1 Chapter Two: James' secret
Jesse, James and Meowth were half way through breakfast when there was a knock at the door.
"Yous know who dat will be," Meowth said as Jesse got up to answer it.
Seconds later Jesse came back with a young woman two years older than herself with long blue-green hair and warm brown eyes. Cally lived a few blocks away from them and had been their friend since they moved in a little under a year ago. Cally was a live wire and was always full of energy. She always had a smile on her face and nothing seemed to worry her. Jesse had been wary of Cally at first because the first thing she did when she came round to 'welcome them to the neighbourhood' was try to get a date with James. This shouldn't have bothered Jesse because the only other girls that had ever looked at James was Jessebell who terrified the living hell out of him, a 3000 year old dead maiden who was really a Pokemon and that scrawny professors daughter who was only about 12 anyway. But Cally was pretty and this worried Jesse.
She did trust James but she had trusted all her old boyfriends too and they had left her for someone prettier than her. Jesse needn't have worried. James made it clear with Cally that he was taken and she backed right off apologising to Jesse about 100 times. Once that was cleared up Jesse got to know Cally better and decided she liked her. Cally was very outgoing and was always inviting herself round for breakfasts and dinners. Like Jesse, Cally's mother had died when she was young and she never knew her father. She lived with her grandmother but the old lady passed away two years ago giving Cally the house in her will. Cally was also the only person who had ever talked to them. The word soon got round that they were ex rockets and most people wouldn't have anything to do with them. Cally was different she knew who they were and still liked them. She thought it was cool knowing a couple of Pokemon thieves. Of course Cally did not know the full story. Jesse told her that James had been seriously ill last year as a result of a failed mission so they quit before the police broke Team Rocket up. Cally seemed to believe this but Jesse felt bad about lying to her new friend. Cally had been so good to them and they couldn't even tell her the truth.
"Hey Jim" Cally said seating herself at the table and helping herself to a pancake. Like Meowth she often called James, Jim or Jimmy. "Morning Cally" James replied but his voice sounded a little strained. Even through he and Jesse had agreed to treat today as a normal day James was still being a little quiet and withdrawn. Jesse decided that the best way to deal with it was to leave James alone. If he wanted to talk to her then she would listen. Cally picked up on his tone of voice. "Feeling rough this morning huh?" she asked. Lillian had warned that James would never be as strong as he was before. Cally thought this was a result of his illness and was sympathetic towards him. Jesse was actually glad of her friend's presence this morning. Maybe it would take James' mind off things.
"Just a little tired" James admitted softly.
"You need a day out" Cally said. "You guys never go anywhere"
"That's not true" Jesse protested but she knew it was. They had to keep a low profile in Saffron City. They went to the mall once a week but the looks they got from some of the other customers made Jesse wish they didn't have to bother. "Look" Cally said leaning forwards over the table to help herself to a second pancake "Why don't we take my car and go down to the coast. It's a nice day and the sea air will be good for you guys".
Jesse smiled at the thought of going for a ride in Cally's car, a bright red Ferrari. Jesse loved how shiny and fast it was. When she told Meowth about it he'd laughed saying that only guys appreciated cars but the cat hadn't seen Cally's Ferrari. Jesse did wonder how her friend could afford such a cool car on her wages. She worked in the mall full time and had an evening job at a night café.
"One problem about dat Cally" Meowth said. "Da Ferrari hasn't got back seats.
"That doesn't matter. Jim you won't mind having Jess on you're lap will you? The furball can sit on my lap. We'll be fine its only about 20 miles"
Cally always referred to Meowth as the furball. The cat pretended to hate this nickname but Jesse could tell he was flattered by the attention from a pretty young woman like Cally. Jesse looked at James. Because of what today was she was tempted to stay at home but a day out could be just what James needed to take his mind off of it and besides if he was feeling bad today then what would it be like for the next week? It had taken more than a day for the nightmares to end last year. These next few days would be tough if they didn't try to get over today. "Come on" Cally pleaded, "You guys need some fun once in a while"
"I don't know" Jesse said looking over at James. Cally took this the wrong way.
