Back to Zero

L.R.T.

The Rocket trio wandered around Valencia Island, all moods sour despite Meowth's attempt at humor: "In case of a water landin', Jigglypuff can be used as a floatation device!" He received a smack to the back of his head for his efforts and soon joined his team to bask in grumpiness.

James barely lifted his feet off the ground, his boots making a scraping sound against the sand, then the dirt road they decided to follow. Jessie, hair wet and flowing down her back and shoulders, shot his feet dirty looks every so often, equating the sound with a fury swipe against a chalkboard. Any other time, she would have threatened to cut his damn feet off if he didn't cut it out; but, being as downtrodden as they were, she decided to let the silence between them continue. They all were thinking the same thing, anyway - what needed to be discussed?

What had started out as a promising new assignment in the sunny Orange Islands had become more of the same humiliation and failure that even they had come to expect from themselves. It had been two days and already their optimism had plummeted into the sea - much like they had a few hours ago. They probably should have been sneaking around, following the twerps that likely made it there without incident, spying on the professor while they were in walking distance of her lab; instead, they continued to trudge along and feel sorry for themselves. Only they could get a job as sweet as island-hopping and turn it in to another one of their miserable failures.

The unappealing thought of encountering any humans - especially the twerps - led them to hike deep into the forest, the ground still muddy from the storm. The scraping of James's boots was gone now, all of their feet becoming caked with mud. Soon, their uniforms were covered as well following the rescue of Meowth, whose small stature did nothing to help him navigate the soggy terrain and led him to get stuck in a particularly deep and wet pocket of earth.

It had to be the longest time they had gone without talking when not asleep or stuffing their faces. Stopping to rest against a tree for a minute, Jessie simply stood with an impenetrable scowl on her face, her salty hair starting to frizz in the growing humidity. Meowth jumped onto a branch and let out a relieved sigh, free from the squishy ground. James decided to look ahead a bit and started off without his companions, the awful noise his boots made as they walked in the mud causing Jessie to twitch.

Not far from where they had stopped to rest, James came upon a group of oddly placed trees. They didn't seem to flow with the rest of the forest and couldn't have been as old. Pushing his way through the prickly brush, he came out on the other side and blinked slowly at what he saw.

It was a large steel building - possibly a factory at one time - with orange cones and construction tape over most of the east side. No one was running the equipment at the moment and the thought crossed his mind to grab a bulldozer to help them get through the rest of their muddy trek. Stepping closer, he looked up at the seemingly never-ending chain-link fence that surrounded the property, noting spirals of barbed wire in place of some of the fence here and there. Whatever this place was, somebody wanted lost travelers like himself to stay the hell away.

"Fucking hell, James," came the testy voice as it snapped its way through the same path he had. She came in to view, Meowth clinging to her shoulder. "What are you doing?"

He looked at her briefly and then gestured with his head to the building before them. "What do you think this place is?"

"Who cares? We're never getting in there. Unless you'd like to volunteer your services to climb that monstrosity of a fence and let us in."

James shook his head and looked back at the building just as a large, black van appeared on the property. He made a move to hide back in the treeline but stopped upon seeing the red R plastered on the side of the vehicle. Watching as several grunts exited out the back - reminiscent of a clown car - James murmured, "Is this...a Team Rocket place?"

Jessie frowned and joined him closer to the fence, peering through the wire at the grunts doing what they usually did best: busy work. "Why wouldn't the boss tell us?"

"Especially since the blimp assignment he gave us would've landed us right on this island anyway," James added.

Someone emerged from inside the building wearing an identical uniform to James's, tiny and young in comparison to the black-suited grunts. Meowth nearly sliced Jessie's ear off when he pointed, a toothy grin appearing on his face. "Hey! Dat's Mondo!" Taking a deep breath, he screeched the kid's name - right in to Jessie's ear - waving his paws wildly until his mode of transportation was thoroughly sick of his shit and grabbed him by the scruff, throwing him down to the ground. She glared at him and rubbed her ear to which the Pokemon laughed nervously and shrugged.

In a few seconds, Mondo had covered the large expanse of property and was running up to the fence, smiling brightly. "Guys! I was wondering when you were gonna get here!" He darted a look at Jessie and immediately turned red, voice lowering and mumbling shyly, "Guys and Miss Jessie, I mean."

