ITC (in this chapter, not chat heh) lots and lots of drama.

Thanks to hironada, Sharp-Shootin' Umbreon, Galalithial, grammaguy, redsalamence222, and Infinity WEAPON for reviewing! It really motivates me to keep on writing when I get feedback, no matter if it's positive or negative.

The reference in the last chapter was a quick clip from Team America: World Police, when Roc mentions enemies going southeast on Bakalakadaka Street. Galalithial gets a free cookie even though he didn't get it right, but only because he was so adamant about wanting one! In this chapter, there are a few other references to not only movies but also other stuff, some blatant and others more subtle.

Chapter 12: Too Little, Too Late

Siria woke up. Shafts of light filtered through the blinds, throwing small yellow beams on the sheets that covered her body. Not recognizing where she was, the Latias looked around her, raising her head from the pillow. It was a small room, not much bigger than the dorm where she lived. The walls were painted a sanitary white, leaving her a little less clueless despite her disorientation. Several cabinets, filled with a variety of bottles and vials, lined the walls, tapering off on the end to allow for a small yet pleasant tree in a basket. A machine sat next to her, beeping at regular intervals and recording her pulse. A rack next to it held several bags, each of which had a tube that trailed to her exposed forearm. Turning her head to the left, she could see enough through the blinds to make out a lush green canopy for as far as the eye could see. Fortree…?

She then heard a shout and turned towards the source. A bird-type, young face lit up in elation, had a great grin on his face. The blue triangle on the upper part of his beak left her doubtless as to who it was. "Lanette, you're finally awake!" he exclaimed, voice filled with joy. Wait… Lanette? Siria tried to call out, to make a sound, to let him know that he was mistaken, but her mouth would not comply with her mind. "The doctors were worried about you! They never thought you'd be out of the coma!" He continued to talk, obviously joyful about his wife's recently development. The Latias would have smiled if she could, the Wargle's sheer joy reaching through her mild frustration. She tried lifting an arm, a leg, a wing, from the bed, but nothing would move, causing her happiness to be replaced with confusion. What's happening? Why can't I move at all?

"Doc. Hey, doc!" He was at the door, yelling at someone in the hallway. "My wife's conscious! She's alive!" She then heard someone else shout something incomprehensible. Satisfied, he closed the door and sat back down on his chair, affectionately watching the Latias in front of him. "We were so afraid of what would have happened if you never woke up. The doctors were working on something, but they had no hope…. And then you just wake up right now, like that! I'm sure they'll find a cure soon!" She just watched, giving up on trying to communicate with him and accepting her position in bed. He looked so young, so hopeful, so full of energy….

BOOM.

The whole room shook, causing everything within to rattle. The sound of shattering glass filled the room as one of the medicine cabinet doors swung open, dropping some of its stored vials to the floor. The fluorescent lights hanged on the ceiling rocked violently from side to side, as if the wires holding them there were going to snap at any moment. One of them shorted out, flickering bulb casting irregular flashes of light on the Latias. Startled but bedridden, Siria could only look fearfully out the window to see what exactly was going on. The blinds were knocked askew, allowing her to take in a full view of the panorama outside. The sky was no longer a fresh blue but instead an ashen black, dimly lit by the fires that consumed the trees below. Many flying 'mon made their ascent, trying to escape the sudden, menacing attack that threatened to overtake the city and destroy it. Now able to see through the torn, torched tree line, she could see clusters of fire-types on the ground throwing fire attacks at anything that seemed to be flammable. Another explosion, though farther off in the distance, created a thick, oily plume as many smaller blasts accompanied it. Hardly a second after that, all of the lights went out. The beeping machine whined and shut down, pulse fading from its screen.

Looking back into her own room, she saw the Wargle positioned next to her bed, semiautomatic pistol out of the holster. He aimed it firmly at the door, prepared to fill anything that dared to come through it with lead. "What the hell is going on?" he yelled into a cell phone. "I thought this area was cleared a long time ago!" A tinny squawk on the phone provoked another angry response. "Well, looks like your intel was wrong! I need to evac my wife, not to mention Arceus knows how many bedridden civilians! Give me a LZ, any LZ!" Another buzz of a reply. "What, there? Do you honestly expect me to-"

THUD.

