Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Chief, let’s go. You need to eat lunch.” “I‘ll go in just a minute.” 

Annie perched her hands on her hips in that annoying way she did when she was prepared to argue with them. “No, not just a minute. You promised me this morning when I let you get away with having a sugar cookie for breakfast that you wouldn’t fight me when it came time for lunch.”

Blanche glared up at her, giving her a look that would have most trainers crawling backwards out the door on their hands and knees apologizing. Annie, however, was not most trainers. Though her persona was absolutely nothing like theirs, she managed to match them pound for pound in stubbornness. If Blanche was in a significantly less adversarial mood themselves, they could likely admit that it was one of the many traits that made Annie such a good assistant to them.

But they weren’t. So they didn’t. Instead, they engaged themselves in a staring contest with Annie, waiting to see if she would wait them out or if today was one of those days where she just wasn’t in the mood to fight them and would cede the argument  to them. 

Their phones apparently decided today would neither. 

Both leader and assistant jumped when a horrible emergency siren wail erupted simultaneously from their cell phones. Blanche, in fact, shot straight out of their chair and promptly tripped over their own coattails. The only thing that saved them a horribly undignified face-plant was their loyal, ever-suffering assistant managing to snag them by the shoulders as they fell. Annie, however, lost her own balance trying to catch her boss and crashed to the ground herself, sending them both down. Blanche landed awkwardly on top of her and promptly thanked her for breaking their fall by unintentionally planting their elbow in Annie’s ribs while attempting to roll off of her and find their screeching phone. Despite the rather rough treatment, she was still on her feet and tearing furiously through her bag by the time they got their bearings.

Annie’s expression changed from confused concern to outright alarm. Without prompting, she spun the phone around and offered it to them. Lighting up her screen was a neon red SOS, the one from the app Willow had insisted they all have their four best trainers (or elite four) install. For safety , he had said. These were the best of the best, their most intimate squads. If any of you three run into danger at work, odds are they’ll be the trainers with you. So I’m giving you all a safety rope, that I know you’ll have no matter what. 

But despite Willow’s ministrations, neither Instinct nor Mystic nor Valor had had to use their emergency signal yet. Yet .

The flashing screen in between them told them otherwise. Multiple SOS messages were coming through, all three coming from members of Candela’s team. When Annie swiped the app open, a pop-up screen told them that the trainers were down by an old factory grounds. As they tried to read, another round of emergency signals began going off- most likely sent in case they somehow missed the first ones. Not good, none of it good. 

They were moving before they processed. Annie followed in step with them and they could vaguely hear her directing their squadmates as they fell into line behind them both. On their way out the front door, they bumped into Spark and Go, leading the Instinct trainers behind them. 

Spark grasped their arm in greeting. As the two teams merged neatly behind them, he leaned into their ear and muttered “Did you see?” They frowned at him, about to ask if that was a rhetorical question, when he corrected himself. “Not the signal. Who it came from.” He clicked one of the lights and showed them. “There’s one from Marius, two from Jezebel, two from Paco….” 

They tensed as they realized his point. “But none from Candela or Carl.” 

Spark nodded, as their teams piled into the small bus behind them. Blanche clenched their fists and stared at them. For whatever reason, Candela and Carl weren’t able to send out emergency signals like the rest of their group. Maybe they were separated and just didn’t have a reason to signal yet. But being separated would surely be enough of a reason to signal, if it made the rest panic so badly. Unfortunately, they knew it was far more likely that the pair were incapable of signaling for help. They tried their best not to focus on the possible reasons behind that. No use in trying to solve a problem before knowing if it even exists. And anyway, if the way Annie jerked the wheel as she navigated the winding road to the factory grounds was any indication, she was dwelling enough for both of them. 

Suddenly, Go shouted. He grabbed Annie’s wrist and sent Blanche flying into Spark’s lap ( really, they just couldn’t stay upright today ). When they sat up, they saw exactly what he had seen- a figure in a cream and red coat, running towards them. Blanche leapt to their feet. Spark, apparently thinking along the same lines, lunged for the door handle before Annie had even grabbed the parking brake. They scrambled out together, with Blanche making it to the Valor trainer first and grabbing her by the shoulders. 

