Crime for Crime
Crime For Crime, inspired by the Ani DiFranco song of the same name. (Beware, this is sad.)
Finally, it had happened. They had caught Ash Ketchum's precious Pikachu, after the two years during which they had failed miserably time and time again. It had been one of James's plans, surprisingly, that had succeeded, so Jessie couldn't brag about her brilliance, but all that mattered was that the yellow rodent was tied securely in the little blue bag James held victoriously in his right hand. The trio walked down the dirt road feeling so euphoric, not even bothering to notice their surroundings. That was their mistake.
Jessie, who had always kept an eye out for the authorities whenever they walked out in the open, was too excited to remember that they were wearing their Rocket uniforms. They were caught quickly, and thrown, handcuffed, into the back of a police car. They sat as close to each other as possible on the way, both bearing the silent burden of the truth: this might be the last time they would see each other ever again. Halfway through the ride, James slipped his handcuffed wrist behind Jessie's back and grasped her hand as best he could. She moved hers closer, making it a little easier for him. After a while, James noticed that his hands were becoming sticky, and looked down to see that the awkward position had been slowly digging the metal of the cuffs into Jessie's bare wrist, and a trickle of blood came from the red welt it had made in its wake.
"Jess..." he mumbled, beginning to move away.
"No," she whispered sadly, "please just let me touch you." He complied, numbed with the overload of emotions he was feeling. The day they had all suspected would come had arrived.
She asked him the dreaded question once, late at night, on one of those sleepless evenings when she and James would just stare at the stars until daybreak, "you know the consequences if they ever find us, don't you?"
He had swallowed noisily, wishing she had never brought it up. The very thought had always chilled him to the bone, so he had pushed the last remaining trace of it into the back of his mind. She, of course, had to bring it up again. "Yes, I know... we'd be killed," he replied softly. She had never brought it up again, to his relief. It didn't matter now, those consequences were at hand.
Of course, given all the evidence, and the testimonies of those three brats, the trial had been very short. They had been convicted, and sentenced to the expected death penalty. It was their own fault. After they had attempted to steal Officer Jenny's own Pokémon, she had gone to the state and gotten them to pass a law that basically made execution the general policy for Pokémon thieves. And they had been the most wanted of all.
Jessie had mentally prepared herself for her impending death as best she could in her cell, alone, missing James more than she ever thought she could have. She wanted to give him one final kiss, one final hug, at least one final comforting word. They were due for execution on the same day. A public execution for the most wanted Pokémon criminals of all time. How quaint.
On the night before the deed was to occur, someone had slipped her a note through the bars of her cell. It had been from James, of course.
"Jessie- I called my parents. I know you don't like them, but now isn't the time to be picky. They're getting us out of here. They have power and money, they can afford to pay off whoever they need to. We'll have to live with them a while, though. That was their only condition. Until tomorrow. –James."
She put it down and smiled. He had come through for her, like she always knew he would. She could tell, even when they had just met, that James was someone she could trust with her life. In this case, that was exactly what she was trusting him with.
She snapped out of her daze of memory and looked down. The crowd was slowly appearing in the clearing in front of the gallows. She looked at the faces, some vaguely recognizable, some complete strangers. Her gaze passed quickly and unemotionally over three very familiar faces, and went on.
"I can't believe it," the girl said quietly, "Ash, I never wanted this to happen. I just thought they deserved some time in jail, but this..."
The boy looked at her over his shoulder, his face oddly somber, "I know, Misty, even she doesn't deserve to die."
Jessie looked in back of her, still waiting to see James's face...James's wonderful face. No one came. She turned to the executioner, her heart pounding. "Sir, where is James? Please tell me. My one, final request. Where is James?"
The man sniffed and looked at her like she was a piece of garbage, "your sissy boy partner? His parents took him. Got him out of this. Pity you aren't rich."
She looked away. That was nothing she didn't already know. James was due to arrive at any second.
Officer Jenny walked up the stairs onto the gallows and slipped the noose around Jessie's neck. Jessie shivered in fear. The blue-haired woman looked her over cruelly. "This should set and example," she said, sounding almost proud of herself.
Jessie began to be truly frightened for the first time in a very long time. Where was James? Why was he taking so long? Didn't he know that she was going to die if he didn't come get her soon enough?
Her final thoughts were of him, as the rope tightened against her pale flesh.
In a limo, driving down the wooded path, James sat in between his parents, shifting restlessly about. "Mom, dad," he said nervously, "where's Jessie? Did you already get her?"
His parents said nothing, and looked out the car windows.
"Mom? Dad?" he asked again, his body beginning to numb as he realized what they had done, "did you leave her? How could you leave her?"
His mother finally turned away from the trees that rushed alongside the speeding limo, "James, darling, it's for your own good. You know that, don't you?"
"Yes, now you can start over again," his father added, not even bothering to face him.
James's face filled with white shock. They were murderers, all. They had consented to her death. They had killed his Jessie, the only person he had ever loved in his tumultuous young life. He began to cry, every fiber of his soul hating his parents, Officer Jenny, those three kids... they had all taken away the only thing he held dear. "Jessie..." he cried, feeling his heart break, "oh, Jessie, I love you so much."
His parents said nothing more, no words of comfort to their grieving son, no tears shed for Jessie's undeserved death. James hadn't expected any.
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