The Heist Part 4

Shego admired the ring on her finger. She was glad she'd gotten to choose which ring they'd swiped. She was very concerned at the first one Drakken had indicated to when they'd joined a group of people. They'd opted to take one from a departing guest who had been too 'traumatized' by the events at the ball. Shego rolled her eyes. They knew nothing of trauma. As the night dwindled on, she knew it would only be a matter of time before the final opportunity arose and their evening would fall back to everyday life. But in this moment, she wasn't Shego. She was a woman back from her honeymoon in Greece with her doctor husband—a pretty picture they'd painted for all who inquired in the minor gatherings they'd joined. A strange part of her wondered about that life they'd made up. It sounded right for her...or who she thought she should have been years ago. A teacher who taught language in other countries, doing missionary work, helping the world... She found a devious smirk fall across her lips; she did travel to countries, she'd done missionary work, and she was trying to 'help' the world... It was actually pretty comical.

Still, she was going to enjoy whatever time was left in the evening. Years of attending balls, being told what was proper by her older brother, spending time socializing... Feeling like a freak who older people asked questions that bordered on too personal and inappropriate... Watching others dance and have a good time...always an act, always for show. So maybe the night wasn't so different from the past, but at least she had someone to dance with who wasn't a creepy leech. She caught a glimpse of them in a passing mirror as they danced. She felt devious. They looked like a picture-perfect couple dancing. Her expression faltered and she looked away. It was too real, and when the music ended she practically shoved herself away from Drakken. When had she started resting her head on his shoulder?

"Sheila?" asked Drakken in confusion, and it was like nails on a chalkboard. Her chest hurt.

"I think we need to focus," said Shego. She cleared her head. "Playtime's over Doc. What's the plan?"

"Oh..." Shego saw something flicker across his eyes before he nodded. "Ms. Leon has been on the dance floor all night. They're going to have the final dance of the evening in about twenty minutes. Everyone is supposed to be dancing... Perfect time to strike. We just need to be in the right position... If we can get close enough, we can casually bump into them. You've had enough wine..."

"So play tipsy and cause a distraction while you swipe it?" asked Shego, and Drakken glared.

"I can do this She-...la," said Drakken as someone walked by. He glared again. "I got you the ring, didn't I?"

"Fine. But we have one shot," said Shego. She glanced across the dance floor. "Crap."

"What...? Oh." Drakken glared as Hermes and the heiress walked onto the dance floor.

"You know," they both jumped as Pandora's voice came behind them, "under the radar has its perks. You don't have to play pretend when you can charm your way to the right position. Better luck next time."

"I don't see the necklace in his hands yet," said Shego. Pandora rolled her eyes before heading onto the dance floor with a familiar dark-haired man. "Isn't that your former assistant?"

"I really hate them both," said Drakken. Shego watched his eyes dart back and forth and then he smirked. "Come on, I got this."

"Kind of out of options," said Shego under her breath as they got back on the dance floor.

Shego watched Drakken. He was focused as they danced; a stark contrast indeed to their little role-play of Drew and Sheila. He was back to Drakken. Even through the makeup, something felt like a relief to her as they danced, both looking for the opportunity to act. And then it happened. Pandora danced nearby, blocking the guards with her fast moves and spins. Hermes and the heiress danced center, kept in tandem with Pandora so they were out of sight. Everyone else was focused on themselves, and there was an opening. Shego saw Pandora's plan before she could act, and Drakken had danced them close enough.

"Take the decoy," said Drakken, as if he read her mind.

"Now," said Shego, as her hand yanked the decoy from his jacket and he spun her out to the beat of the music.

In a swift movement her hand yanked the necklace off the heiress before Pandora's hand could reach it while dropping the decoy on the floor. It was like slow motion for a split second. Pandora's hand grabbed the decoy in her haste to grab the real one. When Drakken spun Shego back to him, without a moment's hesitation she put it in his top coat pocket behind the accent cloth. Pandora held the decoy, a look of rage flashing on her face as the guards acted fast. Her horror at grabbing the wrong one had delayed whatever escape plan the two had. Shego felt Drakken's hand on her back, and the two casually left the dance floor. They walked as calmly as they could as Hermes and Pandora were condemned by the fake necklace.

"Amateurs," muttered Shego as the two made their way to the exit.

"Ma'am... Sir, you need to stay here," came a familiar male voice. Ron was apparently working with Kim to keep everyone together. Shego glanced back and saw them holding two necklaces.

"Looks like they had a decoy too," muttered Drakken. They kept walking.

"Sir," came a yell from one of the guards.

Shego and Drakken sped up their pace as they rounded the corner down the hall. Shego could hear a radio up ahead, and there were no windows to escape through between the guards coming up the stairs below and the ones alerted ahead. Her hands were about to flare green as she prepared to form an emergency escape. Then, without warning, Drakken spun around. His hand touched her hip and shoulder and she was backed into a corner. Her eyes shot open as his face moved towards her. Her hands found his chest, about to shove him away when his arm leaned on the wall next to her head.

"Put your arm on my shoulder." Without hesitation she reacted, just not like she'd planned.

