A/N: Hi guys! Woah, I'm writing something that's NOT HoennChampionShipping? This is my first crack at Brendan/May, so I hope it's good. This was originally a drabble request (prompt: portage may post-cave of origin hoennshipping hurt/comfort), but then I just kept writing and accidentally turned it into a oneshot. Whoops. Hope I did your prompt justice, anon!

Anyways, let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy~

Bzzzz. Bzzzz. Bzzzz.

A constant. An unchanging variable. Something she couldn't escape from.

The ringing in her ears.

May woke up in a cold sweat, a scream trapped in her throat. She whipped her head around, taking in the darkness of her room. It was dim and cool.

Dim and cool. Not bright and hot. Dim and cool.

She sat back against her pillows, trying to steady her breath. While the room may have been cool, her skin was burning up.

She threw the sheets towards the end of the bed, laying on her side and pulling her knees up to her chest. The only light in the room came from what moonlight managed to peak through the curtains and from the glow of her bedside alarm clock that read the time as nearing three in the morning. Before her journey, she would have always slept with a nightlight on.

The darkness didn't scare her any more.

She closed her eyes, suddenly grateful that she had stopped herself from screaming. She didn't need her parents bursting in like they had every night for the past two weeks, worrying about her. It always led to the same conversation.

Are you okay?

I'm not sure what I am anymore.

Her pillow was too warm. She flipped it over. It didn't help anything.

Everything she did was futile. She pulled her hair up with her fingers and then felt around on her nightstand until she found a hair tie. Even with the hair off her neck, she couldn't get cool.

It was smoldering.

"I'm serious, Caroline. We need to get her some help."

"Norman, you know we can't. The best place for her is-"

May's mother broke off in shock as her daughter pushed her way into the kitchen, going straight to the fridge. Her parents stared at her and exchanged a worried glance- surely wondering if she had heard. May pretended she hadn't. She grabbed the three-fourths-gone bottle of orange juice and retreated back to her room without a word.

"May," her mom called to her, but she was already halfway back to her room and completely back to being alone in her own head.

"You know, you can't stay in here forever."

May glanced at Brendan from between her bangs. She hadn't invited him in, but she also hadn't stopped him when he pushed past her and sat himself down on her beanbag chair.

"Says who?" she challenged. Her voice cracked a bit, hoarse from lack of use.

Brendan looked at her closely. "Me."

Just for a moment, May felt like her old self. "When the hell have I ever listened to you?"

Her sudden show of emotion seemed to startle Brendan, for he appeared taken aback for a moment. Then, he grinned, and May had to admit that it looked like sunshine. "Good point."

May fell silent again, tightening her arms' grip around her legs, which were pulled against her chest. She had on a loose t-shirt and shorts, and her hair fell down around her face in a curtain. It gave her an illusion of safety.

"What was it like?" Brendan asked finally, his voice soft.

May shut her eyes. She smiled despite herself. "Y'know, nobody's even asked me that."

Brendan raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah. They all think I'm too fragile."

Brendan snorted. She glared. They went back to square one.

It felt like an eternity before May finally found the words. "Hot. Bright. Loud." Brendan didn't respond, but he perked up, so May knew he was listening. "To be honest, I… I don't really remember it."

Brendan frowned. "What?"

May nodded. "It was like a blur. I just remember the heat and the static. But it keeps coming back to me in dreams. I can remember jumping on that thing's back and almost falling into the pit of lava. I can remember what it felt like when it stared me down." She didn't realize she was shaking until Brendan was on his feet and crouched in front of her, one cold hand on hers.

She ripped her hand from his and raked her nails down the inside of her arm. It grounded her a bit. The heat wave that had suddenly washed over her declined slightly.

Brendan rose to his feet and wrapped his arms around her. She didn't move, but he used one hand to press her face against his chest. She shut her eyes, taking in his scent. Brendan was so… Brendan. She often forgot just how much of a guy he was. He smelled like aftershave and his chest felt much more toned than she would have guessed.

"What can I do?" he mumbled against her hair.

Instead of replying, she lifted a hand and reached up to grab a fistful of his shirt. She felt disconnected. She could only feel sensation. The scratchiness of the cotton in her hand. The smell of his aftershave. The buzzing of the fluorescent light bulb overhead.

He carded his fingers through her hair. She hummed a bit. Brendan understood. "Okay," he whispered.

"Physical therapy would be good for you."

May flattened her arms on the table in front of her. She stared her father down.

"No."

Her mom opened her mouth to speak, but Norman cut her off.

"This is non-negotiable, May."

"I don't need physical therapy," May seethed. "I wasn't hurt." Almost unconsciously, she lifted her fingers to graze across the now-scabbed-over cut on her cheek. Much, she thought.

Her mother chimed in then. "It could help you forget the muscle memory of… of what happened to you."

May pushed herself up, not meeting their eyes. "I'm fine," she mumbled, but her heart wasn't in it. She finally looked back up to Norman; his eyes were smoldering. Her voice softened. "Dad, I know... I know you don't want to be here. I'm sorry that you had to take time off from the gym for me. But I'm fine. You can go back."

