Work Text:
It has been close to a year since Ingo has returned to his timeline, returned to his brother. The thought that he actually has someone, family that he can trust and rely on feels new and old at the same time. Since coming home, his memories have been on a fast track when returning to him. Sometimes these memories, especially the tough ones, would hit him so hard that he would stumble in his steps or catch himself holding his breath.
Despite these leaps and hurdles, Ingo has stayed on track in order to return to his former life fully. Through the therapy and the numerous medical appointments he eventually receives a clean bill of health and he can return to the Gear Station albeit part time while he gets reacquainted. With a brand new uniform on, himself and his brother are standing in front of a long mirror inside of Ingo’s bedroom. Emmet has a proud look on his face as he ties his brother’s necktie and Ingo does it for him in return.
Once finished, Emmet gently, as if he was fragile, turns him towards the mirror and wraps an arm around his neck. “I am Emmet. I feel like this will be a good day. What do you say?” Emmet asks while looking at him through the mirror.
Ingo has his smile on his face and opens his mouth to say something but shuts it. Really looking at the mirror. Their clothes may be the same as before but they were no longer like mirroring opposites. To name a few, his body is still thin and wiry, his face is covered in a few deep set scars, and the most damning is his right arm. Bitten off and frozen by a Gengar when he was trying to protect one of Lady Sneasler’s kits.
That particular incident was tough to recover from, sometimes it felt like just trying to get back into his daily routine with his arm now gone took even more effort and frustration. Somehow, he pulled through and Lady Sneasler kept him as her Warden through all of it. In the end, he was returned after his fellow faller struck up some kind of deal that they would not tell him and before he could press on, he was gone. Safe and sound he landed in his apartment with Emmet who dropped a stack of papers from his hands.
That ordeal was welcomed albeit confusing and heart wrenching as at the time, he still had no idea who Emmet was. Still, all that matters is that they pushed through and they are now here. In the present day with still no clue what happened to the child that brought him home. Shaking his head, Ingo takes one last glance at the stiff fake arm that sticks out of his sleeve awkwardly and smiles at Emmet.
-
They left earlier than usual so that they had plenty of time to walk to the station without being rushed. Under the early morning sun, Emmet looks happier than Ingo has ever seen since he first landed back into his proper station. Emmet’s gaze shifts over to him and it does fall a little bit. Why, Ingo starts to think but is quickly answered without asking.
“Please take safety precautions. Do not overbook yourself. It is your first day back; remember this,” Emmet warns with a serious look but once again cheers up as he adds, “But make sure you have fun.” Ingo nods and looks up so that he doesn’t look at his brother.
“Of course! I will do as the doctor says and nothing more!” Ingo assures somewhat loudly pointing his finger into the air as if to declare it. This earns a pleased hum from Emmet who adds nothing more to the rest of their trip in companionable silence.
Once they arrive at the station to open up, a few long time employees are already waiting at the entrance. They all look so happy to see them but it brings a solid weight into Ingo’s chest and it aches. Anxiety rises as they approach, Emmet seems to sense this and places a hand on Ingo’s shoulder and rubs a thumb into it as if to try and comfort him. Emmet does not push him forward but his brother also does not proceed unless Ingo takes the first step.
“I can go on ahead. Let them in before you?” Emmet asks with a soft and concerned voice despite the wide pleasant smile that is now plastered across his face as he waves back at the employees.
Ingo doesn’t say anything as he stops in his tracks and looks at his brother with the face of a desperate man not wanting to be put into an uncomfortable situation and mumbles, “sorry.”
“Do not worry. Backtrack and go into an alley; wait. I will come get you,” Emmet explains without missing a beat and continues on without him to confront the other employees. Despite his knees feeling weak, Ingo turns and walks away just as Emmet instructed, then turns into an alley when he feels like he is far enough away.
Leaning up against the wall of the alley, Ingo’s heart is pumping right out of his chest. Holding a hand over his heart, he tries to put pressure on it to get it to calm down. He’s not sure why he’s feeling like this. Is he scared of interacting with his coworkers? No, he tries to reason with himself. That cannot be the case. He’s dealt with so many more, much more monstrous and scary things.
Sighing shakily, Ingo tries to focus on his breathing to calm down, just like the therapist said. Only, all too soon his brother finds him in the alleyway sat amongst the garbage trying to keep calm. Grimacing, Emmet crouches down and reaches out for his brother.
“Do you want-,” Emmet starts and is swiftly interrupted by a bitting, “I’M FINE,” and Ingo getting up with a more determined look on his face as opposed to the borderline breakdown that Emmet initially came upon.
