Ross tapped his co-worker on the shoulder to get her attention. She closed the door to the enclosure and turned to look at him. "Yeah, Ross? What do you need?"

"Rook still won't eat. Could you go and feed them? I'll take over with these guys."

Rebecca sighed and shook her head. "Of course. The rest of the food is already portioned, so you just need to match the tags, alright? And remember to put in the toys, too!"

Ross shook his head and waved her off casually.

"Oh!" She turned again once she was already halfway out the door. "And JJ's check-up is today! So, they need to be taken to the clinic as soon as you're done."

Ross nodded his confirmation and she left, and then he got to work.

It was still strange to him, to be in that environment, placing food bowls and replacing substrate and adding and moving enrichment toys for the pokémon in their care. It felt weird to be a caretaker. He'd never thought of himself as one.

Most of the pokémon with them had long-term health problems that required special care, though since Ross had begun working there they'd had an influx of fusions. They were far from the only place that received the fusions that Lailah Keaton created, but most of the ones with any chance of survival were sent there.

The large majority of the fusions, after so long, were either dead or were soon to be as they wouldn't or couldn't eat – and that's not even counting the myriad other problems each one faced individually. Some in their care were like Vexie, the fusion of sableye and vaporeon that Ross had, for a time, kept in his own personal care after he encountered it in the basement of the Agreste vacation home (He had since left Vexie in the care of his employer, as he wasn't able to provide it with the proper conditions for it to thrive, notably extreme darkness. It was now in a special enclosure designed for it, and Ross was happy to leave it where it would be taken care of.). Those fusions had their minds addled by the process and were extremely simple. Vexie, for instance, had little in the way of memory, couldn't speak (even to Ross, who understood pokémon), and had exceptionally poor problem-solving skills (something they tested when they were trying to figure out what the fusion had done to it). Those pokémon were incapable of taking care of themselves, but were otherwise healthy enough physically to survive, given care.

Others were like JJ or Rook, both fusions that Ross had encountered before Lailah had fused him into what he was now. JJ was a fusion of an archeops and sceptile, which Joshua, one of the people Ross was fused from, had encountered in the depths of the Hideaway Massage Parlor, one of the places Lailah had been conducting her experiments, though without the Hideaway's knowledge. JJ was friendly enough, despite their rough first encounter. In fact, Ross would venture to say that JJ was too friendly, though with them being a fusion of two Hideaway hosts, he wasn't too surprised. JJ was a good sport about the whole situation, and a nice conversationalist to boot. They were just like Ross, in that they had full mental faculties, as well as a healthy body.

Rook, a marowak and mightyena fusion, was the same in that it was fully functioning and capable of supporting itself – could probably be released and do fine – but the exact opposite in personality. At least to Ross. To Rebecca, Rook was a total sweetheart. Ross wasn't sure if it was him being the problem in that relationship (he still remembered the moment when Rook threw Rocco into the fusion machine, from two perspectives, no less), or if Rook just didn't like him because of his relationship to Lailah Keaton (Lailah was Joshua's, one of his foundations, mother. Ross also couldn't say if it was because of what Lailah did to Rook personally, or whether it was because Ross was partially responsible for Lailah's arrest – he still couldn't quite glean Rook's loyalties in that old feud.). Either way, Rook didn't like Ross much, and Ross couldn't say he didn't reciprocate. Still, he tried his best because Rook was still a person and because it was his job to take care of them. Alas, Rook was stubborn, and absolutely refused to deal with Ross. That was the only problem, really, in their center. The rest of the pokémon there adored him – if they were capable of recognizing him.

Ross reached JJ's enclosure, and found the fusion watching him from atop a high, suspended branch. Their large, leafy tail hung down, looking like nothing more than a hanging plant, but their gleaming eyes caught Ross' and Ross had to brace himself for JJ dive-bombing him.

He laughed, once JJ had shifted from atop his head enough to get their tail out of his face. JJ's claws dug into his shoulder, and one scratched accidentally at his back, but thankfully JJ managed to find purchase atop him before aggravating any of Ross' old wounds. They were a little too big to really fit on Ross' shoulders, with them being nearly five feet tall, but they managed it, at least until Ross moved and they clambered back onto the hanging ropes and branches.

"Ready for your checkup?" He asked verbally, not needing to sign with a pokémon (and in fact, JJ wouldn't have a clue what he was saying if he did sign rather than speak).

"Soon as I have lunch, I will be." JJ teased, swatting gently at one of the large ears atop Ross' head.

"Decided what you'll do if you're cleared? You're always welcome to stay and help out here."

"Naw." JJ said. "I'll probably go back to the Hideaway. You can call Lucas, right? He'll take me, right?"

"Of course, he will. If that's what you want."

"Fusion or no, I'm not past my prime yet. I can still work."

Ross laughed. "Never said you couldn't." He left JJ's food on a little perch and left the enclosure to get some for another pokémon. JJ took the bowl a little awkwardly in their claws and followed him right out of the enclosure – which, while technically not supposed to be allowed, was fine with most pokémon, as they knew not to bother others or mess with any equipment or get underfoot when the humans had to make their rounds. With some, they didn't even bother locking the doors to the enclosures. "Just saying, you really want to go to what your foundations were doing? Nothing new?"

"Maybe eventually, but the Hideaway is good enough for me. They treat me well, just as well as you do, and I'm thinking the fusion thing will be a little less weird there."

Ross bit his lip and hummed. "Maybe." He admitted as he opened the next enclosure and gave their little Joltik his food. "You might be kind of fetishized. Far as I know, you'd be the only one going there."

"Yeah." JJ admitted. "But I already know what that's like. Jay was the same. You almost never see archeops, so he was a hot commodity. I'll just have an expanded fanbase since I'm more than willing to serve the men."

"A vastly expanded fanbase." Ross chuckled.

"And anyway, the Hideaway is a much smaller community. People will get used to me and I might be able to go around without the kind of stares you get."

