James opened his eyes, surprised to see a high, ritzy ceiling above him. He sat up, feeling a wonderfully soft bed underneath him. He looked to his right: two big windows led out onto a large balcony over-looking a gorgeous lake. It was a beautiful room, wherever it was.
Something on his left made a soft noise, as if reluctant to wake up. The teen looked down to see a red-haired head, face down, sharing the bed! For a moment he thought it was Jessebelle, until she turned over. Even though the two looked oddly alike, James knew Jessie's face from anywhere.
The next thought struck him hard. 'I'm sharing a bed with Jessie!' he almost screamed. She'd be so mad when she woke up, but if he could sneak out...
Her eyes flickered open. James was about to apologize and tell her he had no idea how they'd wound up sleeping together, when he realized she didn't look mad at all. She smiled. "You just going to sit there, or say good morning?"
"Uh, good morning," he managed to choke out, preparing himself for the physical and mental beating.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "You look terrified." She sat up, brushing his lips with a light kiss. "But then again, being rendered speechless upon seeing me, even after all these years, isn't a bad thing."
James blushed brighter than he ever had. "I'm... I'm fine. Just tired, maybe?" He hoped it sounded believable.
She nodded. "We were out late last night. It was a fun party, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. The Gregory's know how to throw one," he responded, wondering how he had known about a family or a party. Now that he thought about it, he got a hazy picture in his head of a life he seemed to know, but had never experienced. He searched the strange memory, discovering that this was his parent's house. No wonder it had looked so familiar to him- he was sleeping in his mother and father's bedroom! He continued shuffling through the past, coming across an engagement to Jessie...
He sucked in air. Not Jessebelle, Jessie! He'd been engaged to Jessie, and they'd gotten married two years ago, three months after his twentieth birthday. Which meant he was about the same age now then he was in the real world. For a moment James hoped that the other, nasty reality was a dream and this was the real deal, until he remembered the Reality Machine. After a bit of thinking, he, like the others, figured out what was going on.
"Uh, Jessie?" he called into what he knew was the bathroom that ran off their room.
She peeked around the corner. "Yes?"
"How long have we been married?" this would confirm if Jessie knew what was going on as well, or if only James was conscious of the world outside the reality.
"Two years and ten months," Jessie said immediately. She laughed. "You have such a bad memory, don't you?"
He rubbed the back of his head, giggling nervously. "Guess so."
She disappeared, then came back in a pair of khakis and a blue top. Jessie looked out the windows, sighing happily. "What a great day. Is there anything you want to do? Since it's Saturday, we're both off work. We could hike into the mountains if you want."
James tried to remember what he did for a living. He grinned when it came to him. Jessie worked in a salon, and helped him design clothes. It sounded like a good living, and something they'd be great at.
"James?" Jessie gave him a curious look. "I asked if you wanted to go into the forest. You're so scatter-brained today. What's up?"
He shook his head and concentrated on the fact that Jessie was his wife, he was rich and free of Jessebelle, and the day was perfect. "Yeah. We could go into the forest. I like the idea, Jess."
"Well then you'd better get dressed while I make breakfast."
James realized he was still in his pajamas. "Yeah, guess I should. See you in a few minutes."
She walked by, smiling in a way that made James want to melt into the ground. "I'll try not to miss you too much."

"Any luck on that shelf?" Sam asked.
"Just... about... got it..." Elm said through gritted teeth. He was prying the compartment open with a pen while Violeta scraped the rust of. Stephen still skimmed through documents, in case the manual didn't help them.
"How's it going on that next reality?" Violeta asked, only giving Sam a small bit of her attention, as she needed most on the task at hand.
"Not too good," he admitted. "This one's had a long time to strengthen. I know it sounds odd, but I swear the wires harden the longer the world is in play. And whoever this one belongs to really doesn't want it to end." He sighed. "Probably Ash's. He always was a stubborn boy."
"Keep working at it," Stephen said needlessly. "How many more to go?"
"Five, counting this one," Sam answered. "I guess four, since we obviously won't be cutting Tracey's wire until we find out how to bring them back."
"And they'll be the hardest ones," Elm muttered, trying to change his grip on the pen without letting the drawer shut back in.
Sam nodded. "Oh well. We'll just have to keep working." He glanced at a clock. "Already one AM. Guess none of us are getting any sleep tonight."
A mutual groan sounded from three mouths, but they didn't argue. There was no way they could leave the kids in there, not even for half a day. By then, the wires could strengthen so much that cutting them would be extremely difficult, if not impossible.

