(A/N: I'm so sorry you guys, a lot has been going on in my world, involving actually having to get this all back on my computer, but I've finally got it on! And hey! It's a new post! Points for me! Anyway, all my people that liked it, please read and review, I love all of your comments. Thanks! .)
When the gang arrived at the lab, the only person that was around was Gary. He was in his usual sour mood, leaning back in the chair behind the desk and his feet resting on them. As soon as they entered the room, Gary was going to just scowl and look away, but the presence of Misty seemed to brighten up his day completely, but only added to the very evil sneer on his face.
"Well, well, well Ash. Looks like your bird finally decided to come back home! Too bad, I was getting used to how quiet you had gotten." Gary said with a snicker, Ash glared at Gary, not really wanting to have to confront him, but not caring in the least who was around, Ash hadn't spoken to Gary friendly in years, and maybe now was the time to set him straight.
"So what Gary, why do you care so damn much? Unless you want to try to hit on her again, and I'll certainly give you what I gave you the last time." He stepped toward the desk where Gary was. Gary got out of his chair and sat on top of the desk right in front of Ash, almost calling him out, wanting to see what he would do. Misty glanced over at Brock, who just shook his head. Gary looked to Misty and smiled, he pushed himself to his feet and made his way over to him, passing Ash as if he wasn't even there. Misty looked to him as his smile widened. He placed his hand on her shoulder and drew his face close to hers, like he was going to share a secret with her, but Ash grabbed him by his shirt before he had the chance to get close enough. "Don't you dare think you're going to do anything while I'm around, unless you want to see how strong I've gotten over the years. If you want a broken arm then just try me." Ash said forcefully, Gary stared Ash straight in the eyes, and shrugged his hands off.
"Humph." Gary grunted as he glared at Ash once more before exiting through the front doors of the lab. Misty looked at Brock again,
"What was that all about?" Brock looked to her
"Surprised you never noticed before, Ash and Gary always went at it when you were around, throwing insults around and even brawling at matches, they even got disqualified at a tournament because of a fight they had. I guess now that you're back, they're going to be at each other's throats again." Misty looked to Ash, who was looking past her to the entrance where Gary had exited, finally his eyes focused on her and he looked downright sad.
"Sorry about that Misty, I guess there's no such thing as a warm welcome anymore."
"You don't have to be sorry, I didn't come back to be welcomed, I came back to see you." Ash smiled at her warmly and was about to reply but he turned around when he heard a voice,
"Well that certainly was unnecessary of him, after all you have been gone a long time." Professor Oak said as he walked into the room, his cane aiding him in the distance it took him to walk from the door to the group. His old age was catching up with him, but he was still just as stubborn and just as willing to keep working on his research as he could. "It's very nice to see you Misty, it's been a while." Misty walked over to Professor Oak and hugged him tightly,
"It certainly is, I've missed everyone since I've been gone." Professor Oak looked toward Ash,
"I am really sorry about Gary, it seems he's been very sour since the day he lost the championship to you. It seemed like so many years ago, but he can't let go of anything can he?" Ash nodded his head but said nothing; he knew the exact reason why Gary hated him so much. "So Ash, are you still attending that tournament next week?"
"Sure am, I just came to get all the info." Ash replied as he looked back toward the door where Gary had left.
"I'll get it for you, I'll be back." Professor Oak left the room from where he came from, Ash looked to Brock,
"Maybe I should take Misty home, with Gary around I don't feel safe myself being over here." Ash agreed,
"Yeah, thanks, I'd rather not have her go home alone…take Pikachu with you just in case." Brock put an companionable arm around Misty and the three of them left, Pikachu leading the way with sparks coming out of his cheeks. Prof. Oak came back as soon as they were gone, when he noticed that Ash was the only one left in the building, his tone of voice changed.
"You know Ash, it was a very bad idea to have brought Misty here, I know you're happy that she's back and all, but I'm worried about her safety." Prof. Oak said as he handed Ash all the information about the upcoming tournament.
"Yeah I should have known that with Gary around." Ash replied as he took all the information and was about to leave, but Prof. Oak stopped him,
"Wait Ash, I'm afraid that you don't understand what I'm saying. Things are way different than they used to be."
"How so?" Ash asked curiously, Prof. Oak wouldn't say anything serious like that unless something bad was about to happen.
"Gary has been acting very strange over the years that you and him broke contact. He's been asking me a lot of questions about how you've been handling Misty's disappearance. He asked about how you two got along when you were younger, and he even asked questions about her as well."
"What kind of questions?" Ash asked, his anger rising inside of him,
"Well, He asked what she ever saw in you, he wanted to know a lot of personal things, likes and dislikes, and even her hopes and dreams for the future."
