Cocoa, Cookies, and Distractions
Shego woke with a start as the vent system kicked in. Her eyes scanned her dark room lit only by the glow of the cave's waters. As the air circulated she let out a deep breath. Images from her last nightmare were still at the forefront of her mind—long forgotten ones from her years on Team Go that weren't so much nightmares as they were memories. Dollmaker's escalation to making human dolls, Dweller's twisted games, and even Stitches's and Hush's dark strange games of hide and seek. She knew this was all brought on by her prior weekend's experience, because now all of the nightmares were woven together with Dr. Botox's hench-people.
Shego let out a shudder as she pulled her blanket closer. She needed to find a way to sleep. Over the last week she'd been unbearable, even to herself. Her lack of sleep had made her less than helpful in the lab as Drakken tried to fix the hover car. For three days straight she'd left the lab and regretted the insults she'd tossed at him, but she had been too tired to take them back or even counter them. This morning, or yesterday, had been the worst. He'd be tinkering with his laser and talking about how he needed a different power source when she'd snapped at him about it being a waste of time. What else she ranted exactly was a blur.
She slid out of bed and decided maybe a late night snack might help her sleep. She doubted it, but it was worth a try. She needed to do something, and she'd even debated on asking Drakken for that sleeping medication back. Since he had been up at his strange hours she seriously doubted he was using it. She felt the slight guilt trickle over her thoughts instead of the nightmares as she walked past his door to head to the kitchen. She slowed for a second but picked up her pace quickly.
No. I'll just ignore it. He's avoided talking about last weekend. I will avoid talking about—
She stopped her thoughts and rolled her eyes at herself, suddenly aware that all her jabs and snappy moments at him this week were a mixture of lack of sleep and her agitation at him acting as if nothing had happened. That Monday morning he had been right back to work.
She froze as she saw movement in the kitchen. The only light on was above the stove to illuminate the figure slumped at the small table doodling sluggishly away on pieces of paper. Shego could smell food as she got closer. With a deep sniff and a few steps she could almost taste the chocolate chip cookies as she saw them cooling on the counter. Drakken looked up as she cleared the threshold. She saw a look of agitation ghost across his face before fading as he went back to writing.
"Couldn't sleep?" he muttered. "There's hot cocoa-moo—cocoa, on the stove... Should still be warm."
"Clearly you couldn't either," sighed Shego as she helped herself to some cocoa and cookies. "What's wrong? You only late-night bake when you're frustrated."
His grip on the pen tightened.
"If you must know, Shego, I am trying to come up with another plan...something that actually works," he snapped.
Shego paused as she approached the table.
"I didn't mean it—" He cut her off.
"Yes you did." His statement wasn't a whine. "Everything keeps going wrong with it and the designs are flawed...the resources are unstable... It's another failure."
Shego narrowed her eyes and was about to argue, but she changed tactics and sat down.
"Well then prove me wrong," she shrugged. "Isn't that what has always driven you? Proving others wrong about your genius?"
Drakken looked at her for a second and then at his sketches.
"It is," he muttered.
"So what's the problem?" smirked Shego. "If you think I was telling the truth...prove me wrong."
His brow narrowed as he tapped his pen.
"You have a point," he whispered. He opened his mouth and then closed it for a second. "Why are you up?"
She knew that wasn't what he was going to say but she let him change topics. She debated on answering truthfully or shrugging it off.
"I had a nightmare." She had apparently chosen the truth. She bit into a warm cookie.
"What about?" asked Drakken. He cut himself off. "That's a stupid question, clearly last weekend's events."
"Actually it was you forcing me to watch soap operas at karaoke," shrugged Shego. Drakken gave her an exasperated look. "Yes, of course it was because of last weekend. Seeing Dollmaker again...it triggered something in my memories from when I was on Team Go. It will pass, but I could do without the mood-swings from lack of sleep."
"You could do without the mood-swings?" scoffed Drakken. "Try being on the receiving-end."
Shego rolled her eyes and gave a dramatic sigh as she kicked him.
"Uhg, my bad. Sorry, okay? I won't take my frustrations out on you." She gave a half smile.
"Doubtful," snorted Drakken. "We'll see in the morning... Did you want to talk about it?"
