A/N Sorry it took so long to upsate. I wanted to make this one longer and I had to keep reminding myself to add contestshipping. Lol. This one took a bit longer. Sorry. I really hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Oh! And please review when you're through with this chapter. I put a lot into this and it makes it worth it.

Misty was never particularly brave. She was afraid of bugs and certain people… Most of the things she was afraid of she wouldn't tell anyone. But she had a shield, something to cover up her fears.

When she felt threatened by someone she would bury her fear and show how much she was upset with anger. Then they could call her what they wanted, but at least she would never be called weak.

Right now she could say something without hesitation. She was scared to death. She had no idea where she was… at least on a map. She had no idea when somebody would decide to walk in on her with some sort of weapon on hand. And now she had the stunning revelation that her father was involved in this organization. Sure, the boy could have been lying, but then she would remember strange thing about her father, like how he would disappear for hours at a time without telling their mother a thing, or the time her ankle had gotten stuck in the wheel of her bike. The wheel had been bent around ankle and she couldn't get it off. To this day she didn't remember how it had happened, but her father had told her to relax and close her eyes. She had done so the best she could while her ankle was being crushed, and then it was over. Her eyes opened and the wheel was completely gone. He had told her that they would get a new wheel for the back of her bike and the moment was never talked of again. She had been as close to her father as she could be without really knowing him.

After her father and mother had died, she locked her emotions away. Her fears, her tears, her happiness, everything was completely buried. But then Ash came and she found herself really opening up for the first time. She had kissed him and the kiss still lingered on her lips. It was the most real thing she had ever felt… What had he been feeling?

Had he been excited that she was finally opening up to him? That he could get on with his job without her suspicious of his movements? Had he felt anything remotely close to what she had felt? Had he been feeling guilty? She paused and pulled her knees up to her chest. Somehow she had been sure that it was real… for both of them, even without knowing him. But was it?

He was from this place, just like the rest of these people. They knew how to bind you and capture you before you even understood that you where completely at their mercy…. It had taken him a mere matter of hours to do that to her.

Out in the hall the group continued staring at Gary as he waved the key in front of their faces, seemingly not caring that he was ridiculously outnumbered.

"Give me the key." Ash said firmly.

Gary stared at him a moment and then stuffed the key into his pocket. "I have orders." He said quietly. "You're going to get in so much trouble. All four of you." Then he turned to the other three. "So are these three. You shouldn't have dragged them into it. They can't possibly understand what they're getting into." He looked May over for a moment and then smirked. "You already look scared. You guys are idiots."

Drew clenched his hands into fists, feeling slightly irritated and… protective as he watched Gary scan May. "Just give him the key." He hissed, finding nothing else to say to change the topic. "You're outnumbered."

Gary paused. "You're right about that, I suppose." He pulled the key out of his pocket and threw it to Ash.

Ash nearly missed it, surprised as he was. He stared at the key and then looked at Gary. "What is this?"

Gary rolled his eyes. "Um, a key?"

"The one to the door?"

"Why don't you just use it and be glad that I'm handing it over?" He turned his back to Ash, something that you did not do in Team Rocket. It was easy to be attacked when you least expected it.

Ash stared at his back in confusion, then turned and slipped the key into the door.

From behind Ash, Gary sighed in relief.

Ash looked at Gary and then pushed open the door, feeling his heart pound.

Misty heard the door creak and looked up her heart freezing in her chest while Ash looked around the room he had just opened and scowled shutting the door behind himself. "Nice Gary."

Gary turned around and shrugged. "Sorry."

Ash threw the key back at Gary. "You're not sorry! You set me up!"

Gary caught the key and stuffed it into his pocket. "You asked for it."

Meanwhile Misty curled up and pushed herself to the back of the bed while a grunt stared at her from the door.

"C'mere."

She stared at him, not saying a word.

He sighed and reached over the bed, grabbing her wrist.

"L-let go!"

He rolled his eyes, pulling her completely off of the bed and towards the door.

"Let go of me!"

"Shut up. The boss wants you."

Gary stared at all of them for a second. "Follow me."

