It was days later, and Shego was frantic.
She didn't outwardly show it - what would've been the point? - but she was certainly reacting as such.
Shego reported him missing to the local authorities.
She'd tried to get in contact with GJ. The only thing she had was a number. She called it, but got only static.
She'd melted the phone at that.
Shego had never felt more helpless in her life.
She wasn't concerned that Drew had gotten out of Dodge. He would know better than to do that, and he cared too much about the two of them to even think about it.
So now she was retracing his steps, Kimmie in tow in a stroller with her favorite baby blanket that Drew had stitched her name into. She knew where the tube was that connected him to his work, having once stopped by to sign off on some documentation. She'd been considering tearing it open and forcing GJ to talk with her… But she wasn't sure, even then, that they'd do anything about it. Stupid secret organizations and their plausible deniability…
Then, suddenly, a rough-looking man in a combat suit stood in front of her.
"Are you Shego?" he asked gruffly.
Shego knew better than to answer; it was clear he was a hench. Instead, she punched him out in one clean go. All she had to do now was drag him somewhere to grill him - literally - for any information on her doc.
Kimmie began imitating her, even letting out a small grunt at the apex of the punch.
"Awww, how sweet…" a voice said from behind her. "Like mother, like daughter."
Shego lit up and swiped behind her. She managed to hit him solidly in the chest, forcing him back.
Now Shego got a good look at the odds.
All around her, henches. At least a dozen men surrounded her, cutting her off from any form of escape.
She almost felt sorry for them, being so outclassed.
They sized her up for a few moments, clearly trying to get a read on the best angle to attack her from.
She struck first.
Flames erupted from her hands as she blasted the front radius of her with searing-hot plasma. Most of the henches had the sense to flee, but a few stupidly brave ones tried to call a bluff that wasn't there. They ended up screaming on the ground, trying to put out the flames that ate at their clothes.
The ones behind her made to move in. Shego easily flipped over the baby stroller and delivered a windmill kick that knocked back a couple of henches and straight-up knocked out a third.
Man, it'd been a while since she got to let loose like this!
Almost laughing, she tossed out a few balls of flame here and there, trying to force them back and away from her. She managed to group a half-dozen of them together. Perfect.
She jumped, somersaulting into the middle of the group and flipped onto her hands, perfectly kicked out and knocking all of the henches out from the force of the blows.
She hopped up, making a 'come hither' motion to the rest of them.
"Wait." One of them made a stopping motion to the rest and sighed. "I hate doing this. Really, I do. But you need to come with us. Boss's orders." The man did seem to be genuinely remorseful. In his hands, he held Shego's little princess.
At least he was handling Kimmie with a careful arm.
"Don't worry," the hench said. "As long as you cooperate, she'll be fine."
Shego cursed at herself. She did the only thing she could do: stand down. They closed in, locking a fully-encompassed handcuff over her hands. They locked her feet together next. Then, one of them took a large, menacing-looking shock stick and slammed it straight into her back.
"That was uncal-.." was all she heard before everything faded to black.
Lights.
Blinding, painful lights were the next thing Shego was aware of. It certainly didn't help her throbbing head and back. She opened her eyes, unsure of what was going on for a moment.
Then, she remembered. It was hard not to when she was strapped to a weird machine, hands again encompassed in metal while he husband dangled in front of her on a rack.
He looked like a complete mess. A large grisly cut was openly bleeding from his face, almost as if he'd been carved from eye to cheek. He was bloodied from various cuts and bruises all along his mostly exposed body, and Shego noticed burn marks all along his torso. The fear in his eyes was reminiscent of the one night that they never talked about, this time apparently directed at her instead of because of her.
"..-ALK! Or else we'll start with her next!" A large buff man with swept-back brown hair screamed at Drew.
"I don't KNOW anything!" he shouted back, sobbing. "Please, I don't know anything about Project Utopia!"
"You GJ agents are so predictable…" the apparent villain sneered. "Always so loyal to that tramp of a sister of mine!" He stomped over to the machine that Shego was hooked up to. "Give up the information or else I'll start sucking out everything until all that's left is a shell!"
Drew struggled against his bindings, screaming, "I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! Please! I don't even know what you're talking about! I'm just some, some college drop-out!"
"Don't try to distract me with your petty lesser projects like that Project Phoenix junk! Your memories are clearly protected from intrusion by my brain-tap machine! I WANT PROJECT UTOPIA!"
Shego began struggling against her bindings. If she could just heat her hands up enough…!
He pushed a button on the machine.
Shego was struck by a sense of deja vu. Except this wasn't right. Since when was she strapped to some kind of maddie machine? She wasn't sure what was going on, but her being strapped down wasn't something she wanted to put up with. The manacles looked slightly melted, but not enough for her to escape.
In front of her was a man, tied up to a rack. She was pretty sure his name was Drew? He looked pretty roughed up, what with all the cuts and stuff that littered his body. Wiry guy, too. Complete dork. She wasn't sure why he was trapped as well, but it was her reluctant job as a hero to save this guy.
"GIVE ME PROJECT UTOPIA!"
The man on the rack sobbed but said nothing.
The large man pushed a button on the machine.
Shego was struck by a sense of deja vu. Except… Since when had she been strapped down in some maddie machine? She had no idea what was going on, but she wasn't about to put up with it!
Luckily for her, the manacles they'd fitted her to looked to have been partially melted. All it needed was a little more…!
She ignored the sobbing of a man in front of her. Some chump tied to a rack. Looked pretty gruesome, but what did she care? She came first, after all!
