Well, I guess the next chapter came quickly. It would've gotten here sooner, but I just had to get sick. I didn't feel like writing while I was sick and I just got better. Anyways, I hope this chapter is just as enjoyable as the ones before it!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Jessie, James (darn it), Meowth, or any of the Pokemon.

"We used to have this under control.

We never thought.

We used to know.

At least there's you, and at least there's me.

Can we get this back?

Can we get this back to how it used to be?" Used To by Chris Daughtry

Chapter 4

James felt like he was glued to the spot. The only part of his body that seemed able to obey his brain were his eyes. They frantically scanned over Jessie's body trying to find any source of life. Slowly, James lifted one hand up and pulled Jessie's wrist out from under the pile of snow. He felt for a pulse. To his great relief, there was one, but it was deadly slow.

Meowth, with Arbok at his side, had just reached James. Meowth was quick to notice their fallen Rocket member lying in the snow. A light gasp escaped his lips, as he shuffled through the snow to James.

"Oh my God…" Meowth whispered. "Wat happened ta her?"

James shook his head. "She must've been searching for shelter when she collapsed," he replied.

Meowth just stared on. James picked up Arbok's Poke'Ball that was lying beside Jessie. James called Arbok back into it and the snake disappeared into the warmth of the ball. His attention then quickly went back to Jessie.

"Wat are we gonna do?" Meowth asked. "She needs help, but dere's no hospital for miles."

"We have to do something. I'm not going to let her die out here. I won't be able to live knowing I was the one who killed her," James mumbled bitterly.

Meowth gasped. "Don't say that, Jim!" he scolded. "None of dis is your fault! Sure you may have yelled at her, but she chose to run into da storm ya didn't force her out! Ya have no right sayin' you killed her! You're not a killer!"

James shut his eyes as he tried to force the tears back that were threatening to fall. He knew Meowth was right. The feline's words cut right through him. All this time he was blaming himself and taking all the guilt. But still, he couldn't help feeling a tad bit guilty. After all, if he had kept his mouth shut, they'd still be in the cave.

"Doesn't matter…" James muttered, more to himself than Meowth. "I know she needs me now, and I'm not gonna fail her like I've done so many times before."

"Dat's da spirit!" Meowth cheered.

James slid his hands under Jessie's shivering form and gently lifted her up. He held her bridal-style with one hand under her knees, the other resting behind her back. He looked down at Meowth.

"Come on, there's gotta be some place we can get help around here," he said.

Meowth nodded and jumped onto James' shoulder once more as James ran off, Jessie being held tightly in his grasp.

---

They probably hadn't been running for that long, but the cold was draining James of his energy and he was beginning to grow tired. But he couldn't rest. Not now. Not while Jessie's life was on the line. Meowth could tell how tired James was. He could feel his deep breaths on his shoulder as it was constantly heaving up and down.

"Jimmy, ya gotta stop for awhile. You don't want ta faint too," Meowth told him, jumping off his shoulder and landing in front of him.

"We've got to get Jessie help though Meowth," James said.

"I know dat," Meowth spat. "But that doesn't mean push yourself. We're getting her help. We're doin' the best we can, but keep in mind we need rest to. If you faint Jessie will die and you probably will too."

James didn't know what had gotten into Meowth to make him so… thoughtful. Usually he was the worrywart and the one that was always pushing Jessie and James.

"I don't care about myself! I only care about Jessie!" James yelled at him.

He took off running again, this time without Meowth on his shoulder. Meowth stood there stunned. Did James even know what he had just said? Meowth shook his thoughts away.

"Hey Jimmy! You forgot Meowth!" he hollered after him.

"Then catch up! I'm not waiting any longer!" James hollered back.

Meowth didn't have to play catch-up for long because James soon collapsed from fatigue. Meowth picked up his speed to make sure James was alright.

"He never listens ta me…" Meowth thought to himself.

