A/N: well, this is the end. I finished it just in time to start writing my next NaNoWriMo project - and to think this fic was supposed to stay around 50,000 words long. Everything I write seems to have the habit of getting much longer than anticipated. Oh, well, it was a lot of fun to write, so I'm not complaining that it lasted longer than I thought.

And of course, I hope you didn't mind either. Thank you so very much to everyone who read/reviewed/faved this fic. I hope you enjoyed the read.

"Aw, who's the cutest puppy here? Who is? You are!" Gemini cooed in a way that reminded Shego way too much of DNAmy as he let the small dog curl on his knees. She held back a groan, hoping that he wouldn't reconsider the idea of leaving that neurotic dog there with its siblings and decide to bring it back with them to the base – that was a kind of scenes she definitely hadn't missed in the few months that little monster had been away… so she couldn't help but agree to some extent with the remark that came from the other side of the table.

"You could at least try to not look just as pathetic as you are," Dr. Director muttered, a slightly disgusted grimace on her face.

Gemini immediately glared at his twin sister, and so did Pepe, who also began snarling at her as Gemini spoke. "Why don't you mind your own business? If someone here is pathetic, that's not me," he turned to meaningfully glance at Drakken – who, at the moment, seemed pretty busy discussing of some kitchen receipt with Mrs. Director. Hell knew how they had gotten to that, considering that the conversation had started with Gemini and Dr. Director's mother asking him if he were the guy with Flower Power who had been trying for years to take over the world before settling for saving it.

They seemed to be getting along surprisingly well, Shego thought with some amusement before she turned her attention back to the Director siblings – she had to admit that it was entertaining watching them squabbling. Other than being pretty convenient for her that they would just bicker and not start any real fight she would have to step into – she felt a lot better than just a week before, but she was still in no shape to fight an opponent like Dr. Director – together with the delicious dinner it also made up for the awkwardness when they had realized that Theresa Director must have thought it would be a nice idea invitingher daughter and Drakken for dinner as well. On the same evening.

Even once the surprise had faded – Drakken had stayed an interesting shade of purple for a while, though – trying to behave normally and be civil around each other throughout most of the dinner had taken some effort… mostly to Dr. Director and Gemini, really, since she and Drakken had no trouble being friendly to each other, a few taunts from her part aside. Shego was pretty sure that, hadn't it been for his mother's presence, Gemini wouldn't have refrained from using his mechanical hand against his sister: it was pretty clear that they were blaming each other for the situation they were into… though Shego had to admit that the embarrassment on Drakken's face had been worth the trouble. Shego grinned inwardly at the thought and turned her attention to what Gemini was saying right now, taking advantage of the fact his mother was still talking to Drakken.

"…and I can't believe he could be stupid enough to get stuck with you," Gemini finished before childishly sticking out his tongue at her.

Dr. Director's eye narrowed for a moment, than a small smirk curled her lips as she glanced down at the chihuahua still warily growling at her from her brother's knees, its front paws resting on the table, and Shego guessed what she was about to do just a moment before she said it. "Global Justice."

Pepe's desperate yelps and Gemini's protests made both Drakken and Theresa stop talking about stuffed turkey to glance at them.

"My, what's wrong with that thing?" Theresa frowned "I thought he was getting calmer lately."

"So it's not just my dog to be weird," Drakken mumbled – even though he had heard a lot from both Shego and Dr. Director about how hysteric that dog could get when someone named GJ, that was even worse than he had expected.

"It's all her fault!" Gemini whined, still trying to calm down his pet "she upsets him!"

"Then you should have left it outside, don't you think?" Dr. Director said innocently, fully knowing that there was no way for Gemini to reveal what she had done to purposely upset his dog without risking to let her know something about his… job that he didn't want her to ever find out.

Gemini muttered some sugary nonsense to calm down the chihuahua before he glared daggers at his sister and opened his mouth to retort, but he immediately trailed off as he heard the unmistakable snort of someone trying to stifle a chuckle. He turned to Shego with a scowl, and she didn't even try to hide the amused smirk still on her lips. "Whose side are you on?" he protested.

Shego shrugged. "Hey, you're fun to watch. There's only a camera missing, and this could be one of those dumb sitcoms they air after midnight for insomniacs. Besides," she gave a slight nod towards Dr. Director "she's got a point there, you could have really left it outside. Not to mention it isn't really the best thing to do, pretty much letting your dog on the dining table…"

"He's not on the table, he's…!"

