"Did you bring me what I wanted?"

"Yes, Boss," Cassidy replied. "We captured Professor Oak, just as you ordered."

"Excellent. You've done well. There will be bonuses for both of you." Giovanni smiled at his Team Rocket henchmen. "Did he put up much of a struggle?"

"No, but the woman…" Butch then realized that he had said the wrong thing.

"Woman? What woman?" Giovanni's smile faded.

"There was a woman with Professor Oak. A friend of his," Cassidy explained.

"She saw the whole thing," Butch added. "She was trying to call for help. We had to stop her."

Giovanni was silent for a moment, contemplating this additional bit of news. "You say she's a friend of his?"

"Yes."

Giovanni's smile returned. "Actually, this may work out even better than I had planned. I think the good Professor may be more willing to cooperate with us if he knew that failure to would endanger his female companion."

Butch and Cassidy smiled triumphantly at each other.

"Where are they now?" Giovanni asked.

"They're in the cell in the basement," said Cassidy.

"Let's go pay them a visit, shall we?" Giovanni tickled the chin of his pet Persian, then stood up. Butch and Cassidy followed at his heels as he slid aside a panel in the wall and started down a hidden staircase. Once in the dimly-lit basement, Giovanni turned down a series of passageways until he came to a room that contained a cell. On the floor of the cell lay a woman with her head turned to one side. Her auburn hair was strewn about her face, so Giovanni couldn't make out who she was. Sprawled atop her was an unconscious Professor Oak.

"My, don't they look cozy?" Giovanni said in sarcastic amusement. He turned to the Team Rocket guards that were standing watch next to the cell. "Let me know the minute he wakes up."

"Yes, Boss," the guards answered in unison.

"Meanwhile, I have another assignment for the two of you," Giovanni told Butch and Cassidy. "Let's return to my office so we can discuss it."

---

Lub-dup….lub-dup….lub-dup….

Sounds like a heartbeat, Professor Oak thought as he slowly returned to consciousness. He opened his eyes to discover that the heartbeat belonged to Delia. He was lying atop her with his head pillowed on her chest.

At least she's still alive, he thought as he moved himself off of her and slowly sat up. He gently shook her shoulder.

"Delia? Can you hear me? Wake up."

Delia slowly opened her eyes. "Professor? What happened?" She looked around the dimly-lit cell. "And where are we?"

"I don't know," he said as he stood up and helped her to her feet.

Delia, noticing the two guards sitting on the opposite side of the room, addressed them. "Excuse me, but can you tell us why we're here in this cell?"

One of the guards glanced up from his magazine. "They're up," he told his companion. "Go tell the boss." The other guard disappeared down the dark corridor.

"The last thing I remember was opening that strange Poké ball," Professor Oak told Delia. "Suddenly, there was a cloud of smoke, and I vaguely remember trying to escape…then nothing."

"Those two people weren't hikers at all. I saw them trying to take you away, so I ran to the phone to try to call Officer Jenny. Before I could, one of them caught me and knocked me out, too."

"But what would they want with me and you?" Professor Oak wondered.

Both of them heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Someone's coming," Delia said as she instinctively moved closer to him.

Looks like she's more than just a friend, Giovanni thought as he entered the room and saw Professor Oak with his arm around an auburn-haired woman. Professor Oak had his back to Giovanni, so he couldn't get a clear view of who the woman was.

"Don't worry, Delia. I won't let anyone hurt you."

"My, isn't this a touching scene," Giovanni sneered.

Both Professor Oak and the young woman turned around. The woman moved her head so she could get a better view of who was speaking to them and gasped.

"Delia?" Giovanni was clearly taken aback at the sight of the familiar face.

"Giovanni?" Delia was equally shocked.

"It's been a long time," Giovanni said as he regained his composure. "You've changed."

"So have you," she said quietly.

Professor Oak was stunned as well. He never knew that Delia had once been involved with Giovanni.

"Please let us go," she pleaded.

"And deprive myself of a reunion with one of my former Team Rocket members? I think not."

A shocked Professor Oak turned to face Delia, who was visibly cringing. She had never told anyone, not even Ash, about her past. Only her husband had known the truth; he had been the one who was responsible for getting her out of Team Rocket. But now that he was dead, the only person left who knew about her past was Giovanni.

"Giovanni, that's over now. I hate what Team Rocket stands for."

"Does that mean that you hate me too, Delia? That would be a shame, because I could never hate you." His voice was chilling, a mixture of love and hate. Giovanni moved closer to the cell, his eyes fixed on Delia. She was frightened by what she saw in his face. "I might be angry with you, but never hate you." He reached through the bars of the cell and touched her face. She quickly drew back from his touch and retreated to the other side of the cell.

"Let her go, Giovanni. It's me that you want."

"My, Professor Oak, how noble of you. Unfortunately, that's not…" Another Team Rocket member came running up to Giovanni and whispered something in his ear.

