Title: If I Could Turn Back Time
By: MyStiC (~) AuThOr
Part: 1
Email: Mysticauthor89@yahoo.com
Category: AAMRN

A/N: I know most of u were waiting for an update with Wishing Waters, but right now my mind is BLANK! I finally sat on my ass this Saturday & worked out a bunch of ideas so now I at least have a plot for the next part! I'll try & get it in as soon as I can, so till then, you get to read this!

DISCLAIMER: Until hell freezes over, or until N*SYNC finally sound like guys, I will never own Pokèmon.

**This is rated PG-13 for light swearing. Please respect that rating, as I don't want to be responsible for any young children learning any "new" words & telling their parents about it. Plus there's mention of murder & death & junk like that. Okay? Okay**

   A woman sprinted quickly, yet silently, through the tranquil streets of Cerulean City. It was well past midnight & the moon hung high in the star filled sky. The hood of her long sapphire cloak, which was billowing out behind her as she ran, covered her face. She pushed on, steadily running towards her destination. She skidded to a stop & slipped into an alley, unseen. She peeked back into the streets & saw police cars & heard wailing sirens. There were numerous people there, still in their pajamas, standing behind tape that said, "Police Line: Do Not Cross". The woman felt her stomach wrench with worry.
   {Am I too late?} She thought, biting her lip. She turned back into the alley & started as fast as she could, headed for Cerulean Gym, home of the Sensational Sisters.

   "Dammit...I've always hated climbing this fence," the woman exhaled sharply & heaved herself up & over the deteriorating cement wall. She landed gracefully on her feet & kept going. The tapping of her boots matched the pounding of her heart as she raced on. She finally reached the backdoor of the place she knew as a kid, the place she once called home. With one quick glance around the area, she un-hooded her head & opened the screen door. Later, she might've wished she took a better look around her surroundings...

   {That's right. Go inside. It'll make my job a hell of a lot more easier...} A figure chuckled as he watched his target. He was sitting in a large oak tree, scanning the vicinity carefully. It was a pity she had to fake her own death to save the ones she loved. It was also a pity that she believed that everyone thought she was dead. But that made things even more interesting. Ah...sometimes being so evil could be refreshing.

