"Get outta there," Leaf hissed, her voice crackling with static.
"We know," Calem hissed back.
"We'll have to go very fast. How fast can you hack, Psychique?" Dawn asked nervously, drilling her fingers impatiently along the metal seams.
"Very," Calem answered grimly, and smirked. They set off again at a fast pace, as soon as the voices had quieted some.
The wind whistled past Misty as she leaped, picking out the most secure spots in the dim light. Ash was a stumbling mess beside her.
"Okay. I'm going to take Électrique back, come with me Sombre?" Dawn finally said, stopping and gently taking Ash from Misty. Misty nearly sighed in relief.
Gary quickly agreed, very flexible on this mission.
Calem nodded in agreement. "Take him. He's nothing but a burden right now. Sorry Électrique. Come on Water."
Ash awkwardly patted Calem's shoulder, "No hard feelings, right? Come on Fire."
And so the pair was off again, leaving their teammates behind to make it back to Leaf and the EIA helicopter that was supposed to take them out of there.
"Hey! Don't turn up ahead. And once you enter the new tunnel, it's very low. You'll have to remain crouched and ducked. Don't punch through the weak metal now," Leaf warned, obviously paying attention.
The voices from before faded away, and Calem mumbled a yes in agreement before moving forward, Misty close behind.
Just like Leaf said, they soon got to the crossroad. The two of them ducked and slid on their knees and stomachs, inching closer and closer to the faint glowing light up ahead.
Voices echoed up from the vent, and the two of them shared a look.
"Boss wants us to do a hallway sweep, they're reporting weird sounds or somethin'," a gruff voice said, the sound of thick flesh hitting plastic.
"Now?" Misty asked lightly, glancing down towards the vent.
Calem nodded, silently sliding the cover off, ready to slip through the thin tunnel.
"I'll take the vent. You have the the knockout darts with the venom?" Calem asked, slipping the same dagger he used to unlatch the vent before, digging under the layer of dust and other garbage.
"Mmhm," Misty nodded, "You open the vent. Hold my feet. I'll take them out."
"Okay, so you take them out, then check and guard, I hack?" Calem asked for verification.
"Really? You think I can hack?" Misty retorted dryly.
Calem nodded with a serious expression. "Yep, you can." Then his calm appearance switched into a joking one, "But I'm way better."
Misty snorted out a laugh before ducking and diving towards the rectangular shaped light.
Calem hastily grabbed her boots, muttering about Misty's sudden tendencies.
Misty resisted the urge to sneeze and cough out all the dust she had ingested, as lowered herself into the room, hands full of knockout darts. These darts were specially made by Lucian and Bertha that gave the victims short term memory loss, so that when they came to, all they would remember is what they were originally doing.
"I will not cough, or sneeze," Misty said softly to herself firmly as she felt the familiar tickle of dust inside her nose.
"Okay, so there was been some disturbances throughout the facility, all say it's, like, inside the walls, I thi-" the blue-haired man was saying. But he was cut off. Courtesy of Misty.
"Hey George! Bro! What happened? It's inside the walls and what el-..." the other man trailed off as he turned around to find his unconscious, slumped over friend. "George! Hey...a dart?"
He twisted upwards, looking for the culprit. But Misty was faster, all the time training with Ash finally paying off.
Thunk.
The other man's eyes widened for a split second, his mouth trying and failing, to warn other guard, but it was already too late. The toxins settled in, knocking him out effectively.
"Okay," Misty whispered softly, "You can come down now Psychique."
Calem let her feet go as Misty slowly lowered herself, landing onto of one of the unconscious guards. Calem slipped in after her, ready to go.
Calem immediately started hacking, not even bothering to brush back the few strands of long black hair that fell into his eyes.
Misty sidled up the large glass panes, glaring out, looking for anyone that would pass.
Minutes ticked by, five, ten, twenty. The furious tapping of the keys was all the pair could hear as they both focused on their both equally important jobs.
"You have around three minutes Psychique," Leaf hissed in their ears. "Three minutes to start getting out of there. Do you understand me?"
"Yes Grass...but not now!" Calem muttered back, still typing.
Misty noticed the slight shift of the lighting down the hallways, and the approaching shadows. "Calem! Guards are coming! We've got to go! Now!"