"Oh, you've seen nothing," Dr. Director said, ignoring her brother and speaking to Shego directly for what was probably the third time in the evening, with the difference she really seemed to be doing so willingly "he has a knack for getting his pets where they don't belong. Back when we had a gerbil he always let it out of his cage to let it wander around. One day he also forgot to close the drawer with his underwear in it, and the gerbil got in. He only realized it was napping in his boxers when he put them on and the gerbil bit-"

Gemini's face turned almost purple. "Betty!" he barked, desperately wishing he could do something, anything to shut her up. He gritted his teeth and uncomfortably glanced sideways at Shego to notice that she was grinning. "What?" he grumbled.

She shrugged with absolutely fake innocence. "Oh, nothing. So that is the accident you had? I'm sorry," she said, her voice mockingly sweet as she made a mental note to speak to Dr. Director a little more often in any occasion they could meet outside work: she doubted they'd ever become friends or anything, but she surely had a great deal of embarrassing tales about Gemini she would be more than willing to tell her about… and each of them would mean more fun for Shego since she was so going to use them to mock him.

Her taunt had the result to make Dr. Director snicker and Drakken laugh out loud – not to mention that even Theresa seemed to be having troubles to not start laughing herself. Gemini's face turned, if possible, even redder – but with his mother there and not knowing who he should snap at first he couldn't react quite the way he would have liked. He growled and leant back on his seat, taking a mental note to make agent Alpha pay for that later.

"Yeah, how funny," he snarled, glaring death at everyone but his mother "and what are you laughing about?" he snapped at Drakken "you have pretty flowers sprouting from your back when you're not looking – and you're blue! How the hell did you turn into a bad imitation of an overgrown Smurf anyway?"

Drakken scoffed. "Hey, that was a serious accident! It wasn't like being bitten by some gerbil in one's underwear!" he said, folding his arms over his chest.

"As serious as getting Flower Power?" Gemini taunted him.

"At least it's something useful, unlike a gerbil in one's-"

"KNOCK IT OFF!"

"Speaking of that," Theresa cut in before the discussion could degenerate too much, still trying to hide an amused smile "how did you turn blue? Was it a lab accident or something?"

Drakken grinned a little sheepishly. "It's… a funny story," he said vaguely. He had had no trouble telling it to Dementor right after the Lowardian invasion, in one of those rare moments they could just chat rather than yelling and trying to best each other, but he did feel a little awkward at the thought of repeating it in front of Dr. Director: it had been a rather embarrassing accident. Fine, she probably knew it already since GJ gathered just all kind of information on him way before they recruited him – though he had accurately avoided to ask anything about that: he had the frightening sensation they knew more on his private life than he could remember himself… not that he had much of a private life in the past years – but still…

"Then you have to tell us over the dessert," Theresa announced. Drakken's face brightened.

"Dessert?" he asked, and Shego noticed with some amusement that he wasn't the only one – Gemini was suddenly looking a lot less grumpy.

"Of course, a dinner isn't a dinner without dessert," was the reply before she turned to Dr. Director "Betty, could you get the ice cream out of the freezer? I'm coming in a minute to get the pie."

"Sure," was Dr. Director's reply as she got up – she looked somewhat relieved for getting a chance to get away from the dinner table for at least a couple of minutes.

"I'm coming along," Shego said, getting up herself and gaining herself a rather perplexed glance from Dr. Director and a very concerned one from Gemini. Eventually, Dr. Director just shrugged.

"If you feel like it," she said just a little stiffly. They walked out of the living room and into the kitchen before Dr. Director turned to face her. "Fine, what is it?" she demanded to know, and even though she was apparently calm it was clear to someone as used to fight as Shego that she was ready to spring in action any second should she have any reason to. She rolled her eyes.

"Sheesh, relax. Remember that hole I had in my stomach a couple of weeks back? I don't heal at the speed of sound, you know. I still can't even try fighting without feeling like someone set my guts on fire after five seconds. You'd mop the floor with me in a minute, and I don't really feel like giving you an excuse to."

Dr. Director seemed to be considering what she had just said. She eventually shrugged, but did not lower her guard too much. "Good point. But my question still stands – what do you want? I doubt you wanted to come along to get the ice cream out of the freeze."

"No, I'll leave that one heroic task to you," Shego said with a shrug "I just wanted to ask – you have lots of those stories about him, right?" she grinned "about your brother, I mean."

"You cannot even begin to imagine," Dr. Director smirked a little herself as she opened the freezer.

