He came around the corner then, as usual stammering out hurried apologies and false excuses. Her open-handed slap to the side of his face drew him up short and he stared at her, a perfectly shaped crimson handprint staining his cheek.

"Don't talk," she hissed at him. "I know why you were late... you were talking to her again, weren't you?" He hesitated, causing her anger to flare up again; the sun's heat and the burning flame of her anger combining into a firy inferno. Her hand shot out to strike him again, this time on the other side of his face, the new handprint matching the old perfectly. After all, she did believe in perfection.

Staggering back a bit, he clutched his face but stared at the ground, totally accepting of anything she would do to him. Good. She took his hand primly in hers and led him along the side of the building, around to the back door.

"I think we need to repeat last week's lesson," she announced to him. She thought she felt a shudder pass through his hand. If he was frightened, so much the better. He never caught on very well to her "lessons", but fear was an excellent motivator. Finally reaching their destination, she turned to face him.

"Are you ready to begin?"

"Why does morning have to come so early?" Jessie muttered to no one in particular as she shuffled through the kitchen, still dressed in a robe and slippers. The night before had been spent in planning; half of the night, actually. And now here she was, awake at 7:00 a.m., thanks to James' snoring keeping her awake. At least, that's what she told herself the reason was. Really she was more than a little worried about what would happen tonight.

She sat down at the table, waiting for her coffee to brew. The warm, familiar scent was already drifting through the room. Making coffee was a morning ritual that brought a certain comfort to her. Sitting alone, no talking, no noise, no--

"Good morning! It smelled so delicious in here, I couldn't sleep any longer." Jessie turned with a start to see Pearl smiling in the doorway, wearing her several-sizes-too-large pajamas. Jessie lifted an eyebrow. So much for ritual.

"You like coffee?"

"Oh, I love it," Pearl replied, taking a seat across from her. "Most people think coffee is just for grown-ups, I guess. Or at least for kids older than 17," she concluded with a grin.

"Wait a minute... you... you're 17?"

"Umm... yeah. I thought you knew that."

If Jessie had been just a little more shocked, her eyes would have popped out of her head and bounced on the table. "But how... how did you..."

"After my parents died... Giovanni thought I had 'promise' and he kind of took me in, and... well, I guess I'm not really a full member, but I'm pretty close."

When Jessie didn't reply and sat there in a daze, Pearl poked around in the mess of things on the table out of curiousity. Picking up a thick book, she blew off a layer of dust to read the title.

"Advanced Pokémon Physiology?"

"Oh," said Jessie, abruptly returning from her daze. "That's James'. He's always had the strangest notion to become a Pokémon doctor someday. I don't know if he'd be a very good doctor," she finished with a laugh.

"You never know," Pearl replied offhandedly, carefully replacing the book. "So are all those books James' too?"

"Yeah... he reads them. Can you believe that?"

"That's what most people do with books," Pearl giggled. Remembering the coffee, Jessie jumped up to bring it to the table, soon settling in with a steaming cupful while Pearl sipped at her own. Yes, this was it. Peace, quiet, and--

"That horrible smell is making my heart hurt worse," James whined from the doorway before collapsing into a chair along with them.

"Well, it's not my fault you don't like coffee," Jessie told him. "Me, I think it's the best thing that ever happened to the world."

"It's so foul, I wouldn't feed it to a Muk," he grumbled, but she just ignored him.

Eyeing his general appearance, Pearl leaned closer to him from across the table. "Say Jim, are you alright? You look like a Raichu Thundershocked you in a swimming pool and then a dozen Rattata took turns trying to chew your hair off. But their teeth weren't too sharp."

"Ha... ha. I'll have you know that I'm setting a trend. Next week everyone is going to fix their hair this way." Pearl giggled at him but Jessie just sipped her coffee unconcernedly like she'd heard this all before.

"So Jessie," Pearl continued, changing track, "you said James wanted to be a Pokémon doctor someday." She paused to look at him, but he sat unnoticing and blinking his eyes as though clearing away cobwebs. "What do you want to be?"

"What do I...? Well, if Team Rocket doesn't work out... I've always wanted to be a beautician. I'm so naturally talented when it comes to beauty. And I--"

"My head hurts," James whined again, earning a severe glance from Jessie.

So what's wrong with you then?"

"Those dreams last night... and the night before... I guess they make my head ache," he answered slowly, resting his chin on the table.

Jessie's expression didn't relax, but a touch of concern came through her voice. "Dreams? About what? I remember you saying something in your sleep, can't remember what though."

