The Virus

Disclaimer: See Chapter Seven

A/N: Terribly sorry I haven't put anything up in a long time - I just haven't had any ideas until recently.

Chapter Nine: Two Betrayals

I awoke slowly, remembering the best day of my life, the best night of my life. I opened my eyes, seeing my white flower lying next to me, still asleep, arms wrapped around me. I was sorely tempted to make love to her again, she looked so divine. Instead, I placed a kiss upon her forehead.

"Voiir~" she moaned, tightening her grip. I snuggled closer to her, my Lily, my flower. I planted another kiss, this time on her lips. As I pulled away, she moved her head to reconnect our mouths.

'Good morning, my love,' she whispered in that wonderful telepathic voice of hers, eyes still closed.

I deepened our kiss, wrapping my free arm around her, bringing her closer to me.

'Morning,' I thought back. 'I didn't want to disturb you...'

We surfaced from our kiss and she opened her eyes, a beautiful ruby red.

'You could never disturb me,' she murmured. 'I like seeing you when I wake.'

I smiled warmly at her - then my stomach growled.

"Aww, mood killer,' I muttered. Lily giggled as my stomach growled in response - just before hers followed suit.

"Guess we'd better grab something to eat," I sighed, sitting up. Lily sat up as well, allowing the bedsheets to slide off her pale body. We had slept in the nude, appreciating each other, inhaling the scents of our lovemaking until we fell asleep.

I got up to dress, throwing on a grey shirt and pulling on my black jeans while Lily watched.

"Aren't you going to get dressed?" I asked her while I dressed.

'Who says I'm not?' she replied. I turned around, and sure enough, she was already clothed.

"No fair, you can just teleport them on," I complained.

She giggled. 'Well, there is a bonus to having my gown -' she stepped closer, '- and that's the fact that I'm not wearing anything else,' she whispered seductively in my ear.

I let a growl rumble in my throat. "Don't tempt me into taking you right now," I replied, "and I know you'd love it, too..."

She leaned closer and gave me a peck on the cheek. 'Not when someone's about to knock on the door, stud.'

Sure enough -

BANG, BANG, BANG!

"Lily, Daemon, time to get off each other, it's morning!" Seth shouted through the metal door.

"You don't think...?"

'Someone was bound to notice the empty washroom with our clothes in it...'

I sighed. "Well, might as well go and grab some breakfast..."

'I'll be right there...I just have to - urp!'

At that, she vanished. Perplexed, I merely shrugged and opened the door, coming face-to-face with Seth.

"Morning Seth. Uh, you haven't told anyone else, have you?"

"I haven't. Why, planning to let everyone else know yourself? And where's Lily?"

"No, I just have a feeling that with three Psychic-types, an Aura warrior and a few snips of gossip would be enough to spread it...and Lily poofed off to somewhere in a hurry," I replied.

Seth shrugged, and headed towards the cafeteria. I followed, trying to get a scent of what might be cooking.

Some time later, Lily decided to show up, appearing next to me at a table, startling me. She looked paler than usual.

"What's up, Lily? You don't look too well."

'I-I don't know. I just felt ill earlier and had to puke,' she replied softly, shivering a bit. I rubbed her shoulders to warm her up as she cuddled into my embrace.

A pink furball leapt up onto our table - Sue.

'What's this I hear about you feeling ill, Lily?' she inquired, cocking her head to a side.

"I'll be right back, I'll just get you something," I whispered into Lily's ear. She simply nodded in reply and began talking to Sue, blushing a bit.

As I got to the buffet-style table, I was greeted by John.

"So you two finally made your feelings known to each other," he said, reaching for an Aspear Berry. I grabbed a few Oran Berries, thinking that Lily might not be able to handle the sourness of the Sitrus Berry at this time.

"Yeah, we did," I replied.

"Lily doesn't look all that well. Erm, did you guys - you know..." he drifted off.

"Missing your own girl so badly you need stories of other guys doing it with theirs?" I replied, smirking a bit.

"No!" he replied, a little too quickly. Clearing his throat, he continued. "Erm, no. You see, I'm asking because my mate experienced a sick phase after she went into heat, and we, well, mated. A few days later, we had an egg."

"Congratulations," I said, not knowing what else to say.

"Save it. What I had with my mate didn't last long - she was murdered, and our egg crushed by a marauding group of Scyther and Scizor. I never told my parents about it. They still think I have a family to go back to." His shoulders sagged, and I clapped my hand around him.

"What are you talking about? We are your family now."

"Thanks, Daemon. That means a lot." I gave him a brotherly shake and we went our separate ways for the time being. I still had to give Lily her berries.

