Vee had been spending most of the day lounging around Mauville City on her day off. There wasn't a whole lot to do when she wasn't good on funds to head towards Rustboro or any other place, but it was nice to spend it with her Pokémon. Noodle, her trusty Dunsparce, had been receiving lots of affection and treats as she walked with him through the city until her phone vibrated in her pocket.

She brought it up to her face to be met with a message from Magnus. He wanted her to pick up a prescription on her way back home. Come to think of it, the afternoon sun was kind of dwindling down already. So this was just a good chance to end her day with. Fingers tapped the screen in a fast rhythm and hit send while picking up Noodle and hurrying away.

"On it! brt, boss!"

She walked to a nearby Pharmacy quite a few blocks away from Mauville Mods and entered, the scent of stale chips and hand sanitizer filling the air as a line was forming. She groaned but quickly got in line and waited her turn. She waited...and waited...Ugh. Noodle had been busy on top of her head, slithering down to the shoulder as he'd let out a soft mutter to one of the scrappy looking Raticate looking up at it. They feuded for a bit as Vee watched it jump up and aim for the defenseless thing. The owner, of course, was on their phone up until Vee had her Pokemon above her head with a leg arched back and ready to kick. "You wanna control your rat any day now?"

Thus began another heated argument in the lobby. People stared at the older teen squaring up to a man taller than her up until the counter read her number. "You're lucky this place is savin' your from an ass kickin'!" she sneered at the man, storming up to the counter as she went through the spheal and got the medication. "So what's it for?" she to herself while walking out of the building and reading the bottle. According to the label, it was it was used to moderate to severe poison applications reduced the effects of swelling that usually came after being inject-

Wait, a minute, what?
"Something's up. Let's get runnin', Noodle!"

The door to the hideout opened as a pair of feet came roaring inside. "Boss?!" Vee yelled, panting heavily as she made her way inside of room Magnus was in. She was red in the face, carrying Noodle in one arm and the prescription bag in the other. She sets her Dunsparce down and rips the bag open to hand the bottle to their dark haired leader as her eyes shot to the canines huddled around each other. In a doggie bed is Latte, whimpering softly. Her heart cracked, the girl kneeling down carefully to get a better look at the suffering pup. "WH-What happened to Latte?! Is he gunna be alright?" she asked Magnus, brows furrowed in worry.

Jack Magnus

Even by just looking at Latte, disregarding the loud, pain filled whines, it was the farthest thing from a minor stomachache. Vee's hand moved to the pup's head, stroking its dark colored fur as it would lick it between pants and soft whines. She'd kneel down and continue to try and help the pup feel a little bit better. Her knees carefully maneuvered around the audience of dogs that had been around and anxious about the state of one of their own.

"It's okay. You're gunna be alright." It was said in the heat of the moment. Something that came from her mouth to help the Pokémon feel better. Trembling hands went to stroke the Houndoor's fur coat while her eyes went to Magnus. It was hard to imagine the same man who was the head of their gang, reduced to something so human. Although Vee couldn't say it wasn't something anybody would have done in his position.

Her worst suspicions are confirmed as Magnus gave her the rundown on what had occurred. Latte had be the unfortunate victim of of eating something he shouldn't have or getting bit by an Ekans or an Arbok. Either situation wasn't the best case scenario. Magnus was rushing to shove the pill into the treat in order to feed it to Latte, but he wouldn't budge. All the pup would do was to lick it a little if he was interested.

Time was of the essence, and they were running thin on time. He'd swivel over to her and ask for her to hold his mouth open so that they could force him to swallow it. Vee was a little conflicted. She didn't want to cause him any more discomfort than the poor thing had been through, but if he didn't down this pill, there was a good chance that he would...

Nope, not thinking that. Not ever.

"Sorry, Latte." Vee said softly, gently inserting her fingers on the sides of his mouth and forcing it open, but not enough to injure him any. Her heart ached as she heard the noises, wanting to just cover her ears. It reminded her too much of the groans and grunts that the others had made long ago. A pained desperation that your life was in jeopardy and you had no control over what was going to happen. She tried to help comfort Latte some again, watching Magnus administer the pill but with hands shaking something fierce.

"Go for it, boss."

Jack Magnus

Latte had the pill pushed down his throat as the Houndoom continued whining and panting during the entire ordeal. It was utter heartbreak for Magnus to listen to, that much was certain. Vee quietly watched him as she continued to kneel down and pet Latte as she gave a thumbs up to the other man. "Anytime. Latte's a part of the family like any of us." She could tell he was overstressed with this, and shared some of his pain at least. It wasn't her companion and his pain was twice the amount of her own, but the most she could do was to be there for the both of them. After a few more hand licks, Vee got up to work on helping the other wounded animal in the room.

