Chapter 16
Clemont pushes open the door to his apartment, feeling weariness down to his bones as he takes off his shoes. The long discussion with Officer Jenny about yesterday's events hadn't been physically exhausting, but it had been incredibly emotionally draining. Luckily, it appears that his father is right, and that talking about things does make it easier, eventually. At least he had managed to recount the story in a more professional manner than he had to his father last night; it would have been embarrassing to burst into tears in front of the police officers talking to them.
It had been a long interview though; they had spent all morning at the police station. Now it was lunchtime, and although Papa had offered to take them both out for lunch as a treat, he had declined. He's itching to start work on repairing Ash, as much as he fears it; besides, he's not feeling at all hungry after this morning. He thinks his father understood, while he has a promise from Bonnie to bring him back a treat.
The apartment is silent as he pads along the hallway in his socks. There's no-one here but him; Pikachu had decided to stay with Bonnie rather than return to the apartment with Clemont.
Well, no-one but me and Ash, that is , he amends, setting a hand against the door to his workshop. He stands there for a long moment, hand against the door, the same old doubts and worry and fear washing through him. Taking a deep breath, he pushes the door open all the way and steps inside, flipping on the lights.
Even though he knows the sight will be painful, it's still a punch to the gut to see Ash lying so quiet and still on the platform in the middle of the room. Swallowing back his distress, Clemont forces himself to walk over, kneeling beside the broken body of his friend. "Oh, Ash…" he whispers, reaching out with trembling fingers to touch the robot's shoulder.
It hurts to look at Ash. His friend is so still, he could almost be sleeping – except Ash doesn't sleep, and he never lays so straight and unmoving, his one good arm laying across his stomach. When Ash lays down, he sprawls, as though there's too much energy contained in his body to simply stay in one place. Clemont has only ever seen Ash like this twice before – the first, when he was building him (and he wasn't Ash then, which is the strangest thought because when was he ever not Ash?) and the second when he was upgrading Ash's body. But this is nothing like those times; for one thing, there were never any gashes or marks marring Ash's skin either of those times, and for another, more importantly, Clemont had known without a doubt that Ash would wake up when he was done. Now, he's not so sure. What if he does all that he can, and it's still not enough, and Ash doesn't wake up…?
His fingers curl around Ash's shoulder. No. I can do this. Ash will wake up. I made a promise.
The first thing he does (when he can force his legs to move) is hook Ash up to the main computer in the workshop to start downloading the robot's code to examine later. It's not as easy a task as it sounds, because Ash's back is horribly dented, warping the access panel into a state that takes Clemont long, tense minutes to wrangle open. Equally hard are the flashbacks that come with it, because Clemont recognises these injuries as ones Ash had probably taken in his attempt to shield Bonnie when the ceiling of the Gym collapsed. He has to put the screwdriver down for a few minutes and take long, deep breathes until his hands have stopped trembling enough for him to safely wield it. As he plugs the connecting wires into the port – luckily mostly undamaged in the places that count – the way some of the circuits are blackened or fused together in other places gives him a strong, grim suspicion that a lot of Ash's circuits are more than likely fried.
The computer beeps, signalling that the data transfer is successfully starting. Clemont sighs in relief. Ash's code is fairly dense; it looks like it'll take a while for all of it to download to the computer's memory. He decides to check Ash over while the data transfers to get a better idea of the extent of the damage. Clemont vaguely remembers doing this yesterday after Ash had collapsed, trying to see what had caused his friend to just abruptly shut down. He needs to catalogue everything properly today though so that he can figure out how best to go about fixing him – and that means checking Ash over again, no matter how sick to the stomach it makes Clemont feel.
Ash's right arm is an absolute wreck from his fingers to his elbow, the metal twisted and warped more than it had been in Clemont's memory. Most of the wiring is hanging loose, wrenched from connections even where they've been soldered in place. Clemont hisses in dismay as he turns it gently from side to side. Maybe it had been a salvageable fix yesterday, but all the extra damage after that has rendered the arm completely useless. He'll have to rebuild it again.
