Sorry for my tardiness in getting this chapter out. Things kept popping up, not to mention Pokemon X & Y came out. So I'll be taking quite a bit of time out for that. Please, continue to be patient. Thank-you.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or its characters, just the story and any OC's.
CHAPTER TWO
Aaron Beaumontt, 28-years-old with attractive, dark green eyes and well-kept, stylish green hair. He's the sole heir to the Beaumontt family fortune and future leader of the family business. He's a strategic genius and skilled ladies gentleman, a former member of the Sinnoh Elite Four and a Bug-type trainer/enthusiast… and our former boss.
"Glad to see you girls are doing well, and it seems you've matured quite well over the past two years." He picks up his glass of white champagne, swirls the drink around before lifting it to his lips and taking a sip.
"Cut the chatter Aaron. Why did you invite us here?" asks Misty; a pleasant and formal smile plastered on her face, but I can tell that she's just about ready to jump and shake him silly for information.
He peers at Misty over the top of his wine glass. "I see that you'd like to get straight to the point."
"We all do." I say. I'm in no mood to deal with Aaron's 'round-the-bush' attitude.
He puts his glass down. "Very well. Though may I suggest we eat something first. We might as well enjoy a fine meal while we're here."
I leer at him for a moment before settling a polite smile on my face and nod my head. "Fine." I pick up my menu. He invited us here and I hear this place has excellent dishes. Might as well take advantage of the situation. From the corner of my eye I can see Aaron smiling at me. He remembers my love of food. Damn him.
"You girl can order anything you like. It's my treat." Generous… but that's nothing new. He's all ways been this way.
He lifts up a hand and waves down a waiter; the waiter from earlier approaches. "What will you and the young ladies like to order this evening sir?"
"I'll have the 'Chinese roast pork with orange sauce', and then the 'White chocolate and passion fruit cheesecake' for dessert." Orders Aaron as the waiter professionally takes down his order before turning his attention to us.
"I'll have the 'Lamb steak with pecorino mash and artichokes'. Then, for dessert, I'll have the 'Pineapple and line millefeuille'." Dawn smiles at the waiter as he takes her order.
"I'd like the 'Fish with asparagus risotto and thyme mascarpone'. Then the 'Torrijas with honey cream' for dessert." Misty smiles and thanks the waiter.
"I'd like to order the 'Tomato-feta tarts with lemon and oregano, and Lamb fillets with zucchini fritters and tahini sauce'. As for dessert, I'd like the 'Strawberry vanilla ice-cream terrine'." I smile and thank the waiter as he takes my order.
The waiter bows and assures us that our meals will be along shortly. Once he's gone, we turn our attention back to Aaron.
Aaron sighs and, "Alright. I've invited you here because I wish to discuss reinstating the three of you back into the agency."
"Why?" I ask. I thought we made it clear that we'd never come back; we made it extra clear the day we left.
"Look, I know I promised you three that it was over. That you were free to leave and live the life you wished. But there's been a development and there's no one else I can think of to take lead."
"Take lead on what?" asks Misty, her eyes narrowing; Aaron's got less than 5 minutes to make this worth listening to before Misty starts using force.
But before Aaron can answer, the waiter returns with our meals. So as not to spoil our meal, we eat in a not-so-comfortable silence. My mind is racing with cluttered thoughts. What sort of situation has arisen that would require us to take lead? It has to be fairly serious if he's trying to bring us back in. Not to toot my own horn, but Misty, Dawn and I were some of the very best the agency had. In fact, we were the best. Second only to Aaron and Burgh, who are the ones in charge.
While I enjoyed my tomato-feta tarts, I eyed Aaron closely. His face gave no signs or tells, which is expected of a senior agent, especially the senior Head Agent.
"Scorpio."
I drop my fork. My posture instantly goes rigid and I spring to attention, my eyes wide as I stare at Aaron who doesn't look disturbed in the slightest. In the corner of my eyes I see Dawn pause with her fork halfway to her mouth, her eyes going completely bug-eyed. As for Misty, she's mirroring my expression; her fork drops to the floor and her eyes are almost like saucers.
"What?"