James rubbed the back of his neck, frowning at their young friend. "I'm not entirely sure we're supposed to be here..."

After giving Mondo a genuine smile - how could anyone be in a bad mood when there was someone right there worshipping the ground you walked on and hanging on your every word? - Jessie crossed her arms, the scowl returning to her lips. "We got an assignment that would've landed us here but the boss didn't say anything about this...what is it?"

"Oh," Mondo said, looking back at the building, "temporary headquarters. The boss was pretty upset about the old headquarters getting destroyed, so now he's planning on building other ones in different regions so that if one goes down, we haven't lost a bunch of stuff and have a place to go in the meantime."

"So...dis place is da new HQ until da one in Viridian City is rebuilt?" Meowth asked.

Mondo nodded. "Right. It's not as big, obviously, so the boss picked and chose who would join him here and who would stay back in Viridian to help with the repairs."

All at once, the four team members let those words sink in and had the same sad reaction of slumping their shoulders and lowering their heads. Mondo shook his and tried to clean up the mess he'd inadvertantly made. "I'm sure you guys were chosen! Why would he send you here if you weren't?"

"Because they're total losers."

Jessie, James, and Meowth all looked up at once to see a girl about Mondo's age standing behind him, smirking. Her light blonde hair was in curly pigtails, her uniform resembling Cassidy's, the skirt of it white instead of black. The trim on her uniform was pink, even the R appearing to take on more of that tone than the usual, illustrious red.

It was Mondo's turn to slump his shoulders and lower his head now, letting out a sigh. "C'mon, Domino...can't you see that they've had a tough time?"

"Their life is one big tough time," she retorted, wrapping her arms around Mondo's waist from behind and smiling brightly. "Of course, if you make it worth my while, I might just let them in."

Growling, Jessie clenched her fist and went up to the fence, spitting at the girl, "You little bitch, he doesn't have to do a damn thing for you!"

Domino stuck out her tongue and pulled down her eye at the older girl, ignoring the immediate response of a line of swear words that left even James and Meowth in awe, returning her attention to Mondo. "If you take me to the beeeeach, I'll let them iiiiinnnn..."

Making a face as Domino poked his cheek with her finger, he simply nodded and tried to squirm away from her. "As soon as they're inside."

Squealing happily, she leaned in and kissed the same cheek quickly. "I'll go get ready!" Darting a glance at the trio, she added in annoyance, "After I let these morons in, of course." Lifting her hand, she pointed across to the fence on the other side. "Entrance is there. I'll tell Mondy the code and he can meet you there and pass it on."

Meowth snickered. "Mondy."

Mondo's face flushed again. "Can't you just tell them now?"

She snorted and turned up her nose. "Knowing these three, they would probably forget by the time they got there."

"Oh, I can't wait to see how brave you are when there isn't a barbed wire fence between us, you little -"

James clasped his hand over her mouth and laughed nervously. "We really appreciate it!"

As Domino whispered in Mondo's ear, Jessie bit James's hand, causing him to yelp out and cradle the injured limb against his chest. She crossed her arms and smirked, thoroughly pleased with the result.

Nodding in understanding, Mondo made another face when Domino kissed his cheek again and started skipping her way back to the building. The three Rockets stood expectantly as their young assistant stuck his hands in his pockets and lowered his head, brown hair falling over his eyes. "She's really not as bad as she seems. She's actually kinda...nice when nobody else is around."

"Well, she's a spiteful little witch the rest of the time," Jessie said, turning her nose up.

"Heh, reminds ya of somebody, don't it?" Meowth asked, only to realize the error of his ways seconds before a boot smashed his face into the mud.

"I don't know what you mean," Mondo said quickly, shifting in place awkwardly. "Um, I got the code so all you guys have to do is get over to the entrance and punch it in. It's just a bunch of numbers."

As he rattled off said numbers, Jessie blinked and tilted her head to the side. "Weird...that's my birthday."

Meowth grunted against the ground, shooting a glare at her and retorting, "Don't flatter yerself!"

She frowned down at him, arms crossing again in a defensive huff. "I never said that's the reason the boss chose it! He may not have even done it. I was simply saying that it was strange. Is that okay with you?!"