They hesitantly followed him to the end of the hall. When they reached it Gary (who was in the lead) stopped suddenly, making everyone stop behind him. "Shoot." He mumbled.

"Let me go!"

"Be quiet."

"That's Misty." Ash whispered. He suddenly realized just how close to her he was. He went around Gary planning on taking her.

Gary grabbed his arm instantly, and pulled him back behind the wall. "Are you crazy?"

"I can take him!"

"No you can't!"

"Yes I can!"

"Sh! I'll take care of it. Just stay here."

Ash let out an angry breath but complied.

Gary walked around the wall into full view. Misty looked between the two, not sure if she should be sad or happy to see him. "I'll take her."

"Boss sent me."

"I'm her caretaker. If you show up with her and I show up without her, we'll both be in trouble."

The man looked between Misty and Gary and gave a short nod of consent, then threw her into Gary. "Keep a firm grip on her. She's a bit of a challenge."

"No need to worry about that."

He looked between them and nodded heading to where Ash and the rest of the group were.

"Michael, call out ditto!" Alexi whispered quickly.

Within seconds, a fake slab of wall had been put up. It wasn't that much of a disguise, but the man was in to much of a hurry to inspect a wall, and he passed them.

The group sighed as ditto fell to the ground, becoming a Pichu in the process and panting. "Good job ditto." Michael whispered.

Gary came around the corner with a bored look on his face while he held both of Misty's arms. "Let me go!"

"Will be quiet already? Here Ash, she's all yours."

Ash was taken by surprise and Misty was passed to him. He kept his arms limp, knowing that holding onto her would not help get her trust back. Still, a noticeable blush climbed up his face.

Misty instantly pushed herself away from Ash, and Ash looked down as he saw the fear in her eyes. She was scared of him. He should have expected it though. She backed up until she saw her friends and ran past him quickly, giving May a hug first.

"Misty are you ok?" May asked.

Misty nodded, shaking slightly.

"You have to go. Now." Gary said.

Ash turned to him in confusion but then nodded quickly. "Michael."

Michael pushed himself to the front of the group and nodded, taking down the stairs.

Ash turned back to Misty and the others. "We-we have to go."

Misty looked at Ash and then glanced at all of her friends.

May smiled a little. "It's ok. They got us in here."

Misty didn't seem relieved but nodded, keeping to the center of the group as they went down the stairs.

"Ash!"

Ash turned to Gary without a word.

"Brock says hi."

Ash blinked then smiled. "Thanks."

Gary nodded. "Now, go."

Ash took off behind the others instantly.

At the top of the stairs Gary backed up to the wall then fell down to a tired sitting position. He wiped at his forehead, willing his heart to stop pounding. Quickly he pulled a pocket knife out of his pocket and drew a thin line along his collar bone. Hopefully, he could make up an excuse. He placed the knife back in his pocket, letting the light line of blood seep through his shirt and wincing in the process. "It's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it."

They made it back through the base, nearly the same way that they had before with occasional cover-ups as grunts began their rounds for the day. Finally reaching the end, Alexi pulled out a sliver of metal only to be pushed away by Skye. "We don't have all day. I've got it." He muttered.

Alexi stuffed the metal back in her pocket, biting her tongue in the process.

Skye finally opened the door and they all slipped into it, then Alexi got the second door. As everyone stepped out into the morning air Misty stopped and stared at the muddy snow. Ash turned around and walked back to her, staring at the ground and silently offering his assistance.

Misty bit her lip and climbed onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and allowing him to carry her.

From there, they all made a dash for the part of the woods that would lead them back to town.

As they got a safe distance away, Drew sighed. "That was easy." He muttered in surprise. "That was really easy."

"Speak for yourself." Alexi grumbled.

"I'm serious. I'm surprised that all of your little test subject friends haven't escaped."

Alexi clenched her fists and walked up beside him. "Alright then, imagine this: You're locked inside a cell with your ankle chained to the wall. There's a man outside your door every waking second of the day. You have to figure out which is the right way to escape, and if you find the lock you have to figure out the code without setting off the alarm. You just did half of that, now imagine this: Imagine that there are six times the amount of grunts we just saw roaming around. Imagine that you can't walk or see or maybe that you can't hear when they are coming because of some stupid side-effect of a test. Imagine that if you do manage to escape, you know that they'll be looking for you and if they take you back they'll either torture you or kill you so that you won't attempt it again. There are about a million more reasons I could give you to explain why those kids never have the chances you do."

