"I can't believe this. It's so stupid," May groaned, knocking her head into Dawn's shoulder. "I wish they would all stop apologizing, its not like they did anything wrong. It was protocol."
"Exactly! Why is Drew and Calem being just hissy...babies about this?" Serena complained, staring at the bright lights. "We get it! It's not like I'm complaining! This is so dumb! They're using us as a reason to be mad, but we're not even mad at them."
"Right, Serena gets it!" May said, throwing her hands up in the air. "And the rest of them suck."
"Hey!" Dawn protested.
"Okay fine, you're okay," May grinned.
"Ugha..." Paul moaned.
"Is he going to be okay?" Serena asked yet again. "I mean...I think he's stable. But Dr. Hamilton left for a couple minutes..."
"Yeah, he's good," Cynthia breathed, walking in almost awkwardly. "Just past her on the way here."
She waited for the barrage of anger and insults. But...nothing.
"Hey Cynthia," Dawn said, moaning again in pain. "Why does the room have to swim every time I sit up?"
"Swim? Girl, the room doesn't even know how to swim," Serena laughed, pointing at the pained Dawn across the room. "At the
"Sure...whatever...helps you sleep at night," Dawn mumbled with her eyes shut tight.
Cynthia stared at them with her mouth open. "Nothing?"
"Nothing what?" May asked cheerfully as the rest of the FLL walked in.
"No anger?" Cynthia asked incredulously.
"Uh...no? Why? You guys were just setting an example for protocol," Serena said with boredom in her voice, twirling her hair. "Can I go on electronics yet? I'm only...physically broken. I mean, Dawn's the only one with vision problems and stuff. And tell the rest of them we're not mad, and tell Calem and Drew to stop it. Ugh."
"Water?" Paul croaked, trying and failing miserably to sit up.
"Oh! Come on Dawn!" May said with excitement, running over(more limping), and grabbing a little plastic cup and filling up it up with water. Dawn eagerly got up and went over to Paul, rapidly asking him questions about how he was feeling.
"How are you doing? That's a bad question. Do you feel sick? Do you want more water? Do you think you can sit up? Why'd you do that? You scared us all! You're so dumb! What would ever make you try to kill yourself? Nobody was mad at you! Not May, not Serena, nobody! Why'd you do it? Who made you think that-"
"Ugh...Dawn just...stop for a minute," Paul groaned before leaning over the bed and puking up more liquor.
Dawn stopped her rant with wide eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Fine..." May said cheerfully, cutting in. Dawn slapped her shoulder playfully before rubbing her temples. Oww, concussions hurt!
"I'm okay," Paul said. "I'm...okay."
"No you're not," May sighed, rolling her eyes with a hint of real anger. "Why in Arceus's sake would you do that? Mew, you scared us all to death. I mean...why would you try and kill yourself Paul? That's a little severe. And worrying."
Paul stiffened and lied back down, not saying anything. "I'm not feeling that well. Later."
"NO! Paul Shinji, you will tell us why you tried to kill yourself right now! Or I'll call Reggie!" Dawn yelled angrily, stomping her foot.
"Why does everyone keep threatening to call Reggie?" Paul groaned, still evading the question.
"Stop it! Just tell us why!" Serena said.
"Because I'm a leader! And leaders are there to serve! They're there to help and yes, lead, but most importantly, they're there for the people their leading! And I can't even keep the people I'm leading safe, what's the point of leading? If I can't even take care of the people I care about? May knew just what to do, but I couldn't even bring myself to do anything! I just..." Paul trailed off, his eyes looking empty and sad. "I can't do this then."
"Oh Paul," Dawn sighed, sitting down next to him.
May grinned and started dragging people out, Serena just as eager. Soon enough, it was just the two of them again.
"I'm sorry. I guess I'll be leaving after everyone's okay again," Paul said vaguely turning to lie back down. "Maybe I'll help with research on the mutts, but that's all."
"Don't," Dawn hissed with frustration, "Stop acting wounded! And all high and mighty Paul! Because you're not! Stop making...things worse than it seems! Okay, you failed once, but everyone makes mistakes! And no one sees that as a mistake! People are bound to follow the leader. By letting May go, and not going after her, you probably just allowed the rest of Team Eevee to be relatively healthy and happy! Okay? Stop blaming yourself!"
If Paul was ashamed, it didn't show. Even with bloodshot eyes, bags under his eyes, lines all over his face, and everything tense and angry, he still looked tough and intimidating. Dawn almost shrunk back, but stood strong.