He blinked widely again, suddenly appearing more awake. "Oh... I can't remember the dreams. That's the problem."

Jessie shook her head but didn't say that she didn't believe what he told her. She could always tell when he was avoiding a subject anyway; he changed to a different one almost immediately.

"So, what's for breakfast?"

She almost smiled in spite of herself. Just as she had expected. "Don't give me that, Mr. 'I Hate Coffee'. You're fixing it yourself."

"Don't I always?" he asked. Tapping a finger on his lips and looking upward as though thinking hard, he continued, "Your cooking. I wouldn't feed that to a Muk either."

In way of reply, Jessie through his physiology book at his head, which he dodged, but still fell off his chair. Pearl sat back and watched with a smile. Such a lighthearted beginning to what could turn out to be a very stressful day.

Head down, James crawled through the narrow air duct with only an inch of space to either side of him. Of course, it was his fault since he had opened his big mouth and volunteered to do this. He was headed in the direction of the main control room of Headquarters, where a few simple snips of a wire cutter would open the door to Giovanni's private office. The impact of what he was doing had finally started to hit home several minutes ago. His stomach clenched and unclenched in anxious knots.

What if I don't cut the right ones? What if there's someone here? What if... I think she said it was the third blue one and the fifth yellow one...

Feeling another surge of anxiety, he almost raised his head up, until he remembered the last two times he had done that resulted in what felt like bruises. He also felt cramped and his knees hurt. It was frustrating keeping his whining inside his head rather than speaking it aloud. Of course, if Jessie was around she would probably just hit him and call him a baby and tell him to act like a man.

He would have sighed but suddenly realized he was at the grating that opened into the control room. He pried it loose with shaking fingers and set it aside as quietly as possible, then lowered himself into the room, feet dangling briefly a foot above the floor before he dropped down. He tried to quell the horrible feeling that he would do something wrong as he took out a tiny flashlight and the wire cutter.

Finding the correct panel of wires was easy enough; they were quite plainly labeled. The metal door on the panel didn't even have a lock. Probably no one expected a member to break in here. Or anyone else for that matter. With a rueful smile, he carefully counted to the third blue wire, and, offering up a silent prayer, snipped through it. Then the fifth yellow wire. Heaving a sigh at last, he hurried out the door into the back hallway. Time to meet up with the others.

Jessie craned her neck again around the stack of boxes that had been left in the hallway. Still no sign of him. "Are you sure there aren't any guards? Cameras? Anything?" she asked Pearl for what must have been the 50th time. Meowth had been left behind again, much to his disgust, because of Jessie's claim that he would just be underfoot.

"Nothing. Just locks on doors. Not having a keycard for the office might have been a problem, but James is taking care of that."

"Hopefully," Jessie muttered, looking for him again.

"I'll try to door now," Pearl whispered, tiptoeing over to press the "open" button on the door panel. The door slid open soundlessly and she turned to give Jessie a thumbs up. "He got it!"

"At least he got it right," Jessie said. "Now hurry."

Pearl nodded and disappeared through the door. Jessie slid back to sit against the wall with a sigh. James would be getting here soon now, hopefully. She still couldn't believe that there were no night guards, even if it was 3:00 a.m. A horrible premonition that something was going to go wrong continued to hang over her thoughts. She felt at the waist of her black pants for the reassuring feel of smooth, cold metal that told her the gun was still there, as if the weight of it at her hip wasn't enough. She hadn't told anyone about bringing a gun, it would have only made them worry more. But she wouldn't be afraid to use it if she had to.

She silently fumed at James when he failed to appear after several minutes. Soon she would just go and find him herself, drag him back here by the collar, and--

"Jess?" The whispering of her name startled her and she found herself staring into a pair of green eyes only inches from her own.

"James, stop trying to scare me!"

"I wasn't trying," he protested, sitting down next to her. "You were in outer space."

"Where have you been?"

"I kinda got lost..." he said sheepishly, leaning back to the wall. "I'm scared, Jess," he whimpered then, apparently trying to stop himself from doing it but looking guilty when he failed.

She reached over to slap his arm, saying, "You're such a baby, why can't you act like a man for once?"

"I know... I know..." he muttered resignedly. She watched his worried expression and felt the old premonition get stronger. Carefully, she leaned up against him and let out a long, slow breath. Without a word she slipped her hand over his, watching his expression soften. She couldn't deny that she felt more at ease herself.

Only seconds later, however, Pearl came back out of the office, folders tucked under one arm. "I've got what I need. Now let's hurry." The urgency in her voice suggested that she felt something was wrong too. Jessie and James stood up, but before they could take a step, they heard other footsteps, these heading toward them.