"Dat tone yer takin' ain't okay wit' me!"

Both James and Mondo sighed, the latter giving the former a small wave before starting back for the building.

James began walking toward the entrance wordlessly, his argumentative partners following but not missing a beat in their spat. By the time the group reached the entrance and James put in the code, Jessie and Meowth had shut up, moods significantly brightened by the thought of a shower, food, and a comfortable bed.

The fence clanging loudly shut behind them, James balked on their way to the temporary headquarters, causing Jessie and Meowth to stop and look back at him. His movements unintentionally mimicked those of their younger friend, body weight shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "What do we do if...we really aren't supposed to be here? And the boss finds out?"

Jessie opened her mouth to answer but slowly shut it, furrowing her brow, suddenly wondering the same thing. Both humans looked down to Meowth - the self-described "expert" on the boss - hoping that he had an answer. When the Pokemon backed up and put both paws up, shaking his head, the trio stood in the middle of the gravel driveway that led to the building before them, unsure of themselves.

Finally Jessie spoke up, "Domino is the one that gave Mondo the code to let us in. If the boss gets angry, we tell him that 009 thought it was perfectly fine! And - being that she's higher ranked than we are," she paused to mutter something best left unheard before continuing, "we thought that she would be the one to know if we were supposed to be here or not."

James made a face. "Isn't that throwing her under the bus a little? I mean...she's Mondo's girlfriend and all..."

"She is not," she said in annoyance. "Besides, it's not throwing her under the bus when we're just telling the truth. If I wanted to throw the little Muk under the bus, I'd suggest telling the boss that she let us in herself and welcomed us with open arms. See?" She turned around and began walking once again. "I can ruin her if I feel like it." Glancing back over her shoulder, she added, "I can ruin plenty of people."

Raising both of his eyebrows and glancing down at a shrugging Meowth, James jogged to catch up with her, calling, "What is that supposed to mean? Jessie! I want to be in on the gossip, too!"

As Cassidy walked by the muddied and frazzled trio, she couldn't help but laugh out loud, tossing back in their direction as she continued on her way, "I guess we'll have to get the new HQ sanitized already! Who knows what diseases those three are carrying these days."

Smirking at Jessie's retort - something entirely too uncreative about STDs - she made her way down a long hallway, boots clicking against the new linoleum floor, the sound reverberating against the bare and sterile walls. At the very end of the hall she stopped in front of a door and slid a card through the electronic checkpoint, blowing some hair from her eyes as she waited for the light on the machine to turn green and open the door.

Placing the access card back in her boot, she wandered over to her partner and a handful of scientists - nerds, in her opinion, but apparently some took offense to that term. She crossed her arms and looked the contraption over while finishing touches were being made, slightly unimpressed. "This is it?"

Not looking up at her, Butch continued with his work of screwing steel panels to the bottom of the machine. "It works. It doesn't have to look spectacular if it works."

She tilted her head to the side, squinting her eyes in an attempt to find some kind of beauty in the thing. "It doesn't have to look so dumpy, either."

Narrowing his eyes at her through his hair, he replied, "Maybe if you were actually around to help, you could have put some of your input in then."

She shrugged. "This isn't my speed. I like action; this shit is mind-numbing."

Butch began to ignore her again, the irritation he felt giving him more strength to do his job all the faster. He wasn't about to argue with her. She preferred to do little to none of the prep and reap all the rewards as if she had drawn the damn plans herself; he actually enjoyed the technological side of things and taking bits and pieces of scrap, transforming it into a viable weapon to help their cause.

What concern Cassidy had displayed for him after the old headquarters exploded was short-lived. In a strange way, he was happy for that fact; experiencing her actual "nice side" weirded him out even more than helping the boss with the Pokemon that destroyed HQ in the first place. Scientifically engineered Pokemon he could handle; his bitch of a partner cooing at him and waiting on him was the real freak show.