As I approached our table, both Lily and Sue looked up, happy smiles on their faces.

"Did I miss a good joke?" I asked, setting the Oran Berries in front of Lily.

'I - well, um...I'll tell you later,' Lily stammered, beaming.

I shrugged, and was about to take a bite out of one of the Oran Berries, when something created a racket just outside of the room. Everyone was on their feet instantly, weapons and special moves ready to fire. I did a quick head count. Good. Everyone was here, which meant that we could all be teleported if the shit hit the fan.

Everyone's gaze was locked on the door as it slowly opened. I, myself, tightened my grip on DI, already reaching for another magazine.

'Um, hello?' A voice called out. It sounded masculine. I motioned to Arc and John to take up positions by the rooms' double doors as I moved closer to them.

'Daemon, please be safe,' Lily called out behind me. I gave her a thumbs-up to acknowledge her.

"Open the door, slowly. Keeps your hands or any other appendages where we can see them."

The doors opened slowly, and stood before me was another Gallade. I had an itching suspicion that we've met before, a suspicion that was confirmed by a sharp gasp of recognition from Lily.

'DAD!' Lily called out, almost rushing past me before I stopped her with an outstretched arm.

"Anyone or anything with you?" I asked, keeping my eyes on and around the Gallade, looking for signs of movement.

'If you're asking if any of those hideous beings are with me, then no. I'm here all by myself. I've been wandering around for the past few weeks, looking for anyone who wasn't changed.'

I could tell, however, that he'd been searching for much longer, and for someone else. The bags under his eyes, a few healed scars and other tells told me that he was lying. I wouldn't confront him about it - not now, anyways. I locked eyes with Arc and John, and they emerged, looking over the new addition to our group, eyes focusing on the nearly black crest. I wondered what the colouration meant.

"Alright, you're clean," Arc admonished. "Now why aren't you speaking freely? Why use telepathy?"

'A promise to my mate. I promised her I wouldn't speak aloud until I had made amends with our daughter and her Trainer,' he replied, now locking eyes with me.

Those eyes...the same ruby red as Lily's. They held none of the warmth that she had when looking at me. I knew that we would be crossing blades sooner or later - hopefully not literally.

Those eyed kept a firm lock on mine for what seemed like forever, until I noticed Lily streaking past me in a blur to embrace her father. It was only then that our eye contact broke, and he gazed warmly upon his daughter, my lover.

'We have so much to catch up on! C'mon!' Lily said, and at that, the pair of them vanished into thin air.

"He's lying," Seth said immediately. "The colour of his Aura is in flux."

Arc nodded. "The extremely dark colouring of his crest suggests that he has been longing to inflict revenge, or some other pain upon another soul."

"It also suggests that he wanted to retrieve something that was once his, but had been taken from him," John added.

I said nothing, my suspicions now confirmed beyond a doubt. I had to keep an eye on him now. Instead, I asked, "How long do you think he's been longing for these things?"

"Close to a decade," Arc said. "If it was less than five years, his crest would be grey, or at least a greyish-blue."

Since Lily had decided to come with me on my Pokemon journey. I was now getting a bit worried, but pushed that to the back of my mind - for now.

"Well, considering we aren't under attack, let's finish eating!" Alex said, diving back into his large meal - or would have if his Snorlax hadn't already inhaled it.

"What the - HEY!" Alex shouted, glaring at his Pokemon.

"Snorrrr..." the 'Mon replied, already in a deep sleep. Alex pouted, getting up to head back to the serving table while the rest of us laughed.

Later that day, we were packing up. All of us had agreed that we couldn't risk another night or two in the compromised complex. We had already spent three days recovering from injuries, and didn't know if there was going to be a surge of infected or if the complex was going to explode, like the message from the GOA promised. Either way, we were moving out.

I had already packed my supplies into a duffel bag and stuffed it into the back compartment of one LRV. We were going to be taking two vehicles under the cover of darkness to the coordinates given to us from the GOA's message. From the information given to us by the LRV's GPS', it would be a few days' ride, non-stop.

The LRV's were well-equipped. Each vehicle had a turret on the top that could rotate 360 degrees and sported dual .50 caliber heavy machine guns, separated by a thick metal shield. Arc and John would be manning them, although anyone could operate them in a pinch. It was the same for any weapon - safe and live. Flick the safety off, squeeze the trigger, and watch as dual HMG's tear into any opposing force.

The others were still going back and forth between the vehicles and their quarters, so I went off in search of Lily. I didn't have to look hard, for when I opened our bedroom, she was there, still talking with her father. Both of them looked up at the sound of hinges creaking.

