Gotta disclaim fast!
Odette wasn't aware of how many days, perhaps weeks, that had passed since she had been thrown into the cell. She could feel her sanity cracking around her, the smell of excrement was the only smell she was aware of anymore, and she had taken comfort in making an imaginary friend who she chatted with. She plotted with her friend, a plot of escape and how she could be reunited with her mother and how she could get away from the creepy Rocket man who had stayed silent with her since her question.
Today, however, when he returned, he returned with ropes and she screeched at him to stay away. She kicked and punched at him the moment he came close and, silently, he punched her in the stomach, making her fall to her knees and vomit. Her retching echoed through the dungeon as he tied her hands and pulled her up. "Let's go," he said icily. He shoved her forward and walked her out of the dungeon.
The light of the hallway of the Rocket base blinded her and she screwed her eyes shut at its impact, whining from her throat. It hurt. It scorched her eyes as they adjusted and she squinted at the surroundings. Rocket grunts looked at her with a mix of pity and apathy. They saw her as a gaunt, unclean child, off to meet her future as an enslaved "wife". They stood at salute at the older man behind her and she looked away from them. Their respect was something she couldn't understand, he was sick, a man who hurt children. Why would anyone have respect for him?
She caught a glance at a piece of paper tacked to a bulletin board that read that two months had passed since she had been locked up. She halted, staring with wide eyes and a slack jaw. Two months of absences, two months and her mother still had not found her; tears pricked at her eyes, tears of hopelessness. The Rocket behind her shoved her forward violently and she stumbled, walking again.
He led her to a bathroom and she shook her head. "No!" she barked, looking at him fearfully. He didn't heed her order, ignoring her as he walked past her. She ran at the door and heard his laughter echo through the room.
"You can't get out, Odette, it's locked," he murmured humorously. He grabbed a bottle of shampoo then dragged her over to a sink. He grabbed her neck and thrust her body to bend until her head was under the tap. He proceeded to wash her hair while she choked on water and coughed. "You can't be sold looking like a street rat," he purred. "No one's gonna buy you with greasy hair." She kicked back and missed. He responded by pulling her up by her hair to drive the tap into her skull. She screeched and struggled against him but her movements died soon afterwards.
When he finished and dried her hair off they proceeded to leave the building. The sun was harsher than the fluorescent lighting in the building and she hissed at the pain while the man pushed her up and onto the back of a label-less moving truck. Odette looked at the other girls who were standing in the truck and they exchanged a look of fear. "Sit, now!" He barked, and they quickly sat in the back of the truck. "You'll thank me." He grabbed the handle of the door above them. One girl tried to dart out and he grabbed her with one arm and threw her back in before slamming the overhead door, locking them in darkness. The group of girls stayed silent as the truck started up, other than some soft sobbing.
Odette heard a girl speak up far from her and she instinctively moved her head in her direction. "Do you think we can escape..?" She said quietly with a mousy voice. "Like, he opens that door and we run and we scatter and..."
"Won't there be more there?" Someone else whispered. The discussion was shut down. Odette could feel silent tears fall down her face and the shakes she had become only slightly used to.
They rode for hours without another conversation erupting. Odette could hear a couple of younger girls talk to imaginary friends and it made her cry harder as their one-sided conversations continued on with fear and tears in their voices. She wished her mother would find her by magic right now, save her from the place she had ended up in, but she felt hopeless. If the police hadn't found her in two months, how would they find them in this truck?
The truck eventually stopped and a different Rocket opened the door. The group of girls was met by the sight of a dozen Rocket members peering in at them, ready to grab anyone who tried to escape. Beyond them was a large ship, with a short walk on a wooden dock before the group would be packed away into it and shipped off to wherever they would go. Odette shivered, though she couldn't be sure if it was from the sea's salty breeze or her fear. It was now or never. If she couldn't get out now, she would never escape.