Shego looked up from where she was dunking her cookie into the hot cocoa. Drakken had put down his pen, which by that point had just been making patterns of circles due to his drive for distraction. He had turned to look at her as he waited for an answer. Shego thought about telling him about her nightmare. How it wasn't just her old villains and Dr. Botox or the hench-people, and that it mostly consisted of her trapped as one of them and seeing him— She shook her head and took another bite of her cookie.
There was a long pause.
"Did you want to talk about what happened before I got there?" he asked calmly. Shego looked at him.
"Why?" asked Shego. He'd pretended the whole thing hadn't happened all week.
"Because you were duped by a guy named Devious Shark and this concerns me," he said as he rolled his eyes. She knew it was meant to be a joke but her hand clenched the cookie in her hand and it instantly became charred crumbles within a faint green light. "Shego. I was only joking... If you want to or don't want to talk it's fine...but don't take it out on the chocolate chip cookies."
Shego rolled her eyes and grabbed a cookie off of the plate in front of him, her eyes still narrowed at her mug sitting in front of her. He didn't make an effort to stop her, or make a comment. She'd seen his hand react to her sudden movement, but he said nothing. The sound of the vents and Drakken scribbling were the only noise.
She slid a doodle over towards her to look at. It made no sense to her even if she tried. His strange codes that only he knew and sometimes forgot, lists and random words to trigger only his thoughts... She'd never bothered to learn deciphering it, because he'd eventually rant it all to her anyway. She glanced up at him, his eyes fixated on the paper he was working on. Her mind flashed back to flickers of the nightmares she'd had all week and she slid the doodle back in the pile.
Her thoughts fell back to the lab destroyed under a collapsed mountain. She wondered if Global Justice caught up with them or if they were just lying in wait for another sneaky attack. She fixated back on Drakken. How Dr. Botox had been interested in him, piecing together whatever twisted problems they had with The Company and pulling Drakken into it. The family contract ties, the stories of people Botox had mentioned...
She'd been annoyed he hadn't wanted to talk about it, but now she'd told him she didn't. She wondered if subconsciously it was because she wanted to talk about the things she'd learned rather than her experience and she knew he wouldn't favor that.
She bit her lip as she chose her words carefully.
"You said your grandmother was a doctor?" asked Shego. "She made medical things?"
Drakken looked at her with a brief look of confusion before he clearly chose to dismiss her line of questioning as anything more than curiosity.
"She was," Drakken smiled but it faltered. "She never got much of a chance to work on anything she really wanted... I used to think that she made up those stories she told me as a sort of...ulterior life."
"The Dr. Drakken stories," Shego felt like a piece lined up. "And she never got to do much...why again?"
"In her youth she did... She had so many things and designs, but as I told you. She had a type of lab accident that caused a lot of minor cognitive issues and her motor skills were unstable... She never wanted to talk about that or perhaps she didn't remember. Why?" Drakken suddenly looked suspicious.
"In her stories, was Dr. Drakken...a man?" Shego was getting more and more curious. Drakken shrugged.
"It was just Dr. Drakken," he picked up his pen again.
There was another silent pause but Shego noticed Drakken was moving much slower as if waiting for her to ask something else. She knew he was trying to read her and normally she would be annoyed at this, but it gave her the push.
"How did your grandparents meet?" She leaned her chin on her hand. His pen slowed further.
"I...don't really know. I never knew the man. He died shortly after my aunt was born," his answer was slow, still on edge.
Shego knew if she mentioned The Company he would get up and leave, but before she could ask a question about that, her curiosity piqued.
"Aunt?" asked Shego. "Since when do you have an Aunt?"
"I had an Aunt." Drakken rolled his eyes. "Lydia's mother. Where do you think she came from?"
"Well you talked about Eddie's dad, I'd think you'd mention there were more spawn to be concerned about," Shego tried to make a joke. "What happened to her?"
"No idea," shrugged Drakken. "She was eight years older than me... I vaguely remember her babysitting us, but when she turned eighteen she became obsessed with my uncle's Company stories and just...left. I only met Lydia the same time you did."
"You have no idea?" Shego scoffed. "Is she a flake, is she dead... I know she's not around, but nothing?"
"I don't know," glared Drakken. "After Uncle Bart died, I didn't exactly keep up on family events. I was busy pursuing villainy. I missed a few phone calls here and there. What is with all these questions?"
"Listen Doc, I'm all for pursuing villainy...but how can you not know basic things?" Shego raised a brow.
