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Shego tore off her blanket, pulse racing. The edges of her room glowed green as plasma flickered over her fists. She was so agitated she had a hard time putting them out. When she managed it the room returned to its sleepy darkness and that was somehow worse. A sick, slimy feeling slithered down her spine, forcing Shego to shiver even as she was hot with sweat.
“Nightmare Ray my ass,” she had told Drakken after they’d been hit. It was a little handheld ray gun. It didn’t even look that powerful but as per usual Drakken wanted it, Shego had stolen it, and Kim Possible had arrived before they could leave with it.
It looked like their heist was going to be fruitless. Kim was inches away from grabbing the Nightmare Ray when someone—Shego couldn’t officially prove it was Drakken, but it certainly hadn’t been her—hit the trigger.
Blue light flashed around them, and then nothing. Shego blinked against the glare but that was it. She didn’t feel any different. In fact, the flash left Kimmie dazed just long enough for Shego to grab Drakken and drag him into the hovercar, the ray still clutched in his hands.
“How bad could it possibly be?” she had scoffed as they made their escape.
Bad, as it turned out. Shego’s heart hadn’t raced so badly since…well she wasn’t sure. She’d been thrown into a pit full of live crocodiles and not felt the terror she’d felt in those dreams. Images of the nightmare danced through her mind. Her brothers…it had happened so fast…it was her fault.
No, Shego told herself. It was a nightmare. It wasn’t real. She lit one of her palms against the darkness and watch her hand tremble inside the flame. Shego’s eyes hung heavy but she couldn’t go back to sleep, not yet. The thought of staying here with those dreams made her squirm.
Shego found her slippers and robe and was out in the hallway before she knew where she was heading. If she could put some distance between herself and her room maybe she could put some distance between the feeling of dread clinging to her bones.
It only mostly didn’t work.
Shego’s feet took her to the kitchen and she busied herself getting a glass of water. Pick a cup from the cabinet. Run the faucet. Be annoyed that Drakken can never seem to get his coffee mugs all the way to the dishwasher. Each action tethered her a little bit more to this quiet night where she was home and nothing was wrong.
Shego drained the glass and filled it a second time but she couldn’t stay here in the kitchen. Unpleasant as the thought of returning to bed was, her adrenaline was wearing off and she was getting cold. She was debating heading for the couch instead when she heard a low mumbling sound.
“Hello?” she said, unoccupied hand raised and ready to ignite. No one answered. Shego took a few cautious steps back down the hall toward their bedrooms. “Dr. D?”
That’s when he screamed. Drakken screamed such a painful, desperate scream that Shego’s mind went blank. She forgot about the Nightmare Ray. She forgot about the water glass that had been in her hand and was now shattered on the floor somewhere between the kitchen and where she was skidding to a stop outside Drakken’s door.
Shego burst through, fists blazing, but Drakken didn’t notice. He couldn’t. He was tossing in his bed with his eyes squeezed tightly shut. It took Shego a moment to realize he was still asleep.
“Drakken,” she hissed.
“No, please,” he murmured, oblivious to her.
Shego called his name again louder but he didn’t stir. Normally she considered Drakken’s room off-limits. It wasn’t an official rule they had, just something she had decided for herself. Given that he barely slept and when he did it was often at his lab bench, the room was almost always empty. Still, Shego felt it was best to stay away from her boss’s bed literally and otherwise.
Tonight was different. She couldn’t imagine Drakken trapped in that much pain.
She crawled over Drakken’s stupid round mattress to where he thrashed in its center. Shego grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to shake him awake.
“No,” he mumbled to the nightmare that held him. “No.”
“Drakken,” she tried again. “DRAKKEN!”
His eyes snapped open. She watch them bounce around the room trying to make sense of where he was and what was happening. Then, finally, they settled on her.
“Shego?” Drakken asked in a voice nearly cracking with relief.
He reached his hand up toward her. Shego thought for a moment he was going to hold her by the cheek. She also thought she was going to let him. There was such pain in his eyes.
Though that had been his instinct, Drakken thought better of it and ran his fingers through his own hair instead.
“That’s some Nightmare Ray you picked out Doc.”
“The Nightmare…of course.” He was still rather dazed, which is why he didn’t hesitate in asking, “You?”
Shego offered him an hand and helped him sit up. She nodded. She tried to find words to explain it but the dream was too fresh. It still felt real.
Drakken looked terrible. Even in the dim light he looked pale. The bags under his eyes were more pronounced than usual. Shego wasn’t sure what would be worse for him, going back to sleep or refusing to.
“Can I get you something? Water?”
“No, thank you.”
Shego searched for something else to say but came up empty. “Alright then.”
She pulled herself off the bed and stood up. “I’ll let you go back to sleep. If you can.”
Drakken didn’t want to go back to sleep. He didn’t want to feel what he had just felt ever again. More importantly, he didn’t want to be alone.
“Shego?” he called before she reached the door. “You could stay. If you wanted.”
She disappeared into the hall without a word.
“Right,” Drakken muttered to himself. What a stupid suggestion. She’d tease him for days when this was over.
He wriggled back down into bed certain he was about to spend the next few very unpleasant hours staring at the wall. Then the door creaked and light from the hallway cut across the room once more.
Shego return with her comforter around her shoulders. She didn’t say anything as she climbed onto the bed beside him, on top of his comforter but under her own. Drakken decided it was best he didn’t say anything either so he waited quietly as she settled down beside him.
Drakken hadn’t intended for them to touch. He was trying not to disturb Shego but he couldn’t balance on his hip like this and when he moved to correct it his back pressed into hers through the covers. He felt Shego stiffen up and was certain she would get up and leave.
She though about it. Shego wanted to be annoyed at Drakken but she couldn’t find it in her. All she felt was relief. She could feel the slight rise and fall of his breathing through the comforters and that more than anything else seemed to keep the dread still crawling in her at bay.
When she was just comfortable enough that her exhaustion threatened to pull her under, Drakken decided to take a risk. “Shego?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
He hesitated a moment then continued, “And…”
She waited.
“I’m very glad you’re alright.”
His voice was uncharacteristically soft. Shego though of the haunted look in his eyes as he woke, the way he had stared at her, like he was seeing a ghost. She didn’t know exactly how the Nightmare Ray worked but if her brothers’ fate in her own dream was any indication, Shego had a stomach-turning feeling about what Drakken might have seen in his.
She pressed her back more firmly against his. “I’m right here.”
She felt Drakken began to relax, maybe even enough to sleep.
“Hey Doc?”
“Yes Shego?”
“Burn the Nightmare Ray.”
“Way ahead of you.”