"…and as I stand here over what was once Celadon City the question
remains 'when will the destruction end?…"
"Oh Ash turn it off" Misty exclaimed, only just entering the room
"But what if they're coming here?" he whined
"Then I'm sure we'll know before the people on TV, besides you know their only targeting the main cities" She reasoned, becoming more than slightly annoyed.
"Yeah at the moment" Ash muttered
Before Misty could retaliate Brock stepped in between them "Look would you two just stop arguing, it's not helping"
"Yeah well she started it!" Ash replied indignantly
Brock simply put his head in his hands shaking it slightly. At this point Mrs Ketchum entered the room with a dejected look on her face
"Is every thing okay Mrs Ketchum?" Misty asked
She looked up and smiled "Yes dear everything's fine"
"How are they?" Brock questioned, seemly the only one who remembered the three Rocket members they had had to drag out of a collapsed building only the previous day
"The doctors with them at the moment. Butch and Cassidy both seem fine though…" She trailed off
"Still no response from James?" Misty was almost afraid to ask
Mrs Ketchum shook her head solemnly. They were all silent for a moment before Ash spoke up
"I wondered what happened to Jessie?"
"I don't know it's not like those two to ever be apart" Misty commented
"and what about Meowth?" Brock added "I don't think I hardly ever saw them apart in all the years they chased Pikachu"
"Maybe they were evacuated?" Ash asked hopefully. Although Ash may not have been particularly friendly towards any of the Rocket members, death was not something the world needed any more of at the moment.
Although her answer was supposed to be comforting Misty could not hide the lack of hope in her voice. "Yeah, maybe…"
"You really need to take into account all I've just said… Miss Lynn?"
Cassidy was immediately snapped out of her trance-like state
"Sorry" She apologised
The doctor sighed "Talk to him, he'll understand. You don't have to go through this alone"
She nodded numbly, still not fully taking in what she had just been told
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked, seeing the distant look in her eyes.
She looked up at him and nodded slowly again "Yeah… I'll be fine" She confirmed but still unsure.
He turned to leave "Well if there is anything else I can do for you please don't hesitate to call"
"Yeah, sure" She replied, still not paying full attention.
He sighed again, but there was nothing else he could do for her. She needed to deal with this in her own time. He opened the door to an eagerly awaiting Butch
"Is she okay?" without waiting for an answer he pushed passed him and addressed her "Is every thing alright?"
She looked up at him and thought about telling him then. But she just couldn't do it
"Everything's fine Butch" she finally replied, not knowing exactly how true this was
"Good, you had me worried there for a minute"
She smiled vaguely "I'm fine… really"
"Are you ready to come downstairs now?" He questioned
"No I think I'll just stay here for a while"
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked suspiciously
"Yeah, I just feel like socialising at the moment"
"Do you want me to stay with you?"
"No it's okay, I'd rather be alone anyway" She replied
"Alright Cass, well if you need me just call"
"Sure" She answered. Her eyes lowered to the bed, hoping he would take it as a hint to leave. She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold off the tears. He turned back once more before leaving and sighed. He knew something was wrong but he knew her well enough to know when not to push it.
"How could you possibly say something like that?!" Misty screamed
"Well you don't know that Team Rocket isn't involved in this" Ash countered
"Why on earth would they want to blow up their own building?!"
"I don't know!?" Ash shouted, refusing to believe he was wrong "Maybe it was a cover up"
"It wasn't Team Rocket" Butch added bluntly, joining the conversation, which had somehow managed to progress into an argument. All eyes in the room turned to him, not realising that he had just come down the stairs.
"Then who is it? Because no one else seems to know!" Ash replied angrily
"We don't know"
"Well maybe it was your boss. He always was far from sane"
Butch clenched his fists, trying his best not to punch Ash's head in for that comment
"Don't ever let me hear you speak like that about him again" Butch growled, hoping that a warning would be enough.
"What are you gonna do Butch hit me? You know it's true. Everyone knows he's insane" Ash provoked.
"Ash don't!" Misty exclaimed
"No Misty it's true…"
Butch cut in, his voice low and filled with anger "What in the hell do you know about him? He was a good man and he died trying to help pieces of crap like you! So show some goddamn respect!"