James watched Jessie, who was surveying the scenery around her. They were in a thick forest behind James' house (which he knew hadn't been there before), enjoying the summer day and taking in nature's beauty.
She looked over, feeling his eyes on her. "What are you doing?"
"Enjoying the view," he said before he had a chance to stop himself. He flinched, prepared for a hard blow to the head and her to tell him to quit being sentimental. Neither came. Opening one eye, James saw she was smiling happily.
"That's sweet of you to say," came the unexpected reply. "But why do you look like someone's about to hit you?"
"Er... no reason."
James was shocked; Jessie was so different in his world. He wondered why he would have changed her personality- the real Jessie had her faults, but he'd always liked the quirks. Taking the quiet moment to think, James realized that he'd never actually said anything to Jessie about her being pretty. 'How would I know what she'd say if I've never done it?' he asked himself.
'When I get out of this dimension,' James thought to himself, 'I'll have to compliment Jessie once in a while. I bet she'd actually like it.'
They broke through the forest and came out in a scenic meadow. A curling brook wound its way through the clearing, adding to the picturesque view. James smiled to himself: rose bushes dotted the entire area, all colors from his personal favorite red to a cheerful yellow.
"You look like you've never been here before," Jessie remarked.
He jerked his head in her direction quick enough for his neck to pop. "Oh, um... well, it just always amazes me how beautiful it looks..." Aw, what the heck, "Like you."
"I haven't been showered with this many compliments in one day since our honeymoon." Jessie used her heart-melting smile. "Not that I'm complaining, of course."
James laughed. "Maybe I should do it more often."
They threw a blanket over part of the ground, right in the center of the spacious field. After a delicious lunch (James wondered where Jessie had learned to cook) they lay back on the blanket, looking up at the deep blue sky.
James sighed. "This is wonderful. I wish it would never end."
"You sound so glum," Jessie said, her voice tone happily content. "It's the middle of summer- we'll be able to do this every weekend for at least a few more months."
James rolled over and plucked a red rose out of the earth, breathing in the scents of the meadow. He'd make sure to remember this for the rest of his life; it was one of the few absolutely perfect moments he ever had.
He turned back to- he grinned at the thought- his wife, handing her the rose. Since this would probably be the only time he would ever have the nerve to say it, James told her what he'd wanted to for years. "Do you know why I like these so much, Jess? Because they're exactly like you. Beautiful, delicate," he poked one of the thorns, "but tough and dangerous at the same time." He held the flower to her hair, chuckling. "Same color, too."
Jessie took the rose, smiling sweetly. "James, do you think, in ten years, we'll still be this happy here?"
"Here?" James returned the smile, though his was a sad one. "Definitely."
He lay back, eyes half-closed against the sunlight, knowing sooner-or-later this would have to end. He hoped he'd be able to stay for a week, at least; even a few days would be nice. "Hey Jessie?"
"Mm-hm?"
"Can we do this again tomorrow?"
"I don't see why not."
"Good..."

...And Professor Oak neatly snipped the wires...

