DISCLAIMER: Neither of the authors writing this story own Pokemon.
A/N: Sorry to leave you all hanging off a cliff, but here we go, BIG THANKS GRAHAM FOR WRITING THE LAST TWO!!
The atmosphere in Cerulean City was buzzing with the news of the Sensational Sisters kidnapping when the friends crossed the border. Misty could feel her heartbeat rising rapidly as they entered, and everywhere they went, people would look at Misty as though she were a ghost. It only contributed to her nervousness and she squeezed Ash's hand so tight her knuckles went white.
"I wish they wouldn't do that" she whispered, doing her best to hide herself in Ash's shoulder, but finding it difficult as they walked.
"I know, Mist. This isn't gonna be easy" he replied, giving the occasional evil glance at the random gossipers.
Jessie put a hand on Misty's shoulder. "Do you wanna rest or something?" she asked, awkwardness suddenly overcoming her. She had heard the whole story and knew that the stress of coming back to a place that taunted her with bad memories wouldn't be good for her or the baby.
Misty shook her head. "No. I hate to sound bossy, but I think we should head to the gym." Everyone agreed, but they were all secretly surprised she wanted to go back there so soon. Her sisters wouldn't be there, and it had caused her so much grief for five years.
They arrived at the gym five minutes later, avoiding as many nosey onlookers as possible. It hadn't changed since she had left it, excpet that now it was bombarded by onlookers and police.
"I won't be able to get through" Misty realised sadly. Tears threatned to fall as she caught a glimpse of her mother's small but well kept grave. She desperatly wanted to check on the rest of the staff, and she tried with all her might to block out the bad memories this place had etched on her brain.
She felt someone grab her other hand and was surprised to see Brock standing there, talking to Ash.
"We'll just shove through them. You guys can follow us" he ordered, directing the last command to Jessie and James. The group nodded and Brock and Ash begun shoving through the field of people until they finally reached the front.
Misty felt a lump in her throat at the sight of the gym. She had only left it three or so weeks ago, but it seemed like an eternity. When they had left, there had been no mention of Giovanni, or of selfish murders such as his.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Officer Jenny demanded for what felt like the 20th time that day.
Misty forced the lump down and spoke for herself. "I'm Misty Ketchum, and this is my husband, Ash. We used to own this gym. I am Violet's sister" she explained.
Jenny's eyes went wide. "You're Misty?" she asked.
"She just said that and she wants to go in, so let her through" Brock yelled, holding off his hormones that would usually run wild in front of an Officer Jenny.
"Misty, I'm so sorry, I didn't know..." Officer Jenny's voice trailed off as she opened up the gates and let them through.
"Wow, what a frenzy" James marvelled as the gates behind them shut. They all observed what was going on. Men in uniforms were scanning the place from bottom to top, and a couple of them were interviewing the staff.
Misty took it all back in as she and the others walked through the main doors of the joining house Misty had lived in for five years. If the men hadn't been there, it would've looked exactly the same as when she had been there.
"Oh man...this seems familiar" she tried to laugh, and averted her eyes to the right. There she saw the gym's security guard, Mitch, wrapping up his interview with an officer. "Mitch..." she whispered, happy to see him again. "Mitch!" she yelled, furiously waving a hand even though he was only across the living room.
"Misty?" Mitch pretended to rub his eyes in amazement as he strode over. "Aren't you the little girl who promised herself she would never set foot here again after she left?" he joked, embracing her in a big bear hug.
"Little girl? What on earth are you on about?!" Misty laughed as they pulled apart. He looked tired, but still had the same humor and warmth in his eyes as he always had.
"Well, maybe you're not so little anymore..." Mitch's grinned faded and he looked at her seriously. "I was about to call you. How did you find out?"
Misty sighed. "I...I got a message." She hesitated through the explanation and hid the truth as well as she could.
Mitch nodded. "At least you didn't find out on the news or anything, that wouldn't have been fair." He turned to Ash with a warm smile. "Ash, hey, how are you?"
"Pretty good, considering all this" he replied.
"Yeah. And who else has jumped on the Ketchum bandwagon since you left?" Mitch asked.
Misty giggled. "They've hardly jumped on...this is Brock, Jessie and James. We ran into them while we were away, just before we heard about this."
"But there is another Ketchum that will soon be on the bandwagon" Ash grinned.
Mitch frowned in puzzlement. "Meaning...?"
"In about nine months" Ash shrugged. Mitch picked it up and his eyes went wide.
