AN: I'm BACK!

The Company Part 3

The heat from the opening to the lair along with the fire made it nearly unnoticeable the power to the house was an issue. It would have probably been forgotten about if not for the occasional flickering of the lamp that illuminated the heavy book Shego held.

With each turn of the page, Drakken felt a growing ball of nerves in his stomach... as if something unknown was about to pop out of the old book and attack him. Seeing the history of his family in black and white, with dates, and names... it made the drunken tales his Uncle would tell he and Ed in secret... less a story he could ignore. The old photos held faces he vaguely recalled from photos in his childhood... a stranger there and a person at an old wedding photo there... it pulled at curiosity but pushed at discomfort. He'd long decided he'd wanted no part of what was in this book... so much so he'd even stopped listening to his uncle in his teens about anything connected to it... something he regretted after leaving college and especially after his uncle's passing as he'd joined the villain world.

"Drakken?" Shego's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Hmm?" he asked as he focused his eyes on her.

"Maybe we should call it a night," said Shego, "You're just staring into space and we haven't even gotten to anything good yet."

Drakken was about to urge her to continue, but he nodded instead. His mind was unable to focus on what she was showing him and the mixture of shifting emotions he was having. He knew she was speaking to him as the light flickered off but he only hummed in response. Drakken closed his eyes for what felt like moments but when he opened his eyes again, Shego was fast asleep and the fire had dwindled. Unlike moments prior, his thoughts were still. Shego's light breathing, the creaks of the wind against the outer walls of the cabin, and the buzzing hum from the lair below the room were all that he could focus on. He knew he'd dozed off, given the change in the semi-dark room, but it didn't feel like it.

For a few short breaths he tried to force himself back to sleep only to give up completely as the numbness in his arm finally sunk in. He glanced to where Shego upper body laid across it his trapped arm and began to slowly move it before quickly yanking his arm away from her. He heard her grumble but she remained asleep as he got out of bed and shook his arm to increase the blood flow. This resulted in him slapping his hand into the lamp on the nightstand and for him to muffle a yell as it fell on his bare foot. He fought the urge to kick it with his other foot and looked towards Shego as a small snort came from her direction.

She was still fast asleep, but now wrapped deeper into the blanket, a light snore had taken over her breathing. As the circulation returned back to his hand and the foot pain began to fade he made his way through the cabin. A sudden scratch though his throat and even down his spine making it painfully aware he hadn't had enough water in the waking hours. As if to confirm this, the tingle through his spine as he entered the kitchen was met by Flower darting passed him. He grumbled and rolled his eyes as Flower turned on the faucet before his hand could even reach the cabinet for a glass.

"Do you mind," hissed Drakken as water splashed him as he shoved Flower aside to get water for himself.

Flower splashed him again and he glared.

"You are a parasite," grumbled Drakken, as he downed the glass of water.

As if the prove a point that it was not a parasite, Flower attempted to fill the glass back up with water.

"This doesn't change my concern," stated Drakken as he finished filling his second cup.

Before he could turn off the water, a grinding noise came from the pipes as the water stopped. He glared and turned the nozzle off and on, only to remember the power was still an issue. The distractions of finding his grandmother's secret lair had pushed that concern out of his mind. As he sipped the water, all the calm in his head faded with that realization. The fact there was a lair beneath him and all the questions it brought up resurfacing, made him hasten his way back to the bedroom. Taking a quick glance at a still sleeping Shego, he headed down into the lair and then back up to grab the book on the nightstand, and then finally down the stairs again.

He let out a deep breath as he looked around the lair again. Letting it settle in without shocked eyes for the first time. By his own lairs standards, it was far too small and no where up to par with most of the ones he'd inhabited. As he placed The Company book down on the work station he looked at the tools long since unused around him. It was strange imagining the elderly women he'd known a his grandmother... with her frailties, fogged memory, and inability to even write... at one point mastering and staring in all the stories she'd told him in his youth. He picked up an old soldering tool and turned it over in his hand. Outdated and worn... but in its time... it would have been one of the best.

All of it was.