The girl ( Jezebel, they recalled. ) collapsed forward into their arms. They reeled, surprised, as she clung to them like Go’s neurotic cubone. Blanche recovered themselves a little bit, propping the girl up against them so they could get a better look at her. Her dark ringlets of hair were messy and tangled, with a small leaf stuck right above her left ear. She was bleeding slightly from a cut on her cheek, and they could see a bruise forming under her right eye. The normally high-energy trainer, who Candela affectionately called her mini-me, was shaking like a leaf and Blanche was mildly concerned that if they let go, she’d fall apart into a heap on the ground. 

One of their trainers, Lionel, appeared behind them and to their relief took Jezebel from their arms. The big Samoan rubbed her back comfortingly. “Take a deep breath, Jazzy. That’s it.” he murmured in a much more soothing tone than they could have managed. “When you’re ready, we need you to tell us what happened. Ok?” 

Jezebel nodded, inhaling shakily. “I…we…” she leaned her head weakly against Lionel’s shoulder for a moment. “We were running an investigation for Professor Willow. Into an illegal battling scheme hosted down there in the grounds.” She jerked her head towards the direction she’d come from. “We had a stolen key but the guys were struggling to get in so Leader Candela…” 

The poor girl’s lip trembled slightly. “Well, she was watching their backs with me. But she went to help them, told me to keep an eye out for her. The second they got the door open, some asshat came out of nowhere. Got the better of me. He set his Honedge at me and told her to surrender or he’d tell it to attack.” 

Blanche clenched their teeth ( wincing when they saw the hurt look their change in expression brought to Jezebel’s face ). “And she did.” 

Of course she did. Stupid, stupid Candela. Stupid diehard loyal, fiercly protective, selfless Candela. She’d die before she actively let someone hurt her trainers. 

Jezebel nodded, tears now flowing down her cheeks. “I messed up and she…she paid the price. They took her away, we couldn’t see where. When we tried to fight for her, they pushed us back- managed to separate us too. I saw one of them grab Carl and shut the door behind them. I…I don’t know what happened to them after that. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” 

Blanche felt dizzy. In all their years together, in all their adventures, this had never happened before. Candela was always the one coming to their rescue. She was always there to protect them, always strong and brave and powerful. Without her there, they felt like they were crumbling into pieces. How this be happening? How could she be in danger? She couldn’t be. Her team needed her, Willow needed her, Spark needed her.

They needed her. 

At their side, Annie grasped weakly at their coat sleeve. Blanche turned to her, looking for an idea or a suggestion. Anything . They were surprised to see a mirror image of their own expression on her face. For the first time since they’d known her, Annie looked lost. On some other level of their mind, they recalled a memory of their trip to the beach, during their tour of the Galar region. They could picture her sitting under an umbrella, her face lit up with unusually mischievous delight as she and Go attempted to bury a sleeping Carl in a pile of sand. They thought about the way she’d shrieked and toppled over, laughing gleefully, when Carl had promptly awoken and pushed all the sand back into her lap- and felt a pang of guilty sadness. Annie, Go and Carl may not have had as close a relationship as their leading counterparts, but they were close nonetheless. Annie must have been just as worried as they were. 

The pain in their assistant’s eyes, however awful to look at, did serve to effectively shake them out of their own stupor. They couldn’t rely on Annie right now. They were the leader. Forget about what they needed, she needed them. Their team needed them. 

Candela needed them.

They grasped Annie’s hand in what they hoped was a reassuring way and turned to the rest of the trainers. “Thrones, Thursday, get us coordinates on the first round of SOS signals. We’ll need to get Jezebel to safety and find the oth- find Paco and Marius. Then we can zero in on the building and make a rescue plan from there.”

