"So then, Betts, what was that about the 'new generation of imprisonment technology'?" the green woman asked with some mirth as the group made their way towards the containment cells.
"I can't believe this has happened," Betty muttered, hands twisting angrily behind her back. "The guards alone should've been enough to at least deter someone from the general public. And yet…!"
"Yeah, Doctor D's mother is magical like that. She pulled the same thing on me and Doc a few years ago," Shego noted. "I bet she probably got the cells wrong looking for Drew and stumbled onto Gemini."
"At least something managed to stop her from her goal," Dr Director growled sardonically.
"Trust us…" Kim said, shaking her head, "Mama Lipsky goes where she wants to go..." She thought for a second. "As long as she has the transport, anyway…"
"Is she a mad scientist at all?" the brunette inquired, eyebrow raised in interest even through her obvious frustration with the situation.
"No," Shego answered. "Just a stubborn worried mother."
"Sometimes that can be dangerous all on its own," Kim commented seriously. She knew her own mothers wouldn't hesitate to do whatever it took to keep her safe.
She hadn't given much thought to her grandmother since that visit a few months ago. Kim secretly still held a grudge against her for her willing complicity in keeping Drew in the dark about having a family. As mean-spirited as it seemed, she felt like if he'd had something like that to latch on to, he wouldn't have turned to villainy.
"Why do you suppose she's smacking Gemini around with her handbag?" Ron asked, scratching his head. "I mean, it's not like she knows anything about him, is it?"
"I guess we'll find out…" Betty said, nodding her head towards a large self-contained cell with vents attached to the top.
Then, a thought occurred to Kim. They were going to meet her overly talkative grandmother, whom hadn't seen either her daughter-in-law or granddaughter in months, in front of a woman who they were trying to keep their familial secret from.
Suddenly Kim realized just how bad of an idea it was for her to be there.
"Well, Ron, I guess it's about time for us to go!" she said, making like she was checking her watch and motioning back from where they'd come.
"Aren't you curious about what's going on?" Dr Director asked, turning to the redhead. "I'm fine with you being here for her questioning."
"Shego can fill me in later," Kim replied. "I just remembered about a meeting I need to be at in a half-hour."
Betty watched her for a few moments, clearly judging her intent as the guards around the cell began fussing with the door. "...you're sure you can't spare a few minutes for this?"
Ron gave her a look too. "What're you talking about, KP? Didn't you have the day off for-.."
"It slipped my mind until now." The redhead tried not to sweat as she realized that Dr Director sensed something was off. "Remember Ron? The cheer competition coming up in a couple of weeks?"
"I kinda remember you mentioning it before…" Shego said, giving Kim a nicely-concealed confused glance.
"Keep that crazy woman away from me!" the voice of Gemini echoed out off the cell.
"So, yeah. Gotta jet!" The redhead grabbed Ron and turned around.
"OH MY GOODNESS!"
Kim cringed.
She was about to start speed-walking the other way when she found herself in an iron grip.
"I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN FOREVER!" Kim's vertebrae groaned in protest at the intense hug.
"Nice… To see… You too…" she choked out, desperately hoping that the woman would ease up before a rib broke and punctured something.
"Mama Lipsky, you might want to let go before you kill her via suffocation…" Shego snarked.
"Oh dear!" She let Kim go, to the relief of the redhead's lungs. "I'm sorry. I'm just so excited to see you…!" Mama Lipsky fussed at Kim's shirt, which had gotten scrunched up from the hug. She then smacked at Kim's arm with her handbag. "Why haven't you come to visit me!?"
"I've been, uhm, busy… Busy doing… Hero stuff…" She was trying to not turn red as her paternal side's fluster at the strongarm of Mama Lipsky reared its ugly head.
"Same for you!" Mama Lipsky swatted Shego next.
"Yea-.. No. Still haven't forgiven you," Shego said, clearly fighting a snarl.
"Forgiven her for…?" Betty butted in after a few moments of Mama Lipsky gaping at Shego with betrayal and Shego glaring right back.