   The woman slunk around the empty house/gym, tiptoeing. She rummaged around under beds, in closets, even in the incinerator. But there was no sign of any deceased bodies. She let out a small sigh of relief. That's when her ears picked up a steady rumbling noise coming from the laundry room. She cautiously stepped into the room & saw that someone had left the dryer on. Curiosity got the better of her, so she opened the dryer, wondering if whomever who had broken into the house had decided to do laundry. What she saw haunted her dreams for the next thirty years...
   "Oh...my...God..." the woman whimpered as she was staring into the eyes of
Daisy Waterflower. She didn't have any clothes & face & body were partially melted, sagging, bits of her skull visible. Her lifeless body was crammed in an odd position into the small dryer. Her apple green eyes were glassy & unblinking, lacking its usual shine. Stringy, blonde hair replaced her once luscious, thick golden hair. There was a bullet hole in the back of her skull. Branded on her breast was a letter "R". The woman shut the dryer & stumbled out of the room, breathing in short raspy breaths. Her head was spinning rapidly.
   She froze & sniffed the air. {Fire...} She hurried to the kitchen & looked for the source of the smoke. {Not the toaster, not the microwave...} Her eyes locked on to the oven. Swallowing, she switched on the little light that lit up the inside of the oven. She bent her head to the window of the oven door & flinched. Within the flaming stove was the corpse that belonged to Lily. She backed away slowly from the door, heart thumping against her rib cage as if it was trying to burst out of her chest. Spray-painted on the slick tile floor was the letter "R". She shivered, wondering if the one who had done this was still in the house, watching her every movement. But then she realized she wasn't shivering from fear. The temperature really had lowered crucially. Then she remembered the walk in freezer they had.
   She gradually reached the door of the freezer that was ajar. Cold air was emitting out of the freezer. She shook her head, sadly, as her eyes fell upon a body that was frozen in a block of ice. Violet. There seemed to be a stab mark in the middle of her chest. Etched on the ice was the letter "R". That's when she realized who had done this. Her senses were yelling at her, telling her that somebody was watching her. She took a deep breath & turned around steadily.
   "Tracy," she stated to the man who was watching her intently from the kitchen.
   "Why, if it isn't my good friend, Misty. Where have you been all these years?" He swaggered over to her.
   "It's Mistaria," she replied in a voice as cold as the freezer they stood in.
   "Sorry, my mistake." He looked her over carefully. "What have you been up to?"
   "Wouldn't you like to know?" Mistaria tensed, ready to spring into action.
   "Yes I would, actually. Especially a little old someone you might've known at some point..." He fished around in the pocket of his large, khaki trench coat. "Here it is...you do remember him, don't you?" He handed her an old photo of a boy with messy dark hair & shining golden/brown eyes. He wore a black shirt, a blue short-sleeved jacket, & finger-less, black gloves, and the League hat.
   "I sent in about a million letters to get that hat!" Mistaria heard the little boy's voice echo through her thoughts.
   Mistaria shut her eyes. "Tracy, what happened to the one I used to know? The one who looked out for me & always gave me advice? The one who I thought was freaking GAY for crying out loud?" Mistaria exclaimed, clenched fists trembling with rage. "It's because of you I had to fake my death, to drive the attention away from the ones I loved!"
   "Yeah, well, that's what happens when you meddle in Team Rocket's plans. If you weren't a nosy brat, you would be Ashura's whore."
   Mistaria recoiled at the mention of his name. But then she smiled. "At least I was attracted to the opposite sex."
   "You guys thought I was gay?" Tracy stepped a little closer & Mistaria noticed that he had changed over the years. He had cut his hair so it was short & spiked. He had grown taller, so he stood about 6'6. His hazel eyes were burning with hate Mistaria never seen in even her enemies' eyes.
   "Well, what were we supposed to think? You always shied away from Nurse Joys whenever they took an interest in you & your artwork."
   "I am NOT gay!" He fumbled with something inside his trench coat. "Now, you're going to come with me." Next thing Mistaria knew, she was staring down the barrel of a gun.
   "Yeah, right. All you guys think a gun can stop me."
   "It can when I pull the trigger."
   "Good point. But I've got a better point."
   "What, dare I ask?"
   "THIS!" Mistaria unleashed a right roundhouse that hit the gun out of Tracy's hand. The gun skidded as it hit the floor. Mistaria threw a left jab into his jaw & hit him with an ax kick. Her eyes flickered around the freezer. Mistaria kicked out her right leg & knocked a tower of crates with meat that came crashing down on the unsuspecting Rocket Agent.
   "You little--" But he was cut off as Mistaria stomped her foot on his face.
   "I hate guys with crude language," she smirked at the unconscious Tracy. He stirred, spitting out blood. Mistaria picked him up & put on a pair of handcuffs on his wrists. She pulled her hood back up & dragged him outside to the police officers.
   "I believe this man fits the description you were looking for."
   The three policemen that were guarding the house in the driveway jumped a mile into the air. "Who the hell are you & where did you come from?" The lead officer with a lean figure, thick wavy brown hair & stone gray eyes looked at Mistaria suspiciously.
   "I'm with SUPERIORS." Mistaria kept her hood up as she flashed a badge.
   "Oh...Thanks a bunch. We were trying to get this guy out without killing the hostages inside. You know, the Sensational Sisters? Are they all right?"
   Mistaria let out a shaky breath. "I'm afraid not. When I entered, I found all three bodies, dead. One frozen, one melted, the other burned."
   "Shit! I hope you SUPERIOR people beat the hell out of them. I'm sick of all these innocent people dying everyday."
   Mistaria sucked in a breath. She looked back over her shoulder, mourning on the inside for her sisters. Sure they were stupid sometimes, but they were her only family...or so she thought. With a final glimpse at her childhood, she turned her back on the gym she always wanted to own & run, battling challengers. "I must report back to HQ; I trust you & your colleagues can handle the press."
   "Right away."
   
