*The Price Of Love: Part Three*
*By: JLJ*
*Warning: Violence, gore, angst, and extreme shippyness..you've been warned!^_^*
*Summary: Coping with great loss....:(*
*************************************************************************
***
Hearts pounding, the trio raced past the rows of deserted dorm rooms reserved for Rocket members. The halls were completely silent except for the scuffling of their feet and their ragged breathing.
"You guys, the cafeteria around back is the closest way out of here." James stated, weakly. His skin was going paler every second, a stark contrast to the crimson red blood staining his uniform. He needed medical help..and soon.
They dashed around the corner, the cafeteria's doors in plain sight. Charging head-on like a speeding train, James and Butch both slammed into the door, without even bothering to turn the knob first. With a loud crash, it broke open.
Jessie cringed at the sound. "So much for us making a quiet getaway.." she said in a loud whisper, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She would have liked to beat them over the head with her mallet, but now was definetely not the time.
Dodging tables and chairs, they rushed toward the door which would take them outdoors..and to freedom. Butch jiggled the handle, and found it locked. "No!" He yelled as he pounded the heavy door with his fist.
Shouts could be heard from the hall, coming closer every second. The group stood, frozen by fear that chilled them to the bone. Butch was the first to snap out of his state of paralysis and he began edging back to break down the door. Having been the cause of death of his two close friends, he could not bear to have Jessie and James die as well. Especially not after all they'd been through.
Butch threw all his weight against the door. It creaked slightly, but it did not budge an inch. "Help me you guys.." he gasped. "We don't have much time.." If they didn't hurry, Giovanni's bodyguards would quickly have them surrounded and all would be lost.
The three of them backed up and ran at the door full-force. The door shook and came halfway off its hinges. Jessie let out a sharp cry, as she had accidentally jostled her wrist.
"Are you ok, Jessie?" James asked worriedly. Butch could see the pain in her bright blue eyes. Jessie only shrugged it off, but he still knew it must hurt like the dickens.
"I'll be fine...." Jessie replied through clenched teeth. "We're almost through..just one more time!" She steadied herself for another run, holding her wrist protectively close to her.
They used every last bit of strength they had left as they slammed into the door. The hinges snapped and the door fell with a thud. Their relief was short-lived because just then the bodyguards rounded the corner into the cafeteria.
"There they go, men! Don't let them get away!" Sgt. Pegg roared to his men. Butch, Jessie and James dove through the door, barely missing the shower of bullets sent in their direction. Butch saw one whiz dangerously close to James' head.
"You guys! Over here!" They heard Mondo cry from the air balloon. It was resting in the center of the field, ready to go. He frantically motioned to them by flailing his arms wildly.
They sped across the open field, dodging many precariously located Diglett holes along the way. One wrong step could cause them to stumble, and they would be done for. A few-near trips later, Jessie reached the Balloon with Butch and James several yards behind.
Mondo's eyes quickly scanned the tattered party, then he gasped as he turned to Jessie. He looked into her terrified eyes and only asked one word. "Meowth?" Jessie hung her head and gazed down at the floor. Her silence held the answer. Mondo's lower lip quivered, but he refused to let any tears fall.
James was almost there, a few feet from the balloon, when he suddenly was overcome by a terrible wave of dizziness that sent him reeling to the ground.
Butch had totally been oblivious to the fact James had fallen, and reached the balloon safely, his lungs gasping for more air.
"JAMES!!!" Jessie helplessly watched on, her eyes bugged out in horror.
Using his last ounce of strength, James wearily dug into his pants pocket and pulled out his pokéball. His finger pushed the small button on the ball, and it opened. With a flash of light, out came Wheezing.
"WHEEZING?!?" The dour faced poison poké took on a even more severe look of worry and fear at a glance of James' crumpled form.
"Wheezing....smoke...screen..." James lost consciousness.
Wheezing quickly obeyed, seeing his master did not have much time left. He let out a thick cloud of black smoke, blinding and filling the lungs of Sgt. Pegg's men. They dropped their cocked guns in an attempt to breathe.
Butch ran to James, and quickly scooped up his fragile friend's body. He just prayed that he wasn't too late.
The air balloon slowly lifted off the ground, leaving Sgt Pegg and his men behind on the ground, still trying to clear the smoke out of their eyes.
"You FOOLS!" Sgt Pegg spat at them. "You let them get away..you pathetic excuses for soldiers!" He then turned and watched as the air balloon disappeared into the distance.
"You won't escape that easily from me..." he curled his lip into a snarl. He angrily shook his fist at the silholette on the horizon, then motioned to his men. "Come! No one escapes from Team Rocket!"
***
Butch watched as Team Rocket Headquarters slowly faded on the horizon. "So many memories there..." he thought with a sad nostalgia . It had been his life and home for the last several years. Now that they could no longer stay there, what would happen to them? Where would they go? He slowly sat down, looking down at the floor with his back against the wall of the basket, his guilt overwhelming him.
