Day 108
The lab was more active than it had ever been. The chattering cries of monkeys from glass cages lining the entire back wall and the constant hum of machinery were just the first layer of activity that Drakken's accelerated testing had brought. The murmurs of conversation from the ever-present henchmen made it impossible for Shego to do any of the things she used to do in the lab—namely sitting and doing nothing—but as she had promised at the hospital, she wanted to be part of the action. So she shut out the noise and went about her work.
The role she felt most comfortable in, especially considering she was forced into reduced physical activity, was cataloguing the test results as the henchmen brought them to her. So she had relegated herself to sitting in front of the computer and entering data. There were tests on mice, tests on monkeys, tests on each henchman, tests on Drakken, and indeed, tests on her. For the humans there were tests on skin cells, blood cells, hair cells, cells extracted from saliva, and some tests labeled in Latin that she didn't bother looking up; she didn't want to know. For the animals the tests were far more extensive to the point that she'd stopped trying to keep track, and just did her job. Drakken could make sense of it all; there was no reason she needed to.
The henchmen handled the dirty work, and that was the part about Shego's reduced activity that she didn't mind. When one of the test animals died, mouse or monkey, they had to monitor the dead creature and keep it quarantined until Drakken was satisfied he'd extracted enough samples from it to analyze. Then they had to get rid of it since it contained the virus.
Under Drakken's orders a new exit from the lab had been built that went directly to the beach. And on the beach, a hazardous waste container for everything they got rid of, from the corpses of mice to their nitrile gloves. Wearing scrubs, gloves, and masks had become the norm to the point that Shego barely noticed anymore, except when she would remove her mask and see the painful indentation on the bridge of her nose and the slight chafing around her ears.
Drakken had also built an entire decontamination chamber in the lab that everyone was required to use before they left to go to any other part of the lair. It contained a full-body ultrasonic bath, which was...weird. Shego had nearly dozed off listening to Drakken's explanation of how it worked, but had argued with him incessantly over its necessity. None of the henchmen had gotten sick, and but for the occasional cough both she and Drakken were well. But he was vehement on the point that they would not be responsible for taking the virus out of the lab, so, everyone got used to ultrasonic bathing.
It had been very amusing the first time Drakken realized he would have to use it too.
Drakken had a role in just about everything, except the hazardous waste disposal. His 'evil' was showing through in that one regard, though Shego didn't think it was anymore evil than that typical of most people. He was always looking at printouts from the computer that seemed to go on forever, analyzing the data that Shego had input, and then hurting his neck bending over some type of fancy microscope that he had actually purchased.
He was as ambitious as ever now that the actual vaccine trials were underway. He still rarely slept, determined as he had become, and declared every day that he was 'close,' whatever that actually meant. Shego didn't know how hard it was supposed to be to create a vaccine, but he was showing more excitement over the trials than he had shown about anything she could remember. Including...being with her.
Granted, their relationship had truly begun while he was barely clinging to life. But she had hoped for a little more enthusiasm towards her in general... Not just when she was enticing him into late-night bedroom activities. Of course, those had stopped since he barely came to bed anymore. And when she did drag him away from the lab (after an ultrasonic bath) he was always talking excitedly about the vaccine. It made her happy to see him so happy... And, she didn't want to derail any brilliant idea he might have. So for the most part she consigned herself back to the role of side-kick. Side-kick who happened to sometimes share the mad scientist's bed, and was carrying his child.
That was bothering her even more than his lack of attention to her, she realized. His passion for the work was helping to lift him out of his grief about his mother, and the visit to the hospital coupled with the doctor's phone call that their baby was not only developing normally, but also had not contracted the deadly disease had apparently stabilized whatever worrying he had been doing on the matter.
Yet he still showed no interest.
Shego leaned back in the computer chair and set her hands atop her belly in what was becoming a subconscious habit.
His lack of attention to her must have just been due to his focus on the vaccine, she rationalized. It had to be. Because when she'd told him she was pregnant he had instantly gone from ready to die to determined to find a cure. And when she was lost, he came to find her... When she was depressed, he comforted her. When they had walked in the park, he told her that she was the source of his happiness.
The work he was doing now, while not evil...she was glad he was doing it. But she missed him.
She glanced at him giving orders to some of the henchmen monitoring the animals before she turned back to the computer. She was just finishing the latest round of data entry before she would print the new test results for him to begin analyzing. She was eager for him to succeed. She wanted him to find a vaccine and stop the spread of the disease that had cost him so much, and was doing such harm to the world.
Then maybe when it was over, he would spend more time with her.
"Shego." His voice startled her. "Are the latest test results ready?"
"Yeah, give me a sec," she answered and carefully typed in the last piece of information the henchmen had given her. There was no margin for error.
She saved the file and sent it to the printer, and stood up.
"Hey, Drakken—"
He was already walking around the large desk toward the printer. She frowned and followed him. The page had begun printing, but she knew from experience it would take a few minutes. Drakken's foot was already tapping impatiently and his arms crossed as he glared at the technology.
"Drakken?"
"Hm?" He gave her a half-focused glance.