"I'm not acting wounded. It's just the cold-hard truth," Paul said blankly.
"No!" Dawn exclaimed, slapping his cheek lightly. "Wake up! This world doesn't revolve around you Paul! You make a mistake? You fix it and you move on! You can't drink away your problems and then act as if it's righteous!"
"I'm not," Paul said heatedly. "Stop trying to turn it back on me!"
"THAT'S THE THING!" Dawn yelled in frustration. "The heart of the problem is your own insecurities and guilt! No one else's! No else is angry or forcing guilt on you! Stop hiding Paul Shinji!"
Paul was silent, glaring at Dawn. "Whatever."
Dawn threw her arms up in frustration. "Will you just damn listen already?!"
"I am listening," Paul snapped, huffing.
"Yeah, you may be physically, but really? What I'm saying is going in one ear and going out the other!" Dawn yelled. "LISTEN! STOP HIDING! You're still trying to protect yourself! Stop it! You made a mistake! Okay, but you can't wallow in alcohol! Are you listening? You need to man up and accept what you've done, make things right, learn from it, and move on!"
Paul almost hung his head, but still sat up with his shoulders back. "I am facing it. That's why I'm leaving."
Dawn face-palmed, "You bastard. I don't swear, you know that! But you fucking, damned bastard! You call drinking yourself to the brink of death FACING YOUR MISTAKES!?"
Paul seemed even more ashamed, backing away slightly, more wary. "I...I'm sorry."
"Stop the tough guy act. Right. Now."
Dawn was quiet, but she was trembling with anger. "STOP IT!"
This time, Paul did scoot back. Dawn never lost her temper like that.
"You," Dawn's voice trembled as she took deep breaths, her eyes wide and angry. "You, need to man up Paul! You act like your all this! But drinking yourself to death? That's the cowardly way you want to go out? Where's the guy that chose to become an agent, huh? And you didn't even make a 'mistake', worthy of suicide! No, all you did, was freeze up. That's all you did. When a person panics, they automatically do what they were taught. And we were all told to stay! To not help Serena and May! So you never did a wrong thing technically."
Paul opened his mouth as if to protest.
"And if you insist that it is a mistake, than focus on making it right! Learning from it! Don't just run away! Quitting? How cowardly of you," Dawn hissed, stalking towards the door. "I hope you have a good talk with yourself about what you have done, because Mew knows you need it."
And with that, the door slammed shut.
Paul lowered his head and rubbed his temples. "Oh Arceus."
"Kill me," Drew groaned.
"I'd love to," May replied cheekily, swinging her arm and cast around in a wide arc. Drew ducked to avoid it. "But obviously you're not letting me!"
"Not literally," Drew snapped, leaning back to avoid another swing. May growled.
"Stupid cast! I was so much more flexible and smooth before I got it!" May said.
"Maybe you should have watched yourself more, hmm?" Drew pointed out.
May rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You can shut up about that."
"No, I really can't," Drew snarked.
"What do you mean?" May asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Nothing, just that maybe if you were watching yourself better, things wouldn't have turned out like this," Drew said with a flick of his hair.
May stood up and got in his face, "If I didn't act that way, Serena wouldn't be here! If I hadn't done that, you wouldn't be in such a pissy mood. If I hadn't done that, Calem would already be gone! If I hadn't done that, things would have been much worse! And why are you yelling at me, when just a minute ago, you were berating the other agents for NOT going after us, hmm?"
Drew fell silent, nothing more to say.
"Whatever."
May rolled her eyes again, "See? You can't even hold a decent argument with me."
"Of course I can, my greatness just surpasses you so much that I don't want to overwhelm you with it," Drew said.
May sighed. "Stop pretending Drew. But whatever. Whatever helps you sleep at night sweetheart."
Drew didn't show it, but his heart was beating hard and he could feel how flushed his skin was. So he stayed silent.
But May wasn't stopping. "I mean, I know how cocky you are and stuff, but...hey? Are you okay?"
"Hm? Uh...yeah, I'm perfectly fine," Drew muttered, turning away.
May studied him for a second before rolling her eyes yet again, and walking out the door.
"Would you stop fussing?" Calem sighed through his nose. "I swear, you're like the mother Altaria from those fairy tales! It's quite annoying! I mean...sheesh!"