Shego put her arm around his shoulder and pulled Drakken closer against her, and his footing shifted so she could feel his breath on her cheek. It was a ruse, all anyone would think was that the newlywed couple had snuck off to make out in a hallway, clearly having had too much to drink. The smell of mint, wine, and grease filled her nostrils. Her own face was tight against his, her breath in his ear. She heard footsteps and she was going to suggest a little more believability, but she didn't have to. It became very real as Drakken's lips found hers. Her eyes shot open. This had not been what she'd expected. While it had been the suggestion she was about to make, the action of Drakken initiating it caught her off guard. Her hands pulled him tighter against her at the sound of the guards arriving, their feet stopping, and then retreating. Drakken pulled away as the sound ended and looked around.

"Coast is clear, let's go," said Drakken. He stepped away and headed towards the door.

"Okay," said Shego, whose voice was barely a whisper as she walked behind him. What the fuck was that?

Drakken looked at the necklace in front of him sitting on the workstation of the apartment lair. Shego had retired upon getting there. She had been silent the whole ride over. He assumed she was unimpressed with the evening. It had broken his excitement at the victory. Everything had worked better than he had planned. Sure there were a few hiccups, but they got the necklace and framed Pandora and Hermes in the process... Not to mention the contacts he'd gained for his larger plan. He rubbed his eyes, fighting sleep as he looked at the clock. He'd make the trade before morning and all would be done. His mind played over his victories through the night, but he kept settling on something else instead... Images of dancing, laughter, and of being someone else for an evening. It played in his head over and over again. While it had been essential to the plan, he felt a strange pulling internally, as if he'd been unconsciously testing the waters. He was over his crush... He knew that. He had to be. Yet, all evening he had started letting boundaries slip more and more. And then...then...he had kissed her.

"Of course you did," sighed Drakken. He rubbed his face again, using the wipe before throwing it angrily. "What was I thinking."

He needed to keep his focus on world domination, on his plans, on that future. He was getting too comfortable, letting things slide more and more. She had become family to him, and that was it. He'd simply let the atmosphere get to him. The idea of being another person...it had caused him to push the boundaries. He didn't have feelings for Shego like that. He couldn't. His mind pushed his aversions on him as if a flood gate broke. She was lippy, cruel, violent, distant, and a complete mess. He still cared for her, like family. He nodded to himself. He'd kissed her because he had to, there was nothing more to it. There could never be more to it than that.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Shego was a villain, and villains weren't supposed to feel the way she did. Shego lay in bed, unable to sleep with the sounds of the city and the rain starting to come down on the metal fire escape. Her mind had been raging since they'd left the ball. She felt unsettled. Perhaps the adrenaline of the night, the success of their plan... The feeling of a body against hers. She internally screamed. What was wrong with her? No matter what her internal needs were, there were simply lines one didn't cross.

Villains don't have rules.

It was like a different voice in her head.

Villains don't have laws. They can lust, they can love, they can hate. There are no rules.

She felt her breathing hitch as her mind swam around the idea. The ghost of his breath on her neck, his hand on her waist, feeling him against her as music played... It flashed in her head like faded images. She looked out the window. There were clubs everywhere. She held a phone that contained contacts she could go and spend a mindless night with. She told herself that over and over again, but her mind ran back to the villain party from weeks before. There would be no harm in a night, would there? She could make a call...or she could take a small walk to the other side of the small apartment. There was nothing in their contract, nothing that had been said between them...

Villains have no rules.

She walked down the hall. There was no harm in talking about it. No harm in making a casual conversation of the idea. She could play it off as she had all evening, her mind told her. It was the evening getting her carried away. The wine, the dancing, the make-believe of it all. She felt if she saw him, it would fade.

She walked into the small area that was set up as his workspace. He was still awake. She felt a hitch of relief at that. He was rubbing at his face, patches of blue showing under his thin remainder of makeup. His ponytail was visible again, and his mess of hair had returned from its gel entrapment. He seemed to be staring at the necklace, no expression on his face. She walked over, her chest pounding, but she didn't know why. Was it the suspense of getting her head straight? The adrenaline of the evening racing in her mind... Her hand touched his shoulder and he looked up, as if yanked from his own deep thoughts.

"Shego?" asked Drakken. He turned in his seat. "I thought you were asleep."

"I couldn't. There's something I need to ask you," said Shego. Why was her stomach doing flips?

"I know what you're going to ask," sighed Drakken. "It's about the kiss."

"I... Yes," said Shego. She had been about to ask about that as a way to lead to the bigger idea.

"I'm sorry I didn't clear that with you first. I-I've seen it done in heist movies before and it seemed like a good idea at the time. My apologies if I crossed the line," he rambled quickly. "I don't want you to think I was trying to come on to you in anyway. I..."

His words were cut off as a loud knock came from the apartment door. Shego's hands flared green. Who could possibly be there? She felt Drakken's hand on her shoulder as he stood up and grabbed his jacket, putting the necklace in the chest pocket. Shego was glad she'd stayed in her dress as she followed him to the door, her hands at the ready. His calm demeanor made her more worried than anything. Her mind cleared suddenly; this was obviously the villain they'd done the heist for coming to collect. As Drakken opened the door, several figures stood there, and Shego took a defensive posture as she stood next to Drakken.