"Just one more minute...my virus is in! I've just have to conceal it...and, stall them for a second, will you?" Calem mumbled, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "Why is their coding so damn hard to break?"
"Ugh. Fuck this," Misty grumbled, before slowly pulling open the door. "Why do I have to do all the hard work? Calem needs to hurry up, because I'm not taking out any more people after this. The darts are made to knock them out for around thirty minutes, and soon they'll wear off. He better hurry."
"Yeah...we haven't had a status report in seven minutes. Yep. Got it boss. Checking in on them now," a sharp, shrill voice said, and Misty cringed as she slipped out, crouching in the shadows and disappearing.
A purple-haired woman with large glasses and a lab coat drifted down the hallway, towards the large, floor to ceiling windows and the heavy metal door.
Just as she was passing Misty, Misty struck, holding her head in a head-lock and stabbing the dart into the side of her neck.
She fell limp in Misty's arms, and Misty lowered her to the floor, gently extracting the dart, erasing the evidence. Then she went back inside, missing the second agent, hiding just around the corner.
"Yes, there's a girl here. They took out Dr. Arang. Yep. Send units. Kill all intruders. Red alert. KILL ALL INTRUDERS. HUMAN OR NOT."
"Took her down, but we need to hurry up," Misty said, strolling in. But she was met with an empty and orderly room, and she looked around in confusion.
"Come on!" Calem hissed from the ceiling. "I've already got my virus in and concealed. Even their best hackers won't realize that they've been infiltrated. Let's go. They'll get even more suspicious soon. We've got to get out of here."
Misty opened her mouth to retort, but Calem cut her off, "Yes, I've erased all hints of our presence. Now can we go now?"
Misty nodded wordlessly, silently fuming as she pulled herself up.
The door creaked open and voices echoed just as Misty placed the tiled vent back in place.
"Come on! This had to be certain others. We have to kill them! It's a red alert! Kill them NOW!"
Calem thumbed hair behind his ear and Misty dipped her head in acknowledgement before they started running. Time was running out fast. And if the facility was on a red alert, it was possible that they would get caught, not even regarding the virus.
The two scooted out of the tight squeeze before taking off running, barley bothering to conceal their loud pounding footsteps, too eager to get out of the creepy and sterile building.
"Come on you two!" Leaf sighed impatiently, clicking and clacking noises crackling in the background. "We're leaving in ten. How fast can you two run?"
"We're already out of the building Grass," Misty answered, slipping the vent cover back into place and taking off after Calem, zig-zagging around the guard groups that looked slightly frazzled.
"We'll be there in ten," Calem agreed, racing as fast as he could, barely panting. Misty kept pace next to him, the ground flying by and the greens and browns of the grass blurring together. Adrenaline pumped through them, the feeling of extreme power rushed in their blood. Whenever voices approached, the pair swerved, anywhere but near them.
"Come on Water! None of us want to leave without you guys, but there are groups of guards closing in."
Misty nearly stumbled when Ash's voice filled their ears.
"Come on guys!"
"You can do it!"
"Three minutes!"
Calem and Misty shared a quick nod, before speeding up even more, racing as fast as they could, feet almost completely off the ground.
The pressing pressure seemed to build as they picked up their pace, urging them. The combined encouragement of the Team was echoing in their ears, and neither of them wanted to disappoint the others, and they didn't exactly want to be left all alone in enemy territory either.
Finally the familiar brush appeared and they shot into the forest, tearing through the small vines and tree branches, hurtling towards the helicopter and the temporary base as fast as they could.
"Come on! They're getting ready to take off," Gary told them, his voice nearing panicked, just as the two broke through the ring of trees and ran towards the whirring plane.
Calem went on first, Serena and Dawn pulling him up, and in turn, they helped Misty up too.
Just in the nick of time, because group of pinpricks of flashlights entered the forest, searching for intruders.
The near silent and dark helicopter made it out of there without being noticed, thanks to Leaf's amazing flying skills.
"Oh my Arceus," Serena sighed with relief, wrapping Misty and Calem in a hug. "We were so worried the guards would beat you two to here. Plus...it was pretty dangerous doing that with all the security and the red alert.
