X998
The bright afternoon light streamed through the windows of the spacious 30th story office. Archer reclined in his wheeling desk chair as he gazed out the window-lined wall of his office. The Team Rocket HQ towered over all of Vermillion and he had a magnificent view. He could see every building in the city and all the ordinary civilians walking along in their own little worlds on the streets beneath them. Giovanni often compared them to Durants below them, ignorant of their impending doom. His elbow rested on the armrest of his chrome office chair and his chin rested in hand as he just took in the view, reminiscing. Giovanni told him they were getting closer and closer. They would rule the world and he'd be happy soon. But despite his bosses assurances he didn't feel any nearer to happiness. But he trusted his boss. He'd be happy soon
They'd come so far. Just five years ago Team Rocket had operated out of a tiny apartment in the poor districts outside of the city lights. Now they were in the center of it all, towering above everything.
The executives had their own spacious private offices. All black, white, and red; chrome and glass; everything about their organization was elegant and ultramodern. They were pioneers in the technological fields of Pokémon treatment, capture, and medicine. All legitimate and charitable on the outside, but plenty of their research and products were in fact failed versions of projects with darker purposes. But that didn't matter, all that mattered in this world was money and strong Pokémon. And they held each in a vast supply.
Archer didn't bother to turn around when the door to his office cracked open; he knew whom it was. Her heels clicked on the tile floor as she crossed to his desk behind him, and the bottom drawer creaked as it was pulled open. "I'm out." She grumbled as she pulled out his private stash of alcohol and poured herself a glass of cognac. "Petrel is driving me crazy!"
"When is he not?"
She gave a derisive laugh and retuned the flask to his drawer and slammed it shut. "I'm going to take a nap in my office. Don't wake me up." Her heels clacked as she made her way across the floor and the door slammed on the way out.
A few moments later his door opened again.
Petrel's purple hair peeked around the doorframe. "Have you seen Ariana?" He asked, "I had a few questions about-"
"In her office, but I'd advise you not to disturb her unless you want to be shot in the face."
"So can I ask you-"
"No."
"Well then… should I-"
"Take a day off Petrel." Archer waved his and dismissively. "Giovanni is still not back, no one will mind."
"Speaking of that…" The lanky haired man stepped into the room, surprisingly bold. "When will Giovanni be back?"
"Soon." Archer lied easily. He honestly had no idea. He had been running the organization for his boss for the past four months. None of the grunts knew Giovanni was gone, they had been keeping up appearances, but even Ariana and Petrel didn't know the full story.
"O.k." Petrel sighed with relief, trusting his superior and backing out of the room. "I'll be back later."
As far as his fellow executives knew Giovanni was personally hunting a discolored Charizard in the mountains, but in reality he was traipsing about like a lovesick schoolboy with some woman and it infuriated Archer.
He had actually been with Giovanni when the two met. They had stopped for lunch at a little cafe in Cerulean while out scouting for a building to use for a new Rocket branch, and she just so happened to be their waitress.
Over the years he had spent with his boss Archer had come to learn his bosses "type;" the women who were the most dangerous to him.
She was from some forgettable town that wasn't notable enough to find a place on a map and full of excitement to see the world (hence her move out to Cerulean). Archer didn't find her very attractive but supposed she was pretty in a frail sort if way. She was small with bright red hair similar to Ariana's, but it seemed brighter, more cheerful like a ripe cherry; while Ariana's was darker, the color of spilt blood.
In essence, she was the polar opposite of Giovanni. She was small; he was big. She was light; he was dark. She was an ignorant small town girl; he was a powerful mobster. What was different about her Archer didn't know, but there was obviously something, because for the first time Giovanni stayed in town. He had never before stayed more than a month away from the headquarters, no matter the woman. Even when it was time to return to Headquarters the boss had concocted some hair brained excuse about evaluating the seawater to stay behind. And despite every valid point Archer made and reminder of their current projects Giovanni refused to come back, so Archer was forced returned and Giovanni stayed behind in Cerulean with his newest mistress, running his organization through daily phone calls to his second in command.
Archer sat there for nearly an hour wallowing in his frustration, until the phone rang. He picked up prepared to discuss the organization with his truant boss.
