A/N: The flash-fic well is drying up, but I've still got Tumblr prompts to fill. This prompt actually comes from an AO3 user and a faithful reviewer, shrijver.
'26. Jealous kiss' for you, m'dear! This also randomly became a semi-songfic. IconicGwen, here's your karaoke. Enjoy, everyone!
Having common sense kept them out of most trouble, except for that which came with their schemes. Of course, Shego would argue that total and complete recklessness wasn't part of the territory. Even so, for being villains, neither of them drank much alcohol.
Shego sipped at her Blinker and stared at Drakken's Pan American Clipper, half-empty on the table. Her shoulders were tense as she felt everyone's eyes on her more than usual in the karaoke bar. But it was to be expected—they had saved the world, after all.
She wished for what must have been the hundredth time that he hadn't chosen a table in the center of the restaurant, but he seemed oblivious to the fact that there were always eyes on the pair of oddly-colored villains. And that night it was worse, as people were constantly approaching them with questions or wanting autographs.
It was probably why they were each on their second cocktail.
Drakken had excused himself to use the restroom before his next turn on the mic. He had already sung his usual favorites that Shego now had memorized, to her dismay, as well as a few she had only occasionally heard either on the radio or at other times there at his favored karaoke bar. Usually he topped out at about five or six songs in a two-hour period, as plenty of other patrons were having turns at the mic. But that night they were on their third hour and he had shown no signs of slowing down.
He had tried for years to get her to sing a duet with him, but always she refused, sometimes with a threat if he was especially persistent. But that night he hadn't asked her once. In fact, his conversation had been oddly surface-level and conservative for his boisterous personality, usually cranked up to the maximum on karaoke night.
Shego sipped at her cocktail again and wondered at his behavior. Of course, she knew she wasn't herself either. Neither of them had been since the invasion.
It had been almost a month since that day that changed everything. Terror and sleeplessness and fighting blindly against a foe they knew could truly destroy them... And then mutated plants. And Kim Possible's side-kick. And then a shining gold medal hung around Drakken's neck at the United Nations, crowds cheering in thanks and praise.
Since that day, their lives were no longer their own. They had magazine interviews, TV spots, invitations to lectures and conferences and universities and museums... There was even talk of a documentary about Drakken's life.
And that was the thing—it was all about Drakken. She was never actually invited, she was just...automatically included. By him. He didn't seem to notice that she wasn't in the picture, as far as the public was concerned. Even the awkward moment at the UN when his vine had wrapped them together had blown over with the major media outlets inside of a week. And when patrons at the karaoke bar approached her, it was always with questions about him.
She was curious as to why she had been ignored...but that curiosity kept getting pushed aside in favor of a bigger question: just what were they?
Drakken was thrilled beyond description with his newfound hero-status. Finally, people wanted to hear him talk for hours about his scientific theories and inventions. And he reveled in it each day to the point of exhaustion.
And each day they returned home...to their villain's lair.
So what were they? Was the hero-thing temporary? Was it permanent? Was he even aware that he was dragging her all over the world only to sit in the back of a hall or stand in the wings while authorities and the public alike praised and revered him?
But whenever he wasn't engaged by others, he was always at her side... Asking her how he looked, telling her how amazing it was to have his ideas praised... But other than being his...his...sounding board, what was she?
And why did she keep going with him?
Why did she go with him to karaoke?
Karaoke was technically in her contract, but, she knew he wouldn't care if she just refused to go. And yet she had gone, for years. And now on their first night out of their own accord since the invasion, that was where he'd wanted to go, and she was with him again.
She glanced across the darkened room toward the hall that led to the restroom, and then her eyes glimpsed Drakken leaning against the end of the bar. Why hadn't he come back to...?
He grinned shyly. And then she noticed the two women standing far too close to him.
Shego could tell their type instantly. Too much makeup, too much skin showing, and very clearly drunk from their wobbly posture and their giggles. Drakken appeared unsure what to do with their attention.
Shego's eyes darkened as one of the women began running her fingers around Drakken's medal—which he wore everywhere, of course—and the other woman leaned into his side and began twirling her fingers through his hair. Drakken looked between the two even more uncomfortably and Shego started to rise from the table, but then Drakken slipped between the two women and hurried up the steps to the stage.
