An hour later, Jessie was still laying tiredly on the sofa. The sound of rain pelting against the window pane was somehow relaxing; the ongoing beat seemed to have an almost hypnotic effect. Jessie lay in a sleepy daze, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep and wake up to find that the nightmare was finally over, or perhaps had just been a long dream. Lana had come and cleaned the cuts on her hands and knees earlier, before going back to tend to James.
Jessie was perfectly content with being left alone. The truth was that the last thing she wanted at the moment was to be in the same room with her partner. She loved him dearly and the fear of losing him was making her sick, but she didn't want to go in there. She felt drained, both physically and emotionally, and now that someone Jessie had confidence in was looking after James she simply didn't want to deal with it anymore. She felt tired beyond endurance, and all she wanted was for her body to be merciful enough to let her go to sleep.
"I'm so selfish..." she thought, through her closed eyelids. "He's sick and frightened and possibly DYING and all I care about is going to sleep..."
Jessie rolled over uncomfortably as a new thought began to form in her mind. "But then I've always been selfish, haven't I? I've always put myself first..."
A few minutes later, Lana came in and found Jessie in tears.
"This is all my fault!" Jessie told her. "It's all because of my selfishness that James is suffering now, it's all my fault!"
"How could this possibly be your fault?" Lana said gently. "You didn't do this to him; you're not to blame."
"But I am!" Jessie cried. "I've always put myself first, never thinking of James. I've been so hard on him ever since we started trying to catch that blasted Pikachu... as if it MATTERED! I tried to become a hardened Rocket and forget that I was a human being... I was so concerned with Team Rocket's success that I couldn't see past my own uniform. Don't you see? When James started taking those pills I didn't even QUESTION what they were or what Giovanni was doing! I put the success of our mission before the life of my best friend and partner, and for that it should be ME suffering now, not James!"
"Giovanni was your boss; you trusted him," Lana pointed out. "So did I, and that's a mistake that we and a lot of other people are going to have to live with. But blaming yourself isn't going to help James, and he's what you need to concentrate on..."
"But I should have known," Jessie whispered. "Team Rocket sent my own mother to her death, why didn't I think they would do the same to James?"
"I can't take away the doubts you have inside yourself," Lana said, sitting down next to her. "But I can tell you that there's a young man in the next room who needs you; who loves you more than anything, and that's got to count for something."
"How do you know that?" Jessie asked.
"He told me," Lana smiled. "He's been asking for you for quite some time. Well, until the drug took affect anyway. Then he started talking as if you were there. He loves you very much, that's obvious..."
Jessie smiled. "How's he doing?"
"A lot better, now that the medication's in his system. He's a bit out of touch with reality, but at least he's not in pain anymore."
"Out of touch?" Jessie asked. "He's not seeing Jessiebelle or things crawling on him again, is he?"
Lana smiled. "No, I think for a while he was seeing you. He was talking as if you were there."
"Really?"
Lana nodded. "I don't know what he sees now, he doesn't say anything. But he responds when I talk to him, and if you take his hand he'll squeeze yours back."
Jessie smiled, before tears clouded her eyes again. "Please don't let him die, Lana," she whispered. "Whatever it takes, don't let him die!"
. . . . . .
The pleasant smell of Lana's vaporizer filled Jessie's nostrils as she entered the bedroom. James had a vacant, dazed expression on his face as she sat down on his bed. He didn't seem to notice her arrival, but when she took his hand in her own he tightened his hold, just as Lana had said he would. He seemed to be miles away, as if his mind had taken him somewhere where pain and misery could not touch him. Jessie truly hoped that was true.
"Where are you?" she asked, not really expecting an answer.
"Far away," he said softly.
"Where?" Jessie pressed gently, hoping to delve a bit into his psyche and somehow bring herself closer to wherever it was he was.
"Over the sky," he murmured. "Beyond the clouds, the rain... I want... to fly away..."
"Fly away?"
"I want... to be free..."
