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Every person who witnessed PENELOPE LIVY passing through the HBIC's headquarters that day immediately knew something was wrong, and Gunner was no exception.[break][break]

From his desk, he watched her stalk toward her office and slam the door shut. Concerned, he walked over and knocked on the frosted glass window.[break][break]

"Miss Livy? Is everything all right?" he called out before testing the doorknob. It was unlocked.[break][break]

Slowly, so as not to spook her or incur her wrath, Gunner opened the door and poked his head into her office.[break][break]

"Miss Livy?"

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Whatever snarky comment Gunner's brain conjured in response died on his tongue as Mila started moving against him. His breath hitched and his eyes fluttered closed. Her exquisite heat enveloped him, from the way she kissed his mouth to the press of her body against his.[break][break]

Gunner's hands roamed ceaselessly: guiding Mila by the hip, cupping her face, tangling into her short hair. His lips planted heated kisses across her collarbone and chest.[break][break]

She made good on her promise to herself. Before long, Gunner's breathing was reduced to short gasps, every muscle straining as he helped Mila chase her peak. He refused to crumble first, focusing intently on getting her there instead.[break][break]

So keyed in was he to her noises and the slightest changes in her movements that he noticed when she was close to the end. He pressed down on her hips with his hands, trying to coax it out of her.[break][break]

"Come on, darling," he rumbled into her ear. "Sing for me."

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Gunner didn't know it, but he fell in love with Mila that day. No matter how many times he'd deny it in the coming weeks, months, and even years, he fell for her conspiratorial whispers and the quiet urgency of her kisses. For the quirk of her lips as she grinned at him and the feel of her body fitting against his.[break][break]

But at that moment, overriding all seeds of love was a sudden, animalistic need. Heat flared within Gunner as Mila straddled him. Sitting up, he wrapped one arm around her to keep her on his lap; his other hand reached up to fondle her chest.[break][break]

"You ride me until you're breathless and shaking all over," he said in a low voice as he kissed her throat. "And then I make pancakes for breakfast, and we eat them together."[break][break]

He drew back enough to look into her eyes. "How does that sound?"

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Gunner was silent for a long moment. Penelope had every right to turn his question back on him. He recalled the news CIAN MAHER had shared with him of their breakup earlier that year.[break][break]

Perhaps Gunner's question had been too personal. It would be a kindness — to both of them — to drop the subject.[break][break]

Instead, he looked across the broad wooden desk at her and said in a tone of quiet resolution: "You can count on me, Miss Livy."

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When Mila looked up into his eyes, Gunner felt like he could drown in her amaranthine gaze. Her expression was one he'd never seen grace her face before: vulnerable, tender. He leaned toward her automatically, drawn like a moth to flame.[break][break]

"No. Stay," he said as his nose lightly brushed her cheek. "This is nice."[break][break]

Up until that moment, Gunner had only ever kissed Mila with a fervent, lustful need. They knew only passion without intimacy. But now, in the warm tranquility of morning, his lips pressed against hers with an unguarded gentleness.[break][break]

A small part of him felt guilty, kissing her this way. After all, he didn't love her. He couldn't love her. But a greater part of him — the part that hurt, the part that cried for the soul of another to touch his own — drank in the softness of the moment like a man starved.

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As soon as Gunner saw the expression on Mila's face change, he knew she was still the same person from his past. The same beautiful woman who'd made him laugh, who'd filled his chest with aching want, who'd confided in him her deepest fears. His heart ached when she pulled her wrist away.[break][break]

He found himself saying, "Sure, I can help," before realizing he had no idea how to make a necklace.[break][break]

Still, Gunner sat down next to Mila, his pale blue eyes flickering down to catch sight of her bare thigh before he turned his full attention to the daisies and string.[break][break]

"So where did you go?" he asked, his voice calm and soft. He didn't want it to sound like an interrogation or a list of accusations. Not this time. Not with her. "And how did you end up running the PRIMARINA all of a sudden? What happened to the previous owner?"[break][break]

After watching Mila make a necklace, he picked up some pieces to start making one on his own.

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Kahadin had fallen silent. Gunner glanced over and saw that the small Pokémon it had been fighting were either unconscious or had fled. The Iron Valiant now looked at its trainer curiously, as if awaiting orders.[break][break]

"Fine," he relented with an aggrieved sigh.[break][break]

Without waiting for Gideon to lead them, Gunner headed over to where Angelo lingered, his boots stomping loudly through the underbrush. As he walked, the world around them grew dim; looking up, he watched, awestruck, as the sun rapidly began to set. Opposite it, a full moon rose.[break][break]

"What just happened?" Gunner asked Angelo as soon as they were within hearing distance from each other.[break][break]

Without warning, the ground shook with another tremor — but instead of a mild one like before, earth and stone ripped apart with tremendous force.[break][break]

The reflexes gained through Gunner's spy training saved him; he retreated from the chasm forming where he'd once stood, easily stepping from loose stone to loose stone until he reached safety.[break][break]

When he finally looked back at the fissure, his jaw dropped. A Celesteela had emerged from underground and appeared to be taking off. A sense of deja vu flashed through Gunner. This was not unlike his and Gideon's last visit, when they'd ridden a similar Pokémon to a crater much like the one that spread out before them.[break][break]

Pressurized jets of gas ejected from the Celesteela, one right in Gunner's direction. "Look out!" he shouted to the others as his Iron Valiant used WIDE GUARD to protect against it. The bamboo outside of the defensive shield, however, immediately caught flame.

