It is a well-known fact that Shego was someone, who did not do what she was told or accepted that something was impossible. Thus after being told that there would be no opportunities to meet in the evening, Shego ambushed Drakken during his soaking ablutions. Fortunately for all involved, she entered the unlocked (what was with that, really?) room when he was already in the tub. During their, astonishingly, non-snappy conversation came out that Drakken had to lie under the tan lamp every morning for an hour. Naturally, Shego suggested they meet at that time to strategize further and she would even get a tan deal out of it. Especially, if her tan bed is brought from one of the lairs. To which Drakken threw offhandedly that it was easier for Paul to build one. Shego had nothing to object to that.
But until the lounge's completion, Shego had no choice than to exchange details of their supposed three-and-a-half year long relationship, sitting on the floor. It should've felt degrading, but instead felt rather intimate with their faces on the same level.
The consequence of that arrangement was their appearances at breakfast together, which screamed the situation that wasn't there at all. The nerd squad didn't say anything (it was none of their business anyway and they certainly were afraid of Shego even if none of them has seen her in action), but certain exchanged glances showed Shego exactly what they were thinking and definitely gossiping about with Drakken out of the earshot. Shego was pleased – the reunion will be a slum dank.
During one of the breakfasts Shego finally met Drakken's team. Leila she already knew. The young woman was now constantly sitting and whispering with young blond, who was clearly Andrew. Plain looking, but still mysterious, brunette was Dan. He was the IT wiz. Paul was a rather handsome guy with curvy brown hair and blue eyes. Shego was surprised Leila went for Andrew, who was, well, cute in a dorky kind of way, and not for this fine male specimen. Paul was the hardware man and the mechanic of the team. The last member of the squad was a lanky guy by the name of Nick. In Shego's opinion he had a very lo-o-ong attention span. He always seemed to be somewhere else, thinking about something that was not in front of him, being in the zone, which resulted in awkward situations. But he was the best singer out of all of them. Shego thought of him as a silent Drakken – the ideas are constantly bouncing in his head, but thank God, he doesn't vocalize them the moment they come to him.
One morning, their peaceful breakfast was interrupted by the intruder alert siren. The screens that were just showing the favorable weather forecast, switched to the cameras at the roof which was being flooded by men with distinctive grey uniform. The civil personnel which included the scientists rushed to the kitchens to get to the safety room as per emergency protocol and the security officers ran to the cafeteria main entrance, preparing the shockers (which were more or less militarized cattle prods) to stop the invasion. Shego was obviously in the latter group. But she was not alone.
"The Hell you doing here?!" she shouted over the stampeding officers, grabbing Drakken by his collar and shoving him into the direction of the kitchens.
"This bastard dares to come here. In broad daylight. And you even dare to think that I will just sit it out?!" Drakken screeched, pointing at the screens where the boss of the grey uniformed henchmen appeared on the roof, a snarky smirk taking all of his visible face.
Shego faulted in her movement almost tripping over herself for the first time since the comet incident. In over five years Shego worked for Drakken, she has never heard him curse. And never saw him truly angry. Even with all his failures, he was usually despondent, whiny and overall acting like a kid whose candy was taken. But now he was not simply angry. He was livid. And with three vines slithering from behind his back he actually looked dangerous. Shego managed to turn away and ran out of the room following the black clad security guys, pushing down the feeling she couldn't possibly have during this kinda of situation. They were under attack for God's sake! Maybe it was just adrenaline. Yeah, for sure. It just has been too long for her not having any action. Well, she didn't have any other type of action for even longer so…
Their first meeting with the henchmen happened at the third level. Shego made quick work of them, happy to finally use her powers again. She felt alive, stacking those grey henchmen and blasting them against the walls. At the very very very back of her mind glimmered a thought: is this all I am good at? Is this the only thing I want?
The avalanche of men didn't stop. Shego thought they should be flattered if the caper in the facility warranted such deployment of man power. She glanced towards Drakken to see how he was fairing, but there was not much to see. The vines grabbed the nearest three henchmen and through them away, allowing Drakken to ram through the onslaught. He clearly had a goal and whoever stood in his way had to go… wherever.
Shego decided to follow her boss, since the security guys looked like they had the situation under control, and she was still employed to protect the main asset of the research center. It was the roof, where they came face to face with the intruder. Ten henchmen made a protective circle around him, thus only the color of his suit indicated that there was someone there at all since his stature was so small. Shego tossed them aside like bowling pins with Drakken disarming the rest with his vines.
"Now that is unexpected…" the short man drawled, observing his knocked-out men.