“If you’re sure…” Emmet whispers as Ingo marches towards the station entrance now devoid of employees. Ingo looks ahead resolutely and doesn’t try to look back at Emmet as he presses on ahead. Pausing at the doors, he can hear his brother coming up behind him, and pushes the doors open with both hands. The doors fling open dramatically to reveal… a still empty looking station.
Ingo looks back at Emmet confused, who only smiles kindly back at him. “I sent them to clean the subway cars. It’s the wrong order of priority; I know. Didn't want to stress you,” Emmet explains as he continues forward towards the Gear Station offices.
He stands and watches his brother go for a moment but does eventually follow after him with a sigh and a frown. Once in the offices, Emmet shows him all of the new employee’s files and explains to him who left and any changed protocol. Most was the same except that the singles and multi line will be short so that Ingo can keep with a half day schedule.
“Do you need to rest your carriage?” Emmet asks Ingo when he doesn’t say anything for a moment and shakes his head.
“No, I will do just fine. Thank you, I… I really appreciate your support,” Ingo looks up to his younger brother who hums and starts to fiddle with the pokemon balls on his belt absentmindedly.
“Of course! Nothing but the best care. Especially for my brother,” Emmet says proudly then turns to put the files of their protocols and employees away. Looking back at Ingo who has been watching him put it all away, Emmet asks him the question he’s been waiting for since the moment he remembered the Gear Station, “Are you ready to win?”
-
Waiting behind the yellow line on the platform along with a now growing group of people; challengers, subway employees, and those just wanting to ride the subway. Ingo is blissfully unbothered by the people around him. Despite the growing heat at the back of his neck, anxiety that is starting to rise, he looks forward to battle once again.
Carefully, his hand lightly touches Chandelure’s ball. Eager to finally get into a real battle with her after such a long time going without. The subway screeches on the tracks as it slows down on the platform, inching slowly to a stop and then it is all Ingo can think about and his nervousness is all but forgotten.
The doors open and the announcer stresses to allow for Gear Station employees to board first before the regular passengers and challengers can board. Entering the subway car, Ingo only has to go through a few more doors before he gets into his car for the upcoming battle. Taking a seat at one of the benches on the side, he leans back and shuts his eyes.
Excitement starts to well up in what feels like his soul when he should be getting his mind ready for the on coming battle. Distantly, he hears the woman on the intercom say, “Please stand clear of the doors as we will be departing shortly.” Taking a moment longer, Ingo slowly tightens his body from head to toe. The wrong feeling of his missing arm not being able to tighten does not go unnoticed.
Slowly he releases his tightened body from head to toe once again just as he hears, “We are now leaving the Nimbasa Station,” and the subway car begins to move. The car jolts a little bit as the subway starts to gain a bit more speed until they are moving swiftly down the tracks.
While he waited, Ingo brings out his Chandelure and quietly bonds with them until he hears commotion in the car before him about 45 minutes into the ride. Standing up, he recalls Chandelure and stands in the middle of the subway car awaiting his first challenger to appear.
He fortunately doesn’t have to wait long until a young teenager, likely someone who has recently started their journey, approaches him. They were definitely not someone he recognized but they certainly recognized him as they exclaimed, “Woah! It’s you and…” they peer at his arm with awe, “it is true. It’s just gone what-”
Ingo cuts them off feeling his anxiety build but tries to sound pleasant while trying to change the tracks of this conversation and moves his fake arm out of their line of sight. “This encounter isn’t about me, this is a challenge to see just how strong of a trainer you’ve become throughout your journey. Now, as you know I am the Subway Boss Ingo and whether or not you are ready for this battle, ALL ABOARD!”
With that he throws Crustle out while striking his and his brother’s signature pose as best he could with the prosthetic limb. The young trainer before him fumbles in shock, trying to reach for the correct pokemon to fight with and throws a Semisear out.
-
After the first trainer, he’s definitely had some solid wins but also some resolute defeats but almost every time they ask about his arm his face. Ingo’s not sure at this point why he even bothered to put the worthless prosthetic on if everyone already knows and keeps asking him about it. Things, unfortunately, didn’t come to a head until he started multi-battles with his brother.
Emmet of course asked if Ingo could still battle and despite the tired raggedness he feels and looks, the anxiety crawling up and down his back, Ingo insists that he can finish out his half day. His brother tentatively agrees and they continue on. The majority of trainers blessedly didn’t say anything about his appearance, arm or scars. That is until the third or second to last group that came up to him.
They were a rowdy pair of young adult females, too pumped up for the even rather large subway car to handle. The moment their eyes land on Ingo, he already knows what they were going to say but he didn’t expect how bad it would be.
“Holy shit,” a female with long dark pink hair tied back with dozens of strands sticking out blinked, amazed at the sight of Ingo. “You’re an ugly mother fucker with those scars.”
