Slowly, painfully, he regained consciousness.

It wasn't complete. His mind was slow, numb. It felt like everything was through a mushy filter. Like there was a haze he couldn't see through.

From what little he could feel, it was a likely relief. There was a mild burning pain that seemed to radiate from every part of his body. And even through the mush he could feel an absolutely godawful pain across the entire right side of his face. There was something wrong there, but exactly what it was he couldn't quite pin down. Something was in his mouth. It was some kind of hard plasticy material with something soft attached to it. A steady muffled beep broke through the fog every few seconds.

He was having trouble remembering, thinking… What had happened? He was… He was Drakken. Doctor Drakken. Yes, that sounded right. Genius extraordinaire.

But… What had happened? Why was he…?

There was… Fire. Green fire. All over, hitting him, burning him. That was… Shego. His side-ner. Except… it was a lot of fire. Lots of burning. What had he done…

Panic began to grip him as he remembered. She was a traitor. Teaming up with Kim Possible in a long-term gambit to take him down. He'd rooted her out, and they fought. They-..

His heart stopped as he managed to grasp on to what had happened.

They had him.

Drakken fought through the fog. Struggled to move, to get back to his senses. To fight against whatever they were doing to him. His right eye refused to do anything but hurt, but he was able to sluggishly raise the eyelid of his left. It didn't do much good; everything was out of focus, blurred and illegible.

The beeping noise was getting louder and faster. On top of it, a strange high-pitched squeal started sounding off. He managed to raise an arm ever-so-slowly, trying to pull himself up on something, anything. It was a scant inch or so before he hit the limit of range. Confusion struck for a moment before he realized they had strapped him down.

Panic began to genuinely take him as he tried to pull himself free. It was a weak effort, but he had to try. He couldn't let them, couldn't let them, couldn't let them-..

Movement registered in his blurry vision. He couldn't tell what it was. Then a muffled noise like a door opening.

Then, suddenly, there was a lot of movement. Shapes that vaguely looked like people crowded around him. Drakken couldn't tell who they were or what they were doing, but he desperately wanted them to stop…!

One of the shapes reached for his arm. Belatedly he realized there were tubes connected to it, sticking out of his skin. Something twisted, pulling on his skin. Then a cold flush spread out from the tubes through his arm. What were they putting in him-..

Drakken managed to start flailing then, the fog lifting with the adrenaline. They were doing things to him! He couldn'tcouldn'tcouldn't let them! They were, were Bad. They were doing Bad Things to him. They had to stop! He had to stop them!

He pulled hard against the straps binding his arms. There was a ripping noise and he found he could lift his right arm farther than before.

Voices, varied and muffled, sounded… Panicked? Probably frightened that whatever experiments they were performing on him would be ruined.

Let them panic. He wouldn't willingly let them do whatever they were doing! He wouldn't let them!

One of the forms, a halo of black, moved closer. Suddenly a green glow, shifting and bright, appeared in a blurry ball.

Shego.

The glow moved closer. He mentally snarled and tried to squirm away. As it drew up to his head, Drakken tried to curse her out. The words were slurred and muted from whatever was in his mouth, but his mind screamed them plenty well.

You LIAR! Horrible dirty liar! Tricking me, trying to seduce me… Do you think this is funny? Are you laughing at me?! Liar! Liarliarliarliarliar!

The green light flashed, a hot spark flooding his head.

You bi-..

DSDSDSDSDS

He woke up slowly. His left eye felt crusty, like it had been shut for a while. His right eye… All he felt was pain. In fact, most of him was pain.

Drakken… He kind of remembered what was going on. He was strapped down someplace and being pumped with who-knew-what while Shego stood by guarding him. Making sure he stayed asleep and compliant.

He couldn't let his emotions get the best of him. She was on guard, ready for him to show the beginning signs of waking up. If Drakken could give himself some time to get his wits about him, to come up with a plan, he could probably manage to escape. Get away from these horrible people working for Kim Possible and make his way to one of his more hidden lairs where he could rest and heal while they searched blindly for him at the other, more prominent lairs.

He tried to listen, see if there was anything going on around him. Through the haze he could again hear that infernal beeping. It was speeding up a bit, but at least the second squealing noise hadn't started up.

Drakken took stock of himself. It felt like he was wearing just some kind of thin dress. Maybe a hospital gown? But no, that wouldn't make sense. He wouldn't be in a hospital. Not if they were going to experiment on him.

There was the warm itchy confined feeling around his wrists, ankles, chest, and head that told him that he was strapped down. His earlier struggles, the mindless panicked flailing, managed to just about break one of them. Maybe if he concentrated more, focused his efforts, he could do it in one clean go. Must be rather weak restraints that he could tear them apart like that. But even with that, would he be strong enough to tear them off quickly enough to start putting up a fight against Shego?

...his vines.

