Disclaimer: Don't own pokemon! A/N: Well…um…sorry for the long delay guys. If you want to see what I've been doing, go check out my profile. Anyway, again, thanks for the patience and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Enjoy!!! Chapter 8 Cry for Help "Pikachu, use your thunderbolt!" yelled a voice. In response, the little electric mouse reared back, clenched his tiny paws, and let loose a fearsome thunderbolt from out of thin air. An ear splitting scream filled the room as the attack hit its mark. The main target of the attack crumpled to his knees, panting. "It'll take more than that to take me down!" screamed Surge as he started to stand up, despite the cuts on his arms and legs, "You expect me to show weakness when my specialty are electric types?" "Very true," sighed Ash tiredly. He had been at it for nearly an hour, trying restlessly to restrain the Vermilion City gym leader. All of the other rockets were too intimidated by Surge's size to make any physical movements. They finally resulted to using pokemon, which was usually only used as a last resort. "Bring in the sedative," ordered Ash, pointing to the waiting rockets. Glad to be out of the room, they all scurried off toward the exit and followed Ash's orders. "Why do this?" Surge asked suddenly. "Do what?" asked Ash, uninterested in where this conversation was going, "Kill you and the other gym leaders?" Surge nodded slowly in response to the question. "Why not?" he shrugged, brushing his own question aside. "There must be some reason," added Surge forcibly. "There is, but you don't need to know it. What good will it do if I tell you? You won't escape this alive," Ash pointed out. "And what about Misty? Why wait until the last day to do her in? Unless there's some kind of connection between the two of you," thought Surge aloud. He knew that this would get to Ash and hopefully he would reveal something of importance. "There is no connection," said Ash shakily, "And the reason I'm waiting for her is because I see her as less of a threat…unlike you my friend." At his last words, Surge fell to his knees, a bright orange dart piercing his neck. "There is a connection…I know there is…don't ignore it…" breathed Surge as he unconsciously fell to the ground. Staring at the unconscious gym leader on the ground, Ash looked away and clenched his fists in anger. "There is no connection! Do you hear me?!" bellowed Ash, his voice echoing throughout the corridor. He had caught the attention of all of the rockets and straightened up, "Take him away," he muttered, completely ignoring the fact that his fellow teammates were still staring at him in bewilderment. Ash looked around the room and saw that none of them were moving. "What are you all waiting for?!" screamed Ash angrily. "Y-Yes, sir," the rockets stuttered as they managed to lift Surge's massive body. After retrieving the limp body, they quickly retreated out of the room, leaving only Matt, Ash, and Pikachu. His fists still shaking with rage, Ash gathered Pikachu onto his shoulder and threw his cape behind him. He started to exit the room when Matt placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" Matt asked, concerned for his partner. "I'm fine. I wish people would stop asking me," scowled Ash, not turning to look at him. "Well, it's just that you've been acting really strange lately, ever since the other day when we took care of Koga and Blaine," stated Matt, who was trying to get Ash to look at him, "I hope you're not still thinking about what Koga said. You heard Giovanni. The guy was a lying bastard. He couldn't be trusted. Remember Ash, you can't believe everything you hear," he finished. "Don't you think I know that by now?" Ash questioned, finally turning around to face his partner. The anger was wiped away from his face and replaced with a solemn look, "I'm an orphan, Matt. Don't you think I know that not everyone is telling the truth? You know just as well as I do that there are only a select few in this world worth trusting." Matt nodded in solid agreement. "I know where you're coming from. Don't forget, I'm an orphan too. We orphans have to stick together," he smiled confidently, hoping to force a small smile onto his friend's face. Ash smiled and took in a deep breath. "You're right. Come on, let's get out of here," he finished, walking towards the door. "Another close call," sighed Giovanni as he rocked in his black, leather armchair, watching the video camera in which he could clearly see Ash and Matt. Giovanni got up from out of his chair and walked over to his window. Staring out into the glowing city, he sank into deep thought, 'That connection that Surge was talking about…I wonder if it had anything to do with Scott and Renee. No matter…if all goes well, Ash won't ever find out about his true past.' Smirking, Giovanni pushed a small button on the video camera, and, once again, Ash came into view. "I'll have to keep a close eye on him." Elsewhere, in the corridors of the headquarters, Ash was heading off in the direction of Misty and Brock's holding room. As he neared the room, he could hear screaming and a young girl sobbing. Sprinting the rest of the way to the room, he threw the door open to find that Brock was being forced out of his cell by two rocket members. He looked to his left and saw that Misty was trying her best to hold onto Brock, while endless tears were streaming down her face. "What's going on?" demanded Ash. The two rockets, who had just noticed that Ash had walked into the room, turned to face him. "Sir, we've been informed by Giovanni to exterminate this gym leader," answered one of the rockets. "But why so soon? We just got through with Surge a while ago," argued Ash. "I don't know sir. You'll have to take it up with the boss," said the other rocket. "But why wasn't I informed?" he demanded. Both rockets shrugged as they continued to pull Brock out of his cell. "No! Please don't so this!" wailed Misty, as