Serena gave him an indignant look. "I'm fussing? You're the one who has been making sure I do every little thing correctly! You keep complaining that I'm not being careful enough, not caring enough, blah blah blah! I am perfectly fine! How on earth am I the one fussing?"
"Whatever," Calem said dismissively. "You just are."
"Ha! See? I win," Serena gloated, twirling her hat happily. "You don't even have a good answer! Take that."
"Suure, because we were totally competing," Calem said sarcastically. "Plus, that doesn't mean I give up, just that I don't want to talk about this anymore.
"No, but we're always competing!" Serena said, smiling even more. "And since I want to talk about it, and I'm the injured one, that's what we're going to do!"
Calem shrugged and let it go. She had a point there. She was the hurt one. Whatever kept her happy was fine with him. Even if it meant a little bit of shame and ego denting.
"So I win, give me a cookie!" Serena said brightly, jumping a little. "They sound good right now. Mmm. Warm, gooey chocolate...soft buttery...cold glass of milk...mmm."
Calem stared at her uncomprehendingly. "You want me to give you, a cookie? A freshly baked cookie. And milk. Great."
"Yes!" Serena said. "Cookie! NOW!"
"I don't have any cookies," Calem said helplessly.
"You have to give me a cookie!" Serena said childishly, stomping her foot before cringing at the pain. "Truman has cookies! I want cookies! NOW!"
"You're so immature. Why do you even need a cookie anyways? And why a cookie of all things?" Calem groaned, taking off his cap to fluff his hair. Serena grinned cheekily before reaching over and ruffling his hair too. Calem smiled back, relieved that Serena was at least behaving relatively normal.
"Maybe those people hit you in the head too many times. But it's good that you're okay now."
"Cookie! Now!"
Calem groaned. "Not again."
"Cookie!"
"Great," Calem muttered with annoyance. "I guess a trip to the kitchen is scheduled."
Serena jumped up, as much as you could in a boot(the broken bone kind), and squealed like a toddler.
"Cookie!"
"I think we should go out," May announced. "Get out of this place. I think I have underground sickness.
"Stop being dramatic May, that doesn't exist," Jimmy sighed.
"Yes it does," May said stubbornly.
"Go out?" Misty said skeptically. "With that? You're in a boot, and a cast, and your supposed to be in bed rest, Dawn is barley hanging on with that headache of hers, and all that? You want to go out?"
"Yeah, why not?" May shrugged.
"Oh dear. If we have to tie you to this bed, that's what's going to happen," Marina said seriously.
"I will tear through those ropes if you do that, because I'm so sick of this room!" May countered.
She locked gazes with May, but both of them burst into laughter at the dead-serious expressions on both of their faces.
"And plus, where would we go?" Misty asked.
"I dunno. Clubbing? We could go visit somebody," May offered almost hesitantly.
Misty wrinkled up her nose. "No, that sounds...Horrible."
Marina tossed her head with annoyance. "Mist, you think everything's horrible."
"No I don't!" Misty argued, glaring huffily at her cousin.
"Misty, anything that you consider 'girly' you don't like," May amended.
"Hey, I wear make up sometimes!" Misty continued fighting.
Marina sighed. "You're the most stubborn cousin I have."
"What are you saying?" Misty asked, jabbing a finger at Marina. May shook her head and sighed, settling in for the long haul.
"I'm saying that you need to just relax sometimes Mist, not everyone wants to push you down and make you feel bad!" Marina said just a fiercely.
"Okay, ladies, as amusing as I find this, break it up," Gary muttered, shoving them apart. "Leafy would kill me if something happened to either one of you.
"At least you know I would," Leaf smirked, leaning over to peck Gary's cheek.
"Sweetheart, you missed," Gary said matter-of-factly. Leaf rolled her green eyes.
"No I didn't, but here," Leaf said, leaning over to kiss him on the mouth.
Misty and May shared disgusted looks and chorused, "Eww!"
"When you get a boyfriend, I won't complain," Leaf promised as she kissed Gary one more time before backing away. It was always a wonderful feeling to kiss Gary. It was warm and safe, and it made Leaf feel at home as she had ever felt. No fear, no anger, no depression. Just warmth.
"Sure you won't, but I will," Gary grinned, tugging her back. Leaf gingerly plucked his arm off of her, and flung it backwards, continueing towards May's bed.
"Ugh, your so annoying," Dawn complained, walking in to smack Gary in the head.
"Hey! You just walked in! You can't say I'm annoying!" Gary protested. "And why are you all coming into my room!? Get outta here!"