Realizing that he was taking the childish way out of their disagreement, she rolled her eyes and turned on her heel, walking out without saying a word. She was going to tell him that his precious little Jessie had somehow gotten her way inside and that she looked like a bog threw up on her; but he had to sit there and hold his breath until he turned blue, giving her the silent treatment like a little baby. It was times like these when she wondered what the hell she ever saw in him to begin with. Sure, there was the sex but that was nothing a rough ride down a rugged dirt road in a car with bad shocks couldn't accomplish for her just as easily. She hoped that he got his act together before they left for their assignment on Mandarin Island. Screwing up a mission once was more than enough for her.

"Cassidy?"

She was blinked out of her thoughts by the human resources girl, Wendy. "What? Yeah. Hi."

Jessie wasn't the only person Cassidy had conflict with in the organization and as a result had met with Wendy several times to discuss her behavior. The third time she was sent to HR, she mentioned something in passing about her magenta-haired rival and from then on she and Wendy had a bond over their intense and (in her new "friend"'s case) irrational hatred of the girl. Cassidy nearly fell out of her chair when Wendy revealed that her intense dislike stemmed from the fact that she still owed her money for a smoothie. She made a mental note that day not to get on this bitch's bad side.

Wendy smiled at her. "You can't call the scientists..." She pulled out a clipboard from underneath her arm to glance at it and then placed it back, "...'fucking virgins'." She shrugged a little. "But you know that. No one can say I didn't talk to you about it, though."

Cassidy leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, snorting. "Well, you've seen them. Listen, I had one show up in the laundry room while I was waiting for my uniform to dry, right? So I'm leaning against one of the machines in my underwear, reading this magazine, and I swear the guy nearly had a stroke."

Raising an eyebrow slightly, Wendy commented, "Well, you shouldn't be hanging around in public places in your panties, either."

She rolled her eyes in response and continued, "For being 'doctors' and everything, they sure have a problem handling the female body." Stretching against the wall, she murmured through a yawn, "Then again, what male doesn't?"

Wendy laughed and leaned forward, nudging her in the side. "Master Giovanni, obviously."

She blinked at her a few times before gasping, her eyes widening. "Have you - with the boss?!" she whispered loudly.

Blinking as well now, she shook her head and frowned. "What? No. You did. I mean...that's why you're getting all these assignments despite the failure of the breeding center, isn't it?"

Cassidy clenched her teeth and fists, stepping away from the wall and narrowing her eyes at the green-haired Rocket before her. "Where the fuck did you hear that shit?! You don't talk to Jessie, so I know it wasn't her."

Glancing around and bringing the clipboard to her chest, hugging it and taking a step back from her friend, she answered cautiously, "No one told me. I saw it with my own eyes."

Shortening the gap between them, Cassidy growled, "I think I would have remembered something like that."

Frown growing, her eyes suddenly widened and she swallowed hard, laughing nervously. "Right. Right. Of course. I don't know what I was thinking -"

"You're not a fucking idiot, Wendy," she spat. "You wouldn't say this shit if you didn't have good reason to. So 'fess the fuck up!"

Averting her gaze, she swallowed again, grip tightening on her clipboard. "I - I didn't think you were that messed up! If I had any idea, I would have..." Wendy trailed off and looked down at the floor. "I probably still would have let it happen, just because our Master Giovanni is so..." She trailed off again and glanced up at the confused blonde. "You came down to the club that one night and drank and snorted shit like a champ. I was there with a few other high-ranking Rockets and...well..."

"Giovanni," Cassidy interjected.

Wendy nodded and continued, "Right. Sometimes he needs to let off some steam, too...and the club was his idea in the first place -"

"I don't care," she growled, reaching out and grabbing the clipboard from her and throwing it to the ground, the metal crashing against the lineoleum, echoing down the hall. "Tell me what happened."

Nodding vigorously, she tucked her hair behind her ears. "Um...um, okay. It had to be really late - like two in the morning? - and that stun spore stuff everyone was snorting...may or may not have been laced with something else." Taking another step back, she said quietly, "I swear I didn't know when I bought it and gave it to you guys. It wasn't until I told the guy I get it from how crazy everyone was acting that he told me -"

"I still don't care," Cassidy said, clenching her fists even tighter.