"Free..." Jessie repeated, trying to envision his words.
"Away from the others... from everything. I just want... peace..."
"Me too," Jessie whispered, combing her fingers through his hair.
"I wish..."
"Wish what?" Jessie asked, when he didn't continue.
"My parents... and... grandparents... and friends..."
"What about them?" Jessie urged him on.
"I love them all... but there's no one there like me. I need... I want... someone to understand me. I just want to be happy... I just want... peace..."
For a moment he seem to lose consciousness, and Jessie feared he was slipping away completely. She screamed for Lana, who rushed in to attend to him.
"It's all right, Jessie," she assured her after a moment. "It's just the medication, he's not..." Lana stopped, deciding that "dying" was the last word Jessie needed to hear. "Listen, I need to get some supplies from the HQ supply room. I'll be back in a while, all right?"
Jessie nodded, wiping her panic-driven tears away with her free hand. Her brain had become a broken record, stuck on the three words she most needed to hear. "He's all right, he's all right, he's all right, he's all right..."
She felt James squeeze her hand tightly.
"Jessie..." he said softly.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Please don't make me marry Jessiebelle. I want to be with you."
Jessie burst into tears.
"Don't you see?" he whispered. "We're the same, you and I... I always thought you wanted it too... to fly away... just like me..."
Jessie stopped crying and looked at him.
"Jessie... my dream... is for us to fly away together. Just you and me..."
Jessie's tears clouded her vision as she touched her lips to his. "We will," she promised, overwhelmed with emotion. "Someday we'll fly away together, James... just you and me..."
. . . . . .
Lana found the supply room crowded with people. Just as she had witnessed in the labs and Jessie had seen the laundry room, the agents were exchanging rumors about the odd things that had been happening in Team Rocket recently. Several of them were gathered around a red-haired grunt named Annie, who was sitting on a table gossiping about what was now being referred to by the crowd as "The Agatha Situation."
"Poor Aggie," she said, shaking her head. "The boss had my team-"
"YOUR team???" mocked a male grunt standing near her.
"OUR team," she amended, adjusting her black cap. "The boss had our team drag his dead carcass right outta their balloon, while she just stood there and wailed her head off."
"Like a banshee," her partner agreed. "Ain't her first time losing a partner, either."
"That's nothing," remarked a female Rocket leaning against the wall. "Everybody knows about crazy Aggie by now. But did you hear about what happened to Bonnie and Clyde?"
"No, what?" asked several voices, one of whom Lana recognized to be Cassidy's. She couldn't see Cassidy in the crowd, but sure enough Lana saw her partner Butch gathering supplies at the other end of the room. Despite his disinterested appearance, he (like every other Rocket in the room) had an ear out waiting for the woman to speak.
"She killed him," she finally said, fingering the black flower she was holding. "Says he tried to rape her."
"No!" several people gasped at once.
The Rocket removed her cap and set it on the table, before giving Annie a rude shove off. Annie grumbled something under her breath, but quickly gave way to her senior. Domino was not a Rocket to be messed with.
Lana knew her, practically everyone in the organization did. It was no secret that the pretty rocket Domino had the boss's ear, and she was usually one of the first people to know what was going down in the organization. Her hair was about the same color as Cassidy's, and there was a rumor floating around that the two were related; although Lana personally doubted it. She styled her hair similar to Jessiebelle's, but Lana had no knowledge of Jessiebelle to know this. Domino wore an alternately styled version of the standard female Rocket uniform Cassidy wore; with a white skirt instead of black, and a red and white cap.
"The Boss gave her a promotion yesterday," the Domino continued. "I heard she got transferred to a training base in the Johto region."
"I didn't know we had a base there..." Annie's partner commented.
"Of course we do, idiot!" Annie snapped crossly, sore over losing her seat as well as her audience. Although the truth was she hadn't known it either. Their team had never been assigned outside of the Kanto region. Cassidy just stared at the young man, disgusted by his obvious ignorance.
