Chapter 1: Planning the Escape

Adam sighed deeply. He was busy scrolling through information on the internet. It had been just over six months since he and Cinder had declared their love for one another; and apparently word had gotten out. Adam did not deny any of it; because he did love Cinder and she loved him. There weren't any laws against human/Pokémon relations but that still didn't stop the harassers.

Adam's mother stood behind him which surprised him a little at first. His friends were also behind him. There were also a number of people in his situation who were with him in saying that there was nothing wrong. But that still didn't stop many from heckling him where ever he went.

He had to get away for a little. A lot had happened since word had gotten out. He had lost his job.

"I'm sorry, Adam." His manager said shaking her head. "I really am, but we just can't have all these customers hanging around harassing you and causing trouble."

He also moved out of his mom's house and got a place of his own so she wouldn't have to deal with the people either. He now stayed in a small two bedroom, one and a half bath apartment. It was a nice setup and had everything he and Cinder needed. It was two floors.

The ground floor consisted of the living room, kitchen, a small closet, and the half bathroom built-in under the stairs to go to the second floor. The second floor held the two bedrooms a small closet on the stair-landing and the full bathroom. They shared the main bedroom of course. Adam turned the second bedroom into a home office.

He got a new job writing short stories and selling them at conventions. The pay was somewhat decent and it was easy work since Adam loved to write. But now, things were starting to get out of hand. To be honest, Adam just wanted to get away from it for a while. And that was how he ended up with his internet search.

He was planning a trip for him and Cinder. A trip so they could get away from all the harassers and hecklers. A trip so they could spend quality time with one another and relax. Cinder did not know about the trip yet. Adam was hoping to keep it a secret until he had everything all together and was sure they would be able to go.

All he knew for sure was that he wanted to take Cinder to Alaska. Since he was a kid, he had wanted to go and with the fact that most of the towns had somewhat small populations; it made it the perfect place for a get-away trip. The main problem was the plane tickets. They cost a lot of money…more money than Adam could spend.

The second problem was finding a place to stay once they got there. IF he did manage to find a reasonable price for their tickets, would he have enough money for a place to stay as well as other expenses? He knew that the trip was going to be costly and that the chance of them actually being able to go was remarkably slim. But he knew that they needed this trip. He sighed again.

Just then, Cinder rapped a knuckle on the door and opened it. Adam quickly closed out of his internet browser leaving only his story up that he had been working on at the time. Cinder walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Is something wrong?" she asked. He sighed again.

"No," he replied. "I'm just having a bad case of writer's block." He groaned as he stretched in his chair. Cinder placed her paw on Adam's cheek and kissed him softly.

"You really need to take a break." She said. "You have been up here for most of the past four days. Take a break, relax. You're gonna end up running yourself into the ground."

"I don't have time to relax." He said standing up and walking across the room. "I just have too much on my mind…too much that I have to get done."
He turned and was almost instantly hugged by Cinder. Before he could respond; she kissed him again, this time more passionately. When they parted, she looked at him with big, almost puppy-dog eyes.

"Please, take a break…for me."

"That's not fair." Adam replied. "You know I can't refuse when you make that face." She smiled and gave him another quick kiss.

"I know; why do you think I did it?" she replied with a giggle.

"Fine." Adam said knowing that he couldn't win. "I guess I can take a break." He saved his story and closed his laptop. Together, they made their way downstairs to the living room. Adam sat on the couch and Cinder snuggled up next to him. He aimlessly flipped through the channels hoping to find something good on.

After a few minutes, he stopped on the Discovery channel. He had always loved channels like that. They always had something scientific or something about survival on it. Today, they were having a marathon of some show where these people put tall tales and other questions to the test. It usually involved a good bit of science and they blew something up on pretty much every show.

Adam turned the volume up a little before setting the remote down and sitting back. He wrapped an arm around Cinder and held her close as she lay against him. They watched the show for about two and a half hours. On a commercial, Adam looked down at Cinder. She wasn't paying attention to him, merely watching TV for the moment.

He couldn't help but think of how she might be feeling about all the negative and unwanted attention they had been getting recently. She had told him before that it didn't bother her because she didn't care what people were going to say, that she still loved him. He couldn't help but worry thought. He knew she was good with handling her emotions; hell, he was good about not letting thinks get to him but at times it felt like it was a bit much and getting out of hand. The fact that she was holding on so well for the sake of their relationship was amazing and left Adam astounded.