   "Hurry up, we almost have him!" A Team Rocket member & his crew sprinted after their prey.
   "Wait, I think it's him!" There was uproar of shrieks & screams from the mob of teenage girls. A man in a black sweater, dark glasses, black slacks, a small green backpack & a black cowboy hat tore through the Viridian City mall. {Damn, now I have Team Rocket & a mob of girls up my ass} He thought as he ran for his life. He knew ditching his bodyguards was the stupidest idea he ever had. He darted past mall rats & teenagers. He ran down an alleyway & jumped the fence. He thrust his legs even faster, putting as much space between him & his fans. {Thank God I'm in shape.} His cowboy hat flew off as he propelled himself even faster. He increased his speed & leapt over a wall in one fluid motion. Gasping for breath, Ash opened a vacant phone booth & hid inside.
   Frantically, he put in a couple of quarters & dialed a number. "Brock? I think I could use that protection you were talking about."
   "I knew you would change your mind," Brock's voice answered coyly. "Stay where you are. You will be transported to SUPERIOR HQ in a few seconds..."
   "What? I'm in a damn phone booth! How the hell--" A split second later, Ash was sliding down a chute, screaming. His screaming was stopped abruptly as he landed hard on his back on a cool steel floor.
   "Well, that didn't tickle," he muttered as he climbed to his feet. He unzipped his little bag. "Pikachu, you okay?" He removed his dark sunglasses & smiled as his first Pokèmon poked its head out of the bag.
    ~ Remind me why we didn't stay with our bodyguards? ~
   "Shut up."
   ~ Seriously, why did we sneak off? ~
   "We're going to get some of that 24-hr. protection Brock talked about."
   ~ Well this doesn't seem like 24-hr. protection. We were just mobbed by a group of crazy teenage girls & we were running from Team Rocket for the past twenty minutes or so... ~ Pikachu said sardonically.
   "Okay, this is one reason I regret letting you out of the bag." Ash glared at his best friend, walking down the winding hall.
   Pikachu trotted after his trainer. ~ SOMEONE needs to yell at you when you do something incredibly dumb. ~ Pikachu paused for a moment. ~ Misty asked me to watch out for you before she died...~
   Ash exhaled noisily. He hung his head as he remembered the last day that she was alive...

FLASHBACK

   "Isn't that a beautiful waterfall?" A fourteen year-old Misty admired the magnificent waterfall that pounded into the river below it.
   "Toge-toge-PRRRRRRRRRRII!" the little egg Pokèmon in Misty's hands chirped happily, happy because everyone else was happy.
   "Pika!" The little yellow mouse scampered off Ash's shoulder to marvel at the scenery. "Cha..." it whispered. Their surroundings reminded it of its home before it was captured by Professor Oak & given to Pikapi.
   "Yeah..." Ash wasn't transfixed by the beauty of the waterfall, but by the beauty of Misty. He knew today would be the day. It was day when he finally told Misty.
    "How about we take a break here?" Brock's voice broke Ash's train of thought.
   "Sure!" Ash & Misty agreed in unison.

   "Brock, I'm going for a walk. Care to join me, Misty?" It was evening & the trio just finished Brock's-Lazy-Boy-No-Chew-Stew. Brock was setting up camp, Pikachu was entertaining Togepi, & Misty was reading a magazine, perched on a rock.
   "Um...sure, Ash." Misty put down her magazine & followed Ash to the waterfall.
   "Misty...How long have we known each other?" That was the first thing out of Ash's mouth as soon as he & Misty reached the waterfall.
   "Hmm...Just about four years, now. Why?"
   "You've always been there for me. I can barely remember how life was without you & Brock." He paused & walked to the edge of the river. He looked distantly into the rushing river. "Misty, I lo--"
   "Ash, look out!" Before he knew what was happening, Misty threw herself at Ash & pushed him out of the way. The Water Gun attack hit Misty & sent her propelling backwards into the raging water.
   "Misty!" Ash ran up the riverbank, looking for something to pull Misty in with. But he was too late.
    Misty looked at him, smiling a rueful smile & said, "Bye, Ash. Take care of my Pokèmon for me." With that, she was pulled down the waterfall.