Butch had moved increasingly closer to Ash and the two were almost standing nose to nose. He was about to say something else when he heard Cassidy's voice from behind him
"Butch? What's going on?" She questioned
"It's nothing Cassidy just go back upstairs" He replied, never taking his eyes away from Ash's
"Leave it Butch" She warned, "He doesn't understand"
After staring at Ash for a few more seconds Butch finally backed down, much to the relief of everyone in the room. He turned towards the front door
"I'm going out" He informed before slamming the door behind him. Cassidy closed her eyes for a second then opened them turning an angry glare to Ash
"You bastard!" She spat viciously "If you ever speak like that again Butch won't be the only one in line to kill you!"
Ash, who had obviously still not learnt his lesson, piped up again
"Well how can you be sure he was such a decent man?"
Cassidy's eyes filled with tears as she recalled Giovanni's final words to them, but she refused to let them fall. After a second she spoke
"He was trying to form a resistance group. That was the only reason he was in that building when it collapsed. He was in the same room we were in when we were attacked, and he died in that room" She spat out
Ash's eyes quickly moved to the ground, finally realising he was wrong
"I'm sorry" He whispered
Cassidy turned to go back up the stairs, only turning back to add one final comment
"Well maybe next time you should think before you open your big mouth"
She lay in the bed, not thinking about anything but him. She turned over and looked at the clock on the wall, only visible by the soft moonlight that filtered through the window. 11:45pm, where in the hell was he, she thought, becoming increasingly worried but also angry. She sat up, ready to go out and look for him when the bedroom door slowly creaked open.
"Where in the hell have you been!? She demanded
He looked up, obviously not expecting her to still be awake
"Out" He replied indignantly
This response only succeeded in angering her further "You've been gone for nearly six hours, had me worried sick and when I ask you where you've been all you can say is 'out'!? Butch Crandall you are one of the most selfish, uncaring piece of-"
"Shut up Cassidy! Just shut the hell up!" he broke in violently
She looked at him shocked. Not quite believing what she had just heard. In all the years she had known him he had never spoken to her like that before, and although she wouldn't admit it she was scared. He continued in a gentler tone, but was still quite abrupt
"Look Cass, we'll talk about this in the morning –it's too late now and we're both tired, so lets just get some rest"
"Fine" She conceded angrily, lying back down in the bed facing away from him.
He sighed, regretting how he had snapped at her but he was too tired and irritable to sort it out now. He lay down beside her –not touching her –eventually falling into an uneasy sleep.
Although her eyes were shut she could not sleep. The tears streamed silently down her cheeks as she tried to establish what had just happened. She didn't know how long she lay there thinking the events over in her mind but the next thing she knew the sun was slowly making its way though the sky. She turned over to face Butch's still sleeping form. The early morning sunlight was just lighting up his features and she smiled despite herself. She reached out a hand to touch his face and hesitated. She pulled back and quietly slipped out of the bed, careful as not to wake her partner. Cassidy slowly left the room, making her way downstairs. She entered the living room and curled up on one of the sofa's. She could hardly contain her sobs as she rocked back and forth in an attempt to console herself. She was so wrapped up in her own grief that she didn't notice the figure standing behind her until it placed a hand on her shoulder
"Oh Cassidy dear what's wrong?" Mrs Ketchum asked gently
Cassidy looked up at her furiously wiping at her eyes "It-it's nothing Mrs Ketchum" She replied shakily "I'm fine"
Obviously not believing a work she had said Mrs Ketchum sat down beside her and turned to face her
"I'm sure Rocket elites don't cry for no reason" She observed
"It's nothing… it's… it's… Butch" She finally got out
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really"
"Well I'm not going to make you if you really don't want to, but I think it will help"
"It's just… I'm…I'm sorry I can't do this"
"It's alright, I understand but you really should speak to someone. It's obviously not doing you any good keeping it bottled up inside"
She got up and began to make her way into the kitchen. Cassidy realised she was right and really didn't want her to leave
"I'm pregnant" She blurted out loudly
Mrs Ketchum was caught off guard and turned back to face Cassidy, her eyes wide with shock
"I'm pregnant" Cassidy whispered again before lowering her head into her hands and began sobbing. Her shoulders shook slightly as Mrs Ketchum sat down beside her again and pulled her into a hug. After a while Cassidy looked up at her with tear filled eyes
"What am I going to do?" She asked, the fear evident in her voice
"I presume this was an accident?"
She nodded her head solemnly
"Then you have some important decisions to make-"
"I'm keeping the baby" Cassidy broke in determinedly "I-I just don't know what Butch will say…"
"Then you really need to talk to him, he has a right to know"
"I know, it's just… I'm so scared… what if I lose him?… I can't lose him… I love him too much…"
"It's not going to be easy Cassidy… Does he love you?"