"Right! Of course. Okay, um...to the point, there was this crazy..." She paused, searching for a better word than the one that came to mind and finding none, going with her original thought, "um, orgy I guess you could call it. In the showers in the locker room." She laughed slightly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Pretty funny right? Like, the biggest HR violation ever and I'm right there, still sober enough to totally appreciate the irony." Noting Cassidy's unamused glare, Wendy took a deep breath and kept on, talking faster now than before, "So I was going around with my phone, getting video for possible blackmail -"

"Classy," Cassidy said flatly.

Wendy shrugged a little. "I didn't say I was proud of it...but anyway, I see Master Giovanni and put my phone away. I'm not crazy enough to get that on film and expect to live! But..." She bit her lip, color seeping into her cheeks, "...I guess I was curious, that's all. About who he was doing and...well, if I could see anything good. You know what I mean, ri-"

"Yes!"

"Okay, okay. So I'm behind these lockers and I look around and see you pressed up against that wall that separates the bathroom stalls from the locker room? You know the one?"

"I fucking know, Wendy!"

Nodding again, she ran her hands back through her hair nervously. "You were pressed up against that thing with your skirt hiked up, panties around your ankles and what had to be, like...the best 'o' face I have ever seen in my entire life."

Her clenched teeth were more out of necessity than anger now, fighting back the increasing urge to fall to her knees and sob. "And...it was the boss..."

Another nod and averted gaze. "I swear I thought you knew. I mean, maybe at the time you did and then -"

Cassidy closed the gap between them entirely, grabbing her by the collar of her uniform and meeting her dark brown eyes with her watery lavender ones and giving her a good, hard shake. "No one finds out about this. If anyone says one fucking word to me about it, you're dead." She let go with a shove to the ground, kicking her clipboard to her. "You get me?"

Wendy gulped and grabbed her clipboard, scrambling to her feet quickly. "I - I would never, Cassidy! You don't have to worry!"

"I'm not the one who should be worried," she sneered, hitting her in the shoulder with her own as she walked past.

Watching as she made her way down the hall, Wendy put a hand to her head and let out a heavy breath. "I am really not good at this job."

Fiddling with the buttons on the machine, Butch glanced back at his oddly quiet partner. "You got that Drowzee ready?"

Cassidy was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, staring down at the floor with an intensity he'd only ever seen her give Jessie. She hadn't been herself for days and, while at first the silence and brooding was a welcome relief, it was now becoming something that concerned him - as much as he could be concerned with her, at least.

Anyone could say what they wanted about her but Butch had to respect the fact that despite...well, just about everything about her, she was no ditz. She was sharp - sometimes too sharp - and devious, manipulative to the core. That's what made her sudden flightiness so strange. She wanted the mission to succeed so badly to prove to the boss that they didn't need to be babysat by him to get a job done; yet the only way he could bring her back to Earth was to snap his fingers in front of her face and yell something vaguely insulting in her ear.

Seemingly lost in her own world once again, he sighed and went over to her, only needing to snap his fingers once - loudly - to get her attention. "Do you. Have the Drowzee. Ready."

"Oh, right," she said with a blink, reaching to her waistband and pulling out a Pokeball, enlarging it and tossing it up in the air. Emerging from the red beam of light was a Drowzee they had acquired from the breeding center scheme. It looked and sounded pretty much how she felt.

After instructing the Drowzee to climb the machine and get into the glass chamber at the top, Butch glanced at Cassidy again. "This isn't rocket science - I can do it by myself if you need -"

"Don't tell me what I need," she growled in reply, brushing past him to the machine. "You know how this trash heap works, go get that Drowzee plugged in so we can get this over with."

"Somebody's anxious to impress the boss," he mumbled as he walked by, climbing the machine himself and setting the Pokemon up for their plan.

Eyes lowered to the floor again, she retorted, "Excuse me for not wanting to fail again."

In actuality, she wanted this particular mission to be a success so badly because it would put any question of the validity of their rank and assignments to rest. Wendy remained the only one that knew about her disturbing night of passion with the boss and Cassidy knew she had scared her in to shutting the hell up; it was Cassidy herself that needed the doubts in her head to go away.

James and Meowth both cringed at the sound of the cabin door being slammed shut behind them, exchanging wary looks.

Jessie stood in front of the door, arms crossed, silently seething at her two teammates; silent seething was the worst kind of Jessie-related seething. Tapping her foot against the wood floor, she changed the glare on her face when she raised an eyebrow, looking between the two boys. Sighing much louder and with more exasperation than necessary, she dropped her arms to her sides. "What. The. Fuck?!"