"Well Lucas, Kenny, and Barry kicked us out of their room," Jimmy said sheepishly. "We left wrappers and crumbs all over their bed."
Dawn nodded in agreement. "I just helped them out. They told me to tell you guys that they were going to kill you guys, and that Misty wasn't allowed to help them."
"Who Dawn?" May asked.
"Jimmy and Marina. They were watching a movie in their room," Dawn said, unfazed. "Why?"
Everyone turned to stare at the pair. Marina looked at ease and calm, yet the tip of her nose was pink, and her high cheekbones moved nervously.
Jimmy looked downright scared as he backed away towards the corner. "Okay! I did it! I made her watch The Lego Movie with me!"
"What?" Gary asked, confused.
"I'm sorry!" Jimmy yelped, cowering under their confused gazes. "I didn't mean to watch it six times! It's just...that good!"
"What."
"This was stupid. We weren't talking about which movie you watched Jimmy, just that you left a mess, and also made Marina watch with you. That's kinda not fair, now is it?" Dawn said impatiently. "And I need May to come down with me to the hospital wing again, but it might be a while because Aaron is there now. Plus, we can't seem to find Serena and Calem. Now people go!"
Everyone stared at her.
"How about no?" May said grumpily hopping off the bed and reaching out a hand. Misty grabbed it to help steady her, and May smiled thankfully.
"Alright alright, go help Dawn find Serena and Calem. I can get down there myself," May said proudly, stumbling towards the door.
Leaf shook her head in amusement. "I better follow her. You guys go find the other two, okay?"
Nods went around and Leaf left, crossing her fingers that everything would be alright.
"I feel like I'm somewhere completely different," Truman though aloud, bringing over the batch of freshly baked cookies, smiling at Serena's ecstatic expression.
"Well, you are," Calem offered, before breaking one in half. Though because of how hot it was, he had to quickly drop it into his plate. "Plus, I though 'Rena was joking about the cookie thing."
"Oh no," Serena said happily, taking a large bite and washing it down with milk. "I knew Truman was making cookies today, but no one would allow me to eat some. But then you came along and you failed at our argument, so naturally, my prize should be cookies!"
"I did not follow that," Truman said, laughing at Serena. "But by all means, eat!"
"Thanks!" Serena muttered through a mouthful of cookie.
"How are you eating those?!" Calem demanded. "Like seriously! It's so hot it's burning hands! Forget about my tongue!"
Serena shrugged, stuffing another cookie into her mouth before taking a sip of milk. "I don't know. The milk sure helps. Too bad you declined, hmm?"
Calem shot her a dirty look, touching his half-eaten cookie, and the fresh one in Serena's hand. "There's like no difference! I demand an answer!"
Serena grinned and rolled her baby blue eyes. "Stop being dramatic, I already told you why. It's not my fault your being stubborn. It's not like it's a Kalos thing not to drink milk with cookies. It's...just a Hoenn thing. Okay? So deal with the heat, or just drink some milk!"
"She has a point young man," Truman said readily, going back towards the oven to get the other cookie sheet out.
"No she doesn't, she just has a strange way with words," Calem muttered, picking up a crumb and licking that off his finger. "See, that's not so bad."
"Calem you have to eat it all, normally," Serena demanded, pointing at the two halves still sitting on his plate.
"Yeah yeah, I know," Calem shushed, holding up his pointer finger as he picked up one of the halves. "See? I'm eating it."
As soon as the cookie got in his mouth, Calem squealed like a little girl and ran towards the sink, frantically trying to get it off his tongue. Serena's tinkling laughter filled the room, making Calem even more embarrassed. But her laughter wasn't the all. It was took loud to be just Serena.
"Welcome! Want a cookie?" Truman offered to the people who just walked through the door.
"How long have you guys been standing there?" Serena asked, taking another bite of her fourth cookie.
"A while," Gary smirked, sauntering in and patting Calem's heaving shoulder. "Didn't know you hated cookies so much."
"I think I should be offended," Truman said, tilting his head and observing the team. "My cookies win prizes I'll have you know."
"Not your cookies," Calem rasped, coughing a little more. "Just that it was really warm and basically burnt my tongue."
"Told you, I knew you couldn't hold the heat," Serena said nonchalantly, munching away.
"I want one!" Marina said eagerly. Serena smiled at her and tossed her a soft one. As Marina caught it, it broke into pieces. Misty stole a piece before walking off towards Truman.
