Title: Aftermath
Author: Shadow/Phantomness
Pairing: Championshipping (Lance x Red)
Fandom: Pokémon
Theme: #11: Served Your Purpose
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a Pokemon talks. Game-verse with Special/Adventures influences…

Warnings: AU, het, angst

“Why are you doing this? Why?” Red demanded.

There was no answer.

Lance smirked as she wrapped her arms around the not-quite-boy. “Don’t you understand, Red?”

“Understand what, Lance?” He scowled.

“When the war is over, they don’t need any heroes…” The Dragon Master purred, as she tightened her grip on the Champion. “Glory in war is murder in peace, my dear Champion. Didn’t you know?”

No. He hadn’t known. He had gone through with it, even as his Pokémon razed cities, even as Pidgeot and Fearow flew overhead with Lance’s dragons, dropping cargo that exploded upon contact with the ground, even as the three legendary birds of Kanto had frozen the oceans themselves to stop the invaders, and then Zapdos had flown overhead, creating thunderstorms to hide the presence of their pokemon-borne army…

And as they had attacked, Moltres had laughed and sent their ships and planes up in glorious flames.

Was it all over?

“So we’ll just sit here until we die?” Red spat.

“Of course not.” Her voice was calm, too calm, he thought, for one who had just been betrayed. “I always have a back up plan. But just in case it fails, may I have something?”

“Mm?”

“Can you promise me something?”

“… Sure.”

Lance leaned forwards and gave Red a quick kiss on the lips. “If I die, don’t cry for me, all right?”

“… All right…”

Certainly, they had slept together – after all, the nights were lonely, and they were Elite, so no one would tell. Besides, it ‘improved their performance’.

It was always easier to fight if you knew someone would be waiting for you when you returned, bloody and battered. Lance usually had a hot bath and warm drinks waiting for him, and then they would cuddle.

She had even shown him a certificate, once. He had laughed, but on the inside, he had known what it meant. They were married.

The thought had been comforting, much more so than he had expected. It meant that they had something besides carnal desire, and that might have been when he realized he did love her.

How could he not trust her, then?

Red watched as she casually twisted her gold earring studs. They had been communication devices, but they should have been knocked out. Wasn’t the cell they were in generating a force field to block electronics?

Lance’s smirk told him no. If such were the case, then the security camera in the corner wouldn’t be on, would it?

… Point taken, really! No need to rub it in!

He had to get out of here before the rest of his brain rotted!

So Lance twisted her earrings, and the bored security guard who had been watching cursed, and began running towards the cell.

The video crackled and went dead, and she grinned.

“Of course, we don’t need them any more, do we?”

Agatha and Lorelei shimmered into being, and Red beamed in response before they faded out. Teleport.

It was perfectly true that their captors had taken all their Pokemon, but no force field to prevent teleporting out? That was careless.

“Damn it!” President Goodman raged. “Don’t you know where those two went?”

“Only a psychic of considerable skill could track them, sir.” The guard said, trembling. “And you have to remember, that Sabrina and Karen are on their side.”

“And Will and Morty are dead…”

“Damn it.”

“Well, I never expected you two to just sit there quietly.” Lorelei said conversationally. “You know, orange looks horrible on you both.”

Lance chuckled as Red choked, before scowling down into his glass of milk.

“Where are we now?”

“We are on Four Island,” The Ice Trainer shrugged. “It is only temporary – we’ll need a few supplies after all. I thought we should head out to Cerise.”

“Cerise Island? But it’s in ruins! It’s the first place the Houen army attacked!”

“You’re right,” Agatha cackled, “But we built the Elite’s true hidden base beneath the Island. It was still standing twenty minutes ago, so… no worries.”

“Ahh…” Red took another gulp of milk. He was too tired to ponder these strange things. Only one thing stuck out in his mind.

The Elite Four expected betrayal. Why?

Hadn’t they only done good things for Kanto?

… Maybe Lance was right. Heroes were only useful during wartime.

In that case, perhaps they should make it war again.

It was almost as easy to do, as it was to say. Red still had the loyalty of the legendary birds, and Sabrina brought them their Pokemon, Karen with her.

That night, they rained fire on Kanto.

Justice had to be done, after all.

And the heroes didn’t break the second time around.

End Fic

Completed 8/30/06

Edited 8/13/09

… Yeah. Soldiers get shafted once the war ends. Too much ‘War Poetry’ class influence, I swear…

Lance: *Hugs Red*

Red: *Hugs Lance*

Phantomness: Aww… *grin*

This could technically be future tense, Pokemon Special/Adventures-verse fic