire time," glared Mego. Drakken had thought about it briefly but had dismissed it very quickly.
"Wouldn't the sprinkler system have washed away—" Hego was attempting to argue Drakken's point. Drakken assumed it had more to do with the museum incident versus actually helping. "Maybe the flames burned away things."
"If taco meat hit the ground and then was re-heated, would you serve it to a customer?" asked Mego with narrowed eyes. Hego fell silent.
"I'll go get...clothes," said Hego instead. He walked off muttering words like 'bossy' and 'obnoxious' as he did so.
Drakken looked towards Mego and was about to inquire about moving Shego when he felt sudden warmth from in front of him. He looked to see the glow around Shego again before he quickly moved away from her. The fire began its familiar eerie green pulsating before it grew taller. Shego was twitching again, but her jagged motion wasn't nearly as concerning now as the frequency of the fires. Not only was it getting hotter, stronger, and lasting longer...the last fire had been less than five minutes ago. Drakken backed into the wall and watched it. The beeping didn't even trigger this time; he saw the screen flickering numbers before it burned out entirely.
Shego felt like her whole body tingled in aches as she felt the sickening warmth again. Her chest hurt and her stomach twisted. She was still in the tree-house. Time had lapsed, but again, she didn't know how much. The sky was growing dark and street lights were on even though there was still light from the sun. More cars were in the driveway and more of Henry's friends had showed up. She could hear climbing up the ladder and Henry returned.
"Did you tell your friends to leave?" asked Maverick as Henry scooted over towards them.
"Yeah," he sighed. "They're helping Grandma though."
"You mean finding what they can steal before leaving," muttered Shego. Henry looked towards the house and his brow furrowed.
"Mom and Dad didn't like them much," he muttered. "But they always made me feel included. Not like some home-schooled loser."
"I heard Dad tell Mom they weren't good kids and he was worried you would get into trouble hanging around them," muttered Maverick. Shego nodded.
"I know," said Henry. He gave a faint smirk. "I saw him sometimes... Dad. He'd wait outside in the car to make sure I wasn't getting into anything. I'd get so mad, but he just didn't want me turning into a bad guy his friends would have to arrest someday."
His smirk vanished and he leaned back against the bench.
"I'm sorry I went to that stupid pier." He let out a shaky breath.
Shego leaned down and put her arm around his neck in comfort.
"It's not your fault Mom and Dad stopped to help the wrong people," she heard Maverick whisper.
"Why were they out there?" asked Henry. "What if they went to get me and..."
"Stop," said Shego firmly. "You just did what you always do. Went out with friends... You shouldn't blame yourself...only the people who did it."
Henry sniffed and nodded as she pulled back from her comforting hug.
"Kids, can you please come down?" came the call of the dark-haired lady again. "Your Grandma is getting worried and it's getting dark."
Shego looked at the still-packed driveway through the windows and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She felt the anxiety of having to see people looking at her with pity and sadness; it made her feel ill. She, for the first time, had started to feel normal while up here with her brothers. She'd almost forgotten that their house was packed with family, friends, and strangers...all coming to pay respects. She knew what it meant if she went down there. They would all begin the drive down a twisting road to where two stones marked fresh mounds that held their parents among countless other graves.
"We'll be down," said Henry, though he made no effort to move.
"What if we just stay up here forever?" said Maverick. There was a pause. "I do have to pee."
"Thanks for the overshare," snickered Shego. The small laugh from Henry faded like her smile did.
"Do you think wishing on stars really works?" asked Maverick. "Like, if you wish hard enough."
"For bikes, dogs, and silly things...maybe," Henry gave a sad smile as he turned to look outside. "Not this, bro."
"I know..." sighed Maverick. "I just wish it did."
"I wish people would leave us alone," muttered Shego as she leaned against the window. She saw a glowing light where Maverick's gaze was focused. "A shooting star?"
"There's supposed to be a meteor shower or comet thing tonight," said Henry as he joined them.
"What if we wish on a comet?" asked Maverick. Henry looked at him. "I know..."
