It was surprisingly upsetting for Shego to see Ann leave the room as she managed with the surgeon's help to finish the last bits of soup.
She promised she'd be back as soon as she had no more work to do, though from the number of patients Shego had seen being pushed out of this room since she'd been watching she could tell that wasn't anytime in the near future.
Perhaps this week away from the excitement of villainy wouldn't be so bad after all.
But something still felt wrong as Shego now with a full and comfortable stomach managed to fall into a fairly enjoyable state of rest.
Why was the parent of her single biggest rival treating her with this amount of kindness and civility as if they had been nothing but good friends all their life?
The one time Kim mother and her met, was so long ago now that the memory of it all had become hazy. Shego could probably have recalled any one of her days in team Go better than that day.
She did remember well though that it was mother's day when for the first time she beheld the red haired surgeon who her employer Drakken had at first mistook for Kim's elder sister.
And had it not been mother's day, Shego would probably have made the same mistake astute as she usually was.
There was nothing in Ann's graceful movements and modest expression that remotely suggested an older woman old enough to be parent to a teenage daughter and two young boys still too young for horror movies.
Perhaps Hego her brother really was onto something when he claimed a truly noble parent like theirs never lost their natural charm no matter their age.
Those were his exact words just weeks before it happened. It being a matter of seconds which pained his now lonely and fiercely independent younger sister to even think about let alone speak of.
Or maybe it was just because Ann was a doctor and doctor's were known for their above average lifespans over their less fortunate brethren. That would be far more plausible since Shego still didn't feel exactly at ease around a woman who would have made a prime target for her target practise just a few moments before her appetite had been appeased by that perfect soup whose aftertaste continued to pleasantly linger.
It beat the cruddy junk food Drakken had in his lair since he was too lazy to learn to cook himself by a long, long shot.
In at least a few ways, Shego could see why Kim was so eager to suck up to her parents's expectations of her.
If it meant eating this high standard of five star standard dining for breakfast, lunch and supper then even Shego was envious of the much better life that her rival led. From being more popular to having so many more fans grovelling before her in the city square and now being fortunate enough to enjoy warm and fresh soup. It was becoming increasingly difficult by the second for Shego to brag about her life being so much better than Kim's had been ever since she turned from the side of heroism and Kim did not.
Shego wasn't a hero and she would never be again. And if she wasn't feeling this weak right now, she'd be dashing back to her boss to plot her next devious scheme against Kim and the entire Possible household.
Her thoughts were interrupted by those footsteps in the corridor she had grown accustomed to hearing every now and again when not much was happening. Footsteps that signalled all too well that since she was the only patient left in this room on this pitch black night she had woken to after a surprisingly deep and uninterrupted sleep.
All too soon,the door was opened once again and as the lights to the room were flicked on there stood the bringer of hot soup and Shego guessed, her caretaker of sorts for the next days until she finally recovered enough strength to quit this accursed place they called "a sanctuary for the sick.".
"I'm back." Ann began the conversation with standing over Shego and gently stroking her hair tenderly.
Shego wondered if Kim had ever told this crazy parent of hers that she could shoot burning plasma from her fingertips with little effort. Burning plasma hot enough to sear through even thick sheets of lead with ease leaving little more than molten slag in it's wake. But something about the way Ann's fingers ran made it much less threatening and Shego guessed she could take this for at least a bit.
"What do you want?" demanded Shego figuring that if she answered whatever stupid questions this redhead had then she could left alone in peace quicker.
"I just want to talk to you Shego. I've been wanting to talk to you for some time now. I want to ask you some things."
"If you've come to ask me to go back to Kim and tell her let's be friends. then no. I don't do superhero things anymore. I don't work for anybody. Just myself and possibly Dr D as long as he pays me well enough." Shego guessed whatever conversation they'd be having could only head down this direction and she wanted to stop the surgeon from even bringing it up.
"Please Shego, I know you're angry with me and you don't trust me." sighed Ann continuing to gently caress Shego's hair in a way that actually felt sort of calming. "But please, just hear me out this once."
Shego used her good arm to brush the soft and delicate hand still touching her long black hair away with one sharp movement. She could at least move some of her muscles now that she had been thoroughly rested.