Shego hadn't even noticed the previous song ending. And apparently it was Drakken's turn again. She felt the familiar tension coming as she knew people would be staring again.
It wasn't that he was a bad singer. He had potential. It was that he over-sang everything and put so much camp and drama into the performances that they were laughable. Although usually he got cheers. And that night, due to his new status as world-hero, he had gotten more than ever. The crowd seemed larger too, and Shego wondered if word had gotten out that he was there.
Shego watched as uncharacteristically, Drakken pulled the stool up to the mic stand and sat down, adjusting the stand to his height. He always stood and moved around while singing.
He looked around nervously over the crowd, which was also unusual. But when his eyes found her at their usual table, his face relaxed into a soft smile. He turned toward the DJ and held up a hand to signal him to wait before starting the music. Drakken cleared his throat into the mic.
"I know some of you are here to see me," he said, "but this will be my last one tonight."
A chorus of sad responses sounded from the audience. Shego felt a slight relief, knowing they could leave soon. But she was still tense knowing that they were going to get more stares before that time came.
"My last bow," he said.
His eyes met Shego's with a strange thoughtfulness and determination. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
Drakken looked back over the crowd. "On the surface it looks like the world has...been brought together by everything that happened. But it...it hasn't really."
Confused murmurings began in the crowd. Shego felt even more uneasy. What was he doing? He never made speeches. And he never, ever talked about anything other than himself.
"Maybe it can... This last song is called, 'Break Your Heart.'"
The DJ started the music and a soft alternative beat began with an instrumental that had clear jazz influences from the rhythm and melody to the instrumentation. Drakken scooted back on the stool a bit, away from the very front of the stage. He gripped the mic on the stand with one hand and bowed his head. His eyes remained open but his face was serious.
The instrumental introduction continued for a long time before Drakken took his first breath, but then he softly hummed and 'oohed' over the instruments. It was so contrary to every other performance he'd ever given that Shego began to forget about her insecurity of just being there.
When the song lyrics started, they moved so quickly at first that they almost ran together, but appropriate pauses showed up as well. Drakken sang so uncharacteristically quietly that she leaned forward in her chair to listen.
"People downcast, in despair, see the disillusion everywhere. Hoping their bad luck will change... Gets a little harder every day.
"People struggle, people fight for the simple pleasures in their lives, but trouble comes from everywhere... It's a little more than you can bear."
Drakken had looked down the whole time, but suddenly he looked up with his face more earnest than she'd ever seen. He seemed to be trying to look into the eyes of every patron of the restaurant.
"I know that it will hurt, I know that it will break your heart, the way things are and the way they've been, and the way they've always been."
Shego sat up fully, watching the strange performance. She had completely forgotten her worries and questions about the strange existence they had been living since the invasion. Drakken's voice was soft and smooth, and every word was crystal clear.
"People shallow, self-absorbed, see the push and shove for their reward. I, me, my is on their minds... You can read about it in their eyes.
"People ruthless, people cruel, the damage that some people do. Full of hatred, full of pride... It's enough to make you lose your mind.
"I know that it will hurt. I know that it will break your heart, the way things are and the way they've been. But don't spread the discontent; don't spread the lies. Don't make the same mistakes with your own life. You never will let love survive."
The almost constant string of words was broken then by a solo from a jazz guitar. Drakken looked down briefly, but then he looked up above the heads of the crowd. His eyes were sad, almost longing.
Shego didn't understand. Clearly, the song meant something to him, or he wouldn't have chosen it. And why the strange introduction?
His eyes slowly moved down and found hers. She blinked, both in surprise and a bit of nervousness at being trapped in his serious gaze. Not only had he never looked like that before, but...he had definitely never looked at her like that before.
Some of the sadness seemed to leave his eyes.
"I know that it will hurt. I know that it will break your heart the way things are and the way they've been. Don't spread the discontent; don't spread the lies. Don't make the same mistakes with your own life. Don't disrespect yourself, don't lose your pride and don't think that everybody's gonna choose your side."