"It's no biggie, boss. Honest. I'm just glad I could get here in time." She said, sitting down next to him. The size difference was noticeable, but she still tired something to help him feel better. Her hand fall on his arm as the girl tried to smile a little. It took a few pats here and there before she'd look back at the resting Houndoom. "Just don't beat yourself up, boss. You couldn't have known what Latte ate. Let's just...No, I know he'll pull through. He's your dog, right?" Vee said, trying to force a grin out of the man as she patted his back. "That means he's just as strong as you are."

Magnus appeared to be feeling slightly better and even offered takeout from them. Her stomach growled softly while the mechanic laughed a little and leaned back in her seat. "I'm game! Show me your favorite movie. Something that you can watch over and over and over again." She tried to appeal to his interests, attempting to distract him from the pain of almost losing a beloved member of the family. Every now and again, Vee would look over to check on Latte and make sure she was feeling alright. Just walking over to pet her, check on the other dogs, and such.

Jack Magnus

So far, so good. Magnus was distracted her little little play about asking him his favorite movie. He'd up and onto his DVD stash right while explaining to her what each one was. The first two seemed like the usual action movie, but did he seriously just whip out a kids' movie? She shot him a look while choosing between the offered movies, as the woman hummed to herself. "That's a pretty hard choice you're makin' me go through. And are you callin' me some kind of kid? I'm 19! Old enough to see any of your favorite movies." She replied back to him as her eyes went between all 3 movie titles. It wasn't too long after that a finger shot forward and pressed against the cover.

"Bullet Train first, then we'll see about the Boondock Saints."

Vee offered to order food from a local Chinese place, getting everything that Magnus and her wanted. It was a restaurant everyone visited regularly, and one of the first places Keira Torres had taken Vee too before taking her to see Magnus about a year ago. She recalled the food being delicious, but then again, when you were half starving any kind of food tasted amazing. While getting his order, the mechanic eyed the canines to make sure everyone was doing alright. Latte seemed to be doing somewhat better, and Vee even reached down to play with his head gently again.

The phone hung up as the girl landed back on the couch. "We've got a couple minutes before it gets here. We can start now, unless you wanna watch Air Bud. You think that dog can really lay basketball, or is it just hypin' it up?"

Jack Magnus

Her hair's ruffle, as Vee physically winced at the sudden touch to her head. It was like she had been punched in the face by an invisible hand with how she flinched. Recollections of a physical, phantom force. A wrench swung at her head. Boots kicking her all around, and a hand wrapped around her throat. The air tasted thicker than normal, the smaller gang mamber gasped as she broke out into a cold sweat. Her hand shot up to his, heart racing as her grip was tight. Vee's eyes showcased a sudden frighten before she caught herself and let Magnus' hand go. "Y-Yeah. Really fuckin' amazin' if either of 'em could do that...yeah." She cleared her throat, attempting to play this little thing off.

Magnus put on the movie as Vee looked down at Latte, smiling a bit as he seemed to be doing better. Her hand slowly moved back down to shower the pup in affection, sometimes moving to tease the rest of Magnus pack. Of course, she'd have to lean over or on his lap fully to do this, the smaller mechanic distracting herself. The front door was knocked on as Vee shot up. "Food's here!" she raced over and collected all the bags before handing Magnus his order over while sitting down and shoveling food into her face.

"Hey, Boss. How did you start your lil' Pokémon wolf pack? Did you just have everyone from day one?"

Jack Magnus

Vee looked at Magnus for a bit, frowning in embarrassment as she had been touched so hard. There came an awkward pause as the mechanic looked away, cursing silently to herself. It took a few seconds for her to break the silence between them, but then soon would let out a huff. "Sorry, boss. I...don't like being touched without me seein' it..." It was a less energetic, more sullen tone than the girl put on. Noodle would slithered over and wander up her leg as she looked down in defeat. The Dunsparce had bumped into her hand as her frown would eventually break, petting the normal type's head while then looking back to the door as the doorbell rang.

Halle and Berry were the first ones to chase after her as she went to the door, as Vee looked down and tried to quell their excitement. "H-Hey, you guys! Calm down!" She tried to block their mad dash to bark at the delivery driver with her foot while opening the door with an apologetic smirk. "Sorry about 'em. How much do we owe ya?"

Once both of them was nice and fed, Vee would sit back down on the couch and listen to Magnus as he would go on about who he had met first. She had known that Marshall and him had met in juvie, although Vee had known partially why Magnus was in there. There was no way she was going to ask him though, manners and being afraid of upsetting him again. "Damn, guess I'm one of the newest people to join up." she said, leaning back into her seat and shoveling another heaping portion of ramen into her mouth. She swallowed and then would continue on. "We're kind of a family, I think." Vee said, knowing full well of how she felt about that. Her self-doubt about being a full member and if she was really welcome here. But again, no way she'd make the same mistake twice. But yet, the girl would look over after a five-minute break.

"Boss, I, um...How come you let me join the gang?" she asked heartfully, looking down at the dogs surrounding them with a frown. "I was a part of another gang, young and dumb, and yet you still let me in. I just wanna know how come."

Jack Magnus