YES, YES, YES! I have finally finished chapter 2! You know, this is a huge step for me because I normally stop halfway through, but not for this one! Yay! Sorry, I'm overly excited at this being released because then it relieves the guilt of not fulfilling deadlines! WHOO-HOO!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. I just like tormenting the characters.

READ THIS PLEASE: Please, please, PLEASE, if you have time after this chapter, read the huge author's note at the bottom. I have to get several rants out of the way before heading into chapter 3!

Enjoy!


"KEITH!"

"Don't let go!"

The sound of glass shattering and pipes groaning ruptured his eardrums. The whole Altru building was going to collapse at this rate! He tightened his grip, seeing his own scared expression reflected in vivid blue eyes.

"LOOK OUT!"

He jerked awake with a startled scream that was harshly swallowed back the moment he became aware of it, causing him to cough roughly. He pushed himself into a sitting position, patting his chest gingerly. When his coughs subsided, he ran a hand through his sweat-matted hair, and groaned.

Had he fallen asleep? 'Idiot' he berated himself.

He paused before carefully touching his left shoulder blade where a stray shadow ball from Darkrai had struck. The scar was, of course, still there, a ragged burn that was the size of Keith's palm. Getting hit by dark Pokémon was an odd, contradicting feeling. First, there was fiery pain as the attack tore away skin and bits of muscle only to be replaced by a biting cold that was icy enough to burn. Add that to the fact that a Pokémon's abilities intensified with strong emotion –namely fear and anger- and Keith has had the unpleasant self-discovery on how high his vocal chords could go when motivated.

The door creaked open. Keith tensed, ready to bolt if it was the old man checking up on him. He let out a huge sigh of relief when it was just Buizel who padded through the door, arms full of various fruits.

Despite himself, Keith couldn't help the snicker that slipped past his lips. "You look like a Munchlax with all that food," he told his partner who'd jumped on top the chair to deposit his findings onto the desk.

Buizel shot him a dirty look as if to say, "I like to eat, so what?"

He turned to his findings and chose the delicious-looking green grapes that just seemed to call for the Buizel to eat them. Picking them up, he flicked one in his mouth to munch on it happily. He turned back to his human to widen his eyes challengingly.

But Keith only snorted in reply, and dragged himself off the bed, studiously avoiding his reflection in the mirror. What was the point? He knew he already looked a mess. He didn't want more confirmation than necessary. His hands fumbled with his bag's zipper before managing to pull out his spare change in uniform.

Since there was no official Ranger Union like in Almia, Keith wasn't exactly sure whose base he'd be occupying for the duration of this extended visit. He'd never really stuck around to ask when he was promoted to Ranger Rank 10 in Summerland.

Sighing heavily, he changed as quickly as his sluggish brain would allow. The first thing Keith decided to do when they reached Fall City's harbor was to hunt down a good café with strong black coffee. He could do with the caffeine right about now.

A horn shrieked above his cabin followed by several smaller pitched ones. They were close to landing in Fiore. Keith paused, staring at the door in contemplation. The mask would have to go back on the moment he crossed that threshold. He couldn't allow his control to slip like it had with Barton. Not again.

His eyes slid to Buizel who, sensing his apprehension, met his gaze with a determined nod, dark eyes flashing. The corner of Keith's mouth twitched upwards. His partner had strawberry juice smeared across his muzzle.

The breath he held was released in a whoosh, and he shouldered his backpack as Buizel gathered up his remaining foodstuffs.

"Alright," he said softly, "C'mon, let's do this."

Keith hadn't taken one step before an object whacked him in the back of the head. "Owww," he winced, clutching the offended spot, "What was that for?" he demanded, turning back to face the only possible culprit in the room.

His partner glared pointedly at him, jerking his chin down towards the floor. Following the Buizel's gaze, he realized the offending object was an apple rolling around the floor before coming to a gentle stop at the tip of his shoe. He bent down to pick the piece of fruit up, tossing it from hand to hand experimentally as he met Buizel's stern profile again.

