Blame Game

Shego shot up with a bolt as the image of Drakken panicking while she had him pinned to her dresser came flying back to her. It had to be a nightmare; there was no way that had happened... She lay back down and took a deep breath. It was her imagination, it had to be.

Everything on the floor, though.

She would ask him. She couldn't have been so insane...so aggressive.

You, aggressive...? No.

She rolled her eyes at her own sarcasm. She hoped it wasn't real. She'd practically assaulted the man.

No wonder he was so afraid and willing to do whatever you wanted.

She flashed back to him cowering behind the table, to him hiding in the wooded park.

"Focus. Just focus... Try to remember," she said to herself and focused on a small spot above her, pushing her dream away and stitching what she remembered clearer together.

Shego stared at her ceiling, her hand touching the back of her neck every few minutes. There were small blackouts for which blanks were finally filling as best she could, based on other clear memories. She'd figured out that the mood-control thing had keyed in on what was most relative to the emotion. Sadness: her broken nail, thinking Drakken was hurt, or feeling ignored. Anger: Drakken telling her she overreacted, ignoring her... All of it checked out. She'd even explained away the other one. Love. She cringed at the word; honestly it was more like lust or infatuation than anything. She was certain it was because he was the only man in the lair at the time... Sure, she cared for the idiot, not that she was about to tell anyone or him... It was nothing like that.

"Photo-booth," she thought to herself. She was still confused by its significance, but she knew it was relevant to something.

Maybe to the dresser.

"That might be a delusion... It better be."

She'd put together forcing him to join her on a park date, that they'd had dinner, that she'd practically threatened to blast him if he wasn't her date... She rolled her eyes, of course she had. She had been a massive emotional whirlwind in twenty-four hours of insanity. She remembered that tree; it had to have been what caused the device to crack. She'd blasted where he'd been, and the rush of blind panic came again. She gulped. She took a deep breath and saw the rising sun through her skylight. She tossed back her blankets and got up. She went over to her vanity and grabbed her brush, not exactly sure what the day was going to bring. She knew Drakken would do one of two things: pretend it never happened or want to talk about it in depth. She hoped it was the latter. She looked at the mirror and froze. A strip of photos was taped to the top of it. She yanked it down and stared at the scenes.

"The photo-booth," she muttered to herself. She'd taped the strip there before dinner the night before; she had a flash of memory about it.

She looked at the photos. The first one showed her making a silly face and looking at Drakken. The look in her eyes was unsettling as she looked at it. She looked to Drakken; discomfort, nervous...terror, even. She smirked a little bit at his reaction and moved up the photo. He was at least laughing in this one, still with a look of concern. Her eyes were closed but she was grinning like mad. Her eyes looked up to the next one. Utter fear in his eyes, and... Her stomach twisted at her expression. It felt unnatural and off as she looked at it. Pure emotion, something no normal person would ever show she was sure... The next image explained exactly why her lips had hurt and Drakken's were bruised.

The hallway.

A flash came back, and it played like a fast-forward clip. She looked at her dresser again. Claw mark from her gloves rested along the mirror's edge. She looked closer. The knob on her drawer was knocked off, as if someone had kicked it trying to get up on top.

"Oh my god," breathed Shego. Her head was pounding, relieved Drakken had had some sort of clarity in the situation.

Or oblivion...

Or perhaps deep, gut-churning disgust.

"Shego," came the knock at the door. It wasn't Drakken, who was normally the only one brave enough to do so.

"What is it Williams?" asked Shego as she opened the door. The henchman looked sheepishly at her and cleared his throat.

"Dr. Drakken told us what happened at the meeting. You have a solemn vow, we won't say anything," said Williams. He indicated where the group of henchmen stood around a corner. "We...as a group...decided to tell you this so you don't feel like you have to chase us down later."

"We signed a contract," said Daniels, looking at his feet.