'I think I broke my hand again… Sorry, Clemont.'
Not every bit of damage is as extensive as Ash's arm and back though, and that give Clemont a small breath of hope. His legs have only superficial damage, though there is one gash that cuts through every layer right down to the writing and metal bones. Ash's other arm is in a similar condition – not perfect, but nothing that should be too hard to fix. Ash's torso has sustained a fair amount of damage too, the back moreso than the front. Clemont exhales shakily when he makes it to the compartment housing Ash's 'heart' and finds the battery system that powers Ash is damaged, wires twisted out of place and blackened areas everywhere. If it's too damaged, he'll have to build an entirely new one from scratch the way he had the first, which had been a very fiddly job. However, when he examines the system more closely he finds that the battery may be damaged but much of the surrounding mechanisms are in fact still intact. Clemont breathes a little easier as he carefully lowers the battery back into place.
When he finally brings himself to check Ash's memory banks, the rush of relief at finding them unharmed is so heady that it makes him lightheaded for a few moments. Dread follows quickly on its heels, because from what he can see – he can't check anything in this panel properly until the computer has completely the data transfer – the processors are almost certainly fried.
'My head – it really hurts – Clemont –'
Clemont buries his face against Ash's hair, not caring that it's still streaked with dust and grime from the Gym. Whatever Team Rocket's code was, it had forced Ash under their control. However, his friend hadn't made it an easy fight and the proof of that is the way some of the processors have actually half-melted from the strain of running conflicting programs against each other.
'I won't give up as long as I can still fight!'
He sniffles, fighting the urge to cry again. If his suspicions are right, and that damage occurred when Ash was first being mind-controlled – then how had Ash even been able to function through the rest of his fight with half of what was essentially his brain destroyed?
"I knew you were amazing," Clemont whispers to the still form. He sniffles again, closing his eyes when they begin to sting with tears. "You're always surprising me; I suppose I shouldn't be surprised – hah! – about that anymore." He reaches for Ash's good hand and threads their fingers together. "Science sure is amazing, huh, Ash?" His watery laugh fades into silence.
He sits there on the platform holding Ash's hand until the computer beeps again. Clemont gently sets Ash's hand back down and bounds to his feet, hurrying over to the computer. Let's see, data transfer… complete! Were there any problems…? No, it looked like all of the files managed to transfer successfully, thank goodness! He taps out a few commands on the keyboard, storing Ash's code in a secure folder. No problems with the transfer is a good sign that Ash's memory banks are completely undamaged.
Despite the beckoning desire to sift through Ash's code and see exactly what Team Rocket had tried to do, Clemont instead puts the computer into standby and disconnects the cables from his robot. He's decided that he'll work on Ash's physical recovery first, because leaving Ash in his current damaged state and having to see his friend like that every time he comes into the workshop is too much for Clemont to bear. Not to mention that he's really not in the right headspace to spend hours upon hours sorting through code, especially if he's right about Team Rocket's code making a mess of Ash's programming. His fingers itch to work on something.
Even so, as he studies his notes on the damage Ash has sustained to his physical shell, Clemont realises that he's going to have to draw up a fair amount of blueprints first. Some of the damage is incredibly extensive and requires a lot of tricky repairs. As much as he desperately wants to fix Ash now and have his friend back, Ash deserves better than Clemont just rushing in blindly.
Clemont sighs, plunking himself down at his workbench and reaching for a pencil, mind already whirling with thoughts on what needs to be done first.
.
.
.
He's still seated at his workbench, furiously drawing up plans and diagrams when the click of the front door announces his father and Bonnie's arrival. Clemont barely hears them come in, too engrossed in his work to pay attention to the outside world.
Bonnie and Meyer aren't worried when Clemont doesn't come to greet them, fully aware that the inventor has probably lost track of reality for the moment. Bonnie only huffs a small sigh, knowing her earlier prediction of her brother not taking care of himself is already starting to come true. Meyer smiles, handing her the bag with the treat she had spent a good ten minutes picking out at the patisserie, along with a plate and fork, and nods towards the workshop door.
