Author's note: I do not own Pokemon or related trademarks.
Language and content warning:
He felt like he was in a fog.
As he walked through an environment unfamiliar to him, he thought he could hear someone calling his name. A woman's voice. One he knew.
"Frank…."
Karen? he thought.
He saw the shapely silhouette of a woman coming through the fog towards him. As she came closer, he noticed that she was as naked as he apparently was. He reached for her in the mist, cupping her breasts in his hands and rubbing her nipples with his thumbs.
"Oh, Karen," he groaned sleepily, "you have no idea how-"
"Frank? Are you all right?"
He opened his eyes and saw that he was caressing his mother. Startled, he dropped his hand from her breast. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry-" he blurted.
She chuckled, the bemused look on her face trying to alleviate his embarrassment. "They must have you on some pretty strong shit," she told him.
Frank sunk down as far as he could in the hospital bed. "What time is it?"
"Time for me to be getting home. You were asleep for a couple of hours. I didn't want to leave until they ended visiting hours. Plus I'm still drunk."
"Is Karen out there still?"
"I think so."
"Have her take you home." He closed his eyes. "I need to go to sleep so I can grope some air instead."
Tristan and Commissioner Steele barely spoke to each other as they rode the train to Goldenrod. The near-silence continued as they delivered the DNA sample to the testing lab (Frank had been able to secure sufficient material from the evidence in the Baby Doe case for a DNA sample without needing to exhume the remains). And it persisted up until the point where the Pokebureau agent dropped her off at a hotel.
"Eight-thirty in the morning," she informed him. "That's when I expect you here to pick me up."
"I can't guarantee the tests will be done by then, though."
"I don't care. Pick me up at eight-thirty."
She shut the car door and walked off without another word or even so much as a wave. Tristan sighed and drove home.
It seemed weird to walk inside the house with no Victoria around. He collapsed on the couch and turned on the TV.
Let's see, he mused as he began to channel-surf. Golf replays…. No. News…. No. Cooking shows…. No. Ooh! Softcore porn!
….Nah.
He turned off the TV and tossed the remote aside. Swinging his legs up, he decided to go to sleep. He had no desire to sleep in the bed alone.
Try though he might, Frank could not get to sleep.
A mixture of pain, which was still present despite the morphine being dripped into his veins, and sheer boredom was keeping him awake, and it was driving him crazy. Instinctively, he glanced around, trying to see the clock.
11:30. Unbelievable.
Just as instinctively, he reached for the remote and turned on the TV in the room, turning the volume down in the process so as not to disturb other patients.
"All right!" he mumbled to himself. "Neon Genesis Evangelion! I wonder which episode this one is?"
He suddenly heard a soft knock on the door. Startled, he was about to hit the mute button when he heard the voice. "It's me, Frank. May I come in?"
"It's a little late, isn't it?"
"I already talked with the nurses. I can hang around a few minutes."
He sighed. "Fine."
Victoria quietly opened the door and entered, closing it behind her just as quietly. "What are you watching?"
"Oh, I'm just watching Neon Genesis Evagelion. I happen to like it. Most of the episodes, anyway. The last two I just replace with End Of Evangelion. It's much better that way, sort of."
"I know. Which episode- oh god, is this the one where they're supposed to be running tests naked but an angel infects the system so Ritsuko has to write a whole bunch of programming or something to make the angel self-destruct?"
"Looks like it."
"Oh my god, that's one of my favorite episodes! Asuka's freakout is SOOOOOOOOOOO hilarious!"
"You're not here to see Asuka naked, are you?"
The question paused the Gardevoir. She took a deep breath. "It's Tristan."
"Yeah, what about him?"
"You don't think he volunteered to go with the commissioner because-"
"Revenge sex? Considering her personality, if he tried, she'd probably punch his lights out. Ice Punch, no less."
"But-"
"Besides, if he didn't trust you, he'd have insisted that you take the sample over. Relax, OK?"
Victoria would only give a non-committal sigh.
"If that's all you want to talk about, unless you really ARE here to see Shinji, Rei, and Asuka naked, I would like to eventually get some sleep."
She nodded. "Right. See you in the morning."
She left quietly, and Frank laid back as much on the bed as his neck brace would allow, watching his show in silence, occasionally chuckling at points. When it was over, he shut the TV off and closed his eyes, hoping that good dreams would ease the pain.
Angela Wikstrom was called into the hospital room early the next day. Commissioner Steele had called Frank that morning to tell him that the lab at the Pokebureau had completed the test overnight and that she and Tristan were on their way.
The entire time they waited, Angela was pacing nervously while Victoria, Frank, and Hopfmar felt like they were on pins and needles.
Finally, the door opened and the commissioner and the shiny Gallade walked in. Tristan handed the bed-ridden detective the envelope and then stood next to Victoria, his face an emotionless mask except for his eyes, and Victoria saw and understood.
Frank opened the envelope, pulled out the papers containing the test results, and briefly read them. Exhaling heavily, he leaned forward and handed Victoria the contents. Silently, she passed them to Angela.
Angela looked at them, and Frank could see her face change to a look of horrified shock. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice nothing more than a whisper.
"NO!" she screamed, collapsing to the floor and sobbing. Hopfmar walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. Tristan turned away in embarrassment.
Frank let out another sigh. "Commissioner, with your permission, I would like to merge the Jeremy Wikstrom and Baby Doe cases and progress with the investigation of the death of Jeremy Wikstrom as a homicide."
"You didn't have to ask," Steele replied, looking at the weeping woman on the floor in front of her.