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Gunner knew no greater suffering than loneliness.[break][break]

In the years since the Kanto War, he'd become familiar with it. His work with the HBIC meant he could no longer share his life's work or its challenges with his family or friends. And in the wake of Sayori's death, he wasn't sure he could let someone into his heart again.[break][break]

He sought the cure for his ailment in the worst way. He knew this; GIDEON GRAVES knew this and always tried persuading him to stop. But Gunner did not know how to stop. Perhaps, he'd darkly mused, he didn't want it to stop.[break][break]

People were often so comfortable in their misery that they refused to seek happiness.[break][break]

Yet when he opened his eyes to see Mila's face mere inches from his own, he did not withdraw from the promise of what finding her still there could mean. Instead, the corner of his mouth turned up in a crooked smile as he remembered the previous night's activities.[break][break]

"Hey," Gunner murmured, his voice still thick from sleep. "I thought you'd be gone by now."[break][break]

Instead, her body pressed against his in the most delicious way, the heat of her delightful. He tightened his arms around her, the fingers of one hand tracing the curve of her spine in lazy strokes.

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Of course Mila assumed Gunner was lying about the phone call. He could feel the exasperation already building in him, but he bit back a sigh and said, "I'm not lying, Mila."[break][break]

But no matter how much he insisted, she always believed whatever suited her perspective of the world. That was always how their relationship worked. Some days, they were on the same page and enjoyed their time together. Other days, they were sworn enemies trying to tear out each other's throats.[break][break]

He had stepped deeper into the shop so he could keep up the conversation with her. When she stepped up to wave her hand in his face, he grabbed her wrist — gently. It was a sharp contrast to the painful way he'd grabbed her at the bar.[break][break]

"'Mr. Graves'? Really? We're not strangers, Mila."[break][break]

A troubled expression crossed Gunner's face: a mix of hurt, regret, and longing. Years had passed since they'd last seen each other, and their recent reunion had stirred up complicated feelings within him.[break][break]

"We don't have to be like this. I just want to talk."

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"mila alexopoulos," Gunner greeted her in kind. "I'm here for work. The HBIC wants us to check up on how you and others in your program are doing."[break][break]

The reformation program for defectors from Team Rocket, he meant. Gunner was not a big fan of defectors, but between @rosie, Chu-e Choi, and Serena Malcolm, they were a constant presence in his career. Mila was no different, put under his charge by his superiors to ensure not only her safety, but her continued loyalty to the League.[break][break]

It was how they'd met, and how they'd found themselves tangled up in each other's lives. Inexorably, it seemed.[break][break]

But that wasn't the only reason for Gunner's presence in her boutique that day. He wanted to apologize for ditching her at brunch the other day. He'd show up at the restaurant and even seen her through the window.[break][break]

What he'd glimpsed, seeing her there, had been a past he missed — one in which Mila had been a tempestuous, chaotic, persistent force.[break][break]

But Summer Atreides's phone call saved him that day from making a huge mistake. Not long after that, they learned about her pregnancy. Gunner still hadn't had time to unpack all of his feelings surrounding that revelation, but he resolved to be good to Summer. To be loyal.[break][break]

Still, that didn't mean he should have been an asshole to Mila. All the things he said at the bar, and the way he acted… Sober, he was embarrassed for even wanting to touch her. A good boyfriend shouldn't have those thoughts.[break][break]

Gunner stuffed his hands in his pockets, suddenly overcome with both guilt and stubbornness. He hated saying sorry. "Also, I wanted to apologize for brunch. I got a phone call and had to go take care of some things."

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Gunner stared up at the large, bronze statue of a Primarina situated outside the store that shared its namesake. Many months had passed since he'd last set foot inside the boutique, and not once had he thought he'd return. In fact, when news that the owner had gone missing had reached him, he'd assumed the shop would close.[break][break]

But no. mila alexopoulos ran the business now, and work had brought him to her doorstep once again.[break][break]

Heaving a sigh, Gunner entered through the front door, the tinkling of its bell announcing his arrival. Looking around, he found himself surprised to see that much hadn't changed. Sure, fashion came and went with every season, but he felt a little like he had stepped back into a memory long shuttered.[break][break]

"Hello?" he called out as he approached the register. "Mila? It's me."

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