"People will definitely be staring either way."

JJ laughed. "True, but they'll be staring the way I want them to."

"Ha! That's fair."

"Today's the last one, right? I can go back after this?"

"Yeah. Thanks for coming in the first place, by the way. I know you didn't really need to."

"Eh, Lucas asked me."

Ross smiled. "Still. We're making a lot of progress understanding us fusions, so thanks."

"Thank yourself! You get poked and prodded much more than I do."

He snickered. "But I poke and prod myself. Mostly. I'm at least not manhandled like you are."

"I like being manhandled."

Ross couldn't resist laughing at that.

"Speaking of." JJ continued. "How's it going with Adrien?"

"Still going quite well, thanks."

"Aw, so no chance of a special goodbye?"

Ross rolled his eyes. "Sorry, buddy."

JJ giggled. "That's a shame. Still, I'm happy for you. I hope you don't break up, of course, but if you two decide together to have some fun, you know where I'll be. Won't even charge you."

"Wow." Ross said with the best deadpan he could muster. "Thanks."

"If Lucas is that much of a stickler about it I'd be happy to compromise and service you in the common room."

Ross actually chuckled. "You would never live that down, you know. The other guests would get jealous."

"Let them be. I actually am serious, though. You're really attractive, and it's the least I could do with everything you've done. If ever you're up for it, I am."

Ross took a moment to look at JJ seriously. "Thanks, JJ. I do appreciate the sentiment, though I still can't take you up on that."

"If you're sure. Standing offer, though."

"I'm sure." He chuckled. "And I'm almost done here. Ready for a quick trip by pokéball?"

"Yes, sir!" JJ didn't even wait for Ross to finish. He was still closing up the latch on the last enclosure when JJ found their own pokéball and returned inside it.

Ross shook his head and pocketed the pokéball. On his way to the door, he found Rebecca at the front desk, going through some emails. He rung the little bell on the counter to get her attention and signed to her. "I'm taking JJ now. Be back soon."

"Be careful." Rebecca said.

Ross turned and walked out the door.

As Ross actually worked for an educational outreach program – Pokémon Haven Lumiose (affectionately shortened to "Haven"), not a Pokémon Center (Ross was technically a high school dropout. He did not have nearly the education to be a pokémon doctor.), their facility was mostly just a care center. When they have a sick pokémon or any other medical problem, they still had to either bring the pokémon out, or the doctor in. Still, with Lucas sending him all the fusions, their little Haven was a pretty big hub for anyone interested in them. They had scientists of all fields regularly calling to investigate and they cooperated with those individuals to make sure they provided the fusions with the best care they could.

In fact, Ross himself was examining the fusions, and was primarily trying to comb through DNA sequences of a bunch of the fusions to see if there was any specific pattern to how they were combined or altered (His hypothesis was that they underwent a similar recombination event as what happens during reproduction, but he hadn't come to any conclusive evidence yet). It involved a lot of learning genetics on the fly, but Ross had connections to the best geneticists in Kalos and he was regularly consulting with them, so he liked to think he made it pretty far. It wasn't like he had no foundation, anyway. Lailah was at least good for that.

Ross never imagined himself becoming a scientist, if he was honest. When he applied to Haven he didn't really think much about it, he just assumed that his ability to talk to pokémon made sense to be applied in that context. And yet, aside from when Adrien complimented him, being told he was a promising scientist by renowned experts in their fields was just about the most uplifting and encouraging thing Ross had ever heard. On quieter days, when he had more time to think, it unnerved him. It was pretty much exactly what Lailah had planned for him, in a lot of ways. She was insane, but she was right. Ross was famous, at least to an extent. He did end up diving into her world.

So, needless to say, Ross had been busy. While he was focusing in genetics, he was pretty actively involved in all sorts of fields. He talked regularly to quite a few physiologists, dieticians, ecologists, and even one person who was interested in fusion from an agricultural biotechnology background. Even beyond his close proximity to the fusions, with Lailah being insane and locked away, and, he supposed, him being one, he was regarded as somewhat of an expert on fusion itself (and, after discovering this, Ross went through Lailah's journals and the rest of her research much more thoroughly and actually ended up figuring out the answers to a lot of the questions he was asked about the subject), so he had even more people talking to him about that.

Quite frankly, he doubted he'd be able to handle school on top of it all. Not that he wasn't always learning as it was. He'd only been working for a short while, really just the end of summer, but he was already in a completely different place in life than he'd ever imagined being. I always kind of figured I'd still be in school. I am, sometimes, but I'm a teacher instead of a student. And that's so weird to think about.

He walked into the Pokémon Center and waved to the man at the counter in greeting. He was recognized, of course (the distinctly pokémon ears and tail were a giveaway even if he didn't regularly stop by that particular center) and was ushered to the appropriate room where he met the physician and released JJ and stood back to observe the physician do her job. Normally, he'd be more hands on to help communicate and tell the physician or help them handle the pokémon when necessary, but JJ was smart and easy-going and they'd all worked together before, so he didn't need to step in.

When JJ was given the all clear, Ross smiled at him. "So, back to Shalour for you?" He asked.

"Yes, sir." JJ chirped. "Whenever that can be arranged."

"I'll call Lucas." Ross pursed his lips for a moment. "Hey, you wouldn't mind the occasional vacation to help us out, would you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I was just thinking, you're one of the most agreeable fusions I know. If you could help out with a presentation or two sometime that would be really appreciated."

JJ tilted their head for a moment, then said, "Sure. I won't promise, but if the schedule works out, I'd love to help. Call Lucas if you need me."

"I will. Don't worry, we'll make do with the ones in our care, but if there's a really stressful situation, you're the only one I'd trust."

"Wow, thanks. I'm really looking forward to that call now."

Ross laughed. "I'm joking. Mostly. Riall and Hamlet will work with me, but Rook…" He shrugged. "It's just a hypothetical. Probably won't need you, though if you ever do just want to take a vacation, we do presentations all around Kalos so it's an excuse to travel."