"Nothing," Kim said quickly.
"Nothing, or none of my business?" It was clear the director was catching on.
"Nothing," Kim insisted. She turned to her grandmother and said, "It was nice seeing you, but I really have to be going…"
"So soon?" The old woman pouted.
"KP has a practice thingy to go to," Ron said, catching on. "If we stick around too much longer, she'll be late."
"Well… Okay. BUT!" Mama Lipsky wagged a finger at the other redhead. "You'd better come visit me soon!"
"Will d-.. Yeah." Kim hooked her arm in Ron's and began speed walking down the hallway.
Just as she walked through the door at the end, she heard Mama Lipsky say to the director, pride shining in every word, "She's my favorite granddaughter."
Even to the best of her ability, Kim couldn't hide the wince. She turned to gauge Betty's reaction.
"...really. Granddaughter?" Dr Director looked between Mama Lipsky and Kim, her eye narrowing in thought.
"She thinks of every kid as a grandkid," Shego said with an eye roll.
Mama Lipsky frowned. "No I don't!"
"Yes, you do," the green woman insisted. "Also, you're demented."
"I AM NOT!" The other redhead was now clearly incensed. "How dare you! I can't believe my baby's involved with such a nasty woman!"
"You're a piece of work yourself, lady," Shego replied, looking at her nails.
"Hmph!" Mama Lipsky turned her back to the black-haired woman and began tapping her foot.
"Anyway, we've gotta get going…" Kim hurried out the door, intent on not turning back around to face the continued scrutiny of the director.
"Laters!" Ron called behind him, shutting the door.
Dr Director watched the door shut with interest. It was clear that there was some kind of truth to the matter. Kimberly's reaction to the 'granddaughter' comment combined with Shego's attempt to redirect attention only made it more obvious to her. It seemed rather straightforward. But...
It was something to mull over later.
Turning to the older woman, she asked, "Mrs. Lipsky?"
"Please, Betty, call me 'Mama'," the older woman requested as she scuttled over to where the director was standing. "That's what I want everyone to call me!"
"Very well." She could see where Shego's comment about her calling all kids 'grandkids' came from. She didn't believe it for a second, though. Shaking her head minutely, Betty asked, trying to urge the woman in the direction of the debriefing room, "So, Mama Lipsky, please tell me… How did you find your way to Gemini's cell?"
"And why were you beaning him with your handbag?" Shego asked, an eyebrow tilted curiously.
"Gemini?" Mama peered at Betty owlishly, not moving a step, before snapping her finger. "Oh! You mean Sheldon. Those are easy enough to answer!" Mama Lipsky tittered, "And here I thought I was going to be questioned for some kind of nasty deed by you two…"
"Uh-huh." Shego shared an amused glance with Dr Director.
Then, a lightbulb went off in Betty's head. The director asked the older woman, "...how did you know my name?"
"Hm?" Mama Lipsky looked up at her.
"How did you know my name?" Betty repeated, trying to keep her paranoia from showing. This woman… She couldn't be normal. She simply couldn't. Knowing her name, knowing Sheldon's name, sneaking into a top-secret facility and making it all the way into the most secure cell in said facility…
"Ethel, of course!" Mama Lipsky nudged Shego's side and chuckled, "She's got terrible luck with bingo…"
Ethel…? The name rang a bell, but who it was…
Betty decided to just ask. "Who's Ethel?"
Mama Lipsky gasped. "What?! What kind of child are you, to forget your own mother's name!"
Oh. That's why it was familiar.
"Does Drew know yours?" Shego asked the older woman.
The redhead blinked a few times. "No. Why?"
Shego rolled her eyes. "No particular reason."
"Anyway, deary," Mama Lipsky said, a pout on her lips, "Ethel is very proud of her dear twin children…" Her eyes narrowed. "But that brother of yours, bullying and hurting my dear Drewbie! There was a boy, the one you put me on with…" She waved at Shego. "He told me all about it!"