"We also wanted to know, since Dr. Drakken left, did you want us to destroy the footage on the security cameras?" asked Williams. Shego's eyes shot open.

"What do you mean, left?" asked Shego. The henchmen scattered at her voice. Williams froze. "Where is he?"

"I-I don't know," said Williams. He took a step back and his hands shot up. "He left after the meeting this morning... Just...wanted...cameras...be clear...yeah."

"Well..." Shego looked at her glowing hand and took a step back. Her emotions were still raw. She took a deep breath. "I'll take care of the footage."

"Right...ohm," Williams gulped, and Shego closed her door, leaving him outside.

"Maybe I'll get some clear answers," said Shego at the thought of the footage, but her stomach was flipping and her chest hurt... Was Drakken avoiding her?

Drakken scoured the park carefully, trying to find those stupid photos. He cringed. He'd had time to sleep on it and form a plan: pretend the whole thing never happened. Seemed fool-proof. He knew Shego would remember eventually. Possible had seemed back to her own thoughts before he got chased off by Shego. Perhaps, the longer you wore it the harder the fog. Shego had been wearing hers a good five hours after. Either way, he was doing damage control before she did. That way she would see it as him trying to make amends for not getting his head straight faster. He knew she was going to ask him why hadn't he known she was off, and he didn't have an answer... Well, one he was comfortable with telling her anyway.

"Oh, well I thought it was a joke, but then I figured...why not," said Drakken, mocking himself as she looked at the photo-booth. He didn't know where the photos went but he could make sure there was no memory of it. He shot his solar laser gun at it and watched the thing dissipate in blue flames. "Well, that's done... Now the security footage of any nearby cameras downtown... The...cameras... Damn it."

"This is a nightmare," said Shego as she watched the clip of herself in the purple jacket. It was the only clip that wasn't causing internal panic. "It's like Dollmaker, all over again."

Shego hit delete and stared at the screen. She slumped against the keyboard with a loud groan. She sat back up and took a deep breath.

You were under control, this wasn't your fault.

She nodded to herself. She hadn't been mentally stable, clearly. She nodded to herself. This could be fixed.

You practically mauled him in the hallway.

She glared. Her mind was back now, the evening had finally registered. The clips had looped every missing thing together clearly. The only one that didn't seem to fit was the photo-booth. Every mental image and clip showed Drakken avoiding her attempts to seduce him. She cringed, because she knew that's what had been on her emotionally deranged mind. Clearly, it had been far too long and Drakken got the full brunt of it. Yet the photo-booth, she clearly remembered him participating. The image of them returning to the lair showed him walking casually with her. Her thoughts were pushed aside as she heard running and Drakken slid into the lab. He froze.

"Shego?" asked Drakken. He cleared his throat and stood up straight. "Afternoon."

"Where were you?" asked Shego, spinning around in her chair to look at him.

"Ohm, out... What are you doing?" asked Drakken. His attempt to casually lean against his desk caused a stumble as he missed. Shego felt a click in her head.

"Were you doing damage control?" asked Shego, her brow raised.

"Yes," said Drakken. He glanced at the screen. "You?"

"Yes," said Shego. It was a strange sort of awkward now; not like the night before, but shifting and silent.

"So...you saw the videos? Jog any memories?" asked Drakken. His awkward attempt at sitting on his desk caused Shego to raise her brow.

"All of it actually," said Shego. She watched his unease.

What's wrong with him?

"Oh," said Drakken. He looked uneasy, and it confused her further when he gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" asked Shego.

I should be apologizing?

"Yes, I'm sorry. I should have known something was wrong with you sooner, and dealt with it before it even progressed... But...I did think you were pulling my leg at first...for forgetting... And the crack about you being a gold digger," said Drakken. Shego opened her mouth but he motioned his hands in deference. "If we could...could we just pretend this never happened?"

"Hmm," said Shego. She weighed the odds; not having to apologize and also holding something on him...

You attacked him.

