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Notes: Chapter Fourteen's title is a reference to Rose's motivation in Pokémon Sword and Shield: he wants to solve an energy crisis a thousand years in the future. Some fanfic authors change this to be more realistic; I try to make how unrealistic it is a part of his characterization. What kind of person couldn't be content with leaving unsolved a problem that was a thousand years away?

Warnings for graphic depictions of violence, injuries.

---

On the first cut, the wound howled in pain, his body's survival mechanisms lighting up red. Through the pain, Rose kept his grip on the bloody glass and locked in his mind on the task at hand. Leon was shouting something, but it didn't sound directed at him. Rose prayed he would keep his promise.

He cut again.

Blood splattered on Acacius' clothes. Rose felt the shard hit something solid; a rib? He pushed harder, pivoting the makeshift blade around the obstacle. He heard a crack, but it came from his skull, not his chest. He was gritting his teeth so hard they were breaking.

The point slipped deeper and hit his heart.

The Wishing Star pulsed and sent fire through every part of him. His body spasmed; his hand slipped off the glass and it stayed embedded in his chest. Rose doubled over, his mouth open in a silent scream. He heard someone retching behind him.

He put his hand back on the shard. Every scrape against the Wishing Star was agony, the pain blurring his vision and making it hard to think. He clung to what he was certain of: Acacius would die if he didn't keep going.

Rose dug the point into the Wishing Star. Fighting against blood and bone and agony, he slowly carved out a chunk of the matter and levered it out of his chest. The piece fell into his waiting hand.

He couldn't see Acacius' face. His body was failing–they were running out of time. Rose felt blindly for Acacius' chest. Through the haze, he felt hands on his own, guiding him into place.

He pressed a piece of the Wishing Star over Acacius' heart and prayed for him to live.

His strength left him. Rose felt himself collapse over Acacius before all sensations ceased.

---

Rose woke up trapped in a space too small for his body.

He pushed against the smooth, curved walls, his panic rising, and when the glass did not immediately give way, he summoned all his strength to break free. A burst of light emanated from his chest, and the glass shattered.

When the light faded, he uncurled his body and shook his head, trying to make sense of his surroundings. He was in an unfamiliar room, his surroundings built with unnatural regularity, glowing glass structures arranged in neat rows. He could feel the energy radiating from inside the glass.

In the back of his mind, Rose thought, Isn't that what the energy plant looks like? but was unable to communicate that to the part of him that was in control.

He was above a small platform, surrounded by the shattered remains of his containment. He bent his head down and peered at a small, limp figure lying in a pool of blood.

The sight of his own body shocked Rose back into reality.

Eternatus snorted and brought its head close to the body, with Rose seeing through its eyes. His body was unconscious, but Eternatus could feel the thump-thump-thump of a heartbeat–one that was slowing as the body lost more and more blood.

Rose was hit with alien words and concepts drifting into his mind. Somehow, he could make sense of them.

Eternatus knew what it was to do.

It identified the location of the faulty organ and brought its arm to Rose's chest. With surgical precision, it used one claw to slice into the unresponsive body and dig out a bloody mass that twitched one last time. Discarding the heart, Eternatus opened its mouth and let out a long sigh. A glowing pink bead formed like molten glass and dripped into Rose's chest.

Eternatus reared back and watched. The droplet cooled rapidly and hardened. It saw a glimpse of arteries and veins wrapping around the new heart before the wound healed over with new skin.

"Oh my God," Rose said, forgetting that he was dreaming. "You did it on purpose."

He woke up.

---

After a moment's panic, Rose identified his surroundings as a hospital room. Remembering the words of the nurse the last time he was hospitalized, he felt around the bed for the call button.

He didn't have to wait long before someone responded. "You're awake," the nurse said as he entered the room. "I need to take your vitals."

"I'm sorry," Rose said while the nurse took his blood pressure, "but I need to know what happened. Someone I care about was badly injured."

"I'm afraid I don't know, sir," the nurse said. "You have some people who want to see you, though. They might be able to tell you more."

People, plural? "I'd like to see them," he said. "As soon as possible. Please."

The room had no windows; it could have been the middle of the night, for all he knew. Luckily for Rose, it was within visiting hours, and he overheard the nurse telling a colleague that they "could let him in now." Who "he" was…… Rose allowed himself to hope.

The visitor was not Acacius.

"Hey," said Leon. "You doing any better?"

"I only just woke up," said Rose. "How long has it been?"

"Only a day. Everyone's fine. You and Acacius were the only ones injured."