The two cringed again, James slowly daring to turn around and face her. "We - we just...didn't think it was right to try to steal their Pokemon after that girl -"

"Who cares what's right?!" She walked over to him and flicked him in the forehead - twice, for good measure. "We're cri-min-als!" She began to pace back and forth, hands flying every which way as her berating continued, "Apparently I can't get sick ever again because if I do, you two morons can't take a hold of your balls and step up! What if I was really hurt by that stupid Vileplume? You two would be up shit creek without me! Hell, you didn't even find the Salveyo Weed yourselves! That twerpette felt so bad for you and what a fucking joke you both are that she gave it to you! Do you have any idea how embarrassing that is?"

"Not as embarrassin' as dis," Meowth muttered.

"We don't make deals with the twerps unless we're all together as a team!"

Putting a hand to the back of his neck, James glanced down at the floor and Jessie's makeshift bed. "To be fair, you weren't quite yourself anyway."

Not pacing for a moment, she turned her attention to James. "Even when my brain is melting, I would know better than to get help from the twerps!"

He frowned, looking up at her through strands of periwinkle hair. "You were really sick, Jessie. Did you want us to continue looking around the whole island for the Salveyo Weed? You could've been...I mean, you were here all by yourself and if something happened -"

Taking a deep breath, Jessie shut her eyes and put her hand to her forehead. "You are such a baby." She felt her face growing warm again, rubbing her eyes with both hands and shaking her head. Those two idiots were getting her riled up again - a fact that she was about to be more than pleased to share with them when dizziness overtook her, making her less solid on the ground and instead wobble in unsteadiness.

James frowned more, taking a step toward her, hearing her grumble something about "all your fault" and "delicate flower" (which he assumed was in reference to herself and not the Vileplume.) As he was about to open his mouth to ask if she was okay, she began to fall over like a rotting tree, body still too weak to withstand her normal degree of rage.

James ran over and caught her just before she hit the ground, kneeling down with her and letting panic take him over. Looking up at Meowth, he frantically screeched, "I thought you said she would be okay!"

Meowth made a face at how inhumanly piercing James's voice had become, sticking one of his fingers in his ear and wiggling it to make sure he could still actually hear. "She should be! We gave her da stuff!"

"Well then why isn't she?!"

"Don't look at Meowth! I ain't qualified for dis kinda ting!" He paused in thought while James set Jessie back down on the blankets strewn about the floor. Suddenly the Pokemon snapped its fingers and then smacked himself with his own paw. "We really are da densest of da dense!"

Rushing into the tiny kitchen that connected to the living area, Meowth hopped up on a stool that was still in place by the stove from earlier. He looked down into the pot and grinned, pointing at it. "We still got some! Maybe she just didn't get enough! Dose Vileplume can be real nasty."

"Tell me about it," James mumbled, removing her boots, gloves, and jacket. Looking down at her worriedly, he said, "We'll just have to get her to take the rest of it."

Meowth snorted, pouring the rest of the broth into a bowl. "You gotta get her to take da rest of it, ya mean."

"Fine! Just hurry up!"

Shooting him a glare, he held out the bowl from his perch on the stool. "Ya want I should spill dis everywheres?! Come get it!"

Groaning in annoyance, he quickly stood and grabbed the bowl from his partner, returning his glare before sitting back down next to Jessie. He bit his lip, placing a hand on her forehead, making a face at the heat that was emanating from it. He looked back at Meowth, who was jumping down from the stool. "She's really hot, Meowth. I - I think she needs another one of those cool washcloths. Do you think you could -"

Meowth waved a hand at him and said nothing, going into the bathroom and hopping up on the sink.

He turned his attention back to Jessie, her face scrunched up in what James thought had to be either discomfort or a reaction to the smell of the Salveyo Weed. Sliding his arm underneath her, he lifted her upper body and put the bowl to her lips. "C'mon, Jess...I know it's probably really awful but you have to." He swallowed hard, using his arm to pull her closer, repeating quietly to himself, "You just have to."