"Hurry, this way!" Pearl hissed, dodging quickly down a hallway. They walked as fast as they could for a time, but the footsteps were pursuing. And they were getting faster.

"Stop!" a voice yelled out from somewhere around the last corner. "This is security! Stop now if you want to leave this building alive!"

"He means it," Pearl groaned. "All we can do now is run. We can get out easily in a few more turns."

"No," Jessie said sharply, turning to face her. "It's only one guard. And I have this." The hall was only dimly lit, yet the dark metal of the gun she suddenly held in her hand seemed to flash brightly.

"No... no, I don't want anyone to die!" Pearl protested. "We can't... If we run now, we can make it. Just come on!"

Jessie swung her gaze to James, who looked like he was desperately trying not to panic. He nodded, eyes full of uncertainty.

"Fine," Jessie muttered as Pearl took the lead running. She gave James a rough shove so he would run in front of her. She would use the gun; there was no other way to assure they wouldn't be followed. No matter what Pearl thought.

Once James was around the next corner, Jessie stopped to wait for the guard. It wouldn't take long, and she could claim it was in self-defense. He had just gotten too close, that's all.

She could see the shape of a man coming toward her now, and took aim. Before she could even think of firing, a sudden, sharp pain bloomed in her leg. She looked down to see the shaft of some sort of dart sticking out. Firming her resolve to shoot, she tried to take aim again. But everything looked blurry. She felt the gun fall from her hands and clatter on the tile floor. Then she felt herself falling, a slow darkness rising up to meet her.

"Where is she?" James wondered aloud. He and Pearl had reached the exit, but Jessie hadn't followed. His worry seemed strong enough to consume all other thoughts.

"We have to go," Pearl said, shaking her head sadly. "There's no time to--"

"We can't leave her! We can't!" James insisted, a cold fury appearing in his eyes at the thought. "If you think I'm leaving her here--"

"James! Listen to me! If we get caught, who's going to rescue us? We can rescue her. There's no other way. We have to go." She watched the fury in his eyes become despair. He gave a slight nod, then followed her out through the exit and into the cold night.

"This is all my fault... I should've made sure she was following... or maybe I should've made her run in front of me... I don't know, I..."

"It's not your fault, James," Pearl told him. She stood close by as a distraught James paced the length of the apartment; he had been talking like that ever since they had arrived. Meowth sat on the couch looking concerned, large eyes flicking from Pearl to James and back again. "If anything, it's my fault for making you both come with me."

He stopped pacing and shook his head, somehow seeming older and also very tired. "I think I'll lay down," he said, then left the room.

Pearl watched him sadly and felt her heart go out to him; she knew how hard this was for him. As she sunk down on the couch, Meowth climbed up in her lap and looked at her with mournful eyes.

"We're gonna get her back, ain't we..."

"Of course we are. We're going to find out where she is and we'll get her out. I promise." She sat back and scratched Meowth's ears for a time, thinking. This was the beginning of the end for Jessie, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket; once Giovanni found out about this, he wouldn't hesitate to throw them out. Or worse. And no matter what James said, this was her fault. If only it had been her who was taken, then they wouldn't have to worry about being associated with her.

Meowth fell asleep eventually, and Pearl left him on the couch to go lay down herself. James wasn't asleep when she reached the bedroom; he was sitting and staring vancantly into the dim light of the room. She sat down close to him, wishing she could hug him but afraid he would react negatively. Instead she just asked, "Are you okay?"

He didn't seem to notice. "James," she said a little more urgently, "I'm sorry that I--"

"No," he said, turning to face her so suddenly that she was startled. It isn't your fault. We chose to come and help you. I wanted to help you. We just made a mistake, and... and I... I'm so worried about her," he finished, voice shaking hard. She didn't hesitate to hug him then, and he didn't stop her but returned the embrace, his face pressing against hers. She could feel the cold trickle of his tears running along the length of her face. Or maybe they were hers.

Her first impressions upon awakening were of cold and darkness. The room seemed to contain only a door, a window, and herself, for the moment. Crawling to the window, set low in the wall, produced a view of rain slashing down against the panes; beyond that, a murky grayness concealing anything else. She let her head rest against the coolness of the window, gritting her teeth against the sharp pain in her leg. That pain was almost a twin to the throbbing agony in her temples. When she remembered what had happened, a rush of fear seemed to spread through her whole body. She lowered her head farther as the tears began to pour out, cold as the winter rain outside.

Chapter Six
Back
Main Page