"Oh you guys had something planned together? Well the furball and me will go to a different end of the beach if you want. Just say yes. Jim you want a day out right?"
"It would be nice to leave the house for a bit," James said hesitantly.
"That's the spirit," Cally cheered. "I'll pick you guys up in an hour ok? See ya then" with that she let herself out the back door.
After she'd gone Meowth offered to clear the breakfast things away sensing that Jesse wanted to talk to James. "Sorry about that" Jesse said putting her arms round her boyfriend. "Cally can be so pushy but if you want we can stay here".
"No" James said. "I do want to go it's just…"
"Timing right? Look James I don't want you to do anything you don't want to ok. We'll deal with the next few days anyway you want to"
James nodded "We'd better get ready"
"Yeah Cally's hours are about ten of our minutes" Jesse agreed.
Whilst Jesse hurried upstairs to get ready James sat down on the bottom step thinking. Cally's timing couldn't have been more off but for a different reason. James made sure nobody was about before taking the velvet box from his jacket pocket and opening it. Inside was a silver engagement ring. But it was no ordinary ring. This one had been hand made especially for James. Set on the ring was a small rose carved in glass with a small diamond in the middle. It had cost thousands of pounds to make but James didn't regret spending any of the money. He had saved up for it over the years and six months he finally had the money to get it made. James had started saving when he saw an ad in the jewellers for making rings when he was 12 and he and Jesse were still in the bike gang. By an amazing stroke of luck the old man who ran the jewellers was a friend of James' parents. The old man cared little for the Morgan's despite the fact that they were his best customers but he liked James and felt sorry for him. James told the old man what sort of ring he wanted for Jesse and they made a deal. James would send the man money every week and the old man would make the ring the minute the dept was paid.
James originally wanted to give Jesse the ring because she was his best friend but after they left Team Rocket he called the old man and asked him to make it an engagement ring. As soon as James got the ring he wanted to ask Jesse to marry him but they were both still 17 and would need parental consent to marry. James knew that his parents would never give him consent to marry Jesse, and Jesse had no parents. They could have had a long engagement but James wanted to ask Jesse when he was officially free from his parents and now he was 18 that had happened. Today was marked for a bad reason and James didn't want them to look at the date in years to come and think of what had happened. That was why today he wanted to show Jesse that he had left the past behind him and propose. Of course them going on a trip to the beach had messed up his plans but Jesse looked so happy with the thought of going somewhere that James decided that it could wait until he got back. James, as he sat waiting for Jesse to get out of the bathroom, couldn't help but think about what had happened last year.
He had promised himself he wouldn't think of it but how could he not? As far as Jesse and Meowth were concerned it was all over but James had lied to them. The future sight still remained and though James had not used it since that final viewing in the hospital so in a sense it was gone but James had to live with not telling Jesse the truth. He could tell her now but it had been so long that he was afraid that she might leave him. So James held his silence but the future sight wasn't the only problem.
He hadn't understood it himself at first. He closed his eyes recalling his visit to Lillian Jackson in the Viridian City Prison last year. He had lied to Jesse again and told her that Sabrina needed someone to pick up a package for her in Viridian. Lillian had been one of the doctors back in Team Rocket that had given him the TM Future Sight. James was finding it hard to forgive the doctor but he had to see her. Something else was happening and James didn't like it one bit. It started about two months after he had come out of hospital. Jesse was upset over something or other, James couldn't remember what, and he had gone to comfort her. It was whilst doing this that it happened.
Suddenly all these emotions flooded him making it hard for him to breathe. James felt so frightened and lost but there was more than that. He was grieving for his mother and he could hear a voice screaming over and over again. "No you're lying! Mommy said she'd be back! She always comes back!" James recognised that voice as Jesse's. Jesse had told him of the story of her mother when they first joined Team Rocket. Jesse had never got over her mother's death and it left a huge gap in her life. But why was James feeling her loss? It couldn't be Future Sight as that showed him the future and this was the past. James decided to ignore it but it happened again when he was with Meowth. The cat had been crying over his part in Giovanni finding out about Future Sight. Meowth still blamed himself and was frightened that James hated him despite the number of times that James told him that this would never be the case. James had hugged the cat to comfort him and suddenly it happened again. He felt cold this time. Cold and alone shivering under an old newspaper crying for help and none came. He knew what this was too. He was feeling Meowth's emotions the night he was born and was alone. James had been horrified at this. These were his friend's private emotions and through it was unintentional James was invading them. So he went to see Lillian. James remembered the look she gave him.