Aaron puts down his fork and uses his napkin to wipe away the invisible sauce from his lips. He looks up at the three of us with apologetic, but calm, eyes. "Three nights ago, Alexander Scorpio broke out of prison."
"You… You can't be serious." Misty says, hastily leaning down to pick up her fork and carelessly dropping it on her napkin.
"I'm afraid I am. He's out and I need your help to catch him. Aside from Burgh and I, there's no one else who knows the case better than you three. After all, you three took lead on the original case."
He's right. As much as I hated to admit it, Aaron is right.
Alexander Scorpio (though he referred to himself as the 'Magister' (The Master)) was the leader of Team Desolation – an organization bent on taking control of the five most prominent families in the country.
The Butterfly Court is tasked with the absolute safety of the countries five most prominent families. Dawn, Misty and I were once the Court's best agents. We took on some of the worst criminals to have ever targeted the families. But Alexander… Scorpio… He was unlike any other enemy we'd faced before.
When we first took on his case, we had just turned 15-years-old; it took us a whole year to catch him, we caught him a week or so before our 16th birthday.
During our investigation, we learnt that he once held the title of Pokemon Champion – he'd won the Hoenn League and Unova League years before. He was unpredictable and sadistic. In our pursuit of him, we witnessed first hand his cruel ambition to have control of the five families and their fortunes.
Before accepting the case, he'd made numerous assassination attempts on two of the families - killing bodyguards and innocent house workers in his pursuit of the family heirs. We foiled his following attempts. Then we discovered he had a team and together they were working to accomplish his goals. Then there were his actions against pokémon. He killed humans and worked/abused pokemon to the point where they were half dead. I remember the day we confronted him in full battle, we were tingling with eager anticipation at the thought of finally bringing down this madman.
We'd found Team Desolation's HQ and staged an attack. Aaron and the other members of the Court handled the grunts and his commanders, but it was Dawn, Misty and I who took on Scorpio head on. He wiped the floor with us. Dawn and Misty were badly beaten and I was the last one left standing. It took all I had left to take him down. And if it hadn't been for Misty and Dawn weakening some of his pokemon first, I wouldn't have won. I remember the way my heart raced as I struggled to remaining standing and continue the battle. I also recall the intense aura radiating off Blaziken, refusing to bow down to Scorpio's pokémon.
Scorpio held no regards as to who got hurt during our fight, even his own pokémon. The look in his eyes, on that day, was one of lust. Lust for power, for battle and for pain.
That's why it was such a relief when we received news that he was given a life sentence, with the death penalty looming over his head. Not long after that case, the three of us retired. After something like that, all we wanted to do was forget, move on and live a normal life. We decided that we'd dealt with enough.
"How?" I ask Aaron. My meal is completely spoiled. I don't think I can eat another bite.
"We're still looking into it. But… we suspect that he had help from an inmate." The look in Aaron's eyes… he's keeping something back. The way he said inmate…
"Aaron, who helped him?" I ask.
Aaron glances around at the three of us. He's hesitant. He doesn't want to tell us, that much is clear. They way he hesitates… it's as if… whoever helped Scorpio is worse than Scorpio. Who's worse than a sadistic, power-hungry, battle-craving, intelligent madman?
"Aaron, who helped Scorpio?" Misty repeats my question.
Aaron glances at me. "Fallon."
My heartbeat stops. No. No, no, no, no…
"Fallon."
Shit! I watch as May's face pales considerably. I look to Dawn and she looks just as sick as May. I can only imagine what's going through their minds right now.
When Aaron says Fallon, I instantly know he means Sebastian Fallon. He was one of the few criminals, aside from Scorpio, that we considered to be the worst of the worst. Though I could not speak from experience, just from what I heard and witnessed.
Sebastian worked as a Valet at LaRousse Hotel, a hotel with it's own private restaurant that was often frequented by the five families and numerous other wealthy patrons. Sebastian preyed upon female patrons around his age, and when he targeted the daughter of the Callaway family, we were called in to work with the police.
Sebastian's ruse was to charm his intended victim, lure them out to meet with him later and then kidnap them while they're in route. He changed the location with every victim, so we had to trick him in order to catch him.