He put the took back and moved towards the corner where the labcoat and its ode to Dr. Drakken stood. Drakken, himself, didn't know how long he'd stared at the old worn leather coat or the newspapers with titles similar to the stories he'd heard as a child... but he found himself picking up the journals Shego had went to grab earlier and placing them next to The Company book on the workspace. Time moved by quickly as he began placing some of the manuals he'd put aside next to them. Subconsciously deciding which books were leaving this lair for his own. He moved from file cabinet to file cabinet until he reached the one Shego has been originally going through before they'd found the manifesto.

It was neater then some of the others, and seemed to be less dusty and spider infested as the others. Flipping a few more files out of the way he realized why and froze as he noticed dates and names. She had unknowingly opened up they very file cabinet they'd originally been looking for. It was a log list of Company Members and files. He pulled the first one out that was marked behind a leather divide with one of the crests on it. Opening it, he paused as a less dated note was on it. It was a page number. He flipped the file of a young man that held the words Basilisk Family on the top to see another person with a different page number on it. He squinted and then walked with the file over to the manifesto and opened the page number and snorted.

Shego and himself hadn't gotten far at all in the book, because if they had, they would have found fold out sections that listed family trees of the founding families. Idly he glanced through the file and the folded out family log and noticed it ended at the first two rows of family members listed. The original founders and their children before looking at the folder front and noting dates 1890-1900s. He put the file aside and began rummaging back into the files.

Let's see what we can find...

It was a loud bang that woke Shego with a start, not the chirping of the birds awakening for the morning. Shego groaned and sat up and looked around for the source of the sound that awoke her. Glancing towards where Drakken had been laying next to her to see if he had woke up... was met by empty space. She did not need to hear the next bang that came loudly through the cabin to know who was responsible for its noise. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she slid out of bed only to trip on something near the edge of the bed.

"What the..." she trailed off as she looked at the stack of files that had been the cause of her stumble, "Uhg, now what?"

She looked around the floor and to the chair in front of the nearly out fire... files were spread about, the company book was open with several pages dogeared. There were notes and scribbled papers tossed among them all. Her eyes darted around the piles as she grabbed her robe to fight the slight chill filling the room from the dwindling fire, and her eyes narrowed. A spur of annoyance began to take over as she looked at the mess. She had been the one curious about the files and the book and he had waited for her to fall asleep to explore without her.

'Bang!'

Shego's glare turned away from where she'd been about to pick up one of the files, towards the hallway. The sound reverberated through the cabin but it was coming from outside. Stalking down the hall, she went over what she was going to snap at Drakken. She glanced out the window in her passing towards the door but as he hand touched the doorknob, she backpedaled towards the window. It took her a moment to register what she as seeing. Drakken had various parts from what she assumed was the malfunctioning generator, scattered around him. The banging noise seemed to be due to a long thin pipe he alternated between shortening and then banging against a metal bench to break off the pieces he was trying to shorten.

As another bang of the pipe rang through the cabin, it did nothing to sway her temper. Not only due to the fact he'd waited for her to sleep to dig through files, but his clear disregard for her sleep by making a racket. The racket part wasn't exactly new, typically it was located in a lab far enough away she could ignore it. She shoved her boots before yanking open then door to yell at him.

"Can you keep it down!" she snapped.

Drakken dropped the pipe at being startled by the sudden noise not caused by himself. The moment of startle faded and her gave a huffy grumble of apologies as he picked up his pipe again. Shego watched him proceed to dismiss her presence as he tried to fit the pipe he'd "resized" back into something on the ground. Crossing her arms, both to keep warm and out of annoyance, and walked towards him.

"Good morning," she scoffed.

"Hmpf," Drakken responded and yanked the pipe back out of what looked like a part of the generator on the ground.

"Did you dismantle the generator?" asked Shego as he walked passed her.

"Clearly," he muttered and picked back up a circular device and began wrapping it around the pipe, "You'd think for a cabin with a heap of secrets below it, would have had a better backup power source."

"Oh stop being so melodramatic. Why are you in such a mood?" scoffed Shego, "If anything, I should be the one in a mood."

Drakken raise his brow and gave her a confused look through his sour expression.

"Care to explain why you are entitled to be in a mood? Last time I checked. I was the one dealing with family secrets," said Drakken.

Shego wanted to snap back. She wanted to counter how he'd gone digging through things with out her. How it had been her insistence to do so, not his... but she was even more angry now... angry because Drakken was right. She had no stake in what was in the files, what he may have uncovered in papers and books... her only claim had been years of curiosity and a half-baked attempt at reasoning that something might add in protection against Botox and family... which was slim... it was just a push to explore.