"Milk?" Misty asked, and Truman sighed and pointed towards the carton on the counter. "I'm going somewhere else, without you pesky children."
"Stop acting high and mighty," Jimmy said lazily, plucking a cookie off. "You know that we're not as annoying as most kids our age."
"That's true," Truman admitted. "But still annoying. I'm still leaving. Don't destroy my kitchen."
"Sure, I'll babysit," Dawn agreed, waving him off. "Shoo."
"Fine, whatever," Truman muttered, walking out the door.
"Great now he's gone, what do you guys want to do?" Misty said excitedly. "I hear that Ash is at the pool. Can we like...turn off the heater or something?"
"No Mist, we needed to find Serena, remember? And Calem...Cynthia wants to talk to you," Dawn said.
Calem stiffened at that, but nodded anyways.
"Oh yeah..." Misty said, scratching her head.
"What do you guys need me for?" Serena asked brightly, downing her milk. "I'm ready to go."
"Dr. Hamilton just wants to check us all again, that's all," Dawn said simply, taking Serena's uninjured arm and helping her out the door, the rest of them following, leaving Calem, empty glasses of milk, oily plates, and a pile of steaming cookies.
"I guess it's off to find Cynthia. Doesn't anyone want to give me some rest?" Calem sighed, taking one last lingering look at the homey scene before leaving. "I wish every day was like this. I wish...we could all be friends without all this."
"That went well?" Aaron asked with confusion. "I mean the girls didn't look mad. And they said they weren't."
"Yes!" Cynthia said cheerfully, dancing a little in her seat.
"Come off the high chair Bertha," Flint sighed, motioning towards Bertha's upturned nose.
"Well I thought you guys cared more than you act lie you do!" Bertha reprimanded, not even bothering to hide her opinion. "They remind me of my grand-kids. It's not acceptable to just...want them to die. Or even, allowing them to do. That's stupid. They're not just any agents. They're children."
"They knew what they were doing getting into this business," Aaron argued.
Bertha glared at him. "When have you ever said that Aaron? When did you change from overprotective and caring, to this...strange, almost selfish guy?"
"There's nothing wrong with showing you the real truth Bertha!" Aaron said defensively.
"It's true though Aaron," Lucian said with calculating eyes. "Something's changed in you. And I'm not sure if you changed for the better, or just lost sense of your humanity."
"I'm not losing my humanity," Aaron sighed, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "I'm fine."
"You are acting a little weird," Cynthia agreed reluctantly.
Aaron turned, narrowing his eyes at them all. "I'm not acting different! You guys are just misinterpreting things! I'm leaving!"
And with that, he stormed out of the room again, Beautifly trailing behind him.
"Something's not quite right," Bertha said quietly.
"Yes, Lucian, monitor him," Flint agreed.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Cynthia asked nervously, staring at the large screen with Aaron walking down the corridor, back towards the medical wing.
"Yeah," Bertha said, "We have to."
"I just...It doesn't feel quite...humane, spying on him like this. He's one of us. What could be wrong with him?" Cynthia asked hesitantly.
"We don't know," Flint said, "But that's why we're watching him, right?"
"Okay," Cynthia finally sighed, nodding and allowing them to go ahead.
Flint, Bertha, and Cynthia all left the room, leaving just Lucian to observe everything going on with Aaron. He sat forwards and watched with sick fascination as Aaron rolled up his sleeve to show Dr. Hamilton his wound. It looked yellow and almost...infected. The pus seemed to ooze out of the wound, yet did not leak down his arm, just pooling and hardening around the wound.
"What the hell..." Lucian breathed, leaning forwards and tapping furiously, zooming in on the scene.
"I've never seen a wound like this before," Dr. Hamilton said on the screen. "It's definitely infected, so I'll get you some antibiotics. But...something's not right. The pus should not be hardening...Oh Arceus! It's a bite wound. Of course. What bit you Aaron?"
Aaron cocked his head, confused, "Bite? Hmm?"
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. "I'll tell you what bit me!"
Lucian swore again. "Dammit! I knew he shouldn't have blocked that bite for Cynthia!"
He felt a sinking feeling in his gut.
Aaron had been bit by one of the mutts. And so far, all information had pointed to the fact that they had been made through genetic coding, and a virus. and Aaron...had been bit.
"Oh no..." Lucian muttered, immediately reaching for for the microphone loudspeaker object. He suddenly felt very faint. And with his eyes locked on the screen with Aaron still behaving strangely, Lucian passed out.