Title: As Long as You’re Mine
Author: Shadow/Phantomness
Pairing: Championshipping (Lance x Ash/Red)
Fandom: Pokémon
Theme: #14, as long as you’re mine
Rating: R
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

Warnings: AU, Shonen-ai, incest, shouta, fanon, violence, insanity, implied sex

I’ll do anything to protect you, my precious, precious Red. Anything. It does not matter who or what stands in my way. They’ll all be destroyed in the end.

Charlotte looked exhausted, but at least the ordeal was over. She cradled Red in her arms as she glanced up at Lance, speaking in telepathy while the doctors bustled around them like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to make mother and baby comfortable.

< Thank Lugia it’s over… >

Lance smiled. < I will. I’m glad it was smooth. >

< Fairly smooth, though even three months was a bit of a stretch. >

< How are you feeling now? Is there any lingering weakness? >

Charlotte looked pensive. < My magic and energy levels should be back up to normal within a few weeks, but until then, I’m afraid you’ll have to deal with any attacks that may occur. >

< I understand, and… thank you. >

< For what? > She looked almost surprised.

< It must be difficult to carry a child, even a legendary child. I do not think I would be able to do such a thing. >

< You are a boy, Lance. >

< Even so, thank you. >

Charlotte half-smiled, and no more was said as Lance left to give her some privacy. Two days later, the family went home.

Red grew up with two parents. While far from normal, he learned that they did, truly love him. However, life was quite interesting – he remembered being little and having to deal with demon attacks, watching in awe as his parents used their magic skills to beat the enemy back.

His mother was nice, but she didn’t really act so much like a parent should, at least according to the gossipmongers in town. Red heard them talking sometimes, but didn’t care.

They were just jealous.

Father was the one who bathed him and cooked, since Mother couldn’t really make anything without burning it. Mother was nice though, she’d play with him and do little magic tricks, and so it all evened out somehow.

He was an only child, and he would stay that way. Neither of them wanted more children, and Red was a special case, otherwise they wouldn’t even be together.

It wasn’t that they weren’t friends; it was just that they weren’t in love. They were not meant to be together, but to bring a legendary into the world without death only another legendary child could do it.

Lance vaguely wondered if Delia had been denied reincarnation, and that was why Charlotte had to step in as surrogate mother.

She played her role well, but that was what they were both really doing. Role-playing. They weren’t quite qualified to be parents.

It had to be done, and Chosen didn’t shirk duty – especially not these two. That was just the way things were.

Serebii watched, and worried. Lance was dangerous. Charlotte was dangerous too, in her own way. And with both of them taking care of Red…

At least he’d be safe, though she couldn’t say the same for any fool who might torment him in the childish spirit of malice.

There had been a kid in his class named Dirk. Dirk had been bigger than the rest of the children, and he’d taken a dislike to Red. Perhaps it was his odd eye color. Perhaps it was his frail physique. Perhaps it was the Poliwag that followed him around. Perhaps he was just jealous that Red had a decent family situation.

Whatever the case, Dirk made the mistake of harassing Red while his parents were watching.

Charlotte and Lance were very quiet as they walked him home, but the next morning, Dirk was found strung up by his intestines in the tall Elm tree in front of Pallet Elementary, his body covered in third-degree burns that had cooked the flesh from his bones. There were even pieces missing. Perhaps that was the work of wild pokémon… and perhaps not.

Red suspected what had happened, but did not bother to confront his parents on it. His logic was simple.

The person who had hurt him was gone, and his parents had saved him.

He smiled happily all that day through class, even though the teachers looked careworn and frightened at Dirk’s disappearance.

No one bullied him through the rest of school. Because even if no one knew the truth, people could suspect and conjecture all they liked.

It shielded him from harm in any case.

“We should have let him live.”

“Why?” Charlotte asked.

Lance smirked. “Death is too easy.”