"Then you've got to share them."

"And I should because…?"

"Because it's a win-win deal. You get to embarrass your brother, I get endless mocking material."

…well, Dr. Director had to admit that it did sound pretty interesting put that way. "With pleasure," she finally said "on top of my mind there was the time he refused to bathe because he thought the Bathtub Monster would drag him down the drain or something. We were… seven, maybe," she put the ice cream on the counter and glanced at Shego again "by the way, does he still exclusively use the shower?"

Shego though for a moment. "Yes. No bathtub in his bathroom."

"Then I bet it's because he's still afraid."

"You think?"

"I wouldn't be surprised."

"Well, I'll see how he behaves around a bathtub when we're in vacation, then."

"Vacation?"

Shego hesitated for a moment – Gemini had insisted for her not to tell anything about it to his sister so that she'd have to stay on her toes anyway, but since she had already mentioned it to Drakken she guessed that it was only a matter of time before she knew it anyway. "Yes, the boss decided to keep a low profile until I'm ready to get back to work, and while we're at it we're going in vacation. Three weeks. Enjoy your break, because I won't hold back once I'm back in business."

Dr. Director looked suspicious. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"We could send you and Dr. D a postcard or something if you want to be sure."

"No, I'd rather not get anything from either of you that could be seen by anyone in GJ," Dr. Director shrugged "it could be troublesome for both."

A smirk curled Shego's lips. "What is it, are you afraid of outlaw in-laws joke?" she taunted.

"Oh, please. In case you didn't notice, my twin brother happens to be my arch-enemy," Dr. Director pointed out "I could eat the 'outlaw in-law' joke for breakfast."

Shego rolled her eyes. "At least Kimmie was more fun to taunt," she muttered to no one in particular.

Dr. Director seemed to have just been reminded of something. "By the way, you better not hold back from using everything you've got once you are, as you put it, back in business."

Shego raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yes. There is still nothing official since I still have to sign a few papers, but since I'm more than ready to do so… I guess it's safe to say that an old acquaintance of yours will be soon joining Global Justice as a junior agent."

An old acquaintance? Did she mean…? Shego's eyes widened. "Does it mean Miss Priss will be back in business?"

"If by that you mean Kimberly Ann Possible, yes," Dr. Director looked rather amused "I somehow knew you'd like the news."

Shego grinned excitedly – the mere thought of getting to fight Kimmie again made it difficult for her not to light up her hands in anticipation. "I did miss the challenge," he replied, her grin widening "looks like I should do my best to get back in shape soon.

"That would be advisable," was Dr. Director's reply "to be completely honest, for a while after the attempted Lowardian invasion I did hope we could recruit you as well. You could have made a valid element."

"Uh, yeah. No offence, but it's not my thing. The most you can expect is me helping out in case aliens show up again or something," Shego made a face, though she was already trying to picture Gemini's delighted expression upon knowing that he had pretty much snatched her before his sister could even try to recruit her. Hell, he still wouldn't stop bragging over that time he had managed to snatch his sister's favourite toy when they were five or something. Which reminded her, wasn't Dr. Director supposed to be telling her more embarrassing stuff about him? "Anyway, anything else on top of your mind?"

"Concerning my brother, you mean?"

"Sure."

Dr. Director thought for a moment. "Well, there was one time back in first grade when he got lost in school looking for the toilet because his sense of direction is pretty much non-existent. He somehow ended up in the gym and locked himself in by accident. When they found him a couple of hours later he had peed his pants and was crying in a corner. Have I mentioned that he had to use diapers at night until we were eight?"

"And on his first night without he wet the mattress," Shego added "yeah, I think you mentioned it back in Middleton, remember? That, and something about-"

"I hope you two aren't teaming up against Sheldon. He wouldn't make it out of this dinner alive if you did."

Both Shego and Dr. Director turned to see Mrs. Director standing behind them with her arms folded. "Uh… of course not," was Dr. Director's quick reply.

"Good, because you have your own share of amusing tales to tell," she said innocently, and Shego could have sworn Dr. Director had paled a little upon hearing the threat "here, would you mind bringing this to the dogs on the law? I won't hurt varying their diet a little just once in a while," she said, handing her daughter a bowl with some leftovers.

"Well…" Dr. Director took the bowl and glanced at Shego, clearly wondering if her mother would tell her anything compromising about her while she was out of the kitchen. The thought seemed to be worrying her quite a bit.