"Well?" asked Drakken. She looked at his hopeful eyes and then to the bruising on his face and the cuts on his head, and she groaned internally.

"No," said Shego. She hated these tugs of conscience she got from time to time. She was going to blame the rawness of her emotions for it this time. "You shouldn't be apologizing, I should."

"You?" asked Drakken. He looked confused and she really wondered if they should get his head scanned from the tree impact. "You shouldn't have to apologize, you were not in your sound mind. I was."

"Fine," said Shego. She wasn't going to argue with whatever insane logic was running around Drakken's mind. "Let's just move on."

"Okay, good..." Drakken looked around. "So I still have parts from the device. I was thinking of creating a less concentrated form of it. Think of the mass chaos..."

"Veto," said Shego as she spun in her chair to look at the cameras again, making sure everything was cleared.

"The utter... Veto?" asked Drakken. He froze and Shego didn't have to see the realization he was having on his face. "Perhaps another time, you're right. It's too dangerous."

Shego listened to Drakken mess with his desk, most likely moving things around. It wouldn't take him long to come up with something to steal or another insane scheme. She gave him that; every failure or problem, he bounced right back up. Her conscience kept clicking and it was really starting to annoy her. She was trying to find out any moment he would have thought he was at fault. The photo-booth came to mind again. He had kissed her back. She had just started thinking it was because she was terrifying and had literally pummeled him earlier for a simple comment. Now, she had other thoughts. She shook her head to herself. She should just let it go and move on... Chalk it up to an insane weekend that normally might have involved tequila and get back to normal.

Just move on.

She nodded. She was going to let it go and move on.

"Drakken," said Shego. Apparently her mouth had other plans. "I changed my mind, we should talk about it."

"What?" She spun around to see him drop the graph he'd been staring at. "But, you said..."

"Yeah, and I changed my mind," said Shego sharply, crossing her arms. "I have questions."

"Questions? Like?" asked Drakken.

"Not here... I believe you promised me dinner," said Shego. She crossed her legs and swung her toe idly. "Twice, if I recall."

"Dinner?" asked Drakken. His brow furrowed. "Shego, really. After all that, you want me to make you dinner? Don't you think the henchmen have enough gossip?"

"You've made me dinner before," said Shego. She looked upwards. "Come to think of it, why did you stop?"

"I've invited you a few times, to eat with me...because, well..." Drakken's eyes narrowed now. "I have other things to do than cook you dinner, Shego."

"You stopped after those weird nightmares," said Shego, her eyes flaring wide, but she ignored it. "Well, you know what. You promised me dinner, I want dinner."

"Fine, how about this weekend?" sighed Drakken, pulling out his recently located date book. Pages were missing, but he ignored it. "You know, this weekend doesn't work. We have the bowling finals... How about..."

"Tonight," said Shego. "You are not putting this off. I know what you're trying to do. You're hoping that if you put it off long enough, I'll forget it. Tonight."

"I was not," said Drakken sharply, and Shego saw his eyes shift. He groaned. "Tonight? I guess... There's some chicken in the freezer we should use."

"Excuse me? No, I want a nice dinner," said Shego. She scoffed. "I mean, normally I get at least that before second base."

"I...you...but." His face darkened and he looked a whole new shade of uncomfortable. "You accepted my apology!"

"This is an extension of your apology," said Shego, making a hand gesture as if presenting it. "A nice dinner, and a good talk. Then...in the morning. We never speak of it again."

"Never?" asked Drakken. His eyes focused. "Meaning nothing is held over anyone's head?"

"Never," said Shego. She hesitated though. "So, dinner?"

"Fine," sighed Drakken as he began heading towards the door, muttering to himself.

"Nothing reduced or because it was on sale!" yelled Shego after him.

"Fine!" yelled Drakken. She heard the door slam.

"Hope he gets wine," said Shego. Her cocky smirk faded into unease. "Dinner? What the hell was I thinking?"

Dinner shall be served →