A/N: Thanks again for all the love guys! Don't worry about reviewing too much (as some said) I love hearing strange thoughts and ideas and all that. I really do! ALSO... my solemn promise that they will be together probably in less than 20 chapters from now.

A/N: Much love to bcbdrums for the chapter title and editing!


Rebuilding


Shego idly kicked her feet in her own bedroom moat, her mind a swirl of thoughts she was struggling to choose a response to. Images of people she barely seemed to remember associated with feelings that felt familiar yet foreign associated with the images. Even the visions of her brothers seemed so hard to accept. For in the vague memories she'd already had that hadn't been foggy...she'd always seen them as they were now, but younger... Shego looked at her reflection in the ripples and tried to see the girl she'd seen reflected in the creek.

Why are you doing this?

She took a deep breath and let out a low growl at herself as she yanked her feet from the moat and got up. She swallowed back her thoughts and emotions that bubbled at the surface. She had spent too much time in her room lost in those thoughts. She looked at her phone and bit her lip. She'd even called her brothers to talk about it, but there had been no answer and they hadn't called back. She rolled her eyes as she grabbed the phone. She hadn't exactly been pleasant when she'd kicked Hego and Mego out of the lair and chances were Hego was avoiding the verbal lashing she'd been prepared to give him.

"If the hover car wasn't down for repair, I'd go give him a physical lashing," she muttered to herself as she headed out of her room.

As she walked down the darkened hallway she let her mind focus on other things. What had happened to the hover car? She hadn't asked Drakken... In fact she'd not even been near the lab or out of her room except to go to the kitchen. Mostly because there had been no point in going to the lab. Drakken hadn't much left his room, and when he had he looked uncomfortable and in pain. She crossed her arms and glared at his bedroom door in the dark. His eagerness to get her to leave the other day had been clear despite his efforts to seem nonchalant. He'd looked so unwelcome to her touch that the incident had been the only thing keeping her mind from dwelling on her memories. She could have easily marked it off as him being in pain, but the nagging voice in her head said there was more to it.

Shego looked towards the kitchen and then back at his door before knocking. There was no response. She waited and knocked again. She clicked the pin-pad and watched as the door slid open. The moat's eerie glow was the only light in the room. She could see his bed made up and there was no light from the bathroom door. Shego backed out of the room and looked towards the dark kitchen before closing the door and proceeding down the hall.

She flipped the light on and looked around before her ears heard the sound of scraping further down the opposite hall. Shego's shoulders tensed and she fought the audible groan that wanted desperately to escape her lips in frustration. It was typical Drakken to go into one of his manic tinkering fits when he was still supposed to be resting. She supposed it was better than the shut-in whining he'd been doing. She wondered if her threat when she'd brought him food the other day had triggered his desire to work. While suggesting taking someone to the doctor wasn't exactly a threat, it was when the doctors were residents of the Villains Inn.

She continued into the lab where every light possible was on in the area. The room appeared sparse with its normal gadgets and junk piled in corners. The work table in the center of the room looked marred by scorch marks and holes. Drakken sat before it in his chair with metal parts, wires, bolts, and his welding tools scattered around him. Shego looked at the work table again and it was clear that had been where she'd first lain when Drakken had brought her back from the museum. Her step hesitated as she saw the scorch marks on the top of the lair.

How high did they get?

It was a stupid thought and she rolled her eyes. She could clearly see how high they had reached judging by the black spots she saw. Her eyes turned back to Drakken as he hunched over his table and she had to stop herself from yelling at him. She could already hear the whining he would do from his already-injured back. She made a mental note to make another phone call to Go Tower. Shego walked over to the desk and looked at the parts, wondering what on earth was so important to make that it had spurred him out of bed.

She looked at buckled sheet metal that looked as if it had been bent and unbent far too many times. There were loose wires and ripped out buttons, and a once-welded seam on one piece of metal made her raise a brow. Her eyes fell to the stand a few parts were assembled on. She looked at Drakken's desk where the laser blueprints were sitting once again. It took her a few seconds to realize that scattered around her was a shredded Tubtonic laser.

"What happened to the laser?" asked Shego abruptly.

Drakken hadn't noticed her come in and walk around. This was clear as he yelled, dropped his tools, and nearly fell out of his chair to spin around and look at her, fighting to yank off his welding mask. Shego watched this all while holding what looked like it had once been part of the dial. Her sudden agitation that he might have tried testing the thing too early marred any concern she had for him falling off the chair. She narrowed her eyes at him but he seemed not to notice as he struggled with his mask.

"The laser?" asked Drakken as he looked at it. "I may have gotten a little carried away when I was harvesting it for parts... I mean, the dial was more Hego's fault but I didn't help."

