Hi! Well, new chapter. Bit shorter than usual, sorry. Still taking outrageous liberties with canon, hope you guys don't mind lol.

Any of you who are curious about the whole fJames falling off a mountain incident mentioned in chapter 2, it now has its own side story, titled Don't Let go. You can find it on my profile with my other fics, rated M for safety and a few suggestive comments from James but does not contain anything graphic. Probably more PG13 than anything. As always, reviews for either story are appreciated and cherished. :)


James woke hours later to find himself slumped in an awkward position on the couch. The TV was still on, bathing the room in an eerie flickering light. His neck was stiff from sleeping at such an angle and for a moment he thought the discomfort was what had woken him. The sensation of eyes watching him made him look round and he nearly jumped out of his skin when he realised Jessie was sitting in the chair across the room.

"Hi." He mumbled hoarsely, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "What are you doing, sitting there in the dark?"

Jessie didn't answer but got up and moved to sit next to him. He was getting a little spooked now, unsure if it was the way the TV cast shadows over everything or the way Jessie was looking at him, not speaking, just watching him. Either way it was really creepy and he wished she would just say something already.

"Jess, what's the matter?"

She reached out and took hold of his hands, pulling them into her lap and twisting her fingers through his.

"Jessie! You're freaking me out here, just talk to me!"

She squeezed his hands firmly and he squeezed back wondering what on Earth was going on.

"The Boss'll hurt him you know?" She said, her voice strangely flat. "If he finds him. Can't let that happen."

"Who, Jess?" James was getting more confused by the minute. "Are you protecting someone? Mondo?"

"Mondo's sweet. Like a little brother except I never wanted one. Kept him well out of it for his own good."

"Then what?"

She didn't answer, instead leaning forward and pressing her lips gently against his in a soft kiss. It was more chaste than anything else and he responded for a moment before he caught himself and pulled away.

"What...Why? Jessie?!" He couldn't even formulate a question, too shocked at what had just happened.

"Goodbye. Just in case. A just in case goodbye."

"They won't catch you!"

"If its me or James. I'll protect him. He's my best friend."

"Jessie, I am Jame..." Suddenly he realised what was wrong. That blank, vacant look in her eyes and the monotone voice.

"Jess, are you asleep?"

"Probably." She agreed. "Or maybe you are? If I wasn't dreaming, I never would've done that, you know."

He looked at her in disbelief, not sure whether to be more surprised that she dreamed about kissing him or disturbed that he had just had a conversation with her without noticing that she wasn't awake.

Taking advantage of their still joined hands he stood and tugged her to her feet. He started to lead her from the room and nearly had a heart attack when he saw the figure standing on the stairs. Resisting the urge to clutch Jessie in fear, just for old times sake he took a deep breath and let it out in a rush as he realised that the figure was his wife.

"Olivia? God, does no one in this house sleep?"

"I wondered where you were." She said quietly.

He realised that her eyes were on his hands still linked with Jessie's and quickly tried to reassure her.

"Oh, its not what it looks like! I fell asleep downstairs, woke up to find her sitting there in the dark. Nearly scared me to death. She's asleep though, aren't you?" He directed the last part to Jessie.

"I don't think so...maybe?" Jessie sounded confused.

"You're sleeping, Jess. Come on, go back to bed." He told her gently.

"Bed?"

"Yeah. Look come this way." He tugged her up the stairs and opened the door to her room, giving her a light push inside. She wandered over to the bed, glanced back at him then crawled in and lay down. She was out almost instantly.

He pulled the door shut and turned to see Olivia looking at him.

"Does she normally sleepwalk?"

"No," He replied. "I didn't even know she wasn't awake at first, it was only when she started talking and it wasn't making any sense and she was talking about me like I wasn't there that I realised she was asleep."

He wondered how much Olivia had seen from the stairs and how long she had been stood there. He decided it was probably best to come clean on the kiss just in case she had seen it.

"She was acting so strange." He continued. "She just came over and kissed me and then told me it was goodbye, just in case."

"In case of what?"

"In case they kill her, I guess. Like I said she wasn't making a lot of sense."

"James, is there anything...was there ever anything between you two?"

She sounded so uncertain that he wanted nothing more than to reassure her. So he lied.

"No. We've never been together like that."

