Summer had taken several days to get over her hangover from the alcohol and the drugs she and Knox had gotten ahold of. During work, her head had been pounding, and there had been several times she had to excuse herself to get sick.

She really had gone off the rails. It was unlike her.

Perhaps he was right. Knox had ruined her.

Still, she held a position as a protector for her brother, whether her father liked it or not. Which, she knew, he certainly didn't. And he would absolutely hate the news that she was bringing to him as she approached the doors to his office in their home in the Mauville Hills.

Dressed to the nines to convey that she was still Summer Prescott, she entered, allowing her head to drop in a sign of respect to her father. In her chest, her heart was pounding loudly, so loud it could be heard in her ears. She wondered if he could hear it too as she approached closer, the doors coming shut behind her.

"I appreciate your concern, Father. I had been rather busy with some tasks Rocket involved me with."

Summer took a pause. She knew that's not what he wanted to hear.

"And trying to catch him. I nearly had him..."

She conveyed a tone of frustration, balling her hand into a fist as she glanced to the side with her teeth clenched. Hoping to whatever greater power it was a good enough act that she was proving to her father she still held disdain for Knox in her heart.

Summer nodded and gave a small dip of her head as she accepted his words.

"As you wish, Father. I shall dedicate myself only to your cause."

After all, though affiliated to Rocket, they were not the people that she was bound to. That had been made clear to her since day one, when she was introduced into the business and told what she was to do.

Black mail. Manipulate. Use any part of her to gain the upper hand and get what they needed.

That's why she had always been his most dangerous weapon. Until now, it seemed. Was he putting the puzzle pieces together?

A cross look clouded her features as she heard the word "slip" leave her father's lips.

"Are you suggesting I let him go willingly? Or easily?" she protested, feeling ice run through her veins.

Disappointment. Something she was surely used to at this point. Summer remembered the burning smack against her cheek. Even then, she felt it like fire on her skin. She was told to approach, and she did so, though she felt like her feet were heavy.

"There was a Gardevoir that appeared. There was no way I could have anticipated such an approach, and he was never equipped with one before. He must be working with someone to escape us. You know he's not smart enough to come up with these tactics himself," she began as she stopped in front of him.

Her defensive nature, her stature, all deflate. Summer donned her role as "daddy's little girl" once more, knowing that she still had his trust and her loyalties were not wavering.

Not yet.

"I apologize for assuming. I overstepped my bounds."

She knew when to step back and become submissive to him. It was engrained in her. She was trained to know who was in charge. It wasn't Summer Prescott.

Without hesitation, she slipped her hand into his. A feeling of nostalgia claimed her briefly, of taking trips with him as a younger child. Holding her father's hand and pointing out things that amazed her.

Doubt clouded her mind.

"If I recall, I have gathered intel from him that he may be with a former lover of his. A man named Ollie. They were an item a while back, though if I'm not mistaken, they departed a long time ago as well. I believe that he is housing him."

The poor bastard.

Her father mentioned the moment, the one she tried to forget until she had Casey. But he, too, seemed to be gone. Summer pushed the thought away, simply offering a smile on her face as she held his hand tighter.

"Please, Father. All is forgiven. It was a moment of passion and a mistake on my part. I would never blame you."

Lies spilled from her lips. But she'd rather lie to him and continue living in fear than stand up and risk brutality.

Summer let her smile fall as he spoke. She couldn't help but wonder, did her father truly mean what he said?

Did he hold her dear? Was she his world? Again, she felt herself begin to waver, the hatred and fear she had felt toward him falling away toward a desire for his love and affection. She was merely a child looking for protection.

Still... she couldn't betray her brother either.

She watched him stand, to look out the window once he made his call. The plan was in place, it seemed. She just needed to get into contact with Knox that she went through with it. Perhaps give Ollie a warning in case his home got ransacked.

Summer pulled her attention from his back to the window, coming to stand beside her father.

"I didn't quite realize it was misquoted," she admitted, standing at his side.

And she was pulled two ways once again. For loyalty and praise for her father and protecting her brother. Because in her eyes, they were her family. Both of them. Even if her father disagreed.

"And that's why he should be terminated?"

Summer had wondered if his rage that morning stemmed from seeing Knox in his house because of a party that he threw, alongside her. Or simply because he was home.

Now she had the answer.

She met his gaze before looking down herself.

"I didn't... think of it before."

Instead, she had been incredibly selfish, supplied her brother with drugs that could have toppled down an empire. Ruined her reputation. The seeds of doubts were surely planted and being tended to.

And then he offered the second option.

"I thought... I thought you had wanted him dead. I never found you unfair. But, have you changed your mind instead?"

Should she deliver this news to Knox?

And the lies he fed her, Summer continued to eat. She had been warned by samuel carter before. But she continued to believe them, feasted on them like it was her salvation.

Summer tilted her head down, shame written across her features as he spoke. How could she have doubted her own father? Of course he had spoken in a fit of rage.

Just like the slap to her face, his words to Knox had to have meant nothing.

"I'm sorry I ever took them to heart. Please forgive my naivety."

Of course, she'd contact Knox.

"If you will allow me to speak with him, I could bring to light the importance of getting help. Perhaps, there's a way he'd listen to us."

If Summer could get to him first, things didn't have to be harsh. They could run in a diplomatic manner. Perhaps she could even help him devise a way for him to see Sam. There had to be a way.

She could make everyone in her family happy, right?

Her head snapped up. Irreplaceable? Summer? Something struck a note in her heart as she peered at her father's figure as he sat back at his desk. Emotions, building slowly. Threatening to burst over the dam she was building.

And his question, his statement, was enough to release it.

"I'm unwell," Summer answered truthfully, her voice wavering as tears threatened to overcome her.

"I'm... I'm so sad, Dad."

And she opened herself, an innocent girl to her father, looking for comfort.

And her father's right. Was he always right like this? Summer was beginning to think yes, that he was.

That maybe this whole plan that she and Knox devised, that all the opinions Sam held about him, were wrong. Maybe things would work for the better if she came clean.

And yet, she allowed herself to melt into his embrace, nearing letting out a sob as he gave her the warmth she was seeking. There were so many things she wanted to talk about. Of course his first thought was of Knox.

But so much more was eating away at her that didn't involve the family either. Where was her love? Where did Casey go?

He promised dinner, and she let go, taking a step back and wiping away a few stray tears that managed to betray her and slip down her face. Summer nodded.

"I would love that. You have free time?"