Shego spend the rest of her day by examining the perimeter with other security guards to look for any weak spots suitable for infiltration. There were some indeed. Mostly around the plantation, because it was guarded only by an electric fence – enough protection from animals it was designed for, but not for armed humans. It was the first time Shego saw the vines in all its glory since they were not covered anymore. There were paths and illumination there, but overall the whole area looked like a jungle. How could anyone secure something like that? Who in their right mind will agree to patrol such expense of land? She is most definitely not paid enough to plan such elaborate things.
Still, at 8 o'clock on the dot, Shego knocked on the door to Drakken's quarters. She heard a muffled yell that she translated as an invitation to come in, so she did. She found Drakken rummaging in his wardrobe and tossing clothes all over the place. One T-shirt almost landed on Shego's face, but her quick reflexes prevented that.
"What in the world are you doing?"
"I am looking for a shirt, Shego. Tees are too close fitting for my back right now. I would go only in a lab coat, but I doubt anybody would appreciate the view."
Well, Shego was appreciating it right now. Whoa! Get a reality check, girl. "There is a blazer on the top shelf."
"Don't know what I will do without you, Shego dear."
Shego wanted to retort something like: 'Won't save the world, that's for sure,' but there was something in his phrasing that was strangely wrong. But she didn't want to dwell on it, she really wanted to know what was so valuable, Dementor decided to barge in their remotely located lab.
They went to another part of the lab that she has never visited (the situation that was already grinding on her nerves; why didn't she try to explore the building more? Did she saw no point in it since Drakken was supposed to fail anyway?) which consisted of several separate large rooms with each of them having a different purpose: one was for processing the raw vines, the other to soak the extracted fiber and the last one for weaving and creating the fabric. And there was not a single person there.
"Is the whole shindig automated? And what if something happens?" Shego asked, trying not to sound impressed.
"There are a couple of guys overlooking the process, just in comfortable settings. The racket is pretty unbearable. But our destination is this small room."
It was a small room in comparison to others. There were tables all around, but the crown jewel that was illuminated from all angles was a hanging… vest?
"And what is this? The new autumn collection piece?" Shego asked, quite skeptical about the value of the standard vest with standard commando coloring.
"Something considerably more special. And since you are here, Shego dear, we can complete the last test – the Shego test. Fire your most powerful blasts at it."
"You sure about that?" Shego's skepticism only grew.
Drakken nodded, so she complied. The blasts reached the vest and… nothing. No effect. Not even a singed mark. Drakken brought the vest closer. Same effect, well, no effect at all. He brought it closer yet, there was only eight feet between Shego and the vest. She put extra effort in her blasts, but still the vest remained as pristine as it was in the beginning.
"Now you see, Shego? It's no Kim Possible's nanosuit, but this baby can protect from pretty much anything except for something large like a bazooka, but shrapnel, bullets even of a large caliber and other ammunition soldiers generally encounter… can't do anything to it."
Now Shego saw. Bloody Hell…Doctor Drakken remained true to his character. When he was a villain anything less than world domination was pointless, when he turned to saving the world, he was indeed planning to save the world. It wasn't enough for him to create a business venture or support a local cause, nope, he decided to safe the whole military. Of course, bombs and air strikes will take their victims regardless, but a lot of troops could be saved.
"Wanna try it on?"
Shego grabbed the garment that was indeed all that and more, and fastened it on. Of course, it was a male size and didn't fit her, but it still felt light for a bulletproof vest.
"Aren't you afraid Dementor or somebody else will make cheap knock offs? If this hits mass production, someone somewhere will manage to replicate the process. It is all in the patent info after all and chemistry is chemistry."
"They can try, they can even grow the vines, which is not that easy actually. The boss lady will then sue them for all it's worth. She is good at protecting her interests."
"So you have the promo video filmed and everything?" Shego teased, hanging the vest back with reluctance. The thing was too comfy for a bulletproof vest.
"The vest will be sold under their brand and they own the patent, but since the vines are mine, I have a percentage of sales."
"And you think it's fair?!"
"Considering that they are paying for everything including our salaries and manufacturing and bear all the risk, this is quite a sweet deal, Shego. On a completely different subject… This Friday's karaoke night is going to be special. There is going to be a party."
"Oh really? What are we celebrating? Tossing Dementor behind bars?"
"That too, but mostly Andrew and Leila getting together."
So the girl works fast. "And how did that come about?" Shego asked feinting ignorance. "Did they announce it or something?"
