"Have you seen a doctor yet, Giovanni?"
Jiraldan ducked as a pen went flying in his direction.
"Damn it, Jiri, will you stop nagging me about that?" Giovanni shouted angrily. "I have enough problems with this Celebi business without you asking me every five minutes if I've been to the doctor!"
"Sorry, Gio," Jiraldan apologized, handing Giovanni back his pen. "It's just that I'm worried about you."
Giovanni glared at his lover and snatched the pen out of his hand. "I have more than enough to worry about right now, Jiri. Going to the doctor is the least of them."
"What's wrong, Gio?"
Giovanni sighed and sat back down at his desk. "Our operatives in South America have reported that there is an entire colony of Celebi deep in one of the jungles in Brazil. But the problem is that in order to capture them, we need to devise some way to prevent their ability to time shift. So far, our Rocket scientists have come up with nothing. Incompetent fools…I should fire all of them."
"Celebi…isn't that some sort of legendary Pokémon?" Jiraldan poured himself a scotch from the crystal decanter sitting on Giovanni's desk and handed his partner one.
"So?" Giovanni snapped, grabbing the glass from his partner and downing it in one gulp.
A plan began forming in Jiraldan's mind. "Actually, Gio, there is someone who may be able to help us with the Celebi."
"There is? Who?" Giovanni looked up in surprise.
"I'll tell you on one condition," Jiraldan continued as he calmly sipped his drink.
"Damn it, Jiri, stop playing games with me! Who is it?" Giovanni demanded.
"If you agree to go see a doctor, I'll help you get the Celebi," Jiraldan smiled triumphantly. "But if you don't, then not only will I not tell you who can help us, but I will cut off the funding necessary to continue the expedition."
Giovanni's expression was murderous. "Jiri, you son of a bitch, you wouldn't dare cut off the funding for this expedition when we're so close to having an entire army of time-shifting Pokémon at our command!"
"I can and I will, Gio. I've been around you long enough to know how to play your games, too. And this time, I'm not going to let you have your way. Either go see a doctor, or kiss the Celebi goodbye."
"You conniving bastard!" Jiraldan was ready and caught the empty glass as Giovanni flung it at his head.
"Your aim is off, Gio," Jiraldan smiled as he placed the glass back on the silver tray on Giovanni's desk. "What's wrong? Getting too old for your temper tantrums?"
A livid Giovanni let loose with a string of epithets, both English and Italian, then leapt up from his desk, intending to seize his partner by the throat.
"No, you don't, Gio!" In a lightning movement, Jiraldan grabbed his partner's wrists. "I'm not going to let you have your way. Not this time!"
"Let go of me, you bastard!" Giovanni spat as he struggled in his partner's grip.
"What's wrong, Gio? I thought you liked not being in control, caro mio," Jiraldan taunted. "You always said that the reason you prefer men is because they're harder to dominate…more challenging. Well, I'm not going to let you dominate me this time."
Giovanni's face with crimson with rage. "You fuc…"
"Temper, temper, Gio." Jiraldan tightened his grip on his partner's wrists. "Now you're going to listen to me and do exactly what I say. First, you're going to swear to me that you will see a doctor about that lump. Today, preferably."
"Why the hell do you care about that?" Giovanni said through clenched teeth.
"Because, Gio, I care about you. And that is what this is all about. You are too important to me. The last thing in the world I want is to lose you, so I'm going to force you to see a doctor whether you like it or not."
Giovanni snorted. "Is that what this is all about, Jiri? You're going to cut off the funding for the Celebi expedition because I refuse to see a doctor? You're mad."
"Maybe, but that's the deal. No doctor, no money, no name of the person who can help us get those Celebi. What will it be?"
The two men stared each other down for a moment, then Giovanni's jaw slowly began to unclench. "All right, Jiri. I swear to you that I will make an appointment with my personal physician today."
Jiraldan loosened his grip on his partner's wrists. "Since you're a man of your word, I believe you."
"Damn it, Jiri." Giovanni rubbed his bruised wrists. "It feels like you've broken something."
"Sorry, Gio. I didn't mean to be so rough. It's just that this is too important to me. You're too important to me. And I'm going to do whatever I can to help you."
"You have a strange way of expressing your love, Jiri." Giovanni shook his wrists to try to get the blood flowing again. "But you are passionate, nevertheless."
Regret filled Jiraldan's heart as he saw the rapidly darkening bruises on his lover's wrists. "Did I hurt you, Gio?"