"I'm not hungry," he said flatly.

Buizel puffed his cheeks out. Sensing the impending water gun attack, Keith held his hands up in a tiny gesture of surrender.

"I'll eat it on the way, okay?" he tried compromising.

Tucking the apple into his shorts' pocket, he resolved tossing it to the first Pelipper he came across when his partner wasn't looking. As Keith opened the door and crossed the threshold, he failed to notice how his partner sagged in relief at the mention of him actually eating something.


The cool steel door slid open silently as a pair of feet made their way over to the many computers lining the walls of the Communications Room. The person sighed as they sunk heavily into a chair and booted up the computer. The screen illuminated the face of Murph who rubbed his adjusting eyes to the only light in the otherwise darkened room.

It was a quarter past midnight, and he was a man on a mission. Most of the techies and rangers were either in their rooms or had gone home for the night which he considered a blessing. Less people meant less blundering around for an excuse as to why he was still here. He could always tell them he was staying to put the finishing touches on his various reports and proposals, but lying had always come hard to Murph.

Which was exactly why he never did covert missions back when he was still a ranger in Fiore. He couldn't stand the twisting; ugly feeling it gave him, even white lies were enough to make him look away shame-faced. It would always start small, the first lie, and grow and grow as more and more lies piled on top eventually mutating into a horrible, tangled mess that was hard to wade back out of because you were just in too deep.

Typing in his login and password, Murph leaned back, watching the green bar load.

He wasn't guilty of what he doing per say, but he would've infinitely preferred it if no one knew what he going to do. But why should he feel guilty? He was only asking a favor of old colleagues, nothing more, nothing less, he thought defiantly though his eyes shifted nervously about as if expecting someone like Hastings would suddenly pop out of hiding and yell, "HA! I've caught you now!"

A ping made him jump a tad, but he calmed down once realizing it was only the computer fully on and ready. Like a condemned man, Murph placed on the headphones so no one was privy to any sound, and used the mouse to quickly click on a chat box.

A list of his personal contacts came up, and he scrolled down, clicking on the first name that appeared under the Ringtown subcategory. A ringing picked up in his ears as the call took place. To Murph, the ringing seemed to stretch on for decades. He swallowed dryly.

C'mon, c'mon….pick up…pick up, his mind pleaded with a desperate twinge. Pick up, pick up, pi…

He could've cried in relief as the call finally went through and the face of a sleepy Lunick popped up, black hair messily falling onto his forehead.

"Murph?" Lunick squinted at the camera, "Is that you?"

"We need to talk," Murph said tensely.

"About?" his former colleague rubbed his eyes as his mouth stretched in a 'o' shaped yawn, "You do realize it's like 1:30 in the morning over here, right?"

His mouth opened automatically to spit out the usual apologies, but Lunick waved them away with a nonchalant, "Don't worry about it."

After cracking his back, elbows, shoulders, and knuckles all the while grinning at Murph's disgusted grimace as he had to listen to every crack up close in the headphones; Lunick settled down with a more awake profile, cobalt eyes focusing intently on Murph's face, "Okay, let's hear it. What's wrong?"

"Do you remember a ranger by the name of Keith who transferred to Fiore after graduating from the Almia Ranger School?" he blurted out.

"Keith?" Lunick narrowed his eyes in thought, "That name sounds familiar, but I don't usually pay attention to who's transferred where….maybe…wait, hang on a moment." He moved off-screen, allowing Murph to absorb the details of the room he otherwise hadn't noticed until now. His brown eyes traced the cream-colored walls that were standard in the Ringtown base's living quarters, covered with band posters of the Chimchar Brotherhood….

Wait, what? Last time he checked, Lunick hated any mention of the so-called brothers.

As the sounds of rustling and openings of drawers continued off-screen, Murph discreetly minimized the chat box, and pulled up his list of contacts again, where the contact's name he was calling was highlighted.