"Well, if all I gotta do to get a promotion is kill my partner, it's as good as done!" Annie snickered.
"Aw shut up, Annie!" her partner whined, staring at the ground. He didn't know which was worse, Annie's comments or Cassidy's icy, superior stare. Of course he could say nothing to Cassidy, who outranked him, but he could at least tell Annie to shut her trap. Like it would do any good.
"Maybe Aggie offed hers," Domino suggested darkly.
There was a collective hush as her suggestion sunk in.
"Nah, she couldn't have done that," Annie said finally. "She cried like a baby when we dragged him out. Besides, weren't they getting married this summer?"
"Well, Bonnie and Clyde sure weren't!" Domino said, laughing. "Hell, I never knew Clyde had it in him! Half of Team Rocket thought he was gay, anyway. But has anybody seen Mondo lately?"
"He might have went with Jessie and that loser partner of hers," said Cassidy. "I haven't seen them around here for a few days, either. They're probably off chasing that brat with the Pikachu again."
The group laughed. "Think they'll ever get it?" someone asked.
"Those losers couldn't catch a cold!" Cassidy replied, producing another round of laughter from the crowd.
Lana was silent as she gathered supplies, hoping no one would notice her. It was common knowledge that Giovanni had sent Agatha to her after the removal of her partner's body, and last thing Lana needed was to be delayed by a bunch of nosey, low-class Rockets playing 20 questions. After she had filled the box she was carrying and grabbed several rain ponchos, she took a cooler from the shelf and made a mad dash for the door. Thunder suddenly echoed through the building, startling Butch and causing him to drop the box he was carrying right on his foot. Lana could hear his swearing from half way down the hall, followed by Annie wailing, "Aw, I don't wanna go out in this shit! And on a Saturday, too!"
. . . . . .
Jessie smiled at the soft sighs and contented moans that escaped her partner's lips as she stroked his hair. She had snuggled into bed with him earlier, where he had rolled on top of her and drifted into a semi-sleep. It was a compromising-looking position to say the least. Her legs and arms were wrapped around him protectively; while he had burrowed his nose into her shirt, forming a path between her breasts where his head now lay.
"Well, he sure looks comfortable!" Lana commented, coming into the room.
Jessie blushed. "I didn't realize you were back yet," she said, hoping she didn't sound as embarrassed as she felt.
"I got back over ten minutes ago," Lana replied. "Didn't you hear me come in?"
"No, I guess not."
"I've been sorting the supplies in the other room," Lana said, setting down the box she was holding. "Now we just need to get everything packed."
"Let me help you," Jessie said, trying to squirm out from underneath her partner.
James moaned and tightened his hold against her. "My Jessie..."
Lana laughed. "Don't worry about me, I think you're more urgently needed elsewhere!"
Jessie's blush deepened, but she settled back into place as James relaxed against her again. "Did you get what you needed?" she asked.
"Yeah, we should be all set to go."
Their conversation was halted by the sound of the front door slamming.
"Meowth hates water! Especially WET water!!!"
"I've never seen so much rain!" Mondo's voice exclaimed from the next room. "I was afraid we'd be struck by lightning!"
Jessie attempted to get up again, but this time James started to whimper, so she again reluctantly settled back into place.
"Miss Jessie, are you okay?" Mondo asked, coming into the room.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you find a place for us to-"
Mondo sneezed violently, cutting her off.
"You'd better get out of those wet clothes," Lana advised.
Mondo nodded. "I'll get another uniform from my room-"
"No!" Meowth said, so suddenly that even James opened his eyes and took notice. "Don't you rememba da plan? No uniforms!"
"Oh, right," Mondo said apologetically. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
"But bring one to PACK!" Meowth called as he left. "Don't forget da plan!"
Jessie meant to question Meowth about "da plan," but before she could get a word out he yelled; "Whadda ya all laying around for?! We gotta get movin'!"
"Now?!" Jessie protested, as the rain beat against the window pane. "We'd need Noah's ark to go out in this!"
