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Eddies

Chapter 44: A different kind of bug.

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Eddies 44

Finding himself wrapped in his mum's arms was the best thing Chris had experienced in days.

Finally disentangling himself, he held Gwen's hands as she beamed up at him, eyes wet with tears as she saw he was fit and well. Skyy, standing nearby, looked on happily, and then let out a meep as he was grabbed in with Chris for another hug.

"I'm so glad you're both OK!" she muttered into Chris's shoulder, and he patted her again on the shoulder, embarrassed despite himself.

The Blackhawk had been met at the makeshift pad behind the barn by a barrage of people. Releasing Skyy from his pokeball, Chris had raced to his parent's side, giving them each a hug, before having the opportunity to take a good look around him.

It was amazing how a few weeks had changed the place. Thank God it was off season for the farm, he thought to himself dryly, as having to deal with transporting cattle to market as well as handle the menagerie that had overrun the property would have been impossible.

The smaller fields behind the barn had been converted into the army's base of operation, and now featured a good dozen white steel framed vinyl marquees of various sizes. Beyond them was the field in which they were presently standing, housing two Blackhawks and several smaller heli's, as well as the servicing facilities for them all.

To the right, the police had set up their own area which, while smaller than the armies, was still a bustling hive of activity. Upon their arrival, Parsons, Scott and Storm had been met by the police contingent, as well as several high ranking brass from the military, and we're standing near the boundary marker to the airfield area as the group exchanged introductions. Out of the corner of his eye, Chris spotted the human Ranger shaking hands with a younger police officer, and he started as they were joined by a large blue and black feline-appearing pokemon he hadn't seen before, and couldn't recognise.

While interested in the story behind that, he had no chance to ask as he let out an "Oomf" when his waist was grabbed by his younger brother, who wanted to know everything that had happened to him. As he shook Jimmy's hair with a smirk, he was further confronted by a large orange pokemon with a flaming tail, who stood besides his brother with a broad grin on his face.

"Azil?" Chris ventured incredulously, as the charmeleon nodded happily. "Damn, you're big!"

Laughing, Jim began dragging Chris towards the homestead, telling him all about their hiding out and the charmander's evolution. Gwen and Paul followed, arms locked and content their family was finally back together again.

At least, all was well until Gwen asked him "Where's Raikou, hon?"

Chris hesitated, nearly tripping as Skyy ploughed into his back, not ready for his sudden stop. Giving his mother a grief filled look, she put out a hand to his shoulder and said "Oh, I'm sorry hon. We'll talk about it later."

Wiping his eyes, he nodded, resuming his trek to the house. But the mood was quiet, as even Jimmy realised something was wrong.

Still, Chris paused at the front door, hesitant to cross the threshold until, drawing a deep breath, he moved into the quiet, cool interior.

Home.

At last.

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Shaking Cameron's hand, Scott introduced Storm to the police commissioner, after discovering the man was J.B's boss. Thankfully, he seemed a bit more casual than J.B had been at their initial meeting, and the human Ranger felt an immediate affinity for the man, who had the same calm assurance that was seen in his own superior, Commander Barklay.

The military men didn't show the same affectation. Scott shook their hands affably enough, but their hard eyes and uncompromising attitude left him under no delusion they weren't interested in anything but professional terms.

Thankfully, Storm made the point moot, as his "don't take bullshit from nobody" attitude left them somewhat bewildered. Then again, having a seven foot fur rug with fangs asking you "How they were hanging" would have been disconcerting for anyone.

As the typhlosion distracted the military folk, Scott was introduced to a young police officer and, of all things, a luxray called Shadow. While Storm managed to spare the creature a wink, which was returned with a toothy grin, it was the young human's obvious interaction as her trainer that had him surprised. While given a very brief summary of how they came to be together, he sensed there was much more involved, and promised himself he'd have a long chat with the guy and see if he could help him with it.

Then Cameron asked the questions he'd been dreading.

"I don't see J.B and Tim Campanile with you. How are they both doing?"

