"Lieutenant!" Anderson glanced right to his assistant, "Ketchum is returning to HQ,"
His eyes darkened, and his hand came up to his head, removed his navy cap and stared at the blinking red dot on the map which slowly inched closer and closer to the Head Quarters location, "I want him arrested," Anderson growled, "subdued and brought into holding,"
"Sir-"
"Arm a squadron and flank him, stun rounds. No needed casualties, he's a loose wire that can't be trusted,"
"But Sir, the Champions orders-"
"The Champions have no authority in this question, this man is a killer and has set free a high-priority target which is a breach in national security. I want him subdue and brought into custody, no questions asked." He rounded to his assistant, "Understood?"
Clutching his clipboard above his heart with a single hand, the assistant snapped off a tight, unsure salute, "Understood!"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Ash returned to the HQ in a haze, something he wasn't that proud of. There would be hell to pay, and he realized that. But when they learned that Domino had come for him, and was not some Rocket informant, it would be cleared up.
His actions from the night of Goldenrod were still being discussed internally however, and a punishment -should he receive one- would be issued at a later date in the form of some low issue mission which an idiot could preform.
His thoughts however, were still preoccupied with the blond he had dropped off at the crossroads to Pewter and Pallet, who he doubted would still be there, but on her way else where.
To Team Rocket, or like he hoped, into hiding.
He parked the bike in the garage, and checked the sidecar. On the right of the seat, away from his line of sight was a spare holster he had attached around two weeks back where he kept a spare M9.
It was now missing from said holster.
His emotions were getting the better of him, he was making mistakes left and right. Mistakes that he should have never committed.
He needed to get his act together.
And soon.
With his mind preoccupied, and his steps on autopilot, he didn't take notice of the seemingly empty hallways of the HQ, nor the armed and fully armored men and woman who trailed him some distance back.
It was to late to do anything when he heard the first whip like crack, with his head in the clouds his reaction timing was off and the electricity infused ballistic took him hard between where his shoulder blades and neck came together.
His arms were immobile, and soon his legs were as more stun rounds peppered his back and behind the knees.
His entire body felt like blocks of lead were strapped to it. He couldn't turn his head as it lolled back and for as he was carried down the halls, guns still trained on him.
He was carried to the exact same room Domino had been in less then four hours before, and strapped down (Using the cuffs which he had left previously on the ground) until he was immobile and secured.
They left him then, and it amazed him at how everything seemed to come back to him in this position. Tied or strapped to something, for reasons which were beyond him.
Three hours went by, and Ash glared at the door when it slammed back on it's hinges and Cynthia entered, face bright red, and eyes colder then ice.
"Ash I'm sorry!" She said directly, she was about as angry as he was it seemed, "Anderson went a head and-"
"Anderson?" He asked lowly, a new heat rising in his voice, "Anderson ordered this?"
"Yes, some excuse-"
"Where is he then?"
"Wha-"
"You know Cynthia," Ash said lowly, "bring him here, it's about time me and him settled things between us. If he's going to be a little bitch and sent you in here so I can't hurt him, then let me go and I'll find him myself. Or bring him here, lock the door behind us, and we'll settle this like men,"
"Ash, you'll kill him,"
He laughed, it was devoid of laughter and was fulled with mockery, "If I wanted him dead Cynthia, he'd already be. And as you can see, I'm tied down, immobile so it's impossible for me to lay a finger on him. In fact," He glanced to his right, where the one way window was, "Bring everyone down, it's about time I cleared things up with you, Lance, the girls, and whoever the hell else I've dealt with for the past how ever long I've been here. So go on, fetch Anderson for me, and bring the others down to watch."
His mouth shut, and his eyes told her to do as he said. No questions asked, no hesitations allowed.
"Ash-"
"Go."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Ash waited with a cool air around him, body entirely relaxed, and looking as if he was leisurely waiting for an appointment.
When the door to the holding room opened, and the form of an angry Lieutenant stepped in, his eyes drifted over casually.
Ash had a sarcastic grin cross his face, "Well Terry," He said, "have at it, tell me just why the fuck you thought it was a splendid idea to assault me?"
Anderson spoke as if it was obvious, "You betrayed the G-Men, released a high priority capture, and broke her out of custody,"
He stopped there and Ash tacked on, "And I killed your men,"
Andersons eyes darkened, "You killed innocent people, destroyed public property, threatened civilians. You're nothing but a monster,"
"How many were there?" Ash asked as if Anderson hadn't spoken, "how many of your pathetic, unqualified soldiers did I kill?"
Outside of the holding cell, the Champions, girls, and his mother watched with extreme uncomfortableness.