There was silence as they watched the colors of the comet streak the sky. Shego felt anxiety and fear grip her as she did so. She shouldn't feel that while looking at something so beautiful, but she did. The comet grew larger as it crossed the sky, but she was certain that was normal...wasn't it?
"I wish there was a way to start over," she heard Henry mutter to himself as he leaned on the window sill for a second. "We should get down guys."
"Fine," whispered Maverick. He looked towards the carriers. "How are we getting them down?"
"How'd you get them up here?" asked Henry as he stood.
"A rope and their carrier," said Maverick. Shego looked away from the sky and glared at him. "What?"
"You're an idiot," she breathed.
There was yelling suddenly from the porch and Shego looked at where Henry's friends had gathered. They were yelling and screaming at the tree-house. Henry raised a brow as their names were all called. More yelling. Horns were blaring in the distance. She watched Henry turn back to the window they had just been looking through as everything started to shake. The tree-house was flooded with rainbows of light and in one swift movement Henry yanked them all to the ground.
There was an ear-splitting 'boom.' The heat was unbearable, but the pain and the feeling of metal and wood in her skin was far worse. Shego wanted to scream but she was too afraid, and the heat...as sudden and as hot as it had been...was suddenly cool.
Drakken tossed the melted part of his suit off as he gasped for air in the hallway. He felt dizzy, and the whole of the nerves in his back were seizing in pain as he rested it against the cave wall. What was left of his blue lab coat was on the ground where the melted protective gear lay as well. It had been stupid, foolish, and completely dangerous... Yet in his sleep-deprived mind...he'd done it. Her flames had flickered for a moment and he'd taken the chance to get close to her. The peeling of her suit and the welts that had started to form on the skin he could see had made him panic.
He'd grabbed her without thinking and booked it down the hall to the new containment room. He'd barely gotten her there and onto the bed before the burning and melting smell hit him and she flared again. Not as bad, but it had been brief and the coolness of the room seemed to dissipate any heat around him. His stomach swirled and he felt the nausea hit but nothing followed save for saliva. He felt dehydrated and assumed it must have been from the heat he'd exposed himself to.
"Drakken?" came Mego from ten feet down the hall. "Everything okay?"
"Fine," Drakken cleared his throat. He indicated to the room. "She's stopped now."
"Was she still...when you ran?" asked Mego. He looked at Drakken as if he was insane but it faded quickly into an eye-roll. "Is it mandatory for villains to be nutcases?"
Drakken shrugged.
"Probably not, but it makes things interesting," smirked Drakken. "Is it mandatory for someone to be bossy to be a doctor."
"You tell me Dr. Drakken, is it?" smirked Mego. Drakken was about to comment but Mego continued. "Not that you're actually a doctor."
"All right," grumbled Drakken with an eye-roll.
"You know what...hypothetically if I married you, I would be Dr. Drakken," snickered Mego. "Yet, you really wouldn't be."
"Well there goes your place as favorite Go brother," grumbled Drakken. "Might have to put Hego above you."
"You wouldn't," Mego's eyes shot open. The sound of hurried footsteps interrupted them.
They looked to see Hego walking down the hallway with garments in his hand. His eyes looked at Drakken and then to Mego before grumbling.
"Oh, now he doesn't have to wear one," glared Hego. Mego and Drakken looked at him before Drakken pointed to the melted heap. "Oh... Shego decided he didn't need to wear it."
Drakken looked at Mego and smirked.
"Close..." he nodded. Mego glared but turned to Hego.
"Did you get the flame retardant clothes?" sighed Mego.
"You just said get clothes," sputtered Hego as he held up two black garments. "I am not rifling through my sister's drawers to find out what materials her garments are made out of."
Mego shrugged and grabbed the clothes before tossing them at Drakken. Drakken panicked as he grabbed them. There was an uncomfortable sinking feeling as he looked at them and then in the room at Shego. He looked at Mego and gave a nervous grin.
"Uh, she's your sister...and you're the doctor... You should do it," gulped Drakken. He held up the garments. "You're wearing a suit."