The song continued with a soft trumpet solo, but it was clearly drawing to a close. When it was near enough, Drakken cleared his throat and blinked out of whatever had put him into such a strange mindset.
The crowd cheered. Drakken smiled shyly and took a deep bow. Then he left the stage and hurried back toward their table.
Shego stiffened as she suddenly felt nervous, but she didn't know why. She downed the rest of her drink in a single swallow, and then grimaced as it burned her throat.
When Drakken arrived he didn't look at her at first, but set his hands on the table and leaned over. His eyes, in contrast to the open way he had looked out at the crowd, now looked hollow as if he had seen some horror. But he quickly shook it off, cleared his throat, and straightened up. His eyes fell to his unfinished drink and he knocked it back just as Shego had hers.
With a grimace, he lifted his medal up and off from around his neck and set it on the table. Shego's brow rose and she looked at him in question. He looked down at her like he was about to say something, but he didn't get the chance.
The two women from the bar had suddenly appeared, one on either side of him. He jumped as the one whose hair had been bleached blonde too many times ran her hands up his chest and up his arm to his shoulder. The other who was somehow chewing bubblegum while drinking was pushing her cleavage out in a very obvious way as she tried to give him a flirty look.
"That was sooooooo sexy!" the blonde said with a giggle as she leaned against his side. Drakken chuckled and smiled nervously and leaned away, only to bump into the woman on his other side.
"I felt so...connected to you!" the brunette said, grinning in a way that reminded Shego of obsession.
"Ah, yes, ah...thank you," Drakken stammered. The blonde's hands were getting more friendly, and the brunette had picked up his medal from the table and looked to be contemplating wearing it.
"We have a place just around the corner," the blonde said. "Would you like to come over for a nightcap? I'd love to see what your vines can do."
"And maybe you can give us a private performance?" the brunette asked. She'd put the medal on and rested it right atop her ample cleavage. "You must have more songs."
Drakken's eyes were darting between the two women in confusion as he continued to smile nervously.
Shego was sitting so close she could have reached out and stolen from either woman's purse. But she had her jaw hung open in a mixture of awe and fury at the audacity of the two tramps, so much so that it froze her in place for several seconds as her anger built.
"Don't you want this back?" the brunette said teasingly, moving in a way that made the medal almost bounce on her chest.
Drakken's cheeks began to turn pink and his nervousness turned to discomfort.
The blonde stepped up on her tiptoes and brought her ninety-nine cent red lipstick-slathered mouth toward Drakken's.
Shego had had it. She stood up and fairly roared.
"What am I, wallpaper!?"
The two women, and Drakken, jumped with a start. And then Drakken took another step back as suddenly Shego's arms were around his neck.
"Sheg—"
It didn't occur to her until a few seconds later that her kissing him was probably just as unwelcome and offensive as one of the drunken whores kissing him. But she had done what she had done, and she couldn't take it back.
The fierce kiss she had laid on him had clearly startled him, as for the first several seconds his shoulders heaved and his lips were frozen in a thin line. But then he slightly relaxed in her embrace, and as she slowly pulled away she felt his sudden response as he tried to capture her lower lip between his.
She looked up at him with a mixture of anxiety and apology. He stared down at her in awe.
All around them, the crowd cheered.
The two women were huffing and complaining and hurling insults at Shego.
Drakken's eyes darted around, and for the first time since they'd been coming to that karaoke bar Shego saw in his eyes the anxiety that plagued her each and every time.
"Let's get out of here," Drakken whispered in a near-panic. Shego nodded her agreement.
Drakken tossed a handful of cash on the table and then grabbing her hand, began to run. Shego was only too eager to follow, but then she pulled on his hand to stop him.
"Wait, your medal!" she hissed at him.
He glanced over her shoulder toward the two tramps, and then with a grimace he shook his head.
"Leave it," he said, and turned to pull her away and out of the restaurant.
Outside in the dark, they ran around the corner and down the sidewalk toward the parking lot. When the karaoke bar and its sounds were far behind them, Drakken slowed to a stop and dropped her hand as he leaned against a lamp post to catch his breath.