Ah. That explained it.

He flipped back over to Lunick the second he heard a victorious, "Aha!"

His former colleague came back onscreen in a flutter of newspaper articles. "It should be in here somewhere," he was muttering, "here we go. Do you mean by any chance, this Keith?" Murph blinked as a newspaper heading followed by a blurry picture was shoved right into the lens.

'GYARADOS RAMPAGE IN SUMMERLAND!' was the heading and under it was the blurry backside of Keith and his Buizel as they both charged the Gyarados. Murph shook his head wearily. Who in their right mind would even be outside taking pictures when a Pokémon of that size was running berserk?

Off to the side was another heading labeled as 'KEITH, THE NEW HERO!' and following it was another picture, clearer this time, with Keith smirking haughtily at the camera beside his Buizel.

Eyes that used to gleam in hard won victory like the one in the picture were gone. The new Keith that Murph saw in his mind's eye was a tired and paler one with eyes that looked blankly at anyone who tried to engage him in conversation. He also didn't forget how volatile Keith had become in the last week, lashing out at anyone who tried questioning him about operation Brighton. Just look where it had gotten Rhythmi.

He rubbed his arm where a decent sized purple bruise was fading to a yellow-green color.

Or him for that matter.

But what had bothered him the most wasn't the fact that Keith had struck him, but the caged animal look he adopted if anyone so much as brought up the failed operation. No one should have to look like that. No one.

Murph wasn't naïve; he knew there were a lot of bad things and people in the world, and it would take a million, if not more, lifetimes to plug the flow, but it didn't stop people from trying. And he clung to the idea of pushing people onto the right path or preserving the carefree joy people got out of doing something they love. It was how he ended up wanting to be a Pokémon Ranger. He guarded this belief as ferociously as a mama Kangaskhan would her young. Keith was no exception to this rule.

Which was the reason he was calling in for this favor.

"Yeah, that's him," he said quietly.

Lunick's face reappeared from behind the newspaper clipping, grin fading as he observed his friend's drawn features. "I repeat what I said earlier: what's wrong?"

"It's a long story," Murph slumped in his seat, "A really, really long story."

"I can stay awake," Lunick offered.

"Please," he countered, scoffing, "You can barely stay awake when it's New Year's."

His former colleague looked offended, "It's not my fault I can't stay awake for the fireworks with civilians trying to set off their own, but end up getting hurt instead. I do not ask for all-nighters, thank you very much!"

And just like that, it was like Murph was a ranger again at the Ringtown base, bantering with Lunick. It made a lump lodge itself in his throat, and he swallowed with an audible gulp. Those days were over. He wasn't a ranger anymore. Move on, already.

He shook his head, running a hand through his hair, and sighing. The last thing he wanted to do was end up crying pathetically because he missed his friends with a sharp longing. He missed Ringtown and its cozy little town demeanor, he missed his leader's exasperation of him, and most of all; he missed his partner, Slowpoke.

The lump returned with a vengeance.

Lunick was watching his friend's expression change cautiously, already having some idea of what he was thinking about, "You know," he put in gently, "you could always come by to visit. Ringtown gets boring after a while without you. Solana, Plusle, Minun, and I all miss having you around, not to mention the whole town."

Murph barked out a laugh, for once not caring if he was caught, "Not Ms. Gretel."

Lunick somehow managed to pale and scowl at the same time, "She doesn't count. I mean, even Spenser is somewhat afraid of her. That crotchety old woman could give anyone some serious nightmares. "

"She likes Solana plenty."

"Yeah, but Solana is a magnet for weird people."

"Like you?" Murph teased.

"Hey," Lunick jabbed a finger at the screen, "if I have to be stereotyped, then you're joining me."

"You do realize you put yourself in the same category of said 'crotchety old woman,'" he said amusedly.

"Well, do you hear it? The apocalypse is happening outside as we speak."

