- Then

The sound of the clock made everything feel more… focused in a way, something she had found made her patients feel at ease, that there was something that would go on, something so powerful and beyond them that could work as an anchor. After years of working, she found that it also made a great tool to guide her most sensitive patients.

This was such a case, something that she hadn't seen many times in her career, something that she was thankful for; after all, it was one thing to take care of people who were already used to life and the insanity that was found in the everyday world… it was another to help a young girl that had just started Elementary School.

"Diana, I want you to know that I'm not here to hurt you," she had said, knowing that the situation may be scary for a young girl, but the smile on her patient was measured, almost as if she was already used to something like this.

"Is okay, I know that you are a doctor, that my dad took me here so you could cure me," well, at least she understood a bit about what was going on.

"That's right, do you know what they want me to cure?"

"... there are voices in my head… sometimes I don't know, if it is me or somebody else talking sometimes," the girl hugged even harder the little dragon plushie in her hands.

"Are you scared of the voices?"

"No, they've never hurt me… or made me hurt someone else… Mother thought the voices were the devil… but she even thought Smurfs were the work of the devil so I don't think she was right," there was a little smile on her face, as if even at her young age she could see the humor of those actions; definitely not a normal kid, probably a result of her problems.

- Now

Many people had asked her why she did what she did, what was it that pulled her into something so… boring, not that she thought it was boring, her friends definitely did not think so, well, to call them friends would be a stretch, more like the people she had met in several places, but still, Helena knew people and those people liked her enough to talk with her and invite her to their board game nights, so she wasn't completely alone; I mean, it was hard to be alone when she was working on one of the biggest museums in North America.

When she was young she had dreamed about travelling all over the world and find unknown tribes, undiscovered monuments and invaluable relics of the past, but as she grew older she understood that all of that was impossible, that was not for her, so instead she had decided on the second best; if she couldn't go there to discover new things, the least she could do is help people know more about their world.

So here she was, after many years of studying and working her way up, she was now one of the curators working at the Upperton Museum of History and Nature; while she was not the head of the museum, at least not yet, she was truly grateful for the opportunity to do something of quality in such a great museum. Even better, the hours were truly flexible, she could even decide to do field work if it was necessary, or work from home if she needed to take the time to truly investigate something in the museum or any new discoveries; in other words, she was all over the moon with the new opportunity and she was not going to waste her good luck.

So here she was, going through a very thick volume talking about the new exhibit, well, not exactly about it, but there was information about one of the new pieces, a statue that she was very eager to take a look before it was open to the public; readjusting her glasses, Sharon continued to work, aware of the fact that maybe she needed to change her current pair, people always commented in how dorky they looked, but then again, she worked as a curator and was right now reading about an ancient relic so maybe she was a huge dork.

As she was working, breaking the calm and quiet of the office, which was more like a huge library considering all the volumes, books and tomes of weird stuff crammed on bookshelves, Helena was pulled from history and speculation by the sound of one object that didn't see much use besides ordering food or sending a quick message to her co-workers.

Her cellphone was ringing, which was nothing out of the ordinary, that's what a cellphone was supposed to do after all, but she wasn't sure what was happening since, as far as she knew, she had never used the song 'Weird Science' as a ringtone before, so that was bizarre to say the least, without mentioning that it wasn't an unknown phone; whoever this was it was marked as… Dr. D?

"Ah, hello?" Helena didn't know what she was expecting, but this was bizarre, who was the owner of this number? And for her only answer there was a voice she didn't recognize on the other side.

"Oh, well, I finally found you! This is the third number I call, from the list you gave me, now, I need to you to get ready and get to my lair, I have a job for you," the voice, a weird voice she didn't recognize at all; she was about to ask who this was, but then whoever it was on the other side ended the call.

Helena stood watching her cellphone not knowing if she should call back, or maybe it was best to forget about it, maybe even delete that number from her contacts, but then another voice caught her attention.

"Everything alright Helena?" The kind voice of Margaret, her coworker, made her get out of her thoughts.

"Yes, I think I am alright, but… maybe I've been researching a little bit too much for this day," placing her cellphone in her bag, she decided to forget about the strange call.

"You've been working so hard these last few weeks my dear, I think if anyone here deserves a break it is you," smiling at the older woman, Helena knew that she was right, she had been almost consumed with the latest exhibition, trying to get everything in order.

"I suppose that's true, it is a good idea, maybe I should take a rest from all this dust for once, thank you Maggie," giving the other woman a quick hug, Helena left the office and walked in the way of the elevator; maybe she could take a quick visit to her favorite coffee shop on her way home.

Those that knew a bit about Helena will always tell you she was a very serious woman, but she also was quick with a small smile, maybe even a laughter if something funny had happened, but the one thing that was definitely never on her face, was the wicked smirk that appeared on her as she got into the elevator, and while the doors closed, green flames briefly danced across her fingers.

"Thank you for arriving this quickly Miss Possible," the man in front of the childhood friends was exactly the type of person that Kim was used to at this point, always a gentleman, maybe more than a little eccentric, but always in need of protection or help due to something new they had purchased.

It was nothing new for Team Possible to help people like this from time to time; sure, she was known for her fight against super villains and crazy scientists, but her favorite work was to help normal people instead of dealing with those that wanted to take control of the world. Alright, maybe doing a job for Leonard Cartwright was not the most normal of things, but it still counted in her book.