Shego watched him curiously, her heart beating out of her chest.
She'd kissed him. Why had she kissed him? What was the point? She could have just as easily threatened the two women harassing him, or worse.
Drakken slowly straightened and looked at her, his cheek still leaning on the cool metal of the post.
The anxiety Shego felt covered her body suddenly, like a million crawling ants. Drakken looked about to speak, so she did first.
"You left your medal."
Whatever Drakken had been about to say died on his lips. His brow furrowed lightly and he shook his head.
"Wasn't worth it."
"But...it was everything to you!" she said quickly. She would say just about anything to avoid the subject of the kiss.
Drakken shook his head. "It was...it was nice," he said slowly.
"What was?" Shego said quickly. She took a step back as he straightened fully.
"The attention. People...finally praising me for my genius."
"You're talking like it's over."
Drakken took a deep breath. "It is. I'm done."
Shego felt her heart skip a beat. What did that mean? That he was...returning to villainy? He'd never said he wouldn't... Even so, another question burned in her mind and quickly found its way to her tongue.
"But why?"
Drakken blinked out of his inward-focus and looked her over. Shego took another step back and put more space between them.
"You kissed me."
Shego ran her hand back through her hair. "Uh...yeah. Sorry about that."
Drakken shook his head as his gaze darkened. "You did it on purpose."
Shego could feel the unspoken accusation as he stared at her. He wanted to know her motive. He wanted to know if it had been some form of mocking. She tried to think of an excuse... But either due to the alcohol or simply having no other answer, she blurted out the truth.
"Those women were all over you! As if I wasn't right there!"
Drakken considered her words. Slowly, a smile came to his face.
"You were jealous."
Shego's face flushed. "Psh, as if. I just wanted those tramps to take a hike."
Drakken's smile was soft as he looked at her. Shego didn't understand and it made her uncomfortable. She took another step back and hugged herself, even though the night was hot.
"It's okay. I'm jealous too."
Shego's brow furrowed. "Huh?"
Drakken took a step toward her. "The way everyone just ignores you...no matter where we go. And treats you like you're not there."
His expression had darkened, and Shego continued listening in confusion.
"You deserve as much of the glory for saving the world as I do."
Shego shook her head. "I didn't do anything really."
"I couldn't have done it without you."
Drakken had taken another step closer. Shego felt some of the tension from back in the bar return, and Drakken continued.
"If you hadn't been with me to help me get the super hypollinator, and distribute it at all of the attack sites...I couldn't have done anything."
"But you're the inventor. You're the brains behind it all. That's why everyone's interested in you. No one cares about the hired muscle."
Drakken took a slow breath as his expression became irritated.
"And so...I'm jealous."
Shego shook her head. "I think you've got the wrong emotion there, Doc."
"No. I'm jealous for your honor. For your glory. You've always had it in spades, and suddenly...we become heroes and everyone drops you like you never existed."
"Is that what we are now?" Shego asked quickly, finding herself even more tense. She angled her body slightly away from him. "Heroes?"
When Drakken didn't answer she glanced back at him. He looked thoughtful and a bit sad.
"I think...most of the world is really only treating me like those two women back there," he said.
Shego turned back to him in confusion. "What?"
He looked up. "We may have stopped an invasion and saved Earth from a horrible fate, but...it won't really change anything."
Shego considered for a moment and suddenly remembered the words of the song he had sung. He had sang of the injustices of the human existence, whether by chance or by selfish design, and the tendency of humankind to choose the negative over the positive.
"So you think as a hero the world is supposed to be some utopia? If we're villains we would just be making it even worse, you know."
Drakken grimaced and then an ironic smirk turned up one corner of his mouth. He didn't say anything, but turned to walk down the sidewalk. He paused and reached out his hand to her.
Shego felt a shiver even though the night was hot. He was looking directly into her again, like he had in the restaurant. Only even more-so. She noticed for the first time that his eyes were an almost impossibly deep blue.
She nervously placed her hand in his, and he gently tugged her to walk alongside him as they continued on slowly to the parking lot.
"So..." she began shakily, "whether we're good guys or bad guys, the world is gonna be a mess," she concluded.