"You're kidding me?" he asked. Everyone shook their heads and Mitch laughed out loud. "I can't believe it! Congratulations you two...God knows you deserve it" he groaned, hoping this wouldn't be too much for Misty, as everyone else was.
Misty smiled. "Thanks Mitch. Anyway, I might just check out the rest of the house...do you know what Daisy and Lily were doing here anyway?" she asked, suddenly realising that only Violet should've been there, considering she had sole control of the gym.
"Just a quick catch up, I suppose. I wasn't here. Wrong time to drop in" Mitch sighed. Misty nodded sadly, and looked at the ground. "Don't worry kiddo. They'll get them back. Surely someone will here them complaining about the state of their hair."
Misty tried to laugh, but couldn't help thinking...how will people hear them if they were dead? "I'll probably come back tomorrow and see you again. You'll be here?"
"Sure thing. See you guys later" Mitch farewelled, and the others headed in the direction of the kitchen. It was as messy as Violet naturally was, and it made Misty wince. She had been such a clean freak when she was living here, the sight of the trashed kitchen upset her.
"I hope you didn't leave it like this, Misty" Jessie said with a raised eyebrow.
"No, of course I didn't!" Misty replied, feeling defensive towards the house and how she had kept it. She saw some of the men leaving what used to be her bedroom and felt a sob clutch from her throat.
She slowly walked over, as the others explained why they were there, and opened the door. A sign had said it was "off limits" but it was her room and she had every right to go in there.
At least the bed had been left in peace. The curtains were pulled closed, as to avoid the public, and as she cautiously opened the wardrobe, she saw a few of the clothes she had accidentally left behind in a neat stack. Maybe Violet had done some sort of spring cleaning after all.
Misty sat down on her bed, feeling numb. They had absolutly no leads as to where her sisters or Giovanni were, and it all looked pretty doubtful. She prayed that she would find them in a better state than Tracey had been in, but she had a panicky niggle in her brain that suggested otherwise.
"Why...I can't do this anymore...why...?" Misty asked hopelessly. She remembered asking "why?" a lot in this room when she was 10 and her mother was on her deathbed. As her thoughts travelled back to her mother, she realised that this was the same bed she had been sleeping in when Lily had broken the news to her.
"She died peacefully...she wasn't in any pain..." Misty recalled Lily's words and started trembling. She remembered the feeling of security she had had moments before Lily had come with the most devestating news she had ever imagined possible. She had tucked the blankets around herself, and had smiled, thinking that that day was going to be a good one.
The trembles she was experiencing was soon accompanied by sobs and she fell back into her old pillow, crying as loudly as she ever had. She couldn't be discreet, not with this much pain and devestation flowing through her. In three weeks she had lost a mother-in-law, a "father-in-law", an extremely good friend, and had jeopordised her and her unborn child's lives on numerous occassions.
Ash wasn't the only one to pick up the cries, and a few of the men gave the room a strange glance. Ash, Brock, Jessie and James ran over, finding Misty in a state they had never seen her in.
"Misty, Misty...oh God, we shouldn't have brought you back here..." Ash scolded himself as he hugged her tightly. "It was too soon, wasn't it?"
"I dunno...oh Ash, I was sitting right here...and then Lily...Mom..." Misty was becoming a little delirious but continued to sob into Ash's shoulder. "They'll never find them, Ash...not alive...they'll be gone..."
"Don't talk like that, they won't be gone" James said reassuringly as the friends gathered round. But he doubted his own words, as did the others.
Misty shook her head and grasped onto Ash tighter. "It isn't fair..." she whimpered.
"Right, I don't care about this damn investigation, they can find your sisters first and ask questions later. We're getting you out of here right now" Ash declared, picking her up and cradling her in his arms.
"But I've got to find them" Misty whispered.
"We will" Brock nodded. They walked out the front door and made another path through the citizens of Cerulean City.
"Ash, maybe we shouldn't have brought her here" James whispered.
"I'm starting to wonder that myself" Ash confessed quietly as she started to drift off to sleep in his arms. Her cheeks were red and blotchy from her tears, and her breathing had become irrational. He started to fret about the asthma she still suffered from occasionally, and asked Brock to check her bag for her inhaler.
By the time they reached the Pokemon Center, Brock had found it. Ash laid her down on the bed in their allocated room on the fourth floor and gently shook her.
"Misty, come on sweetheart...I need you to take a couple of puffs of this, and then you can sleep" he quietly said. Misty came to and looked around in a daze.
"Where...?" she started, but found the toll all the crying had taken on her. She sighed and did as she was told, taking two grateful puffs of the inhaler.