"I was afraid of this," she whispered.
"What is it?" James had asked feeling afraid for the first time in months.
"You remember the day you found out what really happened to you and that you were an experiment in our labs?" Lillian asked
James had nodded recalling that all too well.
"That serum he gave you to restore your real memories. I was against it because I knew what it would do but Giovanni had it done anyway. It gave you you're real memories of that day but more."
James gasped as he recalled those few minutes on the cold floor of the prison….
'His real memories played tricks on him and he was sure the serum was making him see other things too. Past events long forgotten began to surface in his aching head. Oh he was so tired and his head hurt. The viewings were slowly killing him. Giovanni couldn't see it but James knew it. He had seen his own grave…'
Lillian nodded silently and then spoke. "That serum had many qualities and one of them was that you got your own memory of that day back because it was the most terrifying memory you have. You remember how frightened you were well it gave you the ability to see anyone else's most frightening or upsetting memory. When they are upset or frightened and you are near them you will feel what they felt and in rare cases see what they saw"
James was horrified. This was worse than Future Sight. He didn't want to see this! He began to dread seeing Jesse and Meowth upset. In time he had learned to cope with Jesse and Meowth's emotions and block them from his mind through they were still there if James concentrated really hard they became distant. He did consider telling Jesse but then the truth would come out. Lillian kept insisting that it was for the best that no one knew but James wasn't so sure. He wanted an open and honest relationship with Jesse but she still had trouble opening up to him at times. Surely he was allowed one little secret? It wasn't as if anyone would find out. It would hurt Jesse more to know that the person she trusted more than anything in the world had lied to her.
"Hey Jimmy yous look deep in thought dare" the cat said coming out of the kitchen. Then he saw the ring in James' hand. "Wow dat is beautiful where did ya get it?"
James snapped the box shut and shoved it back in his pocket. "I was going to ask Jesse to marry me today" he confessed.
"Was?" Meowth asked. "Yous haven't lost ya nerve have ya? James yous know Jess adores yous"
"No nothing like that" James assured him. "I just think with this trip and everything it might be better to ask her some other time"
"Dis is da perfect time," Meowth said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well she'll have fun today and den when its ended yous hit her with your proposal she'll have had da best day of her life"
"You think so?" James asked.
"Yous bet" Meowth said. "I'll get Cally away long enough for yous to ask her ok?"
James smiled maybe the beach was the perfect place after all. Still he had been having this other feeling lately. That something was happening and whatever it was it wasn't good.
"James?" Meowth asked seeing the worried expression his face. "Are yous ok?"
"Yeah" James replied getting up as he heard Jesse come out of the bathroom. "Just fine"
The woman marched up to the man in the white lab coat who was eyeing a piece of paper nervously.
"Well?" she snapped. "What are the results?"
"N-Negative Madame."
"This is the second one Garret! When are we going to get the results we want?"
"Maybe we should look at ones out of prison Madame" Garret said timidly.
"Are you questioning me?" she demanded fire burning in her eyes.
"No of course not Madame. I do only what you and our master wishes"
"Good" she said grabbing his chin with one hand digging her nails into his flesh. Garret winced but knew better than to pull away. "Now get me another one. I will find what we're looking for. No one gets in my masters way Garret understand?"
She turned to walk away when the man called out again. "W-What about this one?" he asked.
"Do what you did with the last one" she said coldly.
"But isn't that a little risky Madame. Maybe we should hold him here"
"Kill him damn it Garret and remember I am in charge. I will not tolerate failures understand. If I think you are a failure then I will kill you too"
Garret sighed as she left the room. "You heard what she said," he said to the nearest guard. "Kill him".
"No please" the young man tied down on the table begged as the guard approached him. Garret turned and left the room so he did not have to hear the man's screams of pain.