"This is true," nodded Mego. He took a step forward and then back. "But I have to go get plasma bags and that seems like something only the favorite Go brother would do for you. Too bad the Wegos aren't here. Come on Hego, let's go get the things wheeled down here.
"She's you're...and...I should not...!" Drakken whined but the two seemed to ignore him. "This is wholly inappropriate!"
Drakken glared down the empty hallway. He grumbled and grabbed the gloves out of his back pocket and mentally snarled back at Mego about appropriate safety wear. He'd made such a big deal about it and now Drakken was in there with just a t-shirt and gloves on. That was less concerning than the fact that both Hego and Mego would actually leave him to change Shego's clothes or even that they thought he had earlier. He had thought about the contaminants on the surface but he hadn't wanted to be in that very awkward situation. He suddenly wished he had his henchmen back... He froze at the idea of them changing Shego and mentally slapped himself at the suggestion.
"Just do it," he snapped at himself as he stared at her.
He looked at her leather jacket and cringed at how thin the fabric had become and the holes that had started to form. The level of discomfort he felt as he tried to separate the clasps and realized they were practically melted was immeasurable. He took a deep breath and looked at the dimly lit room around him. He heard wheeling and quickly sprinted out of the room as Mego and Hego returned with the equipment.
"Good, you're back. I need to go get more safety equipment," said Drakken as he shoved the garments in Mego's hands and made his way back to the lab.
Drakken felt relieved as he crossed his lab to his desk. He felt dizzy as he slowed again and lazily dug out a new hazmat suit, an old two-piece that was really all he had left without digging around in storage rooms. He looked at all the slightly singed or smoke-damaged papers on his desk and sighed. He surveyed the lab in general from the scorch marks to the melted items. Shego's partially-melted gloves on the ground made him realized how idiotic he'd been to carry her still aflame. He simply hoped that whatever concoction Mego had whipped up would work.
He slowly walked back down the halls and noticed it already seemed cooler since leaving the still-warm lab. He could see Hego tossing various melted suits and stuff into a plastic bag with a look of concern and annoyance through his mask. Drakken raised a brow and Hego just rolled his eyes and held it up.
"Mego wants them properly disposed of," he grumbled. "Apparently we can't just burn them with our powers. We need an incinerator."
"End of the hall, third door on the right," shrugged Drakken. Hego raised a brow. "Are you really surprised?"
"Not really," shrugged Hego. He paused. "What I said at the museum... I was out of line and I let my emotions get the better of me."
"I'll think about that while I plot my revenge," smirked Drakken. Hego looked concerned and then he smirked. Drakken continued. "I'll let it go simply because you helped me commit a crime."
Hego's smirk faded.
"About that... Can you not tell me sister about any of that?" said Hego quickly.
"You mean you breaking into a museum and taking out guards or trying to kill me twice?" asked Drakken calmly. He watched Hego look more uneasy.
"Any of that," he responded. Drakken's response was cut off.
"All right, Shego is hooked up with the plasma," sighed Mego. "Now we wait."
"How long?" asked Drakken. Mego shrugged.
"Depends how much has already burned out of her system," said Mego. "Minutes...hours...days."
Drakken felt Hego's hand clamp down on his shoulder and he looked at him.
"Then we should all get rest," said Hego as he then turned towards the hallway to the incinerator.
"That's actually a good idea," said Mego with a yawn. "Is the guest room still—"
"You know where it is," gestured Drakken. Mego nodded and vanished down the hallway.
Drakken felt his own body react to the idea of sleep and he thought of his soft bed waiting for him on the floors above. His mind focused on this for a few minutes before he felt slightly fearful that if something happened, all three would be floors away and unaware. He yanked off the helmet and top of his suit and rolled it up as a makeshift pillow. The cold hard ground actually felt good against his aching back. His eyes looked into the dimly-lit room and watched as the small light Mego had put in illuminated the fluid bag filled with chemicals and he found his eyes slowly closing.