"You're at the Pokemon Center. We don't ever have to go back to the gym" Ash said.
Misty smiled weakly. "That's what you said when we last left" she reminded him. And with that, she closed her eyes.
Ash kissed her forehead and turned to the others. "Better let her sleep. It's been too much for her" he explained, although he didn't really need to.
The others nodded, and James opted to sort out a plan to find Giovanni and Misty's sisters. Everyone agreed and followed him out, Brock shutting the door behind him.
When they had gone, Misty cautiously opened one eye.
She sighed as she sat up, trying to force the dizziness out of her head. She couldn't believe she had had to resort to her inhaler, she hadn't used it in months.
Her head was crammed to the brim with thoughts, but none of them were pleasant. All she could think of was her sisters, and their safety, and whether she would be left with any family at all.
As she looked out the window from her bed, she could still see the gym, surrounded by people with obviously no sensitivity or compassion. Could they not see that this was one of the most awful things to happen to the gym, and yet they had to had to devour it. The paparazzi would probably blow it totally out of proportion, especially with the arrival of Misty.
She gently laid a hand on her stomach, that was slightly rounder then when she had last felt it. Her eyes were hardly dehydrated from the last crying session, and it showed through the present tears she shed.
"I can't do this to you" she whispered. "It's not fair. I promised myself I wouldn't let this happen to you, and look where we are now. Back in a city I wish never existed. Back to square one." She sighed through her tears and stood up. "I'm not being fair to anyone. If I just disappeared my sisters would be safe, and Ash wouldn't have to go through this...and neither would you."
Misty walked over to the window, her sobs now louder than her own thoughts. She didn't hear the door open, or Jessie muttering to herself, as she opened the window.
"You'd think one of us would carry a pen..." Jessie murmured quietly. She took a quick glance at the bed and noticed it was empty at the same time she heard Misty sobbing.
"I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY! YOU'VE WON!" Misty yelled to the outside world, but directing her comment towards Giovanni, wherever he was.
Jessie's eyes went wide as Misty stood up on the window sill of the huge window. "Misty...what are you doing?" Jessie asked, trying not to show her panic.
"I'm ending this for all of you" Misty replied simply. Jessie didn't take long to click, to realise that Misty was actually serious.
"Misty, please, just step back...you don't wanna do this" she pleaded, standing behind her.
"Yes, I do" Misty whispered.
"What about your baby? And Ash? He'll never survive without you" Jessie said desperatly.
"He may have a better chance of survival without me" Misty explained.
Jessie shook her head. "No he won't. Do you think doing this is fair to him? To us? To you? No, it's not."
"Yes it is, Godammit! Nobody deserves to have my life ruined by them, especially not Ash!" Misty yelled.
"Don't be so blind, Misty! He loves you more than anything, I see it in his eyes all the time! You've made a bigger impact on his life than anything ever will - his family, his Pokemon - anything!" Jessie shot back.
Misty went quiet. She turned to face her friend with tears running down her cheeks. "Then let me be selfish for one minute. I can't stand being here. I can't stand watching the people I love drop like flies every day. I can't stand to see the look in Ash's eyes every time I tell him something I don't want to, and I've been doing that a lot lately. You've gotta understand, Jessie..." She paused and wiped her cheeks. "My existance isn't fair to anyone, even myself, right now."
Jessie pulled at her friend's arm. "I won't let you say shit like that. You know that's a whole load of baloney, and I'm sure if Ash heard it he would strongly disagree with what you're saying." She pulled Misty's arm again, trying to get her down. "C'mon Mist, you have such a bright future ahead of you! You're going to have a family, and a life without Giovanni."
Misty hesitated, her sobs subsiding. "You can't guarantee that."
Jessie nodded. "Yes, I can. We are going to get this bastard and that's a fact." She sighed. "You can't live on wanted guarantees all the time, Misty. Life doesn't work like that. I know how incredibly painful your life has been, but look at how incredibly wonderful it will be after all of this."
Misty felt another tug at her arm and briefly thought about fairness again. It wouldn't be fair to end this child's life when it had hardly begun. She looked at Jessie with big, painful eyes and burst into tears again.
Jessie managed to pull her down and enveloped her in a hug. "I know how awful this is for you, Misty. But we're not far off now. And your sisters are going to be okay. He knows that the real way to get to you is to do it to your face, but we won't let that happen" she said soothingly.
Misty could only wail louder. "God, I'm such a pain...how do you guys put up with me...?" she cried.
