[attr="class","text"]
Howls pierced the air as the Okidogi was joined by more familiar—horrifying--shapes. Aubre’s brief respite into clarity was blurred by those howls. She staggered backward. This time, she was not greeted by arms of corroding metal but by the warm, living hands of her husband. As he tugged her away, the redhead did not resist. She murmured softly beneath her breath as her mind flickered between the world of the present, the past, and what seemed a dark future.
[break][break]

The SNAP of Fezandipiti’s neck echoed through the bulkhead. With Leon beside her, Aubre watches as the Megalopans race into the hallway. Some part of her—the part not drowning in a puddle of memories—wonders if her words had anything to do with that. As she squeezes herself tightly, she manages to see a flash of yellow as a chained Heliolisk vanishes around a corner. “Kick her ass, Al.” The doctor murmurs woozily.
[break][break]

Any amazement she might have felt at the emergency of Celebi is short-lived. The light is blinding even in hiding. “!?” The world is plunged into darkness as she and Leon are thrown against the bulkhead. Her head cracks against dull metal as they slide to rest beside one of the emptied tubes. Fresh blood soon mixes with green goo.
[break][break]

Outside, the Swampert suffers a similar fate. As she’s sent flying, one can see the guilt in her eyes. She hadn’t been trying to kill the monkey. That wasn’t what she wanted. Any further thoughts of morality vanish as they skid across the earth into Ultra Megapolis.
[break][break]

When Aubre awakens, she can’t help but take a moment to admire the sky. It’s beautiful. Somehow still bright even without the sun. A sense of exhaustion fills her body. It was emotional. Physical. Mental. She was tired of living in a time loop and somehow had gotten caught in another one. At this point, it was easier to count what didn’t hurt. But as stubborn as McKenna was, she managed to push herself into a sitting position.
[break][break]

Then, the blue-skinned woman offered them a deal.
[break][break]

Words filtered in and out as she took in the battlefield. Out of firing range, it felt like she was watching a movie. She barely noticed as Leon lifted behind her. “Hahahaha!” She felt another bout of hiccuping laughter coming on. It's teary and maddened. There was a choice before them, and it was familiar. She recalls the fiery death that had been a few votes away from being her own.
[break][break]

It almost felt like that vote had been useless. Take them out of their cells, give them a little power, and the cycle starts all over again. Even she was pulsating with hatred for this place and the woman before her. It wasn’t all jayden cross or Elisabeth Fiorelli either. She hated the feeling. It felt even more sickening than the toxin that ran through her veins.
[break][break]

She didn't like it. And, she couldn't live with herself if it won. This woman deserved to be brought to justice, but that didn't mean tearing her apart like rabid dogs.
[break][break]
Green eyes catch the glimmer of a flower trick. The lightning makes it more obvious, the deep shadows highlighting the fractured ground. ‘Serena!” The redhead croaks as the axolotl moves to obey. Debris falls from Serena’s body as she gives the Bisharp some space. Its Mud Bomb is quick and precise, a bullet looking to knock the explosive aside.
[break][break]

A vain, weak attempt at shattering the cycle.
[break][break]

She shrugs away the net with a few weak movements. A hand reaches up to grab her husband’s scarred hand. Tired and beaten down, the redhead’s answer to this conundrum is a single word. One punctuated by the echo of a gunshot. “Trust.”

NOTES

✦Pretty sure her brain's broken[break]
✦Bursts out laughing at Cyllora's question[break]
✦Swampert uses Mud Bomb to try and stop Greyson Connors's flower bomb (she's just tired of the stupid fighting)[break]
✦Votes to trust let the Megalopans handle it[break]

[attr="class","text"]
Aubre does not get the chance to see her husband return to form. She is too busy trying to trend to Azelf and dodge the attacks ranging around them. But, when she looks up, As Leon crushes her against his chest anew, two sets of stimuli flow in. One is comforting: the smell of their detergent and home. The other is acrid and unwelcome. It’s the reek of burnt flesh and air. When they finally separate, she offers him another soft smile. But this one is strained. As if there’s something in her mouth that’s fighting to get out.
[break][break]
As he turns to retrieve his possessions, it finally forces its way out. It tastes of frustration. "I'm not a child, Leon." Her voice is resigned and small.
[break][break]
She listens to the Megalopan’s words with pinched lips. The announcement that they’re hurtling through Ultra Space gives her a momentary start, but it’s far less concerning than what’s hurtling down from the floors above them. So much for a grand escape. She thinks irritably to herself. Then, another realization strikes her. “We’re in a ship.” Which meant they were one popped screw from a crushed tin can.
[break][break]