As someone knocked the door clean off its hinges, the flying-type dropped his phone and readjusted his position a bit, still keeping the pistol trained on the doorway. As a snow-white figure walked in, he fired half of the rounds in the magazine in a second, trigger finger never ceasing movement for a moment. The attack was to no avail, though; the Glaceon simply waved his hand and created a barrier of ice. It trapped all twelve of the rounds, completely depriving them of their kinetic energy. With another wave of his hand, the ice-type did away with the wall. Seizing upon this chance, the Wargle drew a combat knife from a leather sheath and rushed the Glaceon, hoping to neutralize him in close quarters combat. The enemy laughed and sidestepped the charge, sticking out a leg to trip the crazed flying-type. The flying-type jumped and spread his wings to avoid the attack; however, he had apparently forgotten that he was fighting in a very tight environment. One of his wingtips clipped the lights, causing him to snap his head back to see if there was another attacker behind him. The time he spent considering the possibility was more than enough of a chance for the Glaceon to also jump and deal a flying kick to his stomach. The Wargle went sprawling into the open medicine content, breaking its wooden construction and spilling the rest of its contents on the ground. Not even missing a single beat, the ice-type finished the quick exchange by aiming an Ice Beam at the bird, freezing him along with the wreckage he laid in.

Siria watched all of this, rational component of her brain screaming at her to do something, anything! However, just as before, her body simply would not comply. All she could do was stare at the Glaceon as he looked away from his handiwork to face her. "Long time no see, compassionate Siria," he said in a perfectly normal tone, as if the fight before had not even occurred. She could not help but feel her blood run cold at his voice. It possessed some malignancy, some poison that struck absolute fear into her. After this chilling greeting, he turned from her to one of the medicine cabinets, opening it and messily tossing bottles here and there. After a minute of rummaging, he held a small jar of liquid between his fingers. It was as black as black could be, almost like a collapsing star in the manner that it seemed to absorb all of the light around it. It was that liquid. Shadow.

As she watched in fear, he stuck a syringe into the vial, drawing the liquid inside. Then, tossing the bottle back to shatter on the ground with all of the others, he approached her bedside and sat on the chair that the Wargle once occupied. She could see droplets of Shadow falling to the ground, spreading an evil black texture through the other medicinal liquids that coated the floor.

"Would you like to try some?" he asked, still maintaining a normal, stoic voice. If the situation were entirely different, he could have been a doctor administering a drug to a frightened youngster. However, such a possibility laid only in the realm of fantasy. She shook her head violently, the only resistance she could possibly offer against his desires. Obviously, the ice-type did not take well to her refusal. He reached for her right arm, removing the tubes running into them before sliding the needle into her vein. The Latias watched, unable to even whimper at the pain she felt from the action. Then, the Glaceon shot a maniacal grin at her, put his thumb on the plunger, and-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" Siria shot up straight from her bed screaming. She looked downwards, fully expecting to see a horribly mutated body, or worse. However, all that she saw were her two, normal red arms in front of a set of sheets obviously covering the rest of her body. As her left hand passed over her arm a multitude of times, the Latias relaxed only a bit at the knowledge that there were no scars or punctures in it. All of her muscles were tensed up as she breathed deeply, hundreds of thoughts running through her head at once. It was a dream, just a bad dream. Just a bad dream….

Getting down from the top bunk, she noticed that her entire body was slick with perspiration. Siria shivered, not knowing whether it was because of the cold draft coming through the room or the horrible dream she just had. She dragged herself to the bathroom, legs feeling more like deadweights than actual parts of her body. As she looked in the mirror, she saw a Latias that was nothing like the usual one who preened over herself each morning. Her down was maladjusted and clumped in many areas, as if she taken Wing Attacks from multiple directions. Bloodshot eyes stared back at Siria as she looked at her tangled hair. She did not even bother reaching for the comb, instead standing there and recollecting what had exactly happened in the past hours. She remembered getting on the chopper and sleeping there, then sleeping through debriefing even though someone yelled at her, then… waking up here? Speaking of which, how did she get back here?

"So you're finally awake, huh?" A figure very similar to hers stood in the doorway of the room. She instinctively recoiled and tried to cover much of herself as possible, as she was wearing simply a half-soaked T-shirt and gym shorts. Only after identifying the owner of the voice did she begin to relax, albeit very little. As Sirius walked inside, he managed to get a better look at her. "Whoa, you look like someone tethered you to the back of a jet and flew a thousand klicks or so. What gives?" An icy glare from the Latias was more than sufficient to silence the fully uniformed 'mon. She turned away from him, not even deigning to say a word to him as she slammed the bathroom door in his surprised face.