'Oh, Daemon, I was just about to tell my dad the news about us!'

"Really? Well I guess I arrived at the right time. But first, I have to let you two know that we're getting ready to move out."

'We're leaving? Why?'

"It was a unanimous decision to leave. We can't stay in a damaged building, Lily."

I saw the understanding in her eyes, but I knew why she wanted to stay - the memories of our first love session rested in this complex.

'I understand,' she said aloud. 'But, at least I have some great news, father - I have a mate!'

He looked at his daughter, eyes wide with happiness. 'You've found a Gallade? Is it one of the two that I met earlier? Or have you gone with something a bit more cuddly - the Lucario, perhaps?'

'No, father, I've gone with someone I've loved for several years,' she replied, giggling. The shine in her fathers' eyes went out, instantly knowing who she meant, and glared at me.

'He forced himself upon you, didn't he?' He asked, all accusation. I bristled with rage - he thought that I would rape her? My beautiful Lily? As I opened my mouth to put him in his place, Lily intervened.

'Father! Daemon would never do such a thing! How could you even suggest something like that?'

"I think it's because you went with me without his consent," I said without thinking. I had no doubt in my mind that was the reason.

'Yes, that is the reason. I feared you had forced her into going with you, made her think she was loved...possibly even forced yourself upon her when she wasn't fully evolved...'

It took everything in my power to not knock him flat on his ass for even suggesting the notion. I took a few deep breaths to try and calm myself before saying, "Guess I didn't live up to your expectations. Lily, if you need me, I'll be helping the rest of the guys pack their stuff into the trucks." At that, I left the room, slamming the metal door behind me. I needed to walk this off before I did something I knew I would regret.

I was walking towards Lily's bedroom, looking for Daemon. I knew I could've asked one of the other guys to help me out, but they were all doing their own thing, and I didn't want to be a bother and Daemon had already finished packing his stuff. I rapped on the door and was greeted by a telepathic 'Come in!'

As I opened the door, I quickly noticed that Daemon wasn't in the room.

'Hi Alex, how can I help you?' Lily asked. She was still talking to the new Gallade - apparently he was her father. Something told me that he wasn't trustworthy - besides the fact that everyone called him a lier after he went to catch up with Lily.

"I was just looking for Daemon," I replied, noticing the stare the Gallade was giving me. Those eyes gave me goosebumps - they weren't kind like John or Seth, and even less so than Lily's.

'Actually, you just missed him,' she said, looking a bit downcast. 'He said that he was going to help the rest of you guys pack up for the trip.'

"That's odd, I didn't see him on my way here..."

'He must be taking the long way...there was a - a disagreement between him and my father,' she said, taking a quick glance at him.

"I'll go look for him - nobody should be wandering alone, even if he's fully capable of protecting himself."

'Thank you Alex - take care of yourself,' Lily replied, looking a bit more relieved. I headed down an adjacent hallway, trying to think of the most likely way Daemon had headed - and why those two had gotten into a "disagreement". Something told me it wasn't as simple as that.

I spent a good twenty-odd minutes wandering around, looking for Daemon, when I decided he must have gone back to the motorpool. I was just turning back when I heard footsteps.

"Hello? Daemon?" I called out.

Instead of a reply, I saw a Gallade - the same one Lily was talking to, coming out of the shadows.

"You're not Daemon," I said stupidly.

'No,' he replied, 'but you're going to help me get my revenge on him.'

Before I could refuse, he leapt at me, arm outstretched. All I saw was a blur of his arm backhanding me, then the numb depths of unconsciousness.

I paced around the vehicles. It was getting late, and nobody had seen Alex. We couldn't assume the worst yet - but if he was taking his time bringing something, then he was cutting it ridiculously close. I growled audibly, showing my irritation at the matter, when my Trainer put her hand on my shoulder.

"Relax, Seth," Elaine said, smiling nervously.

I sighed. She was right. I wasn't helping the situation by being upset about it. But we were running out of time. Who knew when those beasts would come back for Round Two, or, worse, the complex would detonate under our feet, us none the wiser until we stared Death in the face. But nonetheless, I took a deep breath and refocused my Aura. I looked at my Trainer and nodded, taking a seat and crossing my legs. I would meditate until this matter was resolved. Unfortunately, Archaeon didn't have as much restraint as the rest of us.

"Dammit!" he shouted, bringing a fist down on the hood of a nearby pickup, denting it. "How much longer is that kid going to take? We can't stay here much longer!"

"We'll stay here as long as we have to - we leave no-one behind," Daemon replied.

Daemon, our pseudo leader, may have the best intentions at heart, but I had to agree with Archaeon. I, however, would not bring myself into the argument.