"As unexpected as seeing you here, Dementor! Why are you here?" Drakken snarled, towering over the villain.
"Professor Dementor to you!" said professor screeched.
"Don't care! What I care about is your presence in my lab!"
"Well… a spy birdy told me that by some dumb luck or even a miracle you actually managed to invent something worth stealing, Drakken."
Shego didn't miss the loss of the title, even if a phony one. Drakken didn't address the issue because he looked extremely pissed.
"So there is no integrity among villains?! I could've sold you all out: lairs, weapons, contacts, but I just stepped away and let you do your thing. Why not show the same courtesy?!"
"You are on the other side now, pal, you are fair game just as everybody else. But I did not expect Shego to be here-"
"And where else am I supposed to be?" Shego interrupted, actually taking offense at Dementor's presumptions.
"Anywhere else my darling Fräuline. Still… I must recalculate my approach-"
"Oh, you are not going anywhere," Drakken hissed, every word dipped in corrosive acid. "We are on the other side now, so it is our duty to report the crime."
Dementor did not react fast enough to escape Drakken's vine that encircled him practically head to toe, but he was fast enough to throw a grenade just before that. The grenade went wide exploding beside Shego and throwing her over the balustrade. Shego was disoriented for a millisecond even if not by the explosion itself, but by the unrestrained, possibly deadly violence. But she was still very much a superhuman, so she managed to skid against the wall, using her ever sharp claws. Still, gravity worked even for superhumans, so there was a considerable, unsafe height under her and at least ten feet of expense of the purely white and ideally smooth wall above her. Well, except for the black claw marks.
"Shego! Are you alright?!" came a panicked shout from above.
The nails slipped another foot. "Not for long! Could you-" A vine has appeared in front her. It was an extreme risk to grab it since it would be the only thing that was preventing her from becoming a pancake. Was it strong enough to hold her? Well, it did before if only for a few seconds… Shego grabbed the vine and started to climb up. Even through the gloves, she felt the rough texture of the vine. It was completely bizarre that the plant in her hands didn't even exist an hour ago. The sudden understanding that she was holding onto a part of Drakken's body made her flush. At least until the moment she felt something against her buttocks.
"Hey! Watch where you are touching!"
"Sorry! I am in no way making a comment about your weight… and the vine won't snap, but it's better to make a swing to pull you up… because it's kinda difficult to keep this up."
"Do whatever, just get me out of here!"
Another vine came under her again, pressing deep across her ass. A minute later the fuming Shego was roughly hoisted to the roof. Shego couldn't make up her mind what she was angrier about – humiliation since Drakken had to save her ass again or the possible rope burn on the said ass.
The roof was full of black clad men, who were tying up the henchmen. Dementor was still secured by Drakken's vine and was pouring vitriol on anything and everything, blaming the very Sun for his failed caper.
"Call the boss lady," Drakken ordered the head of security, "she is welcome to call the authorities and take credit, but we are upgrading this place into a citadel. I don't care how much it will cost, she is footing the bill if she wants to actually sale the merchandise she has invested into. I'll get kids out of the basement and put this clown there."
Dementor loudly protested at the moniker and Shego kicked him to shut up. And pay him for the explosion. A single kick was most certainly not enough, so she continued to kick Dementor forward while Drakken continued to pull him across the floor. By the third floor Shego took pity on both men and tossed Dementor over her shoulder.
Only when they reached the doors of the safety room, Shego recalled that they came to release 'the kids'. What kids? Surely, they were not experimenting on children? The heavy doors slid open and the nerd squad rushed out, followed by three dozen of technical personnel. Well, they were half of Drakken's age, so it was natural for him to treat the post grads like children. His children.
Drakken yo-yoed Dementor inside, clearly releasing his fury at his former competitor. Only now Shego noticed how exhausted he looked: perspiration on his forehead, unfocused glance, stumbling feet… But it was nothing compared to his back.
"You are bleeding!" Shego exclaimed shocked and scared out of her wits. He has never bled, he was idiotically invincible!
"Hm… It did feel like… I pulled something there…" he mumbled half-conscious.
"You need to get to medbay!" Shego started pulling him toward the aforementioned room, but was tagged back, when Drakken refused to move.
"I don't… want to be… a research project."
"You sure, it's not about the touching phobia?"
Drakken shook his head in vigorous denial which made him even dizzier. Shego had to support her boss, so he wouldn't fall. She was not dragging him towards… what? He clearly didn't want to go to a proper doctor.
"I'll get you to your room and go get the supplies while you take your shirt off. Doy?"