Clemont still doesn't notice the door to his workshop being nudged open a little wider, a lithe yellow blur darting in through the gap. Bonnie pokes her head in after Pikachu, treat hidden behind the door. "Clemont?" When her brother fails to respond, she raises her voice slightly. "Clemont?"
Her brother jerks in surprise, looking up towards the door. "Bonnie? You're back already?" She slips in through the door as Pikachu bounds up onto the bench beside Clemont's hand. "Oh, and Pikachu too! Did you have a good time?" The pencil is placed down in favour of scratching Pikachu behind the ears, eliciting a happy response from the Pokémon. Bonnie approves. She gives Pikachu a thumbs up when Clemont isn't looking, for forcing her brother to take a break.
Her attention is caught by Ash's figure lying prone in the middle of the room, on the platform where her brother usually works on his inventions. He looks… smaller somehow, without all of the exuberant energy she's used to. She hadn't gotten a very good look at how badly Ash had been injured yesterday, but here the damage is plain to see under the lights of the workshop. Ash looks terrible.
She isn't aware of Clemont's eyes on her as she walks carefully towards Ash, as though the robot is sleeping and one loud noise could wake him. He is sleeping, she decides, looking down at him. He's sleeping until Clemont can help him wake up again.
"Hi, Ash," she says softly, brushing some of the dust out of his hair. "I hope that you're dreaming about something good!" Her smile fades. "Thanks for saving me, when the rocks fell down," she tells her sleeping friend. Bonnie tries to imagine Ash's response, a bright grin and a ' That's what family is for, right?' Her hand strays towards the mangled metal of his right arm. "I'm sorry you got hurt doing it, though… Oh! But Clemont and I talked to Officer Jenny today!" she adds brightly, bouncing back from her solemn mood. "They're gonna find those thieves and arrest them!" She nods, decisive. "Anyway, we'll be waiting for you when you wake up!" Bonnie leans down, pressing a kiss to Ash's forehead the way Clemont does when he says good night. "Sleep well, Ash!"
She bounds back over to Clemont. Her brother stares at her for a moment, before he smiles so softly she thinks he might cry. Bonnie doesn't want to see her brother cry; he's just as prone to it as their Papa is, but Clemont has cried too much since yesterday. She has to be strong for both of them.
"Were you okay by yourself here, Clemont?" she asks, putting the plate and fork onto the bench beside the diagram he had been drawing. Bonnie squints at it from her tip-toe vantage point, unsure of what all the pictures and technical words refer to; she's pretty sure that drawing over there might be for Ash's arm, however. No functions for creating electricity this time though, thank goodness.
"Hm? Oh. I'm fine, there's no need to worry," Clemont tells her, pulling another stool over for her to climb up onto.
Bonnie fixes him with a steely gaze. "You say that, but I bet you didn't eat any lunch at all!" she accuses, pointing at her brother. His eyes slide away from her gaze, his demeanour turning sheepish.
"Ah… well…"
"See, I knew it!" Her voice is triumphant.
"Well, I wasn't really very hungry anyway…" Clemont tries to explain, but Bonnie just holds out the bag from the patisserie towards him. "What's this?"
"The treat I promised!" she beams. He smiles at her enthusiasm, opening up the bag. It's a slice of clafoutis, made with Bluk berries, a treat she knows her brother likes. "If you didn't have lunch, then that means you haven't eaten anything since breakfast! And it's already late in the afternoon!"
"Is it really?" Clemont says, startled. He glances towards the windows of the workshop, deflating slightly when he sees that yes, his sister is correct. "I guess I got caught up in my work again then…" he says sheepishly. Bonnie just makes a noise of agreement and hands him the plate and fork, much to his amusement. "Thanks, Bonnie."
She looks over the workbench again as he starts to eat, at the many sheets of paper littering the surface. "So, how's it going?" Clearly there's some good news, if her brother is in regular inventor mode rather than being frantic.