With wide eyes, she watches as the cloned Pokemon shuffle toward their new masters. Any sense of concern vanishes as she sees an old lady reaching a withered hand to the chained Heliolisk. The fingers are still broken. “Good luck.” Aubre murmurs to them both. Even Alastor offers a nod to his clone. ‘Guy’s going to have it rough with a mug like that.’ He signs to his worn trainer. Though she glares, Aubre can’t resist a laugh.
[break][break]

“Thank you,” Aubre murmurs to Leon’s Pokemon as the Bisharp steps up alongside Serena. Her lips twist at the use of the word ‘lady.’ The shy Swampert turns away, embarrassed. The water type greets the steel type with a nod.

Again, her husband moves to pull her away from the fray. She searches for a way out (as much for the Megalopans as for herself). But her panicked mind doesn't spot anything. “We won’t get a better shot.” The area is a crush of Pokemon and equipment. Any viable escape route will soon be blocked. “!?” The ground shakes as the Lousy Three make themselves known. Immediately, the doctor lifts her head. Normally kind, sweet eyes bore into those of Munkidori.
[break][break]

A nervous, half-mad laugh spills out. They were in trouble. Giant, red-lined trouble. She swallowed. "At least they're easier to hit now."


Whereas earlier memories made her cower, these gave her strength. She remembers each thunk as her husband was crushed against the floor. Again. Again. The pain in her face as the poor, beseeched Ogrepon slammed its cudgel into her. That same curl of the lips that predicated the attack is there now. It’s the expression of a bully smashing people together like toys.
[break][break]

During this angry contemplation, a chunk of Pecharunt’s mochi slams into the doctor’s cheek. Her face burns as she wipes furiously at the stain, the poison already sinking into her eye. The right side of her world swims in a sickening, unnatural violet. This blinds her to the entry of a Houndoom and a good look at Okidogi's face.

She understood wanting to go home. She’d felt nothing but that all week. Hell, she even knew the urge to make someone pay. The burden of leadership and decisions? It was something every parent knew. But the General’s words ring hollow. She shook her head. All week, she’d been secretly hoping for something to make this travesty make sense. Maybe a reason that took the hurt and anger away.
[break][break]

But all she’d gotten were empty platitudes and another step in this endless cycle of hate. Some part of her almost feels pity as the leader unleashes a torrent of verbal abuse on those before her. As she turns, a bit of that same poison splashes into the room the Megalopans are sheltered in. It's this area she retreats into as she shouts around a corner.
[break][break]

“What’s the point of going home if your people can’t go with you?” These words probably can’t be heard above the fray. But she screams them anyway as Munkidori’s mask slices through a pillar beside her. "This fight will kill all of us if you're not careful!" Green eyes shift to where she knows the aliens hide. She wants to beg them for help, but the words don't come out. It feels like a waste of breath. They didn’t stop them from being beaten and poisoned. They didn’t care. But she didn't want to let them die either.
[break][break]

She glared at freya morningstar and ameena abadi as she remembers the bridges burnt.
[break][break]

With a noise of frustration, the doctor peers back at the fight. The empty-hearted politician wasn’t the threat right now. Her entire being narrows to the shield before the monkey. It was time to neutralize that poison. Come hell or high, well dirty water.
[break][break]

Knowing the earlier Screech is useless, Aubre makes a gesture to Serena. With a nod, the axolotl dug deep within and unleashed a torrent of Muddy Water at the Munkidori. It slammed into one of the red panels, splattering those nearby with a cloudy layer of pond muck. A blind spot that anyone could turn into an opening.
[break][break]

Though it isn’t as wide as the spot of purple slowly spreading across her eye.

