Angels Fall First.
Chapter 8: Balloon
Bleak was beginning to put two and two together.
He didn't want to frighten Kira and he wasn't positive he was correct so he stayed mute on the subject. But he was beginning to worry.
Over the last few days he'd felt an eerie sense of being watched whenever they were out. At first he'd chalked it down to paranoia, thinking maybe what Kira had told him of her close encounter had spooked him or something. But now he wasn't so sure.
First of all some guys Kira didn't even seem to know had been asking about her at her school, and then seemingly disappeared. He'd spotted someone outside the house who, despite what he'd said, didn't look drunk. His night time eyes had been able pick up on the easy movements and thoughtful expression even from the third floor.
Then Kira had nearly been attacked on the way home, and he was wondering if it was really such an unlikely idea that all these things were somehow connected.
He glanced up at his temporary trainer from where he trotted at her heels. She was trying to explain to Whiplash that stealing from shops was bad. It looked like before he was captured the Pichu made use of his small size to grab what he wanted and leg it.
Now he appeared to be guilt tripping about all the apples and other stuff he'd unknowingly stolen.
They were walking round a shopping centre, trying to find some decent TM's. It was after school hours so the place was pretty packed, but they were making progress.
Kira was particularly after ones to enhance Whiplash's abilities since he couldn't learn much naturally in his unevolved state. She'd already gotten hold of Thunder and was searching the shelves for Rain Dance to match it.
Her fingers skimmed lightly along the TM covers as she searched, trying to work out what kind of an order these things were supposed to be in. It didn't seem to be numerical or alphabetical.
Irritated, and trying to ignore the tiny mouse who was whining from her shoulder that he never realised that people were supposed to get money for that banana he ate a few months ago, and how he hopes they didn't need the money to pay for a life threatening operation or something, Kira finally snapped.
"Whiplash, please shut up. I know you didn't mean to steal, and I'm sure you won't do it again, so it's okay! Now make yourself useful and go look for the words Rain Dance on one of these covers." She gestured to the displays full of disks.
Whiplash grinned and sprung from her shoulder to the top of the rack so he could walk along and try and spot it.
Bleak looked around the shop from his lower perspective, not searching for disks but keeping an eye open for anything that seemed out of place.
After a few minutes Whiplash came bounding back over to them on all fours with a disk in his mouth. Kira took it and was surprised that he'd actually managed to find the damn thing. She congratulated him and he seemed thrilled to be a help.
After paying for the pair of TM's and getting Whiplash the shiny red helium balloon he was begging her for, she decided to go home. Maybe she could stop and get some fast food on the way.
Once they got outside and away from the noise and hubbub of the shopping centre, Bleak became aware, yet again, of the feeling of being watched. He looked about uneasily but couldn't spot anyone.
Whiplash bounced along between the two of them, his balloon tied around his waist. He was disappointed it wasn't strong enough to make him fly, but he was light enough for it to make jumping more fun. A bit. Kira wasn't sure it did anything but he swore it took longer than normal to hit the ground.
"Bleak, you okay?" Kira asked, noticing he was looking behind them. She turned to look herself but there was no one there.
"Yeah," he said quickly, trying to shake the feeling. "Just... I don't know. I feel a bit jumpy I guess."
His trainer nodded, having been feeling a little paranoid herself.
She quickened their pace a little but having two pokémon at her side made her feel stronger. At least she had the means to protect herself today.
There was a sudden BANG! and they all jumped in alarm. Whiplash let out a mournful wail as he realised his balloon was dead. He hugged the piece of rubber sadly and tried to tell himself it had lived a good life.
Kira was looking about warily. As far as she knew, there was no reason for that to have just burst on its own. So why did it? Bleak seemed to be on the same wavelength and they walked ever quicker, feeling increasingly uneasy.
Bleak suddenly yelped and stumbled sideways. He blinked a few times looking dizzy and then collapsed onto the dirty pavement of the street.
Panicking, Kira crouched next to him.
"Bleak?" She gently shook him, trying to rouse him. "C'mon Bleak get up!"