"Don't make me go get the photo album, Betty," Theresa Director said with a somewhat disturbingly sweet old-lady smile, and Dr. Director was out of the kitchen before Shego could ever blink.

Fine, now I'm really starting to see why Gemini said that saying no to her is not an option.

"Is the photo album that terrible?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Therese shrugged. "Oh, no. I think they're adorable in those pictures, but they don't want me to ever bring them up. I wonder why," she smiled – no, grinned – again before turning her attention back to the pie she was slicing.

Shego leant on the counter. "You're making me curious now," she said, though feeling just a little – very little – sorry for Gemini. Hadn't any photo album her family owned been destroyed in the comet crash, she would have probably burned any picture with her in it she could find as soon as she had learned to control her powers… but she would have kept Mego's most embarrassing ones, of course. That would have been the best blackmail weapon ever to use on him, she mused.

"I could show you the pictures as soon as the kids are distracted," she said with a shrug as she finished cutting the pie and reached for the whipped cream "keeping that album hidden is one thing they always agree onto."

"Uh… yeah," Shego said, both amused and a little taken aback by the fact she had actually referred to Gemini and Dr. Director as 'the kids' "I did notice they don't exactly get along all the time."

Understatement of the century.

"Oh, yes, they always bickered a lot," she said with a sigh "like when they were just babies and fought over the same rattle. One would think they'd stop now that they're all grown up and they both have their own organizations to play with."

"Yeah, right," Shego rolled her eyes "if anything it just made them-" she suddenly trailed off as the meaning of what she had just said sank in her mind. Wasn't she supposed to know nothing of Gemini's business? She gave her a stunned glance, and Theresa just grinned.

"Don't tell them I know it," she said conspiratively before she turned to the door and called out for her son – not without some amusement, Shego noticed. "Shelly!"

"So, uh…" Drakken cleared his throat, not quite sure of what he should do or say not that everyone had apparently disappeared and he was sitting at the dining table alone with Gemini. It hadn't been that awkward, especially since Gemini had been doing a pretty good job at completely ignoring him, focused on fussing on his dog as he was… still, Drakken couldn't just keep quiet and wait. No matter what the circumstances were and how unpleasant the person he might be stuck with could be, if there was one thing he just couldn't stand it was being ignored.

Gemini frowned and stopped cooing at his dog long enough to glance up at him. "What?" he asked icily.

…alright, maybe he should have put up with being ignored for another while after all. Drakken quickly glanced around, but it looked like nobody was coming back yet, so he should probably think of something he could say that wouldn't make Gemini want to shoot him right away. He was pretty sure he could put up a decent fight if he used his Flower Power, but maybe avoiding a full-blown fight would be for the best, at least in that occasion. "Nice dog," he finally muttered "how old is it?"

Gemini's frown melted a little. "Pepe? He's six," he replied, petting his dog's ears "what do you care anyway?"

"I was just asking," Drakken said a little defensively "I, uh, have a dog, too."

"Do you?" Gemini seemed a tad curious now "what breed?"

"A poodle, Commodore Puddles," Drakken was relieved to see he seemed a lot less hostile now that they were talking about dogs "one of my mother's friends had to move and she couldn't keep him, so we took him in," he shrugged "where did you get yours?"

Gemini smiled down at his pet, his flesh and blood hand reaching to scratch its belly. "Oh, he was always with me. He was born here – the dogs outside are his mother and siblings. And their mother and grandmother were born here, too."

"Oh, I see. And you kept this whole litter?"

"Yes. Mother can get lonely sometimes, and they keep her company. I took this little guy with me because he had some trouble when he was just born and I had to look after him a lot. And after that I couldn't just send him back home, right? Oh no, I couldn't," Gemini chuckled as Pepe yapped and tried to lick his chin.

"Ah," Drakken held back from laughing or pointing out that he wasn't looking very villainous right now "then, uh… why is he here right now?" he asked.

Gemini scowled again, though not at him. "He was sick and needed surgery, and then he needed a quiet place to recover. He was… too nervous in the base," he sighed and looked down at his dog, who was currently tugging at his shirt, waving its tail "and he's a lot more relaxed here, so it was probably for the best," he added somewhat sadly, more to himself than to anyone else. Yes, it probably was for the best if Pepe stayed at his mother's home permanently… but that didn't keep him from missing his pet's presence. It wasn't as bad as it had been before he and agent Alpha got… close, but he still missed him. Maybe he should drop by to visit him more often, and maybe bring him some new toy, and-

"Shelly!" Mrs. Director's voice came from the kitchen, not devoid of some kind of twisted amusement, and snapped him from his thoughts "do you want whipped cream with your slice?"