"What's her deal?" she heard him muse through the thin wooden door. "Someone send her out to find a box of grid squares again?" Siria didn't know whether to cry, scream, or march back out and shove a Dragon Pulse up his ass for his insensitivity. After a few seconds of heavy breathing and deliberation, she did none of the above, settling instead for a hot shower. She took off her clothing so fast that they threatened to rip, but she couldn't care less about them. In fact, she couldn't care less about anything. Turning the knob in the stall to its hottest setting, she flinched as a jet of ice cold water hit the front of her body before the temperature stabilized, clouds of steam beginning to form in the bathroom. As hot water began to run down her body, she did not reach for the shampoo or the soap; the Latias was far removed from reality, staring at the plastic mosaic of the wall.

She remained in this trance until she felt a burning sensation on her chest. Whimpering in pain, Siria looked downwards to see a very familiar metal locket hanging around her neck. It was hot to the touch as she held it in her hand, absorbing all of the heat the shower water gave it. Why it was draped around her neck was a mystery in itself, but she did not question its existence for a moment as all of the memories it contained flooded her mind. Wyatt…. The eidetic memory that she hated so much played each scene in vivid detail before her eyes. The Glaceon about to rape her. The Wargle slamming into the crater. Wyatt's last breaths. It wasn't fair at all. Why did she have to be deployed with him? Why did they have to kill all of those 'mon? Why did that Arceus-damn Glaceon have to show up? Why did Wyatt have to survive before he died? Why?

Siria stood silently in the shower, warm tears mingling with the rest of the water cascading down her body.

The Latios sighed, setting his gear on the bed under the bunk and wondering why exactly Siria was so upset. Was it something he said? Maybe something happened last night….

The door opened again, allowing an Umbreon to slip into the room. "Hello," Shadrach greeted, setting his own bags on a bed opposite Sirius'. He perked his ears, hearing the sound of running water. "Who's using the shower at eighteen-hundred? Levina doesn't shower before dinner, and Siria didn't even show up for training today."

"Siria's in there," he replied, looking at the bathroom door. "She seemed pretty angry about something, though I don't know what. Been…." He glanced at the clock. "Half an hour since she started. I don't know if she's adapted some different routine here, but back at home she'd be done in fifteen minutes, tops."

"Angry about what?" the Umbreon questioned, obviously more concerned about her status than the time she spent in there. "She did seem a bit tired at debriefing, even to the point when she fell asleep, and she never does that."

"Beats me. She didn't give me a chance to ask before she shut the door in my face." He shrugged.

Shadrach hummed, taking off his fatigues. "Well, the only thing I can think of is that we had several combat casualties on our miss- err, I mean our armory run." The Latios gave him a condescending look. "Ok, fine, we were assigned a mission last night." Eager to cover for his spectacular fumble, he changed the subject. "Why don't you try to ask her mentally? You two do share a link." He looked at the blue dragon for a response.

"Yeah, I can try. Just extend my brainwaves to the bathroom, enter her mind when she's showering- are you insane?" Sirius shot him an incredulous look. "She'll knock me out and castrate me, and I don't even know which she'll do first! I remember the first time I tried asking her something when she was in there; rather, the only time I tried." He rubbed his leg. "Arceus, all I needed were some solutions to algebra problems…. Siria was like Levina that one night, but a thousand times worse, if you can believe it. If it weren't for my mother's healing skills, I would have been in the hospital for Arceus knows how long." He laughed, recalling the memories. "Though I did catch a wave of what she was thinking of…." The Latios' eyes glinted mischievously.

Shadrach rolled his eyes exasperatedly at him. "Nice to know your mind is in the gutter as always. Shouldn't you be more concerned about her though? I mean, if something set Siria off that badly, then it's obviously something big." He neatly packed his clothing into a dresser and shut it.

Sirius looked at the Umbreon. "If by being concerned you mean stay the hell out of her way, then yes, I am being concerned. Her 'cycle' is nothing compared to this, by the way, though you three may already know that." He gestured in the air with crude finger quotes. "The last time she had one of these majorly pissy times (which was only about about five years ago, mind you), she nearly got our high school psychiatrist to suicide. So if you want to keep your mind intact, just stay away from her. For us it's different, since you're a dark-type and I'm her brother, but the sheer rage she takes out on me makes her a very frightening 'mon, so I try to stay away regardless. The amount of negativity she can generate is astounding sometimes, though that may be from her enhanced psychic abilities more than anything else."

