Shego woke up from her deep slumber and looked around her and Drakken's bedroom. She sighed as she noted that her doc wasn't in bed with her. She noticed that, like the last few nights, his side of the bed was unslept in. Probably pulled another all-nighter. He'd been doing that a lot lately, planning and making various little machines that he could patent and make money off of.

She got out of his large, round bed and stretched. Idly, she wondered if he would have breakfast ready. He hadn't been doing that, deciding instead to work on whatever he was working on in his lab.

She hadn't bothered to really check on him in his lab, opting to look into programs that she could take to earn her master's degree. But now… She was starting to get curious. Considering he made an army of killer robots in one day, it now struck her as odd that he was only making small, almost inconsequential machines that would take him hours, at most.

What was he spending all of his time on?

Shego decided to put off looking into the programs at Upperton College, where Kimmie was going, to see what he was up to.

She walked into the lab to find a scene right out of her worst nightmare.

Drakken was standing, admiring a large, monstrous machine. It looked like a combination of the ray from when he was rich and the doomsday machine he had made in space, with ridged rings circling the main cannon and a large, shiny panel attached to its belly.

He turned, a bright smile on his face.

"Shego! Perfect timing!" Drakken skipped over to the console and rubbed a hand over it. "I've just finished this baby!"

"Is that… A death ray?!" Shego growled, stomping over to him. "You promised you wouldn't do another take-over-the-world scheme-.."

"I promised nothing," he said simply. "I just said I wouldn't!"

"I can't believe you, just…" Shego pulled at her hair. "We have the golden opportunity to start over with our daughter and you're throwing it away, just like that?"

Drakken said, offended. "I'm not throwing it away! I'm just-.."

The lab door opened.

Kim and Ron wandered in, heedless of the scene. She almost offhandedly said, "Drakken, Shego, Wade said there were power fluctuations consistent with a death ray, but I think… That..." Kim stopped as she looked up and took in the scene in front of her. "What… The…"

"Oh boy," Rufus remarked from Ron's pocket.

"Don't look at me, Cupcake!" Shego waved her hands in front of her. "I'm not involved in this at all!"

"Drakken, did you do this all by yourself?" Kim asked, gobsmacked.

"Well, yes!" Drakken looked at them like their reactions were surprising to him. "I figured that I could do the grunt work of making the machine, and you all could fend off whatever agents came to stop us!"

"Drakken…" Shego clenched her teeth. "We. Are. Not. Villains."

"Since when?" Drakken challenged. His hand hovered over what Shego assumed was the 'on' button.

"It's either us or that," Shego said, crossing her arms with a tilted eyebrow. She hoped that he would listen, that he wouldn't toss away their lives like that. They meant more to him than the world, didn't they?

"Are you really going to make me choose!?" He seemed completely confused. "But…" He looked between his family and his death ray, brow knitting together. Twiddling his fingers, Drakken asked, "But we could do it! Together!"

"We don't want the world!" Shego said, cross. "We want you."

Drakken paused, finger withdrawing from the button slowly. "I… Can't we have both?"

"No, we can't."

His finger paused.

Then, he pushed the button.

"You'll understand! You'll understand once I manage to take it all over!" Drakken cried as his machine powered up.

"You IDIOT!" Shego yelled as she activated her powers and let loose on the doomsday machine before it could get to work.

It exploded in a ball of green flame.

Drakken skittered away from the destroyed machine, face twisting.

"I don't get it!" Drakken sat, crying, face dropping into his hands. "If we ruled the world, we could all be happy! I just… I don't understand!"

"I'm just gonna… Stand over here…" Ron said, taking a few steps back from the group as Kim and Shego made their way to the scientist.

Shego stooped down to Drakken's level. "Doc… Drew…"

"Don't call me that! Don't call me…!" Drakken looked up, angry even through the tears. "I'm Drakken! Doctor Drakken!" He smashed a fist into the ground. "Drew is gone!"

"...no he isn't."

Drakken glared at Kim. "What do you mean 'no he isn't'? Isn't it clear that I'm not him?"

"You love your mother. You love Shego. You, Drew, Drakken…" Kim went and sat next to the weeping man. "You care about your daughter, right?" He couldn't look at her, but nodded. "Then Drew isn't gone… He's just…" the redhead thought for a moment "...trapped."

"Trapped?" Drakken echoed, lifting his head and wiping at his eyes.