"Sir, I-"
"She's pregnant."
The most unnatural silence Archer had ever experienced settled over the phone line.
"Your mistress?"
"Who the hell else?!" Giovanni's angry voice snapped over the phone.
"That's…" Archer began but realized there was no proper answer. His entire world had frozen. This was a situation he'd never foreseen, he'd never expected Giovanni to sire a child, much less stay around long enough for the woman to realize even if he did.
Archer rose from his seat and balanced the phone between his shoulder and his ear as Giovanni began a long, curse filled rant in Italian. Honestly in all his time with the man he only heard him use his ancestral tongue to curse. He crossed to the wall that adjoined his office to Ariana's and gave it a solid pound. She'd probably have a better idea of what to do they he would.
"So you're going to leave her?" He asked coolly, attempting to get a grasp on the situation and hoping for an affirmative. Giovanni's was uncharacteristically disturbed, and it upset Archer as well. Letting him stay with the woman this long had been a terrible mistake.
"I DON'T KNOW!" his boss hissed. "I'm NOT raising some bambino rumoroso!" ((Noisy child/brat))
The door crashed open, and an irate Ariana stormed in with her flaming fair matted messily around her. "YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR WAKING ME UP WITH THAT RACKET ARCHER!"
Archer put the call on speaker phone and returned to his seat. "Giovanni got a girl pregnant." He threw out casually.
She groaned something about how stupid men were and rubbed her temples as her heels clacked towards them. "When? How old is the kid?"
"No more than 4 months into the pregnancy." Archer replied as he cracked open the bottom drawer of his desk and removed the large flask of cognac and two glasses.
"The kid's unborn?" Ariana blinked in surprise as she congregated around the alcohol, then turned towards the phone. "You stuck around long enough for this to figure out she was pregnant?" She paused again. "Wait, four months? You've been with this woman, YOU LYING BAS-"
"Calm down Ariana." Archer commanded cutting her off. "You are right in assuming the Charizard hunt was merely a cover, and he has been with a woman all this time. However that does not warrant such disrespectful behavior."
She rolled her eyes and took a seat on his desk, "Who is she anyway?"
"I didn't call to talk to you." Giovanni's deep voice suddenly returned over the phone. "I called to consult with Archer."
And suddenly the whole situation was worthwhile. He'd come back for his opinion. Archer had honestly never felt so elated. His idol had come to him for advice and guidance in his greatest moment of need.
Unfortunately it was on a matter he knew nothing about.
As if sensing his train of thought Ariana jumped in. "What the hell does Archer know about relationships, or being a parent?" She laughed, "Or even about sex?"
He harshly shoved her off of her perch on his desk.
"You should keep the child." Archer declared suddenly, much to the surprise of both his boss and his subordinate. It was the most logical choice. His boss was obviously attached to this woman for whatever reason but this child could be the chance Giovanni out of her seductive clutches and back to work. While the woman bore and raised the child Giovanni would come back to Team Rocket and all would be well again. Everything could return to the way it was. "It's always been understood that you would eventually have to chose a successor, this can be your opportunity to have one of your own blood."
"Good point." Giovanni conceded.
"Well there's no way in hell that Giovanni is raising that kid." Ariana objected after climbing to her feet.
"The woman will." Archer explained. "Giovanni can leave the child with the mistress, come back to the corporation, then collect the child when he's old enough to work. Everyone wins."
After some silence, Giovanni's voice returned, if only for a moment. "You haven't steered me wrong yet, kid." And then the line went dead.
"Men." Ariana spat as she reclaimed her seat on the desk.
"You think he'd be an awful father." Archer stated bluntly.
"I don't think he would be, I know." She snapped back refilling her glass and turning over her shoulder to face him. "I'm an expert on the subject remember." She mumbled bitterly swirling the contents of the glass.
A familiar quiet paused their conversation, as it always did when either alluded to their past. "Well you don't need to worry about Giovanni ever coming into contact with the child. He hates children, he probably won't even meet him until he's an adult."
"Good. Honestly, you'd make a better father than he ever will."
"Very funny."
Author notes: So… not my favorite chapter… It was hard to write Giovanni for this. Eh… so yeah…