And You And I

Interlude: The director sat and the lines on the map, move from side to side

Author's note:

Hey, everyone, how are you all doing? I'm so sorry this update is coming to you late, however, I lost half my writing time last week. I literally got home from work at one o'clock this afternoon and have been working non-stop for the past ten hours to finish, read and edit the second chapter and do the final readthrough of the first and make the last edits.

In regards to this update, it was originally supposed to be two short interludes (about 6K words together), which I thought I would be able to write in a week, which would give me three to try and get ahead of the game again. Alas, whenever I try to do something short, such as a one-shot, things quickly spiral out of control. As a result, the first chapter grew from one scene to three and ended up over 11K words long, making it one of if not the longest chapter of the story thus far. And the second ended up just shy of 8K words, making both together almost 20K words (three times the length I'd anticipated).

At this point I need to put one of you guys into the spotlight, so say hello, Celioxa. Not only has she done two amazing drawings of Shego based off of And You And I, which I wholeheartedly encourage all of you to take two seconds to check out (see the link below), but her comment on the last chapter resulted in a significant change to the first chapter of this update. I had just written the first two paragraphs of the second scene when I read her comment and part of it caused me to think about an idea I'd toyed with. In the end, I liked the idea that much that I scrapped the two paragraphs I'd written so I could implement it. So, Celioxa, this chapter is dedicated to you and you'll know exactly what part of your comment I'm referring to when you get to the second scene. For everyone else, I'll tell you once we're done.

Anyway, please do check out Celioxa's work and if you like it, leave her a comment, as she thoroughly deserves your support. You'll find her here:

https://twitter.com/celioxa

And the pictures of Shego specifically:

https://twitter.com/celioxa/status/1324452689422524416/photo/1

https://twitter.com/celioxa/status/1324452689422524416/photo/2

Returning to this chapter and the title: The director sat and the lines on the map, moved from side to side, is taken from the Pink Floyd song Us and Them (from The Dark Side of the Moon), with the word director replacing general. This song is about human conflict and this line a particular favourite of mine, as it absolutely nails the concept of how a small group of people who are removed from a situation, make decisions that can affect the lives of thousands. Which I felt was perfect for this chapter.

Right, that's more than enough from me for now. Thank you all so much for all the support you gave me on the last update, it is more than appreciated. So, enjoy the chapter and please do check out Celioxa's work and show her some of the love that you have all shown me over the course of this story.

##

The office was untidy, hectic even. Reports and files, along with several newspapers were strewn across the large desk, round corner table and atop a low bookcase. On any surface that was not covered in papers, a thin layer of dust had started to gather. That was not to say that the office owner themselves should be branded unkempt or untidy, simply that they'd had zero time to clean over the past few months. That and security protocols dictated that all confidential material had to be secured before any of the domestic staff were allowed access. Needless to say, the room had not seen a cleaner in that same time period.

Dr Betty Director pinched the bridge of her nose as she turned on the large viewscreen that hung on the wall behind her desk. In five minutes, the representative from the UN Security Council would appear on the screen and expect an explanation for the current state of affairs and what plans she had in place to deal with the situation. Basically, she was about to get chewed out by her boss. She glanced at her watch; 3:55 pm. No time for a proper meal, her eyes shifted over to the coffee maker that sat in the far corner of the office, however, I can at least grab an espresso.