The only movement was the slow rise and fall of his chest. At least she knew he wasn't dead. She tried to roll him over and noticed something protruding from his neck.
Gingerly she pulled it out, shocked to find an empty dart. Did someone shoot him with a tranquiliser? She looked about frantically but the streets seemed to be devoid of any threat.
"Why's he sleeping?" Whiplash asked in a high, scared voice, his little paws twisting the rubber of the balloon nervously.
"Someone shot him!" she choked out, trying to keep from hyperventilating. Not wanting to waste time trying to locate his pokéball from her bag, she scooped Bleak's limp form into her arms and started running.
Whiplash darted along at her heels, occasionally stumbling over the string he still wore.
There was a clinking noise and Kira didn't need to look back to know that another dart had just hit the pavement behind them.
"Stay with me Whiplash," she warned needlessly. The little pokémon was running so close to her feet she was afraid she might tread on him.
Kira didn't know what to do. She was a good half an hour away from home and she couldn't keep up this speed for long. Her breathing was coming out ragged and she cursed that Bleak was so much heavier than he looked.
She didn't know who was shooting at them or where from and she was terrified that either she or Whiplash would also get hit. Or that they'd hit Bleak again… what would a double dosage do!
She spotted a familiar sign over a shop and felt hope wash over her as she made a mad rush for it.
She burst through the door, the bell at the top of it jingling wildly as she rushed for the counter. Just as she'd expected, Lenard was stood behind it showing a customer a book of tattoo designs.
"Kira? What's wrong?" He asked instantly, seeing the distress on her face an in her actions. The other customer was promptly forgotten.
"Oh God, Len! They shot him!" She blurted out, clinging a little tighter to her houndour for emphasis.
Lenard's eyes widened as he took in the limp pokémon's appearance.
"What? Who did?" He asked, rushing to the window to see who was out there.
"I don't know! Someone's after me, they tried to shoot us too!" Kira was trying not to cry but she was shaking terribly.
"I'm sorry, we're now closed." Len hurriedly said to the other burly customer, steering him out the door and hoping he wouldn't get shot as he left. There were a couple of other citizens he could see walking around and none of them seemed to be worried. He could only guess that someone had targeted his young customer only.
Once they were alone, he quickly locked the door and turned the 'closed' sign into place. As an afterthought he shoved a key into a switch and lowered the shutters on the little shop as well.
He noticed there was a Pichu sitting on the floor clutching what appeared to be a burst balloon and emitting small nervous sparks. He was surprised for a minute, but realised he must be with Kira since she wasn't paying him any attention.
Quickly, he ushered them all round the back and up the stairs to his small flat, checking the back door was bolted as they went.
In the living room/ dining room/ kitchen area Kira carefully laid Bleak on the floor and sank to the ground next to him. Whiplash sat trembling nearby, not really understanding what was going on.
Lenard dropped to his knees beside them and looked Bleak over carefully.
Kira showed him the dart which she'd had the mind to pocket and he seemed relieved it hadn't been bullets.
"If it's just a tranquiliser he should wake up when it wears off I guess." He murmured, running a comforting hand over the ivory protrusions on the small canines back.
The daylight was beginning to fade but he didn't want to draw attention by putting the lights on
Cautiously he walked over to the window, pushing a pile of sketchbooks out of the way. He couldn't see anyone suspicious in the streets but that didn't mean they weren't out there.
"Do you have any idea who'd be after you?" He asked, trying to sound calm. One of them needed to be thinking straight at least.
She shook her head. "No… although the other night some guys chased me all the way home. I thought they were muggers or murderers or something. Do you think it could be them?" Her voice was hiccupy and wavering, but she didn't care. She just forlornly held Bleak's black paws in her hands, wishing he'd wake up.
Len looked back to the window thoughtfully. Whoever was after her today certainly wasn't out for murder. If they were they wouldn't be using tranquiliser darts.
But what did that mean? That someone wanted to catch her but keep her alive, he supposed.
"I think we should call the police." He finally said, then paused and frowned. It looked like there was someone on the roof of a shop someway down the street on the other side of the road.