We sent in Dawn and May undercover as waitresses. I was assigned as a receptionist. The plan was for either May or Dawn to become Sebastian's victim, then they'd text us the location he'd given them so we could set up points ahead of time. Together the team would come in and arrest him.
But the plan had gone a little awry. Sebastian somehow caught on to our plan and changed his tactics; he grabbed May and Dawn just as they were leaving the hotel, which threw us off his trail for a bit. In the short time of distraction… Sebastian… What he did to them… By the time we located him and found May and Dawn… They were so battered and bruised… Occasionally I had nightmares about it… I still do, even now… I felt so guilty for weeks… Guilty that I hadn't been there to help them… Save them…They said it wasn't my fault and that I shouldn't feel guilty… But… the images…I don't even want to imagine the nightmares Dawn and May have…
Then I remember something. "Hang on. Fallon was put in Lilycove Prison and Scorpio in Monsu Island Prison." I state.
Aaron sighs. "He was. Due to an over-sight, Fallon was transferred to Monsu Island Prison. Two weeks prior to Scorpio's escape, Lilycove Prison began renovations. They had to temporarily transfer some of the inmates. Handfuls of inmates were transferred to other prisons; Fallon was sent to Monsu Island."
Shit!
"But why would Fallon help Scorpio? Sure they're both criminals, but they have completely different goals!" Dawn snaps out of it and raises her voice. This burst snaps May out of it, but not completely. Just by looking at her face I can just tell she's still remembering her nightmare.
Aaron tries to shush Dawn. "We aren't sure why Fallon helped Scorpio. Only thing we're sure of is that they're both out and working together."
This is too much. Scorpio and Fallon. There's no way… I look to May and I watch her as her brow furrows. I can see hesitation in her eyes, mixed with sickness and fear. But despite all that, her posture and aura tells me that she's angry and when I say angry, I mean 'a bull seeing red' angry.
"So you want to reinstate us in order to catch them." May states. She doesn't question. It's clear that this is what Aaron wants of the three of us.
Question is… what will we do?
Misty kills the ignition. Dawn climbs out of the car first with Misty right behind her. They slowly make their way inside, tired and mentally exhausted. I'm right behind them, but I move at a much slower pace.
We left the restaurant without finishing our meals or waiting for dessert; not that any of us could actually stomach any sort of food right now. Scorpio… and Fallon… both of them are out now. I just can't believe it. After all the work, the girls and I put in into placing them behind bars… I don't know whether I should be angry or scared. Right now, I feel both; I'm both and angry and scared that they're out there and working together.
Dawn and Misty make they're way upstairs; I turn and head for the kitchen instead. I'm not hungry. But I really could use a drink right now. It's not a smart move, but I still could use one.
I flick on the kitchen light and head straight towards the cupboards that house the wine flutes. I pick up a flute and take it over with me toward the wine rack cupboard, near the back corner of the kitchen. Hopefully, Drew won't notice one bottle missing. Though right now, I don't really care if he does. Perhaps some light teasing and flirting can lift my mood.
I pick a bottle of Merlot wine and together with the wine flute, I bring them over to the kitchen island and hop up to sit with the bottle and flute next to me. I lean over and open the drawer that holds the wine bottle opener. I pop the cork and pour myself a bit.
I place the bottle back down next to me and take a sip. Mmm… Nice… It's been a while since I last drank. The cool richness of the grape soothed my nerves and calmed my senses.
"Drinking alone Maple?"
I don't even have to look up to know who it is. "Yes, though if you joined me I won't be."
I hear Drew chuckle. He comes to stand in front of me, boxing my legs in as he places his hands on the island table top, on either side of my knees. He looks up at me, smirking and shooting me bedroom eyes. I swear if I didn't know him as well as I did, I'd be fawning over him like one of his lovesick fangirls right now.
"You do know I'll be docking your pay for stealing my wine." Drew states, his smirk deepening.
I take another sip and then swish the wine around in the lute. "Does it count as stealing if you drink it with me?" I give him a look.
The smirk on Drew's face fades as he eyes me closely. "May…" He whispers my name. "Why are you drinking?" The soft tone in his voice sends involuntary shivers up and down my spine. I hate it.
"No reason. Why? Is it crime?" My voice is dead and droopy.
