AN: Still alive, and still typing. Hope you guys enjoy this!

Part 3

Lance felt the inside of his mouth with his tongue, and he winced slightly when the stinging pain returned. He cursed as he bent down to drink the water from the sink with his hands. He gurgled the water in his mouth for a moment, before he threw out red water into the sink. Lance had to admit that he did say some pretty nasty words, but who the fuck cares? He got enough shit in his plate, and Cynthia only added more by being so difficult.

"Fucking glad I'm gay... Women are insufferable..." he murmured to himself as he wiped his lips with the sleeve of his outfit.

When he was finally done rinsing out all the blood, he looked at his reflection on the mirror to check out for more blood. When he was certain that he cleaned up properly, he exited the bathroom and began making his way to the infirmary. He needed to get some ice for his cheek, and probably some painkiller for his persistent headache. The medication he takes everyday apparently has a side-effect, and even though the doctor said he will get used to it in a month or so, he still found the pain to be disturbing.

Part of him wondered if the side-effects also include short-tempers, since he never quiet blow up in front of Cynthia, or anyone else, like that. However, he then decided that Cynthia was at fault for being so unreliable. The young doctor in the clinic did not question him much about his injury, and she gave him the painkillers he needed when he told her about his headache and nausea.

Lance exited the place with an ice pack pressed against his cheek and headed back to the living quarters provided for the Elite Fours and Champions. There were a lot of rooms there, most of them barely used, but Lance had taken one of them this morning. As he was heading to his room, however, he came across a familiar face.

Clair stared at the figure of her cousing for a moment, before she walked over to him and said, "What the fuck happened to you?"

Lance smiled at the presence of one of the few people he still cared about, but quickly winced when the action brought with it pain. "Got hit."

"By who?" she sounded angered.

"Steven."

"For what?"

"I called his girlfriend the President's cocksucker."

Clair blinked once, before she finally said, "You fucking deserve it, you cunt!" she exclaimed. "If you're not my cousin, I would've hit you again for insulting Cynthia like that!"

"Why is everyone worshipping her?" Lance rolled his eyes.

"She's a fucking female Champion who prevailed despite all the fucking gender discrimination shit, hell yeah I worshipped her!" Clair declared.

"The bitch can't even handle Team Galactic properly," Lance grumbled.

Clair flinched at the mention of that name. She paused, but then carefully asked, "You were arguing with her because of that?"

"Well, of course," he frowned. "Team Galactic is her responsiblity as much as Team Rocket is mine. She's not doing her job properly."

"Haven't you heard?" Clair asked. "It was a false alarm."

Lance's eyes widened in disbelief. He stared at his cousin for a moment, wondering if she was joking. However, he knew Clair, she would never crack a joke. "What?"

"Yeah, it was a false alarm." Clair shrugged. "Erika saw the recruitment poster in her town and called you up about it, right? Well, I went to investigate this morning, and apparently, it was the work of some teenage kids. They were making this book club, you see, and their book club happens to have the same name as Team Galactic."

The fight he had with Cynthia flashed through his eyes, and with it, came guilt. "Well... Guess I owe someone an apology..." he muttered weakly.

Clair smirked and smacked his shoulder, "You'd better apologize, or I'm going to personally make you do it."

"Fuck," Lance groaned as he pressed the ice pack harder against his cheek, "Erika..." he hissed her name spitefully.

"It's true that she should've checked before calling you," Clair mused, "But you're the Champion, it's your duty to double check!"

"As if I have time for that," Lance grumbled, "Arceus, she's not getting away with this."

"Hey, you don't have to punish her or yell at her or anything," Clair tried to reason out with him. "She did the right thing by reporting it to you."

Lance shook his head, "Fuck, this is so fucked up..." he murmured.

"Relax, I think Cynthia will forgive you after a slap or two," Clair smirked again, somewhat amused by the way things turned out.

"I need to lie down..." Lance finally concluded and made his way towards the room which he had taken this morning.

Clair followed him close behind.

It has been months ever since he last spoke to her. The last thing they said to one another was a promise to keep in contact despite the clan's disapproval, and since then, they haven't really hang out or do something together like they used to. Their conversation mostly were online, and they were mostly brief. Clair gave him news of his Dragonite, but it was the same thing every time he asked; they haven't let his Dragonite out of its pokeball.

It pained him to think that his friend has to endure the captivity while he was out there freely walking about. Damn them. Why do they have to take Dragonite away from him?

When they reached his room, Lance walked inside and laid down on his bed. Clair closed the door behind her and laid down beside him.

For a moment, they were both silent, but then Clair finally asked, "How have you been doing?"

"I'm doing fine..." he muttered in reply as he closed his eyes.

"You looked rather unwell though, is anything bothering you?"