"I'll keep that in mind! Thanks, Ross."

"Thank you. It's been a pleasure. I'm going to miss you when you're gone."

"You could always come visit."

"Haha, you know I can't. I'm busy as is, and I definitely can't do that how you mean it. But if I'm ever in Shalour, I will be sure to drop by, alright?"

"Good. Let's get back!"

Ross laughed and thanked the physician once more and returned JJ to their pokéball and walked back out the door. He found a table and Lucas' contact in his phone and pressed the call button.

"Hey." The familiar voice said through the phone. "What's up?"

Ross settled his phone on the table, so that Lucas could see him through the camera. Lucas still wasn't exactly proficient with sign language, since he'd only been learning a short time, but Ross believed they could still do business just fine. "We've finished with JJ."

"Really?" Lucas sat up a little straighter. "That's great! Get everything you need?"

Ross nodded. "And JJ wants to go back to you, if you'll have him." He glanced around. No one was watching him, but he was still careful not to mention to Hideaway explicitly just in case.

"They…" Lucas pursed his lips. "They want to come back to work?"

Another nod, this time accompanied by a smile. "Very much." He signed. "So, we'll need to arrange some way to get them back to Shalour."

"Transport? I can arrange that. Can you hold onto them until then?"

"Naturally."

"Great. When can we come collect him?"

"Anytime. I need to file some paperwork, but then they'll be in my personal care until you get here. So, all you need to do is pick them up."

"Convenient. Anything I should be aware of?"

Ross shook his head. "I'll send you their diet and some specialized care instructions, but it's not really anything super special in their case. You should be fine."

Lucas but his lip idly and furrowed his brow, and Ross had to repeat himself before Lucas actually understood, but then Lucas was grinning and nodding. "Yeah, of course. Thanks for calling, I'll have someone head over for them right away." Ross nodded and moved to reach for the phone and end the call. "And Ross?" He paused. "How are things over there? Everyone doing alright?"

Ross smiled but shook his head. "Everyone's fine. I'm sorry, but I'm at work right now. If you want to catch up, we'll have to talk later."

"Oh, okay. I won't keep you, then." Ross picked up the phone. Lucas' earnest smile stopped him from hanging up. "Do call sometime, though, when you can. Karen would love to hear from you, too."

Ross hesitated, nodded, and hung up. He's getting a lot better at reading my signs. Then, I do talk to him fairly often. Not often enough, apparently, though granted it's mostly work stuff. I guess I kind of forget to really talk to him since I see him so often with work.

Oh well. Now that JJ is going, I won't have that excuse. Don't need to update him anymore, so maybe I'll remember to make a casual call sometime. Still, it hasn't been that long since we were over there. He's just being fussy.

Ross left the Pokémon Center completely and headed back to Haven. Always on top of her work, Rebecca hardly looked up when he entered, and she snatched a few sheets of paper off the desk and held them out to him. Everything needed to officially release JJ from Haven. I'll go let JJ out, then get all this sorted. He decided. Then I need to go switch up the enrichment in Vexie's enclosure. It'd probably enjoy that stone hide we got the other day.

With his mind occupied on his job, he worked dutifully until the end of the day. Tired, but content, brain swimming in knowledge, Ross walked the streets of Lumiose proudly all the way back to his apartment.

When he turned the key and stepped inside, he looked around and quickly located his roommates. He leaned over the back of the sofa as he passed to kiss the top of Adrien's head and giggled at the bright smile he got in return. "Hey!" Adrien greeted. "How was work?"

Ross stepped further into the apartment to drop his keys in the bowl on the island in the kitchen. Since it was all open, he just had to look up to make sure Adrien was watching. From her bedroom, Juleka stepped out, yawning, and greeted him as well. "Work was fun." Ross signed. "JJ is ready to go back to Shalour, so that's nice."

"Oh, Lucas will be happy."

"He is." Ross grinned. "How was school?"

Adrien groaned.

"It was fine." Juleka said with a pointed look at Adrien. "He's just upset because he didn't do well on his algebra test."

Ross crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow at Adrien. "What?" Adrien said. "I'm still catching up with all this remedial stuff! You can't expect me to ace the thing."

Juleka shrugged. "It is true." She said to Ross in particular. "All of us are a little behind."

Ross pursed his lips. "Do we need to have a study session?"

Adrien laughed. "And how would you help us, Mr. Scientist?"

"The best way to learn is to teach." Ross signed. "And if I can figure out three-point mapping, I'm petty sure I can handle some algebra."

"I don't know what that means, but you're more than welcome to join us if you're off when we study after school tomorrow."

"Ah, so you're already planning a session."

Juleka nodded. "Mhmm. Marinette's been arranging it all day."

"Good." Ross chuckled when Adrien groaned a little. They both knew Adrien was just being dramatic – he was perfectly happy to have study sessions all the time if it meant spending time with everyone. "Let me know how it goes."

Adrien spun fully and rested his head on the back of the sofa. "You're not going to make it?" He asked.

"Probably not." Ross signed, smiling apologetically. "Though, I will be at the school."

"You will?"

He nodded. "I told you, remember? We wanted Professor Mendeleiev to look at Vexie."

"Oh, right! Mega evolution." Oh, shit. I thought Vexie wasn't exactly the best candidate, but I can't believe I only just remembered that JJ is in the same situation. "What's that look for?"

Ross shook his head. "Just thinking. It's not important." He signed. If mega evolution were possible with the fusions, JJ would be much more likely to pull it off. Not that we'd attempt it at this point either way, but as you need a bond with the pokémon and Vexie can't remember individuals, it'd be impossible just by that.

Adrien stared at him with a lopsided grin, and Juleka smirked at Adrien. Ross came out of his thoughts and paused at the look he received. "What?" He signed.

"I love your brain." Adrien said. "I can practically see those wheels turning."