"You're right. I do hear it," Murph said, letting the topic rest there. A lull in the conversation ensued. "So…" he began casually, "When did you become a fan of the Brotherhood?"

His friend recoiled, sending him a horrified, almost betrayed look for even asking. "Never, ever, in a million years, I solemnly swear on Celebi, I'll never enjoy that crap they call music."

That was the cue he was waiting for and he pounced on it, "Then why are you in Solana's room?"

Lunick looked blank for moment before flushing a bright red. "It's not what you think," he snapped, dark cobalt eyes narrowing.

"I'm not the one turning into a tomato defensively."

"If I told you it was a long story, would you leave me alone?" he asked with an odd note in his voice.

Paying no attention to it, Murph replied bluntly, "No, so spill."

"Only if you tell me why you called about this Keith person," he bargained, "and don't try to tell me this call was technically for Solana because you and I both know she would've been prying you for details more ruthlessly than I do. At least with me, there's no bloodshed involved."

His hands gripped the edge of the counter, "And what if I told you I can't?"

It was quiet for a long moment. Then Lunick sighed, returning to his normal shade. "Fine," he stated flatly, "Since we obviously don't have the same level of trust in each other," he started turning away.

"What makes you say that?" Murph demanded sharply.

Lunick whipped back around, and though his whisper was low, his eyes blazed, "Because Murph, you call at a godforsaken hour in the morning looking like you ran into a ghost Pokémon, and start the conversation with 'We need to talk.' How am I supposed to react? Then you ask about this Keith person who I've never known personally, but is obviously a hotshot in Summerland, and when I get curious, I'm not allowed to show concern for one of my best friends?"

He cut in, interrupting his friend's rant midway, "It's honestly and truly because I can't, Lunick, I can't because I don't know what happened! Nobody does!" Whether it was his tone or just the desperate look on his face, the raven-haired ranger backed off.

"What do you mean?" he asked warily.

Murph sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping to dispel the beginning of a headache. "It's what I'd like to know. Have you heard of any new operations yet in the Fiore Times?"

Meaning: Did any newspaper company get hold of any leaks, and if so, did it spread internationally yet?

"No," Lunick replied honestly, and Murph wanted to sigh in relief, "But then again, I haven't gotten the chance to really read the Times today anyway. Look, long story short, Spenser sent me on a reconnaissance mission in Summerland. Some earthquakes have been happening along its coast, and the most recent one was severe enough to reach into the jungle located beyond it."

"Why didn't one of the Summerland rangers take care of it?"

An almost inaudible sigh, "They were busy clearing away debris and helping out the civilians, so I was the prime candidate drafted for the duty since I didn't have any other mission at the time, and Ringtown has been quiet lately. The objective was simple: Make sure the Pokémon were a-okay and clear any fallen trees. At least it was supposed to be simple," his voice spelled out the clear exhaustion he must have been carrying around all through the day, "Let's just say, it was one of those long days where everything you do ends up going wrong, and a female Primeape now hates my guts.

"It was really late when I came in, and my room seemed so far away at the time that I ended up crashing on one of the lobby couches."

Murph raised a brow, "So how did you know I was calling?"

"I didn't," his friend shrugged in the flippant way he knew Murph disliked immensely, "I was coming back from the bathroom, and Solana's door was cracked open a tad, and I saw the call coming in on her laptop."

"Solana's going to murder you."

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Lunick brushed off, "Besides; she and Kellyn are still in Sinnoh."

He raised a brow though he was inwardly smiling. At least he didn't have to bring the subject around to his purpose; Lunick had taken care of it, "Oh? I thought they already finished Operation Riolu."

"Well, if you read the mission report," Lunick began, eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly. He'd caught Murph's distinctly gleeful pitch in his last sentence, and in the face of his earlier outburst, Lunick became suspicious again though he didn't let it show, "Ever since Hunter J became involved, those two have been more paranoid than a pair of Murkrows with their shiny things. They decided to stay for a few more days around the kingdom's perimeter to make sure she didn't come back."

