Dr Betty Director walked into the debriefing room, papers in hand.

It had been almost a week since the events at the Caribbean island. Gemini was safely ensconced in their most secure cell, the second-most secure clearly not being enough to hold him. Drew Lipsky was occupying another of the cells, the newest one they had forged using Lorwardian metals. A rocket could crash right into it and it wouldn't even leave a dent.

She started as she looked at the initial reports, "I-.."

She was cut off by a fist to her face.

Betty staggered back, the shock of the unexpected punch throwing her off her game momentarily. She dropped her all-important bureaucratic papers. Then, recovering, she realized that it had been Kim Possible to throw the punch and not Shego as she had halfway expected. The redhead looked incensed, a scowl marring her normally unflappable expression. Even with a broken arm Kimberly was still as confident as ever. Around them, agents were pointing their stun watches at the aggressor. Betty sighed as she motioned for them to drop their weapons.

They complied reluctantly.

"I do believe I deserved that," the brunette said, rubbing at her jaw before she bent down to retrieve her papers.

"You're damn right you do!" Kim growled. Next to her, Ron Stoppable stood, clearly torn.

"Ah, KP, you should calm down… I know you're upset, but-.."

"Why didn't you tell us that Gemini had escaped?" the heroine asked, ignoring him and glaring at the director.

Betty knew better than to answer about the embarrassment of him escaping missing an arm and with no help. Instead, she said, "I had expected him to come after me, and only me. That's always been his focus. It was abnormal for him to target anyone else."

"You didn't think he'd seek revenge for destroying his entire base of operations?" Kim snarled. "The fact that he wouldn't be able to recover at all, or at least enough to be a threat to GJ?"

Betty made like she was looking at her papers again, but her mind was racing. When Kimberly put it like that it seemed like a major oversight on her part.

"I assure you, we had not foreseen this course of events," was all she could say in reply.

"That doesn't help us at all."

Time to go on the offense. "And what of Wade Load?"

Kim looked at Betty, confused.

"This wouldn't have happened had our security system not been tampered with," Betty growled with a heat she didn't actually feel.

The redhead's face became impassive. "I don't know what you're implying, but-.."

"Cut the crap, Kimberly," Dr Director said sharply. "We both know that you went into the evidence warehouse. For what purpose we don't know… All the missing equipment was accounted for when we apprehended-.."

"Were handed-.."

"Apprehended," Betty insisted, "my brother and Drew Lipsky."

Kim's eyebrow rose, just a little. "That doesn't seem like something you need to know."

The brunette outwardly did nothing, but internally felt both frustration and some pride. It seemed that the redhead really was learning.

"Yeah, uh, I still don't know what's going on entirely?" Ron said, raising his hand. "Anyone wanna fill me in?"

"I am going to debrief you on the events that took place, both at Drew Lipsky's residence and in the evidence locker. None of us have been honest with each other, and we need full transparency to fully understand the situation," Betty pointed out, looking at Kim specifically. "Once we have some information, we may be able to help more than what we've managed."

"Oh! Oh!" Ron raised his hand. "I can totally start with the stuff I know! Then you guys can fill in the blanks!"

"And I guess I can tell you some of what I know… The need-to-know stuff," Kim said, eyebrow still minutely raised.

Dr Director nodded, deciding to take what she could get at that point. "Good. We'll need all of you to inform us of what happened, to get the best picture possible." The brunette suddenly looked around, mildly confused as she finally noticed... "...where is Shego?"

"The good news is that he still responds to his psychiatric drugs well. We had to sneak them into his food..." the Einstein-haired man that Shego'd strong-armed into leading her to Drew said, looking through his notes as they walked by a set of cells which held a few random men. "He is experiencing the same reduced erratic behaviors as when he was still normal."

"The bad news?"

"Well…" The scientist looked away and coughed.

Shego's heart dropped. Expecting the worst, she asked, "Is he going to die?"