"We're fine Serena," Misty comforted. "We went through the plan with no problem at all, we were just on a time constraint," Misty lied smoothly.
Misty brushed a few strands of flaming hair behind her ear, sharing a pointed look with Calem. Calem's eyes agreed with her whole-heartedly.
No one needed to know that they had nearly been caught. Or that Misty had taken out another person in the facility, which would lead to more suspicion. Nope, it was a secret between the two of them. Calem was confident in his skills of hacking. They would be fine. No one would notice. No need to worry anyone.
"Yes, see Paul!? I told you there was no need to worry!" Dawn said cheerfully, poking the purple-haired man. Paul shot her a dirty look, and Dawn immediately folded in on herself, huffing and giving Misty another hug. Misty patted her back, murmuring in Dawn's ear.
Dawn's mouth split into a wide grin, and she laughed quickly, but with sad eyes, before going to sit next to Drew.
Marina hugged her cousin tightly, then slapping her on the shoulder angrily about worrying her.
Misty smirked and told her not to worry, just like Dawn had said.
Calem was being fussed over by Serena and he grumbled and had tried to fight her off, but gave up after a while.
"Are you sure you're okay? Do you want some water? Food? Sleep? It's another hour before we get back. Are you sure?" Serena fretted, blue eyes wide with concern.
Calem smiled sheepishly and waved Serena towards Misty and Ash. "Go fuss over Mist, 'Rena. Je suis bien."
(I'm fine.)
"Alright, alright," Serena laughed lightly, before leaving him alone.
Calem ran his fingers through his sweaty shoulder-length hair slowly, cursing his own stupidity. His slowness could have gotten Misty and himself killed. He was not fit to be leader.
May really should wake up. Because if she didn't, her team would start falling apart even more.
May held the group together, especially Paul, Drew and Dawn. Well all of them really. Leaf, Misty, even Ash sometimes. It was just...none of them could work that well, while they were missing a person. It just wasn't right. Or correct.
Paul had gotten so used to working with the brunette, that working with Calem to plan the mission had been awkward and weird. No, May really did need to wake up.
"Hey. What're you doing?" Gary asked cockily, sliding into the copilot seat.
Leaf didn't even look at him, distractedly checking the monitor. "Get out of that chair. That's Calem's."
Gary felt a slight twinge of jealousy at how comfortably Leaf said Calem's name. He pouted and gave Leaf a hurt look.
"Well, he's currently being harassed by Serena's fretful and caring nature. So...I guess this seat is mine," Gary smirked, placing his feat on top of one of Leaf's consoles. His feet rested just off some emergency buttons and when Leaf's eyes took that in, she was angry.
"Gary! Off!" Leaf reprimanded, slapping at him. "Do you want to kill us all with your impertinence?"
"Impertinence?" Gary asked cockily as he rubbed at his leg.
Something beeped as Gary's foot shifted and hit a small button. The entire helicopter dipped and Leaf hastily tried to correct the plane's position.
"Dammit Gary! I'm already barely tolerating you! If you keep on ruining my systems and keep messing up the flight pattern, I'm going to kick you out," Leaf snapped exasperatedly, fumbling with the keys, levers and buttons.
"Hey! That was also you too! Plus, if you really hated me that much, why haven't you yet?" Gary asked, thumping his feet onto the cockpit floor, smirking yet again.
"...Because I don't have the time? Flying a helicopter takes concentration," Leaf hesitated before answering. "Plus, with all these controls and Calem out for now, I'm not just about to leave my plane unmanned and doom all of us to death!"
"Don't be so dramatic Leafy, you know it's not like that. Lucian and Flint installed autopilot stuff already," Gary snorted. "So no way. You don't have me Leafy. You enjoy my presence. You know you do."
Leaf's cheeks turned red and she twisted her head to glare at Gary angrily with piercing green eyes. "Get the fuck out of my cockpit Gary Oak. Go find Ash or something! Get out."
Gary grinned slyly, before getting up and bowing slightly. "Did I make the pretty Queen mad? Wait. You're not the princess Leafy! You're the princess! A pretty little princess who's used to get whatever you want."
"GET OUT!" Leaf ordered.
"As you wish princess," he laughed, walking back towards the others. "Call me when you want a bath princess!"