Her father looked shocked, but May didn't dwell on it; she was already halfway out of the room. He pushed his chair back and stood up, nearly knocking it over as he shouted, "May, that's not true at all! I-"

"I'm fine," she hurried out, and then dashed up the stairs.

I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine.

"And there she is! Trainer May, from Littleroot Town, straight out of the Cave of Origin! If you're just tuning in, visitors, we'll recap a bit: as you all know, the Hoenn region had fallen under great peril at the hands of Team Magma, who planned to awaken the legendary beast Groudon and revert it to its Primal state-"

The TV fell silent but the reporter's lips were still moving, so May turned to glare at Brendan. She grabbed for the remote, but he held it out of reach, concern in his eyes. "Remind me again why we're watching this?"

May stood up long enough to knock Brendan over and grab the remote, turning the volume back up. "Research," she mumbled.

On the screen, May saw herself- except it wasn't her. It wasn't who she was now, and it wasn't who she had been before. Her hair had come out of her pigtails and was frayed and messy. The scratch on her cheek was dripping blood down to her chin. She stumbled coming out of the cave. Brendan and Steven Stone caught her.

Still, the reporter had the audacity to approach her directly, not even stopping to ask if she was alright. "May, did you stop the Pokemon?"

TV-May looked at the woman in shock and confusion. Her eyes were glazed over. She nodded.

The reporter turned back to the camera with a cheesy smile as if that was all that was needed to know. "Amazing! Such a powerful trainer at such a young age! Surely we have this young girl to thank for the safety of our region..."

May turned the volume down herself then, not needing to hear any more of the reporter's words. She had already heard it. Instead, she watched as TV-her fell to her knees and TV-Brendan followed suit, trying to catch her but missing by an inch.

"How many times have you seen this?" real-Brendan asked. He sat on the hardwood of her floor, leaning back against the bedskirt. He had on clothes similar to what he wore on his journey. May wondered if he had been out training. She knew that her own Pokemon were currently staying at Professor Birch's lab; her parents seemed to think that she would get bad memories if she saw them in her "current state." She had to wonder if Brendan had seen her Pokemon.

She didn't ask, though. If he had, they probably had him on strict lock-down to keep his mouth shut.

May shrugged in response to his question, even though she knew the answer. She had seen it every day since the incident. Her parents had begged her to stop and even went as far as trying to delete it off of their DVR, but she broke down and cried to them until they gave in. She assured them that seeing it was helping her in some way. She didn't know if it was. She didn't even know why she wanted to watch it.

"Y'know, I never pegged you for one of those emotional-masochist types, May. Kinky."

She gaped at him for a few seconds before picking up a pillow and chucking it at him. It was meant to hit him in the face but fell short by about a foot, landing against his stomach. He laughed. "Not the best shot, though."

She crossed her arms and glared at him. He met her gaze with a cocky grin.

"Why are you even here?" she demanded. Though the annoyance in her tone was real, she didn't want him to leave.

And he knew that. The question didn't seem to faze him in the slightest. "Oh, you know," he said, waving his hand nonchalantly. "I'm on babysitting duty."

May's face fell, and she could feel her heart drop into her stomach. Her eyes widened. "What?" she whispered.

Brendan's smile dropped immediately and his eyes grew. He shook his head quickly, practically shouting, "I'm just kidding! Jeez. Seriously. Joke. I'm here because I wanna be, dummy."

May took a deep breath. She bit her lip. "O-oh. Yeah. I knew that. Sorry." She looked down.

"Hey." Once again, she felt Brendan's hand laying on her upper arm. This time, it was warm. He was heat, constantly. He was a bad reminder. She looked up at him. He sat on the edge of the bed, and she scooted back a bit to make more room. "I'm not going anywhere, okay?" His eyes burned into her, filled with genuine concern. She didn't understand the relevance of the words, but it made her feel better nonetheless.

She nodded.

The red eyes burned into her.

The room was so hot that her skin felt on fire. The lava roared around the creature. In her pocket, her PokeNav was spitting out static. She stood in front of the lava pool, one hand on her Azumarill's Pokeball. Her knees shook.

The creature roared.

May jolted up. She didn't cry out. At this point, she was used to it. She knew how it all played out. She woke up shaking and paralyzed for a few seconds, unable to move until she calmed her breathing. But it had been a month. She was an expert.

When she was able to move again, she threw the tangled sheets off of her legs and swung her feet over the side of the bed. She stood up and took a moment to steady herself as the blood rushed to her head.

May didn't bother to turn the lights on. The moon was nearly full tonight, and when she pulled her curtains apart, it bathed her in its light. Her hand on the window pane looked deathly pale.

Her window didn't have much of a view: it was directly across from the side of the Birch's house. Brendan's window was right across from her's, separated only by a large oak tree. May pulled her window up and open. The cold night air immediately slid into her room like a poisonous gas. It felt nice against her bare legs.