Sighing, he filled the commissioner on the grim news of Tim's death at the hands of the Sinnotech militia, and was unsurprised to note the tightening of the man's eyes as he spelled out the surprise assault. In return, Scott was briefly told of the events that had occurred on this side, and winced as he heard the Ranger's death count had climbed even further.

On sudden inspiration, he turned to the luxray and said "I realise who you are now! You're Phil's evolved luxio! We were all worried what had happened to you!"

When she narrowed her eyes in alarm at his recognition, flashing Bill a clouded look, Scott nodded to himself. Well, she was Phil's partner once, but not any more, he thought, watching the tightening of the young officer's brow at the mention of her former trainer.

However, he was floored when she burst into pokespeak, returned by the young officer, who proceeded to hold an animated conversation with the pokemon.

Scott's startled response was interrupted by a loud guffaw from Storm, who broke from his own discussion to do something Scott had rarely seen him do; join in a three way pokespeak chat with the pair. When Bill laughed and replied in kind, Scott gave his partner a surly look, promising to ask him what the trio had exchanged, before the typhlosion gave them a wave and returned to his own conversation.

"Neat trick that!" Scott said, seeing the officer give his "partner" a sheepish look, which the luxray returned. Bill made to apologise, but Scott shook his head, holding up a hand to forestall him.

"Don't worry about it. I can spot a pokemon/trainer interaction a mile away. I think I'm going to have to have a long talk with Phil about relinquishing your ownership, Shadow, but I don't think he'll mind that much. From what I gather, he's already been partnered up with another pokemon, so I can't see your choice in a new trainer being an issue!"

Bill grinned broadly, bending down to give Shadow a firm hug, which she returned happily, wrapping furred arms around his shoulders and burying her face in his neck. Very close pairing, Scott mused briefly, before dismissing the thought. He was many things, but the least of which was a hypocrite. They were clearly old enough to make up their minds about anything they chose.

Still, as the Ranger was lead away towards the H.Q marquee, he turned his head back and said " You'll have to tell me how the hell you learnt pokespeak all the way out here. We'll have a chance to talk later!"

At their mutual nod, he gave them a smile, gripped Storms shoulder to drag him away, and followed the rest of the officers into the makeshift building for debriefing.

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Back in the homestead, Gwen put on the kettle, rattling around in the cupboard for mugs as Chris sank gratefully into a chair at the dining table. Skyy dropped down beside him, and the rest of his family followed. Even Azil perched himself on a chair besides Jimmy, eyeing the cakes Gwen began spreading on the table top greedily.

Paul, who'd lounged at his usual place at the table head, gave his wife a grateful look as she passed him a steaming brew, before asking his son what had happened.

Chris filled him in on the basics, keeping most of the gorier parts out of the story for his younger brother's benefit, but he saw his father didn't miss his omissions. Nodding slightly, he lipped "later", and received a slight inclination of his father's head in return.

Regardless, they spent a wonderful hour as a family again, as Gwen managed to prepare a dinner fit for royalty on short notice.

Much later, when Skyy left with Jimmy and Azil to the lounge room to watch a movie, Chris joined his father on the veranda, taking a seat on the same bench where he'd discussed their encounter with the redneck brothers; a conversation that seemed to have occurred ages since.

DeJaVu, he thought, even as he told his dad everything, from the raid in the mountains to their betrayal, and subsequent return journey and entrapment in the Sinnotech factory.

Paul drew a long breath on his cigarette, and stared besides him at his young offspring. No, not young anymore, Paul thought sadly, seeing the hard lines already creeping into his son's face. But determination was there too, as well as a resolve that Chris had never exhibited before.

In the past, Paul had often despaired of his son ever settling down to a career or future, as he seemed to simply fall from one bad situation to another. But one thing had now become clear; his son had matured, through both tragedy and adversity, and while the road had been long and hard for him, he'd made it so far relatively unscathed, coming out the other end with true friends he could count on.

Hell, Paul couldn't have been prouder of him.

Wrapping an arm around Chris's shoulders, Paul gave him a hug, which was gratefully received.