Jesse, James and Meowth were half way through breakfast when there was a knock at the door.
"Yous know who dat will be," Meowth said as Jesse got up to answer it.
Seconds later Jesse came back with a young woman two years older than herself with long blue-green hair and warm brown eyes. Cally lived a few blocks away from them and had been their friend since they moved in a little under a year ago. Cally was a live wire and was always full of energy. She always had a smile on her face and nothing seemed to worry her. Jesse had been wary of Cally at first because the first thing she did when she came round to 'welcome them to the neighbourhood' was try to get a date with James. This shouldn't have bothered Jesse because the only other girls that had ever looked at James was Jessebell who terrified the living hell out of him, a 3000 year old dead maiden who was really a Pokemon and that scrawny professors daughter who was only about 12 anyway. But Cally was pretty and this worried Jesse.
She did trust James but she had trusted all her old boyfriends too and they had left her for someone prettier than her. Jesse needn't have worried. James made it clear with Cally that he was taken and she backed right off apologising to Jesse about 100 times. Once that was cleared up Jesse got to know Cally better and decided she liked her. Cally was very outgoing and was always inviting herself round for breakfasts and dinners. Like Jesse, Cally's mother had died when she was young and she never knew her father. She lived with her grandmother but the old lady passed away two years ago giving Cally the house in her will. Cally was also the only person who had ever talked to them. The word soon got round that they were ex rockets and most people wouldn't have anything to do with them. Cally was different she knew who they were and still liked them. She thought it was cool knowing a couple of Pokemon thieves. Of course Cally did not know the full story. Jesse told her that James had been seriously ill last year as a result of a failed mission so they quit before the police broke Team Rocket up. Cally seemed to believe this but Jesse felt bad about lying to her new friend. Cally had been so good to them and they couldn't even tell her the truth.
"Hey Jim" Cally said seating herself at the table and helping herself to a pancake. Like Meowth she often called James, Jim or Jimmy. "Morning Cally" James replied but his voice sounded a little strained. Even through he and Jesse had agreed to treat today as a normal day James was still being a little quiet and withdrawn. Jesse decided that the best way to deal with it was to leave James alone. If he wanted to talk to her then she would listen. Cally picked up on his tone of voice. "Feeling rough this morning huh?" she asked. Lillian had warned that James would never be as strong as he was before. Cally thought this was a result of his illness and was sympathetic towards him. Jesse was actually glad of her friend's presence this morning. Maybe it would take James' mind off things.
"Just a little tired" James admitted softly.
"You need a day out" Cally said. "You guys never go anywhere"
"That's not true" Jesse protested but she knew it was. They had to keep a low profile in Saffron City. They went to the mall once a week but the looks they got from some of the other customers made Jesse wish they didn't have to bother. "Look" Cally said leaning forwards over the table to help herself to a second pancake "Why don't we take my car and go down to the coast. It's a nice day and the sea air will be good for you guys".
Jesse smiled at the thought of going for a ride in Cally's car, a bright red Ferrari. Jesse loved how shiny and fast it was. When she told Meowth about it he'd laughed saying that only guys appreciated cars but the cat hadn't seen Cally's Ferrari. Jesse did wonder how her friend could afford such a cool car on her wages. She worked in the mall full time and had an evening job at a night café.
"One problem about dat Cally" Meowth said. "Da Ferrari hasn't got back seats.
"That doesn't matter. Jim you won't mind having Jess on you're lap will you? The furball can sit on my lap. We'll be fine its only about 20 miles"
Cally always referred to Meowth as the furball. The cat pretended to hate this nickname but Jesse could tell he was flattered by the attention from a pretty young woman like Cally. Jesse looked at James. Because of what today was she was tempted to stay at home but a day out could be just what James needed to take his mind off of it and besides if he was feeling bad today then what would it be like for the next week? It had taken more than a day for the nightmares to end last year. These next few days would be tough if they didn't try to get over today. "Come on" Cally pleaded, "You guys need some fun once in a while"
"I don't know" Jesse said looking over at James. Cally took this the wrong way.