"SHUT UP GARY!" Leaf yelled, furiously battling with her run-away emotions.
Leaf tentatively touched her warm cheeks before shaking her head furiously at herself. He's such an ass! He should go and fuck himself! Why do I like him if he's such an ass? No! LEAF YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY LIKE HIM! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING LEAF?!
Leaf sighed and rubbed the itchy area where her cuts had scabbed over, unconsciously, hands off the controls. What are you doing to me, Gary Oak?
Suddenly, the copter jerked as the flew into a storm cloud, dipping and spinning almost out of control.
"Dammit!" Leaf cursed aloud, flicking switches and leveling out the air pressure levels.
"You're alive!" Bertha grinned, giving Paul a thump on the back.
Paul oomphed, but took it silently and then quietly slipped into the building.
"What's his problem?" Lucian muttered, glancing briefly at Paul before turning towards the others. "Calem. Leaf. How'd it go?"
"Fine," Leaf snapped, flipping her long brown hair across her shoulder. "I'm going to visit May. Goodbye."
She stormed off, yanking open the Base doors and slipping inside after Paul.
Even though Dr. Hamilton had said that May would probably wake up in a couple days, May's stability had decreased as time passed, and three weeks later, she still hadn't woken up.
But even though stability dipped, May had eventually gone back into the right track with brain activity, and May was scheduled to wake up sometime in the next few days.
"What's with all of you guys tonight?" Lucian frowned, adjusting his glasses wearily.
"Well...I was bothering her in the cockpit, Paul is having trouble working with Calem, no offense bro, but May and Paul work well together. Dawn and Paul seem to be having an argument of sorts, uh...Well Misty and Calem almost didn't make it on time, and I think that's it. Oh, and May still hasn't woken up. So over all, I'd say that's why everyone's is kinda restless and grumpy," Gary answered thoughtfully.
The rest of Team Eevee stared at Gary in shock.
"Wow cuz. I never thought I'd hear something that sentimental from a player like you, but whatever!" Ash laughed, walking in after Leaf.
Misty shot him a weirded out look before darting inside after Ash. Everyone else soon followed, and Gary was mumbling about injustices as he walked back to his room. He almost went after Leaf to apologize, but he berated himself and ended up going back to his room.
Lucian and Bertha shared a look.
"It's okay Lucian. They're just kids. It's normal. I'm going to bed. But...I think Cynthia wanted to talk to you. Goodnight," Bertha said, walking in.
Lucian stared up at the bright moon, and at the still busy LaRousse streets before shrugging and walking inside. Life was life. And being a teenager was unchangeable.
"Hey! Wait up Ash!" Misty called, running and catching up with the raven haired agent.
"Hey Mist. What do you want? I'm tired," Ash questioned, yawning loudly.
Misty laughed at Ash's sleepy expression, keeping pace with Ash's steady footsteps.
"I dunno. Gary's being weird, May's in a coma, Paul's in a grumpy mood...I don't know? Is it a problem to want to talk to your friends?" Misty mumbled shyly.
Ash was suddenly wide awake and he was suddenly taking everything around the two of them.
Chatting voices rumbled behind them and when they stepped into the elevator, and the doors closed, they immediately cut off all the riff-raff and the joking, yet tired conversation behind them.
"Are you sure you're okay Mist?" Ash asked with confusion, peering carefully at her with concern. Large brown eyes were wide with suspicion.
"Uh...yeah," Misty answered, a light pink dusting her cheeks.
Ash blinked owlishly at her. Did Misty just...blush?! He shook his head at his own stupidness. Of course Misty didn't blush, Misty wouldn't ever be embarrassed! She could do whatever she wanted and still be just as honest and true as her normal self. That's one of the reasons Ash lik-
Wait. What exactly was Ash thinking? No, no. That was nothing. Forget about it.
"I'm fine. I just...we got in a near death situation that we didn't tell Leaf about. You know. We just didn't tell you guys," Misty fidgeted, almost nervously.
Ash cocked his head in confusion, his mind not understanding the warped sense of it all.
"Just forget about it," Misty snapped at Ash's incredulous expression.
Now that was more like the Misty Ash knew.
Ash grinned crookedly, and nodded, shrugging and brushing it off.
