Past Lives, Present Questions

"Are you finished, dear?" Sarah Renton asked, as Shelly finished washing the dishes. Sarah didn't sigh—she had cybertronic systems that could do that, but Shelly liked to work—or, more accurately, needed to work. Cindy had mentioned, but Sarah hadn't needed to be told, that the younger version of Shego was carrying much older guilt on her shoulders, whatever she might say.

And, she was in some ways happy for it. Not the pain it caused Shelly, no, but the simple fact that the capacity to feel guilt was a better indication of just how far different she was from Shego than anything else.

"Now I am." Shelly said, turning. The scarf over her hair was brightly colored, her hair in a long braid down her back, while her modest dress brought color to the room, gold and crimson patterns chasing each other along the fabric. Shego had enjoyed showing her body off and loved green and black, Shelly dressed modestly (well when she wasn't doing cheerleading) and preferred gold and red. Neither Sarah nor Dr. Peterson were certain if this was simply what she'd like when she'd been 17 or a more conscious renunciation. Shelly hadn't stated it and both women respected her privacy.

Felix was gone—he was on a date with Monique, and Shelly had quickly realized that his mom knew a great deal more about how close they were than either Monique or Felix realized. She knew that Felix had been crippled as a young child, in the same accident that had taken his father's life, but while Monique appeared to be his first serious girl friend, he certainly didn't lack for friends. Still, Monique and Felix looked to be serious… Evidently, Dr. Renton approved of Monique. Shelly wasn't' certain if she approved of her. Dr. Renton knew who she was, for real…but hadn't said anything about it. Shelly didn't know what to make of that.

"How's school?"

"Well…fine." Shelly said, she paused, "Except computing."

"Hmm?"

"All the memories are going. I remember using 286's." Shelly shrugged, "I'm not upset, but it's…like I'm a time traveler, in some ways." Sarah paused, and looked at her.

"What?" Shelly asked.

"I hadn't thought of it that way…" Sarah commented. You were 17 in…1993, right?"

"Yeah."

"And you…" She paused, "I don't think any of us had ever thought of this…do you remember the comet?"

"Yeah… but not the whole TeamGo thing…I remember it had hit the tree house after I'd gone up to get the Twins, and Hank was raving about how this was our ticket out of the orphanage…"

Dr. Possible paced the room like a caged lioness. Cindy had told her who was coming and she'd reacted… about like Cindy had expected. Fortunately, Both James and the Twins were gone for the night. Technically, it was for some "me time" for their mother, but James had also known that Cindy was coming by, and had evidently decided that the Twins should be somewhere else in case Cindy and Margaret had to discus sensitive matters.

Hopefully, when he got back, there wouldn't be holes in the house. Cindy really hoped there wouldn't be holes in the house. Cindy heard the sound of a car in the Driveway, and looked over at Dr. Possible. There was a knock on the door…and when Margaret went to open it, there was Hego, standing in the doorway, making it look a little too small for his size.

"Hello, Dr. Possible." He said, uneasily. They hadn't spoken since Kim had been recovered, and Hego had called to express his condolences. Margaret had had few words for him, mainly having to do with asking why he hadn't cleaned up his own messes. She hadn't really, Cindy knew, wanted to talk to him at all…

But he was the eldest relative of Shelly, who was a minor, and Margaret was a doctor.

"Hank Carlson." Cindy said, "Let's dispense with the silly team names, shall we?"

"Very well." He said, sitting down, still looking at Margaret, who hadn't said a thing to him yet.

"Shelly Liu, AKA, Shego, is alive." Cindy said.

"That's a lie!" Hank said, shooting to his feat, blue aura rising. "I saw the evidence, she's de- dead." He said, stutter in his voice.

"That's what she wanted everyone to think." Margaret said, speaking up, her voice soft. She used a device of Drakkens to regress her age, give her a combination of false memories and the memories she had when she was 17, and used it to get close to my daughter and Ronald." Hank looked around, and Cindy saw a dreadful fear start to bloom on his face, and she quickly spoke.

"They're both okay—Shego's… plan backfired, which is why you're here."

"Back…Shelly…Alive…." Hank seemed to be in shock.

"Good choice of words." Cindy said, "Margaret, you're the brain surgeon…if you please?" Kim's mother looked at her and than started talking.

"In layman's terms, Shego de-aged herself, using a treatment that would have been fatal to anyone else…but she also de-aged her brain…permanently, it turned out. She no longer has the memories, or…" Margaret sighed, "Any sign that she's anything else than a 17 year old girl."

"Even the weakest memories of her life beyond 17 are fading…"

"She's…" Hank paused, "No. Why are you doing this? I'm sorry she tortured your daughter, my God, I said it to you. She can't be alive. Not possible. We…the Twins…Michael, we'd only just accepted that she was gone, forever, for good or ill…this can't be true." Cindy sighed. It was a good thing she'd suggested Margaret make some of her tea…the kind that calmed the nerves. She poured a cup and gave it to Hank, watching as over half slopped over the edge as he brought it, shaking, to his mouth. He stopped. Closed his eyes, as the two women, saw him physically stop himself from shaking. Then, he opened his eyes, and looked at them.