NOTES

✦Smiles as she watches clone Alastor join an old Megalopan woman and wishes them luck[break]✦Watches as an attack almost threatens the Megalopans and tries to remind the commander that she has a DUTY to protect her people[break]
✦Tries to search for a way out as the firefight grows more dangerous[break]
✦Swampert uses MUDDY WATER on Munkidori aiming to obscure its vision[break]
✦Aubre is clipped by the poisoned mochi and suffers an eye injury/poisoning[break]

[attr="class","text"]
She notices the shield left by Tempest, and fractured memories captured as her husband is similarly protected.
[break][break]
The cloak and automaton slow the doctor’s fall. She lands on her feet but soon collapses against the cold floor of the breeding room. Amber and red dances in her eyes as the firefight rages above. Detached, panicked eyes watch as cracks spread across the ceiling as the fighting comes to an end. She lets out a pained gasp as the thing collapses, but the silver being’s torso keeps her mostly safe from falling debris. A few angry lines of red roll down her cheeks and shoulders as rock bites into them.
[break][break]

As the fire and dust fade, some semblance of logic returns. Shaking herself free—as if shedding a spell—the present slowly filters in. Briefly, her eyes flicker to her husband’s form. A tired hand rises in a teary greeting. “You all right?” He isn’t a pile of ash and is standing, so he seems to be better than earlier. They’d talk quickly and quietly. A scarred finger would eventually rise to touch her lips. [break][break]

Embarrassment and shame give her face deeper shadows than the lingering influence of the cloak. If John’s nearby, she refuses to meet his eyes. What a useless piece of shit. Eight years of training, and you can’t even help one Pokemon.
[break][break]
Fortunately, it seems Ogerpon is okay. She offers an apologetic smile to Andrea Vaneau and it as they pass. If she sees @tempest, she will offer a teary word of gratitude.
[break][break]
As her eyes sight the tubes, she gasps. Tears of joy pour forth. “Al!” Pushing the oddities aside for a moment, she rushes the tubes. Around the time her hands touch the outside, Azelf’s power explodes forth. But the removal of the chain is nothing compared to the return of her lifelong companion.
[break][break]
Soon, he’s lying in a pile of goo at her feet—the rest of it rubbed across her prison uniform. Blue eyes blink tiredly awake as the lizard looks at her. Though there’s no paper around, he knows how to make his feelings known.
[break][break]
‘You look terrible.’ Clawed hands clumsily sign as he shakes off the doldrums. His trainer just lets out a happy sob in response. Then, his sight settles on the toxic chained clone in the tube beside him. His frill extends suspiciously. ‘What’s with ugly over here?’ With a look of consternation, the doctor reaches toward the clone and, if able, tries to pull it out.
[break][break]
Soon, her other Pokemon find her way to her. The Farigiraf nuzzles her red hair as the Jumpluff takes to the sky. Aubre, however, is fixated on the clone. Science experiments or not, these were Pokemon. Not just that, they were poisoned--tools of some monster whose face they didn’t know.
[break][break]
As someone shouts about discovered possessions, Aubre offers up a nod to her friends. The Heliolisk ignores the dramatic kidnapping as he shoves past the door to grab Aubre and her loser husband’s stuff. Though struggling, he manages to bring this back to them. Her faux leather doctor’s bag drags on the ground behind him. The doctor's jacket is slid on with a grateful familiarity when it gets to her. As the screaming started in the adjacent room, the redhead was tempted to rush over. If he sees blood, he tosses bandages. This includes tossing a ball of gauze at Andrew Fisher and a sling at THEO BECKETT.
[break][break]She even moves to intervene. Images of this woman grabbing Mikky flash. Her teeth grit together as she moves to do something. "Hey! Put the--" Her voice rises in volume when a webbed claw digs into her leg. 'D-o-g at twelve o'clock!' The lizard jerks his head to the left just as the wild child makes her move.
[break][break]

[break][break]
Ettie's howl sends terror rushing through the doctor's limbs. Any thoughts of helping vanish as she closes her eyes shut and tries to breathe. Two eyes. Ten fingers. Leon's behind you. Smell his clothes? Listen to him breathing. This continues until the padding of the hound is behind her. By then, the situation in the room seems to have simmered down to a boil. Her chance to help is gone, just like always. [break][break] Her mind returns to Azelf. “Let me see them. Please.” She murmurs a word of thanks to the little creature as she reaches in her bang for anything that might help. Eventually, she settles on a potion. “It looks like it’s just exhaustion, but—” She presses the bottle into Eris Halla’s hand as the noises above them grow louder. “--this might come in handy.”
[break][break]
Her jaw sets as her hand settles on her belt. The terrorists rush to form a line of defense, inspiring her to do the same. Then she wonders if Cillian Quinn’s Lugia is in pain. “Leon.” There’s a steely will to her voice. Her hand tightens into a shaking fist. She knows he’ll probably argue. “--I’m done letting these monsters have their way.” With them. With their Pokemon. With the poor displaced Megalopans.
[break][break]

