Emotionally Drained
Shego walked into the lab holding two cups of coffee and the mail under her arm. The henchmen were off for the next few days due to a wedding. Henchman Lucius had gotten married, which meant the henchmen would roll in sometime the next night, completely obnoxious. She rolled her eyes and put the coffee down on Drakken's worktable. She looked around the lair and her brows furrowed. If he had gone to the wedding without her, she was going to give him a verbal lashing. He'd opted to send a gift instead, which she had been grateful to use as an excuse not to go herself. She was not really in a celebration mood.
"Shego, good, you're here," said Drakken as he jumped out of the hover car. It had been fixed up with a new drop ladder, because someone's high hopes for a gravity beam hadn't gone well. "Just a few more minor adjustments and we'll be off for a casual drop-in to Dr. Bortel's lab."
"Bortel... Hey wasn't he the guy we stole the Nano-Tick thing from?" asked Shego, leaning against the hover car. She looked inside. "What's that?"
"Ah, like it? It's the new mini craft," said Drakken. "Finished it this morning."
"...It is morning," said Shego, indicating to the rising sun through the ceiling window.
"Last night... At some point between when you left and now," said Drakken with a groan. "Does it matter? It's done."
"Did you even sleep?" said Shego, casually flipping through the mail. "Geesh, give the henchmen a few days off and the mail just piles up."
"Anything interesting?" said Drakken, ignoring her first question and putting the panel back on the hover car.
"Bills, a postcard... So we're just giving your mother the actual address at this point? No P.O. Box?" asked Shego as she opened up a green envelope.
"The woman's a blood hound. You know, for someone whose life revolves around bingo and radios, she's pretty good with digital tracking," said Drakken with a shake of his head. "What's that?"
"A card and letter from my brothers," said Shego as she read it. "At least someone remembered."
"Oh... For what... Birthday? Was that... That was last weekend wasn't it?" asked Drakken, looking up nervously at Shego.
"Maybe," said Shego, glancing over at him with a sharp look as she read the cheesy letter.
"Uh, my bad Shego, if it was... Or was it something else, " said Drakken as he got into the hover car. "Did you want to stop for breakfast? My treat."
"I'm over it," said Shego, hopping in. Though she shot him another half-glare for good measure.
"Are you sure, because if this is going to be one of those things you bring up to inconvenience me later..." Drakken began. Shego smirked. "It is, isn't it?"
"What do you think," said Shego as she flopped in her seat. She shoved the tiny craft. "Isn't there somewhere else you can put this?"
"I haven't made the proper adjustments to the storage I've put on the hover car," said Drakken. He looked at the card as Shego shoved it in the glove box, which actually held spare gloves for both of them. "Was it a nice card?"
"Uh huh," said Shego as she read the letter as they took off.
"Do...do you want to know the plan?" asked Drakken as they left the lair. He smiled hopefully.
"Reading... You know...because someone remembered an important date," said Shego. She smirked as she saw his brows furrow and his eyes glare ahead as they drove.
"Well, how about now?" said Drakken a while later as Shego put the letter in the box.
"My brothers think you're my boyfriend," said Shego as she fiddled with a loose nail on her glove. She reached in the glove box for a spare one.
"That's a riot," said Drakken with a smirk.
"Yeah, really," said Shego with an eye-roll. She smirked. "I mean, a boyfriend doesn't forget special days, birthdays, anniversaries, to pick up the milk, to take out the trash... They don't whine until you bring them soup... You're more like my husband."
"...Huh," said Drakken. He narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, that would explain the lack of physical benefits too."
"Pfft, your physical benefit is me making sure Pumpkin doesn't kick your blue ass," scoffed Shego, looking at her new glove. The nail seemed off on that one too. "I need new gloves."
"Well, Shego, it's kind of your job to make sure I don't get my ass kicked," said Drakken. He opened the glove box and handed her a pair.
"The other stuff?" asked Shego. "I just put those in there. Do you even pay attention?"
"You do already take my money," muttered Drakken. Shego threw a glove at him. "Gold digger."
"Oh! Oh, really?" asked Shego, a grin on her face as she hit him with the glove again. "For all I do for you, I should get more than just money."
"I got you a necklace...which I count as an anniversary gift," said Drakken. He smirked as she shoved the gloves back in the compartment. "And birthday."