"I've failed. For the millionth time I've failed. I let Jessie down. Just like I always do. What kind of a friend am I? Jessie doesn't deserve having me as a partner. She deserves someone better. Now, we're gonna die; and it's all my fault…"

James was on his knees. He remained still; snow soon began to pile on top of him and Jessie. He was shivering again and his fingers had gone numb a long time ago. He looked down at Jessie. She was also shivering as fast as he was. James gritted his teeth. He couldn't give up. He wanted Jessie to live. She didn't deserve to die. Not yet anyway. He struggled to get back on his feet again for they had also gone numb.

He swayed a bit before regaining his balance. He felt dizzy, nauseous, hungry, and most of all sleepy. But he had to go on. He knew Jessie would do the exact same for him if the cards were reversed. At least… he hoped she would.

By now, Meowth had caught up again. He saw James stagger and almost fall over. He ran up behind him and pulled on James' leg trying to help him stand straight. It worked and James stopped swaying. He looked down at Meowth and smiled.

"Thanks," he said.

"Don't mention it," Meowth replied. "Now let's get out of here."

James nodded and looked in every direction. He couldn't see anything. Nothing but the white of the snow.

"Which way do you think will lead to a town or something?" he asked, mainly to himself again even though he knew Meowth could hear him.

Meowth appeared to be thinking. His eyes sparkled as he grinned, obviously having come up with something.

"I got it! Why don't'cha let your Mime Jr. out and it can use its psychic ta find a house or someting!"

James smiled again. "Meowth you're a genius!" he exclaimed, his usual giddy self returning for a brief moment.

James reached for his Poke'Ball containing Mime Jr. and opened it revealing the small creature. James quickly put the ball back and grabbed Jessie's legs before she slipped from his grasp. Mime Jr. smiled and jumped onto James' shoulder rubbing up against James' cheek.

"Mime Mime!" it squealed.

James pulled away and gave Mime Jr. a serious look.

"Mime Jr. do you think you can use your psychic to try and find us a house or something?" James asked it.

"Mime!" it said, nodding and giving a small salute.

The Pokemon shut its eyes and clasped its hands together. James and Meowth watched as the ball on top of its head began to glow white. Mime Jr. opened its eyes and pointed straight ahead.

"Mime! Mime Mime!"

"It's sayin' ta go in dat direction. Dere's a small house up ahead," Meowth translated.

James nodded. He didn't bother putting Mime Jr. back in its ball and ran off. Meowth had a bit of difficulty keeping up, but he was able to keep James in his sight. He knew how determined James was to get Jessie help and nothing was going to stop him now that he was so close.

---

Sure enough, a house began coming into James' view. He let out a silent cry of joy in his head. His speed increased as he sprinted towards the house. Once James reached the door he immediately went for the doorknob to find that it was… locked.

"No! Damn it, it's locked!" he cursed.

Meowth finally came up behind him to find James trying to yank the doorknob off. Meowth spotted a window and climbed up to it and peered inside. He spotted the silhouette of what seemed to be a woman.

"James, try knocking. I tink someone lives here. Dat's why the door's locked," the cat said.

James nodded and quickly started banging on the door.

"Hello?! If someone's there please open up! This is an emergency!" he yelled, his voice cracking and going hoarse.

"Someone's coming!" Meowth said, jumping down from the window.

James stopped banging on the door. He waited a moment before the door opened. An old woman was standing before him. Her gray hair was pulled back in a bun and she was wearing an apron like she had been cooking. She, like Meowth had been, was quick to notice the unconscious girl lying in James' arms.

"Dear me, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Please, can you help her?" James asked. "We-we got into a fight and… she went out into the storm… I don't know what to do."

The woman gave him a sympathetic look as James began to sob.

"There, there dear, don't cry," she said. "Come on inside. I'll see what we can do."

James nodded and he and Meowth followed the woman inside. The woman closed the door behind them and locked it again. Meowth immediately ran over to the fireplace, which had a nice fire going in it, to try and get warm. Mime Jr. jumped off James' shoulder and went over to the fire as well.

