The next morning, Jessie's eyes fluttered open as she awoke to the sound of wind gently rustling the trees, a Pidgey's soft cooing...and James snoring against the back of her neck. With a sigh she wiggled away enough to turn over and look at him. His hair was all a mess and a little trail of drool was stuck to his face. Rolling her eyes, she nonetheless smiled, gave him a kiss on the forehead and got herself up.
A few hours later, as they were drifting along in their balloon, they each had a pair of binoculars trained on the earth below. For quite a while they saw nothing unusual, until Meowth suddenly spotted what they had been looking for.
Waving a paw excitedly he called, "Hey! Twoips at two o'clock!"
Jessie and James ran to join him, peering in the direction he was. Sure enough, there they were, happily making their way down the road.
Setting down her binoculars, Jessie rubbed her hands together, "We haven't bothered them for quite a while here, so their guard will be down!"
"The element of surprise is ours today!" laughed James, picking up a burlap bag.
Meowth leapt up to grab the rope connected to the parachute valve, "Shall I lower us inta attack position?"
Jessie nodded with a grin, "Yes indeed! Smoke bombs ready James?"
He grabbed several from the bag he held, "Ready!"
Swinging her arm around to point at their targets, Jessie proclaimed, "Then let us relieve them of that electric rat once and for all!"
Screaming with an all-too-familiar mix of pain, rage and indignation, the trio soon found themselves flying away, though not in the manner they had hoped, not to mention empty-handed. Their tattered balloon flew alongside them as they arched through the sky.
"You lowered us too much Meowth!" snarled Jessie, her long hair whipping around her.
"Yeah?! Well Jimmy didn't use enough smoke bombs!" retorted the cat.
James glared at him, "Hey! We don't have that many left!"
They continued arguing, barely noticing they were starting their descent to the ground until Meowth pointed it out with a yelp, also noting the flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto right in their path. They tried to avoid them, but couldn't change their course enough and collided head-on with the screeching, panicking flock. Feathers flew everywhere, Jessie and James falling right through them-but Meowth had gotten himself caught on the back of a none-too-happy Pidgeotto.
"Guuuuys!" he called frantically, though there wasn't much they could do but watch as the Pidgeotto bucked him off into the tree-tops a ways away.
Besides, they had their own impending impact to deal with...
James groaned in agony and opened his eyes. He wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but it couldn't have been too long, since the sun was still right overhead. His head and back ached the worst, and rubbing them gingerly, he slowly sat up to further assess the damage to his person.
"Jessie? Meowth?" he called weakly.
"Over here..." came a quiet reply.
Turning his head with a wince, he spied Jessie sitting among the ragged remains of their balloon. She was staring off in the distance, cradling one arm against herself while picking bits of leaves and feathers from her hair. She had a hollow, far-off look in her eyes, as if in shock.
James slowly pulled himself to his feet and went over to her, "You okay?"
He was met with a sudden, furious glare, the Jessie he knew returning in an instant, "What the hell do you think?!" she said coldly.
Shrinking back a little, he noticed with alarm the splashes of blood on the ground around her feet.
"Jessie! You're hurt!?" he cried as he reached out to her, only to have his hand slapped away.
"Oh stop it! I'm fine! It's-it's just a scratch!" she snapped.
"Not with that amount of blood!" he replied, curbing his rising panic as he tried and failed once again to get a look at her injury, "Come on, please let me see it!"
Standing, she stepped away from him, "I said I'm fine! Now stop babying me and let's get start getting this stupid balloon repaired!"
Angrily grabbing ahold of the green basket's edge, she tried to wrestle it upright, but quickly slipped and fell backwards with a cry of pain and surprise, a smear of blood across the wicker.
James lunged forward and caught her, "That's enough! Jessie I know you're upset but this isn't going to get us anywhere. Let me help you; I love you and-"
She wrenched away to stand on her own, again distancing herself from him, "And what's that done for you so far, huh?!"
Something about her mannerism and how she refused to make eye contact set him on edge, "...What?"
Planting her hands on her hips, despite the obvious pain her injured arm was bringing her, Jessie said resolutely, "I think we should just forget last night ever happened."
Feeling his heart slam straight to his boots, James fought back his knees giving way but not the tears welling in his eyes, "Jess...no..."