Rose took a breath. "And Acacius is–?"

"He's alright. The hospital is taking care of him." Leon paused. "You might have saved his life."

Acacius was fine. Rose felt the tension leave him. "Thank God," he said. "I'm glad he's alright."

"Yeah," Leon said, "yeah."

He shook his head and sat down in the nearby chair, one hand pressed to his forehead. "Mable's dealt with, too," he said. "I mean, we just turned her over to the authorities in the Kalos region, and God knows how they'll deal with her there, but hey–she's out of our hands. We're almost officially done with the whole situation."

"Almost?"

"Yeah," said Leon. "We still don't know what happens to you."

"Ah," Rose said. "No idea at all?"

Leon took a long, slow breath.

"The Pokémon League's proposal," he said, "is to have all research done on Eternatus, including what it did to you, be kept within the governance of the League itself. The research would take place in Wyndon, and we have strongly suggested you be placed under house arrest for ease of traveling to and from the research lab, but it's ultimately not up to us."

Rose nodded. "That's about what I expected," he said. "Thank you. I'm very grateful for your help, especially after what I did to you."

"Thought you didn't know what that was," Leon said.

"I'm beginning to have some ideas." Rose shook his head. "You've worked hard for a very long time, and I'm ashamed to say that some of that work was for my own personal gain, and not for the good of the region. Now that I'm not in power and you're no longer champion, I hope you get a chance to rest."

Leon cracked a smile. "Well," he said, "there's still work to do, and I don't mind being the one to do it. Someone's got to fill your old position, after all."

"Huh," said Rose. "Chairman Leon, is it?"

"Ha!" He stood up. "I'm sure I'll see you around, Rose."

He walked out. Rose lay back on the bed, and soon found himself dozing off again.

---

Oleana brought a few of his things when she came to visit, the most notable items being the book Acacius got for him and the burner phone. "Do I get to keep this?" Rose asked her. "I was under the impression it was a temporary privilege."

"I wasn't told otherwise," said Oleana. "Then again, I didn't ask. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. I imagine being in the hospital is only a formality, at this point." Rose put the phone aside. "Are you alright? I didn't see anything of you after the power was shut off."

"I was fine," Oleana said. "Nothing happened to me."

"That's… good."

Their awkward conversation lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Rose sighed. "I never did get to apologize to you," he said.

"For what?"

"For being an oblivious fool," Rose said. "You cared deeply for me, and I wasn't… receptive to that. Even if I didn't return your feelings, I should have acknowledged them. I'm sorry, Oleana."

"I'm not angry with you, Rose," said Oleana. "But… thank you."

For a moment, she smiled at him. Rose smiled back.

Her expression returned to a neutral frown. "Your lawyer needs you to call him," she said. "I took the liberty of putting his number on that phone. I was also told you are allowed to return home after your hospital discharge. Do not miss your court date."

"I have every intention of facing the consequences of my actions," Rose said. "I won't run away again."

"I'm more worried you'll forget. I won't be there to remind you."

"Ah." He nodded. "Yes, that will be an adjustment. I do hope you enjoy your time off, Oleana."

"I'll try," she said. "Goodbye, Rose."

---

"I'm okay with Eternatus now," Gloria informed Rose when she visited him.

"Really?" said Rose. Thinking of Eternatus still made him uneasy. "Why is that?"

"Bede and I have been working on communicating with it," she said. "With Professor Sonia and everyone else, obviously, but…" She hesitated. "We asked it about what happened when it first woke up. Tried to, anyway."

He nodded. "What did you discover?"

"It was hard to figure out," she said. "Even with telepathy–Eternatus is literally an alien. But…" She took a deep breath. "It sounded like it was confused and scared. I don't think it wanted to hurt anyone, not even when it was fighting us." She paused. "And… it might've said something about what it did to you."

Rose sat up a little straighter.

"Sonia said we shouldn't tell you just 'cause we didn't have any real results," said Gloria. "We're not even sure if it was actually talking about you. Maybe it wasn't! I mean, a lot was going on, so we don't really know–"

"Please just tell me," Rose said, a little harsher than he intended.

Gloria didn't flinch. "Right," she said. "Eternatus said… something wasn't working right. And that it had to fix it, so that whatever it was would… keep moving? Or keep going? It was really hard to figure out how to translate it, but… if it was talking about you, it made it sound like you were hurt, and it was trying to help you."

Rose's mouth hung open. Gloria rubbed her nose and averted her eyes. "I mean, it might've been something else," she said. "We don't really know what happened there."

