A/N: There will probably be one at the end too, but I have to address this now. Misty's name, is pronounced Hay-l. Like hail. Not Hailey. I think it's pretty, and I'm the author.

Without further ado, enjoy!


"If I behave as though this is a completely normal situation, then maybe it will be..." - Rebecca Bloomwood "Shopaholic Takes Manhattan"

Chapter 1: Haille

She reached a hand up to touch a lock of her hair. Misty had never been anything but a redhead and now she wasn't. Jessie and James had cut and dyed and teased her hair beyond recognition.

Her reflection didn't look or feel like the Misty she had grown accustomed to seeing. Her skin was darker, thanks to James' spray tan, and her hair a dark mahogany. She didn't look like herself, but she didn't look bad.

Behind her, she watched Jessie pace back and forth while James seemed to be watching Misty, enjoying her reaction to the makeover.

"We need a name," she was saying, "Obviously Misty's not going to work."

"Why won't Misty work?" Misty asked, "I can't be the only Misty alive."

"No, but we want to throw off as much suspicion as possible, and Misty might raise an eyebrow or two," Jessie went on.

"Besides, it'll be fun, like acting," James smiled, "You like acting in your sister's productions don't you?"

"Well…yeah, that's pretty fun," Misty conceded.

"Then we need to think of something, something…Team Rockety. You know some girls change their name just to seem more mysterious."

"Oh yeah? What's your real name?"

Jessie laughed, "Jessica. I don't get the luxury of having a new name, but it works because James and I have this Jesse James thing going on."

"What's in it for you?" Misty finally asked, turning to look at Jessie.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Delia wants her son back, but I don't understand why you're helping her."

Jessie took a deep breath, "Because Ash doesn't belong here. And I had a nice cushy place as heir before he came along."

Misty's jaw dropped, "You were the child…the one Giovanni had before Ash!"

She nodded, "After my mother died, I was put into Giovanni's care and raised to inherit Team Rocket, but then he gave us the task of stalking Ash. I never knew the real reason why. All of this was sprung on me a couple weeks ago."

Misty turned her attention back to her reflection as Jessie went back to listing names.

"Haille," Misty suddenly announced.

"What?" Jessie and James looked at her with interest.

"Haille, I want that to be my name."

Jessie thought for a moment, "That's actually really good. Haille…yeah, I like it. Where'd you come up with it?"

"It's my middle name."

"Well," James stood up and held his hand out to Misty, "Are you ready to try on your uniform, Haille?"

As if to put the icing on the "Not Misty" cake, her uniform made her look even darker while revealing more skin than Misty was accustomed to.

"Wait here," Jessie had said as she stood Misty next to the wall outside of Giovanni's office," I was put in charge of finding Asher's partner but Giovanni will still want to look at you."

So here she waited, she couldn't hear anything from inside of the office and the hallway itself was clear. Misty decided that this was a good time to let her sisters know that she was okay and would be unreachable for awhile.

Her eldest sister answered almost immediately, "Cerulean Gym, Daisy speaking."

"Hey, it's…me," Misty said trying not to use her name.

'Hey, Little Sister! What's up?"

"Um," she ran a hand through her hair, "I just wanted to call to let you know that I'm not going to be home for awhile."

"How long is awhile?" Daisy's voice dropped a few octaves.

"I'm not sure, Daisy…I can't really get into everything right now but I want to let you know that I'm safe, and I'm okay. But I won't be able to contact you for awhile."

"Misty, what are you talking about?"

Jessie stepped out of the office and gestured for Misty to come in.

"Daisy, I gotta go, but don't worry about me, I'm fine. I'll send someone to talk to you soon," she hung up before Daisy could ask anything else.

"Well make sure your sisters don't worry," Jessie said almost sympathetically.

"Thank you."

Misty pushed herself away from the wall and followed Jessie back into Giovanni's office. There was a pretty girl sitting at a desk in the first room. She was wearing a modified version of the Team Rocket uniform that showed less skin. She smiled at Misty as they passed her desk but Misty was too focused on the door ahead to smile back.

She had never seen Giovanni before, but she had ideas built up in her head. When they were children he was this scary being. Ash, Misty and Brock had quickly decided that if Jessie and James were part of Team Rocket, it must not be much of a threat. But this dark, mysterious "Boss" seemed a little terrifying. As if there really was something sinister behind the bumbling Team Rocket they knew.