After glancing wordlessly between her Pokemon, she returns all but her Swampert. “I’m even more tired of running.” Being a coward. If they didn’t stop them now, they’d just do it again. Hurt more people. Traumatize another group. Running didn’t guarantee they’d be any safer. But she'd just get in the way, huh? Fighting wasn't her Forte and the hallway was clogged with Pokemon.
[break][break]

"Serena? Can you help out?" After being briefed on the situation, the Swampert is fuming. She nods. "Stay safe." Joining the vanguard at the entrance, the Swampert waits beneath the shadow of the Guzzlord. Taking a deep breath, she prepares to unleash a Screech.
[break][break]

"Good luck." Aubre murmurs this softly to the Swampert as she backs up toward the retreating group.

Leon Settentrioné John Sullivan Andrea Vaneau THEO BECKETT @tempest Ettie Eris Halla

NOTES

✦ Filled with shame by her actions[break]✦ Gets scraped up by the falling debris[break]✦ Lays on the ground for a moment listening to the onslaught above [break]✦ Says hi to her husband as the ground falls in and thanks Tempest Quinn for helping them[break]✦ Stiffens when Ettie begins her howling and closes her eyes shut to avoid a repeat of earlier[break][break]✦Has Al distribute potions and bandages to people who need it [break]✦ Goes to investigate the clones but is stopped by Axelf's fall and goes to check on them. Offers Eris Halla a potion.[break]✦ Apologizes to Leon and goes to stand with the defenders (finds it ironic so man of them are seen as 'monsters')[break]✦ Has her Swampert use Screech at the pursuers as she retreats to safer ground[break]

A GIFT

FROM Aubre McKenna-Settentrione[break]TO Leon Settentrioné

[break]
LAIRON[break]
GACHA

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Whatever her husband said was lost in the jubilation of his revival. Which was fortunate as she already had enough to scold him for.
[break][break]

The chain sinks into Munkidori’s shoulder. It retracts just as quickly, but she can see that ]something was done. For an instant, its eyes flash with a mixture of despair and desperation. Its shoulders sag under a perceived burden. “!?” Her eyes widen as a third figure joins her expedition—the automaton gleaning a mirror-like silver.
[break][break]


She jumps as a rubber bullet ricochets off the glimmering air in front of her. Her breath catches in her throat as the faceless thing turns to look at her. “Thank you.” She murmurs softly into Leon’s ears. Though it doesn’t have eyes, the paladin earns a nod of gratitude. At some point, she tosses his mask to the floor.
[break][break]


At this range, its shots are deafening. But she isn’t certain she wants to hear what’s happening anyway. She needs to stay focused. Just reach the platform. One step at a time, okay? For once, her inner voice is a compass instead of a burden. With all the abuse that had been thrown her way this week, even she couldn’t justify making it worse. Arceus, he’s heavy.
[break][break]


The poison clouding her vision slowly saps the strength from her limbs. Her arms begin to quiver.
[break][break]


With a grateful sigh, Aubre feels her foot drag over the lip of the platform. As she staggers forward, the fringes of her cape snake forward to support them. Everything that happens next is a blur. Then, with a jerk, the elevator is descending to the next level. But, even as their wardens fade from view, she feels her heart twist with worry. This feels too easy.
[break][break]


Then, the next ward joins her. The sight of John Sullivan gives her hope—especially as the word healing echoes up. “Y-yeah.” Aubre stares up at what she can see of her husband’s silver mop. There’s a brief hesitation before she speaks, one borne from a thousand different things. “He’s my husband.” And, right now, this was one of those for worser situations.
[break][break]