"Yeah…" Kim gave him a sidehug. "You just need some help."

"Help?" He snorted. "Like some psycho-whatever person messing with my head?"

"Hey now…" Shego growled. "Child. Psychologist." She raised her hands over her head. "God, will anyone actually remember that about me?"

Drakken cringed. "Sorry Shego…"

"Anyway…" Kim switched to giving him a full-on hug. "Dad… You were hurt. You were hurt really bad. And no one helped you…"

"I'm sorry." Shego looked away. "I never really thought about… Well…" She waved at him. "I never really thought about how it all affected you."

"I told you I don't remember any of it!" he snapped. "And it's not like this skin is all for show! It itches all the time!"

"And who knows what effect it had on your mind," Kim murmured sadly. "...don't worry, Dad. We'll get you the help you need."

He might not be Drew anymore, not fully… But he was still her father, and she was still his daughter. Shego was still his wife, and he still cared about everyone. It was just a matter of helping him heal.

Baby steps.

"So, Kimberly…" Dr Director motioned for Kim to sit in the large, comfortable-looking chair in her rather large office. Bookshelves lined the walls, full of books and knick-knacks, with a few pictures scattered about. Her desk was also spacious, if barren. The only things on it was a picture, of whom Kim couldn't see, a desk pad, a pen mount, and a letter opener. "How can we help you today?"

"I'm here about Dr Drakken…" Dr Director didn't move or do anything beyond a minor eyebrow lift.

"What about Dr Drakken has you concerned? As far as our intelligence knows, he's free and clear of all of his crimes."

So she hadn't heard anything about them, or his slip-up earlier… Interesting.

"I wanted to see… About getting him help."

"Help… Dr Drakken?" The very idea seemed to confuse the head of GJ. "I don't understand."

"Help fix him," Kim said, watching Dr Director closely now. The doctor's lips twitched downwards, just a little, and just for a split second.

"Kimberly, surely you understand that we can't spend our resources helping any and every criminal that does that sort of thing to themsel-.."

"I know about Project Phoenix," Kim suddenly said. "I know about what actually happened to him."

That got Dr Director's eyes to pop. Then, cursing under her breath, she muttered, "Wade Load…"

"Don't blame Wade," the redhead said, crossing her arms. "I would've found out somehow."

Dr Director sighed. "So, you know about how he turned blue?" Kim nodded. The one-eyed woman leaned forward. "As unfortunate as his situation is, we can't be held liable for his condition. It's a risk everyone takes when they sign up with Global Justice."

"Was he made aware of these risks?" she asked.

This time Dr Director's lips twitched up just a little. "I'm not sure. We can't keep track of what every operative does and says when they recruit personnel."

Really? She was going the plausible deniability route? Even when she knew exactly how it went down?

...should Kim let them know about Shego? About Kim? About… Everything?

...no. That was personal. That wasn't for them to know for their poorly-organized records and plausible deniability claims. It wasn't something they needed to know.

Kim shook her head to clear her thoughts. Then, slowly, she said, "Consider doing this as a favor for me."

Another upward turn of the lips, just a little. "Kimberly, while you have been instrumental in the fight against villains, you are owed no favors from us."

Time to tip the hand a bit…

"What about destroying Gemini's organization?"

Dr Director paused. Lips turning down slightly, she said, "Dr Drakken and Shego destroyed his base."

"They did it for me," Kim noted, hoping the other woman wouldn't read as much into it as she could.

"Did it for…?" The one-eyed woman shook her head. "You are making no sense."

"You've been working for years to take your brother down," Kim said, deciding to ignore actually explaining. "Doesn't the fact that you don't have to worry about him anymore count for something?"

"That would only matter if Dr Drakken wanted to change."

"He does." The redhead nodded. "He wants to be normal again." Kim rushed, hoping to cover for his sudden change of mood, "For Shego."

Dr Director made no effort to hide the narrowing of her eyes. "Kimberly, what is going on?"

"I'm not sure," Kim said smugly. "'cause anyone could've been there for what happened between them. Maybe Drakken's just tired of being itchy?"

The other woman was silent for a few moments. "...I will contact Dr Drakken and Shego. If it's true, then we may be able to help him… Just a little."

Kim smiled brightly. "Spankin'!"

"Are you ready?"