Spark frowned. “One problem there, B. I don’t know about you, but I vote we move ‘rescue plan’ to the front of the line.”

They frowned. “Spark, I’m as worried about Candela as you are. But protocol is to assist the trainers we have immediate access to first.”

“I’m fine .” Jezebel protested. “It’s not me you need to worry about.”

Spark gestured to her pointedly. “Come on, Blanche. I know you want to get to Candy as much as I do. Forget protocol. Let’s go save our girl.”

They hesitated. Spark’s argument was annoyingly accurate. The more they waffled over the decision, the more anxious they became. Damn him, but Spark was right. They didn’t want to wait a second longer. They wanted to burst in on the bastards who had kidnapped Candela and walk away with the criminals’ blood on their shirt and Candela safe at their side.

Before they could do something ridiculously reckless, a second car pulled up behind them. In the backseat, they could see two more figures dressed identically to Jezebel. In the front, Professor Willow pulled the car door open and got out, coming around the car. 

“I can solve both problems.” He guided Jezebel into the passenger seat, shut the door, then reached out and squeezed their shoulders. They surprised him (and themselves)  by leaning into it, pressing their foreheads together. After a moment, Willow pulled away and chucked their chin lightly like he would when they were small. “Spark’s right, Blanche.” He chuckled softly. “I know how much you hate that phrase, but it’s true. I’ll take care of the trainers. You go get our girl.”

Chapter Text

~ They felt more than a little ridiculous, crouched in a huddle amidst their trainers in the dust at the doorway of the abandoned warehouse. At the moment, they were busy arguing under their breath with Spark about the best way to get into the building and regretting the decision to go on foot. “ We cannot just ‘bust the door down’, you imbecile. Are you asking to be noticed before we can get to Candela?”  

Spark had opened his mouth to argue when Annie coughed lightly into her fist. When they both turned to look at her, she held up an object out of her purse. A key ring . She must have gotten it from one of the Valor trainers before they left. Both leaders gaped at her for a moment before shuffling dutifully aside to let her through to the door. She flicked through the keys momentarily before triumphantly holding one up and inserting it into the lock. As soon as she pulled the door open, however, Go shouted and tackled her to the side- shoving her out of the way just in time to avoid the man waiting there to grab whoever opened the door. Chaos erupted from there as more grunts came streaming out of the darkness. They were aware of their trainers shouting and battling. They charged into the battle themselves, tossing the ball containing their vaporeon in a high arc and running to meet it. But just as their opponent’s first pokemon fell, someone tugged on their arm from behind. Thursday, the youngest of their trainers, was clutching at their sleeve. Having never been one to waste time on words, she simply pointed at an empty hallway to their left. She’d found a way in . 

They smiled at Thursday and patted her shoulder as a means of praise- slightly awkwardly, but judging by the way her face lit up, the message got through. They really ought to be doing that often.  They snagged Annie as she darted by and pointed out their new goal. She nodded grimly and went to grab Go’s arm in turn- but he, apparently having been watching their (not) conversation, batted her away and instead pushed between her and the grunt she’d been battling to take over. Annie didn’t even blink, simply called The Destroyer to her and darted towards the doorway. Following Go’s example, the Instinct trainers fanned out around them, covering their team as they broke ranks and headed for the hallway. Spark caught their eyes as he passed, and they impulsively grabbed him and briefly pressed their foreheads together, just as they had with Willow. He squeezed their hands as he pulled away, mouthing ‘ bring her back safe’ . They nodded, squeezed his hands in return and then- “ Chief! Come on!” - they turned and bolted after their trainers. 

The hallway branched off in several directions as the Mystic squad ran down through it. Without pause, first Thrones, then Thursday and Lionel, and then Blanche themselves broke away and began checking doors. The first one they opened was empty, the second full of dusty shelves, and the third littered with empty bottles and cigarette butts. They were about to jerk a fourth open when they heard their team shouting from far to their right. 

“Wait a minute—Over here, this door’s locked!” “Here?” “Someone go get Blan-“Annie! Annie, get over here, we think we found them!” 