Juleka had to interject with, "I love how sappy you are."

Ross flushed a little but just shook his head and smiled. "You're cute." He signed. Then he turned back to the kitchen proper and opened the fridge, looking for food.

"Ahp!" Juleka exclaimed, hurrying to him. "Nope! Not yet, Ross!" She tapped him gently first – a habit they had gotten into since all of them (especially him) could be a little jumpy – and then grabbed him and dragged him away from the refrigerator. "I'm making dinner tonight, and I'm not going to have you gorge yourself on snacks and not eat any of it."

He didn't really say anything in response, defaulting to puppy eyes and a high-pitched whine in the back of his throat.

"No." Juleka said firmly. "Go cuddle with your boyfriend. I'll have dinner ready in an hour."

With a last whine, Ross obeyed and hopped over the back of the sofa to sit next to Adrien. "Did I miss when we planned this?" He signed.

Adrien chuckled and reached out for him, pulling him close and falling over so that Ross was laying on top of him. Mew, I love your laugh. "Probably. You were all focused on one of Lailah's journals. Rose is coming over tonight, so Juleka wanted to make something."

Ross looked up at Adrien and wriggled to free his arms so he could ask, "Date night? Should we get out of here?"

"Haha, no." Ross smiled when Adrien kissed his head. "It's a double date, silly."

Ross laid on Adrien's chest, looking up at him. "I had a date tonight and I didn't even know?" He lifted himself up a little, once his hands were free.

But Adrien wrapped his own arms around Ross' neck and grinned impishly. "Apparently." He stopped Ross from ducking down and nuzzling into him by putting his hands on Ross' shoulders. Ross furrowed his brow and tilted his head when he saw Adrien's countenance harden into something serious. "And since you apparently missed the planning, I do want to warn you. We did plan on talking about some stuff." I'd hope so. Adrien paused for a while. "I mean, about the past year."

Ross pursed his lips and tilted his head. Still supporting himself on his hands, he couldn't sign, but he thought it was clear enough what he wanted to ask. "Why?"

Adrien smiled again. "It's just checking up on each other. It's only been, what, a month and a half? Two months? Since we got back. We haven't really talked about it since then, especially with everyone being busy with school and work in the past couple weeks, so we thought we'd start arranging little dates like this. That was the idea, anyway. You okay with that?"

Ross looked into the depth of Adrien's eyes and nodded.

"Good." Adrien smiled brilliantly and pulled Ross down to hug him close.

Rose arrived about thirty minutes later, and Ross left her and Adrien to chat while he helped out Juleka in the kitchen. Twenty minutes later, Ross was setting the table while Juleka called their significant others to attention.

When they were all settled, Rose clapped her hands together. "I feel like I haven't seen you guys in forever!"

Adrien snickered. "We saw each other in class this morning, Rose."

"But Ross wasn't there!" She protested. It has been a while since I've really hung out with everyone. It's basically been work, study, and sleep for me since the funeral.

He chuckled and signed. "Last we saw each other was Adrien's birthday, right?"

"Yes!" Rose said.

"Last week." Juleka said.

"Oh," Rose pouted. "That doesn't count! Everyone was there! We didn't get to talk at all!"

Juleka chuckled easily. "That's not because everyone was there. That's because certain people kept hogging each other." She sent Ross and Adrien a meaningful look.

Adrien blushed but Ross just returned it in equal measure. "Yeah, Juleka." Ross countered. "Always hogging Rose's time."

She snorted and tilted her head, a small sign of respect for his retort. "Alright." She said. "You win that one. I can't really argue it." He stuck out his tongue playfully, and she returned the gesture with enthusiasm.

Adrien shook his head. "Your game of witticisms aside." Ross and Juleka shared a mutual look. Like it's ever on pause. "How have you been, Rose?"

She chuckled airily. "I've been doing great! Well, I've been a little stressed, but overall I've been wonderful!"

Ross tilted his head. "Stressed?" He signed.

"Oh, it's nothing." Rose said, still smiling. "Just Espurr."

"What's been going on with her?"

"I can't figure out why, but more and more she just sends stuff flying! My room is a mess, and she scares the daylights out of me sometimes when she knocks over something unexpectedly."

Ross nodded along with her explanation. "I could take a look at her." He offered. "That sounds like what happened before Meowstic evolved."

"Really? You think she might evolve soon?"

"Yeah. Assuming she's healthy – and I'm sure she is. You take her for check-ups regularly, right?"

Rose nodded. "The doctor told me there's nothing wrong with her."

"So, probably. How long did you say this has been happening?"

"Almost two weeks now. It's made studying for school so hard."

Ross hummed in thought. "If I remember right from when Meowstic did that, she'll probably evolve in the next week or so. Once she does, you won't need to worry about the outbursts anymore." He smiled. "So, hang in there."

"Oh, thank you, Ross! That's such a relief! The doctor mentioned evolution, too, but I was worried because it only seemed to be getting worse and nothing happened yet!"

"It gets worse before the evolution. Whole house was a wreck when Meowstic evolved. You might want to make sure your folks are prepared for that, by the way."

"I will!"

Adrien grinned. "Ah…" He sighed. "My boyfriend is a genius."

"Your boyfriend," Ross signed, "has seen several espurr evolve. It's nothing special."

"Though he's also a genius, too." Juleka said playfully.

"You say," Ross signed, "to the high school dropout."

"Who talks to distinguished scientists on a regular basis?"

Ross laughed. "Stay in school, kids."

Juleka just shook her head. "Anyway." She said, changing the subject. "Adrien. We live together, and go to school together, and I still feel like I have no clue what you've been up to these past couple weeks. You still doing alright?"

Adrien rubbed his neck awkwardly, "Ah, well, I guess now's as good a time as any."

"Oh?"

"I'm actually planning a little something." The corner of his lips quirked upward conspiratorially. "And you have no idea how hard it was to not tell you."