"I have to leave you now, but we'll continue our little chat later." Giovanni smiled malevolently at Delia. "I'll be looking forward to it. Won't you, Delia?" She drew herself further into the corner of the cell.

Once Giovanni had left the two of them alone, Delia and Professor Oak sat in silence for several moments. Professor Oak looked over at Delia. She sat in the darkened corner of the cell with her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, brooding. She kept biting her lip, trying hard not to cry. His heart ached for her.

"Delia?"

No response. She didn't even look up.

"Delia, please say something."

She slowly lifted her head and faced him with a wounded look in her eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head.

"It might help you feel better. I'm a very good listener, you know." He moved closer to her. "I won't tell anyone, I promise."

Professor Oak really was the only friend she could trust. She took a deep breath and began her story.

"My father died when I was fifteen. My mother and I were both devastated. We didn't have a lot of money, so Mom had to take two jobs to support us. It was hard for her to do that since she was grieving for Dad, but she didn't have any choice. I know I didn't make things any easier for her."

Delia sighed.

"I was hurting, too. Mom was all that I had left and I wanted her to comfort me, to tell me that everything would be okay. But she wasn't around for me anymore; she was always working. I started acting up in school: cutting classes, hanging out with the wrong crowd, drinking, smoking. I even briefly tried drugs. I just wanted someone to pay attention to me."

Delia looked down at the floor.

"Some of the kids I was hanging around with told me about a friend of theirs. They said that he would take care of them, give them money and gifts and things like that. One of my friends introduced me to Giovanni."

Even though he was barely out of his teens, Giovanni was already a master of manipulation. He knew exactly what to say and do to get others to do his bidding. With the male recruits, all he had to do was appeal to their desire for power. Tell them that as members of Team Rocket they would be both feared and respected. They could do whatever they wanted and no one would stop them. They would be in charge, in control, in power.

As far as the female recruits, Giovanni had a different approach. He would appeal to their emotions, make them dependent on him. He would flatter them, make them feel as if they were the most important thing in the world to him. Sometimes that necessitated sleeping with them, but Giovanni didn't mind. It was one of the benefits of being the leader. And Delia had fallen for his words, just like the others. The only thing Giovanni hadn't counted on was falling for her himself.

"He was a little bit older than I was. He had this air of power about him that was so compelling. I fell in love with him. He was…my first."

Even though Delia willingly participated in Team Rocket's schemes, stealing and shoplifting with the others, there was an underlying air of sweetness and innocence about her. Giovanni wasn't surprised to discover that she was still a virgin. It made her that more dependent on him. But there was something about Delia that reminded him of another girl long ago. His first love. Sometimes when he was with Delia he would close his eyes and imagine that he was with Lydia again.

And she had broken his heart, betrayed him just like Lydia had done. The day she had come to him telling him that she was quitting Team Rocket, quitting because she had met the man who would eventually become her husband, was still a painful memory. He exploded in a violent rage, calling her every vile name in the book, and yes, he had even hit her…struck her so hard that he sent her crashing to the floor. Giovanni then turned and walked out of the room, leaving her sobbing on the floor with blood pouring from her mouth.

She still had a small scar next to her lip from where his ring had cut her. Even though she kept it hidden under makeup during the day, she still had to look at that scar every morning when she got up and every evening when she went to bed. It was her penance, her punishment, a constant reminder of her past sins.

Delia fingered the tiny mark on her face. "When I left Team Rocket to marry my husband, Giovanni was furious. He said that I had betrayed him and Team Rocket. Some of the things he said about me…" Her voice trailed off as a tear fell from her eye. "He hit me."

"Oh, Delia." Professor Oak reached out and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Still can't keep your hands off one another?" Giovanni had returned. At the sound of his voice, Delia shrank closer to her friend. Professor Oak's arm tightened protectively around her.

"You always did like older men, didn't you, Delia? At least that's one thing about you that hasn't changed." Giovanni sneered as he walked over to the caged pair. "Where's that husband of yours?" It was obvious to Giovanni that Delia and Professor Oak were lovers.

"He…he died a couple of years ago," Delia said in a small voice.

"My condolences," Giovanni said in a voice that clearly said that he wasn't sorry at all. "So, how long have you two been together?"

"It's not like that…"

Giovanni faced Professor Oak. "Tell me, Professor, has she tried that little trick with the fingers across the back?" He assumed incorrectly that the two were sleeping together. "I taught her that, you know. As I recall, Delia, you used to love when I did that to you." He smiled at her, a cruel, lustful smile. "I was rather surprised the day you turned that trick around and used it on me. But then again, you always were a quick learner. In more ways than one."

"Giovanni, why are you doing this?" Delia was near tears. This emotional torture was far worse than any physical torture he could've inflicted on her. He was trying to humiliate her, make her feel dirty.

