Truth of Tequila Part 2

Shego's head was throbbing. Not badly, but enough to let her know she'd had too much last night and she should get her shit together. She kept her eyes shut, not wanting to open her eyes and start her day with the dull moving aside of her mental fog. But she did. It was dark in the room, the embers of a fire taking their last breath. She squinted. Why was she in Drakken's office? A foggy memory of running out of alcohol, and going to the one place she knew there was a full bar came to her. That's why she was in there... Drakken's chair was flipped over on the ground, and there were scorch marks judging by the dim light. He was going to be livid when he saw everything. She internally groaned. First the whole Team Go annoyance, now she'd have to apologize... She couldn't even think of a valid reason to avoid an apology. He had stopped her from taking her brother's powers...but he'd also come to what he thought was her aid. Damn it.

She could get some of the henchmen to clean it before he saw it? Her thoughts were skewed as she suddenly became aware of the fact that she was half-sitting on someone just as the embers finally died. She hoped to whatever deity there was that she hadn't ended up making out with a henchman. The horror of the thought made her physically ill. She could feel an arm around her waist, lazily as the person slept, his other arm over her legs that were curled up and over the arm of the chair. She heard a groan from the figure and knew what she had to do: scare the henchman. It was the only way to make sure this didn't get back to Drakken. Heck, maybe she could get them to clean it up. Her hand flared green and her eyes shot open.

"Shego...? Shego!" Drakken stirred awake and then his eyes saw the green. "Now what?"

"Dr. D..." said Shego. She jumped off his lap, a swirl of broken images coming back to her, and also the dizzy feeling of the sudden movement. "Oh...uhg."

"Shego...oh that's nice," said Drakken as Shego doubled over behind his desk, and a retching sound began. Drakken took the moment to leave the room.

Shego felt a mixture of emotions as she finished purging herself of the three bottles of Tequila she'd drank. At least, that's what she remembered. She felt angry at the fact she'd been so stupid to drink that much, then concerned over what she might have said or done, and then was hit by a whole tidal wave of embarrassment at waking cuddled up to her boss and throwing up in his office. She jumped as she felt a cold rag on the back of her neck, but the soothing coolness took hold of her as Drakken knelt beside her and placed a glass of water on the desk.

"How's your regular morning routine going?" asked Drakken after a moment. Shego snorted.

"Asshole," she breathed, but she heard him chuckle. The glass of water made its way toward her. "Thanks."

"Uhm hmm," said Drakken. "Do you think you're done?"

"Yeah...no," said Shego as she lurched forward. She felt her hair pushed aside and a wave of thankfulness rushed over her, and also annoyance because now she really had to apologize.

Drakken helped her up after she said she was done, though she tried her best to remove herself from the situation. She felt her head spinning for a different reason. She felt weak, stupid, emotional, and worst of all she had no clear idea of what she may have said or done the previous night. She was worried she'd been aggressive, clingy, chatty... Tequila did weird things to her and was one of the only alcohols that seemed to last in her system long enough to have any real effect. She rolled her eyes.

Apparently she was more upset then she'd let herself believe when she'd opened that bottle. She sat down in her usual chair in Drakken's office, her chair really. No one besides her sat in it; there was another for guests. Her body betrayed her again as the cold sweats began from now having purged herself. She closed her eyes, getting ready to make an excuse to lock herself in her room for the weekend, when her eyes shot open. Drakken had placed his lab-coat on her, and it was...surprisingly soft inside.

"How's the hangover going?" asked Drakken. Shego rolled her eyes as he continued. "This is exactly why I try to avoid it."

"Yeah, yeah, lecture heard loud and clear," she sighed, but she looked down, finding herself pulling the fabric closer. "Sorry."

"For?" asked Drakken with a raised brow. She scoffed and indicated with a general motion. "Many things?" he asked.

"Choose." She sunk back in her chair and rubbed her head, sliding her hands inside the sleeves of his coat. "Who was I last night?"

"Social Sheila," said Drakken. His smirk fell as Shego looked wide-eyed at him. What had she told him?

"Did you...what...what did I say?" asked Shego. She felt the spinning again. She never talked about that, never... Why would she?

"A lot and a little all at once," said Drakken. He looked like he was trying to choose words in his head as the idea terrified her. "Shego, I meant what I said you know... I think of you as family and if you ever need to...talk...or vent...so long it doesn't interfere with my own venting... You can talk to me versus...this situation."

"I don't need to talk... I sure as hell don't need pity. Listen, whatever I said... I was just dealing with..." Shego felt unsure of her words, but she felt her anger flare—a defense for embarrassment.

"No pity here," said Drakken. His hand rested on her arm, trying to be soothing, but her reaction was to stand up and walk away from the chair. "Shego..."

"Clearly, I don't have a good track record with family, so trust me when I say... You really don't want to put that label on me," said Shego. She felt like she needed to put distance on this. She didn't want him to see her like this. Hell, her brothers had never seen her like this and she'd lived with them the majority of her life.

"The family we are born into is different from the one we choose, Shego," said Drakken. "If you want to talk... I mean I have questions about what you said last night... But I don't want to push you..."

"What? What questions do you have, because I don't know exactly what I said, but fire away," said Shego. She felt defensive. She couldn't have said too much; even drunk-her had boundaries about that.

"Your parents..."

"I don't want to talk about it, next question," said Shego. She felt her body tense up. She'd mentioned them? Now she was terrified. She sat back down and Drakken slid away from the chair.

"What happened after the comet, apart from the powers?" asked Drakken. Shego looked at him for a second.

