PART TWELVE – THE RUNAWAY ROCKETS

Dawn had arrived. The sun rose over the top of Mount Moon as rays of red early morning light shot down to the valley below. In the valley, two young trainers sat at a picnic table and watched with a hint of apprehension as their companion approached Michael slowly, then gave him a big hug. "It's good to see you again, big brother." Katastrophie said quietly.

Michael smiled. It had been almost a year since his father had volunteered to turn his Victreebell over to Giovanni so that his daughter Kat could go free, released from the Team and able to rejoin the two friends she had left behind when she had been forced to return. On the day she had left, Michael had given her a specially coded transmitter that only he had known about, a means of being able to contact each other from time to time. The Red Rocket had intended to use it to check up on his sister at least once a month, and had told his parents of that intention, but life and missions had made it almost impossible. Fortunately, the transmitter had not been lost or damaged, and Michael had been able to arrange the meeting with Kat in a valley just outside Cerulean City fairly easily. "It's great to see you again as well, Kat. These guys treating you all right?" he asked, motioning at Kyle and Lunia. Kyle, the son of Ash and Misty Ketchum, looked at Michael with quiet caution. The last time he had seen this guy, Kat had left. Lunia Oak stared at her friend's older brother as well, wondering what exactly was going on this time.

"They're great." Kat smiled. She noticed the weariness in Michael's eyes, and was suddenly filled with concern. "What have you come for, Michael? I can tell something's wrong." She asked apprehensively.

"Kat, there's a matter I need your help with." Michael began

Kat's eyes widened, and she backed away shaking her head. "No… no, Michael. If it's Team business, no. I- I'm not going back." Kyle's eyes narrowed, and he rose up from the bench. Lunia tried to grab his arm and pull him back down, but the stubborn trainer brushed her away and marched to Kat's side.

"She's not leaving again, Red." Kyle said protectively, draping his arm around Kat's shoulders.

Michael glared at him for a second, then his expression softened. "You care for my sister." He said softly.

Kyle's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I do."

Michael smiled. "I'm glad." He then turned his eyes back to Kat, giving her the look that she knew all too well. "Kat, I'm not asking you to come back to the Team." He said.

"What, then?" Kat asked, somewhat relieved.

Michael turned and motioned to the car they had arrived in. Jessie, James, and Constance climbed out, followed by an unfamiliar woman with long brown hair. A tiny baby was nestled in the woman's arms. At the sight of her parents, Kat's face broke out in a huge smile, and Kyle visibly tensed. These were the enemies his parents had told him about many a time. "Daddy! Mom!" Kat said as she ran to James and Jessie with tears of joy in her eyes. She hugged them both tightly, and smiled at Constance. Kat then turned to the other woman, who regarded her with a quiet smile. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met." She said cordially, extending her hand. "I'm Katastrophie- er, Kat, Morgan."

Annie smiled. "Actually, Kat, we have met once before briefly, but I doubt you'd remember." She extended her own hand and gripped Kat's firmly. "Annie Masterson." She said simply.

Kat smiled and nodded. "Nice to meet…" she began, the stopped. Her eyes widened, and her face paled. "M- M- Masterson?" she stammered. She yanked her hand away and ran to where Kyle stood. This was an enemy to her family greater than any other. "Michael, are you crazy??? That's Annie Masterson!"

Michael put a steadying hand on Kat's shoulder as Kyle held her hand and stared at Michael and Annie, angry and confused. "I know, Kat, I know."

"Michael! She hates dad! She'll kill us all!" Kat trembled, memories of her parent's stories about Masterson flooding back to her.

Lunia heard this and ran to her friend's side. "You brought a killer here?!" she said in furious disbelief.

"It's a long story…" Michael began. He led the group to the table, and the whole story came out, from start to finish. Kat couldn't believe what she was hearing in the end. "Giovanni's dead?" she whispered in disbelief.

"Has to be." Annie said. "Point blank range, bullet through his back… I probably severed the bastard's spinal cord." Her tone was not proud, as it would have once been. Now, it was the tone of a determined mother who had only done what was needed.

"You saved my family." Kat said. Annie nodded. "But you hate them."

Annie looked at her solemnly. "I've bled all that away."

Kat looked at her, far more ready to believe the former Red Rocket than her brother had been. "But where do we fit in?" she asked.

Constance looked at her. "Kat, if Annie stays in one place, she and Cherish will be in danger. Team Rocket has standing orders to stay away from you and your friends. What we want to know, what we're asking-" Constance paused, and looked to Michael.