Lance fell silent. He hesitated between telling her the truth or not. It's not as if he never considered telling her; he did that often, almost every night before he went to bed, ever since he found out about the virus in him. A part of him knew that she would not leave him, but another part of him also knows that he's going to disappoint her. In her eyes, he was the mighty, brave and responsible older cousin she always looked up to. What about now? Well, he got a dangerous STD, of course the knowledge was enough to shatter her image of him.

"Lance?" Clair asked again when the silence stretched on for too long.

"Clair... I..." he sighed and said, "I got the HIV."

For a moment, there was silence again. However, Clair quickly shot up in the next moment and looked down on him with shock written clear on her face.

"You got what?"

Lance took in a deep breath, "HIV, Clair..."

Clair was silent for a moment, and Lance thought she was going to leave in disappointment. He felt a little bit hopeful when Clair asked again, "How?"

"I didn't handle parting with Dragonite well, and so I slept around," he spoke out the lines which he had been reciting over and over again for the past few nights.

"Without using condoms?"

The question was unexpected, but he nodded, "In the heat of the moment, I forgot..."

"You are a fucking idiot!" Clair finally rose out of the bed and exclaimed loudly. "How can you forget about condom? Weren't you the one who teach me about safe sex?" she was upset, it was clear in her voice.

Lance opened his eyes and sat up, ready to face whatever harsh words she might throw at him. "Look, this isn't easy on me either, okay?"

"You're so fucking stupid!" Clair yelled. "Have you went to the doctor?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"What did she say?"

"She said I need to take meds to prevent the virus from replicating. She also warned me about being careful not to get my blood or semen in anyone."

"Arcues," Clair inhaled as she turned away from him and walked over to the window overlooking the league garden. She folded her arms and stood there motionless for a moment.

"I'm sorry I let you down," he said. "I... I know I'm an idiot..."

There was no reply, she just stood there, not moving. He watched her back, and soon enough, her shoulder began to tremble, and an unmistakably soft sob rang throughout the room. He was stupefied, but he knew that he needed to go there and see for himself. It's not like everyday Clair would cry like the girl she is.

"Clair," he spoke her name softly and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry."

She sobbed louder this time, not attempting to hide it anymore. She wiped the tears off her eyes, and finally spoke with a shaky voice, "She got it too, you know... That girl who lives with his grandmother in the candy shop..."

Lance quickly recalled the face of the girl Clair was referring to. He knew her, they spent their childhood together. "Cece..." he murmured out the nickname which was so familiar to his tongue. "She... She got it too?"

Clair sadly nodded, "A couple of years back... She was raped," her body shook again with what he now identified as anger and sadness. "Four men got her, when I came back from my journey, I was told that she..." she shook her head "She changed, you know... She was so thin and weak and fragile. I visited her the next day, I called her name, but she wouldn't respond... She was... Really sad and alone... Her grandma died a year before the incident, and even though she tried her best to hold on... She..." she wiped the tears again. "She didn't manage to pull through... The loneliness, the sadness... It was too much for her..."

He tightened his grip on her shoulder.

"They left her," Clair finally looked up at her cousin with her teary eyes. "They acted as if she didn't exist. She was dying, but nobody helped her... You know what they say? They call her a whore, a slut. They said she deserved it. They treated her like an... Abomination."

"You.. Wouldn't treat me like that... Would you?" he carefully asked.

Anger flashed through her eyes, but it wasn't directed at him. "Of course I wouldn't! You're like a brother to me! I would never let something like that happen to you!" she said.

Lance smiled and patted her back, "Then I'm glad to have you on my side... I really am..."

"Well, I'm going to be the least of your worry," she murmured, "What about others, Lance? What would they say when they found out? I'm worried about you..." she sobbed again. "What if they did the same thing to you? What if they desert you and treat you like something dirty?"

"Clair, I don't care," he told her as he looked at her in the eyes. "I've got someone as supportive as you, I don't care what shits they're going to spew out of their mouths."

"And then what if you end up lonely and sad like her for the rest of your life?" She asked again. "I can't be by your side forever, Lance... And let me be frank... When the person you love knows about this, how will he react? Will he accept you?"

"I never thought that far," he admitted. "But... if he really loves me, then yes, he'll accept me."

"You're so naive," she murmured.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to know better about love?" he asked as he ruffled her hair.

"I do," she said as she swatted his hand away. "But... I can't help it, okay? What if you ended up like her? The sadness, the depression..."

"Hey, I have someone as wonderful as you in my life," he told her. "There's no way I'm going to end up alone. As soon as I get lonely, I'm going to call you right away. You heard me?"

Those words brought a smile to her face. "You'd better call," she said as she punched the side of his arm playfully.