A/N: I should have mentioned... I do have many, many chaps of this WIP done already. Anyway, I never wrote this story with chapter breaks in mind actually so I'm having difficulty breaking it up into reasonable chunks. For that reason, chapter lengths are a bit uneven. Slightly shorter one this time, but hopefully it moves the story along well enough. Enjoy~

Part 2

As Drakken's tears fell he tried to think of any way to comfort Shego, and what she might be thinking.

"It's gone... I...um...you're right, let's get out of here," he said, imagining her yelling at him that they were still in danger, and that the spider would undoubtedly return.

He scooped her up in his arms and began going back the way they had come, toward the crash site of the hover-car. He positioned her head against his shoulder to try to give her some comfort through the movement. He was glad she couldn't see the tears streaming down his face.

"It, um...it paralyzed you," he said after a minute of running through the pouring rain, the orange of the sunset having turned to red as the bright orb sank further in the sky. "That's what they do. Don't worry."

He hoped she didn't know the rest.

As they passed from the thicker jungle into the more sparse trees near the cliffs where they had crashed, the rain fell in great warm sheets again, forcing Drakken to put his face down to see. He watched as the rain hit Shego's body, mixing with the blood of her wounds. The thin red streaks slid off of her body and hit the ground below, some falling on his lab coat as he ran frantically.

He wasn't sure why he was running...since there was no hope. But he didn't want her to know she was dying... The idea of her being paralyzed and in great pain that would only grow, as her body's functions gradually shut down... He couldn't add the certainty of death to the pain and fear she was already experiencing.

When he arrived at the hover-car he took stock of where he'd opened the hood trying to repair it, and never had the chance. The rain had started almost immediately, making it impossible to work, so they had turned inland.

He wondered if he should keep trying to repair it...or just flip it over and try to shelter beneath it. That would be uncomfortable... And very difficult to do without Shego's help. He decided instead to look for alternate shelter options. He could get Shego out of the rain, and then...then decide what use to make of the hover-car.

As he scanned the edge of the cliff he saw a place where the rocks rose higher in the distance. Perhaps there was a place to shelter there... He mentally debated for a moment, and then carefully set Shego down inside the hover-car.

"I...think I see a place to shelter, over that way," he pointed broadly within her line of sight. He pushed her hair out of her face as the rain plastered it down again. "I promise, I'll be right back! I know you don't like it, but...there has to be a better shelter than this. I'll be right back."

He turned and ran over the muddied ground toward where the rocks rose higher, hoping for some sort of overhang or place where the trees were more dense. He hated to leave Shego, and he was sure she was furious with him for it. But just standing in the rain wasn't an option either.

As he approached the higher rocks he held a hand over his eyes to block the rain as he looked closer. It looked like...

He stopped a moment as he stared. There was definitely an opening in the cliff face, low to the ground, as if it had been made by a burrowing animal. Except the ground beneath was solid and dry.

It might be a cave?

He started forward again and then stopped short.

Maybe it had another large spider in it. Or something worse.

He snarled as he hurried forward toward the opening and dropped down to his knees. He grabbed a small rock that was nearby and tossed it into the hole that was easily large enough for him to crawl in on hands and knees. But what was beyond, he couldn't tell. The setting sun wasn't providing enough information.

The rock he'd tossed echoed far distant, which told him that it was indeed a cave. But it didn't tell him if anything was inside.

He scowled and ran back toward the hover-car. He would have to explore with a flashlight...

As he got back and saw the rain had moved Shego's hair into her eyes again, he decided it was worth it to bring her with him. He pushed her hair back and then opened the glove compartment for a flashlight.

"I found a cave, but...I don't know if it's safe yet. But it's near some other cliffs, so there should be someplace dry," he said.

He pocketed the flashlight and carefully picked Shego up again. Her expression hadn't changed, and she'd shown no signs of movement. As an afterthought he stepped around to the trunk and grabbed the two bags of chips that were inside and dropped them on Shego's middle. And then he turned back to go to the caves.

He moved more slowly this time as the mud made his step uncertain, and he was more aware of Shego's head tending to drop backwards from where he had leaned it against his shoulder. He didn't want to hurt her any worse than she already was.

When they reached the cliff with the cave, he positioned himself so she could see the hole at the bottom.

"See? It's...it's a cave. But I have look inside to see if it's safe, first. So...ah..." He set her down to lean up against the side of the rock carefully.

He turned on the flashlight where she could see it, and then moved to the cave entrance. He shined the light over the ground and only saw dark earth and rock. After a moment of consideration, he lay down on his back and pushed his way into the cave and shone the light upward. He saw a low ceiling that wouldn't allow him to stand, but then to the left he saw a secondary tunnel where the ceiling rose higher and there was a hint of light coming through. His brow furrowed as he pushed his way into the rest of the cave and went to examine the second tunnel.

After crawling for about five feet he was able to stand up, and then turning a corner found himself in a much larger cave, about forty feet square. The ceiling rose very high, and up in one corner was a hole that was allowing the red light of the sunset inside. Rainwater was also trickling down and forming a puddle at the bottom of the cave from where it ran down against the wall.

There was another tunnel still, but Drakken didn't investigate it; he wanted to get back to Shego. He carefully made his way back out of the cave, noting the mud on his lab coat and on his knees due to the messy effort. Less than five minutes later, he was back at her side.

"The cave seems safe, and it's dry," he said, looking at her still face through the rain. He studied her eyes again and saw the fear and pain that let him know she was still aware of him.

He looked at the two bags of chips he'd left sitting next to her and first grabbed those. He went back to the cave entrance and tossed them in toward the tunnel, and then went back for Shego.

"I'm sorry, there...there isn't an easy way to do this," he said. He picked her up and held her upright in front of him and facing away. Then he lay down on his back in front of the cave entrance with Shego on his chest. He held the flashlight in his mouth as he needed both hands to hold onto Shego and keep her hair from getting pinned or snagged as he scooted on his back through the small entrance and the beginning of the tunnel, bringing them into the dark cave.