Instead of saying something that would point this out or she may regret. She chose to ignore his words and the mood altogether...

"I'm making eggs," she shrugged and turned on her heel back towards the house, "Don't let them get cold."

She glanced back at Drakken over her shoulder as she opened the door. His expression was completely defused by her change of subject. If she stayed much longer, he'd figure out she'd done it on purpose, but she was tempted to linger a few more seconds just to watch him grumble in frustration and look in her direction completely lost for coherent words. Letting the door closed behind her, she sighed and glared into the sunlit cabin before heading to the kitchen.

A oven wasn't needed to cook some eggs, just a well controlled heat source. She'd barely had a chance to pull out the eggs when she heard Drakken come through the front door and begin heading to the kitchen.

"How upset are you?" he asked as he lingered in the doorway. Shego raised a brow, "You snapped at me and then offered breakfast... if its my last breakfast... I'd rather it not be eggs."

"I'm hungry," shrugged Shego as she used her power to heat up the frying pan.

"I see," hummed Drakken. He stared at her.

"What?" asked Shego in slight annoyance.

She saw a smirk sliding across his face.

"Or... could you simply not win the argument that might have started?" he asked.

Shego's brows furrowed.

"You want your last meal to be eggs?" was her only retort.

"No," he said quickly and edged into the room.

She waited for the ranting about what secrets had upset him, but it didn't come. As she dumped the extremely hot eggs onto a plate she glanced towards him. Drakken still lingered in the doorway, his face void of expression as he looked and picked at the wood frame. The sigh that was about to break passed her lips before she would interrogate him... stopped.

Has he figured it out...

Something had clearly put him in a foul mood and if it had been something simple, he would be ranting in annoyance by now about it. She bit her lip for a second before clearing her throat to get his attention. She placed the plates on the small table in the kitchen corner and sat down. Drakken's expression shifted slightly as he sat across from her.

"No toast?" he teased.

"No electricity?" she teased back as she indicated to the only light from the tiny window, "So, anything... interesting in the files?"

It was a risky gamble to test.

She watched his chewing slow before he furrowed his brows and the rant began.

"The file cabinet you were in actually held the files we were originally looking for. While some information isn't there, such as familiar connections after the 40s, but there were some questionable updates that took a more pressing interest other then the family trees or lairs," he let out a deep sigh.

Shego raised a brow at this, his statement dismissing her thoughts on him finding anything out about Botox connection to his father and grandmother.

"Updates?" asked Shego.

"While The Company information ends in the 40s, someone apparently started keeping tabs on times closer to us," Drakken continued, "Nothing as of today, but it appears that Emily not only had kept the lair below a secret, but had also been creating files of her own."

"I'm sorry, what?" Shego's eyes shot open, "When? Who?"

"Whenever she was here last I assume. The file on your end was rather scarce-"

"My file?" Shego choked.

"She only seemed to take a mild interest after I originally hired you. The fact she was well aware of my early lairs but never decided to divulge she was anywhere near is both impressive and infuriating," Drakken grumbled.

Shego waved her hands in dismission

"She had files on us?" Shego insisted.

"Among others," he replied, "But can you believe her? Don't hear from her in years and she was just lurking around and skulking about the entire time. Why I do appreciate her not unveiling my villain life to my mother, she could have at least shared some of the files below. If I was still attempting world domination, there was a few that would have been useful. I could have done without reading some of her lair comments. My first lair was still bigger then the one below, so her calling it tiny was-"

"Circle back," Shego sighed, "Spare me the details, I'll read that later... but how long was she keeping tabs on us?"

Drakken's face contorted in thought before giving a slight shrug.

"Well the only thing in your file was when you were hired and then... nothing. She had very little other then a note on you were from Go City... which I didn't even know, so that's another thing-"

"Drakken," she interrupted. He stopped, "That's why the mood? Because your aunt didn't stop in? Given how I've seen Motor Ed's surprise visits... I'd think you'd have been outraged... but back to the Company-"

"I barely read those files," he shrugged, "I mean she put notes on files and pages in the book... which was interesting until I find the other files..."

He trailed off for a second.

"I didn't want her dropping in unannounced like Eddie... but a heads up on the secret family lair here would have been a nice e-mail," he yawned, "After that I didn't much read into any of the older files... just brought them up."