END FLASHBACK

   "ASH!" Ash looked up & saw his best friend running up to him. Brock's hair was swept up into a neat hairstyle. He had a lean figure & a chiseled body. He was about 6'9 & was wearing a black suit with a powder blue shirt underneath.  His eyes were still the same, ever-squinting slits.
   "Brock. When can I get this protection?"
   "As soon as our agent gets back from her mission."
   "Her?"
   Brock rolled his eyes. "Yes her. I know you've sworn off females, since they are always chasing you. But this one agent you might want to get to know."
   "Brock, don't set me up."
   Brock snickered. And for some reason, Ash didn't trust that laugh. "Okay. I'd never give you an agent that's not capable of protecting you. She's one of our best spies & protection mediators."
   "I trust you, man."
   ~ So is she someone I'd like, Brock? ~
   "Um, Pikachu? No offense, but maybe you should date people that are your species..."
   ~ Dude, that's not fair! You dated Nurse Joy! ~
   Brock blinked. "You know that was definitely NOT funny..."
   ~ Heh, heh... ~ Brock led them down a hall & to a small waiting room.
   "Stay here. I'll be back with you shortly."

   "So Mistaria how was the assignment?"
   "My clients died." Mistaria & Jessie were in the lounge room of SUPERIORS
HQ. They were at a table, sipping coffee.
   "Oh, I'm sorry." Jessie, who worked in the forensics lab with James, looked at her friend. Mistaria was distraught. Her auburn hair was splayed around her shoulders & her aqua blue eyes lacked its normal sheen.
   Mistaria stirred her coffee, trying her hardest not to cry. "My clients were my sisters."
   Jessie she had a bad life. Maybe her childhood was full of problems, but her teenage & adult years were normal (well, as normal they can be while chasing a couple of kids & their Pokèmon), unlike Mistaria. Mistaria had the hardest life out of everyone Jessie knew. Her father had sexually abused her & her sisters. Her father also killed himself & his wife. Mistaria grew up, her sisters putting her down constantly. But she found refuge with Ash & Brock. But after she found out about Tracy, she had to fake her own death & restart her life when she was only fourteen. She spent the next ten years, working her way up in SUPERIORS.
   "Mistaria, it wasn't your fault." Jessie was worried about the ginger haired agent. She hadn't been herself for weeks.
   "Yes it was. If I were faster, I would've reached them in time to explain the situation & take them some place where they would be safe. But as usual, I let my sisters down like I've always done since I was a little girl." Misty blinked back a river of tears that threatened to escape.
   "Don't be so hard on yourself. I heard Slate's got another job for you."
   "Really?"
   "He was so pleased when he heard that you got that Tracy arrested."
   "Jessie?"
   "Yeah?"
   "I think after this case Brock has for me, I'm going to come out of hiding & live my life under a totally different name. Lay low. Switch identities."
   "Misty! You can't be serious..."
   "I'm sick of hiding my face all the time when I'm on a job." She put her elbows on the table & combed her hair with her fingers. "I'm sorry, Jessie, but I need to get away from it all. I had the worst life imaginable ever since I was three."
   Jessie had never seen anyone who was more depressed than Misty. It was hard to believe that this was the spunky little girl that she had chased around ten years back. "Don't worry. Things will be looking up. But I strongly advise you to stay with SUPERIORS. You know so much about Team Rocket & if they find you you're toast."
   "Mistaria?" Misty snapped her head around to see Brock.
   "Hey Brock. Do you have any good news?"
   "You don't know how good this news is. You might want to take this client on. It's a protection case for a young man." Brock added suggestively.
   Misty rubbed her temples, fighting the wave of fatigue that hit her. "Remember what happened when I tried to protect my sisters?"
   "That wasn't your fault. Someone leaked Team Rocket some information ahead of time so they would be dead before you got to them. Anyways, your client awaits." Brock headed for the waiting room.
   "Talk to you later, Jessie." Misty pushed back her seat & went after her boss.
   "Bye." Jessie really hoped that things turned out all right for the poor kid. She stirred her coffee while twirling a lock of her hair around a finger.