They were pulled down one by one and told to stand in a line while Rockets stood at the sides of them, staring them down. Odette cringed as she saw how apathetic they were; it was obvious these Rockets were used to seeing girls of all ages shipped off like this. It hurt her in a way she couldn't express. She swallowed when they were told to move forward, her feet felt like bricks were tied to them. Now or never...
"Hey," she whimpered to the Rocket near her who looked over at her with a slightly irritated expression. "Hey I need to ask you a question!" She stepped out of the line quickly, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "I... I..."
"Odette, what the fuck are you doing?" She cringed at his voice, his scratchy, dark voice. She looked at him with fear.
"P-please, sir, I'll do anything. I-I... I wanna join Team Rocket, please, I'll do anything, please!" He looked at her without emotion. "I... you'll get caught! They'll find me if they sell me and they'll know who I am, c-cause my mom's a cop and there's prob-probably alerts out everywhere, please!" She didn't even know what she was saying any longer. She had thought about what she was going to say hundreds of times. Now, she had thrown all her logic out the window, she had completely forgotten everything. "Anything is better than this! I'll be the best Rocket you've e-ever had join!" Beside her, the Rockets had shoved the line forward and it was a hopeful sign everything could go right in her mind. They were leaving her! "And... and I know stuff about the police force! My mom's told me lots!"
She heard a chuckle from a decent ways away, a woman's laugh. "Go ahead, Dvina, let her. You know what boss said," she purred, coming out of the shadows. Odette stared at her with fear and confusion. "She's not worth shit now, anyone is going to be able to tell what you did."
"Shut the fuck up, we're criminals, we can fucking lie. No refunds," he barked.
"But she'll be the best little Rocket you've ever had join~! She knows stuff about the police force!" the woman retorted in a childish tone that made Odette cringe. "Go ahead and take her in, she has guts." At the sound of this, the end of the line of girls scrambled to beg, only to be pushed to the boat.
"Yeah, guts to run to mommy right after she joins," he took Odette's neck in a death grip. "She'll be a fucking spy... fine! You take her, then, Khalij!" He threw Odette forward where she stumbled and fell to her knees on the hard wood. She shrieked at the feeling of splinters in her knees. "When she fucking runs to mommy, you'll get demoted!"
"Aha, like you were?" The woman, Khalij, cackled at him as she lifted Odette up. The young girl was shocked at her lighter touch and even more shocked when the woman took the ropes off her wrists. Dvina spat in bitterness. "Don't worry, girl, we get a few brave ones here and there. The brave ones get recruited." Odette swallowed. "But I'm sure he showed you what will happen," her voice became icy and she narrowed her eyes, "if you try and cross Team Rocket. Let's go." She grabbed the girl by the wrist and led her past the dock to a parking lot. "We have a long ride to go."
"I... no blindfold?" Odette asked hoarsely, in shock at the events that had unfolded. "I-is that guy... is he... powerful?"
Khalij laughed, loud and serene. "He's just a lowly admin... well, he was," she laughed. "And no, no blindfold. Now be quiet." She pulled a cell phone from her pocket as she opened a car door for Odette to crawl in. She did and, as the door shut, she strained to hear the phone conversation. "Oh, yes, Boss... I have this girl... Odette, he said? ...Oh, yes, Kobayashi, that's the one, the police officer's daughter... mmhm, she grew some balls," laughter, "I grabbed her off Dvina, she claims she knows shit about the police..." there was a long pause. "So who should I bring her to, you..? ...Oh, alright, I'll do it then." She walked around the car and got in, locking the doors as soon as she did. The lack of trust was obvious. "I'll be taking you to the boss, kiddo," she laughed. Odette shivered.
The older woman chattered through the whole drive, an act that seemed to be a certain tic of hers, because Odette realised she didn't break her one-sided conversation long enough for her to ask a single question the entire time. Instead, Odette stared idly at the passing road and played with her hair in nervousness as she watched the surroundings slip by. She didn't recognise where they were until they made it into Saffron and slipped past it to Celadon.