"You can't count it as everything," said Shego with an eye-roll.
"It's a million-dollar necklace...gold digger," mumbled Drakken. Shego shoved the mini craft into him. "Hey! You want your boyfriend to crash this ship?"
"Uhg," scoffed Shego with an eye-roll. "Do us both a favor and kill us both if you do."
"You mean you don't want to live to torture a new boyfriend, if I die?" said Drakken. Shego glared.
"I'll have you know, you would be lucky to have me as a girlfriend...or a wife," said Shego. "I am of high caliber."
"High maintenance is more like it," said Drakken. Shego rolled her eyes. "All right, now onto the plan."
"Really, okay," said Shego, crossing her arms as they pulled up to a building. That conversation was not over.
Drakken was in good spirits the following morning, even though he'd yet to sleep. He'd been analyzing the EMA in hopes of finishing up some of the incomplete designs. How could he not be in good spirits, both of them really? They'd escaped Kim Possible, got the EMA, and all in record time. He was also confident the teen would not be finding the new lair. He hadn't even gotten a magazine subscription this time, so they were golden. He wondered if Shego wanted to grab breakfast that morning, though he still wasn't sure what he'd forgotten. Whatever it was, she was hiding his date planner so he couldn't find out. He shrugged. It clearly wasn't that important, or she'd be more upset.
"Once this is finished, there will be nothing stopping me from world domination," he grinned joyously. He heard the hallway door and grinned, eager to tell his plan to Shego since she'd avoided it the day prior. "Shego, good morn-... Shego?"
"M-Morning," sobbed Shego, tears running down her face as she walked in the door. "H-How are y-yoooooou?"
"Shego? Ohm." Drakken watched her collapse in her seat by the cameras. This was new. "Hey?"
"I just...why?" sobbed Shego. Drakken stood there for a solid moment unsure what to expect. He lowered his voice, keeping his distance.
"Shego, are you okay?"
"N-No," sobbed Shego. He moved closer to her; there was no reason to be afraid.
He was wrong. Very wrong. There was something to be afraid of. Shego. Drakken sprinted down the road into the darkness of the parks. His chest was pounding. Twice today he'd found himself running around in there. The first time with a lovesick Shego, which at the time, made a lot less sense. The last twenty-four hours had been utter chaos, and it still wasn't over. He should have known better when he'd actually defeated Kim Possible and got the EMA without much hassle. Nothing ever went well for that long for him. Normally he would reflect longer on the ups and downs of his struggles, but the sound of his name being yelled stopped that mental rambling from continuing.
"Drakken! Where are you?" snapped Shego. He could see the grass give off a faint glow as she walked.
He pushed himself up against a tree and tried not to breathe. He swore Shego could hear that; she was a ninja after all, and he had a sudden wonder if maybe her powers gave her more sensitivity to her surroundings.
Cheating, really.
Drakken needed to focus. He needed to hear her footsteps. All he could hear however was the sound of his heartbeat in his ears, and the dizziness that wanted to take him out. He was exhausted and all the running had drained him. He was certain Shego's blasts hadn't helped him either. He heard her footsteps move away and he let himself breathe a little as he slid down into a sitting position. He was glad it was a fairly decent night. The fall air wasn't bad, but he couldn't stay hiding there forever... Or maybe he could.
Drakken leaned his head against the tree, playing over everything in his head. Why hadn't he noticed Shego wasn't in her right mind? He rolled his eyes. At first he'd thought she was joking since the previous day's conversation would have made for a perfect explanation. It would be very Shego to flirt with him to prove a point; it was hardly the first time.
Yes, because dragging you around a park all day is soooo her.
Drakken cringed. Yeah, he should have known better. Especially after what transpired in the photo-booth... He felt his stomach sink. What had he been thinking?
Flashback
"Come on, let's go to the photo-booth," grinned Shego, her arms wrapped around his and her head on his shoulder, "so we can remember the day."
"I, uh... I don't think I will forget it," said Drakken, his mouth still sore from the large sucker she'd nearly chipped his tooth with. "Shego, what are you doing? This thing is honestly starting to make me concerned. Shego?"
"Come on. We don't have enough pictures together," said Shego with a pout. "Why don't we have more pictures together, Drakken? I mean, don't you like our memories together?"