Knowing what she knew now, she couldn't help but wonder if he'd look like Ash. Maybe she'd see some of the qualities that Delia had seen in him when she was sixteen. The man sitting behind the desk startled her. He was handsome, that couldn't be denied. His eyes were dark and almond shaped, where Ash's were round. Looking at his father, made Misty realize how much Ash looked like his mother.

"Please, have a seat," Giovanni's voice was like caramel sauce as he gestured to the leather chair on the other side of his desk.

Misty did as she was told as Jessie sat in the chair next to her. She couldn't help but feel like she was about to be sold. She stared straight ahead while Giovanni's eyes slid up and down her body, taking in every inch of her.

"So, Haille, was it?" she nodded and Giovanni continued, "Jessie tells me that you've shown an interest in Team Rocket before, but it wasn't until now that she thought there was a suitable position for you."

Misty nodded dutifully, although she wished that they had collectively come up with a back story.

"I trust my daughter's judgment fully, but, of course, nothing is permanent," he leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on the desk, "Obviously if your personality clashes with Asher's I won't force you to remain together. But a trial run is perfectly acceptable."

Giovanni pressed a button on his phone, "Caprice? Will you send Asher in?"

"Yes, sir," came the clear reply.

It wasn't more than a few seconds later that the door behind Misty opened and shut and she knew there was another presence in the room. Her entire body tensed as she gripped the arms of the chair tighter. This was all happening so fast, she had only agreed to help Delia less than twenty-four hours ago. James placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, she had no idea how they seemed to know so much, but for once, she was grateful.

"Asher, thank you for coming so quickly. I have someone for you to meet," Giovanni nodded his head at the chair next to Misty, obviously expecting Ash to sit down. Misty hadn't even noticed Jessie standing up. Asher sat down and Misty glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He looked exactly the same, just wearing a Team Rocket uniform as well. Her heart started pounding and she realized that he hadn't even looked at her. He was completely ignoring her and she was sitting right next to him.

How dare he! She thought, how dare he ignore me when he's the one-

It was then that she remembered that he didn't remember her, and he didn't know what he did.

"As you know," Giovanni continued, "Everyone in Team Rocket has a partner, and we've had some trouble finding a girl suitable for you. Your sister thinks she's found her, Asher, meet Haille."

At her introduction, Asher turned his head to her side and looked at her in the same manor that his father had. He started at the bottom and worked his way up, when he reached her face their eyes locked briefly before his narrowed.

"I don't need a partner," he insisted, turning his attention back to Giovanni.

"Everyone has a partner, even you," Giovanni responded, "Jessie has a partner, I had a partner when my mother was in control of Team Rocket," at this, Jessie sucked in a deep breath, "and you too, will have a partner."

"But I don't need one! You don't even let me do anything," Misty tried to hide her smile, he was beginning to act like the old Ash, "I need a partner to sit in this building and do nothing with me?"

"I'm not asking for your input on the subject, Asher, please show Haille to her room," Giovanni dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

For a second, Misty thought that Asher was going to argue but he stood up quickly and started to walk out. Jessie gestured at Misty to follow as she and James occupied the seats Asher and Misty had left.

They walked down the hallway in silence. Misty was fine with not talking to him, but she thought that it might be harder to get his memory back without speaking.

"I don't need a partner," Asher mumbled angrily.

"You made that pretty clear," Misty smirked.

Asher stopped outside of the elevator and turned to look at her, "Your name was Hailey?"

"Haille," Misty corrected, "Like the weather."

He nodded absentmindedly, as if only half listening to her. They got quiet again, it was awkward enough that they both exhaled loudly when the elevator doors opened.

The building had been so large and looming from the outside, but inside was even bigger. The elevator seemed to take hours as it climbed up to the top floors of Team Rocket's headquarters. The air was tense between Asher and Misty, both for completely different reasons.

Finally, they slowed to a stop and the doors opened again. Asher took off immediately down the hallway with such a quick pace that Misty had a hard time keeping up with him. He stopped abruptly outside a door with 1837 printed on it in gold letters.

"This is my room?" She asked as he opened the door and gestured for her to follow. It was a nice room, the left wall was covered entirely in floor to ceiling windows and the remaining three with dark wallpaper. All of the furniture was ultra modern, dark cherry wood and metal accents. A large king sized bed in the middle of the room, and matching dresser and vanity scattered against the other walls. Across from the windows was another door that, upon inspection, Misty discovered led to the most luxurious bathroom she had ever seen.

Asher laughed, "This is our room."


A/N: Had to throw them together somehow. :) Things are definitely going to start picking up soon. I hope everyone has enjoyed this!