Jessie laughed. "I dunno Misty, sometimes you just get sooo out of control" she said sarcastically. They both laughed and Misty looked at her as she pulled away.
"Thankyou, Jess. I really would have jumped, you know" she said gratefully.
It was then that the girls heard the door slam shut and they looked up, startled. Standing before them was another Team Rocket henchman, though he seemed to be unarmed, as were Jessie and Misty.
"Oh shit, not now..." Jessie mumbled, wishing she had grabbed a pistol or something before she went to get...what was it again? A pen, she briefly remembered.
"Having second doubts on life, Misty?" he asked, sounding no different to his leader.
Misty couldn't reply. She clutched onto her stomach protectivley and prayed for someone to save her and Jessie.
The henchman laughed. "Second doubts are right 70% of the time, sooo..." He walked over to where the girls were standing by the window. "Allow me." He pushed them both forcefully, causing them to topple out the window and and sending them down four storys through the air.
Misty hardly had time to think. She could hear herself and Jessie screaming, and her mind went blank as she and Jessie hit the ground, the world around them blacking out.
Brock's head snapped up. "Hey guys, did you hear something?" he asked worridly. It had sounded like some girls were screaming.
"Hm? Hear what?" James asked distractidly.
Brock frowned. "I could've sworn I heard someone scream. Sounded like a couple of people actually" he said.
"Maybe...do you think Giovanni's appeared in front of...oh my God, please don't let him get Misty." Ash immediatly got to his feet and ran over to the door.
"Where the hell did Jessie get to?" James suddenly wondered, realising she had been gone a while.
They entered the room to find it empty, the window opened and the curtains billowing in the light breeze. "I didn't leave the window opened..." Brock said. Ash was frantically running around the room, checking in the bathroom as well. It was then he found a note.
"Oh shit, notes are never good" he muttered panickly, ripping it off a wall next to the window. It had three words handwritten on it - "Don't look down."
Ash tossed it away carelessly. He thought that maybe it meant if he looked down he would get a glimpse of him carrying Misty off, and got his revolver ready. But his face turned pale at the sight that was below him. Two redheads were lying on the ground, bones obviously broken, both obviously seriously injured.
"Ash, what are you...?" Brock began to ask as Ash speechlessly ran out of the room, dropping his revolver on the way. Brock and James looked down and both nearly fainted at the sight. They took the same path Ash had and ran as fast as they could.
People were gathering around the two girls, and someone had already called an ambulance. Ash burst through the main doors and ran over to them.
"Oh my God, Misty...Jessie...one of you, say something!" Ash pleaded, shocked by the sight of the girls surrounded by blood and their broken bones.
"Don't touch them!" someone yelled. "Just wait for the ambulance!"
"Ambulance?" Ash asked, feeling dizzy. He had vowed to himself that Giovanni wouldn't get Misty, and now he had shot two birds with one stone. He gently picked up Misty's hand, feeling warm tears slide down his cheeks as the ambulance's siren was faintly heard.
"I love you too much...you can't leave me, not now, I won't let you..." Ash whispered. He was relieved to find a weak pulse in both of them, as Brock and James also sat beside him, crying. "Their pulses are weak, but...but they've got one. That's good, right? It's gotta be good" Ash said.
Brock looked at James, unconvinced. The girls looked pretty bad, the fall had been long and hard. It looked highly unlikely that either of them would make it, even to the random passerby.
The ambulance arrived two minutes later. Ash was crying openly as they fixed Misty and Jessie up to all different sorts of tubes and wires. He desperatly grabbed onto a paramedic's arm.
"You can't let them die, you can't, do you hear me? You cannot, I forbid it" he said, trying to convince himself.
"We'll do what we can" the paramedic reassured him as they wheeled Misty and Jessie into the ambulance. Ash jumped on as well, not even giving a second glance at Brock and James who said they would hail a cab immediatly. Ash had eyes only for his badly broken wife, and he picked up her left hand. Her engagement ring was glistening in the spring sunshine that peeked through the windows and he kissed her hand.
"I won't let him get you. I won't" he said solidly, watching Cerulean flash past him as the ambulance rushed Misty and Jessie as fast as it could. Ash sobbed a little more, praying for it to all be over, more determined than ever to find Giovanni.
A/N: Okay, crap, I know, but I am tired and it is late. Plus I haven't had any sugar lately, lol! By the way, I know a lot of you will be thinking when the hell this story is going to end but to tell you the truth, neither me or Graham know. We ask ourselves that every night we talk, lol! So just hang in there and keep those reviews coming!
