Okay I'm sorry for a bit of a delay on this one lmfao

I started writing this chapter around the beginning of March but since then i've failed my science exams and my laptop has a virus and a failing hard-drive so it's kind of hard to update it when school is my main priority and i'm convinced my laptop is going to explode so yeah y'know fanfiction isn't a big priority at the moment and probably won't be until around june~

But yeah since my month has been a pile of crap I haven't really gotten around to replying to anything – I'm not being ignorant, I just never got around to doing it. Sorry! 8(

Also, this chapter may seem a liiiiiiiiittle weird but I'm also trying to portray the rest of the Rockets too (cough the girl staring at Proton through the glass in the radio tower).

Also, I'm sorry how bitchy Proton is turning out. ;w; I'm just trying to like, make him live up to his "Scariest and Cruelest" label.

Chapter 5

I looked down at myself again and stared blankly at my currently flapping uniform. Damn it. Although Petrel had left the room, I was still surrounded by grunts – all of which had fitting uniforms; all of which were staring at me with confusion. That was, until a girl walked up to me.

"You look kind of lost." She frowned at me.

"That would, uh, be correct?" I replied, frowning back at her.

"Do you want me to show you around?" She asked again, her frown wavering, as if curiosity was getting the better of her 'dominance'. There was no harm in it, I mean, it's not as if I knew where I was going. She led me out of the shutter again, the smoky trail following me outside into the pitch black tunnel. As I stood hopelessly in the dark, I tried to communicate with her.

"Where exactly are you taking me?" I asked her, looking around - dazed in the darkness.

"HQ, obviously." She replied, treating me as if I was a child.

"You don't have to treat me as if I'm unable to comprehend what you're saying, you know?" I asked her with an angry edge to my voice. The girl seemingly stopped walking, as I could not hear her footsteps walking along mine anymore.

"…Never mind." She dismissed my question, and seemingly started quickening up her pace as her breath started to rise rather rapidly.

"Are you okay?" I tried reaching out towards her with no success as my fingers merely grasped the air.

"Yeah – sure, yeah... I am yeah - I'm okay, I'M OKAY!" she shouted in confusion.

"You don't sound very okay, in all honesty" I replied to her – trying to get through to her.

"I just need to be strong, that's all." She started talking to herself – still walking without any sort of direction, before stopping and finally acknowledging me. "You wouldn't understand."

"Why not?"

"Because you, even though you sound like a girl, are a boy."

I mentally kicked myself.

"I'm a very, uh, femine boy?" I tried deepening my voice to try and reflect my ruse.

"It doesn't matter - you don't know what it's like trying to impress somebody…"

Well – she's got that right, I've never really tried to impress anybody.

"...Trying to impress somebody important."

Bingo.

"…Trying to impress somebody… like Proton."

…For fuck's sake!

"What the fuck has possessed you to like somebody like him?!" I snapped at her, trying to grab her frantically in the air.

"I told you." She sniffled at me.

Oh my god! This girl is absolutely pathetic!

"I don't know who you are but Jesus Christ – Proton?"

"You don't know anything about him!" She snapped at me in defence.

"By the sounds of it, neither do you." I retorted. By this time her sniffles had turned into sobs. All of a sudden I heard a kerchunk! and the light of another room flooded the tunnels. The silloette of the girl danced into it and I followed her. I shut the door behind me as I looked around the room – it was just a damp, grey store-room and it was completely empty except for the girl and myself. She looked up at me with spite in her eyes.

"All I need in life is Proton… and Team Rocket." She broke eye contact and sunk onto the floor as she curled up into a small ball.

"Why are you so protective over him?" I asked, trying to walk towards her. She completely ignored me.

"Come on – I'm not going to bite." I carried on – ignored.

"Miss?" I tried again. She looked up at me with bloodshot eyes and finally replied.

"You're a girl aren't you?"

Fuck.

"I – kind of am I, uh, guess?" I started walking back as she looked up in amazement.

"I knew it. No boy would ever take any sort of attention in me." She sunk back again, the pitiful sniffling returning.

"Why wouldn't they?"

"Proton told me."

I am about ready to push this man off a cliff.

I started walking up to her – until I tripped over my over-sized boots. My fall didn't grab her attention so I quickly stumbled back onto my feet.

"I wouldn't listen to Proton if I were you." I reached out to her in an effort to comfort her.

"Why not?" She asked me, avoiding eye contact.

"Why would you?" I grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it to try and subdue her tears.

"Because I…" She looked at me until a loud bang reverberated around the room. Her pupils suddenly narrowed. Her breathing started speeding up. I didn't even turn around as the dread hit me.