"Life can be a bitch, Chris. I see you understand that now. But you have Skyy, and Scott and Storm to watch your back, and I know they'll be there for you, just like we will. I'm sorry about Jasper tho; I had thought better of him. I'm even sorrier about Raikou. I could see how much he loved you, Chris. He didn't want to show it, but he watched over you just like Gwen and I do. He'll be missed, but... well... you never know what the future holds."

Chris nodded, using an elbow to wipe his eyes. "I just never got to say goodbye, dad." he said softly, and Paul nodded.

"Sometimes that happens, Son, but he knew how you felt, just as I know he felt the same way. It might not have been said, but it was always there."

With a sigh, Chris turned to stare at the distant mountains, silhouetted against the darkening sky as the sun set towards twilight.

It seemed a long time before Gwen came out for them, ushering them back inside for another hot drink.

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Herding a disgruntled, surly typhlosion into the medical tent was a challenge an exhausted Scott didn't need.

"Fuck's sake, Storm! It won't take long! The scans on me took less than five minutes, and Jasper came up clean! Let's just get this over with, and we can get some sleep!"

Muttering darkly, the typhlosion Ranger lay back down on the dolly bed, eyeing the masked and gowned medical staff with apprehension. The feeling was clearly returned, as one young doctor approached the bed visibly trembling, the wand shaped metal detector shaking in his grasp.

Seeing the fear he was generating, Storm sighed and closed his eyes, letting the team run their equipment and hands across his body. When one of the female nurses ran light fingers across his nether region, searching through his dense crotch hair for anything suspicious, his sense of the incredulous got to him, and he opened an eyelid to regard her dryly, winking suggestively as he said coarsely "Hey, baby! Find anything interesting?"

Her blush as she drew her hands away hurriedly was worth the dirty look shot at him by his partner.

He began a deep laugh, chest rising and falling with his chuckle, which died abruptly when the detector in the doctor's hands, passing back and forth across his abdomen, let out a loud squeal.

Frozen, he watched with growing dread as the wand made further passes across the area, each resulting in a similar response. Giving Scott a frantic look, the typhlosion made to rise, but a restraining hand from the nurse he'd embarrassed earlier stopped him in his tracks.

"It's alright. Don't worry." she said soothingly, and in his fear, he grabbed her hand in his paw, gripping her fingers tightly.

Instead of panic, she gave him a smile, stroking it gently as the doctor leant down, parting the fur to reveal a long scar deep beneath.

Muttering to himself, the doctor gave Scott a hurried look and said "In a human, I'd consider this an appendectomy scar, but I guess he's never had an issue with that, assuming he even has one?"

Scott, face set grimly, shook his head slowly, as the doctor began pressing long fingers into the pokemon's hide, trying to identify the cause of the machine's alarm.

Finally, frustrated, he stepped back, removing the mask across his face and rubbing his chin with a hand. "There's something unusual there, but what it is, I can't tell you. It does beg the question, if you didn't have it put there, what is it, and where did it come from?"

Scott considered. "Can it be X-rayed?"

Nodding, the doctor said "Of course. That's the next step. If we clear the room, I'll have him transferred for scanning."

Seeing his partner become increasingly agitated, Scott said "I'll stay with him, I think. You have those lead apron things, right?"

The doctor made to object, but when his hairy patient began rising, hurriedly agreed. "Yes, although we obviously prefer not having someone there. I think, in this case, we can make an exception."

Storm cursed, and again sought to stand, but was restrained by Scott. "Enough!" the human Ranger said sourly. "This has to be done! I know what you feel, but let's just get it over with!"

Storm struggled for a moment against the hands holding him down, before dropping back to the bed. Turning his head, he rubbed at his moistening eyes with his free hand and said quietly "No, you don't! You don't know what it feels like!"

Scott paused, before reaching out to grip the paw firmly, squeezing it in his hands. "No, you're right. But I'll be here with you the whole time, OK?"

Eyes shut, the typhlosion finally nodded, and allowed the medical team to wheel him into a nearby room for scans.