"I'm getting too old for these wrestling matches of ours, Jiri," Giovanni said tiredly as he sat back down at his desk. With trembling hands, he poured himself another drink. "Sometimes I wonder how much longer I'll be able to run Team Rocket. Lately it seems as if my strength is fading."
Jiraldan's stomach contracted into a tight ball. "Gio, that is exactly why you need to go see your doctor."
Defeated, Giovanni took the cell phone his partner had just handed him and dialed the number of his personal physician.
"All right, I have an appointment for four o'clock this afternoon. Satisfied?" Giovanni handed the phone back to his partner. "Now you keep your end of the bargain. Who is the person you have in mind for helping us get those Celebi?"
"My brother, Professor Spencer Hale, is an authority on legendary Pokémon. I may be able to convince him to help provide us with the information to help us capture the Celebi."
Giovanni raised a surprised eyebrow. "I didn't know you had a brother, Jiri."
"We haven't spoken in years. We both share an interest in legendary Pokémon, but I prefer to collect them instead of studying them like my brother."
"What makes you think that he'll help us?"
"He's fallen on hard times recently since his wife and daughter left him. And the payments on that mansion of his in Greenfield must be enormous." Jiraldan smiled craftily. "Being the good brother that I am, I'll be willing to help him make those payments in exchange for his assistance in capturing those Celebi."
Giovanni grinned and poured his partner a drink. "You're a man after my own heart, Jiri."
"You are my heart, Gio," Jiraldan said, raising his glass in a toast.
Giovanni smiled and the two clinked glasses.
---
Jiraldan spent the rest of the day making arrangements to visit his brother and formatting a plan to persuade him to help capture the Celebi. When the clock chimed six, he headed down to Giovanni's office to see if he had returned from the doctor and ask what he wanted the chef to prepare for dinner.
"Gio?"
When there was no reply, Jiraldan stuck his head further inside his partner's office and gasped. Papers were strewn all over the floor, books had been ripped from their bookshelves and were lying on the floor among the papers, and Jiraldan saw a hole in the wall where the paperweight that normally sat on Giovanni's desk had been thrown against it. Lying drunk amid the papers scattered on his desk was Giovanni.
"Hello, caro mio," Giovanni slurred as he looked up. "Care to join me in a drink? This is my fourth one since I got back."
Jiraldan's heart began to race. Giovanni wouldn't be this drunk unless something was wrong…very wrong.
"Gio, what did the doctor say?"
"You're looking at a dying man, Jiri," Giovanni announced casually as he made an attempt to pour himself a drink and ended up spilling half of it on his desk.
Jiraldan felt as if he had just been plunged into ice-cold water. "Dying?"
"I have cancer, Jiri. The doctor says that with treatment, I might live for a few more months -- maybe a year if all goes well." Giovanni sipped at the few drops that he had managed to pour into his glass. "Anyway, I figure that it doesn't matter now if I get dead drunk. Might as well die doing something I enjoy. Are you sure you don't want a drink, caro mio?"
Jiraldan sank down into the leather chair in front of his partner's desk since his legs were trembling so much that they couldn't support him anymore.
"You'd better have a drink too, Jiri." Giovanni shoved his glass in his partner's direction. "You look worse than I do."
Jiraldan stared at the empty glass Giovanni had just handed him.
Dying…oh, Gio…you can't be dying.
But it all made sense now. The lump, the weight loss, the fading strength. Cancer.
"Oh well…at least I've got a little time left to show Tessa how to run things," Giovanni continued. "You'll help me, won't you, caro mio?"
"Oh, Gio." Jiraldan reached for Giovanni's hand and gripped it tightly. "I'll do whatever I can to help you."
"You're adorable, Jiri, you know that?" Giovanni smiled crookedly. "Let's go to bed. I might be dying, but I'm not dead yet." Giovanni made an attempt to stand up, but stumbled as his legs refused to support him. Jiraldan jumped up from his chair and grabbed him before he hit the floor.
"I've got you, Gio." Jiraldan wrapped his arms protectively around his lover. "And I promise that I won't let you go. I won't give up on you."
"Thank you, Jiri." Giovanni, overcome with emotion, began to cry. "Thank you…for everything."
Near tears himself, Jiraldan carried the weeping Giovanni upstairs to their bedroom and put him to bed.
"There, caro mio," Jiraldan whispered as he tucked the sheets around Giovanni's chin. "Rest now. I promise that I'll watch over you and keep you safe from harm."
Giovanni smiled sleepily and closed his eyes. Once he was certain that Giovanni was asleep, Jiraldan undressed and slipped underneath the sheets beside him. Jiraldan tenderly wrapped his arms around his lover and then proceeded to cry himself to sleep.