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.

As a child, Summer rarely, if at all, had friends sleep over at her home.

It was strange enough now to have a friend come over to spend the night as an adult. The concept was just foreign to her. However, she was talked into it, and she agreed.

Time had also passed since she had last spent time with katja weiss. So, why not spend the night drinking wine, chatting about life, doing what normal girls would do? Rocket didn't have to be an influence on them.

Her father didn't have to be an influence on her.

Summer played with her hair until she heard a knock at the door of the Prescott mansion, going to open the door herself to receive her guest. A smile was presented on her lips when she spotted Katja's familiar white hair and purple gaze.

"Hello, Kat. Welcome, welcome!"

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?

As fast as she had pulled out her weapon, she was forced back against the wall of the cave.

Summer let out a grunt as the rocky wall dug against her back, trying to fight against Barnaby. But his height and his strength outmatched her. He had simply outsmarted her in her moment of outrage. It had blinded her, left her defenseless.

Surtur was blocked by his Pokemon, who seemed ready to strike out at him should he make a move. They were at a stalemate.

Barnaby won.

With a frustrated growl, followed with a short groan of pain as his grip on her wrist tightened, the knife clattered onto the ground. That didn't mean the threat was averted. She had fists and feet to fight with too.

Until he whispered in her ear.

All aspects of the mission, the artifacts, hatred, were seemingly thrown out of Summer's mind as he whispered in her ear. His breath was hot compared to the cold atmosphere they were surrounded in... and yet she still had tingles run through her body like electricity.

Especially when he scolded her.

"Let me... let go..." Summer said weakly, her face red as she weakly pushed against his hands.

"You're hurting my wrist."

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?"

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.

Of course Surtur's aim and precision was perfect. He belonged to Summer.

And for as long as she could remember, she and her Emboar, though he had once been a tiny Tepig, had worked hard together to make things perfect. That was how they were able to conquer her father's enemies.

But even though she grew older, she learned she wasn't perfect. There were faults in her.

And those were shown again when she heard the pet name slip from Barnaby's lips again.

"Love, love, love... there's no such thing, and I already said to not-"

The knife was whipped again, her thoughts raining down on her. A loveless individual, struggle in her abyss.

Searching for the word he was so easy to give her.

"Call me that!"

Summer's voice echoed in the cave, wavering yet loud as tears pricked the corners of her eyes. She brought it closer to his neck this time, as though she was really going to hurt him.

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.

There's a plan set in stone then. She nodded, hoping that she would remember when she came back to the sober world that she wouldn't include Sam in this plan, that Knox was staying with Ollie instead.

A name she hadn't heard in a long time.

"Okay."

Summer pulled herself away from her brother, pressing on last kiss to his forehead before standing. Her body ached, screamed, with tiredness and the activities that they had done. Dancing. Running. Falling. The whole lot of it.

"Please let me know when you get back, okay?"

With one last look at him, Summer Prescott walked away, going back into the world of riches and privilege that her brother had been expelled from.

She was only a few steps behind Remiel, peering around his shoulder and taking in the scene.

A fallen bookshelf. An open window.

Of course, she didn't know the ins and outs of his home like he did. But, the loud noise startling the both of them as well as his investigation sparked curiosity as she made eye contact with him.

"An intruder?"

Summer's hands reached out, delicately grasping his bicep as she glanced around. A sudden apprehension came over her. Paranoia that perhaps her father's people were after her instead of her brother.

"Mr. Calcifet, what should we do?"

Not to mention she was in an intoxicated state from trying wines with him throughout the night.