< I suppose it is, but Red is still a child. >

< For now. >

< Indeed. I will hope his memories return in time; otherwise you’ll have quite a bit of work in your hands. >

< But the pursuit makes the capture more fun! >

She chuckled, pouring herself a cup of strong coffee, adding three inches of honey. < You always did enjoy the chase, Lance. >

< You say that like it’s detrimental to his health. >

< Oh I’m quite sure you wouldn’t hurt him. He’s quite cute, ne? >

< Pity I have to wait for him to grow up… >

< It must be hard. > She poured a second cup of coffee as they watched Red and Poliwag run through the sprinklers in the front yard, giggling. < You remember him at that age, don’t you? >

< Not a specific age. I may retain my memories life to life, but if I don’t think about it, they blur. >

< That makes sense. I do not know whether my fragmented mind should be counted as fortune or no. >

< Choose to do what you will, as long as it does not detract from duty. >

< Our motto. >

< Mm. > Lance shook his head. < I want him so much that it hurts, Charlotte. It’s tearing me apart, no matter how collected I look on the outside. >

< I understand. > Her eyes were glowing white, and he sensed she was using her foreseeing power. She sighed, coming out of her trance with a wistful expression.

< Pity. I would have liked to watch him grow up. >

Lance chose not to comment on her thought. But he knew what she meant.

Someday, he would fall again. He might even kill her.

Her foretelling powers were powerful, and never wrong.

Hopefully, that time would be long in coming.

Charlotte got up, taking the coffeepot with her. “I’m going to go meditate for a bit. You and Red can have dinner first. Don’t wait up for me.”

He nodded, and pretended not to notice the sound of crackling flames.

“Is Mother sick?”

“No,” Lance said, as he served cake for both of them, creamy chocolate topped with swirls of strawberry. “She’s just tired.”

Red nodded, used to strange things already. Children were adaptable, and though he lamented not having cool magic power of his own, Mother and Father didn’t try to show off.

Their house, and everything else was just the way it was.

The cake melted in his mouth, rich and fluffy, and he grinned. It might be selfish, but he liked Father more.

Mother didn’t seem to mind though, which was nice.

When Red went off on his journey, he left with four pokémon: Poliwag – now Poliwhirl, who had been with him for years, Charmander, from Mother, Dratini, from Father, and a Bulbasaur from Professor Oak.

Journeying was fun, though he missed being home, but he supposed all children went through that from time to time. Still, after a year he was Champion.

Being Champion brought with it a whole new set of difficulties. He had to live apart from his parents, and he was only twelve!

After the third assassination attempt, foiled only because his paranoid guardians had cast every possible ward on him, the Council let him go home.

Red enjoyed that very much.

Father was different, now. He was… almost younger, more brilliant than he had been. He still filled Red with awe, and as he watched Father Dragon Dance men to death, he understood, at least a little, what it felt like to be in love.

It was a heady feeling, and he kissed him then, high on euphoria.

Father had kissed him back, and that was when he realized what they were doing.

Afterwards, he was guilty, but Mother found him and explained to him, and even though he didn’t understand a lot of the terms she used, he was glad she wasn’t mad.

She almost… approved.

Strange.

But as he hugged her, he kept thinking of fire, and she was warm, kind of.

He started sleeping in Father’s room, and now he realized how he’d never thought it odd, that Mother and Father slept in separate rooms with separate beds.

That wasn’t quite how parents should act, was it?

But now Father held him close at night, and kissed him, and touched him in ways that made him shiver.

It was nice though, and he started responding, doing the same.

He didn’t know though, not really, really, until Mother was dead at the hands of the demon and Father held him close, magic shimmering in his eyes.

And that was when he realized, with the dams of memory in his mind broken.

It was too late now.

He was caught, and trapped, and kept.

Was it wrong of him not to mind?

He stayed in Lance’s arms as his Father razed Kanto and Johto, because it was too late to save the Earth.

No one would ever hurt him again.

Wasn’t that nice?

End Fic

Completed 9/16/06

Woohoo! I was very inspired to write this. It’s a great quote!

Lance: New theme set?
Phantomness: Ee.

Red: Oh well.

Shoyko: *Yawns* Poor overworked darkfic muse

Pika-chan: Hey! The fluff muse has to work hard too!

Kairo: *Giggle* that’s why the humor muse has the easiest job!

Phantomness: Might change that someday, but humor’s not really my forte

Lance: No, you like fluffy angst

Red: And lemons!

Phantomness: And what, may I ask, is wrong with lemons?

Red: *hides behind Lance*

Lance: Smirk

Phantomness: In any case, I’m glad the fic turned out well, and I like Charlotte.