With a muttered prayer, the redhead lets John get to work. “Thank you.” Gradually, she feels Leon’s legs become steadier between them. The deadweight boulder becomes more of a rock. At the admonishment, the doctor awkwardly laughs. “I’ll need a lot more than my back done when we get out of here." If. Poor guy would probably have a line out the door.
[break][break]


The cloak hides the dappling as violet begins to spread across her skin.
[break][break]


As the platform descends, she does as asked. An arm remains locked around his weight as they sink further into the bowels of the prison. She was already planning ahead. Her mind was fixated on Ogerpon below, her mind reviewing the anatomy of a Worry Seed and the safest way to remove it. She flashes an almost guilty look her husband’s way, but she doesn’t speak.
[break][break]


He knows what’s coming.
[break][break]


But as her feet touch the ground, she feels heat rush over her. Her arm rips out of Leon’s grip with a snarl of terror.
[break][break]


Pupils swell as she spots the flames flickering around the Ogerpon’s mask. A doctor? You’re a doctor, right? Any thoughts of helping vanish as her mind backpedals in terror. Lavender tears run down her face as the redhead stumbles away. A bodiless scream tears from her throat as she stumbles away from the distressed grass type. Suddenly, the room is an alleyway. Warm lips eclipse hers. The words are an unintelligble murmur. Cold arms wrap around her as she flails against imagined paws. "No! N-no! Get back!"
[break][break]

She doesn't even notice as @tempest's bubble wraps around her to keep the fire and heat at bay.[break][break]
Sensing her terror, the cloak erupts into tendrils. These whistle as they rocket toward the Ogerpon and its mask. Through the pulsing sections, all of her fears pour in. The feelings of that night as the tapping of the hound’s claws eclipsed her heartbeat. The way it felt as the hellfire bit into her skin. Beneath that is a screaming urge to want to help. To no longer be useless and broken. Two of her tendrils try to wrestle the maskaway, one tugging at the plant weaving into its spine. [break][break]As she does this, her husband's sentinel pulls her away. Its hands sink through the borrowed shield as if it's not there, reflecting and refracting it to those nearby.
[break][break]

She'd just potentially heard his last words, and she wouldn't even be able to remember them.


The flames grow taller. The ground vanishes as she's pulled into the pit.

Leon Settentrioné John Sullivan Andrea Vaneau

NOTES

✦ Supports Leon until John manages to get him standing[break]✦ Totally plans to help save Ogerpon, but OOPS there's fire [break]✦ Her tendrils try to install a fear of fire into Ogerpon while tugging wildly at the worry seed[break]✦ Tries to flee the fire and is caught by Leon's sentinel[break]✦ Falls into the open pit as Leon kisses her farewell.[break]
✦ Toxic Chain Ability - Taste Your Own Medicine: Aubre is able to make others feel the emotions or pain of others by touching two people in succession with her chain. Broken ribs? You can now feel what those feel like. Despair? Eat it up. The point of it is sharp, so she can also use it for offensive purposes. These tendrils hang from her back like a shredded cape and wrap around her head in a hood. It offers also offers limited defense abilities. Think Doctor Strange.

[attr="class","text"]
Leon’s pride made him ignore the warnings from all corners and not just his captors. Even the imprint of her own punch did little to deter him. She begged him to play along. “Leon, please. It's getting angry. Why not save the fight for something that matters?” The lip-smacking was followed by flashing eyelids and the visible narrowing of eyelids. The psychic type’s sneer shifted from curdled milk to rage.
[break][break]

Still, he did not listen. Was this what he felt like?
[break][break]


So, she demanded it with tears in her eyes. “That pride is going to get you hurt. You need to stop.” Even without the paranoia, Aubre would have seen the trainwreck coming. And, yet, her husband was her equal in stubbornness. They just chose different moments to display it. Her when morality was on the line, and him when threatened with indignation.

[break][break]

Again, those warnings fell on deaf ears—ones that had almost been rendered deaf for good. As her husband’s feet left the floor, Aubre rushed toward the two nearest guards with a strangled gasp. “Leon!” One of them wrapped an arm around her chest as the other tugged on her chain like a dog’s leash. “No! He didn’t—” Thwamp! “Punish me instead!” She struggled.