"Mom!" Gemini protested, his shoulders slumping a little. Why was she calling him like that all the time that day?

"Oh, quit whining. Whipped cream or not?"

Gemini glared at Drakken as though his embarrassment was his fault. "Yes," he almost growled.

"Yes what?" his mother's voice reached their ears again, and Drakken could have sworn he had heard Shego stifling a chuckle.

"Yes, please," Gemini groaned before he slumped in his chair and glared darkly at Drakken "don't you dare laugh," he threatened.

Drakken could have considered doing so in other circumstances – meaning whenever Dr. Director or Shego would be there to save his life – but since right now it was just them in the dining room it probably wouldn't be a wise move. Besides, he couldn't say he couldn't relate a little. He eventually just shrugged. "Not going to."

"Good for you," Gemini remarked, but he looked rather relieved as he went back petting his dog's ears "of course, had it been anyone else to speak to me like that, they would have been annihilated already," he pointed out a little forcefully.

"Huhu, sure. But annihilating your mother is not an option, eh?" Drakken muttered, thinking of the utter embarrassment his mother's mere presence granted him "I know how it works."

Gemini raised an eyebrow. "Oh, do you?"

Drakken grinned a little sheepishly. "Yeah. Mine calls me Drewbie and thinks I'm one of those doctors who give advice on the radio."

"Ow," Gemini actually winced a little, as if he had just told him he had a terminal illness, and his wariness diminished – it was clear that Drakken's situation wasn't much better than his own. "That, and you got stuck with my sister? I'm sorry."

"Eh, one has to… hey, wait!" Drakken seemed to just realize what Gemini had said "quit insulting my… er… I mean… your sister?" he blabbered lamely, suddenly feeling unbelievably awkward… but how could he not feel awkward? Aside from the overall situation – he was pretty sure he was the first former supervillain who was currently dining in the house of what happened to be his boss' mother, who clearly thought of him and said boss as a couple, together with his former sidekick and her own boss and date, who also happened to be the evil twin of his boss, and… no, really, how could it get any weirder? – the fact he had absolutely no idea of what he could think of his relationship with Dr. Director kind of added to his discomfort.

Heck, he wasn't even sure whether or not he could define it a relationship. Fine, I liked her and she seemed to… appreciate him, and they did kiss, and… well, they did kiss, and it was something, he guessed. But after that they had both been busy and it wasn't like they had any time to talk things through. They would have to, eventually, and while the thought made him wish the ground would open up to swallow him he supposed it would still be better than having absolutely no idea what to think. Until then he would just… well…

He was suddenly snapped by his thoughts as a dish was pushed under his face. "I hope you like it," Theresa was saying, sitting again "Shego mentioned you like whipped cream, so I guessed you wouldn't mind if I didn't hold back with it."

Drakken's frown immediately melted as he glanced at the slice of pie almost drowned in whipped cream. That, and ice cream: that was what he called a dessert. "I don't mind at all," he immediately said, giving a quick smile to Shego – who was sitting next to Gemini again and smirking for some reason he couldn't imagine – before reaching for the spoon and glancing around. "Where's Dr. D… er, I mean, where is…?"

"Here," Dr. Director said, sitting down again and getting him out of the trouble of addressing to her with her first name for… what would have been the first time, really. That was probably something they would have to work onto as well, Drakken thought a little uncomfortably before turning his attention back to the dessert and taking a first spoonful. It tasted even better than it looked, he mused, immediately taking another spoonful – not quite as good as his mother's, of course, but still. He was definitely going to have ask Mrs. Director for the reci-"

"Hey!"

"Sheldon! Don't bother your sister!"

"But mom, she started it!"

"No, she didn't – I saw you, Sheldon!"

"Uh?" Drakken glanced up to see Dr. Director wiping away some cream from her shirt, glaring at her brother – who, on the other hand, was grinning broadly and not even trying to look innocent.

"You should put a napkin around your neck if you're too much of a messy eater, Betty," he mocked her "why don't you- ouch!" he yelped, his grin immediately fading "she kicked me!" he exclaimed petulantly, turning to his mother.

"Did not!" Dr. Director retorted.

Theresa sighed. "Sheldon, there is no way she could have possibly kicked you from over there," she said slowly as if speaking to a little child – which was the way Gemini behaved any time his sister was around anyway, Shego mused.