she continued to hold onto Brock's arm. "Let go!" yelled one of the rockets as he attempted to pry Misty's fingers from off of Brock. The other rocket joined in the tug of war and triumphantly loosened Misty's grip. "Don't worry little girl. You'll join him soon enough," laughed the rocket as they both hauled Brock to his feet. Misty, just now noticing that Ash had entered the room, shot him a pleading look. Ash looked back at her and took in a sharp breath. He was completely oblivious to the two rockets in the room; he just continued to stare into Misty's piercing blue eyes. He couldn't find the courage, nor the strength to pull his gaze away from her. He didn't know why, but he knew he had to try to postpone the Pewter City gym leader's death sentence as much as possible. "Hold on a second," Ash summoned as he walked over to the two rockets. "You need a…um…a warrant to…uh…give permission to kill this man," stuttered Ash as the two rockets stared at him in bewilderment. "A warrant?" repeated one of the rockets, "Since when?" Ash gave him a very stern look. "And since when do you start asking me questions?" "I-I apologize sir," stuttered the rocket uncomfortably, "I didn't know." "Remember where your position is," sneered Ash as he walked up to the pair, "Now get out." The two rockets released Brock, bowed to Ash, and then left the room without another word. Ash, himself, was a little surprised by the way he acted. He turned back to look at the two prisoners. "Why did you…?" started Brock, but Ash interrupted him. "I'm not too sure myself what just happened," Ash said softly, "I guess I spared you a little more time." "A little more time?" asked Brock, "Is that all it was? You should have just had them take me then. Why postpone what I can't control?" "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you," he hesitated for a moment, and then continued, "But you will escape this alive." "Huh?" Brock was looking at him thunderstruck. Had he just heard what he thought he heard? "Does that mean…" whispered Misty, almost inaudibly. "I don't know yet. I still have to figure some things out, but if you really are who you say you are then…" "Ash!" yelled a voice on his intercom. "Yeah, what is it?" he asked. "What happened to the Pewter gym leader? I thought I sent two of the guys to go and fetch him," said Matt. "Well, they never showed up. We'll have to do it some other time," answered Ash. "Alright then. We're going to take care of the other girl then..." At the sound of this Ash's heart started pounding. He had just told Misty that they would escape alive and now here he was, about to exterminate her. "I think her name is Erica," finished Matt uncertainly. Ash's heart skipped a beat as he let out a sigh. "Oh, okay." "Want to come along and watch?" asked Matt eagerly. "No thanks, I--" "Oh! Hold on a second," Matt interrupted suddenly. Ash heard a shuffling around in the background and then a view voices came into hearing range. The voices were too soft and too unclear to be heard, but just seconds later Matt's voice came back into range. "Hey, I've just been informed that you should separate the remaining two prisoners in different holding rooms," Matt said. "Why?" asked Ash, looking at Misty and Brock. "Giovanni says that he doesn't want them planning an escape, so if we separate them, they won't know where the other is," Matt replied. "Okay then. I'm on it." "Alright, over and out," and the intercom all of a sudden went dead. Ash instinctively looked over at Misty and motioned her over to him. "Come on." He unlocked her cell and tied up her hands. "Is that really necessary?" she asked. "Regulation procedure," he replied, "Come on. Let's go." With that said, they headed out of the door, but not before Misty gave Brock a small, but confident smile. The pair walked along the corridor in complete silence as the soft beating of the rain dropped along the metal exterior of the building. All of a sudden, Misty stopped in her tracks. "So, why are you doing this Ash?" she asked suddenly, turning to face him. The question was unexpected and although it didn't seem to be the right time, he smiled at her thoughtfully. "Doing what?" "You know what I mean," she replied, giving him a light smile. "Why do you think people do things they aren't supposed to?" he asked, releasing his grip on her. "My heart's telling me that something's not right here, that there's more that I just don't know about," he hesitated for a while, looking deep into the core of her eyes, and then continued, "Do you believe what your heart says?" "My heart tells me a lot of things…some of them I wish I could believe," she said as she took a step forward, "Some of them just seem so out of reach." Ash nodded slowly and then looked towards the ground. Never in his entire life had he considered listening to his heart. It had been something that he had ignored for the past twenty-four years of his life and now, after all this time, it felt like he was finally starting to listen. But why had it taken him this long to realize it? "Out of reach…" he repeated as he looked up once more. He took one step forward and breathed in deeply. He was standing directly in front of her. No more than six inches away stood the girl that he used to play with back in Pallet, there stood the girl that was causing him to feel this way…the one that would be executed in a few days time. But he just couldn't let that happen. A small voice inside of him was telling him not to listen to what Giovanni was saying, but he was like a father to him. How could he ever disobey him? "Ash?" Misty whispered softly, "What are you thinking?" Ash slowly leaned in towards Misty. 