Mister Leonard, already in his fifties, had still a full head of hair that almost shined with how blonde it was, showing maybe not the shape of a man that exercised, but more of the man that enjoyed his good fortune a little bit more than average with how portly he was, that alongside his well maintained mustache gave him a very regal look.

He was known in the area as a true philanthropist, always ready to use his money whenever it was needed, from new parks and even the rebuilding of parts of the city when things got a little heated up due to crazy people like Dementor or others.

"It's no problem, that's what we do, right Ron?" her best friend and his pet looked at her and both at the same time gave her a thumbs up in unison, making the other two people smile "so what is it that you need Mister Cartwright, and please, call me Kim."

"Only if you call me Leonard, but you see Kim, I was able to gain something truly interesting, something I plan to donate to the Upperton Museum of History and Nature," as they kept talking they all walked inside the house. Kimberly Anne Possible took the time to look around and notice how the house was not only very beautiful, but it was decorated with many art pieces too "but these last few days I've received some disturbing news."

"They must have been bad to call for Kim."

"You have no idea Mr… eh."

"Ron Stoppable," at this point, that people didn't know his name felt more like tradition so it didn't bother him… at least not that much.

"Yes, right, anyway, here we have my latest acquisition," they had walked into a lounge inside the mansion, where they were face to face with what seemed like a statue made out of obsidian due to how dark the material was. It was the statue of a woman, eternally asleep, of great beauty and it was clear that it was an incredible piece of art with how realistic the woman looked "the people that brought it to me spoke stories of how this piece was cursed, which of course I dismissed… until a few days ago that is."

While they were used to more scientific and crazy inventions, the idea of magic and cursed items could not be discarded, even though things like magic was not very realistic, Kimberly and Ron had seen strange things all around, who says what could have happened.

"Did anything weird happen?"

"One of my guards disappeared in the middle of the night… just to reappear the next morning without memory of what had happened to him; that I could have understood as my guard deciding to take a night off, but then, two nights ago another guard disappeared, this time we found his dead body in this very room… all of his blood had been extracted."

Alright, that was not what either of the two teenagers were expecting, but before either of them could ask more, the sound of heels caught them off guard.

"Well, if I had known that so many people would end up on this place, the least you could have done would give some refreshments, it is after all quite the party in here," the mocking voice of the woman in front of them was completely impossible to confuse with anyone else, just hearing it made Kim's body react like nothing else, almost as if a shot of adrenaline had been injected in her.

"Shego!"

"The one and only pumpkin! Guess the little tip that Doctor Drakken received was not as infallible as he had expected princess, what with you being here," as the two women got into their respective fighting stances, a slow clap echoed across the lounge.

"Of course I had to invite you, which is a shame that the Doctor couldn't accompany you, after all, a presentation like this needs an audience," the man that had walked into the foyer looked very much like a younger version of Leonard, with his blonde hair and almost aristocratic looks, he was also impeccably dressed on a white tuxedo and even a cane on his arm as he clapped much to the astonishment and confusion of everyone present.

"Darius, what is the meaning of all of this? What are you doing here?"

"Oh Father, don't you see? Everything has been going according to plan," well, that explained the similarities.

"Wait, you are the one who told Dr D about the statue?"

"Indeed Miss Shego, I did it because I needed you to watch and bask yourselves on the beginning of a new era, something that you all will be a part of, thank you Father for making this possible," and just like that, moving in the blink of an eye, so fast that Kim could barely follow the movement, Darius had rammed his hand on his father's chest, his blood spraying all across the room, falling into the carpet and staining the white sofa and walls of the lounge "goodbye Father," was the only thing Darius said to his dying parent as everyone was in shock at what had just happened.

Throwing the body into the floor, the young man walked in front of the statue and got to his knees, presenting the blood as if it were an offering.

"My love, I've done what you asked of me, please, tell me that I am finally worthy of your love!" as if it had come directly out of a horror movie, the lifelike statue then opened its eyes.

"Well… shit," it may not have been the most poetic, but it truly showed her feelings about the situation, she then ignited her hands with green plasma just as the now revived statue focused on them, screaming in rage and hunger.

Just as the dream seemed to reach the climax, the alarm at the side of her bed made Helena get up, quickly deciding against it as everything began to spin on her head, she then returned to bed with a hand over her eyes.

What had happened? She felt as if she had decided to drink her weight on beer, something that she decided she will never do again, what with her close encounter with the bathroom on that occasion, it was also the last time she went to a bar alongside the people from the museum.

Once the world seemed to stop she decided to get up, groaning at the fact she had gone to bed with her street clothes instead of her favorite pajamas, already hating the fact that she will have to iron out the wrinkles on her blouse and skirt.

After changing and taking a little detour to the bathroom, she prepared a quick bowl of cereal as she sat down on her sofa and decided to check on the news. After taking a bite of the high in sugar breakfast, the news showed images of the burned down Cartwright mansion, apparently it had caught fire due to an accident and firefighters had been working to get things under control.

Helena was astonished, she had met once the owner of the mansion and he had always been a gentleman ready to help the museum in whatever they needed, she hoped the man was alright.

- Then

"Is that dragon yours?"

"Yeah, she is my friend."

"Does your friend have a name?"

"My friend Betty calls her Sharon, but I call her Shego."