Shego felt like every bone in her body was broken as she lay in the cold damp earth. She couldn't breathe as she spat on the dirt and coughed out hot burning liquid. She felt her body burning from the inside out. Her hands felt like they were blistered and bruised. There was rain turning the ground into mud as she sat up. Something heavy was on her and she shoved it off with great effort. She looked around her and found herself in the middle of a large crater that seemed to stretch for blocks. The wail of sirens in the distance was the only sound beside the rain.
She looked up the tall edges of the crater far from her and then down, and saw the rain swirling at the very center of the basin where a large glowing rock sat less than five feet from her. The images of glowing colors and the speeding comet flew to her mind. She'd been in the tree-house... Where she now sat...had been the tree-house.
She heard a groan from next to her, from the thing she'd moved off her. Her eyes focused in the pulsating light on the figure of a man... Boy. Henry. His face looked the same but he looked wrong, his clothes were torn and scorched, showing burns. She recalled him shielding her and the others from the light.
"Maverick," she called quickly as Henry opened his eyes. "Maverick!"
"Sis?" came Henry's voice. His eyes shot open but he didn't move. "What... Gahg... It hurts."
"Don't move," she whispered. She was panicking. "Mavie..."
She heard a slight cry a few feet away and saw motion in the pulsating light. Maverick wasn't there but then he was. She could see him and the two carriers, where crying started coming from. She slid further towards the sound to find Maverick crying, his sandy hair so caked with dirt that it didn't even look like him. He was crying and shaking.
"It hurts," his body, like her older brother's, looked off.
She looked at the babies... Nothing but their simultaneous crying seemed any different. Until they opened their eyes. Shego gasped at the sight of bright red glows that seemed to fade into the dark brown. Shego heard voices approaching.
She felt her body seize with pain and she cried as her hands felt like they were on fire. She called out for her grandmother before it dawned on her as the sirens and voices grew closer to the crater's distant edge. They had been in the tree-house. The house had been yards from where the crater met its halfway point. A metal piece of a car door lay on the ground as the rain beat down. She felt a dizzy sickness mixing with fear again. She felt the nausea swell up.
Everything was gone...
Shego choked as she sat up and coughed out hot liquid. Her hands gripped the bed she lay in as she wretched over the side. Her body ached but the heat she felt was gone and replaced by cold, save for the pit of her stomach. She felt hot tears on her face as she felt like she was being purged of something. She almost fell off the side of the tall frame she was on but hands quickly grabbed her shoulders. She went to light her hands in reaction but found her arms seize in pain. She felt it shoot through her whole body and she doubled over in agony.
"Shego. Shego, relax," came the voice softly. "Shego."
"Drakken?" she breathed out and blinked into the dark room. "Where... What?"
"We're in the lair," he said.
Why is he talking so softly?
"What happened?" she swallowed and her throat was painfully dry. "I need water."
"Right, yes...water," said Drakken. He sounded relieved and quickly left the room.
Shego blinked and took in her surroundings. Her head ached and her stomach now felt cold and empty and no longer hot. She let herself lay back and look at the ceiling as she took deep breaths. Her mind swam with images again. Voices. People... Memories. She felt her shoulders slump against the hard fabric behind her.
I remember...
She wanted to feel excited, to feel complete by the memories flooding her and filling in holes and replacing lies she'd told herself... But instead she felt...empty. Numb. As if her body and mind were fighting some sort of grief. She tried to focus on her surroundings and her memories of now... The museum... Opening a drawer. That was all. Her mind started pulling her back to the faces and names she was trying not to think about. She was already confused.
"Here," she heard Drakken hit something as he came in. "Ow...here."
She sat up and took the cool glass from him. His hands were shaking nearly as much as hers were as she drank the cold water. The last of the heat in her throat seemed to fade in relief. She choked on it slightly, as if her throat was too dry to comprehend moisture. She looked at Drakken and paused before looking at the needle in her arm, the bag of fluid pumping into her, and the coldness of the room. She wasn't in her suit but instead a thin tank top and shorts. There were already fading warm patches along her skin. Her eyes fell back to Drakken. He looked gaunt and ill and was wearing the bottom part of a hazmat suit and a scorched white t-shirt.