"S'going okay," he mumbles through his food, expression brightening as he swallows and looks down at the clafoutis. "Mm, this is really good! Thanks, Bonnie." He starts eating with a little more enthusiasm, much to Bonnie's satisfaction. She pats herself on the back for a good plan. It's Pikachu's turn to give her a thumbs up this time.
He points at part of the diagrams he's been drawing. "You see this bit here? Well, I noticed that it had been damaged quite a bit and it needed replacing, and then I figured, well, why not improve it while I'm at it? So now…"
Bonnie listens patiently as Clemont points out different parts of what he's drawn, explaining what each drawing is about and why he's done it. She doesn't understand most of what he's talking about, but it's a relief to see her brother so animated about something when he's been so quiet and pale this morning. Pikachu, on the other hand, takes in Clemont's words with a fierce attention, ears twitching every now and then at an explanation. Bonnie's fairly sure that Pikachu understands about as much of her brother's technical explanations as much as she does, but that doesn't seem to matter. Pikachu has become so fiercely loyal to Ash that Bonnie wonders if this is his attempt to understand how he can help his friend better.
The clafoutis is long gone by the time Meyer pokes his head in the door to announce that dinner is ready. Clemont looks startled – he had started mumbling to himself a while ago and Bonnie figures that her brother has lost track of time again. Still, he looks about to excuse himself out of dinner, so Bonnie bounds to her feet from where she has been playing with Pikachu and tugs on his hand. "Come on, Clemont, you can't skip dinner when you already skipped lunch!"
His eyes dart between her and the papers he's been working on, clearly torn. His fingers twitch like he wants to pick up the pencil again and get back to work, but instead he sighs and hops off the stool. "Alright, I'm coming." He lets her grab hold of his hand and tug him towards the door, their father watching them both with an amused look.
/\/\/\
Of course, it isn't always that easy to pry her brother away from his work.
"Hey, Clemont!"
"Mmhmm?"
"It's almost time for dinner, you should go and wash your hands."
"Mmm."
"Oh, and Papa wanted to know where you keep the colander, he can't find it…"
"Mmm."
"…Geez, you aren't actually listening to anything I say, are you?"
"Mmm."
.
.
.
Predictably, her brother doesn't show up for dinner. Meyer and Bonnie exchange glances, but leave Clemont to his work. Without Ash, without her brother, the table feels emptier than it ever did with just her and Clemont.
After dinner, Papa starts to clean up the kitchen, though first he hands her a plate laden with food. "Take that to your brother, please," Papa asks. "He's been skipping a lot of meals the past few days… Careful, it's hot."
"Of course!" she says cheerfully, holding the plate carefully. Pikachu darts ahead of her, pushing open the door to the workshop so that Bonnie doesn't have to juggle her burden. "Thanks, Pikachu!"
"Clemont?" Bonnie slips inside the room, looking around for her brother. He isn't over at the platform, where Ash still sleeps. She calls a quiet hello to the robot as she passes him, but Pikachu jumps up to sit beside Ash. The small Pokémon nuzzles his face against Ash's cheek in greeting, bringing a smile to Bonnie's face.
Finally, she spots the blue of her brother's jumpsuit over at the workbench. Feeling slightly piqued that he would ignore her – I bet he's too busy with his plans again to even realise I'm here! – she approaches him without any attempt at being quiet. "Clemont, I brought you din –"
Bonnie cuts off mid-word as she registers the sight before her. Far from being absorbed in his work, Clemont is actually fast asleep, head pillowed on his arms and his glasses askew. Bonnie huffs with amusement and shakes her head, searching for a place to put down the plate of food amidst the blueprints strewn about. Once her hands are free, she stretches up on tip-toe to gently slide the glasses off his face, setting them next to the plate of food. Clemont stirs and Bonnie freezes, holding her breath. Thankfully, her brother doesn't wake, instead burrowing his face a bit further into his arms and mumbling unintelligible words. Bonnie retreats back a few paces, hardly daring to breath, before she spins around and tip-toes quickly out of the workshop.