"I'll give the kid half an hour - then we leave!" Archaeon spat back, his anger now taking over much of his Aura, tinting it black.

"And I said we'll wait as long as we have to!" Daemon shouted back, now standing up. "We leave no person or Pokemon behind, you hear me? I don't care how you handled troops while you were "working" for the military, but I'm not having this bullshit, clear?"

"Who the fuck made you leader, huh?"

"I never asked for this position!"

"Then give it to someone who did ask for it!"

'HEY! Cool it, or I'm going to have to put you two in Psychic stasis for the entire ride, got it?' Sue blasted in our heads, making all of us wince.

"You don't have the skill or power to do that," Archaeon said, scoffing at her.

'Want to be the first test subject, then?' Sue asked sweetly. I sensed a deeper power within her, and suspected she may not be who she claims to be. I, personally, would not want to test her limits.

Huffing, Archaeon turned his back on her, muttering under his breath. Daemon looked more stressed about this confrontation than necessary, and he even had his shotgun out and a hand on the charging handle. Lily floated to him, tugging at his arm, telling him to relax and to go and sit with her. I guess after mating, Daemon wanted to keep Lily as safe and happy as possible, so he ran his hand through his hair and followed her to the other truck we were to leave in.

I was just getting a good flow of Aura going through my body when I felt a disturbance - a significant one if I managed to detect it through meditation. I singled it out and identified it as Lily's father. Where was he during all this time? I opened my eyes, breaking my meditative state and looked to the doorway. Everyone else took notice and aimed at the doorway. As he walked in, I narrowed my eyes. His Aura was not in flux anymore. He is now resigned to his fate, whatever it may be - but he must know it will not be a good ending for him.

"Where were you? Explain yourself!" Archaeon demanded, patience wasted on Alex's disappearance.

Almost as though we knew who we were worrying about, he replied, 'I was walking around, trying to find the washroom, when I found Alex, unconscious on the floor - I think he was attacked by someone or something. I don't know for sure if he's infected or not, but I didn't want to end up killing someone who wasn't.'

Almost immediately, Daemon sprang up and said, "Lead the way."

As my Trainer was the local nurse, and I her bodyguard, we followed them. Lily followed close behind as John and Archaeon played the role as rear guard. Sue was left to watch over our things. She clearly didn't mind, but privately told me (via telepathy, of course) that she was worried for Daemon and Lily.

We were lead through many hallways, getting further and further away from the motorpool that I sincerely thought that this Gallade was leading all of us into an ambush and away from a quick escape.

'He's just around this corner,' he finally said, rounding another bend. At the end of this hallway, we could see a figure on the floor - Alex. My Trainer rushed to help him, but I held her back. Who knows what could be on the other end of the hallway. The Gallade and Daemon walked up to Alex, clearing the intersection, while Archaeon and John covered our backs. Lily hung back with me and Elaine, worried.

Daemon motioned us to come closer - it was safe. We moved closer, still wary. As we approached within a dozen meters, Alex began to stir. I held back Elaine and Lily, while Daemon covered Alex with his weapon. I noticed that the Gallade had his back turned to Daemon, as though keeping watch over his side of the intersection, but extending his right blade - an unnecessary precaution.

"Alex! Can you hear me? Are you ok? Are you still clean?" Daemon inquired.

"Ugh, yeah...just a nasty bump on my head," he replied, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Listen, Daemon, I gotta tell you something -"

"Save it for when we're on the move - we're as late as it is. Now, who did this to you?" Daemon said, grasping Alex's arm and helping him up.

"That's what I'm tryin to tell you! It was -"

He never got to finish his sentence, as blood spattered his face, cutting him off. It took me a second to realise where the blood had come from, before I realised that the Gallade had shoved his blade into Daemon's back and clean out through the front of his chest. I heard screaming coming from beside me - Lily calling out Daemon's name in horror.

I was in shock. I had no idea what had just happened, or as to why my front was steadily getting warmer and wetter, until I looked down at myself. A bloody green appendage was sticking out of my chest - and then I knew. I tried taking a breath, but ended up coughing, spitting out blood.

I felt someone's breath on my neck. "You may not have raped my daughter, but you still ripped her out of my life - and for that, you must die."

The blade pushed through me some more, before making its way up, breaking bone and severing organs. I coughed some more, blood now flowing steadily out of my mouth and the gaping wound in my torso.

"But you saved my life, all those years ago," I gasped, vision swimming in and out of focus.

"I now rescind my actions," he replied coldly. He pushed in the blade one last time before removing it from my body. Turns out his blade was the only thing holding me up, for I collapsed onto my knees.