"What did you say to him?" Ash responded quickly, his anger now showing slightly. But he quickly calmed down when Prof. Oak smiled at him and replied simply,
"Misty's always talked to me about those things, and I never intended to share it with anyone, especially if that someone wasn't you. He may be my grandson, but he has changed since he was little. Besides…" He chuckled slightly, "I wouldn't even tell you what she said…but…just make sure you keep an eye on Gary, for Misty's safety at least…"
"Thank you professor, I certainly will now that you have said something." Ash left the lab, soon after the doors were closed; he heard a voice from the shadows,
"So Ash, you think you're the big man now that your girl came back?" Ash looked behind him and saw Gary come out of the shadows, an evil scowl on his face. Ash didn't feel like being in any confrontations tonight, he had to get back to Misty. But since he was alone, he didn't mind exchanging a few nasty words with him,
"So Gary…still sore about the bet we made way back?" Ash said with a tiny hint of a small, evil smile on his face. Gary's anger rose,
"It was only by a small fluke that you won the match! And the bet!" Ash snickered,
"Oh yeah right Gary, Pikachu fought all of yours and didn't even spend a half hour in Joy's care. I think you know how I won…it was skill, and it was also skill that helped you lose the bet. And besides…I already won that bet before we even agreed…you should know that." Gary's anger rose substantially,
"I suggest that we make another bet then! I bet that Misty will be mine no matter what!" Ash smiled evilly,
"You're on! But don't cry when ya lose!"
"You better watch your back!" Gary threatened as he stormed off, Ash walked back toward his house.
Ash walked into the house quietly and saw Brock sitting on the couch,
"Hey, where's Misty?" Brock turned and regarded Ash's presence,
"She's upstairs trying to go to sleep, I sent Pikachu up there to guard the door just in case."
"Alright, thanks man." Ash replied as he walked up the stairs, he saw Pikachu walking back and forth in front of the door, his cheeks flaring with electrical energy. "At ease buddy." Ash said as Pikachu turned around and immediately powered down. Ash rubbed his head and smiled at him, "Thanks Pikachu, you can go rest now okay?" Pikachu nodded his head and hurried down the stairs to sleep. Ash opened the door to the room and saw Misty sitting up in bed; she looked towards the door and was relieved when she saw Ash. "Ready for bed Misty?" She sighed with relief and laid down in bed,
"I couldn't sleep knowing you were out and something could happen to you…" Ash sat down on the bed next to her,
"Don't you worry about me Misty, I'm going to be alright, Gary's got nothing on me, he doesn't know what's been going on in the years I've been training. He doesn't scare me, and he shouldn't scare you either." He ran his fingers gently through her hair; she smiled at him and closed her eyes as he stroked her head.
"I can finally rest easy with you around…" She said quietly, Ash smiled and replied.
"I'm glad I could be of some help, let me get the mattress and I'll be right back." He was about to stand up and leave, but Misty grabbed his arm.
"Ash you don't need to get that, you can just sleep next to me tonight."
"I don't know, I don't want to bring up anything that might have happened to you while you were gone." Misty understood what he meant, he didn't even know half of what had happened to her, and yet he was being so compassionate, she couldn't ask anymore of him.
"Will you…stay by my side until I fall asleep?" Ash smiled warmly at her,
"Of course I will, I'll always be beside you anyway, don't worry about that." Misty smiled back at him and rested her head on her pillow; Ash sat on the bed and held her hand, smiling warmly at her the entire time. "Goodnight Misty, sweet dreams." He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, she yawned and in minutes was in dreamland. Her warm grip on his hand loosened as she drifted deeper into sleep. The longer Ash sat there, the less he wanted to leave her, even for a second. "Maybe I'll just stay up tonight…" He said quietly to no one in particular. Suddenly he remembered the dream that he had just the night before, and every other night before then. He hadn't even thought about his dream since Misty came back, but for now he didn't care about anything else but Misty, her safety was his top priority, his dream would have to take a back seat to that. Soon there was a soft knock on the door, "Come in…" Ash said quietly as the door open and Brock walked into the room.
"Is she alright?" He asked as he walked over and sat down in a chair.
"She'll be just fine. Just as long as Gary doesn't come near her."
"You don't think he'll try to get together with her do you? I mean, I thought Gary was stupid, but I didn't think he was bold enough to mess with your girlfriend. What do you think?" Ash sighed heavily,
"With what Prof. Oak just told me, I have no doubt in my mind that he'll try anything and everything that he possibly can to win her over.
