Yes kids, we're finally into what would have been part two! I hope all of you who have been reading this have been enjoying the experience as much as I had and I wish you a merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) and a merry reading of part 2 xP

I would like to thank Galbinus, for being a constant reviewer; Digital Skitty, for putting up with my blabbery PM and taking the time to read this and add it to their C2; the band Foo Fighters, for creating the music I binged on to write this crap; the English language, for letting me butcher it, and my friends, for putting up with blabbering on and on.

Without further adieu, enjoy part two!

Chapter X
Danger

Dad's eyes were cold and unreadable as Craig relayed the story, staring intently at Phonos all through-out. All she could do was sit in her chair, feeling as though the few splatters of blood on her body and clothes were heavier than anything she had ever carried, and her skin tingled as if the blood was expanding – spreading to devour all her body.

For all her efforts, she couldn't erase the image of Annie falling through the air, the sound of her screaming as she descended faster and faster towards the ground, nor could she get rid of the horrible sounds of bones cracking against rock. Even the moment where Annie's screams were cut short, so suddenly and before they should have, was replaying over and over in perfect clarity in her mind's eye. All of them with one connecting, horrible thought – the moment she had lost her rational thought, and leapt forward to attack Mewtwo, that was the moment the Pokemon had lost his grip and the moment Annie's fate was sealed.

As Craig finished his story, silence fell over the gloomy room. Dad's expression was completely unreadable, and he stared over his hands with blank eyes, looking to and fro from the lanky boy and the shivering, reticent girl before him.

"Mewtwo was caught then?" he asked quietly. Craig opened and closed his mouth like a fish gulping for air at the comment, struck dumb by Dad's indifference and brisk, business-like mannerisms. He fell back into his seat, throwing his arms over the armrests, and shook his head in disbelief, sunglasses slipping down his angular nose.

"Yes," he responded, practically spitting the word between his teeth. He slouched in his chair, hanging his head across the back with a sigh and unclipped a black and yellow sphere from his belt, tossing it vaguely. It didn't even get close to wear Dad sat and thumped against the side of the desk, bouncing to the floor and rolling across the carpet.

Phonos almost moved from her seat to retrieve it but Dad, uncharacteristic as it was, stood up and walked across to pick up the Ultra Ball without a word. He gently set the sphere, which even then seemed to resonate with an odd sort of power, on his desk.

For a brief, unbelievable moment, Phonos could swear that Dad had given the small ball an intense, scathing glower of sheer loathing and anger –an expression that hungered for vengeance. Yet as soon as Phonos had seen it, it vanished and Dad's practiced emotional detachment returned to his face, and she was unsure as to whether it had just been a figment of her imagination or not.

"With only two causalities and the needed research item captured, I believe this mission should be marked a success," he said, opening one of the drawers on his desk. He set the papers neatly on the desk and began scribbling, taking out a small booklet, filling in a few details and ripping out the page before he handed the completed form to Craig. Craig reached for it slowly, as if in stupor, before taking the cheque from Dad's outstretched hand.

"You may go," he said shortly. Both Craig and Phonos got out of their chairs and shuffled out the door, and for reasons Phonos couldn't quite grasp, Craig reached out and placed both hands on her shoulders as she lead the way out the door and down the halls. Once they were a few paces away from Dad's office, he released and breathed a deep, heavy sigh and pushed his sunglasses up his nose.

"Phonos…" Craig said suddenly, making her jump and wheel around to face him. Craig looked sickly and woozy, barely able to stand up straight and stay on his feet he breathed in deeply, "I – I think Dr Lester might try to kill himself."

"Dad wouldn't do that!" she exclaimed before she could stop herself. Craig raised an eyebrow at her then laughed in an eerie, empty way, leaning against the wall and clutching his stomach as if he was going to be sick.

"Dad, huh?" he said, a weak smile playing on his lips and his face a sickly shade of grey, "That explains a few things."

Phonos felt her face burn. It had been years since she had called Dr Lester Dad out loud, Annie had beaten it into her from an early age that it was strictly forbidden for her to refer to her father like that. Annie was gone now though, she thought with a low shudder as the memories tried to leapt to the front of her mind again, and beneath the layers of shame, sadness and a strange feeling of emptiness, Phonos felt a guilty, childish hope swell in her stomach – perhaps without Annie Dad would acquire some fondness for her, and start considering Phonos his daughter after all?

"Oh don't!" Craig said very loudly and without warning, prompting Phonos to snap her eyes back up at him. To her alarm, his eyes were puffy and red, and what little colour had been on his cheeks had been drained away. He looked sickly and ghostly.

"C'mon. I can feel all this, you know. What I just got from your…Dad…is making me a little unstable and I don't exactly want to burst into tears in the hallway."

She stared uncertainly, having no idea what to think. How had she made him upset? She knew she must have done something, yet for all her life she couldn't for one minute specify what foolish thing she had done or said.

For all her efforts, she couldn't help but stutter out the one word that had been imprinted onto her mind for as long as she could remember:

"S-sir…"

Craig let out a strangled, frustrated yell and flung a fist at the wall, making impact with a crash and, yelping in pain and gripping his sore, red knuckles, he recoiled. Phonos could only stare blankly, glad that at this late hour there was nobody about to witness Craig's outburst. She had no idea what to do – what could you do? It wasn't in her programming; she had never been taught how to be of a comfort to somebody.

"T-this place sucks. It all stinks."

Phonos' hands were shaking.

"And look at you. Look at the poor, miserable things they create here."

Phonos took a step forward, reaching out with one hand to lay her fingers on Craig's shoulder. Yet for all her efforts, it was like an invisible wall prevented her from reaching forward. She couldn't find the courage.

Craig laughed – a weak, high-pitched chuckle of a laugh.

"Hey, let's look at me for a second will we? What a poor, miserable thing they've created of me."

What was going on? What was wrong with him? Phonos had never heard anybody say anything like that about the institute before. If Craig hated it, why was he here? Why did he even want the salary from this place if he loathed it so?

"It never used to be like this."

Phonos had to wonder what it used to be. She had never been given knowledge of how the Institute worked, or how the Institute evolved – it was simply there and that was that, of the inner workings of her universe, she knew nothing.

A sympathetic look passed over Craig's face, probably as Phonos' emotions reached him, and she saw him visibly start to breath easy, his fists slowly unclenching and the familiar unruffled expression returning to his face, bit by bit. He shook his head and ran a hand through his wild black hair.

"Hah. Stuff just…happens with you, doesn't it?" Craig said, his voice returning to normal so suddenly that Phonos was taken aback.

"I…don't really understand," she replied blankly, wishing she could have done something for him during his little break-down. But she hadn't, she's just stood there and watched as his world tumbled down around him. Feeling guilt grip her stomach, she realised that with Annie gone maybe she needed a replacement for her. She couldn't call him her brother though, for some reason…she couldn't really bring her to do it. She felt, somehow, that'd be putting him into danger.

Craig only laughed, pushing a hand up through her hair, and began to walk away from the girl, as if nothing had happened.

"Pho!" he called over his shoulder, "I'll see you later!"

For all the thoughts crashing around her mind, Phonos couldn't help but smile at the nickname, an odd, warm sensation filling her belly. Craig wasn't exactly family but…it was something at least. She glanced back down the hallway at where her father's office lay. For the plan formulating quietly in her mind, she might need somebody to rely on. Somebody that she could detach herself from if needed.