Drakken looked at Shego as they shut the doors on the hovercar. In his arms were a couple of bags filled with various articles of clothing and some personal care supplies. They had taken care of everything that they needed to for while he was… Indisposed. Things had been worked out. So why in the world was she asking that?

"Of course I'm ready," he said irritably. "You were there! Everything is done."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, not what I meant. I asked if you were ready."

He pondered that for a moment. His gaze traveled to the building that held the hospital wing he was going to be staying in. Some kind of inpatient thing. He probably should've paid more attention to when Kimberly and Shego negotiated with Dr Director on where he could go.

About a minute later, he said with some trepidation, "Yes, I think I am…" Looking back at her, he nervously asked, "Will you… Erm…" He looked away, twiddling his fingers. Drakken didn't really have the right to ask, but…

She seemed to read his mind. "Don't worry, Doctor D. I left you sitting in jail waiting for several months. I can handle some waiting on my own." Shrugging, she said with a smirk, "I'll spend the time looking at more colleges, maybe register for the next semester... You won't have to worry about me running off."

Drakken nodded. That made sense. She wouldn't be wasting her time waiting. She would be setting up her life for afterwards, when he was better. That was good. Very good…

They walked silently into the strangely nondescript building. It was clean and bright inside, with a small marble-topped desk sitting prominently in the middle of the room. Benches lined the perimeter, corkboards hanging above them with various fliers promoting different support groups that operated in the area.

They stopped in front of the desk where a rather calm-looking plump woman sat doing some paperwork. Or, at least, she had been. Once they'd entered she had set things down to give them her undivided attention.

"How may I help you?" the receptionist asked brightly.

"I called ahead," Shego answered, pushing Drakken forward a little. "Drew Lipsky."

"Ah yes." The woman nodded as she pushed a button. Smiling, she looked at Drakken and said, "Don't worry. We'll get you set up in a room first, then we'll get you to an appointment with one of our specialists."

It seemed a little streamlined to Drakken. He was pretty sure that Shego must have done the paperwork necessary. A little speck of petulance sprouted in his chest; why couldn't he have filled out the paperwork? He sent a small glare at Shego, who narrowed her eyes and glared right back. It only took a few seconds before he gave in, turning away and snorting. As if he could stop her from doing what she wanted, even if it was something he should be doing.

It wasn't even a minute later that a dark-haired man in a set of scrubs came walking in. An easy smile sat on his face as he asked, "Drew Lipsky?"

Drakken fought not to snarl at that. Hearing his birth name come from some random person's mouth was far different than hearing it come from Shego. He answered testily, "Yes, that's me."

The smile didn't waver in the slightest. "Hello! I'm Nurse Focker. Come with me. We'll get you settled first, then we'll get started on the full intake process."

He hesitated a moment, looking back at Shego. She gave him a small exasperated smile before she motioned for him to go with the nurse.

Drakken did what she wanted. He went with the man, even with his stomach in his throat.

This wasn't a cage. They weren't trying to lock him up like prison. They were trying to help him.

Drakken swallowed as he kept walking. A small amount of conviction coursed through him as he decided that they really were trying to help him. This was the first step to being getting better. He really was sick, Shego and Kimberly had told him that. And sick people needed to be taken care of, needed treatment.

Shego didn't lie to him. Not about things like this. And he was sure after that Halloween fiasco that Kimberly couldn't lie.

They came to a stop in front of a metal door with a window. To Drakken's unease, the glass was reinforced and there was a heavy-duty lock on the door. He was tempted to turn and run the other way. If he tried that, though, he knew Shego would just knock him out and shove him in here anyway.

"This is your room," the nurse said, opening the door wide to let Drakken in. The scientist looked around the strangely full room. There was a bed, a small nightstand, and a decently-sized dresser. A television sat behind reinforced plastic in the wall and an exercise bike sat in the corner. It didn't take long for him to notice that they were all curves and made of heavy-duty plastic. "I'll let you put your things away and then we can get you to the psychologist so you can get on the path to being healthy again."

Healthy. That was the entire reason he was here. He was supposed to be getting healthy. Not for himself. He'd managed things so far, what was another 40 years of annoyances? It was for Shego. For Kimberly. For the future. A future that just a few weeks before would have seemed like some kind of weird mushroom samba.

Drakken took in a deep breath. It'd be fine. In fact, things would be great! It would all be bright and shiny and good! Nodding from his prep talk, he took a step into the room, his first step to getting better.