Their heart leapt into their throat. They sprinted in the direction of the voices, practically skidding around the bend at the end of their branch. Ahead of them, Annie ran in from another direction, beating them to the door. As they ran to catch up with her, she spoke with the team and then shoved her way through, fumbling with the key ring. Annie had a good eye for keys, and she slammed the door open just as they made it to her. 

Behind it was a large, open room. The walls were lined with cages, containing snarling and yelping wild pokemon. Several crates were stacked along with the cages, and they could see clearly stacks of ledgers and cash piled neatly inside. At the opposite side of the room, a large folding door was clearly visible and an open truck was parked beside it, with the ramp still folded out. They must have been packing up to flee when we arrived. Not a moment too soon, then.  

But Blanche only had eyes for the figure sitting in the far left corner of the room. Female. Bound to the chair she sat in.  Dressed in leggings and a black workout crop top (she must not have worn her jacket) - attire that made it easy to identify dark skin, defined musculature and the edges of a very distinct scar peeking out just above her hip.

They barreled across the room to her side, nearly falling face first into her lap in their frantic hurry to pull the bag off her head. To their left, Annie bolted for a door they hadn’t spotted before, against the wall behind them. Watching her while they fumbled with the cinch on the sack, they saw her force the door open and drop to her knees beside a second bound figure.They turned their attention back as, finally, they managed to pull the sack free and as they tossed it aside, the familiar golden eyes they unveiled blinked and met theirs. 

Blanche made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a strangled cry as they cradled Candela’s face in one hand, stroking her hair with the other. “Oh, thank Arceus. Thank Lugia. Are you alright, did they hurt you? What were you thinking , Candela? Do you know-do you understand how devastated I would be if- if-” 

She gazed at them for a moment-perhaps processing their presence-then went abruptly limp under them, seemingly melting into them. Startled, they cried her name again. This time, she actually responded to them, lifting her head back up and letting out a soft, imploring mmph . Another wave of useless anger crashed over them as they took in the rapidly darkening bruise coloring her cheek. The skin around her lips was slightly scratched, likely caused when her captors had forced in the ball of cloth that had been crammed into her mouth and a little bit of dried blood stained her nose. Titans, did that happen during the struggle or did they-

Blanche shook their head to snap themselves out of their reverie. They caught Candela’s chin in their hand and gently, carefully helped her ease the gag out. With her mouth finally free, Candela took a deep, grateful breath of air. “I’m alright. Not hurt.” 

They exhaled. "Good. Good."

Still slumped over in the chair, Candela leaned into their touch in a relieved, trusting way that surprised Blanche a bit. Experimentally, they pulled her closer and cradled her head against their shoulder. Their already strained heartstrings pinched a little more when she closed her eyes, pressing herself as close as she could get into their embrace. Thoughts darted through their head too quickly to process. What had she been through today that had her clinging to them like this? Was it the kidnapping that had sparked the desire for affection from them? Or had she always been reaching out like this, in all the times she held them and comforted them, and they just somehow managed not to notice?

Regardless, they held her for a moment longer, then reluctantly pulled away. Candela twisted her head to keep up with them as they crouched down at her side to untie her. Her voice sounded exhausted, shaking slightly as she asked “My…team? Are they here? Are they…?”

Blanche briefly stopped uncoiling the rope around her wrists to squeeze her hand in what they hoped was a reassuring manner. “They’re fine. As a matter of fact, they had the presence of mind to send out an SOS signal during the struggle that ensued while you were being taken. That’s how we found our way back to you after getting them to safety. They’re all back at the lab, resting- Jezebel and Paco got a few minor scrapes and bruises trying to get to you, but no one’s hurt badly.”

Candela sighed softly above them. “And Ca-Charles?” 

With her hands free, they shifted to one knee and began tugging at the ropes holding her to the chair. “Annie ran off to that side chamber behind us. Since she’s still in there and there’s been no signs of a struggle, I’d hazard a guess that she found Carl in there.”