"In a way, but I knew right after he asked me for advice."
"Andrew asked you for dating advice?!" Shego couldn't hold her guffaws. "Why? Because you're older and experienced?"
"Because I am his boss. Andrew didn't want to ruin the balance in the team if things between them don't work out. Moreover, Leila is expendable and he doesn't want her to lose her job over the whole thing."
"And why is she expendable?! Because she is a woman?!"
"Of course not. Because Andrew's area is botany and hers – robotics. Considering what we do here, the robotics expert can be whoever."
Leila was in robotics! Shego has suddenly gotten a new founded respect for the young redhead.
"So what does this party entail exactly?"
"Frankly, Shego… I have no idea."
…..
The celebration was not that much different from the usual Friday night activities. The major development was booze, which Shego noticed Drakken did not touch. They have to remedy that before the reunion. Shego also noticed that money was exchanging hands and everybody was congratulating the newly formed couple as if it was their engagement party. Seriously, what gives? So one of them asked the other one out (which one was it must be determined on principle, the female pride was at stake here; clearly the betters had the intel), what was the big deal? Was it that difficult for smart people to find smart enough people to date? Moreover, she was in robotics and he – in botany. Completely different fields, what will they even talk about? Hopefully, they stay together until the end of the project.
What was the big deal however was the fact that Leila and Shego were the only women in the research facility. The average age of the male populace was between 22 and 45 by Shego's estimation, so why nobody even flirted with her during these six months?! No interest at all! Ridiculously unnatural!
Shego noticed Drakken sneaking out of the party and rushed after him. Was he to blame for the whole situation?
"Did you tell anybody we were together?" she blurted out, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him into an empty corridor.
"Why would I do that, Shego? And as I said in the beginning of all this… plan of yours, nobody will believe it."
"But they do! At least your… kids think so."
"You want me to correct them?"
"No, I just don't get why they think so in the first place. Considering how Andrew and Leila have been joined at the hip for the last week and we hardly communicate in public… So we came here together. It is a known fact we have been working together for some years."
"I don't know, okay?!"
Why was Drakken so agitated? Should she use the opportunity to tease him about Shego's time? But something told Shego to let it go.
"Doy, it doesn't matter. What does is that I owe you a date. How is your schedule?"
"Thursday?" Drakken drew out hesitantly. Shego didn't understand if the topic of the date was making him uncomfortable or he didn't actually know what evening would be free. When did he become so mysterious? Although, she never managed to understand him.
"Thursday works for me." Since she had to make some special preparations.
But their next Shego's time happened much earlier than Thursday. Her tan lounge was ready, so they met the next morning during Drakken's Sun session. They talked about his sworn enemies aka former uni mates, who were going to be at the reunion and were their main targets. Shego recorded their names and other details to get dirt on them since they could not face them with an empty arsenal. Every following morning Shego checked on Drakken's back, but everything was relatively normal. The green skin dispersed to his stomach, but that was all.
…
Despite the lab's enormous size, there was no place that could be considered in any way a romantic setting for a date. So Shego had her work cut out for her. Another complication was the challenge of organizing the date – create something that they will both enjoy. But what made Shego stumped was not Drakken's preferences (which he hardly had since he had never been on a date), but her own. It has been years since she has been on a proper date. When she spent time in male company, they both knew what they wanted and parted the moment they got it. So what exactly was she going to do?
Decision came during the supply ran that she joined to bring supplies of her own. The guys looked at her as she was the mad scientist when she asked them to load four screens made of dark wood with emerald green drapes. Can't beat the classics… There was a lot of other miscellaneous stuff that was packed away from the curious eyes, otherwise there will be too many questions.
Shego's preparations started with the location. She found more or less empty room near the room with the tub, where she had access to water and basic furniture like tables and chairs. She had to clean the space for a whole day for them not to sneeze at every turn. Her next step was to create a restaurant booth, placing the screens in a square formation. Ideally, she needed a round table, but had to do with standard rectangular one. A velvet table cloth and candles of various sizes finished the composition. Shego had drinks sorted, the only remaining part – food. She couldn't cook even if her life depended on it, so she had to butter up the cook for something appropriate and bribe him for silence. That's why she didn't date – things always got overly complicated.
The day of the dated Thursday started unusually early for Shego. It took two hours to persuade the cook to make some cold snacks for her for the evening. And it took so long, because the cook was an awful gossip and saw through Shego right away. Shego's excuse of a surprise private party finally made them move to the menu itself.