Meanwhile, Mondo was serving as sort of an makeshift nurse for the injured trio. James had regained consciousness earlier, so he was now slowly and painfully slid off his tattered white top. It had been totally shredded by Persian's attacks. Then he winced as he pulled off what was left of his black t-shirt. Mondo and Jessie gasped as they saw the deep bloody furrows on his chest and back.
"Oh, James..." Mondo said with great sympathy, his eyes watery. "What did they do to you?" He pulled a clean white cloth out of the First Aid kit he had brought. He soaked it in strong-smelling disinfectant.
"It was Persian..I wasn't watching close enough and it attacked.." James whimpered softly as Mondo carefully cleaned his wounds. Jessie who was sitting next to James, tenderly laid his head on her shoulder, while gently stroking his lavender hair. "That was very brave of you James.." she said it simply, but meant every word.
Mondo finished bandaging James' back and chest. "It should be ok, if you don't move it too much. Luckily, none of the scratches were deep enough to need stitches... Who's next?" his eyes shifted from Jessie to Butch, who was looking despondent in the corner.
Butch roused from his gloomy thoughts and stated matter-of-fact, "You better help Jessie first..don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Its my fault that she's hurt in the first place...."
Jessie could sense his great despair. "Butch..we don't blame you for what has happened! It's not your fault!" She looked at him with genuine concern on her face.
"What do you mean 'It's not my fault'? Yes, it IS my fault." Butch looked up, meeting her gaze. His great anguish and grief was shown clearly in his eyes as his voice grew in volume and pitch as he began to bitterly rant.
"Meowth and Cassidy are dead because of me! I acted like a idiot, thinking I could to stop the Boss. It was stupid! Why didn't you just let me die!?! Why did you guys interfere? I deserved to die! Not Meowth! Not Cass!!! I killed them! Do you hear me??? THEY ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF ME!!!!" he broke down into sobs as he dropped his head in despair, covering his face with shaking hands.
Butch slowly began again, his voice still cracking from emotion. "Cassidy...why did she do that? Why did she sacrifice herself to save me? I...I..loved her...but I never got to tell her...and now I never will..." he fell hopelessly silent.
Mondo, Jessie and James sat there, speechless. They really didn't know what to say to comfort him.
James shakily stood and stared out at the horizon, as if looking for something specific. Since Butch refused any medical help, Mondo next began to wrap Jessie's broken wrist. The best they could really do is set a splint and hope that her wrist would heal correctly, until they could find someone who could help them.
Mondo finished the splint and looked at Jessie nervously. "Are you ok? Are you in much pain?" Mondo had nursed a bit of a crush on Jessie. He admired her bravery and her ability to put him and James in their places. Mondo knew that she secretly cared for James, but he would do whatever he could to make things easier for her. Even so, he selfishly wished that she loved him instead of James. But he would always be there for her.
"No, I feel better. Thank you.." Jessie gave him a reassuring smile. It was then that Mondo realized he was still holding her hand.
Mondo blushed slightly and let go. He turned back to his Med kit and packed it up, still casting a few worried glances at Butch. He was mournfully gazing down at the floor.
"Um..Butch?" he began timidly.
"Yes..? What is it?" Butch looked up.
"I need to tell you something.." but Mondo never got a chance to finish.
"You guys..we're here!" James shouted from his lookout post. Jessie and Mondo quickly jumped up and hurried and looked over the side of the balloon.
"Yes..this is the place." Jessie said with relief. They began the descent of the balloon in a clearing.
"Where are we?" Butch asked, his eyes scanning the forest around them.
"We're smack dab in the depths of Viridian Forest.. the Boss and his stupid goons won't be able to find us here. Tonight we camp here, and tomorrow we're gonna go somewhere they will never find us!" Mondo optimistically finished.
The balloon slowly descended and came to a rest on the forest floor. The group piled out and began searching around for the campsite that James had spotted earlier.
James turned to Butch. "We first found this place when we attempted to steal that brat's Pikachu here. The place is deep in the trees, so no one can spot it from above and it is so well concealed that you can't barely see it at ground level without knowing its there. We found it by pure coincidence, so we put down some supplies here, just in case we ever needed some for a quick getaway. It turned out to be quite a good idea in the long run.."
Jessie and James stopped suddenly and pointed to a certain shrub. Mondo parted the thick bush revealing a rather large thicket behind it. "Wow...." was all Butch could say. And 'Wow' indeed!
It was very spacious, and cool too, considering it was the hottest part of the day. The bushes above them gave excellent shelter from the heat, yet still let little trickles of light in. Butch breathed in the deep piny smell and his spirit felt a little cheered for the first time all day.
"What's better is that there is a beautiful fresh spring not far down from here. Meowth and I checked it out earlier, before we came back with the balloon. We dropped off some food and clothing, cause he figured we'd need them..." Mondo trailed off slightly as the mention of Meowth was very painful. "But..um..we didn't get a chance to gather any water while we were down at the spring..no time. So maybe you could get some for us, Butch? Check it out?"