Khalij, thought Odette knew that wasn't her real name, was an average woman of average height, with green hair and green eyes. Her uniform, unlike all the uniforms she had seen thus far, was white and Odette wondered if all the girls in Team Rocket wore white instead of black. Unlike the other Rockets, too, she wore no gloves and her uniform was short, showing as much of her body as she could get away with. It confused the girl why she'd want to wear such a uniform. It was so revealing. And if every member of Team Rocket was like Dvina...
They stopped in front of a large building and Khalij sighed lightly. "Finally," she sang, getting out of the car and opening Odette's door. She followed the new recruit inside, putting a hand on her shoulder in thought, halting her. "You smell like total shit."
"I was-"
"Yes, yes, I know. But, there's nothing I can do about it. Its your clothes. Let's go," Khalij complained with an impatient wave of her hand, leading the girl up to an elevator. Odette could feel her stomach turn and she shook in fear. Of course, her situation here was better than ...wherever those other girls are going, she thought with a violent shake. Still, it wasn't much better. As the elevator shook to life, the older Rocket looked at her. "Be respectful, don't talk back and don't be a brat. Or I'll call the boat back and put you on there myself." Odette swallowed thickly and nodded, her eyes as wide as 100 Pokeyen coins.
When the doors opened, Odette peered beyond them at the scene in slight shock. The office was furnished like what Odette would imagine a king's office would look like, with huge, plush couches, a thick, dark-wood desk and a high-backed seat in front of it. Windows led out to the skyline of Celadon City and Saffron City beyond it. A man with short black hair and a three-piece, black suit stood beside the desk, his body language distant from the older woman perched on the black and gold throne-like seat. The woman was older, but her hair was long, black and had no traces of greying and she still wore a tight, bright-red suit. Odette wondered if they were in the right place. They looked like CEO's. She couldn't shake off the fact this woman, who obviously was the one in power, could sit back and let other girls get sold under her watch. It was crazy.
"Is that Kobayashi?" The man spoke up first. Khalij had snapped into a salute with one fist on her chest and one arm behind her. Odette copied her nervously.
"Yes, sir!" Khalij replied. The two walked forward to stand in front of the desk. "Funny you should ask; her face is plastered everywhere, sir," she laughed.
"Of course," the woman, her voice far more brittle than her appearance, replied. She turned her attention to Odette. "You know about the police, she said?"
Odette nodded, "yes... yes ma'am. When I was littler my mom worked in the streets in Saffron... I know the routes!" She wasn't sure why her tone was the same as the tone she had used to plead with Dvina. "I can... I can draw them out on a map, even!"
The man reacted to this by opening a filing cabinet behind the desk, sifting out a large map of Saffron. He put it on the desk for her with a pen. "Draw, then."
Odette nodded, hunching over the map and holding the pen with a grip tight enough to stop the quivers. She drew arrows all over the map, listing times and details of highly patrolled areas. Silph Co. constantly had guards and officers about, she knew. The police station and all the areas around it were highly trafficked areas. Other areas of congestion kept a constant patrol. "And there?" The old woman asked, pointing to an area in the lower east corner.
"Oh that's kinda... the slum area, no one cares there," Odette replied proudly. "Police don't go there much unless they're called there for something stupid, my mom told me so. And same for the suburban area there, it's all poor people's houses so no one cares about them much." She drew more arrows along the north east corner. "Oh and the north-west corner too. Other than the magnet train, of course. You probably don't wanna be seen there much but it's public property and my mom says nothing can be done there. Still..." she furrowed her brow, "my mom said anyone with a Rocket uniform is, like, instantly put on suspicion and can be followed." After a few more moments she stepped back and stretched her back out. "Saffron has strict laws about Team Rocket, more than Celadon I think." She had seen tons of uniforms in Celadon.
"I see," the woman said softly. "Giovanni, be useful, get uniforms for her." Giovanni grumbled something and walked off. "To you, I am Madame Boss. Giovanni is my son, he's," she leaned in with a smile, "a bit useless, really, but at least he's nice cover. Your mother was on his tail, which is why you're here. Now, we'll make you her worst enemy." Odette held back from cringing, but she stiffened. "Isn't that right?"