Then Shego found herself unexpectedly involved in a meeting with security personnel. The new security measures were ready to be installed and only half of them were out of the box solutions. When did Drakken have time to invent all this stuff? Not even two weeks passed since Dementor's appearance!
Shego got free only at five in the evening, so she rushed to her room to make herself presentable. The dress was chosen beforehand (the off shoulder one; didn't matter that Drakken already saw it, her choice was obviously limited under the circumstances), so bathing and hair took the remaining time. Still she took great care with applying makeup and styling her recently cut hair.
She took meticulous care with placing the snacks, ice bucket with champagne and appropriate glasses. At least fifty candles were lit around the room. The jazzy background music completed the atmosphere of a romantic date. Everything was ready. Hopefully, Drakken won't be late again.
To Shego's enormous surprise, the knock came precisely at 8 o'clock. She opened the door to comment on Drakken being finally on time, but words got stuck in her throat, because he was not wearing a lab coat, but a light blue button up shirt. Which overall wasn't that strange, karaoke Fridays were casual Fridays.
"Hm, Shego?" snapped her out of it.
"Doy, come in," Shego muttered, feeling as if she was losing her footing and control over the situation.
"Here."
Yes, control went out with the garbage, when Drakken shoved at her a flower arrangement. The flowers betrayed their origin as D's vines, but he didn't simply cut them off, but arranged them with large leaves and some other wild plant Shego could not identify. It was a very thoughtful gesture. The only problem…
"I don't have a vase," she stated, sounding lost. Why didn't she think about flowers?! Flowers are pretty standard for dates, right?
"Just put them in the sink until then."
Shego didn't question how Drakken knew the room had a sink. She just went and made the flowers comfortable. Upon her return, she discovered Drakken already behind the table. He clearly was trying to project nonchalance and relaxed demeanor, but Shego still could detect the strain of a cornered animal ready to jump.
"Champagne seems a bit extravagant, Shego. Are we celebrating something?"
Shego took her place at the table and poured them both a glass. "Primarily, we are raising your alcohol tolerance, because something tells me, you have none. We don't know what they will have at the reunion reception – open bar, or something else, but they will surely have bubbly. The greatest mistake one can make in such situation is to get drunk and make a scene that will be on YouTube the next second. So bottoms up."
"So we won't even have a toast?"
"You are free to make one."
"Let's toast your new haircut then. It's very… refreshing."
"It was exactly what I was going for, D," Shego responded, clinking the glass with Drakken's. "Was that the only safe wording for a compliment you could come up with?"
"Safe is generally preferable in my book. Especially where you are concerned, Shego dear." The glass was at Drakken's lips when it was thrown at the wall by the vine, shattering it into pieces and dozing a couple of candles with its contents. "Sorry, seems no alcohol for me."
"A body with a plant is a temple?"
"I suppose. So the whole bottle is yours, Shego."
"D?! Are you trying to get me drunk?!" she squealed, sounding scandalized which as an obvious mockery.
"Can you get drunk?"
"For a couple of hours. My metabolism is crazy fast. Pretty good for not getting caught after a party. So what's up with you being a nondrinker?"
"No money after college, remember? And during… Hangover is not something with what one enters a lab with laser machinery and dangerous chemical substances. Believe me, there were cases… Speaking of the past… There is still one aspect that you know about me and I don't about you. How did you betray your brothers? What made you turn to villainy?"
"Not a bad segue, D… But I need to pour inside me copious amounts of alcohol to even start on the topic. Particularly since they are completely different stories."
"Now I am even more intrigued. But the evening is young…"
It was. The only problem, Shego had no idea what to do next. They munched on the snacks, but where could she direct the conversation next? And isn't it usually a man's job?
"Do we dance?"
At least something was going right with the date since the question was made while Shego was not holding her glass, otherwise the bubbly would've been all over her. "Wha-a-a-at?" she bleated most undignified.
"Those events have standard programs, yes? Drinks, mingling, dancing. Do we dance, Shego?"
He was right again, dammit. "Well, ye-e-es… Seeing us dancing will solidify our relationship- Wait-" He wasn't looking nervous at all. "Are you saying, that you can actually dance?" Although, since he could sing, why wouldn't he dance?
"And why is it so unbelievable?" Drakken bristled in response. "I may be a bit rusty, but I can manage the box step just fine."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously, Shego."
"I bet, there is a story behind it. I bet there was a girl involved."
"And what if there was?"
"Do tell…" Shego teased, wiggling her empty glass in front of Drakken, which he refilled right away, making it overflow, but only a little.