"…He's behind me, isn't he?" I managed to cough out, before I felt a rough grip clamp around the back of my neck, pick me up and throw me out of the way. I couldn't do anything but look in horror as I stared at the tall figure leering over the crouching girl.

"What do we have here? I heard rumours about two grunts walking around the tunnels without permission but this is something I didn't expect." Proton chimed at the girl in an ominous tone. His voice still retained its razor-sharp edge that still grinded against my ears. He completely blanked me out as the girl tried her best to reply.

"I ... yeah." She tried to respond but ended up in a flush.

"You've gone behind my back, Kris." His tone started to become a lot more darker. 'Kris', who temporarily stopped crying, started again in a gush of hysterics. I continued to watch in horror as Proton crouched down to level himself against her.

"I-I'm sorry, Proton!" She sobbed at him, trying to hide her face from his piercing gaze by pulling her cap over her eyes.

"What did I say about calling me sir?" He clenched his teeth together and put his face right up against hers, lifting up her cap again.

"S-sorry s-s-ir" She coughed out, still holding onto her cap. She was cornered. The colour drained out of my face and my breathing became as rapid as hers. I wanted to help her, but I wanted to get out of the room and run back home – run into safety. I felt as if I was stuck in a room with a monster. I was stuck in a room with a monster. And I didn't particularly want to be stuck in a room with a monster.

"Kris?" He asked again, his voice becoming ominously soft again.

"Y-Yes Proton?" She managed to reply.

Slap!

"I TOLD YOU to call me sir!" He slapped her across the face with such force she fell across the floor, his tone as vicious as his actions.

I gasped as I stared in horror and started scrambling across the floor towards the door. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Kris." He sighed, rubbing his temples as if he had made a life changing decision. "Who was that boy you were with?" My heart skipped a beat and I scrambled even faster towards the exit. I stumbled out of the door and started to close it with my foot.

"I .. don't know, sir." I heard her reply, before I grimaced at the sound of another slap. I got up as I heard Proton shout at her again.

"What were you even doing in here?! You're supposed to be in Olivine fucking city!"

I didn't want to stick around to hear the consequences, and so I ran as fast as I could. My senses were dazed by the darkness – I couldn't see anything, the dusk smell was still hovering around me and the only noise I could hear was the reverberating footsteps of my boots clanging against the floor. Stopping, I tried to catch my breath again. What have I gotten myself into?

What seemed like hours passed until I reached an exit of the shadowed maze. Thank God. I felt around for the handle and opened it with a creak. I squinted my eyes as the light blinded my vision. It was a lot brighter than the previous room – and once my vision was restored, I noticed that it was considerably larger and that it was filled with a considerably larger amount of people. I hadn't escaped team rocket as the surrounding people were all grunts. I started looking around and noticed that their uniforms fitted perfectly and their hair was all completely identical to one another. I stuck out like a sore thumb. I went to close the door behind me when my heart lurched again. Proton had just burst through the door. I managed to conceal a meep and turned around as quick as possible. I just need to walk away and he won't notice me-

"Oi – you!" He shouted towards my direction.

Crap.

"Me?" I asked in a quiet voice, not turning around.

"Turn around to face me, grunt." He ordered me – his piercing voice scraped against the inside of my ears again. I cautiously turned around and didn't dare to look him in the eyes.

"That's better." He stared at me suspiciously. Oh god! Does he recognise me?! I held my tongue as he continued to eye me up.

"Grunt – Can you explain why your hair is brown and down to your shoulders?" He said in a dry tone which still retained a bit of sarcasm.

"I'm, uh, new." I replied, turning around again to walk off.

That was until he grabbed me by the shoulder.

"Don't walk away from me. You'll have that hair cut and dyed now – or else you may regret it. Got that?" I turned around again and jumped at his facial expression; it was unreadable. A mix between anger, guilt, and pleasure. I hated it. I hated him.

"Yes, sir." I replied, remembering what happened when you didn't call the control freak 'sir'. He let go of my shoulder and stared at me for a while – as if he recognised me – but then shrugged it off and walked off. I let out a sigh of relief and regained my bearings. I should kind of get my hair cut now – wait. I'm not actually joining Team Rocket am I? I'm just here to get my Pokémon back. I don't want to be seen dead or alive with this group of psychopaths anymore.

I started following Proton. If my Team is anywhere in this shit hole, it must be in Proton's office. …If he even has an office.

