Chapter 17: Awakenings

Awareness returned slowly to her, slowly and painfully. The last coherent thought she could recall was blacking out after being shot in prison. Since then, the memories were fragmented and disjointed. She didn't have any idea how much time had passed or where she was.

Shego was, however, a professional paranoid. She kept her body still and her eyes closed while she took stock on herself and her surroundings. First, she determined that she was resting in a comfortable bed and she wasn't confined. Secondly, she realized that she was still injured but she was probably capable of walking. Finally, she realized that she could hear voices, not far away, but like they were on the other side of a wall or door. Needing to know more, she opened her eyes a cautious sliver.

She quickly deduced that she was alone in the room. The room looked like a modest bedroom. There was no medical, monitoring equipment, just a nightstand with a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin. The window, whose curtains were drawn against what appeared to be sunlight, didn't seem to have bars. There were only two doors; one had light coming from underneath it and the voices coming through it. She assumed that the other door led to a closet. Both her belly and her shoulder were hurting, but she decided to keep away from the aspirin, if it really was aspirin, and listen in to the conversation for a short time.

"So, how long will you require for your preparations?" The voice was calm and cultured. It sounded vaguely familiar to Shego but before she could track down the name…

"I can't say for sure," this voice was much less pleasant. It gave Shego simultaneous feelings of rage and terror. "I designed my staff to acquire Team Go's powers. I'll probably need to make major alterations to get this monkey stuff you're talking about."

"I was expecting an answer with a time frame," the first voice had a somewhat harder edge.

"That's because I've spent my time studying Team Go's powers. I know that I can take it from Stoppable, but it's going to take time. I've done the first part, I've scanned him. Now I've got to first reconfigure the staff back to 'acquire' mode, then configure it for Stoppable's unique….frequency."

"Again, old boy, I'm looking for a time frame." Shego finally decided that the first voice had to be Monkeyfist.

"At least two weeks," the second voice snapped. "Probably a lot longer, something like a few months."

There was a long silence.

"Very well. I don't think that you're dragging your feet on this."

"Of course not! I'd like to remind you that I've sacrificed a lot of expensive hardware on this little venture. My falcon missiles don't come cheap and my giant flamingo took me years to build."

Falcon missiles and a giant flamingo? The only one Shego knew who could be that whack was…Aviarius! Shego struggled down twin urges to burst through the door and incinerate the man and to crawl out of the window and flee. Instead, she chose to continue to listen.

"Quite right, quite right, my apologies. You have, indeed, invested yourself into our common venture."

"I'm actually looking out for my own self interest," Aviarius admitted. "It's now common knowledge that this staff can take Team Go's powers. I've also been forced out of my main nest. I'm going to need help when I move against Team Go."

"The best sort of agreement between those such as us," Fisk declared "After all, neither of us is what you could call trustworthy. Common benefit is a good way to keep us working towards a common goal."

"I like the way you think," Avairius chuckled. "So, what say I head to my own safe house? You've got contact information, so we can keep in touch. I'll be more efficient with my own equipment."

"Fair enough, old boy. Please keep me updated."

"Of course. Oh, by the way, when can I begin taking my payment? I can return when I get the staff reconfigured."

"I'm afraid that's out of the question," Monkeyfist contradicted the man who was, apparently, his partner. "It's a question of manners."

"What? We had a deal! You get the kid's monkey power and I get Team Go's powers. Besides, having her strength and plasma powers will make me more capable of helping you."

"I understand, but there's three problems with that. First, our agreement was for you to gain Team Go's powers after I acquired my Mystical Monkey Power. Secondly, Shego is not a member of Team Go and thus, I have no obligation to assist you in gaining her power. Finally, Shego is now a guest in this house. As I am the head of this house, it's my honor to keep her from harm."

Aviarius grumbled something that Shego couldn't comprehend.

"Don't worry, old boy," Monkeyfist declared. "Once I gain the Mystical Monkey Power, I will assist you in gaining those powers currently held by Hego, Mego and the Wego. Shego will not stay here forever; once she leaves here, I don't care what she, or you, do. With Team Go's powers, you will be able to locate her and relive her of her own powers easily enough."

"I guess you're right," Aviarius conceded. "I'll keep you updated."

"Pleasant journeys," the nobleman offered the birdman.