"What did the professor say?" Brock asked, Ash looked to Misty, seeing if she was asleep, and then told him what Prof. Oak said. After he was over, Brock looked at him, utterly shocked. "Wow…that's very serious…if you want, I can help you out too. He can't get to her, over my dead body at least."
"Same here, but there may be a way to keep her safe. Practically everyone's going to be at the upcoming tournament and conference. She could bring out her Pokémon and represent the Cerulean City gym with her sisters. Her sisters know about Gary, and they'll protect her if she needs it, she'll be around you, me, or them the entire time, plus if I can get more people to help, we'll have a network of intelligence for the whole thing, if he so much as sneezes we'll know about it.
"Pays to be the Pokémon Master I guess, you get to get away with practically anything." Brock said, "But Misty can handle herself ya know, she's done it before around Gary, you know what happened the last time he tried something."
"I know…" Ash said and sighed "but the thing is, I don't know how long this thing has been boiling inside of Gary, he could just be sour for losing to me, but this thing with Misty is long lived, he's hated me forever for it, we don't know how long he's been keeping it inside of him. Who knows what he's planning to do to keep her to himself." Brock stood up, nodding,
"That may be true, but she has you, so she needn't worry am I right?" Brock replied as he smiled to Ash, who seemed to relax,
"Yeah, that's true, well, thanks…for helping her out, and for bringing me back to my senses."
"It's no problem, I'm going to sleep downstairs today, just in case we need it, see you in the morning." Brock said as he left the room, closing the door behind him. Ash, even though he knew Brock was right, he still felt himself grow worried. But the thing was, he was never going to show Misty those fears, she had already seen him flip out once, and more emotions would make her worry about him, when she needed to worry about her own well being. He sighed heavily, just the first day home, and the two biggest threats had been imposed on her, and although she had come out of it unhurt, Ash was worried that something worse might happen. He only hoped that nothing else would happen and he could go back to normal. He had hoped that the dream had also come to an end with Misty's return, like the doctor had said, but he wouldn't get his hopes up. Just to make sure he wouldn't have the dream, he'd stay up the night just to watch over Misty. She didn't need to know about the dream, and he didn't really want to be asleep if something happened. He stayed kneeling by the bed the entire time, looking out the window every so often. Tomorrow he'd call Misty's sisters and let them know what was going on, they'd be infuriated with what Gary was trying to do, and they'd agree to help out by any means necessary. When he thought that, Misty mumbled something in her sleep about finally being back home, and then drifted off to a deeper sleep, saying nothing afterward. Ash smiled and kissed her hand, he hadn't thought about it when she was gone, but he wondered how he could have ever survived without her, even only for a half of a year. He had hated her briefly for the wrong reasons, and now he was going to do anything in his power to protect her. Before he realized it, he started to get tired, he tried as hard as he could to ward off the darkness of sleep, but it finally overtook him as he drifted off to sleep.
The blade of the man's knife barely missed Ash's chest, but it cut him good in the stomach,
"Argh!" Ash cried out in pain as he fell to the ground, no matter where he was and in what lighting, he couldn't see the man's face; he was covered in a cloak.
"If you think you can get away from me Ash, you're sadly mistaken! If you can, then I have a surprise for you!" Suddenly to Ash's horror, he heard a female scream, recognizing it immediately,
"Misty!" He called out,
"Ash Help me!" She called back, suddenly a light came on and he gasped when he saw her, she was chained to a wall, the only thing covering her was a sheet. She couldn't see where Ash was because she had been blindfolded. Ash quickly mustered up as much strength as he could and started over to her,
"Misty I'm coming, don't be afraid!" He called to her, he didn't know what else to say, the man could be anywhere; he feared what he would do to Misty if he didn't get there in time. Misty cried and called for Ash, he called back, making sure she knew that he was still there. He staggered over to her, but before he made it, he felt a knife in the back of his leg and yelled out in pain, falling over to the floor. The figure finally stepped into the light by Misty, but the cloak had stopped Ash from ever seeing the man's face.
"Sorry Ash, but you can't have your Misty back!" He knelt down by Misty, "Sorry love, but this is for your own good, you deserve so much more than that slime can offer, just let me prove it to you." Much to Ash's disgust, the man leaned over and kissed Misty, it sent a fiery rage through Ash, and he tried to push himself to his feet. Misty cried and tried to pull her face away from the man's but he held her in, continuing the kiss. Finally he broke away, laughing evilly and pulling out another knife, regarding Ash, would was barely able to stand. "Well Ash, what are you gonna do now?" All Ash could do was watch in horror as he saw the man's evil grin as he pulled back the knife and drove it toward Misty's chest.
"No! Don't!"…