"Gosh, relax." He muttered. "I only meant that it was easy for us. If that's true, then how come it was so easy?"

"Because I managed to find out the date of a day that ninety-nine percent of the grunts would be receiving orders from the boss."

"Why are you still calling him the boss?"

She bit her lip and stared down at her feet, realizing that Marie's death might have caused her to go a bit over the edge. "Habit, I guess." She put her hands up and rubbed her temples then turned around. "Michael?" No answer. She straitened and looked around the group. "Where's Michael?"

The group looked around the area, all of them realizing at the same time that Michael wasn't there.

Alexi put a hand to her mouth. "No! He went back to get her! They're not with Giovanni anymore. They'll be all over the place. They're going to kill him!"

She started running back only to have her wrist grabbed by Skye. "Alexi, don't be an idiot. You go back and they'll kill you too."

"I'll be fine! I-I can get him back!"

"No you can't."

"Yes, I can!"

"You're lucky that you got yourself out alone with all of them walking around. What makes you think that you can get out with all three of them?"

Alexi stopped struggling but she was panicking. "I… have to try."

Keagan walked around from the back of the group. "I'll go with you." He said quietly.

Alexi stared at him and then yanked herself out of Skye's grip so she could hug him. "Thank you."

"Um…. You're welcome." He muttered, not sure if he wanted to hug her back or not.

She pulled back and started running in the direction they had just run away from.

"So… we're going back?" May whispered quietly.

Ash turned to them, still with Misty on his back (though she looked almost asleep). "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No. We're coming." Drew said.

When they reached the spot they were at before, it was covered in grunts.

Alexi looked around and motioned for them to follow her.

"Alexi, we're walking away from your base." Keagan whispered.

"It's not my base!" she hissed back.

"That's not the point."

"I know what I'm doing."

"You're stubborn."

"I'm scared."

Finally Alexi crouched down in the snow and started moving roots and leaves. "Keagan, help me dig up this hole?"

He blinked and got down beside her. They both started pulling up dirt where Alexi was digging until finally the thin layer of dirt that was there collapsed revealing a good sized hole that seemed to go down quite a ways.

Alexi slipped into it, going out of site for a moment until they heard a vague thump and she yelled towards them. "Come on down! Hurry!"

"Ewe…." May muttered. But she slipped into the hole.

Drew went after her. Ash tried to stop him as they hadn't heard her hit ground yet, but he wasn't fast enough.

Drew's body moved through a muddy hole before the ground around him finally gave way and fell onto something metal and wet.

"Ow! Drew, get off!"

Drew's opened his eyes to find himself on top of May. A deep blush spread across his face as he quickly stood up. "S-Sorry."

May stood and started beating her clothes. "Oh gross! I'm soaked! What is this?"

The walls were covered in metal and water ran through rising up to their ankles.

Ash woke Misty up and then went through the hole so he could catch Misty when she came down. She was extremely sleepy and Ash was pretty sure that they had slipped something into her blood stream without her knowing. She didn't even try to stop Ash from helping her even though it was obvious she was having trouble being so close to him.

He heard May's question and walked over with Misty on his back.

"I'm not exactly sure." Alexi said. "I stumbled onto the entry way a few years ago when I was trying to find a way out."

Ash shook his head. "Yeah. She was trying to get me to come with her to look at the snow."

"But they caught us." Alexi said. "Luckily it was after we were out of the hole, so they don't know that I know about it. I used it to run away."

Finally Keagan fell through followed by Skye, and Alexi took off with everyone else behind her.

Michael bit his lip and flattened himself in the shadows as a grunt walked passed him. He didn't want to get caught, but he made a promise.

He waited until the guard was gone and then quickly ran down the hall. He stopped with fear all over his face as a grunt turned around the corner going into her room. He had somehow overlooked Michael, but now what? He gulped and ran to the door placing his ear on it.