   Misty wearily trudged after her supervisor, pulling her hood down to cover her face. "Sir, I'd like you to meet Agent Mistaria." The man stood up & looked over his so-called protection. "I'm Ashura Ketchum."
   Misty stuck out her hand & said in a monotone voice, "How do you do? I assure you, as long as I'm alive, you will be--" Misty looked up & almost fainted. "Ash?"
   There was no way Ash couldn't recognize that voice, even though it did sound different since the last time he heard her speak. "Misty?" Tears of happiness quickly turned into an angry blush on his face. "You've been alive all this time?" Ash accused, cutting his eyes at her.
   ~ Misty? Dude! It's you! ~ Pikachu perked up & jumped into his 2nd favorite human's arms.
   "Pikachu...I've missed you." Misty hugged the Pokèmon to her chest, tears of remembrance springing to her eyes. She felt someone staring at her & she shifted her gaze to Ash, who was glowering at her. Misty let out a misty (no pun intended) sigh. "Ash...It's a long story & I can explain."
   "Fine. I've got time." Ash crossed his arms & sunk back into the chair.
   Misty collapsed into a plastic uncomfortable chair, gathering all the energy she could muster. "You remember a long time ago, when we were traveling with Tracy?"
   "Yeah. I wonder how he's doing..."
   "Ash, he's with Team Rocket," Misty glanced at her life long friend & love. "He was the reason why I had to fake my death & start working with SUPERIORS."
   "What happened?"
   "When we were traveling with Tracy in the Orange Islands, I somehow found out that he was a double agent & he was working with Team Rocket & they wanted Pikachu. Then he found out that I knew, so he threatened me with my life. When we finally got back to Pallet Town, after you won in the Orange Island League, Tracy left us so he could work on another case instead of following us around, since his boss thought that we weren't a threat to Team Rocket anymore. That is, until they found out that you were the One who was supposed to be wielder of Pokèmon."
Ash raised his eyebrows. "Wielder of Pokèmon? Really?" He could imagine it now...every Pokèmon listening to his every word...
   "Don't get so full of yourself yet. Anyways, it turned out that Brock here knew that so that was why he followed you all those years ago. He was older than we thought he was. You were twenty when you started traveling with us, right?"
   "Twenty and a half. Now I'm thirty-three & all muscle." Brock said smugly, as if the half made a difference, making muscle man poses.
   Misty sometimes wondered how this man before her was her Boss. "Whatever.
Brock was working with SUPERIORS from the start & was to follow you, to make sure you weren't killed. So I told Brock about Tracy when we met up again, so he suggested that I join SUPERIOR & fake my death to protect my family & friends. I didn't have much of a choice, so I decided to stage my death when we were far from Pallet. As we were in Johto, Tracy was tailing us. Think back to the day I 'drowned'."
   "That Water Gun attack was Tracy?"
   "Yes, it was Tracy & his Azumarril. Poor Pokèmon, I would've loved one of those..."
   "So you pretended to drown to throw suspicion off of me?"
   "In lamest terms, yes," Misty said slowly.
   "I thought you hated me as a kid."
   "Yeah, well, you thought wrong." Misty shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She avoided eye contact with Ash. {Ah, crap! You still love him! But you can't let that get in the way of the assignment, no matter what.}
   "Guess I did..." Ash looked at the girl who he fell head over heels for as a young boy. "Thanks, Misty."
   "What?" Misty was jerked out of her thoughts.
   "Thanks for putting your life on the line for me. You really could've died going down that waterfall."
   Misty chuckled softly. "Me? Die? Yeah, right. I'm too good of a swimmer to die drowning."
   "I always thought that too. After you um, 'died', in a corner of my heart, I knew that there was no way you could drown."
   "Aw, thanks Ash. By the way, I go by Mistaria now."
   "You're still the same old Misty to me."
   "Mistaria."
   "Misty."
   "Mistaria."
   "Misty."
   "Mistaria."
   "Misty."
   "Mistaria."
   ~ God, some things never will change. ~
"You don't know how right you are Pikachu..." Brock & Pikachu watched the two adults argue like they were at a Wimbledon tennis match.
   "Misty."
   "Mistaria."
   "Misty."
"Mistaria."
"Mistaria."
"Misty...wait, I meant Mistaria...oh dammit!"
   Ash threw his head back in laughter. "I can't believe you fell for that! I only thought it worked on Looney Tunes with Daffy Duck & Bugs Bunny."
"If you must, call me Misty." Ash saw that her eyes were glittering in a way that made him feel shivery inside.
   Brock goggled at the two. {They're flirting and they don't even know it} Brock shook his head, smiling. "If you two are done flirting, let's get down to the nitty-gritty business. We can discuss this in my office." Then he looked at Ash & whispered so that Misty could hear, "Nobody else can call her just Misty. Great going. If I didn't know better, I'd say she's taking a liking to you."
   "Shut UP, Brock." Misty gave Brock an exasperated look, azure eyes shining tiredly. She stood up & headed for Brock's office, hips moving from side to side within her silky sapphire cloak. Ash couldn't help but stare after her, his old flame of love turning into a new fiery inferno of emotion.
   "I still don't know what you see in her...Well she does have a nice ass. Plus she has tits you wouldn't believe. And those legs...oh my God, don't get me started about her kick ass legs & curves..." Brock observed, rubbing his chin. "I still wonder why I never went after her when she turned twenty-one..."
   "I can't believe it...my best friend--"
   ~ Ahem! ~
   "My best HUMAN friend..."
Brock laughed again. "Ash, I didn't make a move on her. She would knock me out, anyway. Plus I wouldn't hit on your true love."
   "Has she ever talked about me?" Ash asked shyly.
   "Dude, if I had a dollar for every time she mentioned your name I would own the universe. Face it. She loves you," Brock leered, leaving after Misty.
   "Brock...I told you not to set me up..." Ash groaned & tagged along after his two friends.
   ~ Hey, what about me, the sex appeal in this whole fanfic? Guys...Oh, screw it. ~ Pikachu rolled its little chocolate colored eyes & skipped after the trio.

