So my wonderful friend JJ, aka 11JJ11, decided to write a broken MarissonShipping fanfic called "When We Say Goodbye," and she finally finished the last part. Of course, I cannot stand the fact that there is a hella huge cliffhanger at the end, as well as numerous unanswered questions. Not to mention that I'm a huge emotional wreckage because of how the story ended.
However! With JJ's generous permission, I have decided to write some of my interpretations of what happens after WWSG in my fan sequel, "Never Say Goodbye"! Please note that while I am writing this with my own ideas, JJ gets full credit for the story as a whole, since she came up with the initial plot and created her adorable Marisson child, Faith. And I'm going to be doing Mended MarissonShipping because Alain and Mairin deserve to be happy, gosh darn it!
Also, if a broken AU isn't your cup of tea, then don't you worry! JJ has plenty of other works that include happy and fluffy and super sweet MarissonShipping moments. I definitely recommend giving those a read for sure!
Hope you guys enjoy!
CHAPTER ONE.
"…I expect you to inform her as swiftly as possible. The quicker this goes through, the sooner you'll have no connections to them—meaning I can finally make full use of you."
The dark-haired man on the other side of the screen blinked. Stunned, no doubt, from the compromise they had just made. Even though it offered no benefit to him, other than his family would be unharmed.
At least, that's what Lysandre told him.
After a moment of silence, the man spoke up. "…It shall be done, sir," he said in a voice no louder than a whisper.
"Good. We'll talk again soon, Alain."
And with a single tap of his finger, he disconnected the call.
The moment the monitor went black, Lysandre let the façade he'd been putting on vanish. With a heavy groan, he pushed himself away slightly from the desk and rested his face in his hands. His head pounded with a dull headache, and tremors wracked his body. A series of coughs erupted from his lips, despite all his efforts to suppress it. The metallic taste of blood became all too familiar to him now.
"Bryony," Lysandre croaked. Without even a moment's hesitation, his former admin entered the small, dark office that he occupied.
"Yes, sir?"
"My medicine, if you will."
He caught the briefest glimpse of concern on Bryony's face, which was easier to do without her green visor. As quickly as the expression came, it disappeared, and Bryony exited the room with a curt nod towards her boss.
What's left of him, in any case.
A sudden, intense shudder wracked through Lysandre's body. He grimaced as pain surfaced to his chest, and found himself slipping from the chair and falling onto the carpet. He wheezed between coughs, blood spattering from his mouth. When it subsided, Lysandre forced himself to control his breathing. A bought of light-headedness caused him to lean over, but something preventing him from falling again.
"Oh, goodness. You have certainly seen better days, haven't you?"
He recognized that voice, despite it being years since he last heard it. He turned his head towards the woman that had caught him, and was met with orange eyes and perfectly-maintained pink hair.
"What are you doing here?" Lysandre did not bother hiding the contempt laced on his tongue.
The woman frowned disapprovingly, but said nothing as she assisted him back onto the chair. She then sat on the edge of the desk, which creaked under her weight.
"I heard that you cheated death," the woman remarked curtly.
Lysandre glared at her, his hands gripping tightly on the armrests of the chair. "I know that's not why you're here, Malva." He spat out her name like a bad taste in his mouth.
Malva raised an eyebrow curiously at him. She sighed, adjusting her glasses before crossing her legs. "Is that so?" she asked, not bothering to give him an explanation for her sudden appearance.
The former boss of Team Flare grimaced. "Do you really want to play this game, Malva? Because I am not in the m—" he was interrupted with another fit of coughing. Thankfully, it wasn't strong enough to send him over the edge again.
"Clearly, you seem unable to do much as it is," she said. She waited for Lysandre to stop coughing before continuing. "It's a wonder how you got that boy back under your control."
Lysandre stared her down.
"Although, he's hardly a boy anymore, is he? He married a wonderful woman, and even had an adorable little girl. But thanks to you, he's lost that and much more. You are certainly a cruel man, Lysandre."
"He's not difficult to manipulate," Lysandre responded. A thin film of perspiration began to form on his forehead. Where was Bryony?
Malva hummed in agreement. "I'll say. He truly believes you actually killed the Professor," she mused.
Lysandre's eyebrows furrowed. "Because I did kill him," he corrected her.
A mischievous smirk curled itself onto Malva's lips. "Ah. Then it must be a coincidence that dear Augustine is being held captive in the Kanto region… by Team Rocket."
Lysandre felt his skin grow cold. He could only stare at Malva, absolutely dumbfounded by what she just said. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
With a flick of her hair, Malva hopped from the desk, using her finger to trace its edge as she walked to the front of it. "I must say, you did a convincing enough job to fake his death. Even I was temporarily fooled," she complimented. She stopped walking and turned to face Lysandre. "Although, I knew that was the plan from the very beginning."
"How?"
"A reporter has her ways," she said slyly. Lysandre knew there was more to it than that, however.
"If you know so much… why don't you just tell Alain all of this?" Lysandre glowered.
"I'm not the one who forced him to cut all his ties with people, especially his own wife and daughter," she retorted. Lysandre flinched at her words, and she noticed. "And something tells me you aren't as thrilled to be dragging him into this."