He gave her an owlish stare and said, "No, but-.."

"Then whatever it is is fine," she said with a shrug, secretly relieved. If that wasn't the bad news, then it didn't matter so much. Changing the topic, Shego asked, "Is it safe to go see him?"

"I, uhm…" He looked uncomfortable. "He's still the same as he was before."

"You just said that he responded to his meds okay," Shego said, frowning.

"I meant physically," the man said. "He's still a bit of a monstrosity, and he'll-.."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I got a pretty good look at him when he was beating the crap out of me. Is it safe to go see him?" she repeated. "Like, will he rip my head off for the love of his dear 'Lord Gemini' or anything?"

"Oh!" He adjusted his glasses. "Well, no, he shouldn't. The brainwashing serums wore off. He still has the mental scarring and thus some instinctual responses to Gemini's name and presence, but that's only natural from the amount of tor-.."

"Okay, good." Shego hitched a thumb in the direction of the GJ holding cells. "Which one is his?"

The scientist gulped. "Erm, he's in the reinforced containment cell down the hall… On the left…"

"Gotcha." She nearly laughed at the perturbed expression on his face. "Geez, if it's gonna worry you so much, you can shut the door behind me!"

The man reluctantly nodded. "Okay. I'll lead you to his cell myself then." He took the tentative lead, the two of them ignoring the catcalls and other charitably impolite phrases that the other prisoners were yelling out at them. A quick lighting up of a hand with plasma silenced the majority of them.

To Shego's surprise, Drew really was in some kind of self-contained reinforced cell. No bars, just a small separate room made entirely out of metal with ducts connected at the top.

When the scientist opened the door, Shego could see a variety of dents and dings on the inside of the door. Probably from the doc losing his cool and trying to escape. She was glad that the door was solid enough that even his vines couldn't bust it open.

Shego walked in, looking around for her husband.

The door shut behind her with a resounding thud.

She rolled her eyes. She hadn't been serious about locking them both in there. It wasn't like her doc was a rabid animal or anything like that. Sighing and shaking her head, Shego looked around.

The room was strangely dark for a so-called 'containment cell'. She'd thought they would want a brightly-lit room to make sure there was no funny business going on. No accounting for a lack of common sense.

The room was barren save for a toilet, sink, and bed, the latter having been torn to pieces. Belatedly, Shego realized that the room didn't even have a slot to feed a prisoner through. How in the world was someone supposed to survive in here?

Even through the dark it was easy enough to see him. It looked like they'd given him prison garb. Very badly fitting prison garb; the spikes all over his body had torn them to loose shreds that hung off of his body in irregular strips.

He was pressed against the wall, cradling his legs and staring at the ground. Or, at least, he had been. At the door's shutting, he looked up with interest.

Then his face fell.

"Oh. It's you," he noted with a slight lisp before steadfastly looked away.

"Yeah…?" Shego tilted her head, slightly offended. "Who were you expecting?"

He muttered something.

"What?"

Drew looked up shamefully. "I was expecting Lord Gemin-.. I mean Lord Gemi-.. I mean Lord Gem-.." He slammed a fist into the wall. "I mean him!"

Oh. So that's what the scientist meant. Hoping for your tormentor to come was pretty twisted…

"I'd keep my distance too if I were you," her doc sighed, looking up at her with doe eyes. "Considering everything…"

She rolled her eyes. Great. He was in one of those moods.

She walked over to sit by him. He looked like he was going to protest, but thought better of it as she slumped to the ground, giving him a defiant glare. She then noticed for the first time that he still had a variety of vines hanging around him. They made room for her, pulling themselves closer to his body and crowding under his legs.

They sat there in silence, neither one really willing to say much. It wasn't a tense silence, but it wasn't very productive either.

So Shego broke it.

"Your mother called."

"Hm?" He tilted an eyebrow, clearly curious. As hoped, the sudden strange topic pulled him out of his pity party. "My mother called?"

