A/N: This chapter...I just…Things…whatever…A combination of The Division beta and working like 50 hours of the last 72 made this chapter….rough….

Who Are You

Misty bites her lip staring at Brock over the dying fire. It's crackling-the wood is far too wet-but it's loud. Which is good. The woods scream at night. And Brock...Brock hasn't said anything since they'd tied up Team Rocket. He'd been silent during their run away from the trio. Quiet when she and Ash realized they were lost. He hadn't said anything while they'd set up camp beyond a repeated decree that not only were two tents necessary, but that Ash and Misty could not share. Then he'd fallen silent.

Again.

He hadn't even spoken while Ash and Misty bandaged each other up-he had looked away when Ash had redone Misty's stitches but said nothing. It was weird. Brock could be quiet at times but he was rarely...silent.

Ash had walked off to find more firewood, taking with him both Pikachu and Staryu. He couldn't handle Brock's silence and honestly, Misty hadn't felt terribly talkative either. But with Ash gone and only the fire and the screams that made up the night, Misty thinks she might explode. The camp is entirely too empty. It's just her and Brock and two tents and a fire and Onix sleeping around them-though having the rock snake for a boundary is certainly comforting. There's no noise beyond the night and Misty...Misty needs something said or done or….She opens her mouth to talk but shuts it when Brock looks up at her harshly.

He says nothing, but his eyes dart away the moment hers meet them.

Misty breathes out and opens her mouth again to say something, anything, when Brock starts talking.

"You commanded Pikachu." He starts and Misty blinks. Has that been bothering him? Sure it was unusual for trainers to command friends or even family members pokémon but Ash's pokémon had always listened to her. And her pokémon had always listened to Ash. Well...except Psyduck. Psyduck didn't really listen to anybody. For a moment, Misty pities her sisters left to deal with the...unique...challenges that Psyduck brings. It's a moment that passes when she remembers that they're not dealing with those challenges. Professor Oak is. Tracey too now that she thinks about it. They're taking care of her pokémon just as they do for Ash.

"You ok, Misty?" Brock asks, breaking her from her reverie. His voice is off-concerned, yes but also distant. It's not like Brock but...

Misty nods, slowly wiping a tear. "Just remembering the Gym." She replies.

Brock nods. "You know...you commanding Pikachu isn't like sharing pokémon at the gym with your sisters." He says, scrubbing a hand over his face. He looks tired and sad, though Misty isn't sure why.

"How? Pikachu was trained by both of us and has spent his entire trained life with the two of us. I mean...we started our journeys on the same day and finished that day together. We pretty much share him. We pretty much share all of our pokémon. Besides, it's Ash. He's practically a pokémon whisperer." Misty smiles across the fire, hoping to catch Brock's eyes. They've joked about this before; the way Ash seems to have an uncanny ability to get pokémon to listen to him. Well, except Charizard…but even Ash must have his limits. "Is that what's bothering you?"

"No. The two of you have always done that, I guess. Actually, I've never thought about that before." He looks away, his voice still tight and serious. This is not the way she'd expected him to respond. Usually he'd bring up Charizard and then they'd be laughing over the crazy things Ash had done to try and win the fiery dragon over.

"What is bothering you then?" She catches his eyes again but Brock looks away, refusing to meet her eyes. She breathes out, a long puff of white fog that dissipates into the chilly air, before walking around the fire to kneel in front of Brock and meet his eyes. She cocks her head for a moment, listening for the soft rustling of Ash searching for firewood and the jostling of Pikachu and Staryu, and smiles.

"When did that happen?" Brock asks, voice edged with some tone Misty can't place. She tilts her head, confused, and Brock continues. "You're smiling just because..." He's cut off by Ash re-entering the camp. "Nevermind." He says.

Ash's eyes dart around the campsite, slight alarm showing in the bright fire when Misty is not where she had been when he'd left. He glances in the tents and finally at Brock, breathing out audibly when he spots her. Misty and Brock watch as Ash places another stick on the fire and retrieves Staryu's pokeball, recalling the star shaped creature with a soft "thank you."

"I still think it's strange." Brock says as Ash walks up to the two of them, ever present energy bars in his hands.

"What's strange?" Ash asks, handing one bar to each of his companions.