"Is if Annie can travel with you." Michael finished. Lunia and Kyle's eyes widened, and they looked to Kat.

"Please." Annie said, her eyes begging for the mercy and help of a Morgan once again.

"What do you think?" Kat asked her friends.

"It's your call, Kat. If you think she can be trusted, It's your decision." Lunia said.

"Kyle?" Kat asked.

"A baby…" Kyle said. "I don't know if we're ready…" he began.

"What?" Kat asked.

Kyle's face flushed. "Uh, I mean able to take care of one." He finished quickly.

"I can take care of my baby." Annie said, rocking Cherish. "But I have no place to go, and nobody to go with."

Kat looked at Kyle, whose eyes revealed that this was Kat's decision. "You do now." She said quietly to Annie.

A tear rolled down Annie's cheek. "Thank you." She whispered to Kat. Then she turned to Michael, Constance, Jessie, and James. "You saved me." She said quietly. She shook Michael's hand, and this time there was no doubt in his handshake. Annie turned next to Constance. "You have a very special partner. "Don't let him go."

Constance smiled. "I have no intention."

"Thank you." Annie smiled as she shook hands with Constance. Annie turned to Meowth next. "Take care, cat." She said simply.

"You take care of dat kid." The Pokemon said, winking at the former Red. Annie straightened up and looked at Jessie. "Agent Jessica Morgan." She said.

Jessie looked at her with softened eyes far removed from the look she had used when Annie had first knocked on her door just yesterday. "Enjoy being a mother." Jessie said softly. "It's a great thing."

"Thank you." Annie said. "I hope I do as good a job as you have."

"You'll do fine." Jessie said sincerely.

Finally Annie turned to her former enemy. "Well, James, I- God, I don't even know what to say."

James smiled at the very person who had tried to kill him twice before. "You don't have to say anything, Annie."

Annie looked at him, humbled. "Thank you. Thank you so much." She said quietly as she reached out her hand. James shook her hand for a second, then Annie pulled him close and whispered in his ear, "God bless you, James Morgan."

With that, Annie turned away and walked to where her new companions stood. "Where to?" she asked them.

The three looked at each other. "Cerulean." Kyle replied simply. Annie nodded, and the group walked slowly away. James waved after them then slowly lowered his hand as his wife and son gathered around him.

"Dad?" Michael asked.

"Hmm?" James replied.

"What did she say to you just now?"

"Oh, nothing… Nothing at all." James replied with a twinkle in his eye.

The group trudged back to the car and drove away, each one anxious to get back to the cabin and get some well-earned sleep.

EPILOGUE – RETURN OF THE GREEN BRANCH

Domino sat on the chair in the hallway, occasionally rubbing her sore, bandaged head. Finally, the double doors swung open, and Green Branch Rocket Dr. Jason Calhoun emerged. "Well?" she barked impatiently.

"Success, Mistress Domino." Calhoun replied. "He'll live." Calhoun's voice was hiding something. Domino detected it instantly.

"But?" she persisted.

Calhoun nervously shifted from one foot to the other. "The bullet nicked part of the spinal cord. I'm afraid he'll be paralyzed from the waist down, and confined to a wheelchair."

Domino's face clouded, then cleared. "That won't keep him down." She said determinedly.

Calhoun nodded. "He's on a lot of painkillers and he's kind of in and out at times, but you can go see him if you want."

Domino rose without a word and marched through the double doors. Under a single bulb sat a hospital bed where Giovanni lay, his face tight with anger and determination. He looked so different now… in a hospital-style gown rather than his usual suit. His hair was mussed, and Domino used her hand to smooth it down. "Domino?" Giovanni asked. His voice was thick, and it was obvious the painkillers were kicking in.

"Yes, sir?" she asked, leaning close to his face.

"Domino… this… is… not… over." Giovanni said as he slumped back, falling into the blackness of unconsciousness.

"No. No, it most certainly is not." Domino said darkly. The Master Class Red Rocket pulled her trademark pink cap down low over her eyes, shadowing them as she walked out of the room, leaving her wounded employer to his rest.

THE END

NOTE: Domino's lullaby is a slightly re-worded excerpt of the song "The World is Wrong (and I'm So Right)" Music and lyrics Copyright © 1995 & 1996 Aaron Milenski and Steve Bechard and recorded by the Palindromes.