Juleka's expression was careful and stoic as she examined him. "What is it?"

"I'm actually ready to post another Chat Noir performance video."

"What?!" Rose shrieked, giggling through her own exclamation. "Why didn't you tell us!"

Juleka smiled and shook her head. "Oh. I thought it was a secret."

"Ouch, Jules. I tried so hard! How did you know?"

"I know you, dummy. You always have that particular look when you dance. I wasn't totally sure you were actually putting together a performance, but I knew you were dancing again."

Ross smiled to himself and nodded. It was back in the middle of August when Adrien first asked him to head to the PR studio with him. "Wait, Ross!" Rose exclaimed. "You knew, too?"

Ross just bit his lip and smiled. He gave Juleka a meaningful glance before answering Rose. "I finally got my dance."

"Aw!" Rose squealed. "Is this one for you? That's adorable!"

"No, Rose." He signed, laughing in the meanwhile. "The performance isn't for me – that's for something more special." His shared look with Adrien told him that while Adrien accepted his assessment, he didn't necessarily agree with it. "I meant I finally got to dance with Adrien. Just for practice."

Juleka smiled. "I bet you've been hoping for that for a while."

"Ever since I stepped foot in this world."

"So, what, like six months ago?"

"Technically. I can't complain about before that since even though he didn't dance with Josh," Ross gave Adrien a pointed look, and Adrien looked away, seeming a little embarrassed at that, "Rocco had had more than enough time with that."

"No such thing." Juleka retorted. "You can always do with more dances with Adrien."

Adrien blushed, and Ross laughed. "You win there." He signed. "I can't dispute that."

"But," Rose said, "what is the performance for, then? What's more special than love?"

That innocent question had somewhat of a sobering effect on the party. Ross was in much the same boat as Juleka as far as that was concerned, though he did know that Adrien had brought in "someone special" to help him with the performance. Ross hadn't bothered extensive theorizing on what the performance might be for, but when he saw Adrien take a deep breath and get that far-off look in his eyes, he quickly landed on a pretty reasonable guess.

Adrien fiddled for a moment with a napkin before saying. "Do you know what day it is?"

Rose furrowed her brow. "Wednesday?"

"Aha, well, what day Saturday is, I guess."

"Saturday?" Rose echoed. "That's… the eighth? What about it?"

Juleka grabbed Rose's hand and met her eyes. "It's the day Aggron tore up the school." She said. "The first sign of the mega attacks."

"Oh! Oh…"

Adrien chuckled weakly. "Honestly, I still haven't decided if I should upload Saturday, or on Sunday – the anniversary of the real first mega. And, you know, the anniversary of Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Juleka looked at him suspiciously, quieting Rose's excitement with her own even-toned response. "Saturday." She said simply.

"Oh?" Adrien said. "Why Saturday?"

"Knowing you," She answered, "your performance is going to glorify Ladybug. The eighth was when she became Ladybug. That's what's important, not the megas."

Adrien nodded, then smiled. "You're right. And you haven't even seen it!"

"Don't need to. But how did that go?"

"Well…" Adrien sighed heavily. "It was a lot. I started thinking back to those days and… I don't even recognize myself, you know?"

Everyone at the table nodded, though Juleka did snicker quietly when she caught Ross seriously nodding along. Talk about not recognizing yourself, right? He thought teasingly. He didn't really understand what Adrien meant. Not the way Juleka did. Maybe not even how Rose did. He didn't have anything that far back that he could really call him to compare himself to. But he understood at least enough to respect and imagine Adrien's plight.

"Anyway, it wasn't anything all emotional like the showcase, so it wasn't too bad. It's just… celebrating what we had, and especially giving Marinette some of the praise she deserves." Another pause. "Though… I think I do need to dance out the last six months." He laughed weakly, looking around at the others. "Maybe I'll do that soon."

"Start with talking about it." Juleka said. "That's part of why we're here."

Adrien smiled. "Yeah. Could, um, could someone else go first, though?"

Rose raised her hand. "I will. I didn't go through half of what you all did, so I may as well start." She picked at her food for a moment and squirmed in her seat. "I still feel a little selfish, because even after Aggron attacked the school, I didn't think twice about everything going on until…" She gave Ross a nervous glance. "Until Manectric. Even though I knew Juleka was friends with Chat Noir." She smiled at Adrien. "I guess I always thought of you as kind of untouchable, so I didn't worry. But…"

"Manectric." Ross signed silently.

Rose nodded. "When I saw her take down Ladybug, I realized you guys were just people like we are."

Adrien focused his gaze on his plate. "That must have been scary."

"Very." Rose said. "But it was also kind of inspiring. If that hadn't changed in that moment, I wouldn't have believed I could have done anything, and Marinette might not…"

Manectric would have killed her. She definitely would have. She told me.

Rose coughed and shook her head. "A-anyway. That's all old news, right? I'm just glad you all are back. It was worse, not being able to do anything." Juleka took her hand. "Like, it was super scary when we all fought the megas. But even though I didn't battle, I could at least help. And I knew I could help, and that was special. But when all of you were off in Shalour or Geosenge, I couldn't do anything." She sniffed. "I just felt so helpless."

"You helped me." Juleka mumbled. Ross saw their joined hands tighten together.

"I was actually a little relieved when megas appeared here in Lumiose." Rose grinned, though Ross could see it took effort for her to maintain. "When you fought Gabriel. Because they were something I could do something about. And I did! I fought! And it was scary, but… I felt like I had some sort of control. And that was better."

They were all quiet for a moment. "And…" Adrien said. "Two months later?"

"I'm still just happy everyone is home."

Ross saw how Juleka and Adrien both averted their gazes. Not everyone. Not quite. We lost more people than we'd care to count, depending on how we count them. There's me. Rocco and Josh are gone. Riall. Allie is gone. Emilie might count, too. We had a funeral and everything. Lailah, maybe. Gabriel, probably. Who're they thinking of?