Returning with the washcloth, Meowth gently placed it on his companion's forehead and patted her head affectionately. "She ain't eatin' it?"

James shook his head, not taking his eyes off of her. "We have to wake her up."

"Just do some of dat girly screamin' you was doin' before. Dat'll wake a Snorlax."

Scowling, he began to protest when he was happily distracted by a quiet moan soon followed by movement. James let out a breath of relief, adjusting her against his body and reaching to brush some sweat-soaked hair from her forehead. "Hey, you need to eat this to feel better."

Jessie scowled as well, eying the bowl through a disorienting fog that had settled over her head. "We did this already."

"Yeah...I - I know but...we think maybe you didn't get enough."

"Or ya shouldn'ta run off after dose twerps instead of restin' some more!"

James gave Meowth a quiet scolding with his eyes, making him sigh and sit next to Jessie on the side opposite James. Lifting the bowl to her lips again, green eyes looking down at her pleadingly, he said softly, "Please? For me?"

Another weak groan of protest was followed by the sounds of slurping - sounds that only stopped long enough for her to lift her hand to her nose and pinch it shut, making the broth slightly more tolerable. Finishing the bowl, she shoved at James half-heartedly and squirmed from his arms, rolling over onto her side and mumbling, "Go away now."

One eye slowly opening and immediately squinting shut again at the sunlight that came in through the front window, Jessie rolled over and opened both eyes to blink at her sleeping partner next to her. She tilted her head in confusion at what appeared to be a note stuck to his forehead, the very bottom starting to accumulate drool. Carefully removing it, she opened it and inwardly lamented at the sight of Meowth's terrible handwriting. She couldn't really fault him - he was a Pokemon, after all. She managed to make out the words "look" "berries" "food" "soon" and, of course, his signature which consisted of his paw print.

It was then she realized that she felt gross beyond the telling of it, running a hand back through her hair and sticking her tongue out in distaste at the feel of it. She remembered that James and Meowth had gotten what they needed to make her feel better. She then remembered going after the twerps and throwing a fit over her partners not wanting to bug the girl that had so selflessly helped them out. What she didn't remember was whether or not the latter two things actually happened or if she was only dreaming. Evidence pointed more to dreaming as, once again, she was on the floor in her blankets like she had never been well again at all. She would ask James once she got out of a much-needed and appreciated shower.

Clean, quite possibly happy, and in her fresh nightgown, Jessie emerged from the bathroom combing out her long magenta locks - a process that took longer than even she cared to admit. Padding around the kitchen, she wrinkled her nose at the lingering smell of the broth from the dirty pot and bowl in the sink. She thought about actually washing them up, if only to rid the cabin of the stench, but shrugged the idea away and went back to join James on the floor. She had been sick, damnit - let Meowth do the dishes. She'd let him try to battle Lickitung earlier in the day to keep her word of giving him more experience so that he could learn pay day - technically, he still owed her. James was likely the one that did most of the work with the Salveyo Weed.

Still combing out her hair, she glanced to her side at the drooling man-boy beside her. It was at the sight of him that the thick fog in her brain lifted and she suddenly remembered that, much to her dismay, she actually had been pretty awful to both him and Meowth. Most things after her ranting and raving were still blurry in her mind's eye but the one thing she recalled perfectly was James looking down at her, so much worry written on his face that it would have given anyone that looked at him a sympathy ulcer.

She sighed softly, setting her comb down and reaching down to brush his hair from his eyes. The nagging that something was wrong with her crept into the back of her mind, the memories of how much of a bitch she could be to him replaying over and over...and yet she still expected...well, this when she needed it.

Biting her lip, she glanced at the door and back to James. It would've been easier if she knew when Meowth had left; at least then she could guesstimate when he would return and avoid his disgusted response. Provided there was anything to be disgusted about, of course. She was getting ahead of herself.

One last look at the door before she returned her attention to James, putting a hand on his cheek and leaning down, brushing her lips against his. She made a face at the drool and moved her hand to wipe it away from his chin with one of the blankets.