'Keep going, keep going,' the voice urged, 'You can do it.' As if on cue, Misty also began to lean in. Both of them, not caring where they were, were entranced by the other's eyes. Slowly but surely they continued to lean in, until… "Hey Ash!" yelled a voice from behind. Startled, both teens whipped their heads around to see who the voice belonged to. Matt came running along the corridor, waving his hand in the air. "Where are you going?" he panted, stopping for a moment to catch his breath. "He wants her down in the dungeon." "The dungeon? But that's where--" "I know. That's where we keep the deranged pokemon," Matt explained nonchalantly, "But he said that it's for the best," he shrugged. "The best, huh?" Ash repeated as he looked towards Misty, "The best isn't good enough Matt." "Huh? What are you talking about? Who cares what happens to her?" Matt asked, obviously clueless as to what his partner was saying. "I can't believe you. You don't even care," whispered Ash. "Of course I don't. It's not my problem," he explained, "Besides, just think about it. The money, remember? That's what you've been aiming for all along. Don't give up all that money now, not after all of your hard work. This gym leader's worth thousands. Remember how much a gym makes a year? That's more than what we can hope to afford in five years. Come on Ash, don't throw all that away." Ash just stared at his partner and shook his head in disgust. Holding Misty firmly by the shoulders, he proceeded to walk away, back to his office. "Hey! Where are you going? The dungeon's this way!" yelled Matt as he pointed in the opposite direction. Finally realizing that Ash was not coming back, he lowered his arm in defeat. "Ash, what's happening to you?" After several more minutes of complete silence, they finally reached Ash's office at the end of the corridor. After firmly shutting and locking the door, he turned to Misty. "I'm not taking you to that dungeon," he said softly. "Thanks for the pity!" Misty spat out. "Huh? What are you talking about?" Ash asked, making no sense as to what she was trying to say. Misty broke down on her knees and began to cry softly, her tears matching the rhythmic beating of the rain outside. "All those gym leaders…all those innocent lives…gone…just for money?" Misty sobbed, lifting her tear stained face to look up at Ash. Ash knelt down to her level and just stared. 'She's right,' he thought, 'What's the point? Are lives really worth losing just for the sake of money?' "Misty…I-I'm sorry. I didn't realize--" "Exactly! You didn't realize Ash! That's exactly what you didn't do," Misty argued, shaking her head in frustration, "I just don't get it…" "Misty please…" Ash reached out to lightly touch her shoulder, but Misty pulled back forcefully before he could make contact. The tension in the room was worsening by the minute. Every second seemed to tick by as if it were the equivalent to an hour. The only things that could be heard were the tapping of the rain outside and the drops of Misty's tears on the solid, steel floor. "What's the point?" Ash muttered out. Misty lifted up her face slowly and looked at him uncertainly. Maybe he was finally starting to understand… "I've been doing this…for so long that I've almost forgotten how to live, how to control myself…how to listen to my own heart. I thought I knew where I was going in life, but now I'm not so sure. I thought I had everything figured out, and then you came along and changed all that. I don't know what to think anymore," he paused for a moment, and then continued, "I don't know who to trust…" "It seems to me that you've put all your trust in Giovanni, in this whole organization," Misty stated. "This team is like a family to me…and Giovanni is like the father I never had. You should know the feeling, you're just like me. You've lost family too," Ash said as he slowly approached her. "Brock has acted just like a brother to me, and to lose him…it would be like having no family at all. He's the only one I have left. My mother, my father, my sisters…everyone is gone. I've never had a significant other or any good friends besides the gym leaders," Misty let a few tears fall at the remembrance of her fallen comrades, and then continued, "And now…even they're gone." Ash just stared into her eyes, not being able to find the right words to fill the void that was forming. This girl had lost everything, just as he had. She was going through the same things he had gone through, and yet, he could not find the right words to console her. Why did things like this always have to happen to him? Why couldn't this have happened to someone else? Why was he always the one to be tested? All these questions and more seemed to bombard Ash's mind. It was so overwhelming that he had to take a seat and mentally relax himself. 'Why? Why? Why?!' Ash mentally screamed at himself. After several minutes of silence, Ash finally spoke up. "I'm sorry this is happening, but…," he paused for a moment before continuing, "I just don't know how to stop this. I'm so confused. There are so many mixed feelings, but I can't decipher any of them." Misty looked up at him sympathetically, and for the first time she saw a completely different person. She knew there was more to him than meets the eye. She saw a mixture of emotions…fear, anger, confusion, and…love. What was that last one? Love? A person of his stature would surely be denied of that, but then what was that look on his face. How could a person, an elite of Team Rocket Headquarters, ever be filled with the kind of love that brought two people's hearts together? Maybe she was mistaken, but then again…he had shown that he had some sincerity in his heart. All that needed to be done was to have the rest of his feelings, these pent up emotions, released, and then maybe, just maybe they would stand a chance. "I'm gonna help you," whispered Ash. Misty looked up at him and gave him a heartwarming smile. She stood up and reached out her hand to gently touch his cheek as a single tear made its way down Ash's face. "And I'm going to help you." A/N: Finally done with that chapter! Oh my gosh…I didn't think I would ever get that one done. Anyways, review away! And sorry for the long wait guys!