Misty takes a bite and, through her mouthful, comments, "The way we use each other's' pokémon."

"Is that why you didn't talk at all while we were setting up camp?" Ash asks, taking a bite of his own meal.

Brock glances at his own energy bar with something akin to disgust before opening and taking a wincing bite. "No." He says, once he's swallowed. "You two have always done that. It's weird but…"

"So why haven't you said anything?" Ash asks around a mouth of food.

Brock turns back towards Misty, any humor fallen from his face. "You commanded Pikachu…"

"And?" Misty asks, cutting him off. She's smiling though, knowing she's cut him off again as a joke.

He doesn't smile back. "Arceus, let me get two words in." His face grows flushed.

Misty's smile falls. This is serious, not some half-baked concern over who the pokémon listen too. Misty resettles herself beside Ash, facing Brock so that he has her full attention.

"You commanded Pikachu against Team Rocket. Misty, you attacked James and not Victreebel. What were you thinking?"

Misty blinks for a moment, unable to form an answer. She feels more than sees Ash open his mouth and puts a hand up to stop his reply. Right now, this isn't his fight. "I was thinking, Brock," she spits, standing up to face him with her hands on her hips. The white gauze of her bandaged arms is stark against the night. Ash shivers. Pikachu's ears twitch at the tone and he rushes from Ash, towards Misty's tent-no doubt to curl up with Togepi. Even Onix, around the tent, lows uncomfortably at her pitch. In the woods, beyond their camp, a wild scream tears from the throat of some pokémon. As soon as it stops, Misty starts. "I was thinking that Victreebel had my best friend in its vines and that if I took James out, Victreebel would be recalled without risking Ash. I was thinking that Meowth and Jessie were down and if I could just take out James then we'd have won. I was thinking that if I didn't attack first, then James would." She hits each word violently, tone growing quieter with each repeated phrase.

"Misty, come on though. There's always a way out of these things. Besides, the League would kick you out if they saw what I saw. " Brock replies quietly.

Misty scoffs. "What League, Brock?" Brock begins to reply but Misty raises a hand, cutting him off. Very carefully, and enunciating each word as though demanding that he understand, she states, "There. Is. No. League. Here." Her eyes never leave his.

Brock looks away. And Misty's face falls. He doesn't understand. He can't understand. But he has too. Thinking that way had gotten herself and Ash hurt so many times. You didn't win out here, you got away to fight again. But...well...Misty wouldn't have believed it either if you'd told her that a month ago.

"And you didn't see everything either." Ash puts in quietly, standing up to put a hand on Misty's shoulder. She shakes him off, but he repeats the gesture until her hands unclench and her expression softens. Together they sit back down. "Team Rocket attacked first. And they did attack us." He holds up his own bandaged arms, white gauze as stark against his skin as Misty's. Misty nods.

Brock shakes his head. "You were standing too close to the fight, it's not hard to get hit by Razorleaf."

"Especially not when it's aimed at you." Misty replies, incredulously. "Brock you know us, do you really think that we'd attack Team Rocket without a reason?"

"No." Brock replies, standing up. "I just don't think there is reason enough to attack a person. And it's Team Rocket, Misty. Team Rocket. You know of 'blasting off again' fame..." He throws his wrapper in the fire, watching it spark as another scream rips from the woods. "I can't watch you do that to anybody, even Team Rocket. Especially Team Rocket. They're harmless." He shakes his head, looking for all the world like Delia when she's reminding Ash of something he's forgotten.

Misty scoffs. He can be as disappointed in her as he wants but it changes nothing. Yes, it was Team Rocket. It's always Team Rocket. But if she and Ash don't attack first then...well...Misty feels like crying, or screaming, or punching. Something. Or someone. Brock just doesn't understand. But, how could he? He hasn't been here with them...with Jessie and James...he hasn't seen….well...he can see… Misty sighs and begins to roll up her shirt.

"Misty, what are you doing?" Brock asks, alarmed, he's put his hands up over his face.

"Mist?" Ash asks.