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied, sitting on his bed. Shadrach looked concernedly at the door, thinking about what exactly could have drove her to such anguish. His thoughts were interrupted by the diminishing sound of falling water, though.

"Quick! Make it look like we weren't talking!" the Latios ordered, jumping onto his cot and pulling a dual-screened gaming device from his pocket.

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

A bit alarmed by the dragon's adamancy, Shadrach took his advice, taking his rifle and placing it on the desk. After checking the chamber for any rounds, he disengaged the retaining pin and separated the lower and upper receivers, beginning the process of cleaning the gun. He tried his best to ignore the steps that accompanied the hot, lavender-scented air that flowed through the room as Siria walked out of the bathroom, focusing instead on finding any defects in the steel bolt carrier group he pulled out of the upper receiver. Sirius also busied himself, staring intently at the screens of his game. He held a stylus in one hand, apparently in the middle of deciding between several courses of action. As the Latias floated upwards to the bed above him, he tapped the screen two times and scowled when several slightly audible explosions came from the speakers.

"Antiair only does sixty-five percent damage to bombers," the girl muttered before lying face down. Sirius glanced upwards, taking note of her advice. "Also, you can give up the charade. I heard every word." The bitterness in her words was more than enough to make both of them look at her in surprise.

Sirius flipped his game shut, shoving it back into his pocket. "Siria, what's wrong?" he asked with genuine concern. "Did something happen last night?"

"What's wrong? What's WRONG?" Even though her face was buried in the pillow, the sheer animosity in her voice rang crystal clear. The Latias' body began to convulse as she began to cry again. Noticing this, Sirius looked at the Umbreon and motioned his head towards the door. Understanding the situation perfectly, the 'mon got up and left, being sure to close it gently behind him. No one but the two siblings remained in the room.

The Latios got up and walked over to Shadrach's bed, getting a full view of her sister. Sighing, he began, "Siria, let's take it from the top. Why are you upset?" She didn't reply, instead turning to the wall and continuing to sob. "Please, tell me. We can't have you in a mental wreck forever. You slept for eighteen hours, for Arceus' sake" he persisted. Still no response. "You can't even tell your bro?" Bowing his head at the lack of an answer, Sirius did something that he knew would probably backfire in a million different ways. He tried to access her mind, searching for anything that may have triggered her anguish. It was surprisingly easy, he noticed. Usually he had much trouble linking with Siria, but he reasoned that her emotional state left her much less protective than usual of her mental domain.

Sirius' vision faded out as it was replaced with pictures seen from Siria's eyes. A flying 'mon that he didn't quite recognize. A group of five Tamsus troops before a fire. Four of them falling, leaving… a Tyranitar? Antiaircraft guns being rigged. The same Tyranitar being speared with ice attacks, falling, dying…. The two of them engaging a Glaceon. Interesting Choice Specs. She thought she was successful, but the ice-type snuck up behind her and…. It took every bit of self-control Sirius had to not burn the entire room down to cinders. Instead, he continued to rifle through her memories, looking to see if there was more than one cause for her anguish. The same 'mon he didn't recognize slam into the Glaceon at an impossibly fast speed… then Siria tried to heal him, but failed…. He had a story to tell, a Latias named Lanette? Then he died in her hands….

He shouted out in pain as the mental link was suddenly disconnected, psychic energy causing him to suddenly acquire an incredible headache. Looking back up, he saw Siria sitting on the bed, fiercely glaring at him. Oooohhh shit. He laid flat on the bed, narrowly avoiding a powerful Dragon Pulse that pierced through the wooden paneling behind him. The sheer heat and energy from the attack he felt as it singed his spiky hair made him think twice before scanning her mind again and not even once before profusely apologizing to her. Before he could get his apology out, though, the Latias began to vent.

"Sirius, what the hell? How can you just not ask and go into my mind and look at everything?" she yelled, wiping at her eyes. He looked down, not knowing whether to bring up the extremely valid and obvious point that he did ask or act remorseful so that she would calm down. "What's your problem? You insensitive jerk! I can't believe that you're my brother!"

"Siria, I'm sorry-"

"You better damn well be sorry! Don't you have any sense of guilt? Of shame?" Her fists were clenched as she trembled with rage. "You don't just go looking around in 'mon's minds, even if I'm your sister!"