"I… had a crush… on a girl in middle school. I pined for some time not knowing what to do, but the most logical solution appeared – asking her to the dance. I chickened out, of course, but I knew we will be going to the same high school… I knew that even if she agrees to go with me, I could not embarrass myself and her by not knowing what I was doing, so I asked mother to teach me. She responded most enthusiastically, as you can imagine, and instructed me diligently over the summer. I didn't… manage to ask her to the Homecoming dance, but I did ask her to prom that year."
"Something tells me, you didn't have the opportunity to demonstrate your dancing skills."
"No. I did not."
Another rejection then. At least he didn't sound all that distraught about it. Well, it was almost thirty years ago. "When was the last time you danced then?"
"Last year-"
"Last year?!" Drakken was with a woman last year and she didn't know about it?! When was it? Who was it?! And why did she sound like a jealous girlfriend?
"Yes, Shego, last year when I attended my mother's birthday in the assisting living facility she resides in now."
Shego's fears about the mysterious woman instantly dissipated replaced by another very real one. "Something's wrong with Mama Lipsky?"
"She had a hip replacement surgery. It went fine, but she decided that at her age… it's better not to be alone. And they have bingo tournaments, so…"
Shego will never admit - even under the most excruciating torture - that she envied the bond Drakken had with his mother, being orphaned at the tender age where the girl needs her mother the most. Yes, Mama Lipsky was overbearing and meddling, but at least Drakken had one soul who cared for him, even if he was lying to her. For some reason, Shego believed Mama Lipsky would still cherish her son even after being made aware of his desire to take over the world. Mother's love was unconditional after all.
"Care for a dance then? Although, I am warning you – I am going to lead."
Shego stared at the outstretched hand – gloveless hand – in trepidation. She could only blame herself for the mess that will follow. But seriously, how hard can it be? She had perfect coordination.
Not so perfect as it turned out, because she ran smack into Drakken's chest (which was as solid as it looked) at the very first step.
"I will be risking being blasted into the wall with painful consequences, but I am going to throw a hypothesis out there… You don't know how to dance, right, Shego?"
Feeling her cheeks redden, Shego preferred to remain pressed into Drakken's chest, which made her redden even more, so she wouldn't have to give the obvious answer. But Shego was not known for being caught embarrassed, because she has perfected her mask of anger whenever her feelings betrayed her.
"So I don't know how to dance!" Shego exclaimed, pushing Drakken hard enough that he stumbled back almost overthrowing the screen behind him. "It is not a requirement for a superhero or a supervillain! He was tone deaf anyway."
"Who was?"
Fu-u-u-uck… What made her say that? Was it champagne? How many glasses did she have? Certainly not that many to go there. Shego flopped onto the chair, pouring herself another glass. Counterproductive, but she needed to get her nerves in check, or just to busy herself with something or…what in Hell was she doing? "Sit down. I'll tell you what you asked."
"You don't need to-"
"I do." And Shego needed to tell him. To finally tell somebody what made her take the twisted path of villainy. Did she want to be understood? Reassured about the rightfulness of her choice? Shego didn't know, but something was pushing her to say the words that had been buried for over a decade. She gulped the champagne in one go and prepared to start her tale, when cheese sticks were pushed towards her across the table. Yep, champagne and empty stomach – marvelous combination. Where has her brain gone? She took and slowly ate a couple of sticks to get herself together. Where should she even start?
"Despite our parents' wealth, they decided to send us to public school. Me and Henry – Hego – others were too young when the comet struck. I was the first to develop powers at the same time with my first period. Things were clearly connected, but neither me nor men in black cared. It was freaking Hell, D. My emotions were… all over. They didn't treat me like an animal, but it was close with tranquilizers always at hand. Eventually the hormones stabilized, I managed to get my powers under control.
"We were trained for over a year and then 'returned into society' aka public school. We didn't hide our identities or powers since it was pretty impossible. Everybody knew we were superheroes. Some worshipped us, some despised. We were forbidden to participate in sport competitions, but everything else was fair game. For us to be as normal as possible. It worked to a degree – we had missions, we had homework, we had social life."
"You were Kim Possible, weren't you?" But it wasn't an insult, more like a crack, nothing more.