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Scott stood with Storm and the head doctor before the wall mounted X-ray light box, staring at the images in anger. Unusually quiet, the typhlosion stood at his back, chest pressed against his shoulder in an uncharacteristic show of public contact, as the doctor explained the results, long finger tracing across the image.

"Well, it's about twelve centimetres long, and five wide. Cylindrical, shaped a bit like a cigar tube. Best I can ascertain, it's made of either glass or acrylic of some sort. The ends here... see... that's obviously a battery, and this spiralled wire at the other end looks a bit like an aerial. The body otherwise is solid circuitry, and not knowing what it does, I'm no engineer, so I'm not qualified to make a judgement call there. But I'd say, with the aerial being so dominant, it has to be a transmitter of some sort."

Scott could feel the large bulk of the pokemon shaking through his clothes from where he leant against him, and he absently reached back to hold Storms paw in a grip that was returned firmly.

"Will it be hard to remove?" Scott asked, as the doctor returned to the monitor, indicating various shadowy organs in the scan.

"I don't believe so. It's well below his diaphragm, beneath this organ here, which I think is his liver. Really, it looks like it's just been shoved in above his large intestine here, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get out."

Frightened, Storm took a step back, trying to release Scott's hand, but the Ranger held on. Spinning to his partner, who was looking at the image with hugely dilated pupils, the typhlosion began shaking his head frantically, only stopped as Scott grabbed for the rough of his neck, digging fingers into the loose fur to hold him in place. As their eyes met, Scott released his other hand, stroking Storms cheek gently as the pokemon shut his eyes fearfully.

The doctor, not understanding the cause of the creatures worry, piped up "It's simple, really. Shouldn't take more than half an hour."

Scott said back to him "Storm's had bad experiences with unwarranted surgery, doc. We're still dealing with the PTSD. If you can give us a few moments alone...?"

The doctor paused, and then wisely left the room, closing the door softly behind him. Scott waited until he left, then wrapped his arms around Storms' neck, drawing him close, where he could feel the huge pokemon trembling against him.

"You know I won't ever let them hurt you again, Storm" he soothed, as the big creature began shaking, deep sobs wracking his frame.

"But... I don't want to..." blurted out the typhlosion, red eyes weeping tears to dampen down his cheek fur, as Scott reached up to wipe them away.

"Yeah, I know. But I will be there watching everything they do, Sweetheart. This isn't CERT, and these people aren't Jameson. Those bastards won't ever harm you again, alright? I promise you that, Storm"

Long moments passed with Storm simply looking at him, before the pokemon turned away and said plaintively "Do I have to?"

Scott sighed, stroking him between the ears as Storms head dropped to press against his chest. "No, you don't. But once it's gone, the last link between them and you will be broken. Do you understand that?"

Storm sniffled, wiping his face on Scott's shirt and leaving a wet trail in the khaki fabric. "Yeah. Alright."

Scratching the ears, Scott said "I'm not going anywhere, Storm. Not now, or ever. I got your back for the rest of our lives, alright?"

Nodding, the pokemon rose, and Scott gave him another hug, before slipping out to the doctor, who had been waiting patiently outside, and said "OK, we're ready. Let's do this."

The doctor didn't answer, but simply left to make the appropriate arrangements.

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Shortly after midnight, Scott found himself in the medical tents recovery area, a slumbering typhlosion snoring noisily from a bed beside him.

Rolling the thick cylinder between his fingers, he gave it a dark glance as the doctor settled the last of the monitoring equipment about the pokemon, leaving the friendly nurse at his side as he gave Scott the post-op rundown.

"...keep the area clean, and make sure he doesn't worry at it. While the entry point is small, he's still likely to experience a fair bit of discomfort as his muscles recover from the anaesthetic. I've given him a course of antibiotics, but I'm not sure how he'll go on them, so keep a close eye on him for any signs of deterioration, or infection. Call me immediately if you have any questions."

Scott nodded absently, and the doctor gave him a quick smile. "He's been an interesting patient. I just wish I had a chance to write this up for the Lancet. But, secrecy is the liability for working for the military, I'm afraid. Still, I wouldn't have traded places with another surgeon for any reason."