"Well... Yes... Most of them," said Drakken. He felt a weird dip in his gut. He didn't like when it did that; it had been a while since it had. "I mean... But a photo-booth... Isn't that a bit, teenager-ish?"
"You're never too old for a photo-booth, silly," laughed Shego. She pulled his arm. "Besides, we get five pictures then."
"Shego, I...fine," said Drakken nervously as she began pulling him towards the closest one. What could be the harm in a few quick photos?
"It'll be fun, I promise," said Shego as she pulled him in the booth with her. "Come on, silly face first."
Drakken felt uncomfortable at the flips that were going on in his stomach. He tried to recount all the food he'd eaten that day to try to find a reason other than nerves. It was nerves. He cringed as he looked at Shego. No, he needed to make sure this little joke of hers was going to end soon. He'd been trying to kill that crush he had on her since he'd met her. He thought he had, and this little act of hers was not what he wanted. She made a silly face and looked at him. He laughed nervously. If this had been another day, then her odd flirting might have actually excited him. But something in her eyes was scaring him.
How far is the little joke going to go?
He shifted back a ways. That odd look from earlier was back. Her dark lips smirked and her eyes dropped.
"Uh... Sh-Shego?" asked Drakken. Her hands moved quickly, and for a split second he expected her to attack him with violence like she had the other day.
What he hadn't expected was the pain of her jaw smacking into his. Her arms were like vipers, wrapping around him with all her strength. They fell together to the ground of the booth. He heard the shutter clicks, but he had other concerns. With one hand he tried to grab the seat, while the other was on her arms. Her legs slid on either side of him as he was backed into the corner, her lips ferociously attacking his. His hand pushed on her waist, trying to push her away but not hurt her.
"Sh-..." He tried to say her name and voice his confusion, but she took the opportunity to deepen the kiss.
No, this was way past a joke, and he felt a wash of panic run through him, his mind racing with the ramifications of what this would change... What were they doing? What was she trying to prove? His mind was racing to what they should be doing. They should be working on the plan for Middleton Days, not making out in a photo-booth. He was trying to take breaths through his nose, but she was biting his lip hard; he could feel the bruising forming. She kissed harder, and he realized she was getting annoyed he wasn't reciprocating. Maybe if he didn't they could get back to the lair and back to their planning... But he found his hand that had previously been trying to push her away and slide to her hip.
"Why won't you kiss me?" asked Shego, pulling away only to look at him. "Don't you want to?"
Drakken stared at her. His chest was pounding. He was expecting at any second for her to roll her eyes and smirk, to say something sarcastic even—something to bring them back to any other day. But it hadn't been a normal day, or a normal two days... His hand slid around her waist as she leaned into him. Maybe this wasn't a bad idea. Maybe this was just him being nervous... He kissed her back. Maybe it wasn't something he'd regret.
Currently
He regretted it. Boy, did he ever. He had almost instantly; they'd kissed for a few more minutes before a park attendant had caught them and yelled. It had been an immediate problem as they got back to the lair. He was still thankful the henchmen had gotten home in time. It had felt wrong, like he'd crossed a line between them. He'd begun wondering what it would mean for their dynamic, which they'd both fallen into easily. Now, as he sat there in the dark with only crickets for noise...he knew that those feelings were right. She'd basically been under mind-control and he had done nothing to stop it. He felt sick at the idea of what might have transpired because of his schoolboy crush and a little pitiful hope that things were going in his favor. He took a deep breath, trying to stop the nausea that his flipping stomach was causing him. His heart had slowed at least.
"There you are!" yelled Shego as she slid in front of him, her eyes narrowed, and a look of pure hatred and rage locked on him.
Drakken stared at her. Something about that look reminded him of the mind-control device he'd used before. His mind swam back to it, but then the look of betrayal her eyes had held in them then had made her seem less demonic. His mind raced a million miles a second as her hands glowed brighter. He had crossed a line. Unknowingly, but he had. He was smarter than that. He knew something was wrong with her, didn't he? He cringed as the light flared, but that's all he remembered.