Shego accepted the joke for what it was. "I was. I had everything: I was popular, I had friends, I had… casual boyfriends. Henry was not keen on that, but since everybody knew that I could literally roast their balls off, I had complete control. And you were right, I did have a wild side. I sneaked out to frat parties, messing around with alcohol and guys, needing to shed the superhero persona even for a couple of hours. I wanted to do what I wanted and not what disembodied voice told me to on a daily basis. Gratitude of strangers was not enough. I wanted people to like me, to cherish me specifically and not whoever saved them from another calamity which came one after another without any chance of stopping once and for all.
"Henry is two years senior, so he graduated when I was junior. He didn't go to college, but dedicated himself to being a hero. It is then when the Go Tower was built etc. Upon my graduation, I told everybody that I needed a break, that I wanted to go to college and live my own life. Henry reluctantly agreed. I choose to major in child development because… despite wanting to be apart from my brothers for once, they were still my family and Henry and I had become reluctant parents to the younger ones even if we had guardians. I saw that the twins were too smart for their age and Mike had… other problems. They clearly had special needs and the whole superhero thing wasn't doing them any favors.
"During my third year, I took a seminar where I met… Adrian. He was at his last year of Masters for Clinical Psychology. We hit it off… Things got serious. Like L-word and planning out future together serious. When we graduated, he received an internship opportunity in New York. The place was a truly dream come true. When I told Henry, I was not coming back, he was… furious. Things were said that could not be unsaid. Well, I was leaving him with Mike in his teens and twins who just finished elementary school. He had all the right to be murderous. And I had the right to be Sandra and not be a part of Team Go. And that's how I betrayed my brothers. I gave up my family, what was left of it, for a guy." Shego paused to pour herself another glass. Her throat was parched from all the talking. She looked from above the rim of the glass to glimpse Drakken's reaction to her tale, but he was simply munching on a biscuit with no expression whatsoever. "I am not going to blast you if you say anything."
"I am waiting till the end. Although I understand there isn't going to be a happy ending there."
"Hm, you are right on that account. So we moved to New York. I took a job in a private school for very rich kids that Adrian highly approved of, since his professional goal was to collect billable hours from rich celebrities, who didn't actually need a psychologist, but had therapy sessions because it was vogue or because their friends had them. He was doing everything wrong without actually doing anything illegal. Such underhanded approach appealed to me.
"Since things were serious between us, it was time to introduce me to Adrian's family, so one Christmas we went to participate in his family holiday celebrations. Of course, Adrian knew about my powers and my past, not all of it, but basic stuff. We had a plan how to gently break to his family that I am actually a superhuman. Which, of course, went to shit, because they had an enormous dog, mastiff or something, and when we arrived, it went right for me. On instinct, I blasted the dog away. I didn't kill it, but the way it flew all the way to the end of the large property, earned me stares full of fear before they even knew my name.
"The visit went downhill from there, especially when I accidently overheard his father scolding Adrian for his choice of life partner. And yes, he kept saying how dangerous I was and that I could kill Adrian in his sleep and other bullshit, but what hurt more was that he said that I had no value. I may be good in bed, but I have no connections or money to further Adrian's career.
"I dismissed the last notion as words of overprotective father, because surely Adrian's feelings for me were stronger than some career opportunities. I was wrong. The fact was that even if I demonstrated to Adrian the glow of my hands, I never told him what I could do with it. I didn't want him to be afraid of me. When we returned to New York, he kept pestering me about me becoming superhero again and how many doors it will open for us. It went on for months, until I put my foot down – firing my hands up for good measure. I told him that I left all that to be myself and to be with him, so he should be grateful for that. He said… How was that exactly… Ah yes… That I was a coward and a looser, who could have the world at her feet and instead I was sitting with snotty brats hiding from everybody when I was given such gift that I was wasting away.
"After that I turned around, gathered my things and left. In two weeks, I blasted my way in the apartments of all his clients and robbed them blind – gems went into my bag, other valuables I just burned. The same happened to his parents. They accused me of being dangerous – they had no idea how right they were. I indeed was gifted, but they were not the ones, who would benefit from it. It was my life and my powers and I do with both whatever I want." Shego expected Drakken to say anything, but he just signed. "What?"
"Now I understand why I am the lesser evil."
"Have you heard anything I just told you?!"
"Every word, Shego dear. Thank you. For the effort."
And then he just left, leaving Shego staring openmouthed at his retreating back. She cleaned up the room, placed the flowers into water in her quarters and all the time kept asking herself what the hell Drakken meant by being the lesser evil. Five years with the man and she had no understanding of his character. Seemed that she was as bad with men as Drakken was with women. Wait… Has she just put Adrian and Drakken in the same context? She was officially drunk.