"What happened?" she asked. "Have I... How long have I been in here?"
"You came into contact with a piece of the comet," he said calmly. There was a guilt in his voice that confused her. "You've been in here only a few hours...but you've been asleep for days."
"I was in a coma?" asked Shego. Drakken seemed to think about it and. "For days?"
"Yes," he affirmed. "How are you feeling?"
"Confused and like I got hit by a bus," she stated. She looked down at herself and her eyes shot open. "Did you change my clothes?"
"No!" he said quickly. "Mego did. I would never... No."
"Mego?" asked Shego suddenly. "Mego was here?"
"Actually he and Hego are in the guest room," muttered Drakken.
"Hego is here?" asked Shego in horror. "You let them in our lair?"
"Kind of had no choice," said Drakken. "I was running out of options and you were starting to burn the lair down."
"I was what?" asked Shego. She looked at herself again and then looked at the bag of fluids. "What's this?"
"It's ohm...a bunch of things to get your temperature down and get rid of the toxins from the exposure... We couldn't figure it out from your blood, so I had to go get the comet piece and..." Drakken was rambling, his speech slurred and sleepy.
"You took my blood?" asked Shego. Drakken held up his hands in innocence.
"I had to... But Mego disposed of his samples and I of mine." He looked apologetic. "I didn't know what else to do..."
Shego looked at him, barely hearing him as he rambled on about blood work, the comet, suits of armor, and a whole mixed-up story. She nodded as if she was listening to it but her mind was picking and choosing what she needed to hear. Comet, coma, her brothers, blood panels, days, and his voice. She looked around the room that he'd clearly made to keep her body cool and to stop flames. She could only imagine the damage throughout the lair. She looked at him again as he ranted. He seemed to sway slightly as if he was fighting his own dizziness. She felt a slight smile on her face before rolling her eyes and covering his mouth with her hand.
"Shh, I get it," she nodded. "When did you sleep last?"
"A few minutes ago," he said through her hand.
"Actual sleep." She looked to see the balled-up hazmat suit on the ground and moved her hand.
"Ohm...before the museum." He hesitated, as if trying to count days. He sat slightly on the edge of her bed. "I just feel a little dizzy, that's all. It's fine."
"Eat?" asked Shego as she felt her own pang of hunger. Drakken squinted in thought. "Are you dizzy, nauseous, and have headaches?"
"Yes," he muttered and then snorted. "I wasn't exposed to anything... I just need food and not to be thrown into a wall."
"Yeah food... Who threw you into a wall?" glared Shego. Had her powers done that?
"Nothing, it's fine. I'm going to go get you food," said Drakken with a deep sigh. "Just rest."
"According to you I've been in a coma for days. I think I should stop resting," muttered Shego. Drakken glared at her and she lay down. "Fine."
Shego stared at the ceiling, taking deep breaths as she heard Drakken leave. She tried to keep her mind as blank as possible. If anything, she wanted to process Drakken's words, but her other thoughts came flooding back. She was holding back so many things racing in her head along with still feeling weak and tired, but it wasn't physical pain she wanted to avoid... It was the images and sounds, the voices, the faces, and the feelings she'd thought she'd lost, all coming back. She could picture people she'd not remembered. Her mother's smile, her father's eyes... They had seemed so foreign as she'd relived it, because they had been strangers to her own memory. She felt her breath hitch.
She wanted to stop the emotions and get to her room, despite Drakken's insistence she stay in there. She sat up with the mindset to do so, but she didn't move much farther. Her head was spinning now as one by one the pieces of her memory flaked back...more than she had even visualized. It was like foggy images were suddenly in focus, long burnt away photos suddenly whole again. There were still patches and holes and cracks, but at least she knew they were her own.
She wanted to feel excited or even indifferent, but that wasn't what was winning. It was grief, anguish, and loss flooding her. It was as if she'd gained a whole new life, but then as quickly as it came...it had already been ripped away. She was in mourning. Something she'd never been able to do was now pulling at the threads of her mind. She wasn't mourning over not remembering, like she'd done in the past... It was over finally knowing what she'd lost.
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