She hurries down the hall to the linen closet and starts to rummage around, straining on the tips of her toes. Her father pokes his head out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dishcloth. "Is everything alright, Bonnie? Did he eat dinner?"
"Sssh!" she whispers, placing a finger over her lips for silence before returning to her search of the linen closet. A blue corner of cloth catches her eye, and she spies the item she is looking for on a shelf just out of her reach. "Papa, could you get that blanket for me, please?"
Meyer obtains the blanket with an ease that makes Bonnie feel a bit envious. Still, for now, she has more important things to worry about. It's been nearly a week since Clemont started working on fixing Ash, and Bonnie can count the number of nights her brother has actually slept on one hand and still have fingers left over. She wants Ash to wake up as fast as he can, but she also doesn't want her brother to exhaust himself too much. Bonnie is pretty sure Ash wouldn't want Clemont working himself too hard either. "Thanks, Papa!" she says brightly, trundling back up the hallway with her arms laden with blanket. A bemused Meyer follows her as she silently slips back into the workshop.
Clemont doesn't wake up when Bonnie flips open the blanket, nor when she tries unsuccessfully to drape it over his shoulders – the stool he is sitting on is too high for her to draw the blanket up that much. Pikachu jumps up onto the bench to help, but can't get close enough to help pull the blanket over the sleeping blond. She's debating whether or not to simply try tossing the blanket – it might wake Clemont up, and Bonnie knows Clemont will just go back to work when he does wake up – when strong hands grip the blanket beside hers and help pull it up over Clemont's shoulders. Bonnie beams at her father, who winks back at her. He picks up the plate of dinner as they turn to leave. "I'll put this in the fridge," he whispers. Bonnie nods, then looks towards Pikachu, still perched on the workbench beside her brother.
"Are you staying here, Pikachu?"
"Pika," Pikachu nods, a yawn escaping his jaws. Bonnie giggles quietly. I guess Clemont isn't the only sleepyhead around here! "Please make sure he gets some more sleep then!" she whispers. Pikachu nods more vehemently, waving to her once before curling up in a ball beside Clemont's arms. Bonnie tip-toes towards her father at the door, pausing by Ash's sleeping form to give him a good night kiss on the forehead. As her father flicks off the lights and sets the door slightly ajar, Bonnie whispers to the room at large,
"Good night, Clemont and Ash! Sweet dreams!"
/\/\/\
– something's wrong – it hurts , Clemont! – red eyes gleaming in a cold, cold face – they've changed his code they're hurting him Ash, Ash I'm so sorry, please, please remember me you have to fight it please he's NOT YOURS – friends are like family that you can choose – please Ash – red eyes burning hurting rocks falling crashing hurting – no no no no nonononoNO BONNIE! ASH!
– please wake up please don't leave me both of you NO –
Clemont wakes with a gasp, lurching bolt upright. For a second, his gaze darts around wildly, aimlessly – but when all he sees is the fuzzy darkness of his room, he shudders with the realisation that he's managed to escape the nightmare. One hand clutches at his pyjamas over his heart as it wildly hammers against his chest; the other braces itself on his thigh as he hunches over, struggling to breathe normally.
It was just a dream, he thinks to himself forcefully, squeezing his eyes shut. It was just a dream. Images of Ash and Bonnie lying hurt flash across his eyelids and his eyes spring open again. It was just a dream!
He shivers. Some of it had been all too real, though.
"Pipika…?" A sleepy voice mumbles. There's a soft touch to his arm and he jumps in shock, biting back the startled yelp that wants to escape. He glances down and sees a yellow blur.
"Sorry, Pikachu," he whispers shakily, fumbling blindly for his glasses. Pikachu's concerned face snaps into focus when he manages to shove them onto his nose with fingers that still shake, thankfully avoiding poking himself in the eye.
Pikachu's ears are almost flat against his head. "Chuuuuu," he says mournfully. Pikachu reaches out to pat Clemont on the arm again, a little more tentatively. "Pipika chu pika?"