"Yes, Madame Boss. I'll be her worst enemy, I promise. I'm... I'm dedicated to Team Rocket now, I swear," she held up her right hand.
"Good," the woman leaned back. "Khalij, you can go now, dear." Khalij nodded, walking out of the room swiftly. "We'll make you a perfect little girl, or I'll get good money off you. Men like feisty little girls, you know." Odette shivered. Giovanni returned with a box. "Oh, good." She took the box from Giovanni's hand without warmth, avoiding his touch. "This box has your uniforms and a Pokemon. All recruits get a Pokemon, after all. We'll put you in a group with other kids, so you won't be so lonely, yes?" Odette nodded, taking the offered box and opening it slowly like a bomb could lurk inside. She even sighed in relief when it didn't explode. A Pokeball sat atop with a white belt coiled around it, nestled upon a sea of black. She closed the box back up as she realised that, under any other circumstance, she would absolutely hate this woman for her obvious baby-talk to her. Now, however, Odette couldn't complain. It was far better than Dvina, and, at that particular moment, that was all that mattered. "Gio, take her to her room. And Odette," she added quickly, "you better make lots of money."
Giovanni and Odette nodded without a word, and he motioning for the rusty-haired girl to follow. She scooped the box in her arms, only just able to see over the top as she followed him. "You got lucky," he said in a neutral tone. Odette kept her distance from him, scared of him like she was with Dvina. "If that worthless shit had kept his hands off you... the moment my mother dies I'm firing him, he does this shit all the time." He led her down the elevator and into his car that smelled of new leather and just a bit of cigarette smoke. She sat in the back seat, staring at Giovanni until she could tell it aggravated him. "What?"
"You... don't agree with... that creepy man?" She asked quietly.
"He's worthless to me. He screws us out of a lot of money by being a sick fuck. On the other hand, he captures a lot of foreigners. And people in Kanto seem to like his catches, when he doesn't fuck them up."
"...Oh," she whispered, clinging to the box and taking in the scent of clean clothes. They stopped at an apartment complex in the poor part of Celadon. Teenagers huddled around the stoop, smoking cigarettes and shoving each other, laughing at their own jokes. She slipped out of the car when Giovanni did, following him as they made way for their superior, standing at salute until they were inside. She could hear their voices despite the heavy doors closing. Up a couple flights of stairs they went before Giovanni dropped a key into her hand.
"This is your new home. Keep in mind, Odette," he said as she put the box down to unlock the door, "if any other member here sees you try to sneak off to Saffron, your little game is up. We have no trust." She squeaked, unlocking the door and opening it. "You'll be assigned an admin tomorrow. An admin under myself. Good night."
She slipped inside the moment Giovanni turned and dragged the box behind her. Five heads and a Rattata turned to stare at her from beyond corners and over a couch. All of the members in the room were around her age and she wondered why they were even there. She couldn't imagine willingly leaving home to join Team Rocket, not at all. A blonde girl with pink eyes spoke up first, her voice squeaky. "It's her! Hi!"
"Um... hi?" Odette squeaked out. There was a girl with red hair and purple eyes, a boy with bright orange hair and yellow bangs and black eyes, a girl with purple hair and yellow eyes, who clutched a Rattata to her torso, and the oldest of the group, a guy who looked thirteen and was smoking a cigarette with brown eyes and hair. One by one they introduced themselves. Candy, the energetic blonde, Sofia, the redhead, Wisp with black eyes and a knife in his hands at all times, Chelsea who looked as scared as Odette and Weasel, the chain smoker. They all wore Grunt uniforms and Odette saw the short skirts and realised hers would be the same.
"We heard there'd be a new kid," Wisp said, plucking a cigarette from Weasel's lost pack.
"We've seen your picture everywheeere," Chelsea squealed, "but then they said 'oh yea that girl from the posters is your new flatmate', and, like, we freaked out."