Drew's brow creases. He reaches up and gently takes the flute away from me. Sets it down and pushes it and the wine bottle away. "May… Why are you drinking? And more importantly, why are you dressed like that? You're a bit over dressed for a dinner at Persian Noodles."
I look straight into his eyes and I can't help but want to reach out and caress his face, but I restrain myself. It's the wine talking. Misty always says I can never hold my drink, even if it's just two or three sips. "Do I get more of my pay docked for lying?"
Drew quirks a brow, a hint of a smirk tugging at his lips. "Depends. What did you lie about?"
"Where the girls and I went."
"Where did you go?" Drew's eyes bore into mine.
I lie. "Tower Palace." Tower Palace is an expensive restaurant located near the Battle Tower. It's not as expensive or as exclusive as the Elegant Rose but it will help explain my attire.
"Why would you lie?"
Is it me, or does he look irked? Is he mad? Why would he be mad? It was a little lie, nothing to be mad about. I don't reply. Instead I look down and let my hair shadow my face.
Drew steps closer to me and lifts my head up. His eyes are now level with my mine; normally my eyes would meet his neck.
"May… Why did you lie?" He repeats his question. His eyes search mine - wondering what is up with me.
I sigh and turn away, reaching for the wine. But Drew grabs my hand. I whine and make a mumble complaint about him not letting me drink.
"May, tell me why you lied."
"Why? What do you care?" Not sure if it's the wine or the proximity to Drew, but I can feel my cheeks heating up.
Drew doesn't answer, but instead just looks at me with a serious face. I miss his cocky, charming, bedroom eyed, smirking expression. Give me that back, stupid Drew. We remain here, staring at one another, waiting for either one of us to say something. Eventually…
"I lied because I don't think it's necessary for you to know where I am every time of the day. I lied about where the girls and I went because we were meeting up with an old friend. I lied because he is an important old friend who invited us out to a nice restaurant. I lied because it's my life and I can lie if I want to." I huff out the last part as I shake off his grip.
Drew's frown deepens a fraction, but I still notice it. My cheeks a red, I'm sure they are. But despite my flustered state, I continue…
"There! Are you happy now Drew? That's why I lied. Okay? Now will you let me have my drink back?" I lift my arm as a means to shove him away and then grab my drink, but Drew grabs my wrist again and pulls me off the counter. He then grabs my arms and pins me against it, the edge of the counter digging into my back.
"Hey! Wha…" The serious and angry expression on Drew's face stops me.
"No May. I'm not happy. You lied to me," Drew's breath is hot against my face, "but I can deal with that. However, the attitude your displaying is something I'm not going to put up with." He loosens his hold and back ups a little. The pressure of the counter edge against my back lessens. Drew moves his hands from my arms and places them on the island counter. Boxing me in against the island, but giving me sufficient space.
"May. What is up with you? You normally don't drink and earlier, when I first walked in and boxed you, you would've pushed me away instantly."
I look at Drew. He's right. Normally I'd have avoided his advances or pushed him away. This isn't like me. But… Damn! It's the wine mixed with this evenings events. It's messing up my brain and my thought processes.
Before we left, Aaron said that we didn't have to agree and that he'd give us till tomorrow afternoon to decide. He told us to call him once the three of us came to a unanimous decision. He said that the agency wants all three of us or none of us. But after what he told us… Who's now out there? …Knowing people will get hurt and/or killed… That we can do something and prevent a tragedy… Can we really say no?
"May…" Drew's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. He's frowning at me.
"Sorry," I slump against the island counter, "I'm sorry. You're right. I'm not feeling… I'm not myself right now. It was the dinner. It… Let's just say that it didn't go pleasantly. I'm sorry I brought my bad mood home with me."
I bow my head as I attempt to slump down further, but Drew's hand grasps my chin and lifts my head. He's no longer serious, instead he's worried and… relieved.
"May. Go to bed. Get some rest." He pulls me to a proper standing position and gently pushes me towards the door. I nod and mumble a thank-you. Then, as if on autopilot, I walk towards the door.
"Oh, and May…" I half turn and glance over my shoulder at Drew. "I'm still docking your pay for drinking my wine." He smirks.
I groan and walk away.