She stared at Brendan's window, and then at her clock. It was just past two AM. Brendan wouldn't be up, but his bed was pressed against the window...

May looked around her room, quickly spotting the potted cactus that her father had brought back for her once after a business trip. She walked over to it and pulled a few of the red, decorative rocks out of the top layer of dirt. She returned to the window, ignoring the dirt now staining her hands.

She lifted her arm in a pitcher's position, then paused. This felt so silly, so juvenile. Still, she sent the first rock flying, flinching a little at the clanging noise it made when it knocked against the glass. She waited a few seconds as the silence returned to the outside and nothing happened. She threw another rock.

She smiled as she saw Brendan's curtains part, and the sleepy-looking boy peeked out from between them. His hair, not hidden by his hat, stuck up in all directions. He appeared to look down at the ground in confusion first before finally looking up and spotting her. He stared for a few seconds before pulling his window open and leaning an elbow on the windowsill. Despite his obvious annoyance at being woken up, he smirked.

"Dreaming about me, May?" he called. She rolled her eyes.

"In your dreams," she called back, then chuckled at the pun. This time, it was Brendan's turn to roll his eyes. "Can I come over?" she then asked, slightly softer.

Brendan frowned, looking down. He looked back up at her, slightly confused. "Uh, yeah, sure, but," he paused, looking down again, "How are you going to get over here? Your parents will flip if they catch you leav- May, what the hell?"

She was already crouched on the windowsill and jumping onto the nearest tree branch. She nearly fell, and her breath caught in her throat at the close call as she held tightly onto the tree beneath her. She could hear Brendan muttering swear words to himself, but she couldn't see him through the leaves.

She practically crawled onto the next branch, thanking Arceus that they were so close together. When she made it up to Brendan's window, he was scowling at her. She didn't warn him before making the final move through his window, and she ended up toppling him over as they both fell onto his bed.

She was only on top of him for half a second before straightening herself out and and moving as far down the bed as she possibly could. He sat up, glaring. She smoothed out her clothes and didn't meet his eyes, her cheeks burning up. "Whoops," she mumbled. She couldn't help the smile that came to her face.

She expected another one of his jokes, but instead was met with an all-too-serious response of, "You're an idiot." She glanced up at him, but he didn't meet her gaze, ruby eyes glowing in the dark and trained on the bed below them. "Everybody's already so worried about you, and yet you're so ready to go and put yourself even further into harm's way."

She sat back against the cool wall behind her. Brendan seemed to notice her shivering, for he quickly shut the window. They were left in utter silence. Somehow, it seemed just as deafening as the roaring of the cave.

"I heard you're leaving for Sootopolis soon."

May didn't glance up at the voice, instead choosing to keep her eyes trained on where Azumarill was ducking in and out of the pond in front of her. Absol was laying off to her left side, resting its eyes.

"Word travels fast," she commented. Brendan took a seat on her other side. From the corner of her eye, she could tell that he was dressed in his travel clothes, just like she was.

"Yeah," he said softly, glancing out at the pond.

They sat in silence for a while until May finally allowed herself to look at him fully. Though he didn't look back at her, May could see a sad nostalgia in his eyes as he watched the water.

After a moment, she shoved his shoulder. He halfway-toppled over before managing to straighten up and glare at her. "Hey," she said, laughing as he attempted to push her back and she jumped out of reach. "Why do you look so serious?"

He stared at her for a long moment. Eventually, he smiled, and May was happy to see him looking somewhat back to normal. "You just worry me."

May's heart fluttered a bit at the comment, but she still rolled her eyes nonchalantly. "I'm flattered, but you don't need to worry about me. Really." Though it had been six weeks since she had had a proper Pokemon battle, she was more than ready to get back out there. And though the dreams still haunted her at night, she was learning to deal with it.

Brendan snorted. "If you say so. Still, if I remember correctly, you did come running to me when you had a bad dream, so..."

She shoved him again, harder this time, before leaping to her feet. She dusted herself off. "Well, fine. That won't happen anymore."

Brendan followed suit, clambering to his feet and crying out defensively, "Hey, I never said I minded!"

May smirked at him. "So, you do want me to come to you for comfort?"

She meant it jokingly, but Brendan's expression quickly turned serious. "I told you, May. I'm always here for you. Always."

She opened her mouth to respond, but snapped it shut. She swallowed. Her cheeks suddenly felt hot, so she looked away, calling her Azumarill and Absol back into their Pokeballs and picking her bag off the ground.

"Are you leaving?" Brendan asked. She didn't miss it when he took a step closer to her, making the gap between them only inches.

"Yeah," she murmured, looking up and meeting his eyes. He smiled, and she returned it. "Hey," she started, narrowing her eyes, "Why are you dressed like that?"

Brendan took a step back, rubbing at the back of his neck and laughing sheepishly. "Hey, you're not the only one wanting to complete the gym challenge."

May watched him carefully for a minute before smiling, her stomach feeling warm. She nodded. "Okay."

He felt like sunshine and heat, but somehow, she didn't mind.