"Wh-what are you doing?! Get away from me! Let me go!" a young girl shrieked and Michael's face hardened.

"Open the door!" he yelled angrily.

"Let me go!"

"Open the door! Now! If you don't open the door, I'll break it down!"

The grunt didn't seem to hear him and Michael started pounding on the door with his fists. "Open the door! Open the door! Open it!" He didn't even think about using ditto. He was terrified.

When the group reached the end of the "hall" they climbed out into one of the hallways where some children were held again. Ash turned to May and Drew and muttered nervously. "It might not be such a good idea for you two to come."

Drew stared at him. "So… what are we suppose to do now that we're here? And what about Keagan?"

Ash motioned behind them and they saw that Keagan and Alexi were already gone. "I would have told him too." Ash said. "Come here."

Drew and May followed Ash to a wall. He set Misty softly against the wall and then pulled a covering off of what appeared to be a vent. "Down the vent a little ways there's an open area. Like a larger metal box connected to it."

May pulled herself into the vent and Drew turned to Ash. "You've got to be kidding me."

Ash shrugged. "Alexi showed it to me when she snuck out… pulling me along with her. Trust me you'll be fine. No body can hear you or anything from out here."

"Fine." Drew grumbled and pulled himself into the vent behind May.

Ash closed it and helped Misty back onto his back.

"Did you hear that?" Alexi whispered. She changed direction and found herself following Michael's angry voice.

"Michael! Quiet down!"

Michael turned to Alexi and started shaking. "Alexi, help me! She's stuck in there and he's hurting her! Please! Help me!"

Alexi ran to the door and started pressing numbers. Within seconds the door was open. "Michael, get ditto."

His eyes widened and he pulled the pokeball out of his pocket. "Hey!"

The grunt turned only to fall to the ground seconds later.

"What did you do?" Alexi asked.

Michael ignored her and ran to the bed in the corner where a young girl with long brown hair was. She wore a slip and was curled into a ball.

Michael sat down next to her and grabbed her shoulder. The girl screamed and pushed him away.

"Sh! It's okay! It's me!"

She stopped struggling but didn't open her eyes. She sat shaking before giving him a strong hug.

"Hey." Alexi whispered, softly kneeling next to the two of them. "We've gotta go. They're gonna be back soon. Will you let Keagan carry you back?"

She shook her head and tightened her grip on Michael.

"It'll be ok. I promise. He's one of my best friends."

Finally she nodded and Alexi picked her up. "Um Keagan… would you carry her back?"

"Oh… sure." He took her and felt her shake in his arms. She was a pretty girl but her hair covered her face and she wouldn't open her eyes if her life depended on it.

The four of them quickly left the room, hurrying down the hall. "They're going to be here any second." Alexi whispered fearfully.

"I'm sorry."

"Sh. It's alright Michael. You saved her. Hopefully we can all get out of here."

"May, could you move a little faster?"

"There are webs all over the place!"

"So what?"

"… It's disgusting."

Drew let out a groan. "Just move."

"I can't…."

"You're such a girl."

"Last I checked."

"Fine, just move. Let me get past you."

"It's way too tight. We'll get stuck."

"Then go!"

"Ugh…." May moved through the cobwebs and such, whishing the whole time that Drew was going first. Finally they reached the "box" Ash had talked about. May let out a sigh of relief and pushed herself into it. "Oh my gosh! It's freezing!"

Drew climbed in after her. "They're probably used to this kind of thing, with the way they've grown up."

May nodded and sat down against the wall. "So I guess we just sit here until they get back?"

Drew shrugged and sat down beside her. "He should've told us earlier, we could have waited in the forest for them."

May sighed. "Drew?"

"What?"

"Are you scared?"

"No."

"Oh…" May put her hands in her lap and wrung them nervously. "Wh-what if something happens?"

"What do you mean? What sort of something?" Drew shifted so he could look at her clearly.

"Well… I'm just… I'm scared."

"Yeah…. I could tell."