"I've told you before you can't hold your drink." Misty scolds me as I groan from the sound of the school bell affecting my headache. I should've packed some aspirin and bought a water bottle.
"Misty. Please…"
"Aww. Poor May." Dawn giggles as she pats me on the head like a puppy.
It's recess; the girls and I are heading towards the bleachers so we can sit up the very back and relax in the shade. My head is killing me. Who knew a few sips of wine could give me such a big, sick headache. Damn you wine.
"Dawn." I whine.
"Sorry, sorry. Look, just sit down and relax. I'll get you some water. You just need to drink lots of water." Dawn says as she breaks away to go find some water.
Misty and I continue for the bleachers. Fortunately, Alexis isn't at school today (so no Drew report) and the bleachers are currently bare. Something I am very thankful for right now.
Misty and I sit at the very top seats. I turn and lie down, taking over four seats, and rest my head on Misty's lap. I groan and raise my arm up to cover my eyes.
"May, why were you drinking?" Misty asks.
"Aaron." I mumble-groan.
"Ahhh," Misty says knowingly, "Have you come to a decision yet? Or is your headache still affecting your thought processes?"
I purposefully ignore her question. Instead I say, "I hate wine."
Misty chuckles. "Then why did you drink wine last night?"
"I needed a drink. I needed something to take the edge off. I just didn't expect it have such a crappy after affect," I groan.
"Well, you are a lousy drinker. Two sips of wine and you're already feeling woozy."
"I know."
"Then, I'll ask again, why did you drink?"
I half sigh and half groan as I move my arm to stare up at Misty, who's smiling down at me; there's a miniature-teasing glint in her eyes.
"Two years Misty. It's been two years since we left. We vowed that we were done with that chapter of our lives," I sigh as my sight moves from Misty to stare at the metal covers above, "being an agent had its perks: we had fun, we went on adventures, and we did so knowing that we were doing good. That we were saving lives. It was our job to ensure the safety of the Families. And we were the best at what we did. Our track record was spotless; we never filed a single mission. But…" I sit up and turn, so that I'm sitting properly in the seat. I stare out onto the school field. "After that last case with Scorpio… I don't know… Something changed."
"I know. I was there, remember," Misty says, a smile in her voice, "battling Scorpio… That has to have been the toughest battle we have ever been in. But, you managed to take him down in the end."
"We. We managed to take him down. I couldn't have done on my own. It took all three of us."
"But you delivered the final blow. In the very end, you brought him down."
I turn away from the school field to stare at Misty, dead on. "And now he's back."
"Who's back?"
Misty and I whip our heads around. Standing behind us is Ash and Dawn; Dawn is carrying two water bottles. Dawn is shooting us apologetic eyes while Ash has his brow quirked, wondering what we're talking about. I quickly glance behind them to check if Drew and Paul are with them, fortunately, they're not.
I quickly flash Ash a trained, happy smile and lie. "Hi Ash. Just an old friend of ours; the one I told you about the other day, the one we went to have dinner with."
"Oh… Ok!" Ash smiles brightly, "Hi May, Hi Misty. Do you girls mind if I hang out with you? Dawn said I could, but I want to make sure you two are ok with it."
I smile. Ash is such a sweetheart; I still can't fathom how he's friends with Drew and Paul. "Sure, it's fine Ash. Right Misty?" I turn to look at Misty. Misty smiles and nods her head.
Ash's smile brightens as he occupies the seat next to me, and Dawn occupies the seat next to him. She hands me a water bottle and I smile gratefully. I unscrew the lid and take a gulp of refreshing and life saving water. I continue gulping down more water, till the bottle is two-thirds empty.
"Whoa, May, take it easy with the water." Ash smiles with a concerned tone.
"She has a tiny hangover." Misty explains.
"Ahhh." Ash nods his head knowingly, "I didn't know you drink."
"She normally doesn't." Dawn puts in.
"So why did she?" Ash asks.
"Let's just say she had a stressful night, last night and needed the relief." Dawn says as she smiles, handing me the second water bottle.
"Ok, how much did she drink?" Ash looks back and forth between Misty and Dawn.
"I'm right here you know," I say as I finish off the first bottle and unscrew the lid of second one, "and I only had a few sips of Merlot wine."