Slowly (mostly because they had to avoid everybody else not to answer uncomfortable questions) but surely Shego managed to get Drakken to his quarters, that, astonishingly, were the same as everybody else's. No privileges for the big boss, huh? By this point Drakken was too tired and half out of it, so Shego had to remove his lab coat and shirt herself. Both were soaked with red, not blue, blood, which didn't improve Shego's state of mind at all (although it was good to know that his blood was like any other human's, which meant that he could bleed out as an ordinary human too).
Shego settled him on the bed, ripped the coat and T-shirt apart and wiped the blood off to see the nature of his injuries. Thankfully, the vines were clipped when they left Dementor in the safety room. The quick inspection revealed that the vines' tunnels were ripped open. He must've truly overused the vines tossing such heavy men around. Bringing her up…
"I'll go to the medbay and get supplies. You need stitches and I can do that, but nothing more." She waited for agreement or acknowledgement, but received only silence in reply – Drakken has lost consciousness. Which was bad. As was his fever. What if the wounds get infected? What if the plant gets some decease the treatment for which will be harmful for a human? Questions pinballed around her brain while she bolted towards the medbay and while she shoved the needed (at least she thought so) supplies into a bag, completely ignoring the medical staff and men, who were receiving medical assistance.
Upon reaching Drakken's room, Shego dumped medical supplies onto the bed and inspected the wounds once more. The blood still tickled, but it was getting slower. Shego strained the salvageable chunks of skin and got to work. Now Drakken will have additional three scars. Really ugly ones. The level of freakishness of his back will raise a level or… three. And what about the next time an attack like this happens? Will she be stitching him up every time until there will be no original skin on his back? Where will they even graft such unique skin from? Even if Drakken manages to grow his skin from mere cells, who is going to perform the proper operation every time?
With both of them being pretty much invincible, they surely cut on medical bills and suffering that accompanied the injuries. But now too many aspects of their lives were changing.
Shego put rows of large band aids onto the stitched areas to prevent infection and stabbed Drakken's arm with an anti-inflammatory shot. She did all she could, but it was not the end of troubles. It was Monday, so in two days Drakken had to go into the tub. And considering the workout he gave the vines today, they would be ravenous, so ideally, he should go for a couple of days in a row, but then the wounds will open up.
Founding herself in a hopeless situation (which never happened), Shego decided to do something really stupid – talk to the plant. "So Drakkenia…I don't know if you can hear me… Because you are a plant or because you are unconscious… But you obviously want to live and to eat. So it will be in your interest for your host to survive. You managed to mutate his skin so you could surely make it mend faster. It's in your own interest."
Shego's monologue that she hoped was actually a one-sided dialogue, was interrupted by heavy knocking at the door. Shego had no choice but to answer, while thinking how her presence in Drakken's quarters was going to look. People around them were putting two and two together and getting four, but in reality, the sum was zero. The crazy story of her life, really.
"What do you want?" she snapped at the security man after almost ripping the door from its hinges.
"The Boss has arrived and wishes to speak to Doctor Drakken."
Shit… Shego completely forgot about her. And yeah, she heard the capital letter. Not that they expected her to arrive in person… "Doctor Drakken has gotten injured in the skirmish and is resting. He cannot be disturbed for several days."
"Is he alright?!" the guard asked with what sounded genuine concern and then looked at her… funny.
"We'll see. I will talk to her myself."
"I think… you need to change for that."
Shego looked down at herself, insulted by the continued funny looks, and was ready to send a blast towards the departing man, but discovered he had a point. Her gloves were black so the stains were not noticeable, but the green fabric clearly had brown spots left by Drakken's blood. What a mess…
…
Shego took her time showering and putting on another catsuit. She must be making the boss lady irritated by the delay (which one should not do to the person who signs one's checks), but Shego was not going to appear in front the person of authority with a frazzled hair and dirty clothes.
Close to four hours passed between the alarm and Shego's entering the conference room, where the boss lady was said to be waiting for her. Well, for Drakken, but that's irrelevant. From the very first glance Shego understood why Drakken gave his employer such nickname. The middle-aged woman truly was the embodiment of a lady boss with her blond hair in a bun - no single hair out of place – natural but perfect make up, business suit with a pencil skirt which clearly cost a pretty penny even if it was a boring grey color. She even had a suitcase. Everything about her was pristine, expensive and razor sharp.
"Where is Drakken?" she barked the moment Shego closed the doors behind her. And all that façade hid a business shark, who was out for blood.
Sheesh, the woman was surely used to giving orders and Shego was not one who followed them. "He is recovering under sedation. I am here in his stead."