"You killed seven of my men you son of a bitch," Said despite the fact his mother was less then two meters away, "You'll rot in hell once this is all over. I could give less of a damn about what happens to you out in the field. You're a wasted life, a dog trained by whoever wants you, and if they tell you to bark you bark,"
"A dog?" Ash looked to his lap where his hands sat, "A dog... Really," He muttered.
"Have you... Ever taken a life Terry?" He asked in a soft, eerie melodic croon which sent shivers down all those watching spine, "Have you ever put a bullet in someones skull, or a knife between their ribs?"
Anderson went to speak, but Ash cut him off, "Have you ever even been out into the field?" It looked like Ash was going to wait for an answer, but after a brief hesitation he started up again, "You haven't, and I know you haven't because you've got the look of a man who's nothing but a cowered. A man who sends others to do the dirty work because he's to much a damn rat to go out and do things for himself."
"How can you command an army if you've never pulled a trigger? If you've never felt the heat of another persons blood on your skin, the deafening sounds of bullets coming at you. The fucking screams of people dying,"
"Your a slave who can't think for himself-"
"Am I?" Ash asked amused, although no humor was present in his voice, "That's why I set Domino free is that right? Because I once belonged to her, did you know that? That she was my fucking partner over the last year? You and your shitty intelligence agency missed out on that little piece of advice. Did you know, that each and every one of you were fooled into thinking she was an informant? She came for me, not for any other reason,"
His voice had been steadily rising, anger and frustration slowly dripping into every syllable, "Now let me tell you one god damn thing," His head snapped right to look at the wall, on the other side everyone flinched at the cold fury radiating from his eyes.
"I. Am not, Ash Ketchum. For all I give a damn, Ketchum can go rot in a fucking hole." He looked back to Anderson, who was looking at him with the worst attempted glare he had ever seen, "Same goes for each and everyone in this fucking building. I have one priority. And that is finding Giovanni,"
He took a deep breath, "So things are going to change around here,"
"You don't make ord-" Ash rose from his seat, cuffs clattering to the ground and stared at Anderson with a look that made his balls clench to stop him from wetting himself.
"Things are going to change around here," He continued on, his voice crystal clear, and eyes burning, "I've been used, again by all of you. You call to me when you want something done, like some tool you can use over and over again, when you all fuck up,"
"You keep me out of the loop, you don't give me any god damn information on Team Rocket, or whatever the hell Giovanni is doing. And I've had it," He walked over to the wall, eyes staring into the one-way glass and to all of the others who held their breath, "From now on, I want every piece of information you get on Team Rocket. If they send a shipment from one place to another, I want that information. I want to know what Giovanni had for breakfast, if he stubbed his fucking toe! I want to know everything!"
He took a deep breath, "Because, as of right now I have been nothing but used. I can return to Team Rocket at anytime, and right now that is looking like a fucking spectacular idea seeing as how I'm treated as, as you put it Anderson. A god damn fucking mutt!"
His eyes slowly went across the wall, he was no longer speaking to Anderson, but to those on the other side. And they knew that clearly as well, "Do you understand?"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
It seems to him that they did.
When he left the cell, no one was around. Immediately he had returned to his room and begun disassembling the furniture and begun redecorating. He tossed the dresser, bed frame and bedside table into the hallway, and placed his mattress in the corner of the room.
He then left for the storage and located two rectangular tables, a rolling high back chair, and brought those to his room, setting them up against the wall before hunting down internet cables, wires, extension cords, and finally multiple computers.
He was undisturbed the entire time as he set up a workstation which consisted of six monitors, three towers, and a large set of color coordinated cords.
He had been lenient with he way things had been working around the G-Men HQ, how he was being treated and all.
But he realized, until the real Ash Ketchum showed up, he would never be trusted. No matter what Cynthia told him about how she trusted him, it would never be completely true.
So if he was going to get anywhere with them, he had to take charge.
He may have blown a fuse back there, but it had to be done. No more unimportant BS assignments, no sending him out where ever they felt like, if he was going to do anything, he would have the final say in it.
And if they didn't agree?
Well he'd finish this on his own.
As Ash, or Shayne, it mattered not.
When his station was set, he opened a secure network, and stared at the screen.
His fingers hovered above the keyboard, waiting for him to enter a command.
"FUCK!" He shouted it out, the single clear cut and crisp word echoing through his door and down the hall.
He didn't know how to properly hack. He knew basics, but to break into a database and purge through security files was... He could do it on low priority stuff, but where he would be searching...
He got up from his seat, and left his room.
He had someone in mind, whether they wanted to or not, who would help him.