"I'm telling you she did! I- ow!" Gemini glared at his sister "stop that!"

Shego elbowed him a little less gently than she could have. "Your mother is right, you know. Unless she's made of rubber and can stretch her limbs at will, she can't have kicked you. No need to whine," she rolled her eyes at his protests before flashing a brief smirk to Drakken – who, on the other hand, was doing his best to look absolutely innocent and not at all like someone with vines that could, in fact, stretch at will. Flower Power really was one heck of a useful thing when he was on control.

Theresa seemed to have guessed who the responsible was as well, but rather than saying anything about that she seemed to have just been reminded of something. "Weren't you supposed to tell us how come you're blue?" she asked, ignoring – like everyone else, around the table – how Gemini was still whining.

"Oh, that," Drakken swallowed his bite, his mood definitely higher than a few minutes before "well, as I said, it is a funny one. So, it was a Tuesday…"

The rest of the dinner was thankfully rather uneventful, aside from a few more taunts and a rather heated argument over the last slice of pie between Gemini and Dr. Director. All in all, it had been less tragic than she would have expected, Shego mused as she leant back on the seat – Gemini wouldn't even let her drive since she was still recovering, and while it annoyed her a little she had to admit that it wasn't so bad when it was someone else to drive for a change.

"Well, it wasn't that bad," she finally said, holding back a grin at the thought of all the information she had acquired about him – now that she had a few more arrows in her quiver, mocking him at the first occasion she got would be even more fun.

"Yeah," Gemini grumbled a little "but I'd like to know on whose side you're on. You agreed with the enemy twice, and then you also backed her up when I was saying she had kicked me!"

"Hey, in front of your mother she's not the enemy, genius," she reminded him "unless you want her to find out what your job really is…" she teased, and the fact she now knew that Theresa Director knew everything that both her children were trying to keep hidden form her made taunting him in that sense even funnier.

Predictably enough, Gemini shuddered. "Hell, no," he muttered, a worried expression on his face at the thought his mother could find what his activities were about, then he recollected. "In any case, I would have expected my top agent to be more supportive than that!"

"Hu-uh, sure," Shego took advantage of a the fact they weren't moving due to a red traffic light – it was funny how careful someone who's supposedly up to spread chaos can be when it comes to driving – to rest her head on his shoulder so that she could nibble at his earlobe a little more roughly than it was strictly necessary, which was something he apparently liked "I'm not exactly here as your top agent though, am I?"

Gemini found himself grinning at her words. Nope, she wasn't there as just his agent Alpha – she wasn't there as his agent Alpha at all, because it had nothing to do with work. She had been there because she was with him, and now that they were going in vacation for a while – Gemini had found himself growing fond on the idea almost against his own will – and WEE would have nothing to do with it, because it was going to be just them.

In his dedication to oppose GJ and spread chaos around the globe, his organization had pretty much been his life for… how much time? Well past a decade, for sure; maybe fifteen years, and in all that time there had been almost nothing and nobody really relevant to him outside the organization and, more in general, outside villainy. Of course, he was going to keep expecting from his agent Alpha the best as far as work was concerned – it wouldn't be professional behaving otherwise, and neither of them would have it any other way – but now he found himself rather enjoying the thought that there was something binding them that was not WEE, that had nothing to do with either villainy, work or a monthly pay check.

Before the traffic light turned green, Gemini turned and caught her lips in a quick kiss. "One for you."

"Your, uh… mother is nice," Drakken finally said tentatively after having walked in silence for a few minutes. Not that he was feeling uneasy – not that much anyway – but after a while the silence had just gotten… unnerving. Why wasn't she speaking? Had he done something wrong? Said something stupid?

Dr. Director chucked, clearly sensing his uneasiness. "Yes, she is. But this was still awkward."

"You still have to meet mine," Drakken muttered under his breath, but Dr. Director didn't reply – how could his mother create a more awkward situation than the one they had been in already? – and just raised an eyebrow.

"And you saying I should?" she asked, a little amused. Having him meeting her mother already definitely hadn't been her choice – they hadn't even caught up with the fact that theirs really wasn't a merely professional relationship anymore when they had been pretty much ordered to attend to that dinner! – and now it rather amused her that he would want her to meet his mother already.