Hearing how his voice cracked, she knew she couldn't look him in the eyes now or her resolve may crumble, "Oh come on!" she continued, casually waving a hand, "We're villains; villains don't fall in love and have happy endings and all that fairy-tale crap. Besides, it would be a distraction. And then there's Meowth making snide remarks all the time...not to mention 'interrupting' things...'
She turned on her heel and went back to their downed transport, this time grabbing ahold of a section of the balloon itself and trying to straighten it out in order to examine the extent of the damage. Even this was terribly painful, though she still bit back the urge to make a show of it. She could feel his gaze on her back and knew she had hurt him, but it was for the best...right?
James took a slow, deep breath to steady himself to speak. The last thing he needed right now was to break down into a sobbing mess. He had seen this pattern before, he knew what was going on, and he refused to let it go this time, especially this time.
Squaring his shoulders, he said sternly, "Jessie, I know what you're doing. You're hurt, and you're angry, frustrated, and...scared. So you put on this big tough front and act like you don't care and you're better off alone because it's easier than putting your trust in someone!" his voice rose involuntarily as he spoke, clenching his fists and shaking, "But I know you. I can see right through this little act and I'm calling you out on it! How long have you known me?! How many times have I abandoned or hurt you? I know you still compare me to people who have harmed or used you and I hate it because I know that you know I'm not like that and now you're just going to throw away any chance of us having something because of your inability to move on!"
She stared at him, stunned by this rare show of blunt honesty, not to mention the fact that he was absolutely right. Even as she had forced herself to sound as convincing as possible, even as her mind, willpower and heart tried desperately to harden themselves, his words cut through her defenses like they were nothing.
Before she knew what she was saying, she uttered, "I'm sorry..."
He did a double-take, looking up from the ground at her, "What?" he said again.
"I'm...sorry. You're right. I'm pissed and lashing out, and well, you're the only one around...I'm not saying it's justified I'm only trying to explain why..." she started to peel off her now blood-soaked glove, "Can...can you help me wrap this thing up?"
With a nod he went to the basket, fishing out the first-aid kit they always kept nearby. She had sat down on a nearby log and was staring sourly at the dirt. He sat down next to her, opening the kit and pulling out the necessary supplies. Removing his own gloves and trying not to lose it at the sight of her bloodied arm, he went to work cleaning and disinfecting the series of gashes all along the limb, mumbling apologies whenever she hissed from the stinging.
After a minute of silence, Jessie said, "Thank you."
"Of course...I'm not just going to let you get some sort of nasty infection here-"
She shook her head, "That's not what I mean. Well, yes, this, and also for...talking some sense into me. I hate it whenever someone sees through me but sometimes I think...I need it. Just a little."
His shoulders sank a little, "Well, you're welcome...I just wish that..."
"Hmm?"
"That we could still..."
She used her free hand to turn his face toward hers, smiling, "Didn't you hear me, stupid? I said you were right."
James' eyes widened with realization and her heart leapt a little at the huge, adorable grin spread across his face, "So you really mean that we're not done?!"
Rolling her eyes she replied, "Aaand he's got it!"
He grabbed her in a hug, almost forgetting her injury and laughed joyfully as he openly cried. She chuckled herself, sighing and prying him off of her as she reminded him her arm still needed some attention. Plucking a roll of gauze and another of tape from the kit, he set back to work on her wounds with a decidedly cheerier mannerism.
"I have to tell you one thing though." she said.
"Yes?"
Looking him straight in the eyes, her face harder, she explained, "I'm not going to make any promises. I can't promise things will work out happily-ever-after. And I can't promise I'll change for you; I'm still going to be me. I'll still be the boss, I'm still going to get angry with you, yell at you, take things out on you. I can try not to, but as I said no promises. Knowing all that, you still want to be with me?"
He threw his head back and laughed, "Jessie, I'd be more worried if you did change anything about yourself because of me! I know what I'm getting into. I've known for a long time. And I'm still here," he wrapped the last piece of tape around her bandage, "There! All better. Let's go find Meowth-I'm pretty sure he landed nearby...I hope."
He stood and offered a hand, which she accepted. Getting to her feet, she tugged him a little closer and kissed his cheek. Pulling back, their eyes locked and a singular thought, a singular need was shared between them. Winding their arms around each other, they pressed their lips together and not even Pikachu's thundershock compared to the jolt that passed between them. She pulled him tighter against herself, molding her body into his as her kisses became deeper and more fervent. He slid his hands from her shoulders down her back to her hips, relishing the touch of her silky skin. An involuntary moan rose in his throat, and at that she suddenly pushed him down to sit on the log again, sitting with him and straddling his lap. Pausing to catch their breath, she glanced at his body's obvious reaction to her and grinned coyly as his face flushed bright red and he started to sputter an apology.