With a shout, she burst her hands free of the manacles. She quickly pulled her head out of the suction cup helmet and melted the bonds holding her feet.
"You morons!" The clearly villainous man screamed, looking around him. "You secured her wrong!"
A ring of henches began to form around her.
"Yeah… I'm out!" Shego let loose a blast of flame, knocking and setting alight a great deal of the henchmen before she jumped over a set and ran out the nearest door.
"IDIOTS!" the man shouted, the sound echoing behind her as she made her escape.
She left that one guy behind, but so what? It didn't look like he'd be in any shape to tattle on her to her brothers.
Her brothers… Where were they? More importantly, where was she? She looked around the hallway, realizing that she hadn't escaped the base yet. She cursed, but knew it was only a matter of time before she found her way out. No one could keep her down, not even some megalomaniac with some kind of sick torture fetish...
"...and that's how it went," Shego said with a heavy sigh.
"So you just left me to be tortured?" Drakken said, hurt plain on his face.
"To me, you were just some loser. Why would I bother sticking around to save some guy when I was captured as well?" The green woman shrugged.
"But…" Kim looked at Shego. "...what about me? How did I end up on the Possible's doorstep?"
"I…" Shego looked uncomfortable. "I don't know, Pumpkin. I left you there too…" She walked over to the couch where the other two were seated and gave them a big, heartfelt hug. "I'm so sorry…"
"Erm, Shego…" Drakken wiggled a little. "You don't really have anything to apologize about! It's not like you did any of this."
"...you're right." She stood up straight, releasing the two from the hug. "You're absolutely right. It isn't any of our faults…" Shego looked at Kim, a strange look in her eyes. "Cupcake, I think it's time you go home."
"Oooookay…?"
Everything had passed by in a blur after that. Shego practically shoved the teen into the hovercar and took off, barely giving Kim time to get her things together.
The ride was, again, silent. Shego seemed determined not the look at Kim the entire time, instead staring forward with an angry look on her face. She just grew angrier and angrier the more time passed. Eventually, by the time they arrived at Middleton, Shego's teeth were grinding together and she grunted every time she exhaled.
"So…"
Kim's one-word statement seemed to snap Shego out of it. The green woman blinked a few times, then directed the hovercar to the Possible residence.
"Well, here we are," Shego said, setting the vehicle down easily on the lawn. Eyeing the house, she asked, "Got a remodel?"
"Nah. The Lorwardians crushed our old house with their quadropods," Kim said like it was no big, because it wasn't.
"...whatever." Shego paused as the teen hopped out, night bag over her shoulder. "I guess I'll see you around…"
"Yeah, I guess I will…" This was so, so, so awkweird. They should be celebrating and crying, bonding and talking about their future and stuff, weren't they? They were family now, right? So why was everything so… Weird?
...maybe it was the same reason Kim didn't want to talk. Even at the end of the day, they were Drakken and Shego, and she was Kim Possible. They'd only known for the last couple of days that they were a family. It wouldn't be an overnight magical switch flip that the three of them would end up hanging out like family did.
"Just… Don't be a stranger, all right?" Shego asked with soft eyes.
"Don't worry, Shego…" Kim decided to inject a bit of levity into the sitch. "I'll see you next time you and Drakken try to pull off taking over the world!"
Shego smirked, just a little, with a trace of sadness. Then, pulling up and over the tree line, she left.
Kim skipped out of her class and called Wade up on the Kimmunicator.
"Have you heard anything, Wade?" she asked, hoping for some kind of clue.
The rotund boy shook his head. "No, Kim. No sign of Drakken or Shego. Sorry…"
The redhead sighed. "It's okay, Wade. Just keep trying."
"I'll let you know the second I catch anything," he assured her before closing the line.
It had been several weeks since the revelation of Kim's parentage. In that time, Kim had found a psychologist that specialized in family dynamics to unload her feelings on. It had taken a few sessions, but eventually Kim was able to fully come to terms with everything.
She was Drakken and Shego's daughter. Her parents were still her parents, but this was a whole new dimension to everything. It was far less surreal than before, thanks to unpacking the baggage with the psychologist.
She'd wanted to start to really get to know Drakken and Shego beyond their villain/hero dynamic. She knew them well enough in some aspects, but what they were like with close family? What they could've been like as a family unit? Kim wasn't sure how it would turn out, but she knew that if she didn't try she wouldn't ever feel right with herself again.
The only problem was that Drakken and Shego apparently vanished after her visit. Gone, even from Wade's prodigious skills. Kim wasn't sure why, but she knew it was definitely on purpose.
At the same time, she just couldn't believe that they would try to take over the world. Not if it meant confronting Kim. The way Shego had been acting… Was that self-directed, or was there something going on in her head that Kim wasn't privy to?
Whatever it was, it gave Kim a sinking feeling in her gut.
Suddenly, her Kimmunicator went off.
"Go Wade!" Kim said, thrilled. He must've located them!
"I found them…" Wade said slowly, carefully.
"You did?!" Kim's excitement was swiftly replaced with concern as her tech guru shifted uncomfortably. "...what's wrong?" Her mind jumped to the worst possibility she could come up with. Resigned, she asked, "They're trying to take over the world, aren't they?"
"No." Wade looked very, very sad at that statement.
"I don't understand… What's going on?" Kim brought the watch closer. "Are they okay?"
"...for now, yeah… But…" He seemed to be having trouble coming up with the right words. "...I don't think they will be for long…"
Kim's heart dropped. "What?"
Wade gave a heartfelt sigh. "...they're attacking a WEE base."