Other grunts looked at me and my baggy uniform as I started walking down the corridors. They were a stark contrast to the tunnels I had been trying to find my way out of: there was light, wallpaper, floors… it actually looked lived in. Although, the floors were made of metal, which was rather odd. I finally reached Proton's office and stared in through the keyhole. No sign of him anywhere. Bingo.

I reached down for the handle, which was oddly cold, and rammed it open. It's not even locked.

Running into the room, I noticed it was almost identical to the corridors, minus the metal desk in the middle of the floor. I shut the door behind me and walked over to the desk. I grabbed onto one of the drawers and opened it. Nothing. I started desperately searching through the other drawers in hope that I would find something. My hopes died down as I realised my team was not in here. And I had ran out of drawers. I started walking out of the room until I froze in shock – the door handle was moving. I stood as still as a statue until Proton walked in – his face was surprisingly calm until he saw me, in which it turned into a churn of rage.

"You little shi-" He shouted at me, running to try and catch me. I darted out of the way and he ran into the table – winded. My heart thudding, I burst out of the room and started pelting through the corridors again – this time, all of the rockets were looking at me. From the fact that a lot of their gazes were averted to my back, I knew he was behind me. Damn it! What the fuck have I done now?! I gave up hope and ran into the closest room I could, trying to lock the door behind me.

That was until I smelt a familiar, gut-wrenching smell of smoke. Distracted, I turned around and noticed Petrel was sitting in the middle of the room with a puzzled expression; cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth.

"Pet-" I started questioning until the door slammed open, throwing me onto the floor. Petrel looked up at Proton, his expression only becoming even more puzzled. Proton picked me up off the floor, by my neck, and pinned me against the wall. Shit.

"Right – you little shit – what the fuck were you doing in my office?" He snarled at me, his cold eyes burning into my mind. I started spluttering for air – he can't expect me to reply if he's about to make my head pop! I glared right back at him in defiance, my expression trying to shout out a thousand words. That was until a wide grin stretched over his face.

"Oh. How hilarious – you're Elizabeth!" he spat at me, letting go of my neck. I slid down the wall and landed on the floor, pouting. Damn it Elizabeth! You're in for it now! My trail of panic was interrupted as Petrel finally spoke.

"El…izabeth?" He repeated, taking the cigarette out of his mouth as he stared at me in confusion. I rolled my eyes and looked up towards Proton again, who was now seemingly trying to laugh but was finding it impossible.

"Lizzy, Lizzy, Lizzy. You've just made everything a whole lot more interesting, you know." He chimed at me, his face still seemingly possessed by a maniac who had just won the lottery.

"Good". I spat, trying to act confident, when in reality I was on the verge of crying. He squatted down to level himself with me.

"Elizabeth?" Petrel carried on asking himself, looking as if a bomb had just dropped on top of him. "Izabeth? Elizabeth?"

"Oh, shut up Pet." He snapped at the confused executive, not averting his glare from me.

"That's Eliot. That boy is Eliot." He replied, sitting down on his chair in exasperation.

"Pet – please don't tell me that the master of disguise is blind to the fact that this little shit is a girl." Proton replied, turning away from me. I took that opportunity to inch away from him: until he grabbed hold of my neck again.

"Where do you think you're going Lizzy?"

I wish this idiot would stop asking me questions when I can't talk back.

"Pro – let the …girl… talk." Petrel intervened, standing up as Proton glared daggers back up at him.

"I suppose you're responsible for this, Pet." Proton asked with an edge of malice.

"Listen, the ...girl… wanted in. I'm a nice guy, I let hi- her in." The older man replied, shrugging his shoulders as he walked over to the front of his desk.

"Whatever." Proton tried to calm down as Petrel leaned on the side of his desk, a pondering expression plastered on his face. "We can't exactly let her go."

"Why not?" Petrel replied, stubbing out his cigarette on the desk

"Because I said so!" Proton snapped back in response. "Right, Lizzy, you're staying here. If you even dare fight back, or even step out of line - you are going to regret ever getting wrapped up in our affairs".

I already did regret getting wrapped up in their affairs. Proton let go of my neck and stood up.

"I'll get a uniform for you tomorrow, and I'll have you taken to get a decent hair cut. Oh, and you're going to join my division - won't that be fun?" he growled at me, lilting the last words as he waltzed out of the room. The door slammed and I looked at Petrel, who was already looking at me.

"El... izabeth?" he asked again to clarify.

"Elizabeth." I replied, a strange smile formed as I did so.

Well, at least I'm not dead... yet.

Soooo Elizabeth got found out! Things should get interesting now. Also, sorry if the last part makes no sense, I'm writing it on my kindle at the moment!

Again, sorry this chapter took so long!