"Hmm? What's going on with your brothers?" asked Drakken calmly. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Mego graduate from medical school and you had no idea until he dropped into our lair?"
Shego opened her mouth to argue but fell back into her chair.
"I'm assuming these questions had a purpose?" Drakken sighed. "What is it?"
Shego could see the shift in his eyes and chose to move the conversation elsewhere.
"I was...thinking about those journals you mentioned," she lied. He looked at her for a long moment before seemingly accepting her answer.
"It involves a trip to my mother's...and it's a trip I don't wish to take yet." He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Is that all?"
She thought for a second.
"In my defense...you have now met my brothers—"
"And you have met my family."
They stared at each other and Shego let out a small snort as she saw his lip twitch upwards.
"Makes you wonder if villainy is just an escape," said Shego. She didn't like the shiver that ran up her spine. "You never did tell me how much fun you had with them."
Drakken's slight smile melted away and she could see him swallow hard.
"I wouldn't call that time fun," he grimaced. "It was as fun as this weekend was relaxing."
Shego raised a brow and then nudged him.
"Had you worried?" She gave a tired smile. His brows furrowed.
"Of course I was worried," he hissed. He hadn't taken it as a lightening-the-mood jest. "First I put you in harm's way with a comet chunk, then because of my poor funds you get abducted—"
"Whoa. Whoa. Slow your roll there, Drakken," Shego covered his mouth with her hand. "I was only joking... Wait, do you think that you caused those problems?"
Drakken's shoulders slumped and Shego had to stop herself from laughing.
"I know I didn't cause them per se, but—" His voice was muffled slightly.
"Doc. A museum trip was probably the safest thing we've really done. Neither of us knew that space trash was there... And you not only dealt with my brothers but didn't rest the entire time." She smiled slightly. "Botox, Dollmaker, and shark-boy would have found another way... I mean, the retreat... By the way, Botox is salty about that eye... The New Year's party...and the gloves... There would have been something else. I mean, honestly I'm a little flattered by all the trouble. Still. You came to rescue me. Although you made a questionable choice of teammates."
She let out a laugh, but as she let her hand fall away from Drakken's face he wasn't smiling.
"New Year's?" asked Drakken. His brow furrowed but he shook his head. "Be that as it may—"
"You did not just say that," snorted Shego. Drakken's face scrunched up. "Listen, things happen... I mean, this 'damsel in distress' thing better not happen again...but it's the life we live. Besides. I'm getting a new hoverboard out of it, I have fuel for later about those gauntlets... And before that...I got some nice sleep without you blowing things up around me, avoided my brothers, and got back memories I lost... So it wasn't such a waste."
Drakken pursed his lips.
"Fuel? A new hoverboard?" he asked.
"Oh yeah...if you think our conversation about those things was already had, you're dead wrong," snorted Shego as she got up. "Also since my hoverboard is probably never coming back...I think after all that's happened I deserve a new one... Without stickers."
"You think so, do you," Drakken scoffed. He got up as well. "I'll make the whole thing neon pink...just you wait."
"You threaten, but it means there will be one," smirked Shego as she began walking towards the hallway.
"On one condition," stated Drakken. Shego raised a brow.
"What's that?" asked Shego.
"Admit you were in fact a nerd...and don't tell me you can't remember," he grinned. Shego's eyes narrowed.
"Uhg, I'll walk," she scoffed. Drakken snorted as she took a few steps.
"Fine," shrugged Drakken as he walked ahead of her. "Don't tell me, walk everywhere...never know what Hego did at the museum, guess we just move on—"
Shego put a hand in front of him to stop his walking.
"What did Hego do at the museum?" Shego's curiosity was piqued.
Drakken shrugged and gave a devious smirk.
"Well since we're not sharing." He took a step.
Shego glared for a second, but despite his devious expression she saw actual curiosity.
"Uhg, okay all right... I liked those movies," she whined. "Now spill."
"Oh no," Drakken shook his head. "When you want to talk...I'll be in the living area watching said movies."
Shego watched him detour back to the other hallway. She crossed her arms and glared down the hall at her bedroom before grumbling to herself and walking in the direction Drakken had gone, snatching the last cookie in her wake.
"It better be good!" yelled Shego as she rounded the corner. Drakken stood there waiting for her with a smug smirk. "Oh, zip it."
Okay, not lets start with a Clean Slate, shall We? -