She looked down at her hands then shaking her head she met Mrs Ketchum's eyes
"I don't know" She replied quietly
She sighed "You have to speak to him Cassidy… I know it might seem like it but its not the end of the world… things will get better –you'll see"
"I suppose so…"
"They will, trust me… Now lets get you some breakfast you really need to keep up your strength in your condition"
"What condition?" Misty asked having just entered the room.
Cassidy blushed a very deep shade of red and tried desperately to hide her tear stained face. Luckily Mrs Ketchum answered for her
"Well after having a building fall on her Cassidy's still in quite a weak condition" She explained
"Oh right, for a minute there I thought she was pregnant!"
"Whose pregnant?" Brock asked, just making his way into the room
"No ones pregnant" Mrs Ketchum replied
"Why would anyone be pregnant?" Ash asked sleepily rubbing his eyes as he entered.
Cassidy, who had become progressively reddening throughout the exchange got up and proceeded to run out of the room and back up the stairs. Leaving three very confused people in her wake.
She rushed into what she thought was her room and it took her a moment to realise it wasn't. She looked over to the bed where James was laying and slowly began to walk over to him. A bandage covered his forehead and his left arm was bandaged. Other than a few other scrapes and bruises he just seemed to be sleeping.
She moved closer to the bed, but quickly jumped back in surprise when he began to stir. He opened his eyes slowly and gazed around unsure. His eyes rested on a very shocked looking Cassidy and he looked at her confusedly. His voice was quiet, almost inaudible
"Where's Jessie?"
To be continued…
Well that one was abit longer than my other ones coz I really wanted to concentrate on B&C before I went back to the rocketshipping : ) In the next chapter find out what's happened to Jessie so don't panic people rocketshipping is still alive!
I'm sorry if I offended any twerp fans in this chapter but Ash will get better! I know ALL characters are really OOC but that's the way I like them,
Please review, it's really appreciated and it'll inspire me to write quicker.
Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far I never would have written more than chapter 1 if you hadn't ; )
"Oh Ash turn it off" Misty exclaimed, only just entering the room
"But what if they're coming here?" he whined
"Then I'm sure we'll know before the people on TV, besides you know their only targeting the main cities" She reasoned, becoming more than slightly annoyed.
"Yeah at the moment" Ash muttered
Before Misty could retaliate Brock stepped in between them "Look would you two just stop arguing, it's not helping"
"Yeah well she started it!" Ash replied indignantly
Brock simply put his head in his hands shaking it slightly. At this point Mrs Ketchum entered the room with a dejected look on her face
"Is every thing okay Mrs Ketchum?" Misty asked
She looked up and smiled "Yes dear everything's fine"
"How are they?" Brock questioned, seemly the only one who remembered the three Rocket members they had had to drag out of a collapsed building only the previous day
"The doctors with them at the moment. Butch and Cassidy both seem fine though…" She trailed off
"Still no response from James?" Misty was almost afraid to ask
Mrs Ketchum shook her head solemnly. They were all silent for a moment before Ash spoke up
"I wondered what happened to Jessie?"
"I don't know it's not like those two to ever be apart" Misty commented
"and what about Meowth?" Brock added "I don't think I hardly ever saw them apart in all the years they chased Pikachu"
"Maybe they were evacuated?" Ash asked hopefully. Although Ash may not have been particularly friendly towards any of the Rocket members, death was not something the world needed any more of at the moment.
Although her answer was supposed to be comforting Misty could not hide the lack of hope in her voice. "Yeah, maybe…"
"You really need to take into account all I've just said… Miss Lynn?"
Cassidy was immediately snapped out of her trance-like state
"Sorry" She apologised
The doctor sighed "Talk to him, he'll understand. You don't have to go through this alone"
She nodded numbly, still not fully taking in what she had just been told
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked, seeing the distant look in her eyes.
She looked up at him and nodded slowly again "Yeah… I'll be fine" She confirmed but still unsure.
He turned to leave "Well if there is anything else I can do for you please don't hesitate to call"
"Yeah, sure" She replied, still not paying full attention.
He sighed again, but there was nothing else he could do for her. She needed to deal with this in her own time. He opened the door to an eagerly awaiting Butch
"Is she okay?" without waiting for an answer he pushed passed him and addressed her "Is every thing alright?"