Shego felt her head spin. She felt everything mentally hurt, and a migraine like no other. A wave of exhaustion hit her. She looked around. Why was she in the forest? Images, vague and off, flooded to her through a fog. She mentally tried to remember if they'd gone out with Motor Ed again, but she didn't recall that. The last clear image she had was fighting with Possible and escaping with Drakken. There were flashes of laughter, of crying, of anger...all at Drakken. Well that sounds right, she thought to herself. Then something else... Something different. She gulped, but only as the last emotion clicked. Blind panic and fear. She looked down where she saw smoke and jumped back. The base of the tree was burned so badly that the tree had a small fire going. Inches from it was Drakken, who'd jumped out of the way and head-first into another tree. She looked at her hands. He'd jumped away from her?
"Dr. D.?" asked Shego as she crouched down by him, her hand giving off the only decent light as she turned him over.
Shego cringed at the knot forming on his head and at a small trickle of blood. He looked rough to be honest. Scorch marks littered his jacket, his hair was a frazzled mess, and his lips even looked slightly bruised. She looked at the tree, trying to figure out the angle he'd hit it at. She touched her own lips in thought and flinched. Her eyes shot open as the flash of an image came to her mind. So that wasn't her imagination, then. She cringed and went to wrap his arm around her neck. She nearly dropped him when a sharp pain shot through her, and she pulled a small device off her neck. Her heart sank and she thought about just dropping him right there and then. Had he put another mind-control chip on her? She looked at him, rage boiling up as well as other things. She shook her head. She'd deal with that later.
"Yeah, that's right. I'll patch you up... Then rip you to shreds," muttered Shego as she practically picked him up and headed towards the lair.
Shego shoved Drakken on the lab table. It was the closest room to the side entrance, and she wasn't about to haul him across the lair. Naturally, not a henchman could be seen when she could have used a hand. She rolled her eyes and glared at Drakken. He hadn't moved or even made much noise the whole way there. It would be her luck he'd be in a coma or something, and she wouldn't be able to get answers. She looked at the wound; it didn't look like he'd cracked his skull or anything. The cut was from bark, it looked like. She sighed and grabbed the first aid supplies. She could easily use the smelling salts and wake him up, but it would just be easier this way and would give her time to try to clear the fog in her mind.
"What the hell is this?" said Shego as she looked at the bottle cap shaped thing. She wanted to crush it, but she tossed it on the table instead.
She began thinking. The last time she'd been under mind-control, she'd been aware of everything, not just bits and pieces. There was also something different about it; she felt like she'd been through an emotional blender. Her eyes even burned like she'd been crying. The idea made a quick swell of panic come in. She had been crying...more than once.
Shego couldn't piece it together. Why had she lost it over a nail? She looked at her glove. The nail was still broken. She glared and wiped the wound on Drakken's head, and he groaned. She rolled her eyes; at least he was alive. She looked around the lab for where they'd put the smelling salts kit, as the normal one was empty. Her eyes fell onto the wall and she did a double-take. Written in a burned-out heart was "D.D. + S.G." She looked around the lab. A chair was turned over, and was it cold and damp in there? None of it made sense to her. She looked at Drakken again. The scorch marks on his jacket made her look back at the wall. Her hand found her lips. Had they kissed? She glared. There was no way she would kiss him without some substance or device telling her to do so. She felt anger come over her and she glared as Drakken began to stir.
"Drakken, you have something to tell me!?" yelled Shego before he was even fully alert.
She expected him to snap at her or look at her in confusion...even be sheepish. Instead, his eyes shot open and he rolled off the table to hide behind it. She was shocked for a second, but a renewed sense of rage found her. Clearly he'd been the cause of all this emotional turmoil she'd been having. It was different and familiar, the feeling—worse than when he'd first tested a mind-control device on her. It felt painful, even. It was the knowledge that he now knew more about her reasons, and he'd still done it.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry...for whatever I did!" came Drakken. She could hear him moving. He was going to try to run.
"For whatever you did? Are you kidding me!?" yelled Shego. Her hands flared and her eyes burned.
"Listen, Shego, I'll make you dinner. I said I would... You want to go on a trip together? My treat," said Drakken. He was still hiding, but he held up a white sheet of paper. She shot it. "Shego, whatever you want...name it. Anything... I'll do it... I just don't understand. How did Stoppable get Possible's thing to stop working again..."
"Excuse me, you did it to me and Possible!?" yelled Shego. "I can't believe you!"