Misty rolls her shirt up to her ribs so that the jagged pink line that runs from her navel to her heart is visible. "Yeah, it's just Team Rocket. That's what we thought. We thought that right up to the point that Meowth casually strolled right past Pikachu and stuck his claws through my chest. They're not pulling any punches, Brock. Neither can we." Misty stares at Brock, still holding her shirt up, as though daring him to look away.

He does.

"I'm going to bed." Brock replies, turning away. His voice is hoarse and tired. He takes a few steps and then stops, shoulder sagging. "Ash, you know you're sleeping in my tent, right?"

"Yeah." Ash replies, standing up. "Night, Misty." And together he and Brock walk towards one of the tents.

Misty sighs and releases Staryu. "I'm going to bed." She tells the water pokémon, rolling down her shirt. "Watch the fire please?" Staryu responds with a soft hyaa and Misty nods and settles herself in her tent, barely shoving Pikachu aside so that she has room. "Sleeping in here?" she asks the electric mouse who snores in response. "Guess so, night." Misty shuts her eyes.

And opens them in a stone room.

A very familiar stone room. She sighs, mind flooding with dread. This dream again. Why did it have to be this dream again?

She's standing, she can feel her legs beneath her. They wobble as though she can't even hold her own weight. Her breath is caught in her throat and as her vision clears, Misty knows exactly why her heart is pounding.

It's Ash.

Falling from high enough in the sky that she doesn't even know where he possibly could have fallen from.

There's no water beneath him. Only stone. And pokémon. A battlefield of pokémon all watching with her as Ash slowly drops.

His body is rigid, he's not even flailing.

When Misty had been really little, she'd jumped from the high dive-her sisters had told her they would catch her, but of course scattered the moment she'd jumped. She'd flailed at first, trying somehow to find something to catch herself on in the air. But in the end, she'd given up, resigned herself to hitting the water alone and just fallen.

Ash reminds her of that as he falls.

Except...

Except...

She'd been alive, Misty had been, when she'd fallen. And she remembers, as still as she'd tried to stay, she couldn't help her arms and legs tensing in the free fall.

But Ash….

His body is too rigid. It's almost...frozen.

He might not be alive.

Misty want's to look away, but knows that any time she does her face will be forced back forwards. Still, she tries and tries and tries and like always she watches him fall...

Down

...down

…...down

She hears him hit the stone, his body crunches in the impact.

She's watching still while around her the pokémon wail.

And her throat hurts. And her eyes are raw and above it all there's a high, keening sound.

It's from her. It's coming from her.

There's a sound, like metal teeth slowly teasing apart.

The tent!

The zipper!

A dream.

Her eyes shoot open. "Pikachu." She whispers. He's already awake, electricity sparking at his cheeks as he postures, ready to tackle whatever comes through the tent door. "Wait for it." she cautions as the zipper slides down further. Misty scoots to her knees, shoving Togepi behind her legs to protect him. Whatever comes in, she and Pikachu can take it. A head pushes through the door, Misty barely registers shaggy black hair before she's caught Pikachu as he leaps through the air. "It's Ash." She whispers, but it's unnecessary. Pikachu has already de-powered his cheeks and is cuddling into her arms as Ash pushes the tent door down further.

A scream from the woods rips through the tent when Ash finally gets it unzipped enough that he can crawl in. They wait, looking at each other in just the light from Pikachu's cheeks until the scream ends and they can hear again. "You're awake?" he says, surprised. It's loud, too loud against the quiet of the tent and the coos of Togepi as he sleeps. Misty winces, nodding in answer to Ash's question. He opens his mouth again but Misty puts a finger to her lips. Ash nods and they lapse into silence. Misty fumbles around in her bag for a flashlight but finds only an old glowstick. She holds it up and Ash's face breaks into a grin. It's not a large tent, they're practically knee to knee and they don't need a light to see one another. Still, Misty breaks the glow stick and the tent fills with a pale green light.

"What are you doing up?" She whispers. Ash shrugs and then flushes, or at least, Misty thinks he does. The light casts odd shadows and colors them both strangely.

"You can tell me." She continues. But still Ash is silent, looking away from her face. Misty breathes out a sigh. "How did you escape rocks for brains?"

Ash smiles, "He's not that bad…" he starts, trailing off at the dark look Misty shoots him. He swallows hard and sighs. "He was snoring. It was so loud I couldn't hear the night." He says. Misty nods. The screaming, he means. Ash sighs. "Actually, I could hear it over him. It's so much quieter next to you."