He sat up, trying to reason with her. "I didn't mean any offense, I swear. It's just that I was really concerned for you. You seemed really upset, and I wanted to-"

"Wanted to what?" she hissed. Sirius looked at the distraught Latias as her eyes glowed, fearing more and more for his life as each second passed. "Peek into my deepest thoughts? Learn about every part of my life?" The accusations came in waves, seeming to distort the very air in the room with each new claim. "Mock and humiliate me? What did you want?"

He hung his head in shame. "I just wanted to comfort you…. I am your brother, after all," he murmured, humbled by her words. The Latios looked down at the floor, unable to meet her gaze.

Siria didn't even soften at the remorseful response, an even harder tone making its way through her teary shouts. "So that gives you a right to see what happened? To invade my privacy? So you wanted to know what's wrong. Well, now you do! Are you satisfied?" He didn't respond, still looking downwards. Chest still heaving, she began her explanation. "Sirius, I was almost raped. I was two seconds from that bastard from sticking his junk in me. And not only that, I had not one, but two 'mon who spilled their whole lives in front of me, and they got killed! They died, and I just watched! I didn't even have an Arceus-damn chance in hell to save them! I'm so useless!" As she wept, Sirius remained mute, though it was more than clear that several wars of conscience were being waged in his mind. Then, the Latias snapped her head up and glared at him through misty eyes. "It's even worse that we share a link, too! I can hear and know everything you think! Why don't you just say it? That it makes no sense for me to be so upset over someone dying! I'm sorry I'm not Sirius, the mentally defective, war-crazy idiot! I'm sorry I don't spend every minute of the day breathing in rifle gas and tank exhaust! I'm sorry I don't have the medic skills you have to save whoever's there! I'm sorry I have feelings!" After her last scream, she jumped down from the bunk. The Latios also rose, standing at attention.

"Siria, I… what I want to say is…." He stammered, trying to think of a response that would not give his sister a reason to cause his head to explode. "I'm sorry, I truly am. And I just wanted you to kn-" The Latios did not a pain in his head but instead a sting on his cheek as Siria slapped him as hard in the face as she could. It was not one of those casual hits that she often doled out to him, but instead one that spoke on multiple levels. Although the blow did not hurt too much in itself, the emotional force it conveyed hit him harder than a jet ramming into him at full speed. The pain, the anguish, the sadness, the anger, and the sense of betrayal in it caused him to sit back down on the bed, all of his energy fleeing his body at once.

"Save it, Sirius. I don't need to hear anything else." She sighed, husky voice only contributing to its depressing tone. "Just leave me alone." The Latios watched as his sister slowly opened the door and left, setting sun throwing her shadow on the linoleum. The walk quickly turned into a sprint as her silhouette rose into the sky, quickly disappearing into nothing more than a dot as she flew away as fast as she could, wind wiping the tears from her eyes. Sirius could only watch and lower his head, putting his hands in front of him as he gazed at the floor. A stray breeze caught the door and shut it, leaving the Latios to sit in solitude in the dark and ponder the implications of what had just happened.

"Ugh, we save their asses from being shot to hell and the Air Wing goes parading about how they 'saved' the day by neutralizing all of those Tamsus units," an unhappy Ampharos complained. She glowered at a random passing 'mon, recognizing the dual-winged patch on his shoulder. The Persian looked back, confused at her anger, but an Umbreon pushed the Ampharos along before the situation could devolve into a brawl in the middle of the base.

"Levina, you know that half of the stuff we do is classified. If word got out that Special Forces does so many under-the-table operations, the enemy's going to step up their security tenfold," Shadrach chided. "Granted, that's technically what we're trained for, but SF is supposed to be more versatile than that."

She continued her rant as if he had not even spoken. "And not to mention the Stardust Regiment! If I've ever seen a group of crackheads, it's gotta be them. Arceus, I've never seen so much coke in one place…. " Her partner sighed, shaking his head. Once she got started on something, she'd never stop until something else of interest caught her attention.

The two of them reached their housing unit, stomachs full and satisfied from the meal the mess provided them. Shadrach, still conscious of the fact that the dragon siblings inside could still be mulling their thoughts over, knocked twice on the door. When no response emerged, he turned the knob and entered.