A/N: Sorry to leave you all hanging off a cliff, but here we go, BIG THANKS GRAHAM FOR WRITING THE LAST TWO!!
The atmosphere in Cerulean City was buzzing with the news of the Sensational Sisters kidnapping when the friends crossed the border. Misty could feel her heartbeat rising rapidly as they entered, and everywhere they went, people would look at Misty as though she were a ghost. It only contributed to her nervousness and she squeezed Ash's hand so tight her knuckles went white.
"I wish they wouldn't do that" she whispered, doing her best to hide herself in Ash's shoulder, but finding it difficult as they walked.
"I know, Mist. This isn't gonna be easy" he replied, giving the occasional evil glance at the random gossipers.
Jessie put a hand on Misty's shoulder. "Do you wanna rest or something?" she asked, awkwardness suddenly overcoming her. She had heard the whole story and knew that the stress of coming back to a place that taunted her with bad memories wouldn't be good for her or the baby.
Misty shook her head. "No. I hate to sound bossy, but I think we should head to the gym." Everyone agreed, but they were all secretly surprised she wanted to go back there so soon. Her sisters wouldn't be there, and it had caused her so much grief for five years.
They arrived at the gym five minutes later, avoiding as many nosey onlookers as possible. It hadn't changed since she had left it, excpet that now it was bombarded by onlookers and police.
"I won't be able to get through" Misty realised sadly. Tears threatned to fall as she caught a glimpse of her mother's small but well kept grave. She desperatly wanted to check on the rest of the staff, and she tried with all her might to block out the bad memories this place had etched on her brain.
She felt someone grab her other hand and was surprised to see Brock standing there, talking to Ash.
"We'll just shove through them. You guys can follow us" he ordered, directing the last command to Jessie and James. The group nodded and Brock and Ash begun shoving through the field of people until they finally reached the front.
Misty felt a lump in her throat at the sight of the gym. She had only left it three or so weeks ago, but it seemed like an eternity. When they had left, there had been no mention of Giovanni, or of selfish murders such as his.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Officer Jenny demanded for what felt like the 20th time that day.
Misty forced the lump down and spoke for herself. "I'm Misty Ketchum, and this is my husband, Ash. We used to own this gym. I am Violet's sister" she explained.
Jenny's eyes went wide. "You're Misty?" she asked.
"She just said that and she wants to go in, so let her through" Brock yelled, holding off his hormones that would usually run wild in front of an Officer Jenny.
"Misty, I'm so sorry, I didn't know..." Officer Jenny's voice trailed off as she opened up the gates and let them through.
"Wow, what a frenzy" James marvelled as the gates behind them shut. They all observed what was going on. Men in uniforms were scanning the place from bottom to top, and a couple of them were interviewing the staff.
Misty took it all back in as she and the others walked through the main doors of the joining house Misty had lived in for five years. If the men hadn't been there, it would've looked exactly the same as when she had been there.
"Oh man...this seems familiar" she tried to laugh, and averted her eyes to the right. There she saw the gym's security guard, Mitch, wrapping up his interview with an officer. "Mitch..." she whispered, happy to see him again. "Mitch!" she yelled, furiously waving a hand even though he was only across the living room.
"Misty?" Mitch pretended to rub his eyes in amazement as he strode over. "Aren't you the little girl who promised herself she would never set foot here again after she left?" he joked, embracing her in a big bear hug.
"Little girl? What on earth are you on about?!" Misty laughed as they pulled apart. He looked tired, but still had the same humor and warmth in his eyes as he always had.
"Well, maybe you're not so little anymore..." Mitch's grinned faded and he looked at her seriously. "I was about to call you. How did you find out?"
Misty sighed. "I...I got a message." She hesitated through the explanation and hid the truth as well as she could.
Mitch nodded. "At least you didn't find out on the news or anything, that wouldn't have been fair." He turned to Ash with a warm smile. "Ash, hey, how are you?"
"Pretty good, considering all this" he replied.
"Yeah. And who else has jumped on the Ketchum bandwagon since you left?" Mitch asked.
Misty giggled. "They've hardly jumped on...this is Brock, Jessie and James. We ran into them while we were away, just before we heard about this."
"But there is another Ketchum that will soon be on the bandwagon" Ash grinned.
Mitch frowned in puzzlement. "Meaning...?"
"In about nine months" Ash shrugged. Mitch picked it up and his eyes went wide.