"And you have a hangover?"
"A tiny one, ok." I groan as I start gulping down the second bottle of water.
"She can't hold her drinks." Misty butts in, I leer at her and she just smiles innocently back at me.
"So Ash, where are Grasshead and Grouchy-face?" I ask after draining half the water bottle.
Ash looks at me, brow quirked.
"I mean Drew and Paul."
"Oh…" Ash looks lost for a second before a smile spreads across his face, "I get it. Grasshead cause Drew has green hair and Grouchy-face cause Paul rarely smiles…right?"
I nod my head, Misty hums approval, and Dawn says 'yep'.
"Drew is talking with his English Literature teacher about his latest assignment project, and Paul is meeting with the Senior Boys Basketball team. They've got a game in two weeks."
"Leaving you on your own." I state smiling.
Ash flashes a mock sad puppy face, "Yeah. Drew and Paul are mean."
"Aww." Dawn and I laugh as we hug Ash, Misty is laughing in the background.
"Don't worry Ash, you can hang with us anytime you like. We aren't mean like Grasshead and Grouchy-face." Dawn smiles.
"Really?"
"Sure. Friends hang out with friends." Misty says.
"We're friends?" Ash puts on a sad puppy face.
"Of course we are." I smile as I ruffle his messy black hair. The girls and I have known Ash for as long as we've known Drew. Though we never really got much time to connect and hangout, Ash is a really good friend. He's just so… likeable and friendly.
"Hey, do you mind if I use those nicknames too? Grasshead and Grouchy-face?" Ash asks us.
"Sure. Go ahead," Dawn says eagerly, "especially Grouchy-face. Definitely Grouchy-face."
Ash laughs. "Sure. But, you know… Paul and Drew aren't as bad as you think. I mean, I'm friends with them and I even consider them my best friends."
"Perhaps. But, you know them better than we do." I say while looking pointedly at Ash, "As far as they've shown us… Drew's a charmer with an master-know-it-all attitude, while Paul is an antisocial human being who looks down on others."
"Also, have you forgotten, we work for Drew as his housemaids. We know parts of life that we wish we didn't." Misty points out while making a face. I guess she's probably thinking about the time she accidentally walked in on Drew wrapping a towel around his waist, after he'd just stepped out of the shower. I remember her bursting into my room, red faced, mumbling profanities and muttering about having horrid nightmares. I snicker at the memory. Misty hears me and nudges me in my ribs with her elbow.
Ash just looks at us weird. "But, since you live with Drew, you should know him really well, right?"
"True. But our relationship with Drew is prohibited to master and servant, if we have sort of relationship with him at all, it's as mutual acquaintances." Dawn puts in.
"Why? Just because you work for him doesn't mean you can't be friends with him. Or is there a rule about forming relationships with your employer? Drew never really explained it." Ash asks, confused, "And what about Paul? Sure Paul's a little cold, but if you got to know him, he's actually pretty cool."
"Cool as in cold? We're already aware he's cold, cold and anti-social." Dawn says.
"Yeah, but…"
"Ash, I think you need to stop trying to convince us to be friends with Drew and Paul." Misty reaches behind me to pat Ash on the shoulder, "Especially May and Dawn."
"Why? Drew and Paul are great." Ash says.
I stand up, turn to face Ash and look him straight in the eye. "Ash. Drew and Paul are your friends and if you think they're great, then that's great. But as far as the three of us are concerned, we have no interest in how great you think they are and how good friends they are. We don't want to be friends with either Drew or Paul. Okay?"
Ash looks down, looking a little put down and sad, and nods his head. "Yeah. Ok. I understand."
I lean down and place a supportive and comforting hand on his shoulder (the one Misty isn't touching of course), this makes Ash look back up at me. I smile, a genuine smile. "Ash. You can't make someone be friends with someone else if they don't want to. That's a choice only the individual person can make. But it's sweet that you think so highly of your friends. Drew and Paul are lucky to have you as a friend."
Ash smiles, a small smile, but a smile nonetheless.
"And so are we." Misty smiles at him.
Ash smiles at Misty, and then he turns to look at Dawn who's nodding her head and flashing him a glowing smile.