The woman came up to James and asked for him to follow her. She led him down a hallway lined with doors on each side. All were open except one. The woman walked into the room across from the room that was closed. James walked in and found it was a bedroom.

"You can lay her down on the bed if you'd like," she said.

James nodded and carefully put Jessie on the bed and covered her up. As he did this, Jessie let out a moan. If the room hadn't been as quiet as it had been James wouldn't have even heard it.

"She's moaning," James said. "Do you think she's hurt?"

"No, she's probably just coming to," the woman replied. "I'll be right back."

She left the room and James listened to her footsteps die away. He walked over to the bed and stared down at Jessie. She was still shivering a bit and she looked like she was in pain. He saw Jessie flinch.

"Jessie? Are you okay?" he asked.

She flinched again and let out a moan. James knelt down beside her.

"Jess?" he whispered.

She didn't answer. The old woman then walked back into the room with a wet washcloth. She placed it on Jessie's forehead.

"She's probably sick from the cold and will get a fever once she warms up. We'll keep this washcloth on her head to cool her down when she does so," she explained.

James nodded and then sneezed.

"You're obviously sick as well," she said.

James shook his head. "I'm fine. There's probably something I'm allergic to here. That's all," he said.

The woman sighed yet smiled. "You're just like my granddaughter. Come on, you need to get by the fire," she said.

James looked back at Jessie. He didn't want to leave her by herself. What she woke up? What if her condition worsened?

"Your friend will be fine. Now that she's out of the cold she'll be fine. The worse possibility is she had a bad cold and frostbite, but nothing to panic about," the woman said.

Reluctantly, James followed the woman from Jessie's room and back to the main room. The lady made James sit on the couch by the fire while she went away for a moment. She came back with blankets, a thermometer, and a cup of tea. James sneezed again.

"You probably have cold as well," the woman said.

She wrapped the blanket around James and stuck the thermometer in his mouth. James hoped he didn't have a temperature. He hated being sick. The last time he was sick he wound up in the emergency room. The doctors didn't even know what he had and told James' grandparents that James probably would've died if his grandparents hadn't kept him so healthy.

He heard the thermometer beep and the woman pulled it from his mouth.

"What's it say?" James asked, his voice hoarse all of a sudden.

"You're sick alright," the woman said.

"I am?"

"With a fever of 102.5 I'd say you are."

"Darn…" he mumbled.

The woman chuckled. "Yep, you're exactly like my granddaughter. Don't worry though; you should be well in a couple of days. You and your friend can stay here until you're both better and the storm dies down," she said. "I'll go check on your friend and be right back."

James nodded and the lady began walking away.

"Oh, by the way, my name's Amelia, but you can call me Amy," she said.

"I'm James and my friend's name is Jessie," James said.

"Nice to meet you James," Amy smiled before she walked back to where Jessie was.

James nodded and then turned to the fire. Well, they had found a place to stay. They were safe and warm now, but James was still worried about Jessie. Why had she been moaning? And how long will they have to stay here? James was also a bit curious about why that one door was closed while all the others were open.

Meowth broke his chain of thoughts as he jumped up onto the couch next to him.

"What'cha thinking 'bout Jim?" Meowth asked.

"Oh nothing…" James mumbled.

"If ya are worried 'bout Jess I'm sure she's fine. Everyone gets sick," Meowth pointed out.

James sighed. "Yeah I know, but Jessie must've been out in the snow for hours before we got her here. What if she's worse then sick?"

"You worry too much Jimmy," Meowth said.

After he finished, he curled up next to James and fell asleep. James thought he should probably sleep as well, but he wanted to make sure Jessie would be alright. He was more worried about her well-being than his own.

Please R&R! Oh, and I posted a video about Jessie and James on YouTube. If you type in 'Team Rocket- I'll be There for You' you should find it. Please watch it and comment if you do! Stay tuned!