The elevator opened to the dorm floors and they both stepped out, heading off onto their different rooms.
Misty stumbled a bit as she fumbled for the light switch, the lights flickering on suddenly.
"Why does Ash have to be so oblivious?" Misty breathed, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes as she dropped her head into her palms, sitting on her bed heavily. She cried quietly but earnestly. Soon she crumpled into a ball on her bed, and she laid like that, crying softly.
And that's how she fell asleep, an hour later, still in her mission clothes.
"Hey May," Leaf sighed, slipping into the darkened room.
May shifted as if she could feel Leaf's presence, and Leaf took May's hand holding it tightly as she felt her tired body relax and give in to the overpowering assault of emotions.
"You're like my big sister May. Who sometimes I have to be strong for, but mostly," Leaf gave May a tired smile, "Mostly it's you doing the being strong part May. I'm just...not that good at it."
Leaf stared at her small hands, her mousy appearance, dull, tired green eyes, and long brown hair in the ceiling to floor length mirrors in May's room.
"I'm just not cut out for being strong like that. I can be strong when dealing with people, yes, but that's just an appearance! I can't do that all the time. I just...can't."
"You tell me to be brave May. You tell me that you'll always be there, that the girls will always be there. That I will never be alone. But today, panicking over the possibility of losing you all...I was scared. There's a little bit of my trust that broke. You'll always be here? But you're in a coma. They're never leave me? I'm among friends? Sometimes I'm back in those foster homes May."
"Sometimes, I just feel that painful painful fear wash over me. The distrust, the maliciousness around me. Everyone wants to help. Everyone wants to understand. But they don't understand. They don't get it. And when they help...it's what they think will help me. They don't know if it will, or if I want it, or anything of the sort. Just helping me in the wrong direction."
"I cut myself the other day," Leaf added softly, tears dripping down the bridge of her nose. "With a razor."
She sniffled, breathing deeply, clutching May's hand. She took another deep breath as she finally admitted something. "On purpose. I lied and said I accidentally cut myself. But...the physical pain. It helps. It makes me feel like things are equal for a second. That my mental pain isn't one in itself. It's just there. But I finally get it. I feel it when I'm hurt physically. When things suddenly, work. When the world looks a little less broken for a second, because if I can't bring the world to my level, I'll bring the world down to me."
And May's hand tightened, and Leaf gasped, her voice hoarse and pained from the emotional admission.
Her blue eyes flickered open, and suddenly, Leaf felt like crying even more. There was a sudden rush of warmth as May's confused eyes focused on Leaf's face, before she realized what was going on and where she was.
Then she remembered the voices that echoed like she was underwater, and made the connection to Leaf's tear-stained face.
"Leaf."
May's voice was ever hoarser with disuse, her eyes crinkling in the corners, her face twisted up into an understanding expression. She sat up, brushing hair back and looking straight at Leaf, straight into her wavering soul.
"Oh Leaf. Come here," May whispered, dragging her uncomfortable hand towards the brown-haired girl.
Leaf sobbed openly, wrapping her arms tightly around May. "I missed you May."
"I missed you too Leaf," May said softly, tightening her grip. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there Leaf. I'm so, so, sorry."
"Forgive me. Forgive me," May murmured into her hair, Leaf's tears soaking through the thin nightgown.
"May..." Leaf mumbled, not even bothering to answer her plead.. "You did nothing wrong May. Absolutely nothing wrong. Thank you for waking up. Thank you...for being here."
"Oh Leaf," May cried, her voice cracking. "I'll always be here. Even if I die, and promise me you'll remember that! Promise me you'll stop cutting. Promise me Leaf. Promise me."
Leaf's red-rimmed green eyes took in May's determined look. "I promise. Now how about I get you some water and fill you in about everything that's going on? I should probably call Dawn and Drew and Dr. Hamilton."
Leaf made to get up from their embrace, but May held her back.
"Nah...get me some water, but no need to call anyone yet. Let's have our alone time. For now. Tell me what's going on. Tell me what's going on...From your perspective. Show me you Leaf. No more hiding. Lay it out."
Leaf smiled and hugged May again before getting up and getting her a cup of water.
"Okay May. Okay."
"So it all went to shit when you fell into a coma..."