Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible or have any claim to it.

Author's Note: Of all the things I thought might inspire me after completing my last large project for Avatar: The Last Airbender, I really didn't think this would be it. However, I got thinking about Kim Possible and started reading Drakken/Shego fics. I realized there were a lot of possibilities there, but I'd have to say that this particular story was inspired by "Maslow" by Ninnik Nishukan. It's a long read but well worth it, and it reminded me that there was a great deal to be resolved after "Mad Dogs and Aliens". This begins immediately after that episode, possibly overlapping the ending just a bit.

Picking up the Pieces

To tell the truth, Midas of the golden touch was all but forgotten by the time Shego lifted the hovercar off of the ground (she'd swiped it to take her vacation) and switched on the searchlights. That alien had thrown Drakken pretty hard, and Shego decided to go and find him. Just about anybody else would have been dead, but she'd seen him survive some pretty devastating calamities, and it was possible that he'd made it through this, too.

She told herself that she needed to find out what her employment options were. Her interest in Dr. Drakken's fate certainly couldn't be because she actually cared or anything.

At last, the lights hit a human-shaped form clad in dark blue, and Shego landed the hovercar nearby. Investigating, she found her erstwhile boss unconscious, but breathing. It appeared that he had crashed through the only clump of bushes in a five-mile radius, which had broken his fall. The man had the luck of the devil – which was appropriate, considering.

Of course, he wasn't unscathed; it looked like his momentum had still carried him to the ground with a fair amount of force. There was a sizeable puddle of blood under his head, and his left arm was bent at an unnatural angle. Cautiously, the green-skinned woman bent over Drakken and ran her hands over his neck and spine to check for breaks that could cause further injury if she moved him. She was no doctor, but she didn't find anything out of the ordinary, so she thought she might as well get him to what was left of the lair. One of the downsides of being an infamous villain in a remote location was that you couldn't really call 911 and expect them to respond.

With an effort, Shego got Drakken into the hovercar and used the password to fly it right into the stone tower upon which the lair had been built. One advantage of building your home on a plateau was that there was plenty of room to build underneath, and she was taking the chance that the basement and cellar levels were reasonably intact.

Thankfully, they were. These had mostly been the henchmen's residences, so there was a kitchen and eating area, several bathrooms, and a supply of basics. Fortunately, the water and electricity still seemed to be operating. She lugged Drakken onto the couch in the common area (he was heavier than he looked, although he seemed a trifle thinner than she remembered). She then went off to one of the bathrooms and returned with damp cloths, which she used to clean up the back of his head. Once that was done, she could see that he was already clotting. She kept pressure on the area while she considered the situation. She was forced to come to the inescapable conclusion that she was going to need help, and she could think of only one person to call.

It took a little time, but she got the monitor in the room connected to a transmitter, and she entered the code she'd downloaded from the Kimmunicator while it had briefly been in her possession. She tried never to waste an opportunity to gain information about her enemies.

When the chubby, dark-skinned boy appeared on the screen, he nearly choked on the soda he always seemed to be slurping.

"Shego?" Wade exclaimed. "Twice in one day?"

"Yeah, I'm not planning to make a habit of it, boy wonder," she said wryly. "But I need a little help here." She gestured toward the mad scientist lying prone behind her, and Wade's eyes widened.

"What happened?"

"Some crazy alien threw him headfirst off a cliff."

"Ooookay. What do you need?"

"I was hoping you could help me figure out where his injuries are so I can patch him up," Shego replied. "I know he hit his head."

"All right, let's start there." Wade was busily tapping away at his keyboard and looking at other monitors. "When you touch the spot, does anything shift?" Shego felt around gingerly.

"There's a big bump there, but that's all," she answered. "And it was bleeding."

"He's got a very hard head," Wade remarked.

"You're telling me?" Shego muttered and was surprised to find that there was a certain amount of fondness attached to that thought. She shook it off.

"He'll have a headache when he wakes up, but it doesn't sound like there's a break or brain damage." Wade paused. "Well, any more than there already was."

"Funny," said Shego shortly. "Any idea how long he'll be out?"

"It's hard to say. At least a few hours, I'd guess. If it's more than a day, you should really call in a specialist."

Shego nodded thoughtfully. Kimmie's mother was a neurosurgeon, wasn't she? Shego could always kidnap her or something if it came to that.

"You should also stay with him for a few days," Wade continued. "Watch for signs of memory loss, and make sure there's no erratic behavior. Uh, more than usual, I mean."

"You know, I could do without the editorials," Shego snapped. She knew this was hypocritical, since she'd be tossing out zingers much faster and sharper than that if Dr. D were at the top of his game, but this situation was completely different. "Do you have a way identify other injuries?"