"What if something happens? I mean I like all of them… I really do. I kind of feel sorry for them. But is team rocket going to be after us now too? I mean… are they going to be chasing us around like they chase them around? What if somebody gets hurt?"

Drew paused for a moment. Being sentimental wasn't exactly all that easy for him. He could see that she was really scared. She was trying to mask it but she wasn't very good at it. He took a deep breath and turned so his back was flat against the metal wall. "We'll be fine."

"Yeah. That's what I thought you'd say."

He shrugged. "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know…. You could try some concern or something…. Although you probably don't care, so it's kind of silly. Sorry." She turned away but he could still see her blush.

Drew let out an annoyed breath. Did she know what she was doing? She was practically putting him on a guilt trip while being innocent and… almost cute at the same time. Was that even possible? "Look… it's not that I don't care… but um… talking isn't exactly one of my strong points." He admitted quietly.

May turned to him and stared at him for a moment. He wasn't looking at her but she wasn't all that surprised. "So…" What do you say to that? "…you do care?"

He shrugged. "I guess."

She giggled. "You're right. You're not that good at talking."

He rolled his eyes. "Way to rub it in. At least I'm trying. It doesn't really matter. Besides, actions speak louder than words right?" He turned to her as she sneezed. "Cold?"

She nodded and wrapped her arms around herself.

Drew pulled his vest (or whatever it is) off and put it over her shoulders.

She blushed and looked up at him. "I'm kind of tired."

"Take a nap."

She laughed. "How am I supposed to go to sleep in this place… and while all of this is happening?"

He shrugged. "I dunno what you want me to do about it. I gave you my vest. I think I'm covered."

She shook her head. "Yeah… well, thanks."

"Mmm-Hmm."

May yawned and allowed her head to fall to Drew's shoulder.

Drew looked at his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. Her breathing was starting to even out. Was she falling asleep? Drew felt a smile pull at his mouth despite himself as he stared at her. She looked peaceful, comfortably snuggled into his arm and shoulder.

He bit his lip. She was asleep. Hesitantly he reached out and wiped some bangs out of her eyes. Just touching her that slightly was enough to make his heart jump. He couldn't believe that he had fallen so hard for her. She had been fun to tease and yeah she was pretty when he had first met her, but that wasn't what had won him over. When she first started coordinating… she wasn't all that good. But she put so much into what she did. She continued moving forward no matter what, in every way. She was just incredible.

He smiled a little and leaned forward, lightly pressing his lips to her forehead.

May gave a little groan and opened her eyes right after he pulled back. He blushed and tried to force it down. Maybe she hadn't noticed.

May smiled a little. "What was that for?" she asked sleepily.

Shoot. "Uh… It w-um…" Great could I sound any more stupid if I tried? "Um… I just…."

May giggled and snuggled closer to him. "You're really warm."

"Um… yeah." He muttered uncomfortably.

"Drew… are you ok?"

"Yeah… I think I'm just tired."

"Oh… ok…. C-Can I sleep here? It's better than sleeping on the cold floor."

He shrugged lightly, keeping in mind that she was on his shoulder. "I guess so."

"Thanks."

"N-No problem."

Drew let her curl up to him and then paused, staring at her once again. "M-May?"

"Hmm?" she turned up and then was caught completely off guard. Her eyes widened, but then they slowly closed.

Drew's mind was racing. What was he doing? He half expected her to push him away, but she didn't. In fact, he almost went into shock when she started kissing him back. She was kissing him now.

He maneuvered himself into a kneeling position, still keeping his lips on hers until finally they both had to pull away.

May stared at him for a second and then let out a little giggle full of joy and shock at once. "Wow…" she muttered.

He smiled and leaned up against the wall again as May cuddled into his shoulder again, holding onto his arm.

It didn't matter that Drew wasn't good with words. After all, actions speak louder than words.

A/N There wasn't much pokeshipping simply because I'm trying to build something for later chapters. I finally got some contestshipping in though. Lol.

Here are some questions for you guys:

Who is Sarah? Who is the little girl Michael helped? Will Ash and Misty end up together? You already know the answer for one of those... Duh. This is aaml.

Upcoming chapter (depends on how I split them up): The girl with no name

Review!