"What do you mean?" Misty asks, anger fading from her tone in surprise.

"I don't know." Ash says, shifting his eyes, "I don't...hear as much when we share tents or beds...or whatever..."he trails off looking away. If he hadn't been blushing before, he is now.

"Oh….is that why you're here?" Misty asks.

"Yeah...no...maybe?" Ash says.

"Well, I think that's probably every possible answer." Misty shoots back sarcastically.

"Yeah. " Ash replies, and then they're quiet again until Ash takes a deep breath. "Why are you awake?" He asks.

Misty shrugs. "I had a nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ash asks.

"Do you want to talk about yours?" Misty returns.

Ash's mouth drops open briefly before he smiles and shakes his head. "Of course you know. You always know." He murmurs.

Misty nods. "I'll share if you do." She says.

"OK. I don't remember much about it...just that...I was falling."

Misty shivers, and huddles in on herself. "What do you mean you were falling?" She asks, voice dripping fear.

Ash blinks. "I was falling. And I couldn't move. And there were a lot of pokémon. I think they were fighting."

Misty shivers again. "Have you ever had that dream before?"

Ash nods. "Why?"

"I had the same dream."

"Ash eyes widen. "You mean you fell too? Isn't it terrifying?"

"No, Ash. I watched you fall." Misty says. Her throat feels tight and her heart is pounding. This is wierd. They should have the same dream, right?

"Oh." Ash says, and he shivers.

"Cold?" Misty asks, knowing the answer.

"No." he replies. They're silent for a few moments before Ash looks away. "Can I uh…" He starts, scratching his nose.

Misty sighs. "Where's your sleeping bag?"

"What?" Ash asks, looking taken aback for the second time in the night.

"You were going to ask if you could sleep in here. You can. Where's your sleeping bag?"

"In Brock's tent." Ash replies, not even questioning that Misty knew exactly what he was going to ask.

Misty breathes out, hard, trying to stop herself from clenching her hands at the mention of their friend's name. It's a fight she loses. "Well," she says darkly, tone dangerously low, "You get to deal with him in the morning too."

Ash sighs. "He's just trying to help, you know?"

"I know...but...we're not kids. We're not his siblings. We know what we're doing." Misty's face feels red hot ion anger and frustration and...And the tent suddenly feels stuffy and airless. The glow stick dies, dropping the tent into an uneasy dark. Togepi coos and rolls over. Misty soothes a hand over his shell and sighs. "Do you want to go outside?" She asks. Ash nods and crawls out through the flap, holding it aside so that Misty can do the same. Carefully, so as not to wake him, Misty settles Pikachu next to Togepi and follows Ash into the night air.

It's freezing out, cold enough that Misty's breath catches in her throat the second she's out from the tent.

But it's open.

And airy.

And she can breathe.

By the pale light of the night, she and Ash make their way over to Staryu and sit in front of the dying fire. Staryu has been watching it, patiently. There are char marks around the circle where the fire's escaped and been doused. Staryu's gem glints oddly in the non-flame but somehow, against the starless night...it's enough.

Misty yawns, leaning against Ash's shoulder. "You know Brock's going to kill us in the morning, right?" Misty asks, half-jokingly.

Beside her, Ash tenses. "Why? We're not breaking any rules; we're not sharing a tent. Besides, who let him make the rules anyway?"

"We did."

"But, why? We're not kids anymore. We can make our own choices."

"So, we stop. We've made our own choices this far." Misty yawns.

Ash's body deflates, the anger melting with the tenseness in his shoulders. "And we've made such good ones too." He says, glumly.

Misty smacks him. "We've made some mistakes, yeah. But we're still standing. He'll get it. Eventually."

"You think?" Ash asks, leaning his head against Misty's

Misty nods. "Yeah. He'll have to." Her eyes feel gritty, and heavy. She rubs them tiredly. They'll work it out. Somehow.

Beside her, Ash's breathing evens out. Misty sighs, envious of his ability to do that-, too fall asleep. She's still awake and angry. Somewhere beyond the camp a scream tears through the night and Misty shivers, willing day to come.