Shego heard a front door close, then a light tread approaching her door. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, at least while she was still injured, she pretended to be asleep. She was truly shocked when she heard a polite knock on her door.

"Huh, wha?" She murmured, playing the part of a dazed person just being awoken.

"May I come in?" Fisk's voice was as cultured as always. "I believe that you will have a great number of questions."

"Yeah, come in."

There was a slight hesitation before the door opened. Fisk walked in carrying a tea service, and some other culinary items, on a tray. Shego noticed that his face was bruised and swollen.

"Since I know Americans tend to prefer coffee to tea," the nobleman stated, setting the tray on her bed; it had legs that fit the bed's frame. "I took the liberty of preparing both. I've also presumed that you may be hungry, so I prepared some soup." Shego hadn't realized that she was hungry until Fisk mentioned it, then the smell of tomato soup set her mouth to watering. Still, she resisted consuming anything until she had some answers.

"What's going on, Monty?" She asked. "And what happened to you?"

"I had a rather violent encounter with Team Possible," her host informed her. "As to what's going on, I believe that you will find the explanation rather tiresome, in your condition. In addition, I admit that I probably don't have all the answers you are seeking. Still, I will do my best. It occurs to me that you will be able to consume your meal while listening." Shego looked suspiciously at the meal he had prepared.

"I assure you, Shego? Or do you prefer Miss Go?"

"Shego."

"So be it. As I was saying, I can assure you that I have no ulterior motives towards your person," Monkeyfist informed her. "Had I wished to drug, or poison you, I could have done so while you were still incapacitated."

"So, give me the full story while you prove your trustworthiness," Shego requested, nodding to acknowledge his point. Privately, she really wanted to hear how his story to her matched the discussion she had overheard.

"Very well, my dear," the nobleman's face and voice showed some amusement. "I'll start with the 'where am I?' question. You are currently in the spare bedroom of DNAmy's safe house in rural Wyoming. She has been kind enough to give me the, how do you say it, the 'run of the place' while she's working on some endeavor, at an undisclosed location. I assure you that we are quite secure here. I will provide you with a complete tour of the facilities once you are feeling up to walking."

Shego nodded as she concentrated on sipping, not gulping, her soup. It wasn't that it was great soup, just that she was ravenously hungry. Shego had recovered from enough injuries to know that the easy to digest stuff, eaten slowly, was the best way to go. Monty probably knew this as well.

"The next question is probably 'Why did you rescue me from the authorities?'" Fisk continued, prompting another nod from Shego. "You may be either relieved or insulted to hear this, but I rescued you from the authorities in order to prompt a confrontation with Team Possible and I brought you here in order to disguise my true motives. Right now, the various authorities are probably trying to guess what plot I have ongoing, that requires you. Hopefully, their speculation will lead them away from what I intend."

Shego stirred some cream and sugar into her coffee, and thought about that. She really didn't know whether to be insulted or relieved. She was all too aware that since Monty didn't have any plans that required her, she was more-or-less useless to him and therefore…

"You are probably now wondering about your status, since my plans don't require your presence," Monty went on. "I assure you that you are a welcome guest in this house, and that as long as you don't abuse the privilege, you are welcome to stay for as long as you wish. I have no doubt that you have your own safe houses and bolt holes to run to, whenever you wish."

"So what will I have to do to leave?" Shego demanded.

"You must simply let me know where you want to go," Monty answered her. "Of course, I would suggest you give yourself time to heal up before you do so."

"That's all?" Shego asked, incredulously, "you'll just send me on my merry way with no payback, no service, nothing?"

"Shego, I may be a criminal, but I am a proper host. While I admit that I abducted you as a decoy measure, you are my guest. As a proper host, I am obligated to provide you with food, shelter, and protection until such time as we agree it is time for you to leave. I'll admit that I would appreciate your assistance in my undertaking, but I will not demand it."

Shego mulled it over, then nodded again, "So, do you have any idea how badly I'm messed up?"

"I took the liberty of reviewing your medical records," Monty informed her. "When we pulled you from the medical center. You appear to have a couple of weeks, even with your increased healing rate, before you regain your full capabilities. You may feel up to walking a bit, later today. You will find clothing in this room. As I am a terrible judge of sizes, and styles, forgive me if you find everything loose fitting and bland."