Jessie's eyes came open with a snap. She cursed under her breath; she'd been having such a nice dream. Trying to remember what had been happening, she found the only thing she could recapture was a single red rose.
She came fully awake with a start, remembering the Reality Alterer. She rolled onto her back, glancing around the room and trying to figure out where she was. The place was oddly familiar, as if from a dream or long ago. She rubbed her tired eyes, deciding to stay in the bed until someone came around to tell her what was going on.
While waiting, she analzyed the Reality Alterer's powers, similar to how James had done, and knew she was in her own world. Using good logic, she knew if it was her world James would probably be here, so he'd be around to explain a few things.
"Jessie!?" a voice called from downstairs. The voice, like the room, sent a wave of nostalgia across the teenager. Where had she heard that before?
"Jessie!?" Louder this time, as if ascending the flight of steps. "Jess, are you awake yet?" that came from right behind her door.
Hearing the voice clearly, Jessie now knew who it was. She felt as if someone had slammed a pound of bricks into her chest. Her breathing came short, eyes wide in surprise.
A sharp knock, then a purple-haired head peeked around the door. "Jess? You overslept again. If you don't hurry you'll be late for school." The door came open all the way, and a tall woman stood in the frame, hands on hips in impatience. "Did you hear me?"
Jessie leapt out of bed and enveloped the older woman in a hug, smiling blissfully. "Oh God, Mom, don't ever leave again! I missed you so much..."
"Huh? I was only on that business meeting for a couple days..." Miyamato chuckled. "Right. I almost forgot you're in the middle of puberty." She gently pulled Jessie away from her. "An interesting change, seeing as how a few nights ago you thought I was a total idiot who knew nothing about life."
"I'd never think that," Jessie informed her, resisting the urge to hug her again. She was so real. Felt real, acted real, Jessie knew there was no way her mother was only part of some dimension created from her mind.
"That's what they all say, until you make them stay home from a party," Miyamato let go of her daughter. "You'd better get dressed. I've got breakfast ready, but you're going to have to inhale it- James is already waiting in the living room."
She nodded. "Okay." Her mother closed the door behind her, heading back down the steps. Jessie turned around, leaning against the door and taking a deep breath. Now she knew where the room was from- it was hers from her childhood. Taking in the four blue walls and various posters, Jessie discovered it was a good deal nicer-looking, not quite as junky, and resembled a high schooler's room. She caught her reflection in a mirror- she had a fifteen-year-old's appearance, so Jessie figured she must be younger here by several years.
She threw herself on the bed, laughing happily. "I've got a home, a mother, friends... oh thank God, I'm normal!" Remembering that she'd be late for school if she didn't change, Jessie pulled open drawers, somehow knowing where everything was, and picked out a blue blouse and black, ankle-length skirt. She posed in the mirror, winking and making a victory sign.
She practically flew down the stairs, thrilled to be acting like an average teenager for a change. Jessie was convinced that this was the true world- the other place, that horrible reality, could only be a bad dream she'd been having for much too long.
Draped over a chair in the living room was a younger version of James, decked out in a pair of jeans, red flannel overshirt and a white shirt underneath. It looked great on him. Jessie hid a smile behind her hand; no matter where she was James would always have great taste in clothing.
"Took you long enough," James complained. "Spend last night drinking and smoking pot again?"
Jessie sniffed. "It's Speed, remember? You're always begging to try some." She noticed a Meowth napping on the arm of James' chair, knowing it had to be her own friend. He yawned, noticing her and mewing a greeting before closing his eyes once more. Jessie was almost glad to know he was a normal cat and not a smart-mouth talking one. "Be right back."
"Hurry up. One more late slip and I get lunch detention with our Principal, Mrs. Fata-" Jessie's mother came around the corner, catching James in mid-curse. "Oh, hi Mrs. Smitt! I was just telling Jessie about how wonderful our principal is to lay down the rules. Even though right now we may hate it, in the long run it'll help us in the future!"
"That's believable," Miyamato said sarcastically. She grabbed her purse. "I'm off to work. Bye Jess, have a nice day."
"You too. See you after school," she loved the sound of that. Jessie wanted to say it again, but her mother was already out the door and gone.
After a silent pause, James tapped his foot impatiently. "You eating or what?"
Jessie snapped out of her trance. "Oh! Right! Sorry. It's early. Just a sec." She hurried through the meal Miyamato had set out for her, speed-brushing her teeth and sprinting out the front door, James by her side.
'It feels so right,' she thought as they raced each other to the high school, which was only a couple blocks away. 'I know this is how life is supposed to be. Not that other world. Right here.'

Sam sat back in his chair, covering a yawn. "I sure could use a break."
"If we don't get to rest... then neither do you," Elm groaned, still holding the compartment open with already-blistering hands.
"It can't really take that long to scrape rust off," Samuel said impatiently.
"It isn't just rust," Violeta informed him. "There's some sort of lock on the door. Do you have any picks?"
Sam waved a hand at a far drawer. "I think there's some in there." He took a sip of coffee. "Sorry I snapped at you like that. I'm tired."
"We all are," Stephen agreed, watching as Violeta grabbed a pick from the drawer, then making her way to pour a cup of coffee.
"No offense Sam, trust me," she told him, sipping at the drink, eyes half-closed in pleasure. "It's amazing how a little caffeine will give you a boost."
"Get back... over here!" Elm snapped. "I'm not holding this thing... forever!"
She downed the rest of the drink in a couple seconds, going back to pick open the lock. "So, Sam, world five, right?"
He nodded. "And ten times tougher than the others. When they get out I'll have to ask why four and five gave me such a hard time."
"You ought to ask why they felt the need to mess with it in the first place," Violeta remarked, twirling the lock pick and rubbing a tired eye.
"Violeta!" Elm snapped angrily. "Talk later!"
She bent down over the machine, sighing. "Right, right. Sorry."

Jessie and James slipped into some back seats in homeroom just as the bell rang. Their teacher (much to Jessie's amazement), Giovanni, looked up at the two. "Glad you decided to join us."
"Stupid alarm clock broke," Jessie lied, smiling innocently.
He seemed to accept that, sitting down at his desk and flipping on an overhead television. "Thankfully, there's no homeroom activity today," everyone cheered, "so just talk with your friends for the next thirty minutes and don't get too loud."
Jessie leaned back in her chair, looking over at James, who seemed to find this completely natural. A boy from the front row, who ended up being Mondo, strolled over and took a seat on a desk, greeting her and James.
"Thought you guys might have skipped for the day," Mondo commented. "Of course, Butch and Cassidy would've been thrilled to hear that, huh?" He jerked a thumb at the duo, who were sitting across the room. They talked quietly, shooting daggers at Jessie's group from time to time.
"Yeah, well, we considered, but decided not to give 'em the satisfaction," Jessie explained, smirking at the blonde. Cassidy glowered, pulling down her eyelid in contempt. Jessie sighed, feigning concern. "She really ought to get that anger problem under control, don't you agree?"
James laughed. "Maybe if you stopped taunting her she'd have a chance to."
"But where would the fun in life be then?"