"Coward," I managed to spit out. "You're nothing but a coward."

"Oh shut up and die already."

I could hear Lily screaming out my name, but I couldn't respond. My body felt heavy and cold.

This is how a dead man feels.

I couldn't let this Gallade from simply walking away, though. I will have my revenge on him before I die.

I was now holding Lily back from running over to Daemon - she knew she couldn't do anything for him anymore, and yet...

'Daemon! Daemon, please get up! Please..." She was beside herself, tears splashing down her face, sobbing until she was unintelligible.

"How could you? How could you?" Elaine said angrily.

"It was all too easy," he replied aloud, no longer using telepathy. We could now hear the hatred in his voice. "He took my daughter from me nearly a decade ago, and so I killed him."

"You bastard! That's no reason to kill him! I-I'll kill you!" Alex shouted, running up behind the Gallade, Daemon's shotgun in his hands. The Gallade simply side-stepped and tripped Alex, sending him skidding towards us.

"Pathetic. None of you can do anything to me. Now, Lily, come with me."

'No.'

"Pardon me?"

'I said no, you heartless bastard!'

"How dare you talk to me like that!"

'I wanted to leave with him! Mother even encouraged me to go with him! What would she say if she knew what you did?'

"Your mother - my mate...she was killed - the infection had gotten to her...I had to kill her..."

This set Lily back a bit - but I knew she wasn't done with him.

'Still! You shouldn't have killed him! N-now our child w-will be fatherless...'

"Come again?" I asked. I knew that Lily had been in heat when she and Daemon coupled, but I didn't know that she could get an egg from human seed.

'H-he's the father...of our unborn child...I-I'm pregnant with an egg...'

"So then you're tainted with his seed. I will not accept you back...unless you get rid of that egg."

Lily was shocked. 'Never! I would rather die than take my child's life!'

"So be it. You will die with the rest of these cretins, and I will go off in search of another mate. Maybe my next child won't be as much of a disappointment as you."

"If you're going to kill us, might I make a final request?" John asked.

"What is it?"

"At least try to kill us properly - you seem to have done a half-assed job with your last attempt."

"What-?"

A gunshot rang out, and half of the Gallade's face was blown away. As the body collapsed onto the ground, we could see Daemon holding up his heavy pistol with one hand from his kneeling position.

"Ass-hole," he gasped, before falling backwards into a pool of his own blood. Instantly, we all rushed to him, Lily being the first to reach him.

'Daemon! Oh Arceus, Daemon...don't leave me, please!'

"Sorry, Lily, I didn't hear what you said earlier. Could you repeat it for me?" he said weakly.

Lily nodded, tears streaming down her face. 'I have an egg,' she whispered, smiling sadly. 'And you're the father.'

"I am? Well, damn, you sure don't look it," he chuckled weakly.

'So you can't die on me, Daemon,' she said, 'you can't leave our child fatherless.'

"Sorry Lily, but there's no way I'm going to survive this time. But I'm not going to leave our kid without a father figure." He looked at John. "John, you told me about what happened to your family. A father without a family to take care of."

"No, I can't. That's your job," John said, placing a hand on Daemon's shoulder.

"You have to. For my family. For our family."

John nodded. "Alright. I will. I promise you that I'll take care of them."

"Good. Now I don't want any of you to be here, watching me die. I still have this," he lifted the heavy pistol slightly, "and a whole lifetime of memories to sift through before I meet Death."

John took a hold of Lily's shoulders. "C'mon, we gotta go."

'I love you,' Lily said quietly, placing one final kiss on Daemon's head.

"And I you, my beautiful white flower. Now go. I don't want you here for my final act."

We said our final goodbyes and left him, pistol in hand and a resigned look on his face. We had turned the corner and walked halfway down the next hallway when we heard one, final gunshot echo through the hall. It was then that Lily broke down into tears. John and Archaeon both looked at each other, eyes glowing, before we all teleported away to the motorpool.

A few minutes later, we were driving out towards a forest, maybe fifteen, twenty kilometers away from the complex when we felt the ground vibrate. I was just about to suggest that we were under attack when the sound of the explosion hit us. The vehicles stopped and we all craned our necks to look back at the complex. All that remained was a mushroom cloud of dust and debris. From the next vehicle, I could hear fresh sobs from Lily and the consoling telepathic voice of Sue. We had lost a friend and leader today, and I wanted to remember this day for the rest of my life.

Continued in Chapter Ten...

A/N: There's another chapter done. I wanted something dramatic to happen, and thought of this. I hope you guys don't hate me for what I did. It will get better, I promise. Remember to R&R.

- Chief