Kira watched him from the floor as he walked quickly to a messy shelving unit and dug about for his binoculars. He found them and hurried back to the window.
"I think I see the culprits." He said slowly. "There's two guys on the roof down the road. These binoculars aren't brilliant but I think one of them's holding something. It could well be a gun." He hesitated and messed with the focus a bit. Oh crap… it looked like they were wearing Rocket uniforms.
He turned to look at the terrified girl on his floor and wondered if he should share that information. He also wondered what the heck she'd done to draw fire from the Rockets. They might have a bad reputation but they never just attacked randomly for fun.
"Don't panic, but I think they might be Rocket grunts." He said slowly, lifting the binoculars again.
Kira gasped miserably. The Rockets couldn't be after her again! She'd done that part of her life a long time ago and it wasn't something she wanted to repeat.
"I heard in the news that they attacked the Academy. I was kinda hoping you'd pop in 'cause I was worried. I heard there were a few injuries and a lot of people lost their pokémon."
He looked round at her and she nodded quietly. "Yeah I was one of the lucky ones."
Len tried to work out how to phrase his next sentence.
"You didn't do anything to piss them off while they were there did you?"
She laughed bitterly and shook her head again. "Not really, no."
It was all coming together in her mind now. The guys who had spoken to her headmaster… Redwood's descriptions of them were a near perfect match for the Rockets she'd encountered.
They must have recognised her from seven years ago or something. But would they really hold a grudge that long?
"Oh man, they know where I live!" she gasped out in a panic, causing Lenard to look at her in confusion.
"What makes you say that?" He asked, getting the feeling he wasn't hearing the full story.
"Those guys out there… Does one have green hair and the other blonde?" she asked, ignoring his query.
He eyed her warily but nodded. Now he knew she wasn't telling him everything.
"Well since it's the Rockets and in recent news reports there's been a high level of suspicion about them having members secretly in the police force, I guess it's out of the question to call the cops." Len stated wearily.
Kira nodded, she'd heard about that too. Often in crimes involving Team Rocket, calling the police only seemed to help the criminals so there was a big investigation about it at the moment.
They were both silent for a little while and Lenard watched as the men disappeared from the roof. He didn't see them come down into the street and could only hope that they hadn't seen where she'd run too. Maybe they'd given up for the night.
He pulled the tattered blind down over the window and flipped on the light as he walked over to the sink. Getting them a couple of glasses of water he settled himself on the floor across from Kira, disregarding the chairs completely.
He watched as she gratefully gulped down the cold liquid, her hands shaking less than they had been earlier.
He ran a hand through his dishevelled sandy hair nervously.
He liked Kira and everything, hell she was one of his best customers but he wasn't too thrilled she'd gotten him involved in all this. Messing with Team Rocket usually found you dead in a ditch somewhere and he liked his life, humble as it may be.
He looked over at the mostly forgotten electric type who was sitting with his ears drooped, looking like he wanted to be invisible.
"Hey there little guy. You okay?" He asked in a friendly tone. The Pichu looked up at him with wide eyes and nodded stiffly. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Lenard, the guy who's responsible for the piercings on your two friends."
The mouse seemed to relax a smidgen and replied in his little pokémon voice, but Len had to look to Kira for help, since he'd never learnt pokéspeak.
Kira dragged her eyes away from Bleak and set her glass on the floor beside her.
"Oh, right. This is Whiplash. I caught him a little while ago at the Academy when he was disrupting things there. He's pretty young but don't get on his bad side. His thundershock is really powerful."
Len nodded and held out a hand to the little creature.
Whiplash edged cautiously closer, his eyes darting to Kira, who nodded her trust of the man.
Once the pokémon was close enough, he rubbed him affectionately behind the ears and it was a change for Whiplash to have someone petting him in such a rough and carefree way. He stated his approval and rubbed against the guys hand contentedly.
Kira watched how easily Lenard interacted with her pokémon and felt a mild stab of jealousy. It had taken her a lot longer to work up the nerve to just touch the Pichu and even now she wasn't always entirely at ease with him.