"Well…" Drakken hesitated. He supposed that it would… make sense since he had met hers, but on the other hand he wasn't sure he wanted to have his mother in the picture that soon. "If you feel like having a laugh, I guess," he smiled a little sheepishly "if you think your family is embarrassing, just wait to meet my mother. And Eddie. He's even more obnoxious outside, er, work. But maybe he will too busy with his new girlfriend to attend…"

"You mean Adrena Lynn?"

Drakken blinked. "How do you know that?"

"The fact they were making out all the way to prison last time was kind of a giveaway, don't you think?"

"…oh, right," Drakken cleared his throat as they stopped in front of the car "speaking of giveaways, do you think we should, uhm… you know…?"

"Let anyone know at GJ?" Dr. Director finished, a small frown on her face "I'd rather not, at least for now – there are still too many things we should still talk through. In any case, it's not like we should. As long as we keep the two things completely separated, that is it."

Well, Drakken thought, that did seem like a good idea… even though it was rather amusing what Will Du's expression would have been upon finding out. "Fine with me. But this doesn't mean we should stop with cocoa moo breaks, right?" he asked a little worriedly, getting in the car himself.

She shook her head as she started the engine. "I can't see why we should – as far as anyone knows, Code C-M is of vital importance for Global Justice," she smirked "besides, those breaks pretty much kept me alive over the last few months," she added – to be honest, there had been moments she had wondered how in the world had she managed not to go insane while working without taking breaks like that for years.

Drakken grinned. "Good to know that," he said "turn left at the next crossroad."

"Left? And why?" Dr. Director asked innocently, as if she had no idea what he was talking about.

"The karaoke bar, remember? It's tonight, and you promise you'd come with me if I attended to the dinner," Drakken reminded her, a huge grin on his face "don't tell me you were hoping I had forgotten it!"

She sighed. "Honestly? Yes."

"Hey, that's not the right spirit!" he protested "I always told Shego too – you need enthusiasm!"

"I have it."

"No, you don't. You look like you're heading for slaughter."

"I wish," she replied, but she did turn to the left as he had asked – since he had not forgotten what she had promised, the only thing she could do was keeping said promise.

"Oh, come on! I'm telling you, it will be fun," Drakken grinned broadly "have I mentioned I love karaoke?"

Dr. Director couldn't help but chuckle at his grin. "I few hundred times, yes," she said "fine, I'm coming with you – but don't you ever dare to try making me sing."

Drakken nodded eagerly. "Sure not. The spotlight is mine – people love it when I sing," he boasted a little, apparently rather happy of getting a chance to boast about a talent that had nothing to do with doomsday devices, killer robots or Flower Power.

Dr. Director smirked. "Oh, that's right. I actually seem to recall seeing you on TV once… on American Starmaker, wasn't it?" she turned to glance at him "a rather… interesting rap number about some brainwashing shampoo. Very subtle, by the way. And nice clothing."

Drakken's ego seemed to deflate, and he slumped on the seat with a scowl. "That was one bad accident you had promised to never mention again," he muttered.

"It won't happen again," Dr. Director promised innocently "where should I turn now?"

His face immediately brightened again. "On the right, go straight on until I tell you, ad then left," he said before turning back to her "and if you don't have fun, I'll bake muffins to go with the cocoa moo all next week."

Well, Dr. Director thought, now that was an interesting proposal – his muffins were pretty good. She considered the idea for a few moments, then she smiled. "Sounds like we have a deal."

Two weeks later

"Nothing! He isn't answering!" agent Gamma's voice was a couple of octaves higher than usual, making him sound like he was one step away from a breakdown.

"Gamma, relax," agent Beta sighed, not turning his gaze away from the delicate task at hand – making himself a tuna sandwich with tomato and mayo – and just shrugging "it's nothing major, that helicopter was old anyway. Besides, there's a discount by HenchCo next week. We'll just buy a new, better one."

Gamma stared at him as if he had gone insane. "But he'll notice! And he ordered us not to do anything without telling him first! He'd be furious!"

"Yes, because he'd be so happy to be bothered about an old broken helicopter while he's on his first vacation since when dinosaurs got extinct," he laughed good-naturedly "don't worry, even if he notices I doubt he's mind. We had a small problem and solved it without having to bother him, end of the story. There might be a reason why he isn't answering, don't you think?" he meaningfully glanced at the other agent.

Agent Gamma seemed still uncertain. "But he ordered us to tell him anything that happened…"

"Then you'll just try to call him later. He can't know when the helicopter broke, can he?" Beta smirked a little – my, didn't it feel good not having to worry about things like that. Gemini and agents Alpha were probably enjoying their vacation, but Beta was sure they could never enjoy it as much as he was enjoying his.