She shushed him with a finger to his lips, "I'll take that as a compliment..." and leaned in to kiss him again.
Not a minute later they heard a faint but nearby, familiar voice calling for them. They looked in it's direction, then at each other in shared panic.
"We forgot about Meowth!" they cried in unison.
Disentangling themselves, they scrambled to their feet and bounded in his direction, calling out to him. They quickly found him, hobbling along using a stick to steady himself, his cream-colored fur smeared with dirt and full of burs.
The feline narrowed his eyes at them, "What took ya so long!?"
Days passed, with neither of them speaking about the new direction their partnership had taken. There had formed an unspoken agreement that there was no need; what needed to be said had been, for now at least. The occasional knowing smile, hand squeeze or quick peck on the cheek was more than enough for each to know the other still felt the same. Besides this, they found themselves quite busy with their latest plans. After putting their heads together and discussing what had gone wrong with their previous schemes, they devised one that they felt confident would actually work. Thus, one sunny, hot day, they set themselves up in a large clearing in the path of but far ahead of the 'twerps' after spotting them earlier.
James stared at the pile of supplies in front of him, scratching his head, "I know we already decided this was a good plan guys but...are you sure?"
Meowth rolled his eyes, "C'mon Jimmy; have some faith will ya?!"
Jessie added as she lifted the large, heavy plastic ball that was part of their contraption, "He's right! A confident attitude will help improve our prospects."
"I suppose...are you sure that thing is unbreakable Jess?"
With a grin, Jessie lifted it above her head and dashed it to the ground, where it bounced back to her arms, "See? Completely shatter-proof! Also electric-proof, of course, as well as fire, ice, and just about anything else those brats can throw at us!"
James studied a bundle of insulated cables, "This looks about long enough to run from the ball to our balloon's boosters..."
Meowth nodded, "I measured it myself. So when dat Pikachu lets loose wit a thunderbolt-and we know he will-all dat electricity will go from de ball he's in ta de cables ta our engines an' presto! We're outta here, minus four brats an' plus one Pikachu!"
Jessie giggled, "We'll use that rat's own power against it! I love it!" she thrust the ball into James's arms, "Well, better hurry up and finish building this thing! I can already taste victory!"
Frowning, James asked, "Me?! And just what are you going to do?"
She smiled sweetly and patted his arm, "Why, I'm going to be right over here in the shade, reading the directions just in case you need any help, but I'm sure you won't, and making us some lunch!"
At his and Meowth's unsure faces she snorted, "Oh for heaven's sake I think I can make a few sandwiches!"
James turned with a resigned sigh, muttering that she just didn't want to do any actual work. Dragging the needed tools and supplies to another shady spot, he got himself set up. Meowth decided to go for a short walk, Jessie snidely reminding him not to pick any berries this time and getting a sour glare in return. After a few minutes, James wiped a hand across his sweaty brow and decided that even without his jacket he was too hot, so he tugged his shirt off and casually tossed it onto a nearby branch. The movement caught Jessie's eye, and she looked up from her sandwich-making. Her heart skipped a beat and suddenly the heat of the day wasn't the only thing making her hot. 'Dammit woman!' she chastised herself, 'Get a grip! It's not like you haven't seen the man shirtless before, or in swim trunks...or a tutu. But my oh my...maybe this does change things more than I thought...' Despite her best attempts to brush it off, she found her gaze glued to him and the heat in her belly growing worse. Feeling her eyes on him, James paused and looked at her curiously.
With a tiny shriek, she leapt to her feet, "Foodsdoneokaygonnagogetsomewateryeahberightback!" and took off.
He blinked and cocked his head, "...What was that all about?"
A short ways off, Jessie leaned against a tree, clutching her arms and taking deep breaths to calm herself.
"What the hell is this!?" she said to the sky, "I'm acting like a hormonal teenager! But then again..." she bit her lip and groaned, "If he's that good of a kisser, I can only imagine...ack! Focus Jessie! Work first, play later!" sighing, she rubbed her temples, "This is going to be more difficult than I thought."