"You're kidding me?" he asked. Everyone shook their heads and Mitch laughed out loud. "I can't believe it! Congratulations you two...God knows you deserve it" he groaned, hoping this wouldn't be too much for Misty, as everyone else was.
Misty smiled. "Thanks Mitch. Anyway, I might just check out the rest of the house...do you know what Daisy and Lily were doing here anyway?" she asked, suddenly realising that only Violet should've been there, considering she had sole control of the gym.
"Just a quick catch up, I suppose. I wasn't here. Wrong time to drop in" Mitch sighed. Misty nodded sadly, and looked at the ground. "Don't worry kiddo. They'll get them back. Surely someone will here them complaining about the state of their hair."
Misty tried to laugh, but couldn't help thinking...how will people hear them if they were dead? "I'll probably come back tomorrow and see you again. You'll be here?"
"Sure thing. See you guys later" Mitch farewelled, and the others headed in the direction of the kitchen. It was as messy as Violet naturally was, and it made Misty wince. She had been such a clean freak when she was living here, the sight of the trashed kitchen upset her.
"I hope you didn't leave it like this, Misty" Jessie said with a raised eyebrow.
"No, of course I didn't!" Misty replied, feeling defensive towards the house and how she had kept it. She saw some of the men leaving what used to be her bedroom and felt a sob clutch from her throat.
She slowly walked over, as the others explained why they were there, and opened the door. A sign had said it was "off limits" but it was her room and she had every right to go in there.
At least the bed had been left in peace. The curtains were pulled closed, as to avoid the public, and as she cautiously opened the wardrobe, she saw a few of the clothes she had accidentally left behind in a neat stack. Maybe Violet had done some sort of spring cleaning after all.
Misty sat down on her bed, feeling numb. They had absolutly no leads as to where her sisters or Giovanni were, and it all looked pretty doubtful. She prayed that she would find them in a better state than Tracey had been in, but she had a panicky niggle in her brain that suggested otherwise.
"Why...I can't do this anymore...why...?" Misty asked hopelessly. She remembered asking "why?" a lot in this room when she was 10 and her mother was on her deathbed. As her thoughts travelled back to her mother, she realised that this was the same bed she had been sleeping in when Lily had broken the news to her.
"She died peacefully...she wasn't in any pain..." Misty recalled Lily's words and started trembling. She remembered the feeling of security she had had moments before Lily had come with the most devestating news she had ever imagined possible. She had tucked the blankets around herself, and had smiled, thinking that that day was going to be a good one.
The trembles she was experiencing was soon accompanied by sobs and she fell back into her old pillow, crying as loudly as she ever had. She couldn't be discreet, not with this much pain and devestation flowing through her. In three weeks she had lost a mother-in-law, a "father-in-law", an extremely good friend, and had jeopordised her and her unborn child's lives on numerous occassions.
Ash wasn't the only one to pick up the cries, and a few of the men gave the room a strange glance. Ash, Brock, Jessie and James ran over, finding Misty in a state they had never seen her in.
"Misty, Misty...oh God, we shouldn't have brought you back here..." Ash scolded himself as he hugged her tightly. "It was too soon, wasn't it?"
"I dunno...oh Ash, I was sitting right here...and then Lily...Mom..." Misty was becoming a little delirious but continued to sob into Ash's shoulder. "They'll never find them, Ash...not alive...they'll be gone..."
"Don't talk like that, they won't be gone" James said reassuringly as the friends gathered round. But he doubted his own words, as did the others.
Misty shook her head and grasped onto Ash tighter. "It isn't fair..." she whimpered.
"Right, I don't care about this damn investigation, they can find your sisters first and ask questions later. We're getting you out of here right now" Ash declared, picking her up and cradling her in his arms.
"But I've got to find them" Misty whispered.
"We will" Brock nodded. They walked out the front door and made another path through the citizens of Cerulean City.
"Ash, maybe we shouldn't have brought her here" James whispered.
"I'm starting to wonder that myself" Ash confessed quietly as she started to drift off to sleep in his arms. Her cheeks were red and blotchy from her tears, and her breathing had become irrational. He started to fret about the asthma she still suffered from occasionally, and asked Brock to check her bag for her inhaler.
By the time they reached the Pokemon Center, Brock had found it. Ash laid her down on the bed in their allocated room on the fourth floor and gently shook her.
"Misty, come on sweetheart...I need you to take a couple of puffs of this, and then you can sleep" he quietly said. Misty came to and looked around in a daze.
"Where...?" she started, but found the toll all the crying had taken on her. She sighed and did as she was told, taking two grateful puffs of the inhaler.