"We went to a hospital where they pretended everything was fine...despite that we were the only survivors in a few-block radius. Plenty injured... But they were shocked that we only had a few scrapes. Nothing happened then... We just stayed in our room...until some bitch from social services tried to take Mego and the Wegos... I snapped... Rather, her arm snapped when my powers made their debut... Luckily, Hego could restrain me... We fled...went into hiding...Hego playing the eternal leader," said Shego. Her foot was shaking rapidly. "We played hero, the city decided to essentially 'adopt' us, and we became Team Go."

"Adopted?" asked Drakken. Shego rolled her eyes.

"It's a lot of legal mumbo jumbo that to be honest was more like being indentured bullshit. We were children of the city... Dangerous...powerful...kids. They built us Go Tower... Hego said for us to have a home base... I think it was to keep the freaks in one spot," said Shego. "Any more questions?"

"Many, but...you mentioned something a little sensitive that leads to another question." She watched as Drakken looked uncomfortable. She rolled her eyes. What else had she said? "Chief Pedo?" he asked.

"Oh no... No...no, I did not... I am never drinking tequila again." Shego sat up. What had she said? She couldn't have possibly told him everything. A wave of panic washed over her. "What did I say? What other question would you have...oh my god. No one knows that... No one is supposed to know that."

"Wait did..." Drakken had a confused look and then a flash of anger. He shook his head. "You know... I don't want that answer, but I do have one more... You said your brothers are nineteen?"

"The Wegos, yeah," said Shego. She felt a rush of emotion at her younger brothers, but she caught on to the question. "Oh, yeah that."

"Yes, that. Apart from your hue, powers, and insanity..." Drakken rambled and Shego rolled her eyes but smirked.

"Come on Dr. D., do the math. I became a hero at twelve, went to college at twenty, got a masters which took an extra year because...hero stuff... Took two years to find myself...became a criminal and worked my way up to mercenary...and now I'm here. What do you get?" She smirked. He'd never once asked her age and she never told anyone, but he seemed to be working very hard on it now. "You're going to be forty, right Dr. D.? Make it easier for you, I look like I'm what would you say, twenty three?"

"Yes," said Drakken, a concerned look moving across his face before he looked back at her. "Twenty five?"

"Up," said Shego, making a clicking noise with her tongue. "Closer than you think."

"Twenty eight?" Click. "Thirty." Click. "Thirty?"

"Ding, ding," said Shego. He looked perplexed, and she smirked. "Most people peg me closer to Pumpkin's age, but I was out of high-school before she was even in school."

"So have you stopped aging or..." said Drakken. Shego's eyes flared.

"Do I have to put it in a contract about you trying to use my DNA for regenerative purposes?" said Shego, her hand aglow. Drakken's confusion extinguished it, and she saw hurt flash through his eyes before he rolled them and she answered. "No, it's just slower."

"You know, DNA excluded, that would actually be an interesting thing to see, tissue-wise." Shego flared her hands. "Theoretically...just saying."

"Clear that from your head, I just age well, that's what you'll tell yourself," said Shego with a slight glare, but he smirked. "Unlike some others in this room."

"Please, have you seen me versus my peers? Villainy has done me well," smirked Drakken confidently, his hand stroking his hair.

"You mean that little box of dye from the drugstore, Dr. Going Gray," said Shego. Drakken glared, and she rolled her eyes.

"Once! I asked you once to get it," snapped Drakken. Shego chuckled a bit.

"Are we done with the Q & A session here?" said Shego. "I need a shower and you need to have henchmen clean this office."

"I'll call Hector," said Drakken, a devious smirk on his face before it fell to seriousness. "Are you okay?"

"I will be. Seeing them after so long...well it brings back a lot of memories that I don't want to revisit," said Shego. She got up and handed him his coat. "Here you go, old man. Thanks."

"Your welcome...old maid." He snorted, and she shoved him as she walked by him.

"Be careful, you might throw out a hip there," she smirked playfully. She felt like she needed to say something. "Oh Dr. D., if you weren't certain before, let me make it clear... The whole hero thing."

"Not a single word leaves this lair... I mean, my reputation would be ruined. Employing a former hero? No thanks," scoffed Drakken as he followed her out of the office, holding his coat away from him.

"Glad we're clear on that," said Shego. She paused and sighed. "Thanks for trying to rescue me, I suppose I should have said that sooner."

"Anytime Shego," said Drakken.

"I mean, I do save your ass all the time, really," she said.

"Why do you have to ruin the moment," said Drakken with an eye roll. "Can't you just let things be?"

"Really, I ruin the moments? There's a bag of marshmallows in my room that begs to differ. I can't let things be," said Shego in retort.

"Okay, we'll both agree that you can't let things be," said Drakken as they reached their separate doors.

"Fine," said Shego. Drakken smirked. "Wait a second..."

"You said it," said Drakken. He darted into his room and as he closed the door, "old maid."

"You know what, when you're old and in a wheelchair, I'm pushing you down stairs," snapped Shego as she opened her door. She heard him laugh.

"I'll take you and your walker with me," was the only retort she heard before she closed her door.

Her mind was a mess of tangles and frustration at herself...and something else. Relief, a sense of calm? It was unfamiliar. She would have dwelled on it more, but suddenly her own room came into view. Apparently she'd gone looking for any spare bottles in every corner. She groaned. Perhaps Drakken had the right idea about avoiding certain substances. She thought for a moment and then opened the door and yelled across the hall.

"Drakken!" She heard a thump and the door opened. "Can you make Hector clean my room?"

"Do it yourself." He rolled his eyes and closed the door, and she groaned.

"Fine... Hector!" yelled Shego as she saw the night henchman getting ready to leave.

Poor Hector the Henchmaid →