Rose herself seemed to notice the effect of her words and cringed. "Well." She amended. "Everyone who made it. You two." She squeezed Juleka's hand and reached out for Adrien's as well. Then, she shifted her gaze up to Ross. "And you. I didn't get to know Josh or Rocco very well, but I'm glad I get to know you." She bit her lip. "I'm doing my best to stay optimistic. It's getting easier. I still have to stop myself sometimes from imagining the craziest scenarios any time we're not together." Her focus shifted back to primarily Juleka. "And I have to stop myself from running out to go find you."

Everyone was quiet. "I'm sorry." Adrien eventually said. "I wish we could help."

"You do!" Rose exclaimed. "Every time I see you all safe, I'm a little better. That's all I want – for everyone to be safe and happy."

"Well," Adrien said, "you've been the cause of more than a little happiness." He smiled and winked. "You're always spreading cheer."

Rose nodded and sighed. "Yeah. I try to do what I can. Because I can." She took a deep breath. "Because… Because when I can't do anything is when it's hardest." She stared down Juleka. "Because staying up all night, listening to your girlfriend sobbing and not even being able to wipe away her tears is…" Rose choked up and couldn't finish her sentence. "S-so, if I see a chance to make you smile, I have to take it."

"And you do." Juleka said softly. "And I'm sorry. But you know that just being there, listening, was enough, right?"

Rose shook her head. "It wasn't enough. It was just all I could do. Don't apologize, Juleka. I'm just sorry I couldn't do more."

No one spoke for a tense couple minutes. I thought she started because she was the least fucked up. No one was sure what to say. No one was sure what they could do.

Eventually, Rose cleared her throat and collected herself. "So, um, who's next?"

Neither Juleka or Adrien were chomping at the bit – understandably – so Ross raised his hand and prepared himself for a bit of a workout.

First, he smiled at Rose and thanked her for sharing. That was something he could do. Next, he assessed his company. He wasn't the type to spill his pain for everyone to see, but with Adrien, he'd answer anything, no hesitation. With Juleka… he was getting there. Juleka was something different entirely, but he knew for certain he trusted her. That was something earned through the short months they'd lived together. She walked that line between respecting his boundaries and pushing him enough to let her in like a master and her gentle voice and calm demeanor and, Ross had to admit, the story of her flipping shit on Lailah and Gabriel, endeared him to her like few others.

Rose, he was not so trusting with, but he knew her well enough that, since the situation demanded it, and she was a confidant of the two other people he did absolutely trust with the deepest parts of himself, he was willing to share.

"Ever since we got back," Ross started, knowing perfectly well he was skipping over everything that happened while they were gone from Lumiose – or, for him, before he got to Lumiose, "I've been thinking about what Rocco and Josh mean to me. I think I described it wrong, back when I first talked about it with you two." He looked from Adrien and Juleka. "I said that I'm them, but they aren't me, but really I don't think I'm them, either. I'm still trying to find out who 'Ross' is. And now…" He paused, thinking.

None of the others interrupted him, so he continued. "And now, I'm studying fusions. Studying myself. Like that'll help me figure out who I am." He closed his eyes and sighed, signing from behind the cover of his eyelids. "Sometimes I catch myself thinking that Lailah would be proud of me, and that pisses me off. I do enjoy what I'm doing, but I hate that Lailah would like it."

He felt Adrien's hand on his arm, squeezing his bicep to let him know he was there but not interrupt the movement of Ross' hands. "Does that really bother you so much?" Adrien asked.

"Sort of. I do hate that she'd enjoy anything about what I've made of my life." He chuckled. "Honestly, I'd be totally content being a complete disappointment to her. Happy, even." With a short pause, he continued. "But that's just me being petty. Really, it bothers me because it makes me think that who I am is really just who Lailah made me to be.

"It's so frustrating, not really having a past. I know about everything Rocco and Josh went through. I remember every moment that they did. Remember every feeling. But I can't figure out how to start life from secondhand memories. I've mostly been trying to ignore all that and just focus on making new ones. Ones I can use as my own." He bit his lip and opened his eyes, meeting the concerned gazes of his friends. He shrugged. "And I'm getting there. I'm building a repertoire. You all help with that. But still I'm held back by time. I've only really been around for six months, and four of those were in a sex dungeon, so it's taking some effort."

Adrien and Rose both flinched when he mentioned those four months he had been trapped, but, interestingly to him, Juleka stayed impassive. She didn't grant the mention any more special attention than he did when he mentioned it. That… was exactly why Ross loved her. Why he trusted her. She seemed to have a strange intuition that stopped her from overreacting because she thought it should be the thing that bothered him the most.

He didn't know how well she had him figured out. But she was the only one who really gave his issues the same prioritization he did. They hadn't talked much about the subject before then, of course, but a little of it was unavoidable, and Ross always felt a little better at the end of one of those short conversations.

Because as horrific as his experience was, it wasn't what bothered him on a day-to-day basis. Sure, some things may have stemmed from it. His inability to trust people (that he was constantly fighting, even then, with Rose in the room). His jumpiness (alleviated but not eliminated by people learning not to grab him unexpectedly). But those were the problems. He barely ever thought about the actual time he spent trapped. He only ever remembered it in the depths of his dreams, where it was surreal enough that he could promptly forget it once more. The only one – even including Adrien – that that particular topic was truly broached with was Lucario.

Ross was rational enough and separated enough from the situation to look at it and recognize it for what it was – an abhorrent act of abuse that no one in that basement deserved. But, he could also recognize that his current situation was not at all like that.

"Can I…" Adrien said, hesitantly. "Can I ask something?"

"Of course." Ross signed.

"W-why did you trust me? As soon as we rescued you, you were already trusting me implicitly." Adrien chuckled weakly, awkwardly. "I'm happy, and flattered, but… I don't really know why. At first, I thought it was Josh and Rocco, but you're right, you're not them. So, why?"