"An X-ray would be best, but I can't send that through the computer. Besides, you'd have to take all kinds of precautions. I have a sonic imager I'm working on that might help."

"Let's try it." Shego backed out of the way so that Wade had a clear view of the prone mad scientist and tried to wait patiently while the young prodigy did his thing.

"It looks like he took most of the impact on his left side," Wade announced. "That shoulder's dislocated, the arm's broken just above the elbow, and two ribs are cracked. Let me see if I can show you…" He projected a hologram so that Shego could identify where the problems lay. She committed the image to memory and inclined her head to show that she understood.

"It could have been a lot worse, though," Wade went on. "He's a tough old guy, isn't he?"

"He's not that old," replied Shego absently, already thinking of the measures she'd have to take.

"Whatever. You'll have to splint the arm, and you should wrap the ribs."

"I may not be a Girl Scout, genius, but I could figure that much out!" she sniped.

"Hey, you called me," Wade reminded her. "Can you get a shoulder back into joint?"

"I'll manage. Um, thanks." The word felt like it was dragged out of her, but she figured if she didn't say it, he'd never go away.

"No problem," the boy said cheerfully, cutting the connection.

***

Staring at the now-blank monitor, Wade Load considered whether or not to share this little scene with Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. In the end, he decided it was too good to keep to himself.

Beep-beep-BEE-beep. Kim pulled out the Kimmunicator at the signal and held it up so that she and Ron could both see their tech support guy in the small screen. The young couple was finishing up their snack at Bueno Nacho before heading off to the movies.

"Hey, guess what, guys?" said Wade, not even waiting for Kim to speak. "I just heard from Shego again!"

"What now?" Kim demanded. She just wanted to relax with her boyfriend tonight. Hadn't there been enough drama for one day?

"Playing nurse, apparently. Drakken got pretty bashed up tonight."

"I thought she was going back on vacation," Ron remarked, confused.

"Yeah, well, that might have been the plan before Warmonga used Dr. Drakken to throw a 50-yard pass," Wade replied.

"I should have gone looking for him!" Kim exclaimed, feeling a pang of remorse. Sure, Dr. Drakken was a demented megalomaniac bent on ruling the world, but even he didn't deserve getting tossed off a cliff. "I saw her throw him, but I didn't even think about it."

"It's okay, Kim," Ron assured her, taking her free hand. "I mean, he's survived a lot of disasters in the years we've been fighting him."

"I know, but that was a pretty nasty fall. I'm the hero! I'm not supposed to leave people for dead, even villains!" She turned to Ron. "All I was really thinking about was how much I wanted to see you again." Her boyfriend blushed faintly.

"So you're upset because Shego's showing more compassion than you in this one case?" Wade asked her.

"I guess you could put it that way." The thought of Shego showing compassion was a little like imagining a sparrow deciding to live underwater.

"Well, Drakken's got some broken bones, but I think he'll live," Wade reported. "If it's any consolation, I think he's in good hands. Shego was even getting a little defensive about him. I really just wanted to let you know that you should have at least a few weeks before he's up for any new schemes."

"Well, that's a relief," Kim thanked Wade and signed off.

Their date temporarily forgotten, Kim and Ron sat for a moment in quiet contemplation.

"You know, KP, I'm having trouble seeing Shego as the caring type," Ron broke the silence.

"I know what you mean," said Kim thoughtfully. "But you never know…maybe they have a thing."

"Ewww! Shego and Drakken? That's totally…wrongsick!"

"Bleah!" added Rufus from his perch on the table.

"I don't know; I think they kind of deserve each other," Kim replied. "Actually, that would explain a lot."

"What are you talking about? It doesn't explain anything!"

"Oh, really? How about things like why she's always saving him even when she doesn't have to? There's no way Drakken pays that well." The more Kim thought it over, the more she thought it made sense. In a twisted kind of way, anyway.

"They don't treat each other very well," Ron pointed out, but Kim just shrugged.

"So? It's evil love. We can't expect it to be normal." Kim sat up suddenly. "Remember what Shego said at the spa?"

"Um, she said a lot. You'll have to be more specific."

"She said she was on vacation from Drakken. But she hadn't been working with Drakken for months! They were both in prison, and then she teamed up with Junior and Motor Ed for a while. So why would she still need a vacation from Drakken?"

"Unless she's in denial?" Ron suggested, starting to get it.

"Exactly. And another thing – why did she come to the lair after we told her somebody'd sprung Drakken? And why did she call Wade so you and Tweebs could help me out?"