"Because you betrayed me! Betrayed me and Team Rocket," he shouted at her. As Giovanni put his face against the bars of the cell, he lowered his voice. "You may think that just because you've left Team Rocket and become a fine, upstanding citizen that you've changed. Well, you may think you've changed, Delia, but I know what you really are deep down inside. You'll never change that, no matter how hard you try."

Delia started to cry.

"I'll leave you two alone now. I imagine you have plenty to talk about." Giovanni motioned to his bodyguards, who followed him out of the room.

Delia leaned forward, buried her face in her hands, and sobbed uncontrollably. Giovanni was right, she was bad. No matter what she said and did, it still didn't change the fact that she had hurt people, stolen things, vandalized property, and done plenty of other things that she was ashamed of.

"Delia, please don't cry," Professor Oak reached out to her, but she flinched and pulled away at his touch.

"No," she sobbed. "W-what you must think of me." Giovanni had succeeded in completely humiliating her in front of the man whom she respected, the man whose respect she wanted in return. And now….she couldn't even look Professor Oak in the eye.

"Don't pull away from me, Delia, please," he begged. It wounded him to see her in such pain. He took her tear-stained face in his hands. "Oh, Delia. You didn't do anything wrong," he said in a voice filled with sympathy. "Giovanni is the guilty one. He took advantage of you…your grief, your vulnerability, your youth, your innocence. He cruelly manipulated you. As far as I'm concerned, you were the innocent victim in all this."

Delia looked into his eyes and saw nothing but unconditional love.

"Delia, you are a good person. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I know it, and you know it, too."

"T-t-thank you," she choked.

Professor Oak drew her close to him as she wrapped her arms around him and cried on his shoulder.

---

Delia lay asleep in Professor Oak's arms. She had cried for so long that she had cried herself into exhaustion.

Giovanni stood at the doorway and watched as Professor Oak kissed the top of her head. He hadn't meant to be so cruel to Delia, but seeing her again had stirred up all the old feelings of betrayal and anger he had felt when she had left him. The person he was really angry with was her husband, the man whom he held responsible for taking Delia away from him and Team Rocket. But since he was gone now, the next best target for his revenge was the man who currently had her heart.

Giovanni silently walked over to the cell and looked at Delia. Her makeup was smeared and her face blotchy; it was obvious that she had been crying for a long time. She was sleeping so soundly that Giovanni couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

"Is she all right?"

Professor Oak, whose back had been to Giovanni, turned at the sound of his approach.

"Leave her alone." There was a dangerous edge to Professor Oak's voice.

I'm not afraid of you, old man, thought Giovanni.

"Is she all right?" His voice was more insistent.

"Why do you care?"

"Because, believe it or not, Professor, I do care." Giovanni watched Delia for a moment until he was convinced that she was still alive.

"Tell me, Professor, how does it feel knowing that you and I have shared the same woman? That I was the first one to touch her, to hold her, to make her cry out in pleasure?"

Professor Oak wasn't about to give Giovanni the satisfaction of taunting him, too.

"We've never slept together. We're friends."

Giovanni was momentarily taken aback at Professor Oak's statement. He had assumed the two were lovers. Recovering his composure, Giovanni smiled cruelly and moved closer to the bars of the cell. "Well, in that case," his voice was chilling, seductive. "You won't mind if later I decide to relive some old memories with Delia." Giovanni leaned down, reached through the bars, and laid his hand on her leg.

In an instant, Professor Oak's hand shot through the bars of the cell and seized Giovanni by the throat. Giovanni was shocked by the strength of the older man's grip.

"It's my sense of decency that's keeping me from killing you now," Professor Oak said in a voice that could barely contain the rage and hatred he felt for Giovanni. "But if you lay one hand on her…" His grip tightened.

Seeing that their boss was in trouble, two Team Rocket bodyguards came rushing up. Professor Oak let go of Giovanni, who fell to his knees gasping for breath. The bodyguards advanced towards the cell, ready to deal with the man who had attacked their boss. Giovanni raised his hand and they stopped in their tracks.

"No," Giovanni croaked in a hoarse whisper. "I'll deal with him later." Giovanni, his face murderous, slowly stood up to face his attacker. "You're a very lucky man, Professor. Normally, I would've had you killed on the spot for what you just did. But be that as it may," he motioned to his bodyguards. "You're more valuable to me alive…for now." Rubbing his bruised neck, Giovanni turned on his heel and strode angrily out of the room, followed by his bodyguards.

Professor Oak leaned back wearily, shaken by the realization that he had just come close to actually killing a man. He looked down at Delia, who hadn't stirred through the entire confrontation. He didn't realize until now the depth of what he felt for her, and the thought both excited him and frightened him.

"Oh, Delia," he sighed as he laid his head atop hers. "Giovanni will have to kill me before I let him hurt you again." And after the confrontation a moment ago, Professor Oak felt certain that was what was going to happen.