Annie called out in affirmative. They turned their head just in time to see her carefully helping Carl back into his chair. As she helped ease him down and then began to back up, Carl wordlessly stopped her with a tight hug. They felt the heavy cloud of feelings lighten a little when she hugged him back and whispered something to him.  Whatever it was, they both pulled away laughing- a little teary eyed, but laughing nonetheless. 

Blanche finally pulled the last of the ropes off of Candela and straightened up. They watched Candela rubbing at her slightly red wrists, more than a little confused about what they should do. Their trainers were beginning to gather around them again, authorities needed to be contacted and there had been concerningly little contact from Spark. That was protocol. But if this were the other way around, if it were them in that chair….

What would Candela do? What would they want her to do for them?

They considered it for a moment, debating the ideas that bounced around their head. Then, steeling their resolve before they could talk themselves down, they turned to Candela and held their arms out to her. A clear, open invitation. Candela gave them a slightly surprised but grateful smile and half reached for them. They took that as their cue and bent down, neatly hooking one arm around her back and the other under her knees. She somehow was both heavier and lighter than they were expecting, but they didn’t stagger. Candela wrapped her own arms around their neck as they scooped her up into theirs, burying her face against their shoulder and blocking out the world.

Chapter Text

They carried her outside, their team trailing behind them. A small detail of emergency service workers were scattered around. One blue-haired police officer was interviewing the members of the Team Instinct squad- all looking a little worse for wear, but overall no one looked badly injured. In the back of the squad car, Blanche could see several handcuffed figures. They couldn’t make out faces and frankly didn’t care. 

As they passed, carrying Candela towards the small first aid camp set up in the back of the waiting ambulance, Spark looked up at them and grinned widely at the sight of them. They felt a distinctly familiar annoyance when they spotted him not-so-subtly pointing his cell phone in their direction ( no doubt trying to get a picture of them cradling Candela in their arms for future use- although whether he intended to use it against them or her, they weren’t sure ). Good to see they were back to a semi-normal emotional state, anyway.

They set Candela down on one of the two stretchers in the ambulance. She grumbled in protest, attempting to cling to them. They awkwardly attempted to untangle her, flushing a ridiculous shade of red when they noticed all three assistants were now there and watching them. Carl had steadfastly refused to let Annie help him onto the stretcher, and so now sat in between Go ( where had Go come from? ), lounging on the edge of the ambulance and Annie, who was perched on the edge of the stretcher in his stead. Go kept up a carefully neutral expression, while Annie was making a valient effort to hide her smile ( and failing. One really could read her like a book .) Both were holding onto Carl, with Go having a hand on Carl’s shoulder and Annie clutching his hand in both of hers. And of course, Carl himself was making absolutely no effort to hide his smug grin.

Incredibly flustered by their attention and Candela’s ongoing clinginess, they were still fumbling about when a young looking officer appeared and began asking questions. Carl, seemingly a bit more coherent, filled in most of the picture- with Candela ( who had opted to unwrap herself from around their neck and settled for holding their hand tightly instead ) occasionally chiming in to point out a detail he’d missed. A nurse appeared and at Candela’s insistence, checked Carl over first. He inspected Candela afterwards, determining what they already knew- that the pair were physically unharmed, at least on the surface, aside from an understandable exhaustion from the whole ordeal. 

At some point during the man’s examination, Spark had appeared out of the blue. He gave both Candela and Carl a big bear hug ( which the former tolerated much better than the latter ) and sat down on the arm of Carl’s chair, taking Candela’s free hand as he did. They would have scolded him ( and indeed, Go opened his mouth to do presumably just that ) but they spotted the exasperated affection on Carl’s face and stopped themselves.

Professor Willow, however, did no such thing.

