Mia stretched across her bed and yawned, covering her mouth as she did so. Pushing herself upwards, she sat, hugging her legs to her chest. She stared around her moodily. Once upon a time, she might have looked forward to this. She might have seen the pink of her room with all her precious possessions and smiled as if Christmas had come early. No longer could she bring herself to feel that. She wouldn't even be here, had not her mother lived here.

She couldn't change that. She couldn't change what had happened either. She couldn't change anything. Not even if she wanted to. But now, she wasn't so sure. Did she even want it to change? She was so confused. What was there to change. It had happened, she had witnessed it, and that was that. There was no turning back. It was better that she'd found out before anything else had happened anyway.

Her phone rang and she eyed it cautiously. Wearily, she picked up when she saw who was calling.

"What's up DJ?" she asked.

"Nothing, really. How long do you plan on visiting anyway?"

She groaned inwardly. DJ was her male counterpart, basically. They were both hired by the same company, only she preferred only having breaks in between their tours, whereas DJ was impatient to continue his career. Still, they were relatively good friends.

"DJ, give me a break here. When was the last time I visited my family?"

"Only two months ago!"

"How long has it been for you?"

There was a momentary silence as DJ seemed to consider this.

"DJ, go home for a change. Stop working your ass off on promotions and visit your family instead."

DJ sighed heavily.

"Fine. I'll see you in about a month, then?"

"Sure. Bye!"

She sighed as she hung up, resuming her position on the bed. Why was she doing this to herself anyway?

"Get lost," came a muffled voice.

"Are you sure you want me to?" replied an amused one.

There was a mad scramble for the door. At least, it sounded painful. There were a few bumps mixed with cursing and yelps of pain. When he did, at last, reach the door, there stood before him an elegantly dressed lady he thought he'd never see again.

"Keya! It's been such a long time!" he greeted, ushering both her and Brock inside, "How's it been?"

Brock and Keya exchanged glances and grinned breezily.

"Not bad," she replied.

Gary took in the image of the two. Brock had his arm around her shoulder, another holding her hand. Keya's free hand touched Brock's where it lay gently on her shoulder.

"And you?" asked Brock.

Gary shrugged his reply.

"Have you heard? Mia's in town," remarked Keya, as if absently.

They noticed his suddenly tightened jaw and his grip on the cup he was holding, tighten.

"Really? That's nice. It must be difficult for her to get a day off, what with all the travelling," he managed to force out.

Keya smirked and Brock shook his head as Gary turned away.

"A drink?"

"Water will do for me, thank you."

"Nothing for me, Gary, but sit down. We have much to talk about."

Gary turned around and eyed Keya's innocent look with suspicion. He gave Brock a cup of water and sat across from the loving couple, eyeing how much they'd changed. Brock's hair remained styled the same, but his clothing… He certainly wasn't travelling all that much nowadays, that was for certain. Still, the silk black top he wore sat uncertainly on his body and he himself seemed to wish he wasn't wearing it, especially not with jeans.

Keya, however, was another matter. She was dressed in an off-the-shoulder pink top with black pants that flared slightly near the end. Her earring consisted of a thin strand of diamonds on each ear, and her hair had been put up into ringlet. A small silver watch adorned her left wrist and a small black purse. He assumed nothing when he thought it withheld a small dagger in it.

He couldn't help but smirk at this.

"Still worried for your safety, I see. Don't worry. This is Dragoon and Vixen territory. Nobody's attempted trespassing for ages now. Our land and chain of clubs expand as well. We've begun moving onto your brother's territory. How is he, anyway?"

Her face clouded, and Brock pulled her closer.

"He's been set free," he said through gritted teeth.

"What?" roared Gary, jumping up.

"Settle down. We have trackers after him, and from what we know, he's currently in Spain somewhere," he said in a forceful, but calm, tone.

"After what he did to Misty, how could they… What happened… What do you mean…"

"He bribed the judge, apparently," interrupted Keya dryly.

"Do you think he'll… you know."

"Go after Misty again? No, I doubt it. Ash is too well known for him to be able to get away with suh a thing. However…"

Keya bit her lip, hesitating.

"What?" asked Gary, suddenly tense, "What are you suggesting?"

"Well, you know how stubborn Mia can be," she attempted lamely, gesturing half heartedly.

"Mia can take care of herself," he said, looking away.

"Still, she's only a child, and such a headstrong one as well…"

"Nothing will happen to her," he pressed on, "She's expanded our name greatly. We have out of country allies and our headquarters is being moved soon to a larger location. Our forces are growing, and it won't be long before we're as well known as Team Rocket."

Keya raised an eyebrow and looked at Brock, who nodded slightly. He was obviously trying to change the topic. Keya stood up, Brock with her.

"Well, we should be heading back. We're staying with Professor Oak. If you see Mia, tell her to visit some time, alright?"

Gary forced himself to nod before showing them out the door. Once they'd left, he collapsed onto the couch.

Not again.

Sighing, he picked up his mobile again.

"Yeah?"

"It's Marie."

"Please tell me this isn't what I think this is about."

"… Julius's got Jay."

Gary leapt up from his slouching position.

"What did you say?" he roared.

Marie burst into tears, choking and sobbing.

"She just left… I couldn't… But she… Nick…"

"What about Nick?" cut in Gary impatiently.

"He went after her," she managed to gasp out.

Gary hung up, grabbed his coat and walked out.

"Come on, Umbreon," he called, allowing his Pokemon (( Gasp Yes! A Pokemon! )) to slip through before slamming the door behind him.

Mia browsed the store casually. Without her trademark ribboned ponytail and armbands, she was barely recognisable, which was how she liked it. The store, she knew very well, was owned by Black Onix members, but their strength was dwindling and they didn't seem to notice her, so she was safe. Nothing here would suit her; the quality of their styles were similar to those of their gang members. Poor and exposed. Only Black Onix members were unintelligent enough to walk on Vixen territory with their black armbands and clips.

Espeon nudged at her leg, and she turned to see what had caused it to warn her of something. She spotted a struggling girl caught between two men and a shadow dashing stealthily towards them, if a little too close in proximity. Still, she recognised the style. Gary never train his members differently. He should, though. He'd always told her a variety was much safer.

Mia sighed.

"Well, as they say, once a gang member, always a gang member. You can't leave it behind, can you, Espeon? Come on then," she said, walking out of the door and following the chase.

Sorry all! For some reason my computer refuses to load the quick edit thing so I had to make do without the lines… My apologies for the lateness of this chapter!