Ross worried his lip. "I'm sure Josh and Rocco had a lot to do with it." He closed his eyes again, not watching Adrien's reaction. "But I think it was because I needed to."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I woke up as me, the only people I knew – as me – were the Muldooneys. You saw what they did to me. Then him. Lucario, but when I met you, I had just lost Lucario. And even with Lucario, I really only built up that trust with him because we were both victims. We were stuck together, so I knew I could trust that he knew what it felt like."

"You never thought he might screw you over to get out himself?"

"Lucario? No." Ross smiled at the memory. "One of the first things he said to me was asking me if I could tell that guy that Lucario would stick around so he could release everyone else." Rose let out a soft "aw", but her voice was weak and conflicted. Ross elected to just ignore it. "But with you, Adrien. Rocco and Josh did have a lot to do with it. Even though I'm not them, their memories were all I knew of the world outside his clutches. I think, when I saw you, I didn't have much choice but to trust Rocco's judgement in you because I needed something constant. You were in Josh's life and Rocco's life. I needed something that wasn't confusing, and you weren't."

"Didn't you say I was the most confusing?"

"You were the hardest to think about, since the memories were all jumbled and fighting. But once I saw you, there was no confusion. I saw you and I grabbed on and I didn't let go because everything else either hurt me or was taken away." Ross looked carefully at Adrien. "Honestly," He signed, "I don't know how much of I felt when we first met was 'real' per se. Whether I really, really loved you, or just didn't know what love was and used it because I knew I didn't want to ever let you go because you were the only thing I was brave enough to trust. I at least know for sure now that I love you, though."

Adrien blushed and muttered an "I love you too" and seriously, with no hint of judgement in his eyes, asked, "How can you be sure that's love, though?"

Ross laughed. "If it's not, I can pass up on love." He signed. "I'll stick with this."

Rose squealed a little, and Juleka laughed. "Everyone who knows love had to feel it a first time." Juleka said. "And personally, I don't think it's the same thing for everyone."

Ross nodded. "But in short," he signed, "Adrien. To answer your question. I think I was just desperate enough to trust Rocco. Rocco was abused, just like I was. He had trouble trusting people – in fact, I think I got a little of that from him, though it's hard to tell. But he trusted you. So, if you could earn the trust of one broken pokémon, why shouldn't this one throw his lot in with you?"

"That's… I don't know." Adrien's voice was muted and somber. "Not what I expected."

Ross shook his head. "Anyway. None of that bothers me."

"It doesn't?" Rose asked.

"Nah. I know how I feel now. About all of that, including Adrien."

"Ross." Adrien said, drawing everyone's attention. Ross locked eyes with the beautiful boy next to him. "Thank you." Ross shrugged in response, but was stopped by Adrien pulling him, encouraging him to lean close, and kissing him tenderly. "Thank you." He repeated when he let Ross sit straight again. "I don't know what I was expecting – not that, definitely – but it does make me happy that you came to your own decision. Regardless of how it started. I'd…" He shifted in his seat. "I'd wondered if… if you only liked me because of Josh and Rocco. It made it hard to separate you. Hard to grieve, because I was afraid that giving up them meant giving up you."

Ross understood, then, hearing that, why Adrien and Juleka were so different. He loved and trusted Adrien, of course, more than Juleka even, but Juleka treated him like his own person. She tackled her relationship with him as one completely theirs, while Adrien brought in parts of his relationships with Rocco and Joshua. It meant that while Adrien understood his experiences more, he didn't really understand Ross more. Not that he didn't understand Ross. Juleka just had that inexplicable way to see into Ross that was sometimes appreciated and sometimes unsettling. Ross thought, after a moment, he needed both, at least for a while.

Juleka was obvious, but with Adrien… it was as he told him. Adrien was a constant. Something he could grab onto when his life and the others got a little too confusing. Something that Ross had two lives of experience with. One of the only things he had that he actually felt like he could look back on.

"I may not know who 'Ross' is, exactly." Ross signed. "But I know for sure that he loves you."

Adrien kissed him again.

He sat back, looked around at the others, and signed, "Someone else's turn."

Adrien chuckled weakly. "That's me, I guess." He ran a hand through his hair, making it all messy. "Arceus, where do I start?"

Juleka smiled. "What's been on your mind? You said you needed to dance out our last adventure. What would you dance for?"

Adrien sighed. "Mom." He said, without hesitation. After a short pause, he added, "Dad." A longer pause. "Rocco and Josh." Another short pause. "Allie." Another longer pause. "Lailah."

Ross arched his eyebrows at that one. Adrien just gave him a sad smile. "She was a good mom, once." Adrien said. "That Lailah. Not the one who fused you." He pursed his lips for a moment. "For all of them. Them at their peaks. When they were so brilliant."

Ross sighed. "You mourn their prime?"

Adrien shook his head. "Not exactly. Their fall, rather. I'm just… sad. It makes me so unbelievably sad when I think about what happened to them. How did Lailah end up like that? How did Dad? I feel so sorry for them."

Juleka ducked her head, hiding behind her bangs. Rose encouraged him to keep going.

"And everyone I lost to the fusions… Allie was so young. She was barely old enough to even be fighting. I feel like it's my fault. Like I shouldn't have brought her. And yeah, I know." He cut off their interruption before they could protest. "I know it's not my fault, but sometimes I feel like it is, even if it isn't. Rocco had already gone through so much. I just wanted him to live happily. Somewhere safe and quiet where he could…" He sniffed and sighed. "And Josh… I… I wish I had the chance to talk to him. To thank him for coming for me, to say goodbye, anything really. He just came as such a shock. I hadn't seen him in so long and all of a sudden he's gone and…" Adrien shook his head. "There's so much I wish I had told him."

Ross closed his eyes and looked inward. Just this once, I wish you were here. So Adrien could say what he needs to.