He stirred as she did this, rolling over onto his back and stretching, letting out a loud yawn. Rubbing his eyes, his sleepy face brightened when he saw her up and seemingly well again. Sliding his arms around her waist, he pulled her close and squeezed, burying his face in her wet hair. "I was so worried! I don't know what we would've done if you didn't get better." James pulled back, brow furrowed. "We would probably have to go to the twerps and I know how much you hate -"

Jessie leaned in once more, putting every intent she had behind the kiss she placed on his lips. She slid her arms around his neck and used the leverage to pull herself into his lap. Feeling his lips moving against hers, trying to say something, she pulled away, putting one hand on his chest and using it to push him back down to the floor.

James had to wonder if he'd somehow managed to catch Jessie's fever. It was only a few hours ago that she wanted to pummel him into dust and now she was waking him up to...jump his bones? Still staring at her, he swallowed hard when she began to undo his pants, unsure of what to do. There was no doubt now that she did, in fact, want to jump his bones; but why? He would feel terrible if it was a side-effect of the Salveyo Weed and he went along with her, only to have it bite him in the butt.

Tugging down his pants to around his knees, she hooked her thumbs underneath the elastic waist of his boxers, giving him a devilish grin. When he opened his mouth to try and talk her into slowing things down, she covered it with her hand. "Shut up, James." Brushing her fingers across his lips as she moved her hand away, she moved back to his shorts, starting to give them a tug but being stopped by his hands grabbing hers.

Her heart stopped as the realization of what was happening sunk in. It wasn't like he didn't want her - the proof of that was inside that pair of underwear she was still clinging onto. Then again, maybe it was a fluke. Boys could get hard at the drop of a hat - or so it seemed to her in her experiences; she was on top of him, after all.

She turned her head from him and tried to pull her hands away from his, only to have him hold them even tighter. What the hell was his game? Couldn't he just reject her and let her go crawl into a hole and die from humiliation in peace?

He squeezed her hands and swallowed again, desperately trying to ignore the growing bulge in his pants that her hands just happened to be right above. "I - I want to make sure you really want to."

Once again realization took hold of her and she spun her head back to meet his eyes. They were so full of concern and uneasiness, love and desire. Here she was thinking the worst of him when, once again, he was just James being James. When would she ever start to believe that he really wasn't like the rest?

She bit her lip, trying to display in her eyes the same tapestry of emotions that he did in his. "Why would I not want to?" she asked quietly.

James shifted underneath her, the way she looked at him in that moment making doing the right, gentlemanly thing even more difficult. "Maybe the Salveyo Weed did something."

"You think a weed that a Poliwag collects is an aphrodisiac?" she asked incredulously.

He shrugged, letting go of her hands and letting his slowly slide up her thighs. "You never know..."

Jessie couldn't help but laugh despite how badly her body wanted her to simply just moan at his touch, urging his hands higher without saying a single word. "I don't like to repeat myself, so listen." Pulling down his boxers in one swift movement, she grinned down at him. "Shut. Up. James."

His hands reached her hips, nightgown tugged up at the sides. Eyes widening at the distinct lack of underwear, he stared once again at the insatiable girl on top of him, being met with another grin and a sparkle in her eyes that he hadn't seen in a very long time. He missed her sparkle when it wasn't there.

She was unable to be bothered with taking off all their clothes, already more than prepared - and if Meowth popped in as he was wont to do, it would be slightly less...really, it was mostly the first thing, who was she kidding?

Humming cheerfully as he made his way back to the cabin, basket full of berries, Meowth couldn't help but wonder if his mood would be dampened by the dark cloud that was Jessie as soon as he went inside.

He stood at the bottom of the steps and looked at the door with slight dread. If she wasn't better, James would be in a mood, too and blame him for everything - nevermind that Jessie was the dumb one that fell into a Vileplume in the first place.

He let out a heavy sigh and resigned to his fate, going up the steps, stopping again when he reached the front door. The dread grew with the sound of voices inside - loud ones - and he assumed that Jessie was still on a rampage.

Putting his paw on the door, he was about to push it open when the real reason there was so much noise inside hit his ears like a screech attack. He froze in place for a few minutes before experiencing a full-body shudder at the moans that would now likely haunt his dreams.

Meowth went back down the steps and sat down on the bottom one, putting his head in his paws. He glanced over at the basket of berries and for the first time in recent memory, he actually wasn't hungry. "So much for ever wantin' to eat again."