The room instantly goes cold and at first Ingo thought it was just his soul falling out of his chest but one quick glance at Emmet spelled death for the other trainers who don’t pick up on the mood change.
The other girl, with short lime colored hair, laughs in agreement and oogles at Ingo. “So much for the same but opposites thing they had going on. The black one got fucked up!” They both hoop and holler and start to reach for their pokemon for battle but Emmet snaps. All courtesy for customers thrown out the window.
“We will not be having a battle today!” Emmet hisses firmly making both of the girls stiffen up like deer caught in headlights. “You’re both garish, crude, unruly and generally awful people. You are a disappointment to your ancestors and your future families. Die in a hole and get off my subway.”
Words are caught in Ingo’s throat. It feels like an Aipom is using his spine for xylophone practice and a Gligar who’s decided to nest in his chest and messily feed from his neck. Emmet marches over and pulls the string that requests for the subway to stop at the next available station as the girls gawk, the lime green haired one gets a pouty face and snears.
“We didn’t mean anything by it, freak! We’re just making observations amongst ourselves. You weren’t part of our conversation and neither is your fuck up of a brother! We heard the news! Some pretty wild brain shit- EEP!”
Both girls seize up as Emmet marches loudly towards them, with a smile plastered across his face begging for murder. Through his haze, Ingo realizes what his brother was about to do and it's something that they’ll regret later. Initially reaching out with his right arm, the weight of the prosthetic reminds him that it has no way to grab his brother. Instead, Ingo settles on out right, wrapping his arms around his brother’s back.
Hyperventilating, Ingo tries to hold back tears that threaten to fall from his eyes and buries his face into the back of his brother’s shoulder. “Please,” he whispers miserably, “Don’t make it worse than it already is.”
Emmet says nothing to this but does stop in his tracks. The girls quiver on the opposite end of the subway car and to them, a blessing happens as the female announcer calmly informs, “please stand clear of the doors we are stopping in Mistralton City. Again, please stand clear of the doors.” The train screeches to a stop and the doors don’t open fast enough for the girls as they flee making an annoying scream. Based on their faces as they left, the gravity of the situation has already turned into a joke of some kind to them as they laugh off the subway.
Ingo remains attached to Emmet as he slowly tries to ground himself. Rubbing his face into their back he wipes away tears that did manage to escape his eyes. Emmet remains still and doesn’t comment for a long time standing stock still. After a while the announcement comes on again, then the train shifts and is off again. They remain like that for a few minutes longer.
Even though Ingo has already calmed down enough to let go, he gets the distinct feeling that his brother needs this for a few minutes longer.
Slowly, Emmet reaches behind himself, under the coat and pulls out a radio connected wirelessly to the subway train. Pressing the button on the side, Emmet cooly says, “This is Sierra Mike two. We are done for today. Over.” The coworker on the other side of the radio replies quickly, “Sierra Mike two, this is Hotel Quebec tree, copy that,” it pauses, “we will report back to Hotel Quebec one for replacements, over.”
There is a brief pause but Emmet does pull himself away with a sigh and puts the radio back onto his belt then turns to Ingo. The smile is still thinly on Emmet’s face but it is strained and his eyes are shiny. “Has anyone else said anything like that to you today?” he asks in a hushed voice.
Ingo doesn’t respond and opens his mouth slightly, not sure of what to say that wouldn’t upset his brother any more than he already is. Emmet shakes his head to that and shakily laughs, “Is that why you were so nervous? Nervous of the employees today? Have others said that to you? Before you even returned? Mocked you?” He asks venomously.
Not able to bring his eyes to Emmet’s Ingo instead looks at the other’s shoes. This time though, his brother is patient and waits for Ingo to answer much to Ingo’s pained anxiety. “A few times yes,” Ingo finally answers and shifts his eyes to meet Emmet’s. “They mostly like to point out how we’re not so similar anymore, how… We’re no longer mirrors of each other. I didn’t know how important that was to me until it was constantly brought up, and people were so sorry for some reason. I know it’s ridiculous but it feels like we’re… no longer a two car train,” Ingo finishes and gives his version of an unsure smile earning a shaky sigh from Emmet.
Once again Ingo looks away, thinking his brother was disappointed in him somehow but instead finds himself pulled into his brother’s embrace. This time it’s Emmet who buries their face into Ingo’s shoulder and muffely explains. “You idiot. Did you really think we could be decoupled so easily?” Emmet sighs and pulls away gripping Ingo’s shoulders and gives him a bright smile, “We’ll always be a two car train. Looking different or we no longer run the battle subway. Even if we go our separate ways. We are family. Nothing will break that. I promise.”