"She keeps such a strong face." Adam thought while he watched her. "Does she hide what she really feels to keep me for worrying too much about her?"

Adam suddenly became overwhelmed with emotions. He wrapped his arms around Cinder, and placing a hand on the side of her jaw, turned her face up towards his. He smiled sweetly before locking her in a tender kiss. As they kissed, Cinder pushed Adam until he was lying back. She then positioned herself on top of him, never breaking the kiss.

When they stopped, Adam smiled.

"I love you so much." He said gently.

"I love you, too." She replied before laying her head against his chest, his chin resting atop her head. She listened to the stead thumping of his heart. The sound of it reminded her how full of life he was. For some other reason, it comforted her. It helped her realize that no matter what she went through, Adam would be only a heartbeat away and he would be ready to help her. She smiled to herself before she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep. Adam was stuck there. He didn't want to wake Cinder by moving so he just lay there. Eventually, he too fell asleep.

Adam and Cinder were walking around down town. He looked at her and she looked back at him, both smiling. They were going to be leaving…hopefully to get away from all the bullshit. As they rounded a corner, they were met by a crowd of people with signs.

"You aren't wanted here." One guy said.

"You're a sick fucking bastard." Another said.

The crowd's rants grew more and more bold and hateful with each one that was said. Adam and Cinder ignored them as they tried to get past them. Without warning, there was a jerk at Adam's arm as someone grabbed Cinder and tried to pull her away. Adam snapped. He rushed forward and slammed his fist into the guys face sending him sprawling to the ground. The crowd rushed them.

Thinking fast, Adam drew the gun he had tucked away at his waist. Firing one shot into the air, he was able to get the crowd to stop. They all stepped back as he pointed his gun at them. Suddenly, another shot rang out. Adam turned to see the guy he had hit holding a gun. The guy pointed his gun at Adam.

A cry tore from Adam's lips as he ran forward. He knocked the man's gun aside and put his to the man's stomach. Before the man could realize what had happened; Adam fire two rounds. The guy fell back coughing and gasping. The crowd scattered, panicked screams and shouts following them.

"Adam…" he heard from behind him. Turning around he saw Cinder standing there. She looked down at her chest as her fur started to turn red. She looked but up at Adam before she started to fall. Adam rushed to catch her.

"No…No, no. Cinder?" he said panicked. He held her up with one arm while he placed his other hand tightly over the wound in her chest. With each labored breath, more blood slowly seeped through his fingers.

"Adam…" She breathed weakly.

"Cinder…I'm so sorry." He cried. "I got you into this mess. It's all my fault!"

"Nope…" she said shaking her head. "You couldn't have known…known this was g-going to h-h-happen." She coughed and wheezed lightly. A thin trail of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. There was a sudden noise behind Adam. The man he had shot had gotten to his feet. With gun in hand, he kicked Adam in the chest sending him backwards. Before Adam could get back up; the main moved above him and fired three times, all three hit Adam in the torso.

Adam collapsed and could only lie on the hard ground as a pool of blood began to form around him. His vision flickered and he began to grow cold. He looked at the guy that shot him. The man smiled and revealed he was wearing a bulletproof vest before he turned to Cinder. He bent over and looked at her before he straightened himself and aimed his gun, shooting her twice more.

"N…No…" Adam cried weakly as he tried to reach for her. The man sneered as he looked down at Adam before he pointed the gun in his face and fired. Then everything went black.

Adam woke suddenly. He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. On TV, a show about guns was on. Adam turned it off and then dropped the remote because he was shaking so badly. Cinder was not where to be seen. A sudden wave of nausea hit him and he got up and rushed to the bathroom under the stairs. He knelt at the toilet as his stomach heaved. He threw up twice which left him feeling weak. He felt cold and his body trembled. Cinder appeared by his side. She placed a paw on his back and rubbed it gently.

"Adam, are you alright?" she asked.

He tried to reply but before he could, his stomach lurched again and he threw up once more. He sagged and rested his head on his forearm that clung to the toilet seat. Cinder sat next to him and continued to rub his back. With her spare paw, she reached over and flushed the toilet.

After a few minutes, Adam managed to weakly tell her about his nightmare. She hugged him and held him close. They sat there for about an hour before Cinder got up and went to the kitchen. She had been currently working on dinner before Adam awoke.