"Yeah." She smirked. "Wanted to know why her lil' Drewbie was avoiding her."

"Hmph!" He snorted. "Did you tell her that I was indisposed?"

"Nah…" Shego tried not to laugh as she admitted, "I gave the phone to the sidekick."

"...you did what?!" Drew faced Shego, mouth gaped open in horror. Even in the dim light his teeth glinted slightly. Angrily he hissed, "What were you thinking?"

"That I'm not your secretary, and that it'd be pretty funny," Shego said, smiling devilishly.

"Nnnnngh…" Drew slapped his forehead. "Please tell me he didn't say anything stupid."

"If you think admitting every single thing he knew like he'd been blasted with your truth ray as nothing stupid, then yeah, nothing stupid was said."

Somehow, his jaw dropped even more. "What." Then, "WHAT?!"

"Oh calm down!" Shego popped his jaw back up with a finger. "She would've found out eventually anyway."

"I have no idea what he told her!" Drew complained. "For all I know, he could've told her about me being a villain!"

"That's not true anymore at least," Shego pointed out. "I doubt dear ol' Mama Lipsky will care a tick since you're out of the business."

"I just-.. I can't believe you!" He grunted and curled his fists, several of the flowers around him imitating his efforts. A few even reached around Shego and crushed up a bit more of the bed. Then, quietly grumbling, he scratched at a small thorn sticking out of his neck. "Letting that idiot boy talk with my mother...!"

"Does it hurt?" Shego suddenly asked, staring at the thorn.

He looked at her, dropping his hand. "Does what hurt?"

"The thorns. The vines. Everything."

"Oh." He shifted uncomfortably. "I'm mostly itchy. My old skin wasn't nearly this bad. I'm having trouble not scratching…" Drew itched at his arm, where the skin and vines met. "Especially here!"

"...why are you hanging on to these vines?" she asked carefully, eyeing the few that were curling angrily. "Why have them-.."

"I can't get rid of them."

Shego blinked. "What do you mean?"

He growled, "I mean I can't get rid of them." Drew glared at the mass of flowers and vines. "I can't make them withdraw into my body, and when I tried pulling them off they just regrew. I'm stuck with them."

"Huh." She shrugged. It could be worse. "Well, I'm sure that they'll go away once you start treatment."

"What?" He looked at her as if she'd grown an extra head.

She continued, "I mean, it isn't like this is hopeless or anything. Just gotta have GJ whip up more anti-muta-.."

"They gave me this with my last meal," Drew suddenly said, tossing a crumpled-up pamphlet at Shego.

"Huh?" Shego picked it up and read it. "'I Was A Mad Scientist's Guinea Pig: Now What?'?" She quirked an eyebrow at him. "What is this?"

"Read it."

Her eyebrow didn't move as she opened it up. As she read the contents, her eyebrows came together as her frown deepened. Inside, it described all the ways that victim of permanent alterations to their genetic code and physical appearance could live a happy, full life even with their abnormalities.

Now she got it. What a lousy way to deliver the news.

"And they couldn't have had an actual conversation with you why?" she asked, glaring at where she knew there was a camera.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because I'm an inhuman abomination that they're afraid to anger?" Drew answered sarcastically.

Shego brushed the comment off and pointed out, "GJ isn't the only game in town. There're other people we can call up for help with this."

"Like who? Amy Hall?" He sneered, "Yes, because the woman whose mutagens did this to me would really be willing to help! I'm sure she'd rather run the other way once she sees me!"

Shego stared at him. "Will you stop feeling sorry for yourself about this?"

He snorted, "No!" and pushed his lip out in frustration. "You don't even know what I've been through, or what I had been planning to do... Who're you to judge me for feeling sorry for myself?!"

"I do know that you were stuck under the effects of that mind control stuff. You know, that stuff that I got stuck under too during your whole rapping phase?" Shego crossed her arms. "You think I don't know what it's like to not be in control of yourself, to end up screaming in your own head as your body does whatever someone else tells it to?"

