[attr="class","gideon-words"]





"Whatever you'd like, either way is fine." Giddie reminded him of john nelson, though. It'd been awhile since he'd seen his drinking buddy. Gideon hoped the man was doing well.[break][break]

Back to the camera, the professor tried to suppress a preening smile, but ultimately failed. "You really think so?"[break][break]

Photography had always just been an escape for him. Capturing little moments of beauty from the natural world. Nothing serious. Still, it was nice to hear someone like ollie morales admired his work.[break][break]

"People watching?" Gideon looked from left to right in an overexaggerated, theatrical manner. "Ollie, the only other person out here is you."[break][break]

CRISPR was apparently just starting a little bug pile for his trainer. A nearby SIZZLIPEDE wasn't exempt from this plan — soon enough it was asleep and added to the growing collection beside GIDEON GRAVES.

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"You don't know."[break][break]

Gideon echoed flatly, his one good eye a narrow slit behind square-rimmed glasses. [break][break][break]

"Well, maybe this will ring a bell."[break][break]

He leaned forward then, rested his elbows on his knees. Got as close to his brother as the boundary of his chair would allow. [break][break]

And then he recounted that awful memory turned daily nightmare. The scene that played over and over in his head, that he couldn't escape from no matter how much he drank or how many pain pills he swallowed.[break][break]

There was her, of course. parker jones, though Gideon didn't know her name. Only her face burned into his mind.[break][break]

Then there was him, who'd come to Gideon's rescue when he'd already consigned himself to death. The masked vigilante with an oddly familiar Pokémon...[break][break]

"It was Guin, wasn't it?"

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No shit it's not safe, you idiot.[break][break]

Gideon's raging thoughts were kept in check, but just barely. His brother was lucky the small tremor nearly knocked him off his feet too, otherwise choice words might have been said aloud that couldn't be taken back.[break][break]

Once the ground settled, he instead said:[break][break]

"Field work with Mr. Vestri." Gideon didn't even bother to gesture to angelo vestri, who was likely staying well clear of the brothers and their bickering. "I'm not foolish enough to come alone. Because you're right, it's not safe."[break][break]

Here the professor pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled loudly.[break][break]

"Come with us. Now." [break][break]

God, it was like they were kids again and Gideon was ordering Gunner away from the edge of a steep embankment. 'But look how awesome it is over here!' he'd said, before nearly tumbling over the edge. Gideon was just barely able to react in time and keep him from certain catastrophe. [break][break]

That mentality hadn't changed much.

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Gideon returned Remiel's smile with a thin-lipped one of his own, nodding then to the tunnel before them.[break][break]

"I'm looking forward to seeing you in action today." He confessed, shrugging off the pack on his shoulder containing tools and equipment they'd need for their outing.[break][break]

"Tell me, what's your first step now that we're here?" Admittedly, archeology wasn't the director's field of expertise. He was more biologically inclined – however, that didn't mean his interest in the subject was nonexistent. If anything, the cultural discoveries helped inform aspects of biology and similar fields.

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"I apologize for that," Gideon admitted with a slight frown, though he knew Hazel would understand the time commitment that accompanied their profession. There were far too many things to do and too few hours in the day to get them done.[break][break]

"Things have been rather busy as of late." As they always were. Luckily, Gideon was actually doing a bit better with shuffling his time between the museum and the university. He'd been the director for a little over a year now — experience bred efficiency, in his case.[break][break]

"Remind me what classes you're teaching this coming semester?" For Dr. Graves, his courses were always on rotation; it was a feat keeping up with what he was teaching at any given moment, let alone a colleague.