The first thing that he noticed that it was very dark inside. It was quite possibly darker than it was outside with the sun barely peeking from above the mountains, as no windows were installed the shipping container-like living quarters for both safety and practicality's sake. As he turned on the light, the second thing he noticed was that there was only one occupant in the room, a Latios on his bed staring at the ground. Siria was nowhere to be seen, not on her bunk reading as usual or in the bathroom doing her hair. It didn't take long for Shadrach to piece two and two together, leading him to a very disturbing and depressing understanding. Unfortunately, Levina didn't reach the same conclusions that he did.

"What fresh hell is this? Sirius alone on a good night for hitting on girls?" She smirked, completely expecting him to respond with a taunt in kind. After this failed to provoke even a movement, her grin grew wider as she formed her own theory for his depression. "Aww, did you get dumped again? Hardly surprising." At this point Shadrach felt it necessary to pull Levina outside before she could hit upon a very sensitive subject.

"Listen, I don't think you should be antagonizing him right now. I'm guessing that he had a pretty rough argument with Siria and things went out of hand," he explained, trying to diffuse the Ampharos' brash nature.

"Argument? Do tell." Her face lit up as she realized the potential gossip that laid latent in the situation.

He shook his head and replied, "I'll tell you about it later. Just keep your mouth shut for now." The two reentered the room as calmly as they could, trying to make it seem as if the electric-type had not even said anything. The dragon still remained sitting on the Umbreon's bed, holding the same position he had since the hour and a half that passed after Siria's outburst. As Shadrach saw the still-dissembled rifle on his desk, he set upon it and began to put it back together in an attempt to avoid contact with the angsty Latios. Levina busied herself with looking through a drawer chock-full with discs. She fidgeted at irregular intervals, normally very unaccustomed to being quiet for so long, especially since there was such an easy target hardly two meters from her.

With an audible clack, Shadrach pulled the charging handle on his gun and found it to be in satisfactory condition. He put it besides his bed, allowing the rifle to lean on one of its legs. Then, noticing that a 'mon was still occupying the space he intended to sit upon, he tapped him on the shoulder. "Uh, Sirius…."

He looked up slowly, as if he was being ripped away from a trance. "Oh, sorry," he replied emotionlessly, getting up and lying on his own bed. The Latios quickly returned to his vegetative state, staring at the wooden support beams that held up the bed above him. Shadrach, sitting on his cot, watched him concernedly, wondering just how badly the conversation between the two had gone.

"Hey, Shadrach," Levina called. The Umbreon turned towards her. "What movie tonight? We got A Bridge Too Far, Saving Private Raichu, a bootleg copy of Conception…." She held up three DVDs, waving them at the Umbreon. "We also have-" Her list was interrupted by a sickening crunch from Sirius' side of the room. Both of them looked in surprise at the Latios violently punched one of the planks above him, nearly splitting it into two.

"I'm an idiot!" he roared, letting out another blow. Blue vapors began to form around his mouth. "I can't believe I did that!" The other two 'mon watched him in both fascination and alarm as he yelled at no one in particular. "I couldn't even apologize to her! I'm the worst brother in the world! I'm so… stupid…." His outstretched arm fell limply to his side as he breathed the last word out. Shadrach and Levina exchanged glances before looking at him again.

The former 'mon, recognizing this type of behavior, got up and took up a chair next to Sirius. "I know I really shouldn't be asking this, but what exactly happened?"

"Don't you remember what happened the last time someone asked those words?" The Latios sighed out of tiredness. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes, I do. Although you're not the best of friends, we do look out for each other. Now, what happened?"

Sirius got up from his reclining position, sitting on the bed. "Well, I asked Siria a bunch of times about what was wrong. She shut up, though, and wouldn't talk to me. Then, after some deliberation, I…." His face twitched, as if he wanted to spit in disgust. "I tried scanning her mind to see what was making her upset. I know she doesn't take too well to it, but that's only when she alone, so I didn't expect her to-" A crackling bolt of electricity caught him square in the chest, knocking him back down. He made no effort to sit up again, too overcome with remorse and angst.

"You did what?" Levina got up from her DVD collection, anger written all over her face. "Arceus, you really are an clueless bastard, aren't you? When a girl says that she doesn't want to talk, she doesn't want to talk, even if you're her brother! You don't keep asking her, and you definitely don't go barging around in her mind to figure out why! And I thought there was a shred of decency under that façade of yours, too…" she huffed, jumping up to her bunk and staring at him. "And let me guess. She probably called you a jerk and told you why, in exceedingly explicit detail, why she was upset and then left."