"I think I can live with that," Shego almost laughed. While she was used to being treated with respect, as a capable mercenary, she wasn't used to being treated with proper courtesy. To bad Monkey boy planned on selling her out to Aviarius.

"By the way," she suddenly thought of something. "What do you mean by a medical center?"

"You were shuffled between medical facilities after you were shot," Monty informed her. "Do you remember much after your escape attempt?"

"It wasn't an escape attempt," Shego told him, surprising herself with no bitterness. "Some guards staged a set-up and tried to do the public a favor."

"Ah," Monty nodded. "So much for the guards' vaunted marksmanship. They only managed shoulder and abdominal wounds."

"Oh, their marksmanship was just fine," Shego countered. "If they made perfect head, or heart shots, there would have been questions about if I was really trying to escape. Nobody would have believed that they could have pulled off such perfect hits on a moving, evading super villain. No, they just underestimated my toughness."

"Not by much," Monty informed her, and Shego was forced to agree. "Anyway, your internal injuries have been treated. All that is left is for you to heal on your own. You were kept heavily sedated during your time outside of the detention center. Your records suggest that this sedation inhibited your healing. You will probably be uncomfortable without these sedatives, but you will probably heal more rapidly."

Shego nodded again. She had been in pain before and knew how to deal with it. This house would provide a safe port in the storm until she was back on her feet. Then, she had some decisions to make.

Kim woke up slowly, confused by her familiarly strange surroundings. She was able to recognize the Stoppables' living room fairly easy, but she couldn't reconcile her location with waking up in it. Before moving, or even looking around, she forced her tired brain to recall how she wound up here.

She recalled the botched mission to recover the 'item,' which turned out to be Shego. They had to wait for over an hour for a GJ hoverjet to pick them up; time spent with Du commenting about how the 'amateurs' had let the three villains escape. She was ready to punch the smug agent when their transportation arrived. Surprisingly, Will Du received orders to travel with the teens.

Du had kept his mouth shut during the trip. He had caught the look in Kim's eye, and had figured out that a couple more 'amateur' remarks would probably earn him a quick punch in the face. The teens received another surprise when the aircraft didn't take them home, but to a Global Justice hangar facility just outside of Middleton. The three had no sooner stepped off of the aircraft, than the ground dropped out from underneath them, dumping them into a vacuum tube that deposited them in a briefing room. (What did GJ have against stairs or elevators?)

Minutes after they had wound up in the room, Dr. Director strode in and demanded explanations. Du had, of course claimed that he was following procedures 'by the book,' and that the fiasco had been caused by inserting amateurs into one of his missions. Director gave him a severe dressing down, then spent a long time questioning the teens about Aviarius's and Fisk's actions. Two intelligence experts appeared to ask additional questions, but nobody could come up with a good motive for what Fisk had done. Finally, at about four in the morning, Dr. Director ordered a GJ ground car to take the teens home.

They had reached Ron's house when the car was recalled to GJ headquarters. Kim had assured the driver that she could make it the rest of the way home. However, since there was a light on in the Stoppable house, she stepped inside with Ron. It turned out that Hanna, being in the house for the first time, was a little restive. Mrs. Stoppable was awake, rocking Hanna to sleep. Rather than sending Kim on her way home, Ron's mom had pulled open the hide-a-bed and had thrown a sleeping bag on the mattress, so that Kim could get some sleep. She had flopped down next to Ron and had…Ron?

As awareness crept into Kim's mind, she realized that Ron was sleeping next to her. Her head was resting on his right shoulder, and his right arm was wrapped around her. His hand was resting on her bare midriff, covered with both of hers. She felt, for the lack of a better term, comfortable and content. They hadn't done anything during the night, they hadn't even made out, but Kim felt…good. Somehow, just a few hours of sleep, cuddled up with her BFBF, had rejuvenated her as much as a full night's rest.

She looked around and saw Mrs. Stoppable, holding Hanna, sitting on a nearby chair. Ron's mother gave her a knowing grin that made the teen blush.

"Good morning, Kimberly," the older woman greeted her son's girlfriend. "Could you hold Hanna for a few minutes? I want to get breakfast started."

"Of course, Mrs. Stoppable," Kim whispered back. The teen started to get up but Mrs. Stoppable walked over and handed over the infant, while Kim was just sitting up.

"Huh, wazzup?" Ron murmured, sleepily. A cruel grin suddenly burst on Kim's face.