Drakken hummed as he looked ahead thoughtfully with an almost melancholy in his eyes.
A few minutes passed. Shego felt that tension again and the night suddenly seemed to be too hot.
Or maybe it had something to do with the gentle way he held her hand.
"So...which mess do you want?"
They were a few feet from the hover-car, but Drakken stopped. He turned to her and reached for the medal on his chest out of habit, and looked down when he remembered it was gone. He pursed his lips.
"Neither."
Shego's brow rose, and she looked at him in question.
"All of this just showed me...it's not...as important to me as I thought it was."
Shego felt uneasy suddenly and carefully pulled her hand away from him, hugging herself again in the summer heat.
"No matter where we go, all I can think about is...that you deserve to be standing on every stage with me. And I can't wait until the speeches are over so I can get back to you. And how...even though there's no reason for you to come with me, you always do."
Shego shivered again as the thought she'd been pushing away was suddenly forced to the front of her mind by his words.
Why did she go with him?
She realized he'd fallen silent and she looked up. He was staring into her soul again, waiting for...something, from her.
She shrugged nervously, but couldn't think of any words to say. She looked away at nothing.
Drakken reached up to her arm and pulled her hand away. After a moment of resistance she let him.
He took her other hand and brought them together up in front of him as he stepped closer to her. Their hands nearly touched each other's chests for how little space he left between them.
Shego's heart began racing. She looked up at him. Drakken's soul-searching expression softened.
"You don't have to be jealous," he said, a tiny smile taking over his features.
"Why not?" Shego asked. Why was her voice suddenly so thin? Why was she acknowledging what she'd felt back at the bar? Why was her heart pounding and her frame trembling?
"Because... There's no chance you'll ever lose me."
For what felt like an eternity they simply stared at one another in a mixture of awe and giddiness. And then the familiar pink flower led Drakken's vine down to their joined hands. Shego was startled when the vine wrapped around her wrists and lifted her arms up and over Drakken's head, looping them around his neck. He placed his own hands comfortably on her waist and grinned. When Shego spoke, she was surprised at the tremor in her voice.
"D-didn't think you'd know what to do with a woman Doc, after that display back in the bar."
Drakken pursed his lips into a thoughtful smirk. "With the right woman," he finally said. The vine still on Shego's wrists tugged slightly and knocked her off-balance so she fell against Drakken's chest.
"So...so you don't want to be the world's hero...or dictator?" Shego said nervously, still trying to avoid what was becoming completely unavoidable.
Drakken shook his head slowly. "Either way...will just lead to heartbreak. No one is really, or would be, on our side."
Shego thought back to the words of the song he had sung that he had just echoed in the defining statement. And she thought also of the words he had spoken just moments before, declaring that she would never lose him.
She realized then that through it all, she had thought of them as a single unit. Even though the world had treated her differently, she hadn't been thinking of them as two separate lives that could diverge from one another at any moment. Her thoughts were always about what 'they' were.
Apparently, so were his.
"If it's not about the world anymore...then what are we?" she asked.
Drakken smirked and circled her waist with his arms, pulling her tightly against him. "You tell me."
He was giving her a knowing look. Shego was embarrassed by the flush that came to her cheeks. But he was right. She had started it with her impulsive kiss back inside the bar. And while she didn't yet understand the feelings surging through her and preventing her from maintaining any coherent thoughts, she did know...she liked the feel of his arms around her. She really liked it. And even though she was the one who started it...he was communicating with startling clarity how he wanted it to finish.
But he still left it up to her.
Her wrists had been released and the vine had vanished. She brought a hand down to lightly stroke his jaw as she smirked.
"I was jealous," she admitted. It was easier to say that, than any of the things his piercing eyes were communicating. "Maybe...of the world, too."
"Not necessary. I told you. You'll always have me."
She felt a fluttering of anticipation in her chest as she rose up on tiptoe and circled his neck with her arms. She thought of his song again.
"I'll always choose your side," she said.
The summer heat was overtaken by the warmth in her heart as they sealed the promise with a powerful kiss.
A/N: The song he sings is "Break Your Heart" by Natalie Merchant.