"Oh you guys had something planned together? Well the furball and me will go to a different end of the beach if you want. Just say yes. Jim you want a day out right?"
"It would be nice to leave the house for a bit," James said hesitantly.
"That's the spirit," Cally cheered. "I'll pick you guys up in an hour ok? See ya then" with that she let herself out the back door.
After she'd gone Meowth offered to clear the breakfast things away sensing that Jesse wanted to talk to James. "Sorry about that" Jesse said putting her arms round her boyfriend. "Cally can be so pushy but if you want we can stay here".
"No" James said. "I do want to go it's just…"
"Timing right? Look James I don't want you to do anything you don't want to ok. We'll deal with the next few days anyway you want to"
James nodded "We'd better get ready"
"Yeah Cally's hours are about ten of our minutes" Jesse agreed.
Whilst Jesse hurried upstairs to get ready James sat down on the bottom step thinking. Cally's timing couldn't have been more off but for a different reason. James made sure nobody was about before taking the velvet box from his jacket pocket and opening it. Inside was a silver engagement ring. But it was no ordinary ring. This one had been hand made especially for James. Set on the ring was a small rose carved in glass with a small diamond in the middle. It had cost thousands of pounds to make but James didn't regret spending any of the money. He had saved up for it over the years and six months he finally had the money to get it made. James had started saving when he saw an ad in the jewellers for making rings when he was 12 and he and Jesse were still in the bike gang. By an amazing stroke of luck the old man who ran the jewellers was a friend of James' parents. The old man cared little for the Morgan's despite the fact that they were his best customers but he liked James and felt sorry for him. James told the old man what sort of ring he wanted for Jesse and they made a deal. James would send the man money every week and the old man would make the ring the minute the dept was paid.
James originally wanted to give Jesse the ring because she was his best friend but after they left Team Rocket he called the old man and asked him to make it an engagement ring. As soon as James got the ring he wanted to ask Jesse to marry him but they were both still 17 and would need parental consent to marry. James knew that his parents would never give him consent to marry Jesse, and Jesse had no parents. They could have had a long engagement but James wanted to ask Jesse when he was officially free from his parents and now he was 18 that had happened. Today was marked for a bad reason and James didn't want them to look at the date in years to come and think of what had happened. That was why today he wanted to show Jesse that he had left the past behind him and propose. Of course them going on a trip to the beach had messed up his plans but Jesse looked so happy with the thought of going somewhere that James decided that it could wait until he got back. James, as he sat waiting for Jesse to get out of the bathroom, couldn't help but think about what had happened last year.
He had promised himself he wouldn't think of it but how could he not? As far as Jesse and Meowth were concerned it was all over but James had lied to them. The future sight still remained and though James had not used it since that final viewing in the hospital so in a sense it was gone but James had to live with not telling Jesse the truth. He could tell her now but it had been so long that he was afraid that she might leave him. So James held his silence but the future sight wasn't the only problem.
He hadn't understood it himself at first. He closed his eyes recalling his visit to Lillian Jackson in the Viridian City Prison last year. He had lied to Jesse again and told her that Sabrina needed someone to pick up a package for her in Viridian. Lillian had been one of the doctors back in Team Rocket that had given him the TM Future Sight. James was finding it hard to forgive the doctor but he had to see her. Something else was happening and James didn't like it one bit. It started about two months after he had come out of hospital. Jesse was upset over something or other, James couldn't remember what, and he had gone to comfort her. It was whilst doing this that it happened.
Suddenly all these emotions flooded him making it hard for him to breathe. James felt so frightened and lost but there was more than that. He was grieving for his mother and he could hear a voice screaming over and over again. "No you're lying! Mommy said she'd be back! She always comes back!" James recognised that voice as Jesse's. Jesse had told him of the story of her mother when they first joined Team Rocket. Jesse had never got over her mother's death and it left a huge gap in her life. But why was James feeling her loss? It couldn't be Future Sight as that showed him the future and this was the past. James decided to ignore it but it happened again when he was with Meowth. The cat had been crying over his part in Giovanni finding out about Future Sight. Meowth still blamed himself and was frightened that James hated him despite the number of times that James told him that this would never be the case. James had hugged the cat to comfort him and suddenly it happened again. He felt cold this time. Cold and alone shivering under an old newspaper crying for help and none came. He knew what this was too. He was feeling Meowth's emotions the night he was born and was alone. James had been horrified at this. These were his friend's private emotions and through it was unintentional James was invading them. So he went to see Lillian. James remembered the look she gave him.