"It gets worse than that," Sirius muttered.

"It gets worse?" she echoed. "How the hell could it get worse?"

"Well, the reasons were the main part. One was that-" Here he let a Dragon Claw rip through the wall beside him, creating a rather large and impressive gash in the woodwork. "Some Glaceon bastard almost raped her last night." Shadrach's eyes widened with both fear and recognition, mind trailing back to a certain encounter. "But somehow even that wasn't the part that set everything off. She said that two 'mon died on her or something. First though that came to mind was, 'Two 'mon isn't that big of a deal.' If we weren't linked, it wouldn't have been a problem. But then she picked up on it. She gave me the worst slap of my life and then jetted." He rubbed his cheek in regret, looking far more sorry than either of the two expected of a 'mon like him. Noticing a piercing glare from the Ampharos, he continued, "For Arceus' sake, I'm a medic! It's only second nature to think that! When you're working on someone and then he just goes and dies in your hands, you don't have a choice but to think like that! Otherwise you just lose yourself in the fact that each 'mon had his own life, his own history, and then end up suicidal and probably dead! I can't even count on my fingers the number of times I've had someone die on me just because I didn't have the right tools or enough time!" He covered his face in frustration, done with his sorrowful monologue. Both Shadrach and Levina looked at him, not knowing what to do with him. Well, in the former's case, at least.

Levina got down and marched over to him, tugging at one of his feathery, streamlined ears. "Well, what are you going to do about it? Just mope around?" He didn't respond, lying there limply. "Well? Go and apologize to her!" she demanded, obviously not content with letting him lie there.

"I don't even know where she is," Sirius replied desolately, pain from Levina's efforts not even registering on his face. "She flew away an hour and a half ago. She could be hundreds of klicks in any direction. And she probably doesn't even want to see me anyways…." He sighed, closing his eyes.

Letting his head fall back on the bed, Levina looked at Shadrach. "Any ideas?"

He thought for a minute before replying, "Do you think she might be…."

"There? I wouldn't doubt it. But isn't that off base? I'm not one for rules, but we could all get court martialed if they come and find that we aren't here."

"Levina, we're going to get court martialed anyways if Siria doesn't come back. And from the looks of it, the chances of her returning without any help are close to none," Shadrach said, looking at the clock. "We have three hours to get her back before they make their rounds. By air, it's only a ten minute flight, but I don't think she'd be too happy to see Sirius." The Latios grunted mildly in response, eyes still closed. "By foot, it's at least forty-five minutes. So…."

"We have an hour and a half to convince Siria to come back after we get to her," the Ampharos finished, mentally calculating the times. "Problem is, only one of us can go. Two of us going out will get too much attention, and, well…." She looked over her own body. "I'm bright yellow, you're jet black, and all of that special stealth stuff is locked up in the armory. I think the decision is obvious."

Shadrach nodded, fully agreeing with her analysis. "So, err, how exactly do I get out in the first place? And how do you know about all of this?"

She laughed. "Of course goody two-shoes Sergeant Shadrach wouldn't know the tricks of the trade. Usually, on lazy Sundays with no missions, some of the guys and I sneak off to one of the local towns for a few beers. Well, they drink. I just watch and laugh." The Umbreon shot her a quizzical look. "None of them are in the Air Wing, so they have the decency to know when enough's enough and get back without getting caught by the MPs," she explained, referencing the packs of Growlithe and Arcanine that always patrolled the base for any illicit acts of any sort. "Oh, and how we get out? I think James is on the north gate shift now. Just tell him Levina sent you. Usually security's tighter at night, but there aren't any Tamsus positions north of us. On that note, don't every try the south gate. Those guys are anal about their work, and they will basically force you to pull out every ID on your body before telling you that it's past hours."

Waiting far too long for the single answer in her lengthy explanation, Shadrach thanked her and threw on his fatigues, knowing the night was far chillier than the day. "I'll try my best to be back in three hours. If not, say that I'm at the DFAC."

"DFAC? Really? I didn't even know the DFAC was open at twenty-three hundred." She wrinkled her nose at the mention of the mess halls.

"Restaurant, whatever! Just cover for me and make some excuse," he sighed before opening the door. As he closed the door, Shadrach swore he could hear Levina saying, "Now, Sirius, this is how we treat girls…." The Umbreon shook his head in exasperation, wondering how everything went to hell so quickly.

I have three hours. Let's make this happen.