I stared at the large speaker of the forth floor of the Radio Tower in disbelief as Archer gave out an announcement; it was all over. All of our hard work during these last three years, all of the plans and dreams for the future, everything we've ever wanted… It was all because of her.

I remembered the first time we'd crossed paths with her. It was in that gloomy, Slowpoke infested well near Azalea Town where she first came across our existence. She'd hated us since then and sworn she wouldn't let us get away with our doings.

At first I'd found her mildly amusing for threatening such an organization as ourselves but I was soon irritated by her constant presence no matter where we went. It was if she was everywhere; the well, Mahogany Town and now here. No one was able to subdue her as her battled her way up the large tower, eventually forcing the executives to fight her as well.

I'd faced her only once before in the well and was dumbfounded by her progress. It'd been a while since anyone had beaten me - heck no one had even had the courage or sense to challenge me – and here she'd won without much trouble.

I was too shocked to even care she snuck into the next floor, and just fell onto my knees upon hearing Petrel's bewildered laughter quiet down, which could only mean he'd lost. None of the grunts stationed in the building could've possibly known how serious this whole incident was.

Now, my worst fears had come true; it was over.

Archer spoke in his usual calm tone but he couldn't hide his bitterness as he told Team Rocket was no more, leaving everyone on their own after his brief last words. There was a moment of complete silence before the various grunts on each floor understood the situation and made their escape. I noticed how none of the grunts stationed on my floor felt the need to check upon their former executive, not even glancing back as they ran for the doors and windows.

I didn't blame them for it'd been something I myself would've done, if in their position that is. It was a while before the people further up came running down and shot right past me, them being Ariana and Archer, who was being pulled vigorously by the only female executive. Archer's usual confident and proud attitude was replaced with such bitterness and sorrow that he almost resembled me. The only difference between us two was the fact that he had Ariana to rely on during times like these where as I had no one.

I stared at them as they disappeared into the stairs, only to be followed by an apathetic Petrel, who had finally managed to make it down a floor. We shared a glance before he slumped away and I knew he didn't care what happened to him anymore.

Nor did I for that matter. I had nothing now that Team Rocket was no more; no job, no home, no dreams… I felt somewhat hollow inside, the organization had been part of my life for so long it was stupid to think it hadn't made an impact on it.

I'd lost track of time how long I'd lain on the floor since my defeat and wasn't surprised when I finally heard the soft footsteps that echoed from the staircase. There was no need for me to turn to face the person for I knew who it was. I just remained slumped on my knees and wondered why I hadn't tried to escape with the others.

It didn't take her long to reach the end of the stairs and I could hear her gasp upon seeing my pathetic figure. There was a moment of silence before she dared to take walk again, and continued towards me. I could hear her tensed breathing as she got closer by the second. I let my head hang low and waited for her to scold me again but it never came.

In stead of harsh words, I felt pressure on my head and her calm breathing. Within a fraction of a second I'd gripped one of her arms and pulled it forcefully onto the floor. She gasped in surprise but didn't try to pull away, continuing to stare at me. The pressure on my head wasn't gone and I raised my other hand on it to see what she'd done. I gasped in shock; it was my hat.

All I could do was stare at her and slowly loosen my grip on her hand as she began to pull away. My eyes followed her as she stood up, looking like she was debating what to do. After a moment she finally extended her hand to me and smiled sweetly as I stared at her in disbelief.

What on earth was she doing offering her hand to such a person as myself? It was as if nothing had happened during these last weeks and that it was natural to help strangers. I stared at her not understanding her logic or sense of sanity one bit; wasn't it obvious I was the hungry wolf just waiting to trick some naïve lamb into helping him?

She seemed to see right through me with those big hazel eyes of hers and I wondered how anyone, especially her, could look at me with such loving and trusting eyes.

A thought struck me then. Maybe I hadn't lost everything, at least just yet. It seemed as if by just one look she could awaken something inside me I thought I'd lost a long time ago.

Hope.

This was just something I wrote while listening to a great song. I love the executives and I feel they need more love. That's way I'm dedicating this story to all you Team Rocket lovers out there, let's hope we'll be able to read more fics about them in the coming year :)

I'd be really grateful for reviews, I'm sorry to say I didn't have this beta read so there'll probably be grammar mistakes and such. I just hope you liked it and kept along with the story :) I'm about to post my first longer fic called Oceanborn in a few weeks so until then you'll have to stick with this.

Thanks for reading, see you next time!

~ Artenight