"Oooh, I see what you're saying! You think she was jealin'!"

"Yep," Kim agreed, leaning back in satisfaction. Maybe she could even find a way to use this against the pair when they next tangled. "She definitely didn't want anyone else pounding me."

"You might be right, but…still creepy," was Ron's verdict.

"No argument here. Now about that movie…"

***

Meanwhile, Shego went to work collecting all of the first aid supplies she could find. There was actually a pretty good inventory – they'd had a LOT of lairs and inventions blow up over the past few years, not to mention combat injuries.

Dr. Drakken was still out cold, which was probably a good thing. She might as well get all of the painful stuff out of the way while he was unable to feel it. For a moment, though, she stopped to reflect on exactly what she was doing. There was nothing keeping her here. She could just walk out, and Drakken would never know she'd been the one to drag him in.

For some reason, one that she shied away from examining too closely, she found herself incapable of leaving. She'd tried working with some other villains, and to be perfectly honest, it had been an unmitigated disaster. Junior was nice to look at but claimed less wit than the average 5-year-old. Motor Ed, on the other hand…ugh, she didn't even want to think about him. After that debacle, she'd discovered that she actually missed Drakken.

Now, an ordinary person, upon reaching such a conclusion, would undoubtedly have taken immediate steps to rectify the situation. Shego, however, was not an ordinary person. Therefore, she'd done what she always did when things got uncomfortable or confusing – she'd run away, telling herself that she deserved a vacation.

Sighing with resignation, Shego knew that she was going to stay. Drakken needed her, and what woman – evil or not – could resist that? She cheered herself up by remembering that Kimmie had run off and left, so that Shego finally got to one-up her nemesis by doing something almost heroic. It was a tiny victory, but after the day she'd had, she'd take it.

Shego undid the belt of Drakken's coat and tossed it on the floor, then fumbled with the many fastenings.

I think I'm going to talk to him about his wardrobe when he wakes up, she thought irritably. I mean, is a calf-length lab coat really necessary at all times? At last, the front was open, and she pulled his right arm out of the sleeve. With unaccustomed gentleness, she maneuvered the broken left arm out as well, leaving the large article of clothing lying beneath him. He had a short-sleeved black T-shirt on underneath, so Shego decided to deal with the dislocation first. Carefully grasping Drakken's upper arm with one hand, avoiding the fracture, and taking a firm hold of his shoulder with the other hand, she tugged and twisted until, with a satisfying pop, the joint was back in place. It must have been painful enough to sink into Drakken's unconscious state because he let out a grunt before returning to insensibility.

Shego rested briefly before working on removing the shirt. It was quite a job getting it off the heavy, unresisting body, reminding her uncomfortably of helping her little brothers get dressed. When it was finally done, she caught her breath involuntarily.

"Whoa, Dr. D," she murmured. "Taking advantage of the prison gym, were you?" There was a slight softness at his waist – not unexpected in a man over forty, especially one who'd just been incarcerated – but there was really very little fat, and his chest and arms were surprisingly well toned. Shego had known, in an academic sense, that he worked hard to stay trim, but she'd never seen the evidence this close before.

Setting such observations aside, she took hold of the broken arm and set the bone so that it looked straight. She then splinted it with lengths of wood and wrapped the whole thing. A cast would have been better, but she didn't have that option at the moment. She made sure that the splint would still allow the arm to bend.

At this point, Shego again hesitated. The ribs were going to be a pain with him lying there as dead weight, and she considered saving them until later. In the end, however, she decided that she might as well finish what she'd started. She painstakingly wrapped a heavy bandage around the cracked ribs as tightly as she could manage, feeding it under Drakken with each pass and pulling it over again. Finally, she made a sling out of gauze to immobilize his arm and shoulder to avoid re-injury.

When this was all done, Shego was exhausted. It had been quite a long day: she'd flown over from Greece to see what was going on, fought a nine-foot alien warrior, endured a brief but humiliating captivity, called reinforcements for Kimmie, and performed extensive first aid on her boss. She had just enough energy to drag a mattress in before collapsing onto it and falling deeply asleep.

--

Author's Note: Well, that's the first chapter. It really flowed out of me, and I can honestly say that I haven't been this absorbed in a project for quite some time. I'm not certain yet how long it will be. I thought Kim's remorse here might explain why she so quickly dove to rescue Drakken in "Cap'n Drakken." Just a thought. Any Disney aficionados out there might have recognized that "Evil Love" was the name of a song from Phineas & Ferb. I just had to throw it in there!

To those of you who aren't familiar with my style, I will briefly respond to reviews at the end of the next chapter.