Aftermath calls

Surge clenched his hands into fists while Blaine finished up conversing with Goodshow. When the other gym leader put his pokenav away, he bit out, "Well?"

"We can't give them much information," Blaine replied making Surge's anger spike and he began to snarl at the other Gym Leader, "Not even Sirius, Surge, don't even try to snap at me. The brat is my damn apprentice and has been for a month and a week. I get that you have a bond with her that goes deep for reasons that I'm not clear on, but she's mine,"

Surge bit back the angry retort that wanted to leave his throat as he took in the other Gym Leader. Being on missions like this always wore them down, Blaine usually managed to avoid looking worn, but this time he looked every inch as worn as Surge felt. Blaine usually took the time to take a shower and clean himself up after their final missions especially if it involved an assault only this time that hadn't happened. The man was coated in ash and dried blood that would probably never come out now thanks to how long it'd been since the fighting had ended. Despite being the oldest gym leader, Blaine rarely showed his age, but right now he looked it. So Surge knew that Vali had gotten close to the old man, it would've made him laugh had the circumstances not made him want to kill all those Poachers again and go kill a specific one.

Surge's mind was filled with red at the blue haired bastard that had harmed the spunky emerald green eyed eleven year old severely enough to force them to put her into a medically induced coma. He seethed at the fact the Poacher was still alive even if the man had knowledge they needed. Growling softly under his breath, he leaned back against the white walls of the hospital and asked, "What can we tell them?"

"We were at a League Base for me to do business and she was there to shadow," Blaine answered while taking off his glasses and rubbing at the bridge of his nose, "You were there for the same reason. During a slow period, we decided to go do some training in the wilderness and things went wrong as they tend to off route. The brat encountered a bigger than normal pack of Weavile and Sneasel while we were dealing with other threats,"

It was bullshit. Plain and simple bullshit that Surge wanted to call every single one of the fuckers in charge of Delco 2 on since it stunk of them. None of them wanted to let Vali take credit for what she'd done, Singerly especially wanted to keep the brat from claiming any credit. With all League missions being secretive especially when involving active cases like the battle rings, it meant Vali would be unable to claim the credit she rightly deserved even if they tried to fight for it. It made him want to go stomp on every single on of those bastards back on the base and grind them into the dust. But he wouldn't do that, it would be a disservice to Vali in the long run since she needed to show those bastards that she could stand on her own eventually.

"You going to call them?" Surge asked as he reigned in his urge to put another hole into the hospital wall.

"I'll call her home. Will you call her Godfather?" Blaine asked making Surge inwardly cringe before nodding as he moved towards the other end of the hall where Vali's room sat.

Surge dialed Sirius' number and the man answered almost immediately, "Surge, what can I do for you?"

"Not busy at the outpost today, Black?" Surge asked with a raised eyebrow as he glanced into Vali's room and took in her pale face.

Arceus, had the kid always been that fucking small? Surge winced at the memory of Vali passing out on him in the hospital entry hall and pushed it out of his mind as Sirius replied, "Pretty much, a couple trainers got turned around. What do you want? You normally don't call me."

"I'll be blunt. Blaine brought Vali to Delco 2 on Business," Surge replied earning a sharp intake of breath and the Gym Leader wondered how much Sirius knew of what had been happening, "I was there as well on Business. During a slow period, we decided to do some training in the wilderness and things went wrong. While Blaine and I were dealing with other threats, Vali had encountered a bigger than normal pack of Weevil and Sneasel," Sirius was completely silent, "The Kid managed to hold them off until we got there. She sustained a serious injury to her left side and one to her right arm. While we managed to get her to the hospital quickly, she had to be placed in a medically induced coma. She's going to make it, Sirius, but the kid's in a bad state,"

Sirius continued to stay silent making the hair rise on the back of Surge's neck. The Grim animagus being quiet was never a good thing especially when it came to his child being hurt or in danger. The last time Surge had ever found Sirius to be that quiet was after Vali had been grazed by the bullet. Sirius finally spoke and Surge could almost see the man's eyes turn feral making him internally shiver, "Is that so? And why were neither of you with her? How did you think it was a good idea to take her into that area and leave my pup alone? Advanced training or not, she's only been under Blaine's hand for a month and a week. Not even that long considering what time of year it is, so tell me, Surge, did that really happen or was it because of the Poacher bust? I know for a fact you both were up there for that and with Vali being in the hospital so soon afterward, she had to have been involved."

Surge grimaced at the fact Sirius had easily picked it apart and closed his eyes, "You know I can't answer that question, Black."

"Politics, is it?" Sirius practically snarled into the phone, "Is the bastard that did it dead?"

"No," Surge leaned back against the wall as he listened to the other man stomping around, "Politics,"

"Fuck politics," Sirius cursed earning a bark of bitter laughter from Surge, "The pup's pack?"

"Resting. Only the Litleo and Seel weren't present," Surge replied as he lowered his hand to the pocket where Vali's youngest and newest pokemon were resting in their pokeballs, "Everyone of them save for those two were there and saw what happened. No doubt Elrond'll fill the two in when they're all released together. They got out pretty good with a few exceptions, but nothing the League won't cover. I'm making sure my Joy's are working on them and the moment they're clear, I'll bring them to her,"

"Good," Sirius' tone was curt and harsh, "I'll be there soon enough. Vermilion?"

"Yes," Surge replied earning a grunt, "Blaine's filling in Delia,"

"Fucking hell," Sirius swore softly, "She's going to be crushed and I don't want to think about how the boys will react. Dear Arceus, it's almost like every time we let Vali leave on a journey, she goes and gets hurt,"

"It's not your fault, Sirius. The blame lies with Brown and Singerly," Surge had no trouble throwing the two under the bus, "Mostly Singerly,"

Sirius snarled loudly, "Fuck that bitch up the ass."

Surge snorted at the wording, but was glad someone could verbal the string of curses that wanted to leave him when it came to Singerly. He would have to ask what Singerly had done to Sirius before, but right now would settle for not knowing. Surge rubbed at his eyes feeling tired. He cut off Sirius' tirade of curses, "Call me when you arrive, I'll make sure either Blaine or I come downstairs to lead you up here. Vali's in the private section on my orders and the League's dime."

Nice," Sirius muttered glumly, "I will,"

With that, the call ended and Surge stuffed his Pokenav away as Raichu jumped onto his shoulder.