"Did... I didn't do anything to Possible, that was all Stoppable... Okay a little me, but I didn't know it would affect you," said Drakken. He peeked up from behind the desk. "I didn't know there were two."
"What?" asked Shego. She was even more confused and getting angrier at herself as she felt tears break. "You didn't know you put mind-control devices on Possible and I?"
"What? I..." Drakken slowly stood up, hands in front of him. "Shego, I didn't do anything... Shego?"
"Really?" asked Shego. Her hands flared more.
"No, I..." Drakken looked at the small device on the table, and Shego was shocked when he gave a sigh of relief and leaned against the table, a faint smile on his lips. "Oh thank god, it's off."
"Yeah, back to how it got on," said Shego. She wasn't sure of her emotions in that moment—not until he explained.
"It attached to you when we were in Bortel's lab," said Drakken. "I'm not sure how exactly it worked or what caused everything, but it was more of an emotion-control than a mind-control. A...Mood-U-Lator?"
"So... So you didn't put me under mind-control..." said Shego, her rage dwindling and a sense of relief washing over her. This might also explain why her emotions felt so raw.
"No, never again. I promised you, I would never do that again," said Drakken. He looked around towards his desk. "I even put it clear in the contract... Wait, you don't remember?"
"I remember some things... My broken nail making me upset," said Shego. Drakken made a frantic movement and shoved a box towards her: new gloves, express delivery.
"I ordered them... You know, after the park... Well, I guess you don't know," said Drakken. Shego saw the flash of relief in his eyes and an unease to his shoulders. "Doesn't matter, I'm just glad everything's back to normal."
"What happened at the park?" asked Shego. Drakken shrugged it off, and a wave of exhaustion hit her as she went to approach him. He took a large step back. "Did I threaten you?"
"No... Shego, it's nothing," said Drakken. He looked around. "It's been a long night, and I think we need sleep."
"Fine..." said Shego, the emotions and sleepiness mixing to a downing cocktail anyway. "We'll talk about it in the morning."
Shego retired to her room, reluctantly, and froze. Her clothes were all in shambles on the floor. She glared and then cringed. She held up a purple and white faux fur jacket she'd thought she'd tossed—a gag gift from Mego back in her hero days. Why she'd even kept it was beyond her. She wasn't about to deal with whatever had happened there that night. Her head was pounding, and she already had too many questions that were not getting answered. She picked up the jacket as she slid all the clothes to the closet door with her foot. She tossed it in the trashcan after righting it. All of her stuff was knocked off her dresser, even. She stared at the items on the floor, willing to at least know what had triggered that. Her first thought was anger, but that wasn't it. That hadn't been the emotion she'd been feeling when she'd been in her room, but what was it? It was like a block. All she felt was the memory of feelings: pure craving and lust. She was relieved at whatever part of her that had some sort of clarity had helped steer away from the feelings.
"I hope he's not planning on avoiding this topic," said Shego. She laid in her bed, but as she closed her eyes, nothing but restlessness followed. "Great."
She stared at her ceiling, trying to will the pieces to fall. She tried singling in on one emotion at a time. The easiest was anger; a few foggy memories pushed together, but when it came to the park again, it was all red. No memory, just pure rage, adrenaline, and the rush of violence. She'd never felt that anger before, pure and unadulterated, like an animal. She remembered a small part trying to stop the anger, but it was useless. Whatever consciousness she had still maintained had been useless. The flaming tree returned to her head. Drakken was lucky he'd jumped. She turned in her bed. Sleep was going to fight her tooth and nail.
Drakken lay in his own bed, glad the day was over and things would go back to normal...he hoped. He mentally began spinning excuses, if Shego didn't remember. Maybe it was for the best. That way, everything could go back to normal, no harm and no foul. Drakken enjoyed living in oblivion sometimes; it kept his expectations focused... It also kept other thoughts far away. His mind fell back to the photo-booth again and he cringed. What had he been thinking? Honestly, there was no rhyme or reason for the day's events and he should have known better. His stomach knotted at the memory. Especially the memory that followed, the reason why he'd had the henchmen make dinner and had been so grateful they returned when they did. Fear.