"Nothing honey," she answered, with a wink at Mrs. Stoppable. "The baby was a little restive, so I brought her to bed with us."

"Uh, okay," Ron muttered, and settled back down to sleep. Kim silently counted backwards: four, three, two, one….

"WHAT!!" Ron suddenly shot straight up. The first sight to greet him was Kim, in bed with him, holding a baby. His expression took on equal aspects of confusion and panic. He looked around, obviously trying to reconcile the sleeping arrangements with the fact that he was in his parents' house. He almost jumped out of bed when he saw his mother looking at him. Finally, he started to recall recent events and calmed down.

"Very funny," he grumbled, to Kim's and his mother's increased amusement.

Jean Stoppable giggled as she left for the kitchen. Ron, more fully awake than if he had swallowed a double-espresso, glared at his laughing girlfriend. Even Hanna seemed amused by the activities. Ron decided that the prospect of dealing with three, amused females, first thing in the morning was a strong argument for perpetual bachelorhood. Then Kim leaned over for her good morning kiss and gave him an even stronger argument against it.

"How are you feeling?" Kim asked him.

"A little sore," he replied. "And not wanting to get up, for several reasons. How about you?"

"Exactly the same," she answered, with a very warm smile. "But I've got to get moving anyway. Here," she handed Hanna to him, "I call dibs on the shower."

Kim kept spare clothing at the Stoppables', much like Ron kept spare clothing at her home. It wasn't many minutes later that a freshly showered Kim walked back into the living room. She found her BFBF still sprawled out on the bed, with Hanna sitting on his stomach. He was flexing his stomach, bouncing the little girl, much to her amusement. Kim just stood there for a few minutes, smiling at the scene. All too soon, Hanna noticed her and made a half-coo, half squeak which caused Ron to follow her gaze. Kim soon found herself holding the child while Ron showered.

Finally, Kim and the Stoppables were all cleaned, fed, and ready for the day. Mr. Stoppable left for work and the teens volunteered to look after Hanna, giving Mrs. Stoppable a chance to nap after a long night. The three sat on a blanket in the back yard, which gave Kim and Ron some privacy to call Wade and discuss events.

"I don't understand it," the young genius declared. "Why would Monkeyfist and Aviarius risk capture in order to grab Shego?"

"Am I missing something here?" Ron asked, "I mean, she's about the toughest villain out there. If I was up to something, I'd sure want her on my side."

"I can't picture Shego working with Aviarius," Wade countered. "She spent over two years, as a member of Team Go, fighting him."

"They are both bad guys now," Ron pointed out, bouncing Hanna on one of his feet.

"True," Kim conceded. "But that doesn't mean she's going to work with him. You know her, can you picture her just giving up a grudge?"

"Good point," Ron agreed.

"Maybe it has something to do with the staff," Kim mused.

"The staff was configured to steal Hego's super strength," Wade agreed. "Since Shego received her powers from the same comet, it might work on her, as well."

"It still doesn't make sense," Kim jumped in. "He was able to just zap Hego with it when we were in Minnesota. He could have zapped her at any time. They didn't need to take her with them."

"That's assuming that he hadn't already zapped her by the time you guys arrived," Wade pointed out. "But then again, it still doesn't explain why they took her with them."

"Maybe it's deception," Ron suggested. "Maybe he already zapped her, has her powers, but doesn't want anybody to realize that he does."

"That's possible, as well," Wade agreed. "But it doesn't explain why Monkeyfist is helping him. I don't picture that guy doing favors for Aviarius. They have to both be benefiting from what's going on."

"Maybe Monty's just trying to throw a team together," Ron suggested. "You know, find whomever he can and hope that he can get them to work together."

"But that puts us back to wondering if she'll work with Aviarius," Wade countered. "I think that this discussion is going in circles."

"We're also leaving out DNAmy," Kim added. "Where does she fit into all this?"

"Maybe Amy wants some Team Go DNA, and is paying Aviarius to help Monty obtain it," Ron suggested.

Team Possible continued to discus the situation for another half-hour. At the end of the conversation, they had to admit that they still couldn't guess why Monkeyfist and Aviarius took Shego. Finally, Wade signed off and the two teens were able to discuss Ron's latest monkey experience.

"It was Amy again," he told Kim. The blonde teen got onto hands and knees and crawled after Hanna, who was determined to explore the back yard.