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"I'm sorry for your loss."[break][break]

Yet another thing they had in common, though this was not necessarily a happy point of connection. [break][break]

It somehow relieved Gideon, however, to know that they could commiserate - even to just a small degree - about the dissolution of a marriage. The unique sort of loneliness that manifests after the loss of someone you'd pledged to spend the rest of your life with.[break][break]

Still, a fleeting thought came and went as she divulged a bit of her story: Only a year and already dating?[break][break]

Gideon shrugged it off though, his attention wholly captured by the lowering of her voice and the conspiratorial shifting of her body across the small table.[break][break]

What Elisabeth Fiorelli said made the professor blush — inwardly. Outwardly, a devious little smirk crossed his lips. It was not unlike the smirk she may remember from their initial library meeting.[break][break]

The gesture was more meaningful now, somehow. Suggestive, even.[break][break]

"Then let's not be serious." He agreed. "I have a few possibilities in mind, too."[break][break]

Gideon leaned in then, matching her energy. They were much closer now, the atmosphere decidedly more intimate after the shift in their conversation.[break][break]

"But I'd love to hear your thoughts first."

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GIDEON GRAVES had finally returned to the Ultra Crater for a second expedition, though a good chunk of time had passed since the last — due in large part to the injuries he'd sustained weeks ago.[break][break]

Mercifully, every breath wasn't absolute agony now. He'd been approved by his doctors to return to the field - though Gideon suspected they didn't realize the scope of his adventurous ambitions. He couldn't be contained to their world any longer, not when there was so much more to explore in these new frontiers.[break][break]

Safely, of course. With a highly-qualified escort in the form of angelo vestri.[break][break]

Something that he didn't see when they happened to come across a man training in one of the craters. Against all odds, Gideon actually recognized the man and — well, it was likely his companion had never seen such reined in fury on the professor's face before.[break][break]

"Angelo," He spoke up, calm before the coming storm. "Excuse me a moment. My brother and I need to have a little chat."[break][break]

The small tremor that shook the earth as he walked mirrored the rumbling anger found just beneath the surface of Gideon's cool façade. [break][break]

"Gunner." He didn't yell, didn't lash out. But his expression would be all that his brother needed to see to realize the severity of his mistake.[break][break]

"What are you doing here - alone?"

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Was GIDEON GRAVES as steadfast and logical as he presented himself on the day-to-day?[break][break]

Most times, sure. Mechanical and methodical in his approach to his career and even his personal life at times. Robotic to a fault.[break][break]

But here he showed his humanity. In those piercing umber eyes there was a smoldering anger brewing. An unhidden dread, as well – he hated having to confront Gunner Graves in this way. [break][break]

There was too much at stake to let his roiling thoughts remain unvoiced, however. His brother’s life and safety being the utmost concern.[break][break]

“Don’t play dumb, Gunner. You’re a good liar but that can only get you so far.” Gideon’s cold tone betrayed his disapproval.[break][break]

"Gunner put me in charge of this expedition… It was honestly strange, considering what he does for a living. He's much better suited to lead a mission like this than I am."[break][break]

Caleb Harcourt’s words rang out across the silent apartment. [break][break]

“Why would Ranger Harcourt say something like that?”

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"Eva." He repeated after her, more than willing to conform to her boundaries. "Then please, call me Gideon. And I'm glad to hear we're a favorite."[break][break]

He smiled faintly, though it didn't even crease the corners of his eyes. GIDEON GRAVES was less expressive than most, but he made up for this deficiency with his passion for knowledge.[break][break]

"Is Pokérus a research interest of yours?" He probed, his voice more conversational than anything else. "I'll admit, I've been vying for funding to try and get a study going."[break][break]

One of the many things that made Pokérus interesting to Gideon was its ability to infect nearly all species of Pokémon. This was basically unheard of in modern virology. Trying to win grants for a viral infection with few detrimental effects, however, had been a struggle.

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It was late. Far later than Gideon should have been staying up, but unfortunately typical of a workaholic like him. Burning the midnight oil at both ends.[break][break]

He was reading a newly-released journal article with Eva Morales as the first author when an odd e-mail popped up on his dashboard.[break][break]

[break]

Peculiar. He would normally trash spam messages like this with without credentials or identifying information, but something about the Voluntas Society pricked at the depths of his memory.[break][break]

So, the professor decided to respond. What was the harm, anyway?[break][break]

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