[break][break]

Forgetting the mask, she went so far as to try biting one of the guards.
[break][break]


Up and down he went. Like a child’s ball. Thwap! Crunch! Squelch!. She could feel each snap as he hit the rockhard floor. Every one of those impacts reminded her of a memory that threatened to dribble away. Her daughter’s first strangled cry as Aubre turns to him for reassurance. All the pain and hurt as she finally pieced it together. The cool hand on scorched flesh as he tried to rouse her after the attack.

[break][break]

“Stop! Stop! I’ll—I’ll make you pay for this!” With a final CRACK, the guards release her. With a yelp of his name, she runs to his side. His eyes are blank—stuck staring at a dirty ceiling a million miles from home. “Leon!” She drops to her knees in a pile of crystals. “You—you idiot! Get up. You can’t just leave me here.” The pain is lost beneath her tears as the shards dig into her bare legs. She wraps her bleeding hands around his now limp one. “I’ll—I’ll marry Ezra if you don't!” She didn’t have any paddles, so she had to pray that would be enough.

[break][break]

Tears dripped onto his cracked visor. A few rolled under her mask to her mouth, the cleared vision ignored. In one of these, she spies Azelf.
[break][break]


Then, the chain rears back like a cobra, forcing the dutiful wife back. Suddenly, he gasps and arches his back. Relief runs through Aubre’s body as she goes in for a blood-covered kiss. One that ends with a frustratingly audible clink. “Let’s—let’s get you up.” Hurting more than ever, she tried to do the work for both of them. If he couldn’t swallow his pride, then she’d choke it down for him.
[break][break]


And that pain? All of that frustration? It’d roll down her cheeks onto her waiting tongue.

---

[break][break]



The mysterious Pokemon’s words serve as a beacon. They force her off her knees as she supports her idiotic husband through their work. The voice in her head grows as she reaches for it—like a drowning victim a life preserver. “Do you hear that?” They help keep her warm as she covers his broken form with a blanket.
[break][break]


Her chain grows over her shoulder like a cape. Its tattered strands spread until they hover around her ankles. The purple hue shifts to a deep, vibrant green—the color of springtime grass. A rush of cool air tells her the mask is free. It falls to the ground with a clatter. She wanted these monsters to understand their crimes. To truly understand what cruelty was: forcing a wife to watch her husband (though estranged) be broken on the floor, breaking people’s confidence, and enslaving them.
[break][break]

It was just like she saw in the mask: a world where people truly understood each other. One where she knew why Leon had almost thrown it all away. This vision just reminded her how divided the world was. It wasn't something Aubre could fix.

Ominously, the guard announces that the last day has arrived. Aubre hesitates for a moment as the chime signals the escape. It’s now or never.. With a deep breath, she grabs her husband’s arm and tries to pull him to his feet. We need to go! Move! Come on you idiot! The poison in her veins lends her extra strength, the willpower from their united patron steeling her limbs. "You think you can walk?"
[break][break]

Encouraged by Alethea Ivanova’s move, Aubre takes the opening to slide behind Munkidori. “Let’s see how you like this.” A tendril explodes from her cape to wrap around Leon’s hand as two more went toward their attackers. The first jab hits a Megalopan in the gunt as the other aims to draw a line across the simian’s chain. Into that connection, she pumps all of her husband’s pain and hurt.
[break][break]


She throws hers in too.


Guilt at failing him and being his burden. The worry of a mother deprived of her child. A feeling of frustration woven with despair as powerlessness threatened to crush them beneath its feet. The despair as she realized how heavy he was and how far the platform seemed.
[break][break]


Maybe they’d understand that.

NOTES

✦ Tells her husband he's playing with fire (an ironic cautionary statement coming from her)[break]✦ Serves as Leon's crutch throughout the weak. Works without complaint, her rage slowly growing. [break]✦ Encourages Leon to get up and supports him when the time arrives. [break]✦ Tries to give Munkidori and a few other guards a taste of their own medicine.[break]✦ Struggling to carry Leon as he has at least seventy pounds on her[break]
✦ Toxic Chain Ability - Taste Your Own Medicine: Aubre is able to make others feel the emotions or pain of others by touching two people in succession with her chain. Broken ribs? You can now feel what those feel like. Despair? Eat it up. The point of it is sharp, so she can also use it for offensive purposes. These tendrils hang from her back like a shredded cape and wrap around her head in a hood. It offers also offers limited defense abilities. Think Doctor Strange.