"You're at the Pokemon Center. We don't ever have to go back to the gym" Ash said.
Misty smiled weakly. "That's what you said when we last left" she reminded him. And with that, she closed her eyes.
Ash kissed her forehead and turned to the others. "Better let her sleep. It's been too much for her" he explained, although he didn't really need to.
The others nodded, and James opted to sort out a plan to find Giovanni and Misty's sisters. Everyone agreed and followed him out, Brock shutting the door behind him.
When they had gone, Misty cautiously opened one eye.
She sighed as she sat up, trying to force the dizziness out of her head. She couldn't believe she had had to resort to her inhaler, she hadn't used it in months.
Her head was crammed to the brim with thoughts, but none of them were pleasant. All she could think of was her sisters, and their safety, and whether she would be left with any family at all.
As she looked out the window from her bed, she could still see the gym, surrounded by people with obviously no sensitivity or compassion. Could they not see that this was one of the most awful things to happen to the gym, and yet they had to had to devour it. The paparazzi would probably blow it totally out of proportion, especially with the arrival of Misty.
She gently laid a hand on her stomach, that was slightly rounder then when she had last felt it. Her eyes were hardly dehydrated from the last crying session, and it showed through the present tears she shed.
"I can't do this to you" she whispered. "It's not fair. I promised myself I wouldn't let this happen to you, and look where we are now. Back in a city I wish never existed. Back to square one." She sighed through her tears and stood up. "I'm not being fair to anyone. If I just disappeared my sisters would be safe, and Ash wouldn't have to go through this...and neither would you."
Misty walked over to the window, her sobs now louder than her own thoughts. She didn't hear the door open, or Jessie muttering to herself, as she opened the window.
"You'd think one of us would carry a pen..." Jessie murmured quietly. She took a quick glance at the bed and noticed it was empty at the same time she heard Misty sobbing.
"I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY! YOU'VE WON!" Misty yelled to the outside world, but directing her comment towards Giovanni, wherever he was.
Jessie's eyes went wide as Misty stood up on the window sill of the huge window. "Misty...what are you doing?" Jessie asked, trying not to show her panic.
"I'm ending this for all of you" Misty replied simply. Jessie didn't take long to click, to realise that Misty was actually serious.
"Misty, please, just step back...you don't wanna do this" she pleaded, standing behind her.
"Yes, I do" Misty whispered.
"What about your baby? And Ash? He'll never survive without you" Jessie said desperatly.
"He may have a better chance of survival without me" Misty explained.
Jessie shook her head. "No he won't. Do you think doing this is fair to him? To us? To you? No, it's not."
"Yes it is, Godammit! Nobody deserves to have my life ruined by them, especially not Ash!" Misty yelled.
"Don't be so blind, Misty! He loves you more than anything, I see it in his eyes all the time! You've made a bigger impact on his life than anything ever will - his family, his Pokemon - anything!" Jessie shot back.
Misty went quiet. She turned to face her friend with tears running down her cheeks. "Then let me be selfish for one minute. I can't stand being here. I can't stand watching the people I love drop like flies every day. I can't stand to see the look in Ash's eyes every time I tell him something I don't want to, and I've been doing that a lot lately. You've gotta understand, Jessie..." She paused and wiped her cheeks. "My existance isn't fair to anyone, even myself, right now."
Jessie pulled at her friend's arm. "I won't let you say shit like that. You know that's a whole load of baloney, and I'm sure if Ash heard it he would strongly disagree with what you're saying." She pulled Misty's arm again, trying to get her down. "C'mon Mist, you have such a bright future ahead of you! You're going to have a family, and a life without Giovanni."
Misty hesitated, her sobs subsiding. "You can't guarantee that."
Jessie nodded. "Yes, I can. We are going to get this bastard and that's a fact." She sighed. "You can't live on wanted guarantees all the time, Misty. Life doesn't work like that. I know how incredibly painful your life has been, but look at how incredibly wonderful it will be after all of this."
Misty felt another tug at her arm and briefly thought about fairness again. It wouldn't be fair to end this child's life when it had hardly begun. She looked at Jessie with big, painful eyes and burst into tears again.
Jessie managed to pull her down and enveloped her in a hug. "I know how awful this is for you, Misty. But we're not far off now. And your sisters are going to be okay. He knows that the real way to get to you is to do it to your face, but we won't let that happen" she said soothingly.
Misty could only wail louder. "God, I'm such a pain...how do you guys put up with me...?" she cried.