"Meowth's right," Lana told her. "We have to get you two out of here, and we need to get James to those medical supplies." She turned to Meowth. "Did you unpack them when you found a place for us to go?"
Meowth nodded. "Everything's all set up an' waitin' for him."
"You're coming with us?" Jessie asked Lana.
"That's right," Lana said. "Start packing your and James' clothes, but leave all your Team Rocket uniforms here. Meowth, take these supplies and get them packed on the balloon. I'll get James ready to go."
"Getting James ready to go" wasn't as easy as it sounded. First they had to pry him off of Jessie, which was not an easy task; followed by trying to calm his crying once they had succeeded. Lana gave him another dose of medication as Jessie went to the bathroom to change out of her Team Rocket uniform.
By the time Jessie had changed into a sleeveless shirt and miniskirt, Mondo had returned, carrying a uniform under his arm.
"Why did Meowth tell you to bring a uniform?" Jessie asked.
"It's part of the plan," Mondo answered, hoping he wasn't blushing as he stared at her legs. "I need it for the return trip."
"Return trip?"
Mondo threw his uniform in the suitcase Lana had just opened and said quickly, "Nevermind, I'd better go help Meowth!" and ran off before Jessie could ask him anymore questions.
"Well, at least we don't have to pack any dishes," Lana commented, with a sideways glance at Jessie.
Jessie blushed a little and said nothing. She got the point.
This time Jessie didn't mind in the least having Lana help her dress James. In fact, she was grateful for the help. She found that slipping a pair of pajamas on someone was a lot easier than trying to get them fully clothed, especially when having to bundle them against the weather.
After they had gotten James ready, they bundled themselves into suitable rain gear and started packing. James, Lana, and Mondo wore the dark green rain ponchos Lana had brought from the supply room. Jessie wore her own red one, and Meowth had his own little yellow rain coat and matching hat. Although they were now in civilian clothes, Jessie and Mondo still wore their Team Rocket boots. They had put James' yellow rain boots on him, and Jessie had offered hers to Lana.
Lana tried them on and found that they were too small for her, so she remained in her (rather uncomfortable) green high-heels. No one paid much attention when she removed her lab coat and hung it in the closet, after checking to make sure the key in the pocket was still there.
James laid on the bed and watched while Lana and Jessie packed everything, and Mondo ran back and forth carrying everything out. He and Meowth had assembled a large net under the balloon to carry everything.
"Everything's going to get all wet," Mondo said, as he and Meowth walked back in.
"Can't be helped," the Pokémon replied. "At least we got da medical supplies there already."
Meowth picked up a box and Mondo grabbed more suitcases from the pile Jessie and Lana had waiting for them to take out.
For a while James didn't understand what they were doing, but once Jessie explained to him that they were "moving," he begin "helping" by suggesting things to bring.
"Don't forget our beds, Jess, or we won't have any place to sleep. And what about the refrigerator? We can't forget the refrigerator!"
"It's too big to take in the balloon, James," Jessie said, trying to be patient with him. "And so are the beds. Besides, they belong to Team Rocket, remember? All the furniture was already here when we moved in."
After a while James began to try Jessie's patience when he started crying that they would forget his things. "Jessie, did you pack all my photos? You won't forget them, will you? What about my clothes, did you pack those? What about the things in my drawer?"
Jessie attempted to calmly assure him that they wouldn't forget any of his belongings, but when he finally asked "Jessie, you won't forget ME, will you? You won't leave me behind?" her patience was spent. She slammed her suitcase shut and shouted,
"No, James! We're not leaving your stuff and we're not leaving YOU, so stop being stupid!"
James' lip began to quiver, and Jessie instantly felt guilty. She sighed and went over to him, hugging him tightly.
"I would never forget you, don't you know that? I will NEVER leave you, ever."
"The rain's stopped," Mondo announced, coming in. "Once we get everything loaded, we'll be ready to go."