Lysandre's eyes narrowed. "That is preposterous. Alain is merely a tool, nothing more."
Malva frowned and crossed her arms. "Easier to see him as a tool rather than your own son, isn't it?"
In one swift motion, Lysandre leapt from the chair and strode over to Malva. She took one step back, but nevertheless held her ground as he towered over her. His face contorted into a furious glare, and if looks could kill, she'd be dead several times over.
"You have no right…" he threatened. Lysandre expected her to continue, but she only stared at him. A knot began to form in his throat, and his fists were clenched.
He did not expect her gaze to soften. The look she gave him wasn't that of pity, either. "Perhaps I've crossed a line," she muttered, breaking away and glancing away from him.
"…He looks so much like her…" His voice was on the verge of breaking.
It was true, though. There was no doubt that Alain was his son… and that his mother was Alina. The first woman Lysandre fell in love with. He was practically a carbon copy of her. Lysandre brushed it off as his mind playing tricks on him when he first saw the boy. After all, Alina had left Lysandre before Alain had been born… but perhaps there was a chance she knew they were going to have a child, and left anyways.
It was because of Giovanni that Lysandre even found out, only to have that information be used as blackmail against him. As a means of paying off his debt to the boss of Team Rocket, who managed to save Lysandre's life after nearly succumbing to the power of the Megalith's energy. But it had left him weak and sick, and only Team Rocket could supply him with the medicine he needed in order to stay alive. Giovanni had the money and the power to put even someone like Lysandre in their place.
And as it stood now, Lysandre had no choice but to comply with his wishes. Which meant being stuck in this dreadful building complex in an abandoned section of town as his base of operations. It was far from the luxury he was used to at his laboratories… but there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
He was powerless. He'd never been powerless before. And he despised it.
"If finding this out has made you suddenly care for him… why are you dragging him into this?" Malva's question brought Lysandre back to his senses. He looked at her as she stood, waiting for an answer.
"Because I can make sure his family is safe… by separating him from them," he explained carefully. "Team Rocket would've taken Mairin and Faith away, like they did with the Professor. And I can't imagine that they would be merciful with them."
"Unfortunately, I can't disagree with you on that," Malva sighed. "Is this really alright with you, though? To keep up this charade of a villain, when you're not even in control anymore?"
Lysandre scoffed. "I tried to destroy the world for the sake of making it beautiful again. I can't change that, no matter what I do." A wave of nausea suddenly rushed over him, and Lysandre winced at the sensation. "It's better that I continue to be a villain. There's no hope for this world to ever become beautiful again, anyway."
The sound of the door opening caught both of their attention. Malva and Lysandre watched as Bryony carefully shut the door behind her and approached the desk.
"Your medicine, sir," Bryony simply stated, placing the bottle of pills next to the monitor.
"I suppose that must be my cue to leave," Malva remarked. She smiled at Bryony as she passed by, and made to open the door to leave.
"Malva."
Upon hearing her name, Malva stopped and glanced back. "Yes?"
"What are you planning to do now?" Lysandre inquired.
Malva let out a quiet laugh. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she answered. There was a pause, and then she continued. "There's no telling what Team Rocket has in store for us. I'm going to contact some… acquaintances. See if we can't figure out what Giovanni's planning."
"It won't be easy. The technology he's using, and providing us with, is far more advanced that anything I've ever seen. And he has grunts stationed almost everywhere… it'll be a challenge to sneak by him," he warned.
Malva smiled. "I told you before, haven't I? I have my ways."
And with that, she opened the door and slipped away, shutting it behind her as she left.
A heavy sigh escaped Lysandre's lips. With what little energy he had left, Lysandre ambled back towards the chair and pulled it up to the desk. He grabbed the medicine that Bryony had fetched for him and sat down, untwisting the cap and shaking out several pills from the container. In a single motion, Lysandre swallowed them, chasing it down with a glass of wine that had been left from earlier in the day.
"Sir… is it safe to be taking the medication with alcohol?" Bryony asked.
"The medicine doesn't treat the sickness, just the symptoms," Lysandre explained. He turned to face her. "Have you been able to locate the other former admins?"
Bryony tensed slightly. When she responded, she had trouble looking Lysandre in the eyes. "I… I was able to locate Mabel and contact her. She should be coming by within the week. Celosia and Aliana's locations are unknown. As for Xerosic… he's under strict federal monitorization."
"Giovanni probably has the means to fix that," Lysandre pondered.
"My apologies, sir. The grunts and I will continue to look for them."
Lysandre waived a hand dismissively at her. "I'm sure they'll be found soon," he reassured her.
"Sir… if Team Rocket finds them first…" Bryony began to say.
"They won't," Lysandre cut her off. "We'll find them, Bryony. They'll be safe under my command, I assure you."
Bryony said nothing, but worry was clearly etched on her visage. She mustered as best of a smile as she could, bowed in thanks, and quietly dismissed herself to continue her search. Lysandre was left by himself in the dismal office.
With a quick roll of his shoulders, Lysandre turned the monitor back on and pulled up some documents. He had custody papers to file, after all.
END OF CHAPTER ONE.