How was she supposed to ask for attention? That wasn't something she did. That wasn't something she'd ever done for any man. It was the men who begged her for attention. Though granted, they were only ever interested in one thing... Not that she gave it to them.
"How about after you go over these tests, you— We...take a break?"
His brow furrowed. "Why?"
"...Never mind, forget I mentioned it," she said, turning and heading back to her chair. She needed to get the next template ready for when the next round of tests came in. It would be a few hours... And then it would be well-past dinner time, and Drakken would insist she finish entering the data that night, and then he would insist on analyzing it throughout the night...
The cycle would continue.
She sighed sadly as she watched him grab the printout and take it back to his workbench, not giving her a second glance.
Shego woke up to a soft knocking at her door. She had barely rolled over before the door opened and a familiar silhouette appeared in the dim light of the hall. She scowled.
"Shego?" Drakken whispered.
She turned her lamp on and then shielded her eyes against the light. She squinted through her fingers at the clock. It was 2:46 AM.
"Shego? What...what are you doing here?" Drakken asked, stepping fully into the room.
Shego lay her head back down and pulled her blanket up, closing her eyes.
"...Shego?"
She opened her eyes again and peered at Drakken, his eyes confused behind his dark circles and gaunt features.
'Why is he waking me up in the middle of the night...'
"You never come to bed anymore, so..." she raised one hand in a shrug, "here I am."
His brow furrowed and he frowned. "I'm...going to bed now."
He reached out a hand toward her. She looked at it, and then snuggled deeper into her pillow.
"I was already asleep."
He looked even more confused. She closed her eyes and part of her felt a measure of satisfaction that he was getting a taste of what she'd been through thanks to his lack of attention over the past several days. But part of her also knew he wasn't doing it on purpose... And it kept nagging at her to just go with him now that he was finally there.
"I...don't understand," he said.
She opened her eyes and glared at him as the scales in her mind weighed more heavily over to villain than lover.
"We went over this once. You don't get to ignore me until you want sex, and then suddenly remember that I exist."
Drakken's face flushed as he took a step back in shock. "I wasn't— That's not— I wasn't even thinking about—"
"Oh yeah? Then why wake me up? Night-time is for sleeping."
His stammering devolved into a few non-words before he stopped as he apparently seemed to process the rest of what she had said. Shego didn't know what she'd been hoping for, but the contempted furrowing of his brow was not it.
"I haven't been ignoring you!"
She leaned up on her side and frowned. "Oh really? When's the last time we talked?"
"Today!"
"About something other than the vaccine?"
Drakken blinked.
"When's the last time you actually came to bed to sleep at an even somewhat reasonable hour? Let alone actually sleep. You just talk, talk, talk, about the testing and then you're gone again in a couple of hours. Or, when's the last time we've eaten a meal together? When's the last time you—"
She stopped short of saying 'touched me' because it was counter-intuitive to what she had said before. But—she growled at herself—she did want him to touch her.
She rolled over to face the wall and pinched her eyes shut. The room was silent for several seconds but for her own frustrated breathing. She almost wondered if he was gone, until...
"Are...are you coming?"
"Nope," she said.
Silence again. She let it linger.
After a minute she glanced over her shoulder and saw him standing there, brow twisted in confusion and worry and...hurt? as he stared down at the floor.
She sighed.
"Hey Dr. D.?"
He looked up with cautious hope.
"Love stinks."
He looked even more concerned and his gaze fell to the floor again. She huffed and rolled back over to face him. She couldn't help herself...
"If I come, will you stay until...until it's actually a reasonable hour for getting up?"
He looked hesitant. "But...the vaccine... The next round of tests will be done in just—"
"It won't hurt to wait long enough to get real sleep."
"Over 100,000 people have died!"
"And they're going to keep dying! You can't save those people."
He looked stunned. "I thought...you wanted to help save—"
"I do, but you can't do anything for the people who already have the disease. Just for those who don't. And be realistic...by the time a vaccine that actually works is done, it might be too late for it to matter."
"...I'm close..." he said weakly. "No vaccine...has ever been created this fast before. We can make a difference."
She sat up. "Okay, fine. Say it works. Then what?"
His jaw worked silently as he stared in confusion. She stood up and took a step toward him, her hands on her hips.
"You're spending every waking hour, and most of the hours when you should be asleep on this thing. And I've been watching—you barely eat, either. You're obsessed. Dr. D..."
She hugged herself gently and let her gaze fall. This wasn't how this was supposed to go... She was mad. She was supposed to make him feel guilty and beg her forgiveness. Not give into weakness and fear.
He stared at her in confusion and frustration. After a long moment, fear won.
"I'm just..." she shrugged, "wondering...if I actually fit in. 'Cause if I wasn't here, you'd just have one of the more competent henchmen doing my job... You don't need me. And if I'm just...a higher-than-average intelligence henchwoman, then..."
She turned on her heel and climbed back into her bed, facing the wall. She tugged the blankets up to her chin and turned off the lamp.
"Good night, Dr. D."
'Please don't leave... Please don't leave, please—'
"Good night Shego."
He left.
She cried.