"I was afraid of this," she whispered.
"What is it?" James had asked feeling afraid for the first time in months.
"You remember the day you found out what really happened to you and that you were an experiment in our labs?" Lillian asked
James had nodded recalling that all too well.
"That serum he gave you to restore your real memories. I was against it because I knew what it would do but Giovanni had it done anyway. It gave you you're real memories of that day but more."
James gasped as he recalled those few minutes on the cold floor of the prison….
'His real memories played tricks on him and he was sure the serum was making him see other things too. Past events long forgotten began to surface in his aching head. Oh he was so tired and his head hurt. The viewings were slowly killing him. Giovanni couldn't see it but James knew it. He had seen his own grave…'
Lillian nodded silently and then spoke. "That serum had many qualities and one of them was that you got your own memory of that day back because it was the most terrifying memory you have. You remember how frightened you were well it gave you the ability to see anyone else's most frightening or upsetting memory. When they are upset or frightened and you are near them you will feel what they felt and in rare cases see what they saw"
James was horrified. This was worse than Future Sight. He didn't want to see this! He began to dread seeing Jesse and Meowth upset. In time he had learned to cope with Jesse and Meowth's emotions and block them from his mind through they were still there if James concentrated really hard they became distant. He did consider telling Jesse but then the truth would come out. Lillian kept insisting that it was for the best that no one knew but James wasn't so sure. He wanted an open and honest relationship with Jesse but she still had trouble opening up to him at times. Surely he was allowed one little secret? It wasn't as if anyone would find out. It would hurt Jesse more to know that the person she trusted more than anything in the world had lied to her.
"Hey Jimmy yous look deep in thought dare" the cat said coming out of the kitchen. Then he saw the ring in James' hand. "Wow dat is beautiful where did ya get it?"
James snapped the box shut and shoved it back in his pocket. "I was going to ask Jesse to marry me today" he confessed.
"Was?" Meowth asked. "Yous haven't lost ya nerve have ya? James yous know Jess adores yous"
"No nothing like that" James assured him. "I just think with this trip and everything it might be better to ask her some other time"
"Dis is da perfect time," Meowth said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well she'll have fun today and den when its ended yous hit her with your proposal she'll have had da best day of her life"
"You think so?" James asked.
"Yous bet" Meowth said. "I'll get Cally away long enough for yous to ask her ok?"
James smiled maybe the beach was the perfect place after all. Still he had been having this other feeling lately. That something was happening and whatever it was it wasn't good.
"James?" Meowth asked seeing the worried expression his face. "Are yous ok?"
"Yeah" James replied getting up as he heard Jesse come out of the bathroom. "Just fine"
The woman marched up to the man in the white lab coat who was eyeing a piece of paper nervously.
"Well?" she snapped. "What are the results?"
"N-Negative Madame."
"This is the second one Garret! When are we going to get the results we want?"
"Maybe we should look at ones out of prison Madame" Garret said timidly.
"Are you questioning me?" she demanded fire burning in her eyes.
"No of course not Madame. I do only what you and our master wishes"
"Good" she said grabbing his chin with one hand digging her nails into his flesh. Garret winced but knew better than to pull away. "Now get me another one. I will find what we're looking for. No one gets in my masters way Garret understand?"
She turned to walk away when the man called out again. "W-What about this one?" he asked.
"Do what you did with the last one" she said coldly.
"But isn't that a little risky Madame. Maybe we should hold him here"
"Kill him damn it Garret and remember I am in charge. I will not tolerate failures understand. If I think you are a failure then I will kill you too"
Garret sighed as she left the room. "You heard what she said," he said to the nearest guard. "Kill him".
"No please" the young man tied down on the table begged as the guard approached him. Garret turned and left the room so he did not have to hear the man's screams of pain.