Betty narrowed her own eye at Shego.
For probably the first time ever, the green woman's expression was one of cringing chagrin. "Yeah, I remember…"
"I originally came to find my Drewbie. I figured he would be in the safest place available, to keep him away from that madman," Mama Lipsky continued explaining. "But imagine my surprise when I found Sheldon instead! He looks just like the picture that Ethel has in her locket…"
"Indeed he does," Dr Director agreed, knowing exactly which picture it was. Even in a mall photobooth with his mom he couldn't get the sneering scowl off of his face. It was no exaggeration, only fact, that Betty's picture was far better.
"So I decided to show him who's boss!" she finished with finality.
"You definitely did that," Shego said with a snort of laughter. Covering it with a cough, she noted, "Just seems a little weird to me that he didn't, y'know, try to smack you back or anything."
"He knew better," Mama Lipsky said as if it explained everything.
"...and?" The green woman's patience was clearly running out.
"He tried something funny when I first got in there," she explained a little better. "But that boy sure learned what an expert 4 black belt in Krav Maga feels like when push comes to shove!"
"Uh-huh…" Betty's eyebrow tilted at that and she took a quick look at Shego. The green woman's expression barely changed, with little to no surprise on her face. Maybe Shego knew more about this woman than she was letting on…
"So you were beating on him for what he did to Drew?" Shego asked, trying to connect the dots.
"What kind of mother would I be if I didn't?"
"Do you even know what happened to Drew?" Betty skeptically queried. She found it hard to believe that someone could be oblivious enough to tell a mother about the horrific torture and mutations that their child went through.
"All I know is that my poor Drewbie needed help and no one was there for him…" Mama Lipsky said, a waver in her voice. Her face became stern as she growled, "I won't let that happen again! Sea be damned, I'll find a way to be with my little boy!"
"Crap…" Shego muttered quietly to herself.
Not quietly enough.
Giving her the evil eye, Mama Lipsky said, "And what's so bad about that?"
"Maybe it's the fact that we're still dealing with-.." her eyes darted to the director for a moment "..-the fact that you're a bad mom."
The older woman gaped. "I'M a bad mom?!"
"Did I stutter?" Shego began looking at her nails. "Keeping important things secret…"
Interesting. Shego was clearly dodging around what, exactly, were the secrets. The irony was not lost on Betty.
"I may have let my baby down before, but I'll sure as hell make up for it now!" Mama Lipsky was clearly getting worked up. "I'll find him and make sure he's safe…" She glared at everyone present, including the two guards that she had managed to browbeat into letting her into Gemini's cell when she first got there. "No one had better get in my way!"
"...follow me." Betty motioned for the older woman to fall in behind her. Mama Lipsky nodded and fell in line behind the director.
A few minutes later and they were across the complex at the second containment cell.
"I'll allow 5 minutes for now. He'll be released soon into Shego's care, so after that you'll have to discuss with her on when and if you can visit him." She opened the cell herself. Betty decided it was best to get on this woman's good side. She didn't want to earn the wrath of her, and, quite possibly, her own mother in turn. The brunette didn't believe for a second that this wouldn't get back to her mom. Mama Lipsky clearly had a rather large mouth.
"Good!" Mama Lipsky beamed. She brazenly walked into Drew Lipsky's cell, as if there wasn't a chance of him snapping and possibly injuring her.
From the interior came a squeak of, "M-Mother!?"
Then…
"WHAT DID THAT ANIMAL DO TO YOU?!"
Betty sighed, now glad that she'd ordered Drew Lipsky's release. There would've been hell to pay for certain if the older woman had found out about her 'baby' being in continued custody. It was a shame that Drew would probably be like he was for life, but sometimes that's how it went.
She turned and said, "I suppose now we'll have to-.." The director cut herself off when she found that she was alone.
...where did Shego go?
A/N: This chapter was haaaaaard to write... Mama Lipsky is very hard to capture. Hopefully I did a decent enough job of it.