Clemont tries for a smile, knowing it's a very horrible attempt at one. Still, Pikachu's concern is rather touching. He straightens up a bit, his breathing starting to return back to normal, although his heart still thuds painfully in his chest. "I'm okay," he tells Pikachu, reaching out to rub between the small Pokémon's ears. Pikachu looks doubtful at this claim, but lets Clemont pat him without comment. "I'm okay," he repeats, more to himself this time. "It was just a bad dream."
He glances at the clock, his hand still running over Pikachu's fur in a soothing motion. Whether it's more soothing for Pikachu or for himself, Clemont can't say. The blazing red numbers display a time that is much too early for him to be awake, even with his early bird tendencies. He sighs, casting a longing glance back at his pillow. However, it's pointless to try and go back to sleep. For one thing, he knows that if he tries to sleep now, he'll just end up in another nightmare again. It's not the first time he's woken terrified from a bad dream since that day and Clemont is sure that it won't be the last, either. He's also just too jittery to sleep at the moment; his nerves are frayed and his hands are still trembling with adrenaline and fear. Clemont scrubs at his eyes tiredly.
There's a very quiet knock at his door, so soft he would have missed it if the night weren't so still. Pikachu's ears perk up at the sound and he peeks over Clemont's legs to get a better look at the newcomer. It's Bonnie, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes with one hand as she yawns.
"Bonnie!" he whispers. "Why are you up? You should be asleep."
"Thought I heard s'm'thin'," she mumbles. She stumbles her way over to his bed, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a cape. He has to steady her as she crawls up onto his bed beside him. "D'ya have a bad dream, Clemont?"
"I – " he starts, ready to lie and say that he's fine, but something about Bonnie's sleepy concern makes him honest instead. Maybe it's because it's night-time, and confidences are better shared in the dark like secrets; maybe it's because he's been there so many times after her own nightmares, and now his sister is trying to be there for him. Whatever the reason, he sighs and admits, "Yeah."
"Was it a really bad one?" she asks.
"…Yeah." A pause. "You and Ash were hurt. In the Gym."
"Oh, Clemont." Bonnie's voice is full of sympathy, and she practically falls on him to wrap her arms around his middle in a tight hug. He returns the hug just as fiercely, face pressed into her hair. His sister is here and unhurt. Ash is hurt but – but he'll fix him.
"Thanks," he whispers when they separate. "It's late though, you should go back to bed."
"Nuh-uh," Bonnie says with the stubbornness of the half-awake, shaking her head. "I'm gonna stay here, an' if any other bad dreams try t' bother you, I'll fight them! Right, Pikachu?" She strikes a fierce pose. Pikachu copies it.
"Pika!"
Clemont hides a smile with his hand. "In that case, I know my dreams will be well guarded," he tells them, fond amusement in his voice. Bonnie nods emphatically in agreement, her expression serious. He shuffles back down under the covers, flipping open the corner. "Why don't you lay down next to me then? It's more comfortable, and you'll be able to watch over me more closely," he suggests.
Bonnie nods again, crawling under the covers until she is curled up beside him. "'Night, Clemont…" she says sleepily, her voice trailing off with a sigh. She's fast asleep. Clemont draws the covers over her as well, smiling fondly. He kisses her forehead.
"Good night, Bonnie. Thank you." His glasses go back on the bedside table as he snuggles into the pillow. Somehow, he doesn't think he'll have any more trouble sleeping tonight. Pikachu curls up again beside the pillow. "Good night, Pikachu. Thank you too."
Pikachu mumbles a sleepy response, clearly dropping off to sleep almost as swiftly as Bonnie. Clemont huffs a laugh, and closes his eyes.
He sleeps right through to the morning without a single bad dream.
.
.
.
Meyer is somehow not at all surprised to find all three of his charges curled up together when he checks on them the next morning. Rather than disturb them, he pulls the door over again and heads down the hallway to the kitchen to start making breakfast.
Thanks for reading! C: