Chapter Thirty-four - Betrayed

"Do we know each other?" N asked, sweeping the cap off his head to run his long fingers through the strands. They didn't tangle like hers usually did; the teal cords passed like water through his hands to cascade down his back. Rosa stared at the smaller wisps dancing in the breeze near his eyes. Why were they so beautiful?

Gaston grunted and moved his cheek from N's chest to watch her expectantly, snapping her from her daze. "N-no." She said, crossing her arms tightly in front of her. "I'm a friend of Rood's. And Ella's. They mentioned you back when I met Gaston – Zoroark, I mean."

Another angelic smile warmed his face, but this time it was directed at her. "You know my friends?"

A stiff nod.

"And you've been caring for Gaston since my departure. You must be my friend as well! It's Rosa, isn't it?"

"Yeah. How'd you know that?"

"Another friend told me." He grinned and rubbed Gaston's ears, earning another happy grumble from the fox.

Her heart skipped painfully at their familiar exchange, and she had to look away. Rood hadn't specified how long N had been away before she'd met Gaston as a Zorua, but time obviously hadn't blunted their relationship. "That's um . . ." She blinked, trying to clear her thoughts. "Zoroark told you my name?"

"You could say that. But it's Gaston now, isn't it? That's what you call him?"

Her arms tightened. "Yeah. He agreed to the name when we decided to travel together. I uh, give nicknames to all my team members. It helps me feel closer to them." Her eyes flickered back to the cuddling pair, then again to a long tree branch swaying behind them. Did Gaston love her as much as he loved N? She certainly wasn't the perfect trainer, but maybe N was. And there was that time on the Plasma frigate . . .

"I'm sorry," She blurted, "I don't mean to be forward or anything, but you aren't here to take back Gaston, are you?" Natural held more claim on her partner than she did, but the thought of giving Gaston up turned her stomach. What would she do if N took him away? There was nothing she could do if her Pokémon wanted someone else.

To her surprise, N laughed. "Now why would you think that? You've taken such wonderful care of him – he hasn't stopped singing your praises since you ran through those bushes. Though he keeps referring to you by different names, so perhaps he's confused . . ."

Her heart constricted. "You aren't taking him, then?"

"Of course not. I'm not his master anymore; I gave up that title the day I left him with Rood. Trust me, Gaston's love and loyalty belong solely to you."

The breath she'd been holding poured from her lungs like the tide going out, and Rosa sagged. He wasn't there for Gaston. She wasn't sure why N spoke of him like he knew what the Pokémon was saying, but maybe that was just one of his quirks.

If it meant keeping Gaston with her, N could talk to the trees or the cube at his hip and she wouldn't bat an eye.

Maybe N could be her friend after all.

The tangle of nerves churning her stomach lessened to a dull ache, and Rosa dropped her defensive stance. Gaston apparently took this as an invitation, because he wriggled free from N's arms to rush forward and throw himself against her waist. He smelled strongly of pine.

"So why are you out here, then?" Rosa asked, ignoring Gaston as he sneezed into her shirt. "Rood made it sound like you're not one to be found if you don't wanna be."

He shrugged. "For the same reason you are. Gaston said you were pursuing a member of the Shadow Triad, but lost him when he entered the forest. It's no surprise you didn't catch him; they're nearly impossible to trace." N tucked his hands in his pockets, a thoughtful look clouding his eyes. "I've been tracking Ghetsis since I stumbled across a Pokémon liberation rally in Nimbasa eleven months ago. They weren't excited to talk to me, but seeing them there was enough to know my year of peace was over. The members who stood by Team Plasma after Touko tore it apart weren't loyal to the organization itself: they were loyal to Ghetsis. It certainly wasn't his disciples preaching in the streets – these people didn't know who they were working for."

N's brows creased as his lips pulled down at the corners. "So I contacted Rood, and have been hunting down Ghetsis since. I'd always known my father would return - he's a stubborn old man, too set in his ways to ever see the error in them - I just wish it hadn't been so soon. I was on my way to Humilau City when the airship flew overhead. What did Plasma want in Opelucid?"

Trouble. "DNA Splicers." Rosa said, loosening her grip on Gaston to rub her forehead. It was starting to ache. "We were trying to get them back for Drayden, but things went sour and the Triad managed to get a hold of them. That worthless piece of shinx is probably handing them over to Zinzolin as we speak."

N's frown deepened. "My father is playing with things he knows nothing about."

"You know what he's planning?"

"I have my guess."

Pursing his lips, N fell silent. Rosa was quiet too. When Rood explained N's disappearance from the colonial house on the hill so long ago, it never registered she and Curtis weren't alone in their fight against Plasma. Someone else felt the threat hanging over Unova, and was working desperately to change things. N understood what Ghetsis was capable of. He'd been hurt as deeply as she had – deeper, if the rumors surrounding his childhood were true. The stakes were high, but he wasn't skirting the truth to make her feel better.

He was an ally. She counted herself lucky to finally have another.

"You and I have been fighting Ghetsis for some time." N said at last, drawing Rosa from her thoughts. "You know he's planning to harm more people and Pokémon. Enough to make the deaths in Aspertia look like child's play. If we don't act soon, it'll be too late."

As if she weren't aware of that already. "What are you suggesting?"

"We both pose a threat to Ghetsis. He's paranoid; constantly moving around, trying to pull the strings without actually appearing in person. I don't know where he is right now, but Humilau is where he's headed."

Rosa's fingers, which had been stroking the tips of Gaston's mane, stilled. How did he know that?

"His plans are coming to a head. You feel it too, don't you? That we're running out of time? I'm not strong enough to finish him myself. But together-"

"Rosa!" A voice cut through the trees, warm and familiar and wracked with concern. "Where are you?"

N stiffened. "Who is that?"

"Another friend." Rosa assured. The battle in Opelucid must be over. "My traveling companion was chasing one of the other triad members when I left. Maybe they did a switch off and he got the splicers back. I'm over here!" She called, pivoting slightly to face the empty woods.

"Maybe." N repeated, looking unconvinced.

"Rosa!"

Curtis materialized from the foliage, his normally pale cheeks flushed with exertion as he stumbled into the clearing. Espeon was behind him, forked tail flicking, the glow of psychic power fading from her eyes as they fell on her assigned target. That's right, Espeon read air patterns. It was comforting, knowing between Anna and Espeon, they'd always be able to find each other.

Taking a breath to settle her pounding heart, Rosa raised a hand to greet them.

Curtis didn't seem to notice N. He crossed the clearing in record time and swept Rosa into a steel-armed hug, awkwardly trapping Gaston between them until the fox squirmed away. The movement sent sparks dancing through her vision, but despite herself, Rosa smiled. He was okay.

"Don't ever do that again." Curtis said when he finally pulled away. "You're brilliant – absolutely brilliant, hiding Gaston like that – but Arceus! Let me in on these plans, will 'ya? I thought you were going to let them take you!"

Never again. "Please. They couldn't hold me if they tried. Did you catch your shadow?"

"I did, actually. But he didn't have the DNA Splicers, and gave me the slip when Zinzolin tried to drag Bianca onto his stupid ship. He's lucky I was the one who saved her, and not Drayden. That man's not a Pokémon trainer – he's a Pokémon wrestler."

A bit of dust smeared Curtis's cheek. She smoothed it away with her thumb. "Least you caught yours - mine disappeared before he got the beating he deserved."

Which meant another piece of Ghetsis's plan had fallen into place. Their window to stop him was getting smaller, just as N said.

But it wasn't closed. Not yet.

"So, my father has the splicers after all."

The two glanced up, remembering their company. N's hands were still tucked casually in his pant pockets, but the transparency he'd worn just moments ago was gone, buried under a blanket of dark skepticism. His eyes were tight as he eyed the pair.

Not, not the pair.

Curtis.

Rosa frowned. Such a look didn't belong on his kind face. A glance in Curtis's direction showed he'd noticed N's reaction as well, but he didn't seem surprised by the stranger's hostility. On the contrary, he raised his eyes to match the stare, heat for heat.

Confusion rolled over her, and she moved her hand from Curtis's cheek. Was this some weird alpha male thing she wasn't aware of? She doubted it.

"N?" She asked tentatively. "What's the problem?"

"This man is the traveling companion you spoke of, Rosa?"

"Yes? This is Curtis. He's-"

"Curtis?" N tilted his head, emerald eyes flashing in the afternoon sun. "Really?"

"It's not what you think, N." Curtis said in a low voice. "I'm not here to hurt her. Or her Pokémon."

"I didn't say you were."

"Then why are you looking at me that way?"

N didn't answer Curtis's question. Instead he dropped his gaze to Curtis's boots, where Espeon had curled to form a barrier between her master and the man scrutinizing him. Her jewel was pulsing fiercely.

Rosa's head and heart pounded harder. She stood rooted in place beside her friend, blood cold, hardly believing what she'd heard. This was the second time today someone had questioned Curtis's name. Accused him of something . . .

"I'm don't wanna fight with you N. We're on the same side."

"I believe you. Or at least, I believe Espeon."

"Then what is it?"

"You haven't told her . . . that she's bleeding. Rosa, are you okay?"

Curtis whirled to face her, his expression instantly anxious. Rosa was numb and barely saw him, but had the mind to raise a hand to her nose, which indeed came away wet. She rubbed the red liquid between her fingers, suddenly tasting metal on her tongue as more dribbled down her lips.

"Arceus Rosa, you should have said something." Curtis threw his bag down to search through it, probably for a tissue or handkerchief, but swore colorfully and instead came away with one of his t-shirts. He extended it to her for her to take, but when she didn't immediately accept, he lifted it to her mouth to lessen the stream.

"Geez, it's bad. Tip your head back so it'll slow a bit. It's all down your front."

"Curtis," Rosa snatched his hand to stop his anxious daubing, "what is going on?"

"It's . . . a lot to explain."

"Then explain it to me."

"Let's get you cleaned up first, okay? I promise I'll tell you everything after."

"No, tell me now."

"Rosa-"

"Now."

Arceus, her head was killing her. Rosa ripped away from Curtis, sprinkling blood into the grass at their feet. A cold sweat formed against her head and chest as she stumbled forward. Gaston snatched her waist before she could fall. She was going to faint.

Then Curtis was there, lifting her into his arms so her head rested against his chest. Blood smeared his jacket and arms, and more trickled down her cheeks to pool between her face and his collarbone. Gaston pressed the t-shirt into her fingers so she could lift it to her nose.

N looked on in concern, seeming unable to bring himself to step forward. He tilted on his heels, trying to get a better look at her, but then shied away again.

Curtis ignored him. "We need to get you back to Opelucid, Rosa. I think something's wrong."

"Wait!" N said. He pulled the bag from his shoulder and rummaged around for something inside, finally withdrawing a crumpled paper and pen. He scrawled something on the page in hurried handwriting, then jogged forward to offer Curtis the message. "Take this. It will help you."

There were forty-seven tiles in the room they were staying in at the Pokémon center. Twenty-four of them were red. The rest were white. Rose stared blankly at those tiles, still clutching Curtis's soiled t-shirt to her face even though she'd stopped bleeding a few minutes ago. He'd gone out to pay for their rooms, but had hesitated to leave her alone for even that long. Her head no longer hurt, but her thoughts were an ocean. She'd basically kicked him out the door so she could be alone.

Curtis wasn't who he said he was. That much was obvious. The boyish, charming friend she'd come to care so much about had been lying to her. He'd said he wasn't around to hurt her or her Pokémon, but why would he even need to tell N something like that?

Everyone knew something about Curtis she didn't. But that was going to change.

In the tiles flashed a thousand snapshots of Curtis grinning at her, offering her his arm, trudging behind her as rain dripped down his face. His trembling form sleeping beside her, warmth in his eyes as he teases Gallade, a cloud of purple as he grips her hand and begs her not to trade herself for Bianca. Was any of it real?

Zinzolin's warning tore at her most. It drove deeper into her heart every time it played through her mind. She'd brushed it aside at the time, but would she have seen what everyone saw in Curtis if she'd paid more attention?

Was that even his real name?

The door creaked open, followed by a hesitant "Hey." Rosa didn't look up as Curtis crossed the room, followed closely by Espeon. His eyes fell over her hunched form like a blanket, but for the first time, it didn't bring any comfort.

"You feeling any better?" He asked gently. "If you're tired, I can leave for a while so you can rest. Or I can get you some food. It's been a while since you've had a real meal. Maybe it would help settle your headache."

She didn't reply. After a long stretch of silence, Curtis dropped down to kneel in front of her.

"Rosa . . . are you sure you're okay?"

He was afraid. It was just as well. She was too.

"I want the truth, Curtis." She murmured. "All of it. And I swear if you lie to me, I'll let Zaveid have his way with you."

A long, drawn out sigh. He dropped his eyes from her face to the floor, towards a tile reflecting an image of him clutching her waist under a living room doorway during the earthquake. She could see fingers trembling. Rosa swallowed.

"You're going to hate me." Curtis whispered.

"Maybe. But that's my choice. If take it from me, I'll hate you anyway."

He picked at the blankets hanging down the side the bed, allowing the tension between them to thicken into smog. It circled their necks to claw out their throats, but she was powerless to stop it. She needed to know he was still her Curtis.

All at once, his words spilled out.

"You didn't find my xtransceiver by accident. I threw it under the store shelf, and turned the vibrator up all the way up to make sure you'd find it. And when you answered, I wasn't halfway across Unova. I was six aisles away."

Her fingers tightened around the t-shirt. "Why?"

"I was hired by a man named Colress to keep an eye on you. At the time I was working for Team Plasma in a department that specializes in . . . well, spying on people. Everything I told you about my family was true, but I left the music academy at sixteen to escape my controlling mother and stumbled into the organization by accident. I needed a place to stay.

"Colress told me to keep you safe, and to keep him updated. That was all. I didn't know anything about you, my only concern was doing as I was told. So, using my middle name as an alias, I built a friendship with you. You told me everything about where you were and how you were doing, and I relayed that information to Colress. It was easy, once you were comfortable with me. Too easy. Colress stopped keeping tabs on me."

He broke off to run a swipe a stressed hand across his forehead, momentarily losing his nerve. Rosa stared over his shoulder, back at the tiles. She was right. It had all been a lie.

"Lying was harder once I got to know you. You were very open and kind, and I admired how hard you worked. And . . . you cared about me, which only made it worse. I almost told you the truth that day we rode the Ferris Wheel, but talked myself out of it at the last minute. After all, I was only doing my job. Or so I thought."

Everything in Rosa was numb. Curtis was working for Team Plasma. He was part of the organization that killed Touko. Stole Hugh. Burned Aspertia. His earnest face was so familiar, so wonderful to her and yet . . . "Are you working for them now?"

He shook his head. "No. I quit shortly after you were ambushed on the Plasma frigate. I'd heard about the attack and contacted Colress to tell him I was going after you, but he forbade me from interfering. He works for Team Plasma in their research department, and didn't want anyone knowing about his little hiring job. I'd have gone anyway, but he pulled the frigate's tracker information. To say I was angry doesn't begin to cover it."

She barely heard him. Colress worked for Plasma as well. It explained how he'd located the Plasma frigate, and how he'd broken into her cell so easily. No one suspected their esteemed scientist would turn against them.

Rosa felt something shaking the bed, but with a downward glance realized it was just her legs trembling. Everyone in her life seemed to be a member of that disgusting organization. She was their puppet, manipulated by a thousand invisible strings. It hurt.

Curtis plowed on. "That was the end of my loyalty towards Colress. After I knew you were safe, I broke into his office to try and figure out why he was interested in you. That's where I found the notebook connecting Arceus's guardians, and the timeline. There was evidence in that lab suggesting he'd been researching The Regeneration Effect at the time of Touko's murder, and had somehow pieced together that you were her replacement. I guess he was scared Ghetsis would do the same thing to you. I don't know it mattered to him, but I didn't stick around to find out.

"I stole the notes to show you, and made up an elaborate lie about having no idea Team Plasma was back in Unova so you wouldn't suspect I'd gotten the information from them." Curtis scoffed and plucked viciously at a loose thread on the bedspread. "I even asked you to stop keeping secrets from me, like I was a saint and you were in the wrong. I was scared how you'd react if you discovered the truth. Knowing I could lose you seemed to justify my actions at the time. Obviously it didn't. Doesn't."

Suddenly Rosa was on her feet, pounding the tiles to get away. She knocked Curtis backwards as she moved, but the resounding thunk of his elbows slapping the hard wood weren't loud enough to be satisfying.

His betrayal burned. She hugged herself tightly, knowing it wouldn't hold her together, but she tried anyway. Arceus, she'd been so stupid. As if anyone would actually leave their expensive xtransceiver under a dusty old shelf. Why hadn't she ever questioned him? Had she doubted this entire time, but pushed it aside because their relationship was too important to imagine giving up? He'd been everything she needed, right when she'd needed it. A reliable friend, a warm smile, the voice that led her when fighting was too much and too hard.

Curtis meant everything to her. Still did. He had her trust, her worries and fears, her dreams – she'd have walked through hell for him an hour ago. Happily.

But her safe house had never been safe at all. He was just another monster.

Curtis looked tired as he slowly returned to his feet. "I'd have never joined Team Plasma if I'd known what was really going on." He said softly. "It doesn't change what I've done, but I . . . I would do anything to make it right. You mean more to me than anyone in this world, Rosa. Above all else, that is my truth. I hope you know that."

Her bag was sitting on the bed, next to Curtis's bloody shirt. Carefully, deliberately, Rosa grabbed the long strap and slung it over her shoulder.

She couldn't look at him anymore. Team Plasma was her enemy. That was the only black and white in her world.

Without a word, Rosa opened the door and walked away.