A/N: INSTEAD OF WRITING ABOUT ASH AN AGENT & ALWAYS PROTECTING MISTY (though I do like to read those kind of fanfics), I DECIDED TO FLIP IT AROUND. THIS IS LIKE THE 1ST FIC THAT I'VE WRITTEN IN LESS THAN A WEEK! IT TOOK ME A RECORD BREAKING 2 DAYS TO FINISH! MUAH HAHAHAHA! I DON'T KNOW...IT WAS AN IDEA THAT CAME TO ME TONIGHT BEFORE I WENT TO SLEEP. SO HERE I AM, WRITING THIS FIC AT 3:30 IN THE MORNING. WELL THERE'S THIS THING CALLED SCHOOL THAT GETS IN THE WAY OF LEISURE & WRITING FICS THAT I HAVE TO DO HOMEWORK FOR. UNTIL I WRITE ANOTHER STORY, I'M OUT! BEFORE I GO, THIS IS GOING TO BE MOSTLY IN Misty's POV, SINCE I KIND OF AM A GIRL SO IT'S EASIER TO WRITE IN ANOTHER FEMALE'S PERSPECTIVE.

MyStiC (~) AuThOr

PS as usual, I'm praying that I will actually get some reviews about my stories! Please R&R! Flames? Comments? Suggestions? Or just want to ask a question or something? Email me, God dammit!