"Well, even if you're reluctant to be friends with Drew and Paul," Ash says, "I'm honored you're friends with me." All our smiles brighten as the girls and I say 'Aww' and hug him, laughing with happiness. Ash hugs us back and we all laugh together.
We spend the remainder of recess laughing and joking, telling stories about embarrassing moments and fun times, and in the process we learnt more about each other.
It hasn't changed one bit in the last two years; still the same old grey stone building with little, tinted windows. I remember when the girls and I first walked out its doors and never looked back.
The Court HQ is a regular looking office building built at the far end of the city, blending in with the dozens of business buildings around it. But what the occupants of the surrounding buildings are unaware of is that there's a series of underground passages and rooms that is the real HQ.
Rather than call Aaron, Misty, Dawn and I decided to go to HQ directly and give him our answer face to face.
I've given it some real thought, once my headache cleared up, and talked it over with Dawn and Misty. They've been giving it some real hard thought too. After some small arguments, we finally came to a unanimous decision.
"Ready?" I ask Dawn and Misty.
"Ready." Dawn nods her head.
"Ready." Misty nods her head.
Together we march up to the doors. I reach into my pocket and pull out my old ID Key card. I spent most of the afternoon, before coming here, digging around my room. The day we left, I recall tossing my ID Key card into one of my old novels and just forgot about it. It was one of my least favourite novels, but I never throw out any books, whether I like them or not. It's a simple, rectangular, white metal card with our agent ID number, our code name and our picture when we're in our uniform and mask.
I swipe my card in the slot and the door automatically opens. A gush of cool air greets us as we step in. The girl at the receptionist desk looks up and her expression becomes one of surprise.
"May! Misty! Dawn!" Solana jumps up from her chair and runs to greet us, her trusty Furret trailing behind her, calling its name in happiness. Solana hugs me while Furret jumps into Misty's arms.
"Hello Furret." Misty pets Furret on her head. Furret purrs out its name.
"Hey Solana." I smile at Solana. She smiles back at me before turning to hug Dawn, and then Misty.
"Hey Sol." Says Misty.
"Good to see you, Solana." Says Dawn.
"Furret!" Furret jumps from Misty's shoulder to mine and cuddles up against my cheek.
"Hello Furret." I cuddle back. Dawn walks up to us and pets Furret's head. "Hey Furret, we're happy to see you too." Furret cheers its name.
"What are you girls doing here?" Solana asks as she steps back; Furret jumps off my shoulder and lands on hers. Solana Esperanza is a junior agent of the Court, even if she is older than us by a full year. She's got peach pink eyes and short black hair with pink highlights.
"We're here to talk to Aaron. Is he in his office?" I ask. Solana's smile falters a little. She knows.
"Yes. You can take the elevator straight up." Solana bows and holds out her arm, directing to the metal doors of the elevator behind her.
"Thanks Solana. It's great to see you again." I say as the girls and I bow back before walking off towards the doors.
I swipe my ID Key card in the slot once again and the elevator doors open. We step in.
Aaron is seated at his glossy, rich oak desk, typing away at his keyboard with his Vespiquen hovering close by. She's the first to notice us and her cry catches Aaron's attention, he stops and looks up at us. First a look of surprise passes across his face, and then a happy smile forms.
"Girls, this is a surprise. I was expecting a call, not a personal visit." He stands up from his desk and motions for us to take a seat in the plush green chairs in front of his desk.
"We thought it'd be best to deliver our answer personally, considering the problem." I say as I sit in the chair directly in front of his desk. Misty sits to my right and Dawn sits to my left.
"So, you've all come to a unanimous decision?" Aaron sits back down and leans forward, resting his elbows on the desk and his chin on his clasped hands.
"Yes." Says Dawn, "We talked it over and we've come to a unanimous decision."
"Which is?" Aaron asks as he quirks a brow.
I look to Misty, who nods, and then to Dawn, who also nods.
I look back to Aaron. I take a breath…
"We're in."
And there you have it. I hope that I haven't disappointed anyone by making them wait too long.
I'm buried under a mountain of work and stories right now. Plus, the new Pokemon X and Y games. (I got Pokemon X! So happy!) So just to forewarn you, the next chapter may not come out for a while.
- LadySilentEagle