There. He'd dangled the bait; he'd let Murph make the next move now.

But the former ranger only 'hmmed,' and seemed to be looking at a spot on the wall over Lunick's shoulder contemplatively. After a couple of minutes though it felt longer, the raven-head held his breath as Murph met his gaze steadily, brown eyes controlled and businesslike. Lunick hated it.

In the accumulating silence, neither backed down from the mute challenge of staring the other one into submission, and the gentle hum of computer software whirring away in the background was the only noise in the otherwise quiet rooms on both ends. Lunick tilted his head to the side, eyes boring into brown piercingly like the color were dirt, and he could dig up the secrets that lay underneath easily.

Murph's left eye twitched, but he gave no other signs of giving in.

Lunick amped up the glare.

Unknown to the raven-haired ranger, Murph inwardly swallowed. Arceus. Whether it was the way the shadows on his former colleague's end were cast or his imagination, Lunick looked slightly demonic at the moment. He wondered if he could click out of the chat box and pretend the conversation never happened, but somehow, Lunick looked as though he would tear through the screen, huge miles-wide expanse of ocean between the regions and all.

No, he told himself, straightening. A low flame of anger ignited in his gut. I refuse to be intimidated. I refuse to be patronized. This isn't Ringtown anymore, move on already! He told himself detachedly that he could pretend this was just another corporation meeting he sometimes had to go represent the Ranger Union at.

Finding a form of comfort in the thought, he sewed his poker face on more tightly, and came out of his momentary lapse of resolve. Knitting his fingers together, he rested his chin on top of them, voice coming out a lot calmer than he thought it would (which was a victory in itself), "Can you tell Kellyn to message me when he gets back from Sinnoh?"

"Couldn't you have called him in the first place?" Lunick retorted, voice coming across a lot cooler when he noted the change in Murph's posture.

"I didn't know if he was here or still on Mission Riolu. I was taking a wild stab in the dark."

"Well, as you can see," his former colleague snipped, thrusting his hand to the side as if gesturing to the base in general, "he's not. Why not call him in Sinnoh?" he added as an afterthought.

"I don't know if the place they're staying at," he responded, inwardly cringing at the lame answer.

It didn't even matter, Lunick caught on anyway, "That's crap and you know it. Why not on the Capture Styler's receiver?" he pressed, "It's connected directly with the Satellite, and if you didn't hear already, the newest app is designed for face-to-face chats."

Murph tensed in annoyance. What did Lunick want him to say? That he called because Ringtown still felt like home to him? That his fingers scrolled immediately to the Ringtown contact list?

"Because there was the slight chance Solana would answer instead if Kellyn were asleep or somehow managed to leave his Styler laying around," he responded quickly, "Like you said before, Solana is prone to violence if withheld from information of any sort, and I'd rather that not happen," he said mildly, keeping his voice low and formal.

"So why did you press her contact number if you weren't expecting her here?" The bite in every word was really starting to grate on Murph's nerves.

"Dialga's fangs, Lunick!" he snapped, for the second time that night not caring that his voice rose, "I'm trying to get as less people involved as I can! I was in a hurry; I pressed the wrong number, happy?"

Lie, lie, lie; he wouldn't have minded at all talking to Solana or any of the rangers there, except maybe Spenser. He was surprised to get Lunick on the line, but he hadn't minded. He sank into his chair, choosing instead to bury his head in his hands, waiting for the other male to call him out on his lie. This wasn't how the conversation was supposed to go: if he encountered a barrier to his goal; he was supposed to express the urgency, relay the message, maybe exchange pleasantries, and then skedaddle like he did in business meetings with important representatives or other officials.

But this wasn't a business call. Not when it didn't follow the same routine procedures he was used to dealing with day in and day out. Then again, he wasn't dealing with someone 10 or 20 years older than himself.