"You're lucky I'm in a good mood right now, or else I'd burn you to a crisp." she snarled softly but angrily. "If I were you, I'd leave and never come back. I don't want you here."
The next question which tumbled from the redhead's persistent wordhole though turned Shego's rage into defensiveness.
"Just let me ask you one thing Shego and I promise I'll go. What happened to you Shego? You used to be a much nicer person before you left your family. Did something go wrong?"
"How do you know any of that?" barked the very agitated Shego, a tad terrified at how the woman now facing her seemed to know everything that was going on in her mind. There was no way one of her worst enemies would know any of that crap which she kept hidden from everyone and even tried to keep it secret from herself as best she could by burying it deep inside her.
"Kimberly told me." was the more than calm and unafraid reply. "She met team Go once on one of her missions and she me all about how without you, they're not doing well. They told her to tell you if she ever got the chance, that they miss you Shego."
"Well too bad I don't miss them. Is that what you came here to ask me. Because if it is, we're done talking." Shego needed to get this loudmouth off her case as quickly as she could before Ann started using her attractive facade to start digging deeper into the secrets Shego could not have getting exposed to anyone, least of all the parent of her worst enemy who was sure to go blabbing to the world.
Anything was preferable to losing her secrets to this creep who talked too much.
Ann once again had clearly read Shego's mind down to the letter as she nodded sadly to show she understood the pain she was causing the incredibly flustered patient whose very complexion seemed to grow paler by the second like a ghost.
"I can see that whatever happened to you Shego is still hurting you and I won't force you if you don't want to."
"Then stop wasting my time and leave me in peace and let me get some rest. It's already so late."
She expected that this would be the end of this futile talk that had gone on way too long. But Ann did not leave. Instead her voice became more melodious and the look in those big blue eyes only more difficult to resist.
"I want to help you Shego. I really do. But I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."
"I don't want your help. I don't need your help. All I need is for you to get out." Shego's patience was already wearing thin though the redhead's gleaming eyes and pleasant voice so calm in the face of her anger made it difficult for her to sound truly threatening anymore. It was as if Ann's voice was a siren drawing her closer and closer despite her fiercest resistances. Shego would a hundred times rather Ann shouted and screamed in anger instead.
"Let me ask you something different then ,Shego." Ann paused for a moment as if even she was unsure about her next words. "What's the worse thing you've ever done, in your own opinion?"
Of all the invasive and stupid questions Shego was expecting to be subjected to, she could never have guessed that this would be a question she'd have been asked in her life for any reason. Just how Ann was planning to get anything out of this much less offensive but much more puzzling and indirect inquiry, Shego hadn't the foggiest idea. Was she being played for a dummy now by a doctor who thought their degrees made them too smart to be beaten at their own mind games.
"What is this now, a confession?" asked Shego hoping to get the upper hand in this cross examination by cunning. "Well then. First tell me. What about you doctor. What have you done?"
The reply was much more shaky and slow to come this time and Shego briefly smirked at the thought of finally having backed the overly talkative redhead into a corner.
"I don't think you want to know that Shego." Ann warned grimly, taking a second to look away from her patient to steady her nerves. She had only told her husband James her story up until now and she was really hoping to wait until Kimberly had gotten at least a bit older and more mature before she was forced to repeat it a second time. It wasn't a light hearted story that helped with getting a good night's sleep. "It might be best you don't know."
Shego sensed Ann's inner turmoil and befitting her villainous nature quickly took to capitalising it with all her might.
"Go on. Say it. Just what exactly did you do that's making you so shaky? Or are you too much of a pussy to spill the beans?" And Shego's smirk grew since this was bound to finally shut up this goody two shoes, who was no better than her daughter in any way.
Ann's tension eased up slightly as she took a deep breath and averted her eyes so that they met line to line with the green and narrow eyes of Shego.
This was a good a time as any to finally reveal her truth that she had been hiding far too long anyway, and with that attitude it sounded like this was a story that would at least give Shego some entertainment if she was to be stuck lying on a bed for this long.
"I've waited a long time for someone to ask me this." she admitted "And in some ways, I'm glad it was you Shego who asked. You deserve the truth."
Ann took a brief second to steady herself. She needed all her strength if she was going to convince Shego that all this really was the truth and not just some fancy she made up on the spot.
"It started when I was very young."