"Well I guess we're stuck here for a while," Lenard said, stretching and causing is spine to pop faintly. "You hungry?"
Kira blushed slightly as her stomach growled in answer. "Eh… Yes?" She smiled meekly.
He chuckled and stood up, not complaining or even really reacting when Whiplash darted to his shoulder. "Pizza sound okay?" He asked, pulling one out of the little freezer. When she nodded he set about getting the oven ready and stuff.
After they'd eaten and Kira had managed to find a packet of pokémon food left over from lunch in her bag for Whiplash, they sat back on the chairs. Kira pulled the still sleeping houndour onto her lap, not wanting to leave him on the floor.
"Len… Thanks." She said sincerely, dropping her gaze.
"It was just pizza," he joked with a smile.
She smirked back at him, "You know what I mean. Thanks for everything. For not turning me away when I needed help. Most people would have told me to get lost and stop dragging them into my messes."
He smiled warmly at her and nodded. "It's no problem. I can't turn away a damsel in distress now can I? But seriously Kira… are you going to tell me what's really going on?"
She was quiet for a moment, thinking over how to reply. But she decided she owed him the full story and eventually gave him an edited version of what she'd told Bleak before. She cut out anything too emotional and just tried to tell it from a detached point of view.
Whiplash was also curious to hear this and slowly crept into her arms as she spoke.
When she was done Len felt sorry for her, but also sort of proud. The fact that she'd had such a rough start to life but had still done so well and put the effort in at school made him smile. She was still managing to chase her dream of pokémon training even though most in her situation would have probably spent their lives hiding from the world.
He was also amazed to hear she'd escaped from Team Rocket at all.
As much as he'd have liked to he didn't badger her with questions about it all. He knew that he wouldn't want to talk about it if the situation was reversed.
Bleak suddenly stirred on her lap and gave a small whimper. Len hurried to get him a bowl of water and Kira talked soothingly to him as he woke up. He felt disorientated and confused and his head was pounding, but he seemed okay. He greedily lapped up the water, finding himself really thirsty.
Kira filled him in on the situation as they knew it and Len scouted about for his phone. He found it under a pile of magazines and sat back down.
"You can crash here tonight if you want." He offered, "I don't really want you walking home now."
Kira accepted the offer gratefully, having been dreading the walk home. At least she felt kind of safe here for now.
He passed her the phone. "You might want to ring home and let them know about what's happening."
She did so and explained the situation to a mortified Louisa (the woman who ran the orphanage) who really wanted to phone the police. In the end Len took the phone and had a discussion with her, finally convincing her to let Kira stay without getting the police involved at all.
He also promised that he'd make sure to escort her home tomorrow but poor Louisa still sounded upset. She did worry about the children in her care, and Kira had been with her for a long time. They'd never really bonded but she'd hate for anything to happen to the girl.
Eventually she said goodnight to Kira and bid her be safe.
Kira was still shaken up by everything that had happened and looked exhausted, so Lenard suggested she get some sleep. He insisted she take his bed for the night and made himself comfy on the couch, saying he didn't want to move when she refused. He managed to convince her to take the bed finally and lay back against the cushions of the couch.
No matter what his efforts were tonight, he knew the Rockets would ultimately get hold of her. They knew where her school was, where she lived, everything. She'd either have to leave or hide somewhere unexpected… forever. Nope, there was very little he could do to help and walking her home tomorrow would feel like walking her right into a trap.
He sighed and wished he'd bought that growlithe puppy he'd been offered last year. As it was he didn't think he'd be sleeping much tonight.
Whoo! I enjoyed writing that one. It's good to be feeling better!
I had this written a few days after the last one but I couldn't upload it. It seems to be sorted now though, thank goodness. I was about to give up on it!
Thanks to anyone who's reading this and I hope this chapter makes up for the not-so-good one I did last time. And MorriganFearn, I brought Lenard back just for you. He's fun to write. :)
Ooh! And ObsidianSpires, thank you so much for reviewing all the chapters like that! It really made me smile. :)
Please review!