"Well…" Gamma thought for a moment, then he smiled "hey, you're right!"

Beta shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich. "Sure I am," he muttered through a mouthful of bread, tuna and tomato "is there any soda left?"

Shego frowned in annoyance as she heard a familiar beeping sound. She rose on her elbows and pushed her sunglasses up to her forehead to glare at the object that was making that noise: Gemini's cell phone on the deckchair next to hers. She turned to make sure Gemini was still out of earshot – yes, he was still in the pool – an reached for the cell phone to see the caller's ID. Which was, of course, the base.

She rolled her eyes. Oh, no, no way. It wasn't coming from the line they used for red codes, so it couldn't be a matter of life and death – and if it wasn't a matter of life and death, it could as well wait until they got back. She wanted to relax, and last thing she wanted was having work getting in the way, she thought as she refused the phone call and shut off the cell phone before putting it back in place and resting back on the deckchair once again.

She pushed down her sunglasses again, shut her eyes and gave a content sigh. Sunbathing was something she had always enjoyed even though she just never tanned, and after spending so much time after the accident cooped up in a room – first in the hospital, then in the base – it felt twice as good. Gemini, on the other hand, didn't seem to enjoy it quite as much. But really, what else did he expect would happen when one falls asleep under the sun right on the first day and with barely any sunscreen on? He behaved like he had never been in vacation before, and he probably really hadn't in the last couple of decades or so. Hadn't Shego woken him up to make him wear a t-shirt and move in the shade, he would have been roast in a hour.

Ever since then he was very careful with how much time he spent under the sun, and he often got up to refresh a little in the pool – a pool he had reserved for just the two of them, Shego had been both amused and rather happy to notice. Maybe she'd join him in the water soon, but for now sunbathing felt so good that she'd probably stay there for another minute, just another minute…

"Aren't you feeling hot, agent Alpha?" Gemini's voice reached her ears, and a moment later she couldn't feel the sun on her skin anymore. She frowned a little, her eyes still shut.

"Boss, you're blocking out the su-" she began, only to trail off with a yelp at the sudden, wet coldness against her warm skin as reached to grab her and leant on her. Her eyes snapped open, and she growled as she saw his grinning face just inches from hers, his hair dripping water on her forehead and sunglasses. "Boss, get off me. You're soaked."

His grin widened. "I know."

"And what made you think it would be a good idea soaking me as well?"

Gemini shrugged. "I'm evil, and I was bored. And I thought you should cool of- hey!" he gasped as she knocked him off her and threw him on the ground. He tried to get up, but just a moment later she was on him, her knee on his stomach to keep him pinned on the ground.

"Do you still think it was a good idea?" she grinned, lighting up a hand, and Gemini allowed himself another moment to take a good look at her – she looked dangerous and gorgeous like that, in her bath suit with her skin glistening with water and the plasma giving a sinister glow to her face as she smirked down at him – before he lifted his mechanical hand, the waterproof model Jack Hench had provided him, and fired before she could even realize what he was doing.

"Wha…?" Shego yelped in surprise as she fell back on the ground, tangled into some kind of net that had to come from Gemini's finger missile – and there she had thought she knew all the stupid gadgets he had in that hand!

Gemini chuckled and got back on his feet. "Looks like I caught myself a mermaid," he grinned down at her.

Shego rolled her eyes as she reached to grab the net and let her plasma burn through it. "Is this a very bad joke or a subtle suggestion that I should wear fishnet stockings?"

"The former, really. But the fishnet stockings do sound like a good idea," Gemini admitted with a shrug as she got back on her feet as well and smacked his chest, though with not nearly as much strength as she could have used.

"Oh, yeah? After this little joke of yours you can forget it," she said before grinning "but you can be sure I'll get my revenge."

"I take it I should watch my back?"

Shego tilted up her head and smirked back. "You totally should," she said, and she was serious – it would be far from the first time they made each other pay for some taunt or prank, and she couldn't say she minded. After all they were evil and, infuriating as he could get, she liked it how there was just no way to get bored around him. It sure was entertaining, she thought.

Gemini seemed to think exactly the same way. "Then I expect you to do your worst, agent Alpha," he said. Then his mouth was pressing on hers, his arms sliding around her waist, and Shego found herself more than willing to switch to a less childish kind of entertainment.