"And then there's Mom." Ross didn't even need to open his eyes to see how Adrien's jaw clenched. He could hear it in his voice. "I thought I was okay. But then I was standing in front of that switch and the only thing between me and having her back was that one little switch and I had to turn my back on it and shut it down instead." His voice cracked. "Sometimes I think about that and I feel like I killed her."

"Adrien…" Juleka said.

"I know." He shook his head. "I know, Juleka. But that's how I feel. I think about it and I wonder if I really had any right to stop that. I know all that energy was gathered through horrible methods. Trust me, I know, but just because something was taken in a horrible way doesn't mean we can't use it. There are loads of old experiments that are totally inhumane but have really useful and helpful conclusions we still base stuff on, you know? So, obviously we'd never go out and gather more energy to do it again, or anything like that. But with it all already there… was it really right to say Mom didn't deserve to live?"

Ross didn't have anything to say, really. He just trusted Juleka would handle it much more eloquently than he would. If it were me… I probably would've pulled it. I don't know or care about Emilie, really, so that's why I didn't. But if I loved her as much as he does… yeah, we'd be having an entirely different conversation. So, I can't really say anything about it except reiterate Adrien's own reasoning at him.

Rose wilted. She seemed so lost and unsure how to help. She seemed helpless, and Ross furrowed his brow with a little concern for her, remembering her own confessions.

Juleka just worried her lip and watched carefully. Still haven't figured out what to say? She chewed her own lip for a few more minutes, then finally said, "Right, deserve… Adrien, no one can answer that." He stared at her. "You're asking the wrong questions – ones that can't be answered. We can only tell you how it turned out, not whether the right decisions led to this. It's up to you to decide if this outcome is something you can live with. If it's a path worth following."

"Heh. That reminds me of something Marinette said to me once." Adrien shook his head. "Thank you, Juleka." He sniffed a little and lifted his head and smiled. "Well, I'll stop with that. Long story short, I guess I'm still mourning. Everyone." Another sniff. "How have you been doing, Juleka?"

Juleka sighed, and in an exceptionally deadpan voice said, "I have never known this kind of rage until I met Lailah." Ross honestly had to fight the urge to laugh. But neither Adrien nor Rose were so much as smiling, so Ross did suppress it, though he saw Juleka glance his way and he saw the tiny twitch of her lips upward. "Honestly, I'm still furious." Emotion did break into her voice, then, but it was more exasperation than anger. "I've never wanted to hurt anyone before, but…" She shook her head. "I don't even feel bad. I attacked Gabriel. And I don't even feel bad. I feel like I should feel bad, but I don't. I saw Lailah bleeding on the floor and screaming in pain and I didn't care. I just hate them. I hate Gabriel and Lailah and I'm so fucking happy they're both rotting in jail." She shook her head.

"But," Juleka said, more subdued, "that's part of the problem. Sometimes I feel like I'm a bad person. Because good people, like you, Adrien, mourn them. You remember them when they were good, and you're sad about their fall. I'm just dancing on their ashes because as far as I'm concerned, they deserve it. That scares me a little."

That was another reason Ross liked Juleka. Even though she was much more reflective on it than he was, and even though that actually bothered her, whereas he couldn't care less, they had that in common. Even with all the connections Lailah had to him – maybe because of them – he just loathed her guts. He couldn't find it in himself to mourn her or feel bad for her or even pity her. The same was true with Gabriel. Ross respected that Adrien wanted his "good" dad back, and for Adrien's sake Ross hoped that that Gabriel would return someday, but personally Ross had nothing but hate for the man who put Adrien through so much. Ross could forgive Gabriel the fusion – he didn't know Lailah was planning to fuse Ross together – but the aerodactyl later that almost obliterated him was enough to ensure Ross didn't lose that spark of hate anytime soon. On a personal level – Lailah murdered him (sort of. She murdered two people he was intrinsically tied to, and he remembered their deaths at her hands from their perspectives), and Gabriel attempted to murder him. And more importantly, Adrien. So no, Ross had no sympathy for either of them. And no pity.

Adrien was too good to even understand that feeling. Juleka understood. They had that in common.

"And then I think about Talbot."

Ross actually did flinch at that. Over the (about) two months they'd been back, Talbot had become a he-who-must-not-be-named, at least around Ross, with Lucario being the sole exception. Ross hated Talbot, too, but hearing the name transported him to a place where all those things that happened to him while Talbot had imprisoned him did bother him, even if only for a moment.

"Sorry, Ross." Juleka said. "But, then I think about him, and I don't even feel bad about not feeling bad. He deserves everything he gets coming to him, and I have no sympathy, whether I really should or not. And that makes me think, if Lailah and Gabriel weren't related to you, to us, would I feel the same way about them? And I have to wonder if maybe I would, and I have to wonder how much I'm willing to forgive, and for what reasons."

That actually is a good question. I don't think there's much I wouldn't forgive if Adrien wanted me to. But at the same time, that's only if Adrien wanted me to. Without Adrien, I probably wouldn't forgive anything. Well, without Adrien or Lucario. I'd forgive for Lucario.

I guess for her, she just doesn't need an Adrien. She wants to forgive because she feels like she should, but it's getting confusing about when she should and shouldn't.

Juleka shook her head slowly. "That's what I've been thinking about."

Ross reached over to touch her hand, both for comforting her – he took that upon himself because they both knew he was the only other one at the table who understood the kind of hate and fury she was attempting to describe – and for getting her attention. He felt he had to say something, for the same reason.

"I can only speak for myself." He signed. "But forgiveness isn't so much whether you should or whether they deserve it as much as whether you have a reason to give it." He echoed the smile Juleka gave him and followed her quick glance in Adrien's direction. "Exactly." He signed, driving the point home. "Maybe Gabriel doesn't deserve forgiveness. Hell, he probably doesn't. But I'll forgive him for Adrien's sake, and I can live with that. You just need to ask yourself, when you find a reason to forgive someone, if that reason will let you live with that forgiveness."

Juleka closed her eyes, ducked her head, and smiled.