"Why haven't I seen the report about his injuries?" The boss lady, whose name Shego didn't know, stabbed a stack of papers with her index finger. Wow, the guys worked fast.
"There is no report," Shego snapped back.
"And why is that?! Why didn't medical team check him out? It is what they are paid for after all."
"He has… a special constitution," was the only answer Shego managed to come up with.
"I am very aware of that." Shego did not like the boss lady's predatory smile. "No matter. When can the operations return to its normal schedule? Also, there was a demand for security system improvements. I want to see those plans a.s.a.p, so we will be ready when another attack happens."
"When? You are anticipating the repetition of today?"
"Isn't it the highest form of flattery when your product becomes the victim of corporate espionage? You must finish the testing during the next two weeks. The paperwork on the patent is already started so we will finish everything in these two weeks. I already have a training platoon for testing. Are we in agreement?"
Shego had absolutely no idea what the lady was talking about, but she had to agree with the flattery comment. Nobody wanted to steal Drakken's inventions before. She could only nod to other demands and hope Drakken delivers. Whatever they were preparing here since the wheat was not anywhere ready.
….
After the meeting with the boss lady, whose name Shego still didn't know, she decided to check on Drakken. The man was still unconscious which was not particularly good, but there was no bleeding and fever, so things were not getting worse. For now.
Shego found herself a seat on a small couch and started going through the building plans on her iPad. She was part of the security team after all, so she could work on security upgrades. She supposed that Drakken's plans for turning the place into the citadel were not putting a board with words 'haunted' on it, but surely not laser guns? Although… they could be inconspicuously hidden in the walls…
Shego has been enthusiastically typing up her plans for a couple of hours when she heard a grunt from the bed. "So… how do you feel?" the question felt foreign on her tongue. She has never expressed her concern before. Was she concerned? "And don't even think about moving, you'll disturb the stitches."
"So I am supposed… to just lie like that?" Drakken grumbled, moving towards the edge of the bed so one of the sleeves slipped from his arm to the floor.
"Wait a sec…" Shego neared Drakken's bed feeling awkward as Hell, but there was nobody else to make him comfortable. So she took his shoes off and pulled the remnants of his lab coat and T-shirt from under him. But no way was she taking his pants off! "So comfortable enough? Need painkillers?"
"Surprisingly, no. What's the damage?"
"I don't think you can do again what you did today. Your skin won't hold."
"Yeah… Felt good though."
Shego frowned at the familiar look of defeat on Drakken's face that he rubbed into the pillow. They would've never neutralized the situation so fast today if it wasn't for his vines. He had all the right to take a winner's walk with a stupidly wide grin on his face. But he couldn't and never will again. Moreover, he will need to constantly look over his shoulder (quite literally) whenever he lifts anything with the vines. Was she too heavy too?
"Let's get one thing straight then, D. If there is a situation when there is a choice between grabbing me and saving your skin, you are not grabbing me. Got it?"
"That's absurd, Shego!"
"You are the brain, I am the muscle. Protect your own brain. Not negotiable. On that note… Boss lady wants the new security plans yesterday. Are you up for it?"
Drakken was. At least for a couple of hours. Shego moved from the bed when she noticed him nodding off. Shockingly it was the first time during their cooperation that she wrote down his detailed plans. It felt…exhilarating, even if there were long pauses between the properly worded security measures while she had to watch Drakken look upwards lost in his calculations and visualizations.
Shego's next actions were more difficult to decide upon however. Drakken should be monitored so she couldn't just leave. Should she call for someone? With a grunt and telling herself that she was just returning the favor, because getting her up from the wall was one of the reasons Drakken was in his current condition in the first place, Shego settled on the couch to spend the night.
….
Thankfully, the night was a quiet one, even if Shego did wake up a couple of times on a nervous tick and checked Drakken's temperature to catch the possible infection early. But everything was fine…
In the morning Shego ordered him not to move until she refreshed herself in her own room. Upon her return she pulled away the edge of the plaster to check the healing process and just froze from shock.
"Is it that bad?" Drakken asked, who felt her not moving either to put the plaster back or to pull off more.
Shego couldn't say… The skin around the stitches was greener than before and the gaps seemed completely healed. Did the plant hear her plea? The world seemed to get crazier by the minute.
"I think… I can take the stitches out," Shego replied hesitantly.
"You sure?! It's only been a day."
"Seems your plant doesn't like to exist without your skin keeping her nice and cozy. Don't move until I bring some stuff from the medbay."
"At least bring me some cocoa moo!" Drakken hailed when she was already at the door. Shego rolled her eyes at the typical request, but swung by the cafeteria after getting the right scissors and anti-scarring cream from the doctors, whom she reassured that Doctor Drakken made a speedy recovery.