"So that... that was it," Shego raised a brow, "Nothing else you might have come across?"

Drakken shrugged and then his brow furrowed.

"What really burned my buttons was how she referred to Dementor as 'accomplished' in his file but not in mine. What's that supposed to mean? Did she think Dementor was better then her own flesh and blood—the nerve!"

Shego fell into silence as Drakken finally began the held back rant she'd first expected. There was a mild wonder if her was omitting something he'd come across but as his hands flared over the notes in his file, that fell away. Every few sentences he let out a yawn and his eggs were only partially eaten but she could tell he was going to make no more effort to eat. Finishing the last of hers she noted that his words were becoming less coherent. Her eyes glanced outside to the now fully risen sun and wondered if he'd slept at all.

Would serve him right to go through the files while he slept.

While she was curious on these updated files, she still felt the curious pull to learning about the Company origins and if she was being honest... seeing where there might be ties to her own personal connections to it that she'd recently learned. Finding out as much on the Taxley family seemed a more pressing matter then Drakken's Aunt stalking all of them in the past. She wasn't a threat... at least she hoped.

"Did you even sleep," Shego cut him off

"-But at least there wasn't anything on Eddie, hah- Huh?" Drakken's grin faltered, "At least... an hour."

Shego's eyes narrowed.

"I was working on the generator-"

"You were breaking the generator," she corrected.

Drakken glanced towards outside and she saw his scrunched face before he spoke and schooled it away.

"Perhaps a little rest would have been a better alternative," he muttered. His eyes darted to her, "Some rest might help me... collect my thoughts."

"You think," she smirked, "I hardly think your information warranted beating up the generator and being snippy."

Drakken's nose scrunched and she knew he was toying with the idea of countering her words. But a large yawn interrupted his response. Shego stood and began shoving him from his seat.

"Alright, let's go," said Shego.

"I'm fine," he grumbled but Shego kept pushing him out the kitchen and towards the hall, "I thought you wanted to read files?"

"I do," she replied, "You can sleep while I do so."

"Hey," he whined as she maneuvered him down the hall as he tried to stop walking, "I want to read them too."

"You had your chance," she smirked, "Maybe I'll leave some for later we can both look at."

"I am perfectly fine to rummage-"

"How about you get some sleep and I'll take my turn rummaging through files," said Shego as she began pushing him towards the bedroom.

"Shego," protested Drakken.

"I mean, you at least dug out everything worth while so I don't have to deal with monstrous insects and stairs," continued Shego as she shoved him towards the bed, "Thanks for that."

Drakken sat on the edge of the bed and pouted at her. She shoved him hard enough to make him fall back on the bed.

"Sleep," she ordered and she watched his eyes glance towards the now out fire, "The generator can wait."

She shot a blast at the fireplace and watched as the green flame turned to orange. Her momentary distraction at making sure the fire stayed lit was interrupted as Drakken's arms circled her waist. Smirking as she looked at him, the words she was about to say to insist sleep were ripped from her as Drakken fell back on the bed taking her with her.

"Hey!" she yelled, but Drakken only held her tighter.

"You told me to go to sleep," he mumbled.

Shego rolled her eyes and tried to wiggle from his grip.

"Get off," snorted Shego as Drakken's grip tightened around her waist and he pulled her closer, "I'm not going to sleep, you are."

"You don't have to sleep," he hummed as he closed his eyes.

She pushed on his arms, but they didn't budge.

"Drakken," huffed Shego, "I am not your pillow."

"No," he muttered, "Much better than a pillow."

She made another halfhearted attempt to push him away but sighed in defeat. She could feel him grin against her shoulder in response to her sigh.

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood," said Shego, "But you and I both know I could get out of this forced snuggle..."

"If you wanted," he finished against her neck.

"Yeah, well," she squirmed slight at the tickle of breath, "Be glad I'm still tired."

It was a lie, she was wide awake. But it was a loosing battle to try and wiggle out of his grip. Especially since she too, was very comfortable. She would simply wait till he fell asleep and then go on her own adventure through all the documents. Starting with the newest files he'd mentioned. She was more than a little curious to read what his missing aunt had written about them.

That was the plan, but it wasn't long before her eyes decided it was also more comfortable to stay closed.

Onwards!