Jessie laughed. "I dunno Misty, sometimes you just get sooo out of control" she said sarcastically. They both laughed and Misty looked at her as she pulled away.
"Thankyou, Jess. I really would have jumped, you know" she said gratefully.
It was then that the girls heard the door slam shut and they looked up, startled. Standing before them was another Team Rocket henchman, though he seemed to be unarmed, as were Jessie and Misty.
"Oh shit, not now..." Jessie mumbled, wishing she had grabbed a pistol or something before she went to get...what was it again? A pen, she briefly remembered.
"Having second doubts on life, Misty?" he asked, sounding no different to his leader.
Misty couldn't reply. She clutched onto her stomach protectivley and prayed for someone to save her and Jessie.
The henchman laughed. "Second doubts are right 70% of the time, sooo..." He walked over to where the girls were standing by the window. "Allow me." He pushed them both forcefully, causing them to topple out the window and and sending them down four storys through the air.
Misty hardly had time to think. She could hear herself and Jessie screaming, and her mind went blank as she and Jessie hit the ground, the world around them blacking out.
Brock's head snapped up. "Hey guys, did you hear something?" he asked worridly. It had sounded like some girls were screaming.
"Hm? Hear what?" James asked distractidly.
Brock frowned. "I could've sworn I heard someone scream. Sounded like a couple of people actually" he said.
"Maybe...do you think Giovanni's appeared in front of...oh my God, please don't let him get Misty." Ash immediatly got to his feet and ran over to the door.
"Where the hell did Jessie get to?" James suddenly wondered, realising she had been gone a while.
They entered the room to find it empty, the window opened and the curtains billowing in the light breeze. "I didn't leave the window opened..." Brock said. Ash was frantically running around the room, checking in the bathroom as well. It was then he found a note.
"Oh shit, notes are never good" he muttered panickly, ripping it off a wall next to the window. It had three words handwritten on it - "Don't look down."
Ash tossed it away carelessly. He thought that maybe it meant if he looked down he would get a glimpse of him carrying Misty off, and got his revolver ready. But his face turned pale at the sight that was below him. Two redheads were lying on the ground, bones obviously broken, both obviously seriously injured.
"Ash, what are you...?" Brock began to ask as Ash speechlessly ran out of the room, dropping his revolver on the way. Brock and James looked down and both nearly fainted at the sight. They took the same path Ash had and ran as fast as they could.
People were gathering around the two girls, and someone had already called an ambulance. Ash burst through the main doors and ran over to them.
"Oh my God, Misty...Jessie...one of you, say something!" Ash pleaded, shocked by the sight of the girls surrounded by blood and their broken bones.
"Don't touch them!" someone yelled. "Just wait for the ambulance!"
"Ambulance?" Ash asked, feeling dizzy. He had vowed to himself that Giovanni wouldn't get Misty, and now he had shot two birds with one stone. He gently picked up Misty's hand, feeling warm tears slide down his cheeks as the ambulance's siren was faintly heard.
"I love you too much...you can't leave me, not now, I won't let you..." Ash whispered. He was relieved to find a weak pulse in both of them, as Brock and James also sat beside him, crying. "Their pulses are weak, but...but they've got one. That's good, right? It's gotta be good" Ash said.
Brock looked at James, unconvinced. The girls looked pretty bad, the fall had been long and hard. It looked highly unlikely that either of them would make it, even to the random passerby.
The ambulance arrived two minutes later. Ash was crying openly as they fixed Misty and Jessie up to all different sorts of tubes and wires. He desperatly grabbed onto a paramedic's arm.
"You can't let them die, you can't, do you hear me? You cannot, I forbid it" he said, trying to convince himself.
"We'll do what we can" the paramedic reassured him as they wheeled Misty and Jessie into the ambulance. Ash jumped on as well, not even giving a second glance at Brock and James who said they would hail a cab immediatly. Ash had eyes only for his badly broken wife, and he picked up her left hand. Her engagement ring was glistening in the spring sunshine that peeked through the windows and he kissed her hand.
"I won't let him get you. I won't" he said solidly, watching Cerulean flash past him as the ambulance rushed Misty and Jessie as fast as it could. Ash sobbed a little more, praying for it to all be over, more determined than ever to find Giovanni.
A/N: Okay, crap, I know, but I am tired and it is late. Plus I haven't had any sugar lately, lol! By the way, I know a lot of you will be thinking when the hell this story is going to end but to tell you the truth, neither me or Graham know. We ask ourselves that every night we talk, lol! So just hang in there and keep those reviews coming!