"You already told me that," Kim reminded him, with a smile for how he was carrying on around his sister. "Did you get anything else; anything useful?'

"No," Ron shook his head. "I do know that both monkeys were crippled. In both cases, I received memories of begging humans for food. I'd guess that some people fed them out of pity. They really didn't understand why they were taken."

"Have you heard from the first monkey?"

"No, not a peep. I don't know if that means he's dead, the changes DNAmy made have stripped him of his monkeyhood, or if he just hasn't been traumatized enough to make that…monkey scream thingy."

"Monkeyhood?" Kim smiled at her BFBF.

"I seem to recall discussing the limitations of my grammar the last time this happened," Ron reminded her.

"Okay, it's probably as good a word as any," Kim shook her head. "How about that female monkey, does she have any info?"

"I tried to get in touch with her last night," Ron informed Kim. "Her band hasn't come across any stray, wandering monkeys and they haven't lost any of the band in the last couple weeks, so she isn't much help."

"So what you're saying is we suspect that DNAmy's somewhere in Central or South America, doing experiments on monkeys."

"That's about it," Ron admitted. "I don't know how, or if, it ties into what Monty's doing."

"So we can't do much about her, either," Kim concluded.

"Yeah, and the summer's almost over," Ron pointed out. "In two more weeks, I start football and you start cheerleading. Two weeks after that, classes start and we're back to interrupting classes to track them down."

"Yeah, but it's been a good summer," Kim pointed out, with a smile.

"The best one I can remember," Ron agreed.

"But there's been one big problem," Kim declared. "You, my boyfriend, have been springing for all of our dates. Now, I talked to your mom and while she appreciates you offering to pitch in and help with Hanna, she's decided that you get this Saturday night off. My mom has let me borrow her van for that night. Be ready at eight, and I'm going to treat you to a date night."

"I can't wait."

He woke up slowly, reluctantly, to a feeling of sorrow and loss. These were odd sensations for a self-proclaimed super genius, but Dr. Drakken had been feeling these emotions ever since he had been informed that Shego had been shot trying to escape. Someone with his level of intellect should be concerned with how he was going to escape his current hardships. Instead, he found himself genuinely concerned for her well being.

He sat up in his bunk, slumped his shoulders and sighed. Introspection was painful for him, but he found himself doing more and more of it. Where had he gone wrong? He was a brilliant scientist! Sure, he was a little eccentric; okay he was very eccentric, but that didn't make him an idiot. He made things that did what they were supposed to do, for the most part. So why was he sitting, depressed, in a prison cell hoping he could avoid Old Sparky?

He thought of his college chums: James, Bob and…what was his name again? Oh, yes; Ramesh. He had never been able to pronounce the man's first name. All of them had lucrative, fulfilling careers. None of the three was more brilliant than he, so why were they successful and happy while he was…where he was? It wasn't just the career choices that had Drakken performing a depressing introspection. His three former friends had managed to remain friends with each other. James, in particular, had a loving, beautiful wife and a wonderful family. Drakken, on the other hand, felt close to almost nobody.

Shego had been more than an employee, Drakken truly liked her and respected her and he suspected that she felt much the same towards him. They had no romantic interest in each other, Bortel's Moodulators and several rumors to the contrary. While Drakken acknowledged that she was a stunningly attractive young woman, their relationship had remained comfortably platonic. Truth be told, Drakken hadn't ever felt much in the way of romantic stirrings for anybody, which might have had something to do with why he was alone right now.

Other than Shego, Drakken's circle of friends had been decidedly thin in recent years. He remained fond, in a distant sort of way, to his overbearing mother. He and Ed shared a certain, familial affection for each other. There were other techno-villains, such as Dementor and the Mathter, with whom he shared a friendly rivalry, but he couldn't consider any of them friends. No, his only true friend was Shego.

"Wherever you are," he thought. "I hope you recover. I hope you recover and find some way to live a happy, fulfilling life."

A guard opened his cell door and Drakken lurched to his feet, shuffling off to his weekly meeting with his lawyer.

A/N: Again, thanks for all of the supportive reviews! Hopefully, I'll be getting back to some action and comedy in the upcoming chapters.

As always, a big thank you to Joe Stoppinghem, for Beta reading.

Until the next update, best wishes.

daccu65