"The Chameleon?" asked Drakken as a figure stood when the guards parted.

"In the flesh," came a female reply as a familiar woman in a slinky leopard gown walked into the light. "Nice seeing you again, Dr. Lipsky."

"Ms. Leon?" asked Drakken. He and Shego looked at each other and then at the blonde heiress, holding her precious Debutante. "I'm so confused."

"Good, that's how I wanted it to be. Call me Camille," said Camille with a haughty chuckle. "You passed my test and got the necklace. Good work by the way, framing those two."

"Wait, you already had the necklace, why did you want someone to steal it?" asked Shego. She looked at the woman with a raised brow.

"Easy. I get the insurance money and I get my necklace, everyone wins," said Camille with a grin. "Perhaps I should explain. Daddy's cutting me off, so I need to make my own way when he finally cuts the final card. What better way than villainy? Truth is, I don't know which villains to choose. Everyone has the misconception I'm an idiot. So I want clever friends in the villain world. A heist seemed like the perfect way to weed out the losers. So I invited every villain I'd heard of to try to steal the necklace. Made it nearly impossible to steal, then let the dominoes fall. Pretty neat, eh? I cooked it up myself."

"That's vastly overcompensated and pointless," said Drakken. Shego snorted.

"Your kind of people," responded Shego. She raised a brow. "So now what. We give you the necklace and we get a laser? How did you get that?"

"Oh, I didn't," said Camille. Shego glared. "I didn't think you'd two be the ones to pull it off. My bet was on the usual suspects... Good move by the way. I didn't think the sciencey villains had much game in it. I mean if you can get jewelry, what more do you need. Right?"

"So, you have no trade?" asked Drakken. Shego was waiting for the signal to start fighting.

"No, I do. I have a list of all the contacts from the ball...and what I thought the big guns requested," said Camille. She snapped her fingers and one of her bodyguards opened up a box. "Some sort of material mesh that's supposed to be impenetrable... Whatever it is, it doesn't break easily. No idea why... But if you want the laser, I just need a few more days."

"I'll take it," said Drakken. Shego looked at him with wide eyes. What was he doing?

"Really? Okay," said Camille and the box was handed to Shego, who placed it down in annoyance.

"Here you are," said Drakken, pulling a necklace out of his right pocket and handing it to the guard.

"This went better than I planned," said Camille with a laugh. "This villain thing is a cake-walk. Nice meeting you. I hope to see you at villain socials. That's a thing, right? Come Debutante, we have an insurance check to spend."

"What was that?" asked Shego as Drakken closed the door. She glared. "All that work for some fabric... She gets the necklace and the insurance money, and we get...a box of fabric? Yo, Drakken? Are you listening?"

"I have a use for it," said Drakken, looking at the box. "Now as I was saying before we were interrupted..."

"Forget what we were talking about, I want to talk about how we just got screwed," said Shego, her eyes narrowed. What had she been thinking? This was Drakken. "You know what, I'm going to bed. What a pointless...huh?"

"We didn't get screwed, Shego." She was just about to storm off when Drakken reached into his chest pocket and pulled out the very necklace he'd handed Camille Leon. "She did. What? Did you think I didn't make a second one just in case this happened? I know I can be overly trusting at times, but I'm not an idiot, Shego."

"You... And I didn't..." Shego stared in shock, but she felt an ease come over her as she smirked. "Well color me impressed."

"Yes, well, I have my days," said Drakken. She saw his smile flicker. "About earlier Shego. Know that I have far too much respect for you to try anything. I know it annoys you when I say it, but you're family to me and I'd never want to jeopardize that. Now here, take your necklace and let the mocking commence."

"You just have to ruin a moment with sentiment, don't... My necklace?" asked Shego as Drakken handed it to her. "Are you kidding me?"

"What, do you think I'd wear something like that? Pfft," said Drakken with an eye-roll as he headed to his room. He smirked. "It would clash with my ensemble. Besides, only the best for my...wife."

"Well then. A million-dollar necklace, an expensive ring, and a three-thousand-dollar dress all in one evening," smirked Shego. "Not bad..."

"Three thousand dollars! Are you kidding me? I said no more than fifteen hundred," said Drakken darting back out of his room, his eyes narrowed. "Three thousand... That's ridiculous... Why on earth would you spend that?"

"Hey, only the best for your wife, right Dr. D.?" smirked Shego as she slinked back into her own bedroom and closed the door.

She smiled as she heard him give a defeated groan and his bedroom door closed. She looked at her necklace, its diamonds shimmering around the large black one. It could be the ugliest thing in the world right now, but that wasn't what mattered. What mattered was the feeling of warmth in her chest, and she sighed. What had she been thinking? There was no way that there could be something casual, even for a night, between her and Drakken. If this necklace was anything, it was a symbol of just how far past casual they were. It was dangerously close to content.

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