The rest of the day went by smoothly, Jessie enjoying every second of it. She found that she was a top student in every class, as was James, but no one thought less of them for it. As a matter of fact, her only enemies were Butch and Cassidy, the unlucky pair of punks who had almost every class with she and James. At lunch Jessie entertained herself talking to a crowd of friends, while flinging corn at Cassidy's head every once and a while. James did the same to Butch; they got a kick out of the enraged, confused looks of their classmates, who had no idea where the yellow missiles were coming from.
Their last class, which wound up being history with their homeroom teacher Giovanni "Carino", ended in passing out report cards. Though Jessie didn't think she had anything to worry about, it was exciting in its own way. Ripping open the envelope, Jessie skimmed through the list of As and two Bs. Smiling happily, she looked over James' shoulder. Same as hers, but with an extra B and one less A. Jessie grinned, hissing in his ear. "I won. Next time we go to the mall you're buying me a CD."
He grinned, shoving the paper back in the envelope. "How about lunch at McDonalds? I'm sorta short of cash."
"I'll think about it."
They watched as Mondo smiled in relief, flipping his paper to show them the consistent Bs and an A. Butch and Cassidy sighed unhappily, ripping their cards into two pieces and dumping them in the trash.
"Ten bucks says at least one of them got all Fs," Mondo whispered across the aisle.
"I'm in," Jessie said back. "I think they each got a D out of someone- probably that sap Ms. Ketchum."
Giovanni stood up, glancing at the clock impatiently. "There's only a few minutes left, so I may as well make a couple announcements. First off, the school dance is in two weeks. Secondly, I'm chaperoning, and if I catch any couples doing something in the bathrooms they'll have a week of detention at the very least, if I'm feeling nice. Am I understood?" A chorus of groaning yes's, just as the bell rang. "You're dismissed."
On their way out, Mondo scooped the torn report cards out. "Damn. I lost." He dug around in his pocket and handed Jessie a ten. "That's everything I have, too." He sighed, grabbing his books. "Guess I'll be mowing lawns this weekend. See you."
He left Jessie and James as the duo weaved their way through the crowd, making a quick stop at their lockers and heading out the door. Jessie chattered about the day, but noticed James seemed uncomfortable. "James? You all right?"
He shifted uncomfortably. "Mr. Carino mentioned the dance today." It took Jessie a minute to realize he meant Giovanni. "D'you know who you're going with yet?"
Jessie shrugged. "Oh, maybe Miles, maybe Jake, maybe Ricky," Jessie continued to rattle off a list of her admirers. "Who knows? What about you?"
James rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well, um, I was wondering, if you didn't have anyone in mind, if maybe you'd wanna go with, er... me."
She came to an abrupt stop, staring at her friend curiously. "You?" He winced at the sharp word. "I'm not saying it makes me sick or anything, but wouldn't you rather go with someone you like? I mean, as more than just a friend?"
He blushed, looking away. "That's why I'm asking you."
The realization came like a jolt of lightning. "James, are you seriously saying that you... you think...?" She left the ending open. He nodded, a bright crimson. "Have, for a while." He looked at her. "If you don't want to I understand- it won't mess up our friendship, will it?"
Jessie didn't answer right away. She looked at her childhood friend for a minute, a million thoughts racing through her head at once. James was good-looking, and he'd always been nice to her- even in that other world, where things could get nasty- she could tell him anything, he had a good sense of humor, and though he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed he was intelligent. To Jessie's surprise, she discovered that she actually did like him; a lot, in fact.
"Um, Jess? Would it be better if I just went home?"
She shook her head, meeting his eyes and feeling her cheeks flush a little. "No. I mean yes. Er, don't leave. I'll go to the dance with you, James. It'll be... fun. I think I'd like it a lot." She knew she'd never actually come right out and say it, but he knew her well enough to read between the lines. "Besides, you're the only person in the school who can dance a step."
He laughed nervously. "That's a yes, then?" Jessie nodded. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Glad that's over. And out in the open, too. I've been wanting to tell you for years."
"Years, huh?" Jessie swung an arm around his shoulder. "What'd you think I would do- laugh?"
"Maybe..." he pulled himself out of the embarassing situation, grinning at her. "Does this make us 'boyfriend and girlfriend' now?"
Jessie made a face. "We've seen what calling it that does to every other couple in the school- makes them get nervous around each other, than they break up and never speak again. Not my style." She poked his cheek flirtatiously. "Anyone asks, we're just friends. I mean, friends can make out in bathroom stalls, right?"
The two burst into nervous, relieved laughter...

... And Professor Oak cut the wire...