[attr="class","text"]

The doctor straightens with a poorly disguised noise of pain. She takes a minute to flex her fingers as she attempts to center herself again. In moments like that, her entire world fades to her job. She is surprised to find the sun as low as it is. Has she truly been at it that long? A squeak from her patient coaxed out a secretive little smile. The treat had helped distract the water-type from his nerves, and it’d go a way to rebuilding the blood he’d lost. And people think we’re so different.

[break][break]
“You did great.” Doctor McKenna is quick to echo. Her Jumpluff murmurs something a few seconds later, likely a translation of her trainer and Reese’s words. Content that her work is done for the moment, Aubre pauses to wash her hands. They come back smelling like Pecha cobbler. His questions are met with a gentle smile. “I believe it is I who should be thanking you.” There’s a brief pause as she wipes her hands dry on the provided paper towel. “A lot of people would have left him there.” And, unable to float and bleeding out, he’d have ended up easy prey for a Barraskewda or, worse yet, a poacher.
[break][break]

At his next question, the doctor is thoughtful. “With help from some of my healers, he should be out of here in five or six days.” They had to make sure he stayed still and didn’t overexert himself. “I’d say a little sooner, but waterways are full of bacteria. I wouldn’t want him to come right back.” That kind of injury coupled with an infection could lead to a tail removal if left alone too long.
[break][break]

She didn’t argue against the young man releasing him. The pair seemed to have built some sort of rapport. “I’ll need a way to contact you—” She paused. “When he’s ready, I mean.”

NOTES

✦ Aubre here to fight

[attr="class","text"]
Aubre is quick to agree. This man had the potential to change her life. The least she could do was save him a few syllables. “Of course!” Had she come off as too formal earlier? "I’m not really a stickler for things like that. I barely tolerate doctor.” She was still new enough that when people called her by title, green eyes would look for somebody else they were talking to. At his double names, there was a confused blink, but she did not press. It was probably a middle name or something.
[break][break]

Ironically, she preferred using titles with other people. It made her feel Still, a request was a request. “John it is.” Just because that was the one he said first. Hopefully, that meant it was the one he preferred. His next words made her want to protest. To tell him that she was not worried. But she was a terrible liar. “I hope my behavior didn’t offend you, John. It’s nothing personal.” Her husband had lied to her their entire marriage. It wasn’t surprising that the experience had tainted her curiosity with doubt. “I can’t trust myself to pick my clothes in the morning.” And, she’d tried a lot of quackery before now.

[break][break]
Alastor followed behind with a guarded expression.

[break][break]
Doug’s easy manner, however, soon soothed Aubre’s raised feathers. Her smile was soft. “I’m pretty sure walking counts.” A glance was thrown at a passing Wingull as it bobbed overhead. She nodded. After a few minutes of companionable silence, the redhead turned to face him. “I really appreciate you taking the time to see me. I know you probably have people lined up out the door.” She’d read up on him before coming, but that didn’t stop her from being doubtful. The stories made him sound like magic.
[break][break]
And what makes you deserve that?

[break][break]
Alastor raced to draw even with them, acting as a buffer between Aubre and the casanova beside her. A scarred hand moved to tuck a stray lock behind an ear. Her heart pounded in her chest as the hospital drew into view. She swallowed. A hand trembled. She tightened the free one into a fist in her pocket. [break][break]

Suddenly, she had the urge to run. Her breathing quickened as the sign became legible. Images of hellish hounds flashed as her feet slowed to a stop. "I'm sorry. I'm--I'm not sure I can do this." [break][break]

What if it didn't work?
What if it did?

It'd been ten years like this. Pain and sizzling a constant companion. The unsightly scars dictating what she could do, what she wore, and how she felt about herself. Her whole life had been built on that last night, a long, winding reminder of the worst thing she'd ever encountered. And now, with a potential cure in view, she balked. Her scars lit up like wildfire, as if their potential end drove them into a frenzy. [break][break]
"I'm such an idiot!" Tears threatened as she laughed, the sound bitter. That peek of madness slides into view as she lifts a hand to stop the hyperventilating laughter.

[break][break]

Alastor peered up at her and moved to take her hand. You got this, sis.

NOTES

✦ Let's see how her hope goes