"I was tortured!"

"And I'm not judging you for that. What I am judging you for-.." she waved at him, from head to foot "..-is the pity party about this. The pity party when you're still alive and free again. Just because you're not like you were before doesn't mean that you should sulk about it."

Drew glared and sputtered at her for a good few seconds before he grumbled, "Some help you are!" and resumed looking away from her.

Shego looked at him then. Really looked at him.

Now that he'd had the apparent opportunity to shower and everything, his hair was, for the most part, back to normal. There were a few stray vines which had apparently decided to grow out of his scalp, but otherwise he was back to his fauxhawk and basic cut.

His eyes still looked horribly bloodshot. All red where there should've been white. Shego was going to assume that, at this point, it was permanent.

His teeth. They were, for lack of a better word, scary. No smile from him would ever be quite the same. The tight-fitting needle-like teeth which surrounded the blunter but still rather sharp-looking front fangs made her think of an anglerfish on steroids.

The thorns which now littered his body were clearly making him uncomfortable, in more than one way. They scraped against the metal wall and kept him from fully leaning back, instead reducing him to a slight hunch. The horns weren't much better, the abnormal shape of them making him look even more unbalanced and asymmetrical than he already was.

The vines were, for the most part, calmly tucked under and around him. A handful seemed to be unconsciously wavering about, a few of them 'looking' at Shego with what was probably the plant equivalent of interest.

His chest was huge. Midas had nothing, nothing on him anymore. The barrel-chest looked almost impossible, like some kind of weird implant.

His skin wasn't such a shocker. It was the contrast of his eyes, his teeth, his everything else that made it stick out so much.

He, probably sensing her intense gaze, looked up at her, lips pressed together and brow drooped.

...even as a spiky, mutated, ragged old blue man he was still adorable when he pouted.

She found herself needing to touch him. So, with that in mind, she did the only logical thing: climbed into his lap.

"What the-..?!" Drew squawked, tensing up. She shushed him.

It was a little hard with the thorn she'd accidentally created on his leg blocking her slightly, but with some adjusting she became comfortable enough.

"Shego, what are you-.."

"I want kissy face," she said simply, wrapping her arms around his neck. She ignored the slight tinge of pain as her wrist grazed the side of a thorn.

"Shego, have you lost your mind?" Drew asked, trying to pull back from her slightly. As his spikes were already as close to the wall as they'd allow him to be, it didn't work very well.

"I want kissy face," Shego repeated, nuzzling the side of his face.

"I can't-.. Why?!" He sounded shocked.

She pulled back to look him in the eye. His mouth was agape, eyes scrunched in worry. Once again, she was reminded of an anglerfish, one that she was certain she was getting drawn in by.

Drew started, "Shego, I'm not even huma-.."

"Shh." She shut his mouth with a finger. "You could be a banana for all I care." Shego pressed her forehead into his, feeling the horns press into it and not caring in the slightest. "As long as you're my doc, I'm fine with whatever."

He gaped. "But, but what about what I've done-.."

"I. Don't. Care." She forced him to look her in the eyes. "Are you Drew again?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Well, erm, for the most part, yes…"

"So what does it matter what Agent Alpha did? How does that affect us at all?"

He was quiet for a long while. Then, slowly, his arms wrapped around her.

"I, uhm…" Drew sounded both embarrassed and hopeful as he tentatively said, vines beginning to curl themselves on and around Shego, "...I guess we can try, erm, kissy face… Just, mind the teeth."

Shego smirked, then cupped his face as she directed his lips to hers...

A/N: Been trying pretty hard to balance out the heavy stuff with some light stuff, and not just sweep everything under a rug like it's nothing... Hoping I'm doing a decent job of it.

Strangely, I feel like this chapter is rather weak compared to others. Any idea what's up with that, readers?