During the fight, they had managed to pin Shego down, even with her powers active. It didn't last for long, but it should be enough time. Enough time to escape. Get out of their clutches. He could only fully control two at a time. ...but would he really care about controlling them? Everyone, everything around him at the moment was against him. His enemy. It was true he couldn't control them when there were more than two. But if he could just direct the emotions of needing to stop everyone around him then having a group of them should work. He wouldn't even need to try and control their strength!

Drakken could do it now. Tear himself free, fight off anyone, even Shego, with his superpowered vines. Just run for it until he couldn't any more.

But… But that would be rash. He wasn't the best at this sort of thing, but even he realized that he didn't know entirely what was going on. What defenses they had. Even where they were was a mystery.

So… So maybe he should wait? Maybe? They were pumping him full of something, but if his escape attempt failed they would pump him full of even more. He had to play it smart.

And so he waited. Listening. Trying to pick up bits and pieces from the surroundings to piece together something, anything that could help.

He found from chatter from a couple of men checking on him that he was in a hospital. Upperton. Drakken wasn't sure if he was in a hidden bunker or what. If he was, it couldn't have been too far underground. It meant it should be easy enough to do a quick rush out of the place. Another little bit of discussion revealed that they had classified him as a suicide risk. They complained to each other about working around the straps and the precautions.

Bah! He was only a risk if he couldn't get away. If needed, as a last-ditch effort, he could probably get his vines to crush his throat. They couldn't do Bad Things to him if he was dead!

Another cold flush went into his arm. Drakken couldn't help tensing up. Luckily for him, either the people watching him didn't notice or didn't care. To his annoyance and a spark of fear, he found himself starting to pass out again. Probably put a sedative of some sort into whatever they were pumping into him. He fought it for a while before he finally slowly succumbed, falling into a dreamless slumber.

DSDSDSDSDS

He woke up suddenly.

Drakken gasped a little as he tried to take even breaths in and out. His left eye had shot open wide, looking around for whatever had shocked him awake. He was still medicated, but the shock of whatever-it-was made him jerk visibly. For some reason, the sedatives seemed to be having less and less of an effect on him.

He tried to catch his breath. His muscles relaxed again, flopping back against the bed he was laying on. Drakken wasn't quite safe, but at least he wasn't at immediate risk of Bad Things happening to him.

"Hmmm…"

The noise made him pause.

Someone was in the room with him. The voice, it had sounded familiar in the not-nice way. Like he was about to encounter the classic friend-became-an-enemy talking showdown scenario.

As expected, from his current blind side - why had they wrapped up face up like this? - Shego walked around the bed to the foot of it and into his vision.

"You're awake?" she checked through blurry gritted teeth. It made her words sound strangely slurred. "So then…" Shego walked to his left side and leaned over him to look straight into his eye. Without opening her teeth, though moving her lips, she asked, "Are you sane yet? They've been pumping various anti-psycho meds into you. Was hoping one of them was working."

Drakken's left eye bulged in rage. She was acting so, so casual about the condition he was in. What Kim Possible was doing to him. What her betrayal meant for him. How could she be so unaffected by her actions affecting him like this? Did their years together really mean that little?!

He began to pull at his restraints again, not caring that he was going to alert them to his plotting. The mindless utter fury he felt was unparalleled. His very soul burned at how awful what she did to him was. And she was acting like he was the one that went off the rails?!

At his intense struggling, the bindings began to rip. The stupid high-pitched alarm started up again. Shego shook her head and tsked.

"Looks like they still need some time to work," she said. "Shame; you'd think that being on your equivalent of the rag for a week would've seen it pass by now." She reached out towards him, finger again glowing with shifting plasma. "Don't worry, Doc. You're fine."

He most certainly was not fine!

Drakken tried flinching away from her finger, but the head strap was still intact enough to limit him to only a few inches of space. A growl of rage ripped out of his throat. It was only when her finger was just about to his forehead with some desperate thinking that he remembered about his vines. He called on one, aiming to stop her finger before she could knock him out.

To his surprise and fear, the vine was just as sluggish on the sedative. One slowly formed and listlessly crawled out of his gown. He needed it to be faster, fasterfasterfaster-..

Her finger pressed against his forehead even as she eyed his plant.

"Looks like they'll have to knock you out for a bit longer. Dunno what's taking so long with the meds, but…"

His vine reached for her hand-..

DSDSDSDSDS

What was hopefully a few hours later, the itch of impatience was starting to eat at him. Drakken was trying to reach for some of the patience he'd cultivated for the Diablo plan, to keep him calm and cool while he worked on a plan to get out of there.

Shego didn't seem to stand guard over him all the time. It made sense; it was Shego, after all. She'd probably wormed vacations into that contract just as she had with his.

While part of his mind worked furiously on what he could do to get out of there with the knowledge he had, the rest of him snarled. Stupid Shego! That, that lying bitch! She had tricked him, honestly making him believe that she was feeling the same attraction to him as he felt towards her. Taking advantage of his softheartedness. He should've known it was all a lie. No one loved him like that. No one loved him period save for Mother, as the voices reminded him time and again.