Giving the medico his profound thanks, as the doctor made to leave, Scott had a sudden inspiration.

"Umm, this thing probably runs on radio frequency, right?"

The doctor nodded hesitantly. "It is likely, but I'm not one to..."

Interrupting, Scott said "Yes, I know it's not your area. I'm certain it'll be handed over to the engineers later this morning. But still, I don't suppose you have some sort of metal container I can put this in?"

The doctor looked confused. "Probably. But why?"

Scott stared down at the transmitter grimly. "Well, to shield it from sending its owners a message, for starters."

Startled, the doctor's eyes widened, and he quickly slipped from the room, returning a few moments later with a screw top stainless steel jar, large enough to house the transmitter. Once it was secure, Scott handed the package over to him. "I assume you can see this gets to the right people, doc?"

Nodding, the doctor shook his hand, and left with the cylinder, promising to hand it over to the army personnel later in the morning.

Seeing the nurse still hovering over Storm, Scott gave her a smile, which she returned as she checked the pokemon's vitals. Nodding towards the toilet, the Ranger left her there, slumping onto the seat for some much needed breathing room as his mind ran through the implications of the nights events.

Damn that Jameson! Scott swore, dropping his head into his hands. Damn him to the hell he's in now, where he should burn for eternity!

Back in the room, Storm began stirring, rocking on the bed and muttering vaguely beneath his breath. The nurse leaned over the cot, just as the typhlosion reached up abruptly, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her against him. Hitting the mattress with a thump, she found herself engulfed in his embrace, as the pokemon nuzzled against her, muttering "Love you..."

Struggling in his strong grip, she began giggling uncontrollably, even as Scott swung the toilet door open to see her dilemma. Slapping his face, he rushed to her assistance, managing to disentangle her from the typhlosion's grip and assisting her to his feet.

Grinning broadly, she gave the pokemon an amused look, even as he dropped back into slumber, and said "He's rather cute, isn't he! Big, huge and scary-looking, but really quite cute!"

Laughing aloud, Scott turned an embarrassed red, which aggravated as she said to him quietly "And he certainly is fond of you, isn't he?"

While he attempted to splutter a reply, she giggled brightly again, patting his arm and said "You could do worse, sweetie. Call me right away if you have any worries, OK?"

With that, she left the room, giving him a wink as she closed the door behind her.

Settling down in the chair besides the bed, Scott groaned outwardly, although he continued to laugh beneath his breath. At the noise, Storm stirred again, reaching out towards him, and the Ranger leaned forward, stepping the chair across the floor against the bed, to cup the furred hand again.

With the touch, Storm settled, but muttered a final "Love you..." beneath his breath; a sentiment returned by his partner beside him.

"Yeah, I love you too, you big sook."

Resting his head on the mattress besides his partner, Scott let exhaustion finally take him, and fell into a deep sleep...

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Late that night, Gwen made one final round of the farm house before bed, checking everything was alright. With her family reunited, she felt blessed that things could only get better from here.

Seeing Chris's door slightly ajar, she tapped lightly on the frame, receiving no response. It was unusual for him to not close his door completely, but she couldn't resist a peek in at him, to see him safely returned from his journey.

Pushing on the handle, the door creaked open, dim hall lighting spilling through the narrow gap to cross the bed within. The two forms huddled close beneath the sheets didn't stir, even as she gazed down at the pair in silence, before she quietly shut the door again, extinguishing the light and leaving the occupants to their dreams.

It seemed she had a lot to think about that night, herself.

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Authors note:

I think Storm's my favourite character in the entire story. In fact, pretty much any of them. Big, gruff, and pig headed, with a heart of gold, and innocence to match.

Hmm, sounds awfully like a certain grumpy Australian I know... ;)

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I know I'm going to get questions on who's this, and why that. Well, if you're lazy, read the Character bio's ;) If you really need a refresher, reread the entire story.

Should only take you a day or so ** **;)

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