"Tell me everything."

Somehow, Shelly found herself talking to Sarah about the orphanage.

"I'd always wondered…don't get me wrong, but there didn't seem to be much of a family resemblance…"

"The Asian thing?" Shelly asked,.

"Among others." Sarah said back to the teen, as they sat in her living room. Shelly laughed softly.

"I was a boat baby—I never knew my parents, but a U.S. Navy ship picked me up floating on a raft near Vietnam. They sent me to an orphanage in the U.S. Hank…his parents had been killed in a car wreck, and the Twins never said what had happened to theirs. They still…" She shook her head, "Or I don't know, maybe they did, later."

"And Mego?"

"Michael? Oh, his dad liked to smack him around, so he was always in and out." She sighed, "Hank and I…kinda took care of the others." She shrugged, "I guess that didn't last too long after the comet."

"No…" Sarah said quietly, "How did you get along with them?"

"Oh, the twins were loud, Michael was always about himself, Hank was… hah, well Hank." She looked down at her hands. "We were going to be split up—Hank was almost 18, and I wasn't far behind, so that was it, and the others weren't handling it too well, so we went out back to talk to them—they had this treehouse, see where they could get away.… and then we got smacked by a comet."

"And then…"

"Then Hank proclaimed it was a sign, and we were going to save the world. He really read too many comics…and after that…" She made an irritated grabbing gesture at the empty air. "Nothing."

"How long were you in the orphanage?"

"From three on—Hank was there from five on, but well…" Shelly grinned without humor, "I was Asian in a time when you could still get away with calling me 'Gook' and anyway, old kids aren't cute—they don't get picked. I just figured I'd make the best of it."

Sarah leaned back, and wondered.

What happened to you, Shelly? Why did Shego appear?

Hego had known about what Shego had done—if not all the details. Margaret had to confess to herself the desire to punish him by relating everything…then rising above the temptation and simply giving him the brief version, most of which he'd heard. Than she went on to Shego's resurrection as "Shelly", and the events that went after. Nearly an hour had passed by the time she'd finished.

"She never let us call her Shelly, after…"

"After what, Hank." Cindy said quietly. "This is important."

"H-how?"

"Because, if this Shelly is like she was…" Cindy paused, "Call it professional curiosity, but I just don't see Shego in Shelly…and normally, you can see the inklings of a persons later life by the time they're teens—yet Shelly shows none of it. She's almost the polar opposite of Shego." The psychologist looked at him, "Some of that can be explained by her desire to consciously deny Shego, but not all of it."

"I don't know… but Shelly…she always hated being out of control—she was furious when she realized that we wouldn't be allowed to stay together once she and I were 18—she'd worked and convinced herself that she could adopt the twins and Michael…"

"But she had control—once the comet hit."

"Shelly never saw it that way…" Hank sighed, "I'm afraid it was my fault. I was so…" He paused, and looked at Dr. Possible. "It was so wonderful, Dr. Possible. One minute I was looking forward to a life of fast food—no college for orphan kids, and than…then we were heroes. We could do anything."

"And you built the tower."

"The city did, actually. Shelly said they were just hanging on to us, just like the orphanage had. Just like everyone had."

"Was she…religious?"

"She was Catholic…but I don't say she was tremendously religious…why?"

"She's no fanatic, but I'd say Shelly is far more than just a casual Christian." Cindy said.

"And she left…"

"On the eve of our greatest victory." Hego said softly.

"No, dammit!" Shego as she demanded to be called, at all times now, snarled as she paced around the table.

"But Sis… what's the problem?" Michael said, "It's a great deal!"

"What—we get to clean up their messes for them?" The Beautiful Asian women snarled at them all.

"We'll be official!" The Wego's said in unison.

"No, we'll be their dog catchers… this doesn't come with any pay, or any law enforcement rights, does it—just obligations!"

"Sis…. The police play an important role…and we have a duty-"

"BULL!" Shego's voice stopped Hego in his tracks. "It's like the orphanage. 'good kids get ahead. Good girls always get to go off to good homes. We'll never split you up.' Remember how that ended? This is just another one of their lies that they like to use. I say if they want us, they pay for us."

"Sis, that's not how things are done-" Hego had been walking towards her, to try to calm her down when he found himself flying backwards. Shego glared at them all, furious, green fire rolling off her.

"Well it isn't for me! I'm going to get paid, and paid well. Who's with me?" She looked around, and suddenly, Hego thought he saw a terrible look in her face as nobody moved towards her.

"Not you, Michael?"

"I'll…stay here, Sis."

"What about you, William, Walsh?"

"Sis… these people need us." She looked at them, and snarled, an obscenity.

"Fine. Enjoy your stay." Shego turned and marched towards the door.

"Sis…" Hego said, "Don't… you don't need to go." For a moment, a tiny moment, he thought she would come back and they could work it out…but she shook her head, slightly, a tremor running through her body, before she stilled it.

"No." She said, "You're wrong. I do need to go." And with that, she left the big control room that Hego had had designed to look like some of the rooms he'd fantasized about in his comic books. Somehow…none of them had felt so empty in his mind…and there had always been five of them standing together…not four in a room suddenly large and cold…

TBC.