"Shego, office. Now."

"All right, all right," muttered the graphic designer. She made her way to Betty's office and plopped down on a chair. "What's up?"

"I understand there was a day that you had to help typeset for the Middleton Daily?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Shego looked at her nails as her boss rolled her eyes. Huh, I need to file these, she thought.

"That was outside the contract, Shego." Betty motioned at a stack of paper. "You just gave me more paperwork to do."

Shego shrugged. "They were short-staffed and Bonnie wanted me to help out. I don't exactly see a problem."

"It becomes a problem for me if you want to be paid for those hours. You're not exactly a freelancer anymore, Shego."

"Whether I get paid or not, I still helped them out. Besides, I doubt they'd be willing to pay at me freelance rate."

"That's exactly the problem. Kim just called and told me that they want to pay you. Apparently Bonnie insisted."

Shego raised a brow. "You're kidding? Bonnie?"

Betty nodded. "In fact, I think they might want you to be on call for any emergency typesetting tasks, something that I told Kim that I'd have to talk to you about. You do have other client projects to work on. The contract with Middleton Daily expires by the end of the year, but they are willing to extend it to cover this new position if you want."

"Well, I know for sure that I don't have a full plate right now, but didn't you say we might have another client early next year?"

"Yes, we'll have another client early next year. This offer that Kim and Bonnie are proposing is open until the winter holiday season begins, so you have until then to give me an answer. Talk to Kim and Bonnie about it and hash out what they want you to do. This is sort of beyond my jurisdiction since they are looking for your freelancing services, not GJ Design's. As far as I know, they've been happy with the work you've done so far with the logo redesign, along with all merchandise redesigns... It's all fair game now, depending on your schedule." Betty kept a level eye on Shego. "Keep in mind I still expect you to pull in your regular hours."

"Gotcha," replied Shego. "I'll talk to them about it."

Betty leaned back in her chair. "So everything's going well with you and Kim?"

Shego gave a curt nod. "Yeah, her sister Hana's been back, so we've just been hanging."

"I see. The Stoppable girl is quite a character."

"Yeah, she is..." Shego stopped looking at her nails and looked at Betty. "A random question... I didn't think it would have been appropriate to ask Kim this, but how come she was adopted by the Stoppables?"

"They wanted a daughter... I think that's the simplest answer I can give you," Betty stated matter-of-factly. "I've heard that she comes from a unique lineage that included some renowned martial artists, but that's the extent of my knowledge of Hana Stoppable."

"Ah, I see..." Shego shrugged. "I know I shouldn't feel sorry for her, but she's gone through a bit too much grief at such a young age. I don't know how I would've handled it if I were her."

"She started off rather delinquent at a young age, it did get worse after her brother died, from what I've heard. She did have some run-ins with the police with vandalism and painting graffiti on some buildings in the west end of the city. Probably just the way teenagers vent out their anger at how unjust the world can be, it sort of reminds me of my time at college..." A ghost of a smile slowly appeared on Betty's face. "Anyway, the Possibles managed to help her out by becoming her guardians, and I know Kim made quite an effort to talk some sense into Hana before she did things she would regret... In the end, I guess she turned out ok."

"She calls me 'Sheegz', Betty... I don't think that's 'ok'... What kind of nickname is that?"

Betty chuckled. "Teens like to shorten everything these days with their L-O-L's and B-R-B's..."

Shego shook her head in amusement. "Like you said, she's quite a character. Hell, all teens are batshit crazy."

Betty laughed. "I guess so, but I've never met the kid."

"What about Ron?"

"In passing once. A bit of a character himself with his naked mole rat. Such a shame the family passed off so early."

Shego nodded. She didn't like to pry, but there were some questions she wanted to ask - asking Kim just didn't seem right. "Anyway, how are you, old bird?"

Betty cocked her head.

"Seeing anyone, or have you scared off all your suitors again?"

Betty shook her head. "Mother keeps setting me up with the most ridiculous of people... Dog breeder, manicurist, and some boring real estate agent who gets excited over numbers."

"I'm sure they all have their merits," commented Shego smugly. "You should've given them a chance."

Betty laughed and tapped her eye patch. "I think the single eye gave them the heebie-jeebies."

Shego scoffed. "While I think it's funny your mom is still setting you up, you should take a night out on the town."

"Normally, I'd agree with you, but no... I've got other things to do." Betty frowned as she looked up at her closed office door. She raised her voice, "Like... Telling Will, who is standing behind my office door and eavesdropping, to mind his own business, and to get you," she shot Shego a look, "to go back to your desk and work!"

Amused, Shego got up and swung open the door to find a red-faced Will blinking at both women.

"Uh, I was about to knock-"

"William, sit. Shego, go," commanded Betty.

"Yes, ma'am!" saluted Shego as her boss rolled her eye in annoyance.

"Will-"

"I had no intention of-"

"It's fine, but I find it odd how you claim to have no interest in your colleagues' personal lives, but you just took the time to listen in on my conversation with Shego."

Will's face remained red as Shego's snickers could be heard several feet away.

"Shego!" barked Betty. "Get out of here and head over to the paper to talk to Kim and Bonnie!"

"Aye, aye, captain!" was the response before Betty and Will heard the front door slam.

"Now, Will, let's discuss your performance review, ignoring what happened a few minutes ago."

Will silently nodded, as colour drained from his cheeks, and resumed to his normal stoic self.

Hana had walked by the unit a few times, peering through the glass to see if Shego was in, but she wasn't sure. She hovered at the door for about half an hour until a prim and proper looking guy came out.

"What do you want?" he asked. "You shouldn't be loitering here."

"Is Shego in?"

"Who are you and what business do you have with her?" asked the young man. He had an extremely annoyed look on his face and narrowed his eyes at Hana.

What a twit, Hana thought. "Just a friend who wanted to drop by and say hi."

The young man rolled his eyes and responded irritatedly, "She stepped out for other business. You can just call her up and ask where she is, instead of wasting my time with your drivel."

"One, I don't have her cell number. Two, don't be such a dickwad."

Will bristled at Hana's abrasiveness. "I am not a dickwad and you really should treat your fellow peers with respect."

"Ah, but you are not a peer, just someone else who knows Shego that I don't care about."

Will glared at her. "If you're friends with Shego, you'd have her number."

Hana frowned. She considered, for a moment, punching the guy in the face, but muttered, "Thanks for nothing." For added measure, Hana added, "Jerk!" before walking into the direction of The Middleton Daily.

"How dare you call me a jerk! I have a name and it is Will!" screeched the young man as he slammed the door and went back into the office.

Today was clearly not his day.

Author's Notes: Meant to humour, somewhat filler, I don't know? *shrug*

Chapter title is from "Sulk" by TRUST, a darkwave band from Toronto. Their debut album 'TRST' is highly recommended if you like witch house or dark synths.