"Harvesting... Hego?" asked Shego. She looked at him in confusion now.

Drakken mirrored her expression before shrugging and sitting back down.

"I needed the particle regeneration core to make sure the cold didn't affect your skin too harshly," said Drakken calmly. "I ended up using some of the sheet metal for the room... Worked rather nicely... Not so much bending it back without Hego's assistance however."

Shego put the button down carefully and watched as Drakken put his helmet back on. She felt a sudden tightness in her chest as she processed this.

"You... You, Drakken... Tore apart your own laser?" Shego was in disbelief as she said it. "You took apart your laser?"

Drakken flipped up his mask. His brow furrowed in a deeper confusion than before.

"Yes, clearly. What aren't you understanding?" scoffed Drakken as he flipped the mask back down. Shego flipped it up. "Yes?"

Shego stared at him as she processed her own thoughts about this news. His expression went from confusion to annoyance slowly. In between she saw a flicker of unease. He removed her hand and lowered his mask again as he arranged parts on the table. Shego didn't know how to respond other than stand there. The fact Drakken had torn apart his precious laser...for her... Her insides felt like they we're in knots.

"Shego," sighed Drakken. "Would you mind not standing so close to me?"

She realized he was tapping his fingers and holding his torch unlit. She rolled her eyes and took a step back so he could continue what she'd apparently interrupted. Shego's head was spinning for a few seconds longer than she would have liked. He acted as if it wasn't a big deal... Maybe it wasn't to him...but it was to her. She didn't know— That was a lie... She knew why it meant something to her. Drakken's projects, creations, plots, and schemes...were all he ever seemed to care about. She looked at the parts again and turned off the torch.

"Shego, now what?" glared Drakken as he flipped up the mask. "I am working. I have already had enough setbacks as of late. I would like to—"

"Why did you dismantle the laser?" asked Shego. She held up his mask as he tried to slam it down.

He raised his brow yet again in confusion.

"I already told you... I needed it for the room," he was looking at her with concern now. "Shego are you feeling alright? Did you not—"

"I heard you... But why dismantle it? I'm sure there was another way around it. Aren't you a genius?" asked Shego. Drakken looked frustrated and he pulled away from her.

"What a very nice thank you," glared Drakken. He pulled his mask down. "Belittle me by mocking my intelligence for not coming up with a better plan."

Shego growled under her breath and shook her head in frustration before yanking up his mask again. He physically tossed the unlit torch and turned to look at her. His expression was a mixture of annoyance and anger...but his eyes registered a glimmer of hurt.

"Did you have more?" scoffed Drakken. "My apologies...the laser can wait."

"I wasn't insulting you—" She stopped herself from doing just that and took a deep sigh and softened her hastened tone. "I meant... I know how much this laser meant to you. So why did you take it apart...for me?"

Shego didn't know what she was hoping he'd say. His expression slowly melted to something not even she could read. He looked away from her and at his blueprints in silence. It felt like minutes passed as she watched him. She watched his fingers dig at the papers as if searching for words with them. Her slight hope turned to mild anger at the thought he might say he didn't know why... That he just did it. Because that would in fact, be a typical answer for him to give to her. She opened her mouth to speak when he finally did.

"It's a laser. I can rebuild that," shrugged Drakken. He fiddled with a pen. "You are my partner... And my friend...that, I can't rebuild."

Shego smiled at this. It hadn't been what she had expected or what she had hoped...but it was nice to hear. Before she could respond he continued.

"I mean I've tried... It doesn't work out," shrugged Drakken as he tapped the scar under his eye. "Though I could make it less lippy and have fewer interruptions than my current one— Ow!"

Shego slammed down his mask down hard and turned away in frustration.

"Can't just let it be a moment, you have to keep talking," grumbled Shego.

"Well you didn't have to interrupt me to begin with," came his muffled reply. He tried to yank up his helmet. "Ow! Shego it's stuck! Help me get it off."

"Nope, wouldn't want to interrupt you," she smirked as she called back over her shoulder. "I believe that's one of the requests for your new partner, isn't it?"

"Haha," mocked Drakken as he struggled with the mask. "Seriously, Shego. Help me."

"Nah, I should let you finish rebuilding the laser," she continued to mock as she walked down the hall. "Wouldn't want to seem ungrateful."

"Shego!" he bellowed.

Shego's smirk fell into a slight smile as she continued down the hall. She let out a small sigh as she looked back towards the light from the lab. She tapped her fingers against the cave wall before letting out a louder sigh and turning back to the lab. While it would be easier to go off and muddle in her own thoughts and make several more calls to Go Tower...now was not the time. She should at least help him get the mask off before helping bend some sheet metal. She looked down at her hands. She could use a little warm up... Just to check and make sure nothing had changed.


Onwards ===