Flashback
Drakken's arm was locked with Shego's again as they walked into the lair. His stomach had been doing flips the whole way back, mixing from excitement to horror to concern... It was a battlefield of ups and downs. Everything in his mind told him to abort, to put up a finely-made wall and put his world back together. Then the other part of him, the one he ignored and kept buried, fought back—the part of him that wanted to give in to his primal desires and throw reasoning to the wind for once.
Stop questioning everything, just go with it. For once, you get what you want.
He gave a half smile and looked at Shego. It faltered. This wasn't what he wanted, was it? He looked at her eyes. They seemed unsettling to him. This was a momentary lapse in her sanity... It had to be, right? Her hands found his coat collar and pushed him against the wall.
"Shego?" asked Drakken, a wave of panic hitting him. It had been a joke... He knew it... The joke was over, and she was going to snap at him. "I'm sorry."
"I don't know what for, but you can make it up to me," smiled Shego, and her lips were on his again.
"Shego..." His hands found her shoulders, half-heartedly pushing her away. This was getting to be too much.
His attempts were swatted away as his hands were pinned against the wall. His lips already hurt from earlier, but they stung now. His internal battle became a war now, his reasoning winning as his arms pulled away from the wall. It was harder than he thought. Shego wasn't exactly weak, but neither was he. He took a shot and gave Shego's lips a sharp bite. She stepped back but her grip didn't loosen. Her eyes flared wide and her grin became devious.
"Oh, I like that," smiled Shego, letting go of his wrists only for her hands to slide around his neck and up his chest.
"Shego, I don't know what's going on, but this is getting out of hand," said Drakken, his brows furrowed as his hands grabbed her wrist on his chest to try to remove it. "Is this some sort of joke, because it's gone too far."
"Does it look like I'm joking, Baby?" said Shego as she yanked into another frenzied kiss.
Drakken cringed at the pain, but his mind was battling back again, wanting to give in. She wasn't joking? Still, it felt wrong. Something felt off about her. He'd never seen her act this way before.
You've never seen her like this because she wasn't interested before.
Something made sense, but still didn't. How could one day shift things so quickly? He felt himself take steps back as she directed them and he followed, his hand still firm on her wrist and the other clenching and un-clenching as his thoughts ran rampant... He heard a beeping noise and he stumbled backwards a bit. His eyes opened and then shot open wider. He yanked himself away from her.
"What?" asked Shego, her eyes hooded and a playful grin on her face. "Nervous? Don't be. I don't bite... Unless you want me to."
"Uh, Shego... We're in your room," said Drakken, taking a step back towards the exit.
"I know. Why? Did you want to go to your room?" smiled Shego. She lunged at him and he dodged.
"Ohm, this is going a little too fast," said Drakken. His reasoning side was back, and it was panicking.
"I can go slower," grinned Shego as she pinned him against the short dresser. He jumped up on it, but it did little to give him an escape route.
"Shego," said Drakken as Shego pounced on him. He literally had no leverage to escape her at that point.
"Ohm...we're back," came a voice at the door. They both looked towards the open doorway to see Henchmen Mitchell and Davis standing there, the others behind them.
"Holy shit," came a mutter behind them, but any anger Drakken might have felt at their intrusion fell to relief.
"Ah! Good, glad to see, how was the wedding?" asked Drakken, managing to slide Shego off him in her sudden confusion and then get off the dresser.
"Not as good as this, I'm sure," said Henchman Davis. Drakken wanted to yell at him, but chose the escape opportunity instead.
"Well, you should tell us all about it," said Drakken. He glanced at a pouty Shego, and he worried about her bursting into tears again. He looked back and forth between her and the henchmen. "Mitchell, would you and Daniels mind making Shego and I dinner?"
"Uh, sure," said Daniels with a wide grin as he yanked Mitchell with him towards the kitchen.
Currently
Drakken was grateful for his henchmen in that moment, for more than one reason. It also dawned on him, he would need to have a conversation with all of them come morning, because none of what they had seen could leave the lair. Thinking back over it all, he felt the nausea come again. His chest hurt at the idea of unknowingly crossing boundaries, and another thing clicked as he thought about it—he had no thoughts about Shego in that way at all anymore. He'd be lying if he didn't think about it once in awhile, but after that day...he just felt disturbed at the thought. He felt some sort of relief that any residual crush he had from when they first met was finally gone.
Onwards →