"Spark! Where on earth did you- you can't just run off from the police like that, Spark!" The concerned looking man appeared a moment later, a harried look on his face. He sighed visibly when he spotted the rescued captives and hurried over to them. He shook Carl’s hand and exchanged a few quick words, before hurrying over to Candela and Blanche’s stretcher. A warm smile crossed his face when he saw them hand in hand, with Candela leaned back against them. She perked up a little bit when she saw him, reaching out to hug him without letting go of Blanche’s hand, awkwardly dragging them along with her. Willow just took it in stride, taking them both in his arms. He pulled away ( and they would never admit to it but they felt almost disappointment when he did ) and cupped Candela’s face in his hands, essentially elbowing the poor paramedic out of his way to examine her cuts and bruises. “Are you alright, Candela? Are either of you hurt?”

A spark of her usual feistiness returning, Candela batted his hands away and grinned at him ( albeit a much more tame smile than usual ). “I’m fine , Willow. Seriously, I appreciate all the concern but I’m ok.  Unless Charles is secretly hiding a broken bone or something over there, I think he’s ok too.” She laughed. “Not like those idiots were exactly creative. They just tied us up and dumped us in separate rooms. Honestly, after the initial scuffle, the only danger I was in was danger of being bored to death.”

Willow ran his thumb along her cheekbone before turning back to Spark. "You're supposed to be helping, Spark. The arresting officers are looking for you."

Spark hesitated. Candela pasted on a brave smile and gave him a little shove. "Go on, Sparky. I'll be here, good as ever, when you get back."

She put on a smile, but Blanche felt her sink a a little more of her weight into them. They squeezed her hand again- and then abruptly felt a sudden surge of anger as their fingers grazed the raised red marks where her wrists had been bound. 

“ No. ”

Candela gave them a confused look. “Come again, darling?”

They grasped her hand with both hands now. “No, you aren’t alright.” They surprised her by putting a finger to her lips when she opened her mouth to protest. “It’s a simple fact, Candela. The experience of being threatened and held against your will would be traumatic for anyone, no matter how strong. You’d have to be some kind of sociopath not to feel anything.” They paused to take a deep breath. “You don’t have to lie, Candela. Please, don’t lie.”

They glanced at the others gathered around them, witnessing the unheard of moment of vulnerability between the two, and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “You take care of us constantly. Especially me. Please. Let us take care of you.” 

They finished off their impromptu speech by, for the first time in years, pulling Candela in for a hug. They felt her tense, surprised and waited- this time, not caring that all eyes were undoubtedly on them. After a moment of processing, her arms came around. And she hugged them back.

Chapter Text

~ Blanche sat on the couch at Professor Willow’s house. They were playing a game of Mariokart in front of a crackling fire, with Spark, Annie and Carl. Their assistant sat on the left end of the couch, closest to them, with her legs sprawled out across the boys’ laps ( in a fashion that oddly enough, reminded them much of themselves ). She pumped her fists victoriously as a neatly aimed shell flew at Carl. Carl himself rolled his eyes at her celebrations. He was settled in between Annie and Go, who apparently decided to side with him by grabbing one of Annie’s ankles and running his fingers across the sole of her foot. She shrieked and attempted to kick at him, nearly kneeing Carl in the face in the process.

 Blanche watched with a certain degree of fondness they hadn’t had at the beginning of the day as the three trainers bickered and wrestled on the couch. They themselves were losing badly, a fact that was cemented when Spark lapped them. It was rather difficult to adjust their steering at the speed necessary while keeping their left side rigid to avoid waking Candela. 

Their fellow leader was snuggled against their side once again. She was wrapped in one of their own soft gray tunics that they’d thought to leave out for her when she got out of the shower ( they theorized that she’d find it comforting, since she was so fond of stealing their clothing as it was ). Since they’d arrived home earlier, she’d spent the majority of the time in curled up in their lap and drifting in and out of sleep. Hence why they were now attempting to stay on the idiotic glowing bridge while keeping as still as humanly possible- a feat that for all their talents, they were failing miserably at.

But sitting there and holding Candela, in the midst of all the laughter and warmth, Blanche cared less about winning than ever in their life.