No, he just had to get the one tenacious, stubborn person whose mind apparently picked out facts a lot easier at night. Seriously, for as long as Murph had known the guy, Lunick always did his best work at night. Unlike Solana, who was more than half-asleep and complacent when asked to do something, the other male's mind seemed to sharpen more as the sun went down.

…or get more stubborn at least.

"Murph," the change in his former colleague's tone made him chance a look upwards. The raven-haired teen was leaning in, arms crossed with a thoughtful frown. Those cobalt eyes studied his face before they softened a tad, and then their owner spoke, "What's going on?"

"Didn't I already tell you, I don't know-," he said tightly.

"Not with the Keith person," Lunick interrupted, "I meant with you. No offense, but it looks like someone put you in a blender and spat you right back out. You're stressed," it was more of a statement than a question.

"I feel it more than ever just talking with you," he grumbled under his breath.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Lunick smirked, startling Murph out of his thoughts. Had he said that out loud?

He sighed and glanced at the time. A half-hour had flown by. He had to wrap things up quickly if he wanted to erase the conversation over the chat line from the Union's base hard drive.

"…should visit this weekend, what do you think?" Lunick was saying, driving Murph's train of thought right out the window again.

"Can't. I think I have a meeting that day," he said automatically.

The other male didn't miss a beat, "How about Tuesday then, next week? That's my day off. Solana and Kellyn should be back by then too." Translation: It was an invitation for further interrogation.

"I-I don't know. I'm kind of busy this whole month, and my dad wants me to visit again sometime soon to talk research-," he willed himself to stop babbling the moment he saw Lunick's face shut down.

"Alright," Lunick said, sounding as distant and formal as Murph felt, "Alright, you're busy. I get that. I mean, I'll need to make a full report for the earthquakes and that takes time. Yeah, I get it."

Before he could shove his fist his mouth to stop the words, they came out anyway, "I just don't have time right now-."

"No, see, that's the real problem here Murph because you never have time anymore," though the words were said mildly, the former ranger could hear the suppressed venom.

He swallowed, but didn't reply. Another tense moment passed.

Lunick sighed and ran a hand through unruly black hair. "Fine," he concluded.

"Wha-?"

"I'll pass the message on." With that, the screen went black.

Murph stared at the darkened screen, suddenly feeling worse than he had coming here.


Ohhh, what's Murph up to?

OKAY! My several rants goes as follows:

1. A HUGE (And I mean ginormous) shout-out to Redwarrior702, Guest, . .Will, and SuperHoundoom who were my reviewers in chapter 1! If you guys hadn't reviewed, I probably would have just left this fanfic hanging for a while. You guys are the best and I'm sorry for the long wait! Also, a shout-out to all the views and viewers worldwide that my Traffic stats says has been viewing either Darkest Lullaby or my profile.

2. I swear up and down this will be a Keith-centric story, but just to give more depth than to pound on the same character over and over again; there will be other points of views. NOT A WHOLE LOT maybe, only if my muse decides to shove another character onto me, I will obey. Plus, I've always wanted to explore Murph's feelings more after finding out he's no longer a ranger in Shadows of Almia.

3. There will be more than a handful of rangers in the plot! What I mean by that is I want everyone from the original Pokemon Ranger or Shadows of Almia to make at least one appearance if not more. Which brings me to the random thought of: I wish they would make a spin-off show just for the rangers, but ALAS! It cannot be. It should be though.

4. I will work on my deadline skills though I think I'll just update my profile twice a week at least to show I haven't abandoned you people or the story. That might be better...:)

5. Side note: I don't know if this goes without saying, but Kellyn and Kate are going to be more than just male/female counterparts. Which brings me to this: Should Kellyn be a solo ranger? If he should have a Pokemon, I've already decided on one, but what do you think? I'm still tossing it around in my brain.

6. I feel like I'm forgetting something...oh well.

Review please! It makes me feel better on the inside.

~Kneazle-Chan