"I don't remember anything after the explosion," Rose said. "It's… possible that I was injured, though I have no way of knowing."

"Yeah," said Gloria. "I mean, it's all just speculation. Sonia wanted to ask it more, but Eternatus kept getting, like, upset? It would just lie on the ground and yell."

He thought of a landscape covered in corpses, of Eternatus wailing. "Maybe something happened where it came from," he said. "Maybe it's seen a lot of living things die."

Gloria gave him an odd look.

Rose caught himself. "I'm just speculating," he said. "It sounds outlandish, I'm sure."

"Sure does," said Gloria. "I'm going now. Tell Acacius he owes me a battle."

---

For the last few days he was in the hospital, Rose was assured Acacius was recovering well, but he wasn't able to visit him. Once Rose was discharged, he turned right back around to the front desk and asked to see Acacius himself.

The desk gave him the room number and, apparently, considered him capable enough to find the correct room on his own. Rose kept a careful eye on the signs outside each room, the numbers slowly counting up until–

"Rose?"

Did he feel his heart beat? It must have been his imagination. "Acacius," Rose said, and rushed into the room.

Acacius gave him a small smile from the bed. "Been a while, huh?" he said. "Were you already discharged?"

"Yes. I have nothing wrong with me that requires hospital intervention." Rose hesitated at the side of the bed. "Are you recovering well?"

"Eh, I'm healing as fast as I can, but it's pissing me off that I can't go faster." Acacius frowned. "Hospital food sucks, too. Hey, if you're discharged, do you think you could get me, like, a burger or something?"

Hearing Acacius act so casually after everything they went through filled Rose with emotion. He found the chair next to the bed and fell back into it, burying his face in his hands.

"Hey, hey!" Acacius leaned over and put a hand on his knee. "What's going on?"

He slowly shook his head. "You almost died," he said. "I was terrified. I'm just–" His voice caught. "–so grateful that you're alright."

Acacius was quiet for a moment. "I'm alright," he said. "I probably wouldn't have been, if you hadn't done what you did."

Rose lowered his hands and looked at Acacius' solemn expression. "Do they know that?" he asked.

"I mean, not really," Acacius said. "Maybe if you hadn't done it, I still could've hung on until I got to the hospital. But God, Rose, I felt like I was going to die."

His mouth was dry. "Why didn't you let it hit me?"

"It was just instinct, alright? I didn't want to see you hurt."

He took Acacius' hand and clasped it in his own. "Please don't do it again," he said. "I want to protect you, next time."

Acacius squeezed his hand back. "I mean, good news," he said. "We're probably not at risk of any of that happening twice."

Rose managed a smile.

Acacius pulled his hand back. "So what's the plan for after this?" he said. "I imagine you're still waiting on the legal system."

"They said I can return home before my court date," said Rose. "You're still welcome to stay with me, though it's not certain what the courts will decide. Despite the league vouching for me, I may still have to go to prison."

"Fingers crossed, right?"

"I suppose," said Rose. "I…"

He couldn't find the words. Acacius raised an eyebrow. "What, is it looking bad?"

"No," he said. "No, not at all. It's just hard to believe that I have any likeable traits at all. That you would want to be with me, romantically or otherwise."

"Aw, c'mon," Acacius said. "Get over here."

Rose obediently leaned towards the bed. Acacius grabbed his shoulders and pulled him closer to kiss him. This had the added effect of Rose losing his balance and sliding off the chair, catching himself on the bed.

"Whoops!" Acacius laughed while Rose picked himself up. "Sorry, man. You hurt?"

"Not at all." Rose took a deep breath. "It means a lot to me that you'd like to stay with me."

"Look," Acacius said, "I'm… I dunno. The way we met…"

He paused. Rose folded his hands on his lap and waited for him to continue.

"In most of my relationships before this," Acacius said, "I felt like I was the one doing all the heavy lifting, y'know? Like, I was the guy who had to help out, the guy who could be leaned on. And that was fine, for a while, but…" He looked away. "I dunno. Means a lot that you want to support me, too."

"Of course I do," said Rose. "I'm happy to."

He sat on the side of the bed and gently ran a hand over Acacius' cheek. The other man let out a quiet laugh and leaned into the touch. "God," Acacius said, "you look at me like you're in love or something."

"I think I am," said Rose.

Acacius met his eyes and smiled. "Still pretty early in the relationship. You think we can make this last?"

"I don't know," said Rose, "but I'd like to try."