Shego sat on the couch, thinking it was odd how fast everything went back to normal. He never once brought up her crying in his arms- not even to tease her (and he knew darn well that if the situation was reversed, Shego would have used it as comedy central). He even seemed unbothered that she physically hurt him (a fact that bothered her to her core). In his mind, it was like it had never happened, and she was unsure if she was annoyed or grateful for his attitude regarding the situation.

Nevertheless, he had moved on from it. She could wallow in it or join him in moving forward. Shego didn't know when joining someone started to sound better than leaving them behind, but she had found herself deeply considering her and Drakken's future together. Them taking over the world. Him running one half while she runs the other. Them bickering about which half they'd be willing to give up for the other. The fact that she knew 100% that he was brilliant enough to actually pull it off, but he also needed her because he had no common sense, whatsoever. The thought made her smile.

Drakken interrupted her thoughts when he handed her a tiny box with a ribbon on it. She muted the Tv and looked up at him. "What's this?"

He shrugged. "Friday is your birthday."

He grinned at her, which did something to her that she didn't quite understand. She froze for a moment. They had been working together for 7 months, but she had never mentioned her birthday. Not once. "How did you-"

"You know, " he interrupted, sitting down on the couch next to her. "Your criminal records have your birthdate on them." She mentally slapped herself. Of course. She didn't have to mention her birthday for him to know when it was. She had a record. It was all right there. "However," Drakken continued, laying an arm above her spot on the couch. "Even the courts don't have all your information."

She tilted her head to the right slightly. "What do you mean?"

He chuckled. "How is it that the government has your date of birth but not the year in which you were born?"

She laughed. "There are some things a woman must keep to herself, Doc."

He smiled at her. "You know, one of these days, you're going to have to tell me how old you are."

"Absolutely not," she said, giggling. He gestured for her to open it, so she gently untied the ribbon and opened the box. The box held a ticket with an all expense paid for spa week at a luxurious resort. Her eyes grew wide. A one day ticket would be a great present, but he got a ticket for an entire week, which she knew was extraordinarily expensive.

"Drakken, I-" She stopped talking when she met his eyes, which were filled with joy.

"It comes with a condition," he said nonchalantly.

She sat stunned for a moment before she crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "What kind of a present has a condition?"

He sighed. "Don't use it right away. Use it when you have to."

She unfolded her arms. "When I have to?"

"Yeah. When I ask you to do something that you don't want to do, and if I keep pestering you because we both know I like to do that, use the ticket. It's your get out of jail free card. It'll help us avoid…"

He didn't finish his thought, but he didn't have to. She knew what he meant and why he did it. The thought made her heart drop out of her chest and into her stomach, but she smiled anyway. "Thank you, Dr. D." Before she knew what she was doing, she wrapped both of her arms around him and squeezed him tight. He reciprocated her actions and hugged her back. She leaned a cheek on his shoulder and whispered in his ear. "28."

He let go of her. "What?"

"My birthday. I'll be 28."

He grinned from ear to ear. "Well, happy 28th birthday, Shego."

…

It had been months, and she was starting to think she'd never have to use her get out of jail free card. Drakken had been nothing but respectful. Sure, he was still a mad genius, which came with a certain amount of idiocy, but he never once made a suggestion to Shego that was out of line.

After a loss to the teen princess, Shego sat across from a grumpy Drakken with her feet on the table while she filed her nails.

Drakken hit his fists against the table. "Kim Possible always defeats me! And it vexes me, so."

She looked up from her nails, an annoyed expression appearing on her face. "You? I'm the one fighting her."

His eyes lit up. "That's true! It is you she always defeats."

Shego rolled her eyes. "What's your point?"

Drakken rose from the table, pacing the room. "We simply need to tip the odds in your favor. Suppose you outnumbered her." He moved to her chair, standing behind her. "Suppose there were an army of you against one of her. All I would need is one strand of hair, Shego."

She stood up, facing him. "Oh no, no, no. Absolutely not. I have a no cloning clause in my contract. Or do you not remember writing that?"

"But that was then, Shego, and this is now."

"Drakken, I swear to God, I will-" she paused and then smiled. "One word for you, Doc. Resort."

"What?"

"Get out of jail free card? Luxurious resort? Remember that? I'm leaving." She walked calmly out of the room, but she still heard him cursing himself.

"Arg! Shego! I would have stopped pestering."

"No, you wouldn't have!" She shouted loud enough for him to hear it.

…..

Drakken had called her multiple times at the resort. She was persistent on not coming back until she used her entire week's worth of the ticket. He didn't blame her, but he was angry at himself for making the suggestion in the first place. At least she didn't absolutely lose it this time, he thought. They were getting somewhere. This newfound mutual respect for each other had truly opened his eyes to the endless possibilities for world domination. He didn't just want it for himself anymore. He wanted it for her too. He wanted to prove to her that he could do it, and he wanted her to be right next to him when he did.

That very thought worried him. He had never once wished those things would happen with a previous assistant (partner?). He wanted all the glory for himself, but with Shego, he was willing to share (at least a small part of it). Was he becoming less evil for suddenly caring about someone?

He shook his head. He couldn't waste his time thinking of such things. Regardless of how he felt about Shego, she was gone this week, and he might as well use that to his advantage. He couldn't clone Shego, but surely there was someone else he could clone that would defeat Kim.

He suddenly grinned to himself. "Why, who better to defeat Kim Possible than Kim Possible herself?"

…..

Hank, one of Drakken's many henchmen, was driving Drakken around in a van, attempting to find Possible. Drakken sulked in his seat. After his failed attempt at cloning Kim (he ended up with some brown haired teenager), he realized how totally incompetent his henchmen were. Shego would have never made such an idiotic mistake! Arg, his henchmen were good men, but he could never trust them with such an important task.

Drakken leaned his head against the window, sulking. "Oh, how I miss Shego! I wonder if she misses me." His mind went to her. Every time she saved him from death. Every time she avoided security (or took care of the problem of security) when he had asked her to steal some big invention. Every time she filed her nails, pretending she was ignoring him, but he knew she was listening because occasionally she would use what he said to her as an opportunity to mock him. The very thought of her made him smile like a little girl.

He opened his eyes and noticed Hank glaring at him with a smirk spread across his face. "What?" Drakken asked, annoyed that Hank took him out of his spell.

"Oh nothing." Hank shrugged, but his smile got bigger as he was holding in a laugh.

"Oh, what is it, Hank?" Drakken crossed his arms over his chest, mirroring what Shego would be doing if she were here right now.

He finally let out his chuckle. "Anything you'd like to share about you and Shego?"

Drakken raised an eyebrow, confused. It took him a minute to process what Hank was asking, but once he got it, his eyes grew wide in surprise. "Oh, that is preposterous!"

Hank grinned again. "Are you sure?"

"Argh! Just drive the vehicle, Hank!" Drakken sank in his chair, pouting.

….

Shego pulled up to Bueno Nacho as she watched Kimmie melt all of Drakken's clones. She rolled her eyes. Of course he wouldn't have dropped the stupid cloning idea. He just didn't get to do it to her. She honked the horn of her car, grabbing his attention. When he turned to her, his face lit up, and he had a smug grin on his face. "Shego! You're back!" He ran to the car but stopped when he noticed the look of annoyance on her face.

She took her sunglasses off so that he could see the seriousness in her eyes. "What did we learn?"

He pouted. "Uh, no cloning?"

She smirked. "Get in." He jumped up in joy as he sat in the passenger seat, and she giggled slightly. He is ridiculous, she thought, but she smiled as she drove away from the restaurant. Absolutely ridiculous.