And betraying him for Kim Possible of all people… He internally seethed as he struggled not to let his emotions show on his face. Once again the bratty red headed cheerleader got one over on him! Getting Shego to switch sides like that.

Then, a random thought occurred to him in a slowly dawning sort of way.

...how did he know that? Shego betraying him? Knowing she was working with Kim Possible? There… There had to be a reason. Of course there was a reason! It wasn't something that just popped into your head. Some kind of thread that he'd pulled on and unraveled it all.

He'd accused her, blamed her before for betraying him. Drakken had been wrong then. She hadn't been tricking him, going behind his back to take him down.

But… But this was different. It had to be different! Maybe… Maybe his accusation had convinced her to change sides? To bed with Kim Possible? Nono, that didn't make sense. He'd covered his bases with his previous plot to defeat the traitorous Shego. She hadn't been wise to his plan.

But…

But then why…? Where did the thought come from? What had led him to deciding Shego was plotting against him?

...he couldn't remember. There had been a reason - there was always a reason - but for the life of him he couldn't remember.

As much as it was an undeniable fact, it was also obvious that there was no proof. That it might as well have been a random thought in his head. He couldn't remember exactly how it had happened...

Had he been…

...wrong…?

Cold flushed him at the thought.

No. Nonono, he couldn't have been wrong again. There was no way he was wrong again! He couldn't, couldn't be wrong! There was a reason, for sure there was a reason! He wouldn't just try to take down someone like Shego, his former best friend and side-ner, for no reason.

...but what had it been…?

He was stumped. Drakken reached around in his memory, trying to think… They'd been talking. Talking about the voices and the bugs. She'd been unusually interested in it.

Then… She said she was calling a doctor when he knew she was really calling her superiors. But how did he know-..

He mentally gasped, eye opening wide, as he remembered.

The Voice. It had spoken to him. Told him to stop her. That she was betraying him.

Oh god.

Oh god.

Nonononono!

He started to scream. Flail. Try, desperately, to make the realization be wrong. Because, becausebecausebecause-..

Again the squealing noise started. Moments later people started flooding in. This time, with the sedatives having slowly dropped in effectiveness over the last few hours of him laying there, he was able to clearly see most of the people. Nurses and others he couldn't identify flocked to his bedside, starting to try and hold his limbs down as they struggled to uncap the needle of a syringe.

It didn't matter.

None of it mattered!

He'd… He'd done it again…! To Shego! And he… She…

Drakken needed to get out of there. Away from them. Away from her.

His right arm tore free of the straps as he unfortunately punched the person with the needle in the face and knocked back the person trying to hold that arm still. The needle fell to the floor with a soft noise of plastic clicking against the tile. Drakken reached up at his neck and began to try and free himself so he could run-..

"It's okay, folks," a silky smooth voice stated in a strange slurring manner as a familiar form walked up to his bedside. "I've got this."

Shego.

Oh god no, nonono he couldn't face her! Couldn't couldn't couldn't-.. How could he?! He'd tried his best to… To…

Another scream ripped from his throat as he again tried to crawl away, get away from Shego as best he could. Vines began to form and curl out of his neck and shoulders in flailing clumps.

"It's okay, Doc," Shego's voice soothed in that odd slur as the bright green light of her finger started up again. "Everything's fine."

He tried to refute it, tried to protest her nonchalance at his actions. Yet again the strange plastic thingamabob in his mouth prevented any actual words from forming. Desperately reaching to his mouth now, to tear the thing out so he could finally talk and beg and whatever else came to his mind, he finally realized why she had been talking funny the last few times he'd heard her.

There were wires across her teeth. Rows matching along them, criss-crossing in a pattern. It almost looked like braces. The corners of her mouth looked like they had been cut somehow, with two inch long scars on either side. They were completely healed - no surprise considering her enhanced healing ability - but the scar tissue wouldn't go away anytime soon.

His stomach flopped, nausea hitting, as he remembered that he'd done that. Grabbed her jaws, tore them apart… The feeling of satisfaction that had rippled through him at the snap and the tearing-..

He began choking then. As he ripped the mouth guard free, ignoring the sharp burning pains across his body and face, he threw up on himself. Shego flinched back and away from the stomach acid that erupted from his mouth before ducking back in to put him under.

Drakken whimpered, face wilted as he stared at Shego. It felt like a horrible privilege that he didn't deserve to even see her.

She placed her glowing finger against his forehead.

He choked out, "I'm so sor-.."

A/N: I do believe there will be 6 chapters total. To cover everything I think is necessary to complete the story. Take it with a grain of salt, as I have been wrong before (coughchapter2cough).

Thanks to kgs_wy for being my punching bag/beta for my stuff.