He and Jessie had in fact slept together. It was a long time ago, but they had. It had never really been romantic, more of a best friends with occasional, really good benefits kind of thing but she had once been as familiar with James' body as he was and he found his thoughts straying to it even as he assured his wife that she had nothing to worry about.

He knew that Jessie wouldn't bring up their history, especially in front of Olivia. Maybe she would have once but even back then they had rarely spoken of it and it had tailed off naturally over time.

He pulled Olivia close and kissed her, reminding himself once again of exactly why he had fallen in love with her. Drawing back he slipped an arm around her waist and tugged her back towards their own room.

When he woke the next morning he found Olivia gone and when he glanced at the clock he knew why. "Quarter past ten!" He yelped. He never slept that late. He clambered out of bed, dislodging an indignant Chimecho who had apparently been curled up on his stomach.

He got dressed quickly and hurried downstairs to find both women sitting at the table drinking coffee in awkward silence. Meowth was chattering away about anything and everything paying no heed to the obvious atmosphere around the table. Or maybe he had noticed and was simply trying to dispel it. You never knew with him.

He poured himself a cup and joined them, kissing Olivia lightly as he sat down, relieved to see that Jessie showed no reaction whatsoever to the action.

"So, Jessie," Olivia began, her tone one of forced lightness. "Did you sleep okay?"

Jessie looked up. " Um, yeah, fine thanks."

"So you don't remember getting up at all?"

"No, why?" She was starting to look alarmed now so James quickly stepped in.

"You don't remember getting up last night and talking to me?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No. I sleepwalked?"

"Yeah." He replied. "You kinda spooked me actually, you said some really odd things."

"Like what?"

"Just random stuff. Nothing particularly relevant. You said Mondo was sweet, like a little brother. Then you said you didn't want a brother. Then you started on some stuff about the Boss and having to protect me but you were talking like I wasn't there. Then you ah..."

"Then I what?" Her tone was dangerous and he knew from experience that he better spill the beans.

"Then you just came over and kissed me."

"WHAT?! Why?" Why did you LET me?"

Meowth jumped up from the table, muttering something about going for a walk and sidled out of the room.

"Its not like I could have stopped you! Besides you shouldn't wake a sleepwalker!" He figured the fact that he hadn't known she was sleepwalking until after she kissed him was need-to-know information.

"Fair enough, I suppose but why would I do that anyway? You sure YOU weren't dreaming?"

Out the corner of his eye he saw Olivia's face flushing with anger. Jessie was obviously getting under her skin especially now some of her old attitude was starting to resurface.

"Pretty sure," He shot back. "You said it was goodbye, just in case."

She fell silent, an odd expression crossing her face.

"What?" He demanded. "Oh, no, you can't be serious!"

She got up, poured the rest of her coffee down the sink and started to leave the kitchen only to be stopped by James' hand grabbing her arm and pulling her back around.

"Are you INSANE?" He almost shouted.

"What do you want me to SAY?" She snapped back.

"I want you to tell me I'm crazy and you're not really considering this!"

"Well, I can't do that!" Her face softened slightly. "I'm sorry, James but I can't stay here. I put you two in danger every minute I'm here and maybe if it were just the two of us that would be okay but you have a wife to think about now. A life of your own."

"You can't run either, they almost caught you before. What makes you think you could get away, they're ALL over town, Jessie!"

"What makes YOU think you can hide me forever?! They'll find us James, its only a matter of time. If I run then at least if they catch me, I won't be taking you down with me. I'll leave Meowth with you too. Don't let him follow me if you can help it, tie him down if you have to."

He dodged in front of her as she tried to head for the stairs.

"Not letting you do this."

"You going to try and stop me?"

"Thinking about it."

She stared him down for a second before lunging forward, grabbing his shoulders and thrusting her knee into his stomach. He doubled over, choking with pain and leaned against the door frame trying to catch his breath as she slipped past him and up the stairs.

She returned less than a minute later with a backpack slung over her shoulder and paused to run a hand down his back in sympathy as he fought to stand up straight.

"Sorry, James. This is all for your own good."

She paused as she opened the door and looked back at her partner, still clutching the door frame for support trying to croak her name, despite hardly being able to breathe. She had always been good at self defence, she would never have made it out of HQ if she hadn't been but she felt a twinge of guilt at using it against her best friend.

"Love you." She whispered over her shoulder as she slipped out the door.