Odette smiled sadly, "I guess the police couldn't find me," she choked out a laugh. "But it's okay, 'cause I told them, I'd be the best Grunt ever. And now I'm here." Candy jumped off the couch.
"Gosh you look like crap, girl, let's get you, like... come on!" She led Odette to a room. "Here, this is the girl's room... go shower, you smell like shiiiit." She laughed but Odette didn't have the energy to join her.
As she showered, she had a million thoughts in her head. Giovanni had never touched her, not even once. He had dropped the key into her hand and even let her get into his car without his assistance. She had to wonder if the other girls here had ever experienced what she had. But they seemed far too happy to have ever experienced that. She shook her head under the warm water. It felt too good to think about that. She knew she'd have to find a way to forget that ever happened. If other members were like Giovanni, she'd be okay, right? She relaxed under the hot water, looking at the ceiling. It felt so normal and yet, so weird. It wasn't home but it was better than anything she had felt in two months. She smiled, closing her eyes. Maybe she would get used to it.
She'd still tear them down from the inside, of course.
She turned the water off when it grew cold and pulled out her new uniform, sliding it on and looking into the mirror. Her jaw dropped. Her dark-orange hair was thinner than it had ever been in her life. Her usually pudgy cheeks were thin and she could see the bone underneath. Her eyes, the colour of her hair, dead and without life, had dark purple shadows under them and the uniform, tight as it was, showed bones she didn't even know she had. Collarbones and hip bones jutted out from her skin. She had avoided looking at herself for months, and she wondered how no one had stepped back from her. She looked like a car wreck. She turned the light off and trudged out the door with the box in tow. She slid the belt on her waist and pulled the gloves on, then grabbed her lone Pokeball, walking back into the living room. It was late and she yawned as she sat on a couch in the empty spot between Wisp and Weasel.
"So..." she started when the conversation, something about stealing Potions from the Pokemart "bitch", died down, "I have no idea what Pokemon this is. Wanna see with me?"
"Let's see it," Sofia piped up encouragingly. Weasel nodded, mouth full of smoke. Odette released the Pokemon, revealing a Zubat that flapped around her head in confusion.
"Oh, lucky you," Candy said bitterly.
"Are you ever gonna shut up about that?" Chelsea whined.
"Shut up, Candy," Weasel barked out, "some people would kill for Grimer."
"I'll shove Grimer down your poisoned lungs!" She whined. Odette smiled at the little Pokemon, ignoring them. She grabbed it from the air and coddled it. They were both confused and both new Rocket members. The bat wasn't very strong, Odette could tell.
"Whatcha gonna call it, eh?" Wisp said, his eyes droopy. "Call 'im 'Batshit'."
"Wha-? No!" Odette cried, just as the Zubat screeched and made everyone in the room cover their ears. When it was done she looked at the bat who had proceeded to continue fluttering around her face. "...Silencer."
"What? That's stupid, he fuckin' screeches and you call him-" Wisp began.
"It's not stupid! You're stupid! Anyone would shut up hearing that," she defended, grabbing her Zubat again and coddling it, petting his eyeless head.
"Plus, Zubat isn't shit. Your Koffing is shit," Weasel said, laughing.
After a little while longer, Odette returned Silencer to his Pokeball and said goodnight to her comrades. She looked at the beds in the room, seeing boxes around a few of them. She chose one against a wall and curled up, sighing a sigh of relief she had held in all day. The bed was far more comfortable than the cell floor she had become used to and she nestled into the warmth around her, clutching the Pokeball to her chest with her knees. It wasn't long before the comfort of the conversation outside the room, which felt miles away, and the warm covers she was under pulled sleep to her. Best bed ever, she thought with a smile, forgetting some of the bad, if only for a moment.
A/N: Writing a lot of text without dialogue to break it up, yo, it's kinda hard. Fortunately, those days for me and Odette are coming to an end. Woot. Also, I freaking love Madame Boss, or, at least, the idea of her.