Adam stumbled into the kitchen. He walked to the fridge. Opening it, he reached into the back and pulled out a can of beer. When he and Cinder first moved into the apartment, one of Adam's older friends had given him a twelve pack and a bottle of wine as a house-warming gift. Adam didn't drink much; Cinder didn't let him. Over the past six months, Adam had only drunk about four of the beers there. When Cinder saw him grab one, she rushed forward and pulled it from his hand and placed it back in the fridge before closing it. She stood between it and Adam, one paw against the fridge, the other holding him back.

"No, Adam." She said. "Drinking will only make you even more sick."

"But…" he started to protest.

"NO." She said in a commanding voice. "Just go lie down and rest. I will come get you when supper is ready."

He stood there staring her down before he finally gave in and walked away, to pissed off at her to respond. He made his way up stairs and into his office. He sat down in his chair and stared off into space. He cursed at himself for getting mad at Cinder. After all, she was only trying to help him.

He opened his laptop and decided to check his messages. A few of them were junk. He had a few from other friends just trying to hit him up and see what was what. Two were reviews people had left on his stories that he had post so others could read. The last message was from an old friend he hadn't seen or heard from in a while.

"Hey Adam…how have you been lately? I've been pretty much the same. I did get me an awesome job that pays very well. I haven't talked to you in a few years and just wanted to see if you had a Skype account and if you, see if you could call me up of something. We could video chat. Take care of yourself."

Adam decided to do just that. Looking on Skype, Adam saw that he was online. Adam sent a video call request to him. After a minute, a window popped up with a video image of his friend. Adam turned on his webcam so they could talk.

"Adam…long time no see." His friend replied.

"Jace, how the hell have you been?" he replied.

"Pretty good, what about you? You don't sound too well."

"Ahh, I just woke up from a bad dream. It's all good."

"Well, anyway…what's up?"

Adam filled him in on what had happened over the past few years. He told him about how he had to quit his last job and how he had to deal with all the shit people had given him lately. Like Adam's other friends, Jace was also supportive of his choice he made with Cinder.

"You know me, Adam. I don't judge. In my opinion, as long as you two are happy and not wronging one another; I don't see anything wrong."

"Thanks, man." Adam replied. "That makes me feel better."

Just then, Cinder entered the room.

"Adam, dinner is finished." She said.

"Alright. I will be down in a minute." He replied.

"So this is the lovely Typhlosion you fell for, huh Adam?" Jace said over the monitor.

"Yea, this is Cinder." He replied with a nod. "Cinder, this is an old friend of mine. Me and Jace go way back."

"Oh, hello Jace." She said.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." He replied. "So, are you looking after my boy Adam here? He really needs someone like you."

"I'm trying to." She replied. "It's hard to keep him out of trouble." Jace laughed.

"I know that. There was one time when I had to bail him out of jail because he—"

"Alright, that's enough for now." Adam said cutting him off. "I'll be down stairs in a minute, dear." He added looking at Cinder.

"Okay." She replied. "Just don't take too long." And with that, she left to go back downstairs. Adam sighed and turned back to the monitor.

"She seems nice." Jace said.

"You have no idea." Adam replied.

The two talked a little more. Adam found out more about Jace's job. He was a pilot.

"You're a pilot?" Adam asked.

"Yep." Jace replied with a nod. "I fly goods, cargo, even people up here in Alaska."

"That's cool…no pun intended." Adam replied with a chuckle.

"You know you intended it."

"Okay, maybe a little."

"You and your damn puns…" The two laughed. An idea suddenly came to Adam's mind.

"You said you fly to Alaska right?"

"Well, every once in a while, I have to do an outta state run, but normally it's just from town to town up here, why?"

Adam filled him in on his current situation and how he wanted to get away from everything with Cinder. He told him how he had planned a secret trip to Alaska for the both of them, but he just didn't have the money.

"Yea, I can help you out." Jace replied.

"You can." Adam replied surprised.

"Yea, man." Jace said with the wave of a hand. "Consider it repaying you for that time you saved my ass when we took that trip to the south."

"Damn, I had almost forgotten about that."

"I haven't."

"Well, thanks man. I really appreciate this."

"Don't mention it. So, when do you want me to fly down and get you?"

"How does, two weeks sound? That should give us time to get ready."

"Sounds good time me."

"Alright Jace…I can't thank you enough. We really need this get away trip."

"Yea, it sounds like it."

"Well, you take it easy and I guess I will see you in two weeks."

"Back at you."

The two ended their call. Adam closed his laptop and smiled. He and Cinder would be able to go on their trip now. Feeling better and with a spring in his step, Adam made his way downstairs to enjoy the rest of the evening with Cinder.

Next Chapter: Preparations