Butch didn't feel particularly like fetching water, but he figured he might as well. Maybe it would help him take his mind off how completely awful his life is. "Ok.." he said reluctantly. James handed him a water bucket that he had brought from the air balloon.
"While you're off doing that, James and I shall hide the balloon, in case the Boss's men fly overhead." Jessie stated. Butch merely nodded in response as he turned and stiffly walked away, his head drooping.
***
Butch slowly trudged up the path that Mondo had shown him. It was a rather uneventful walk. He wasn't paying much attention anything other the constant pain of his broken heart. He thought back to that night where he had left Cassidy in her room, when he had left to find Giovanni..Oh, what had gone wrong? His plan had been executed flawlessly, but still Giovanni knew. He had been waiting for him all along.
It wasn't long before Butch had reached the spring. Mondo had been correct, it was quite a lovely sight. The spring water flowed to a medium sized pool at the bottom of a small hill. The water was very inviting for a swim. 'Perhaps later..' he thought.
Butch sat next to the pool, truly resting for the first time all day. He leaned over and gazed at his reflection in the cool, clear water. With his hair ruffled, his face bruised, and his sad brown eyes revealing an broken spirit underneath, Butch looked like he'd been to hell and back.
Angry, bitter thoughts swirled inside Butch's mind, taunting and mocking him. He cringed as wave after wave of regret crashed over him like the rising tide. "I told her I'd always protect her..." he softly whispered to himself. But he couldn't just couldn't erase one hopeless thought from his mind: He had failed. He had failed her when she needed him most..and now she was dead.
A warm tear slid down Butch's battered cheek and landed in the pool, its ripples distorting Butch' image on the water. He frowned as he looked down upon it..mulling over how absolutely pathetic he was.
He angrily slapped at his reflection in the pool, but the water only came up and splashed in his face. He coughed and sputtered violently as some splashed up in his face, temporarily blinding him. He muttered to himself in disgust.
A soft, familiar giggle floated through the air from upstream. Butch froze at the sound...it couldn't be, could it??? He tried to clear his eyes by drying his face with his hands, then scanned the area. There, up by the spring was..his Cassidy. 'It can't be! Cassidy is dead!' his mind screamed. "Am I going insane?"
For a few seconds he only stared, hardly daring to breathe for fear that the lovely vision would disappear. The girl took a few hesitant steps towards him, made nervous by Butch's reaction.
Butch slowly got to his feet, his eyes never leaving the girl. "Cassidy..?" he asked almost in a whisper. "Is it you?"
Cassidy slowly nodded while smiling broadly, the corners of her eyes brimming with tears of joy. She walked up to him and stopped, her face so very close to his. She reached up her hand and stroked his cheek lightly with her fingertips.
He startled slightly at her touch, as if he still was not convinced that she wasn't just a delusion in his mind, created by his grief.
"Its me, Butch.." she softly whispered as she became lost in the depths of his eyes.
"Cassidy!"
He swept her up into a powerful embrace, which she accepted with open arms. Cass felt his body tremble from emotion as he began to quietly sob. Tears rolled off Butch's cheek and onto her own, mixing with hers.
For several minutes he held her tight, Cass weeping onto his chest while Butch merely breathed in her sweet scent as he ran his fingers through her golden blonde hair.
Her scent of spring flowers was soothing and familiar to him. Memories flooded his mind of times over the years he had held her close, just to inhale that soft fragrance.
With her head on his chest, she could hear the pulsing rhythm of his heart speed quicker with every passing second.
Cassidy slightly pulled away and gazed deeply into Butch's dark eyes once more, and watched as tears fell down his handsome cheeks. It hurt her deeply to see him so vulnerable.
"I thought I'd lost you forever..." Butch softly whispered in a shaking voice.
Cassidy reached up her hand once more and gently wiped away his tears with her thumb. He had always made her feel so safe, so protected..she felt his strong muscles ripple from beneath his white t-shirt as he had his arms around her.
This was the closeness that she had always longed to feel from him. As if in a lovely dream, she then closed her eyes and slowly leaned up, her lips tenderly meeting Butch's.
It took him by surprise at first, but then he cupped her beautiful face in his hands and kissed her long and passionately.
A few stray tears still trickled down his cheek, but they weren't from sadness, but from the full and complete love that he felt for her in his heart. Right now, nothing mattered. It felt as if they were the only two people on earth.
They both wished with all their hearts that the sweet kiss they shared would never end, but eventually, they pulled back.
"How did this happen?" he asked as he reluctantly pulled away from the kiss. "How are you still..alive?" He still held her tightly, as if he was afraid she would suddenly vanish before his eyes.
"Let's find the others and we'll explain everything..." Cass says, then takes his hand and gave it a squeeze as she led him back to camp.