"We're almost finished here," Lana said, handing him another box. "Are you sure the net will support all this weight?"
"Positive," said Meowth coming in. "We've carried heavier stuff den just a few boxes an' suitcases. Why, one time we-"
"Shut your Meowth and get moving!" Jessie said, thrusting a box in his arms. "We can reminisce later!"
Mondo laughed at this, but Lana soon loaded him with boxes and sent him out again too.
When everything was carried out, Lana and Jessie got on either side of James and helped him to rise, and supported him as they slowly walked him out. Mondo locked the door behind them.
. . . . . .
"So where are we going, anyway?" Jessie asked, once they were in the air. "It didn't take you very long to find a place for us to go."
Meowth and Mondo exchanged glances, but said nothing.
"What is it?" Jessie asked suspiciously.
Meowth laughed nervously. "Ya'll never guess who we ran into when we landed- OW!"
"Mondo!" Jessie scolded. Meowth had said "OW!" because Mondo had kicked him. "What's going on here?"
"We've arranged for you to stay at a nice a little cottage just outside of a small island town," Mondo said. "It's got electricity and running water, so you should be comfortable there."
"So what's the problem?" Jessie asked.
"Well..." Mondo said slowly, "You're not going to like who we have to thank for this..."
"Huh? Who?"
Meowth and Mondo looked at each other, before Mondo replied,
"Ash Ketchum."
"WHAT?!"
"When Me-owth told 'em about happened to yous two, dat kid got some friend 'a his to let you use his cottage," Meowth said. "He and the other twerps even helped us move all the stuff in the balloon there so we could come an' get ya faster."
"They did that for us? After everything that we..." Jessie sat down next James, completely bemused. The last time they had confronted Ash and his group, James had fired a bazooka at them; and had almost succeeded in blowing Ash to kingdom come. She was at a loss for words, contemplating the generosity of her "enemy."
"Well, dare's a miracle!" Meowth laughed after a moment. "Jessie's speechless! Meowth never t'ought he'd live ta see the day!"
Jessie meant to give him a sharp reply, but Lana spoke first.
"Look at that!" Lana said, pointing to the west.
Jessie got to her feet. Enormous gray clouds were approaching their direction.
"Looks like the storm isn't over after all," said Mondo.
Lana nodded. "This must be the eye of the storm."
"Do you think we can get there before it starts up again?" Jessie asked Mondo.
"I don't know, Miss Jessie. But we'll have to try."
Sure enough, it was drizzling five minutes later. Meowth had put his rain hat back on, and everyone else had the hoods of their rain ponchos pulled over their heads. Everyone, that is, except Jessie. She stood with her hair blowing in the wind, staring at the oncoming storm as if she were willing it to stay away.
"Please let us make it there safely... Please rain, just wait until we get there..."
Despite her silent prayer, the drizzle soon become a downpour, and a heavy wind began to kick up.
"My HAAAAAT!" Meowth wailed, as the wind blew it off his head and out into the great unknown. A roll of thunder answered his cry, followed by a flash of lightning.
"We're going to have to land this thing!" Lana yelled over the next thunderclap.
"We can't!" Mondo cried. "There's no place to land, we're over the ocean!"
James began to cry, and Mondo soon followed suit.
"Stop it!" Jessie shouted. "We've to stay ca-"
The thunder cut her off, and soon they were no longer able to hear each other over the howling wind. Soon the balloon was out of control and completely at the mercy of the raging wind. The five terrified individuals in the basket huddled together for dear life. James was screaming.
"We're almost there!" Mondo yelled, seeing over the side of balloon that they were already over land when the wind almost knocked him out of it. But no one heard him. Suddenly the basket tipped over, spilling James and then Jessie after him out of the balloon.
"JESSIEEEEE!" Mondo wailed, clinging to the basket. The balloon tipped again, and the last thing Mondo saw through the blinding rain was Lana hanging over the side of basket with Meowth clinging to her for dear life. Then with a scream they too were gone.