Shego was surprised to find Drakken exactly where she left him. She believed his curious nature would make him step to the mirror or do something else as stupid, but he was waiting for her like a good boy.
"I am going to take out the stitches, so don't move so I don't cut something I shouldn't," Shego warned, handing him a mug of coco with a straw.
Some ten minutes passed with the only sounds in the room being slurping, but then Shego almost cut out a chunk of skin when Drakken asked, "Why are you here, Shego?"
"Do you want me to cut you open?! And why where? You want to deal with the mess of your back yourself? Be my guest!"
"No… here… in the research center. I rarely agree with Dementor, but I was also shocked when you agreed to follow me here after I told you about the proposal. And you only skimmed the contract before signing it. I was sure, you would end our relationship after the whole saving the world thing. I expected you to go work for Dementor or somebody similar. You are clearly wasting you potential here, so why?"
Shego was grateful for the circumstances of stitches' cutting, so she didn't have to look into his face while answering. Not that it made it any easier. "While Stoppable and I were in space… he told me, he was afraid of change since they were graduating etc. At some point later it came to me that change was indeed coming. Kimmie was going into university and would hardly take missions. And even if she did, I would send her packing since I know how grueling university studies can be. And if there is no Kimmie to fight, there is not much of a point. I could be a sidekick to another supervillain, but I know all of them and they are just royal asses. I could've stricken out on my own, but it's just too much work."
"So working with me is the lesser evil?"
"So we are making puns now?"
"That's not an answer."
No, it wasn't, but Shego didn't have one. It would be beneficial for her to be somewhere else, firstly, because of the money - her current paycheck was miserably small. She was not doing any kickassery and there were zero evil plans. The whole situation was completely opposite to her needs. There was a common denominator however, but she was not going there.
"I decided to stay for some time, to make up my mind about my future choices. I am going to put this cream now," she added before Drakken could make any comment about her general answer. Shego poured the cream between his shoulder blades and started to spread it out to the rest of the back. The activity felt uncomfortably intimate which called for a drastic topic change. "So… your vines are pretty handy. With all the mass of hair I have, don't you think it will be advantageous for it to move the same way?"
"Have those guys hit you on the head and lowered your IQ?!"
Shego had to push Drakken back down since his jerked to look at her even before she finished her question.
"And what's wrong with my idea?!" He deserved her too forceful rubs of his injured back for calling her stupid.
"You want me to mutate you?!"
"Comet, green skin, plasma glow? Remember?"
"Don't you mock me, Shego! This is serious!"
She again pushed him down, but he somehow managed to swivel into sitting up.
"I am serious!" Shego shouted into his face.
"And how am I to do it then? Just to give you some kinda shampoo that will change your hair into a killer you may or most probably may not control?! My plant mutation was an accident! The fact that I survived at all was pure luck! What do you want me to do to test the concoction? To harvest your hair and put it on another human and then see what happens? You want me to start killing people because of your mid-life crisis?!"
"Chill, Doc! Nobody is asking you to kill anyone!"
"That's why I am only working with robots!"
The outburst seemed so out of place that Shego dropped the bottle. It was when she learned down to pick it up the revelation came – Drakken didn't know how to interact with people, never could properly, so he surrounded himself with robots and mindless minions whom he could control. He also tried to brainwash everybody else to control them, but it was not only a matter of power, it was a defense mechanism to save himself from being controlled and pushed around by others. Drakken used a mind controlling device on her too, but only once and never again, and, let's be frank, she pushed him around like nobody's business. And he let her. What was actually going on here?
"Let's just… cool down, D. I finish putting the cream on, you lie down for a couple more hours and we forget my stupid idea with the hair. I'll just have it cut off."
"So you also have stupid ideas?"
Shego cursed, seeing the mocking smirk on Drakken's smug face. "Doy, doy, so what? I am no genius, what's your excuse? Speaking of… what did Dementor want to steal anyway?"
"I'll better show you-"
"Hold your horses! Two hours in bed, at least. Then a cold shower, stinky tub only tomorrow. Got it?"
"Yes, mother," Drakken grumbled, but settled back on the bed.
"I'll come back at eight… so you could show me if it's all that." Shego made to get up from the bed, when a vine appeared. "Is it wise? It may rip the skin again."
"It has a mind of its own. But it is a thank you for your help. From both of us."
Shego was thankful that Drakken was looking away since she clearly felt the betrayal of her body which made her blush. She left the room without any response, gingerly holding the vine with green and blue flowers.
Why was she here? Because he needed her. But did she need him?