She looked up at him and thought about telling him then. But she just couldn't do it
"Everything's fine Butch" she finally replied, not knowing exactly how true this was
"Good, you had me worried there for a minute"
She smiled vaguely "I'm fine… really"
"Are you ready to come downstairs now?" He questioned
"No I think I'll just stay here for a while"
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked suspiciously
"Yeah, I just feel like socialising at the moment"
"Do you want me to stay with you?"
"No it's okay, I'd rather be alone anyway" She replied
"Alright Cass, well if you need me just call"
"Sure" She answered. Her eyes lowered to the bed, hoping he would take it as a hint to leave. She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold off the tears. He turned back once more before leaving and sighed. He knew something was wrong but he knew her well enough to know when not to push it.
"How could you possibly say something like that?!" Misty screamed
"Well you don't know that Team Rocket isn't involved in this" Ash countered
"Why on earth would they want to blow up their own building?!"
"I don't know!?" Ash shouted, refusing to believe he was wrong "Maybe it was a cover up"
"It wasn't Team Rocket" Butch added bluntly, joining the conversation, which had somehow managed to progress into an argument. All eyes in the room turned to him, not realising that he had just come down the stairs.
"Then who is it? Because no one else seems to know!" Ash replied angrily
"We don't know"
"Well maybe it was your boss. He always was far from sane"
Butch clenched his fists, trying his best not to punch Ash's head in for that comment
"Don't ever let me hear you speak like that about him again" Butch growled, hoping that a warning would be enough.
"What are you gonna do Butch hit me? You know it's true. Everyone knows he's insane" Ash provoked.
"Ash don't!" Misty exclaimed
"No Misty it's true…"
Butch cut in, his voice low and filled with anger "What in the hell do you know about him? He was a good man and he died trying to help pieces of crap like you! So show some goddamn respect!"
Butch had moved increasingly closer to Ash and the two were almost standing nose to nose. He was about to say something else when he heard Cassidy's voice from behind him
"Butch? What's going on?" She questioned
"It's nothing Cassidy just go back upstairs" He replied, never taking his eyes away from Ash's
"Leave it Butch" She warned, "He doesn't understand"
After staring at Ash for a few more seconds Butch finally backed down, much to the relief of everyone in the room. He turned towards the front door
"I'm going out" He informed before slamming the door behind him. Cassidy closed her eyes for a second then opened them turning an angry glare to Ash
"You bastard!" She spat viciously "If you ever speak like that again Butch won't be the only one in line to kill you!"
Ash, who had obviously still not learnt his lesson, piped up again
"Well how can you be sure he was such a decent man?"
Cassidy's eyes filled with tears as she recalled Giovanni's final words to them, but she refused to let them fall. After a second she spoke
"He was trying to form a resistance group. That was the only reason he was in that building when it collapsed. He was in the same room we were in when we were attacked, and he died in that room" She spat out
Ash's eyes quickly moved to the ground, finally realising he was wrong
"I'm sorry" He whispered
Cassidy turned to go back up the stairs, only turning back to add one final comment
"Well maybe next time you should think before you open your big mouth"
She lay in the bed, not thinking about anything but him. She turned over and looked at the clock on the wall, only visible by the soft moonlight that filtered through the window. 11:45pm, where in the hell was he, she thought, becoming increasingly worried but also angry. She sat up, ready to go out and look for him when the bedroom door slowly creaked open.
"Where in the hell have you been!? She demanded
He looked up, obviously not expecting her to still be awake
"Out" He replied indignantly
This response only succeeded in angering her further "You've been gone for nearly six hours, had me worried sick and when I ask you where you've been all you can say is 'out'!? Butch Crandall you are one of the most selfish, uncaring piece of-"
"Shut up Cassidy! Just shut the hell up!" he broke in violently
She looked at him shocked. Not quite believing what she had just heard. In all the years she had known him he had never spoken to her like that before, and although she wouldn't admit it she was scared. He continued in a gentler tone, but was still quite abrupt
"Look Cass, we'll talk about this in the morning –it's too late now and we're both tired, so lets just get some rest"
"Fine" She conceded angrily, lying back down in the bed facing away from him.
He sighed, regretting how he had snapped at her but he was too tired and irritable to sort it out now. He lay down beside her –not touching her –eventually falling into an uneasy sleep.
Although her eyes were shut she could not sleep. The tears streamed silently down her cheeks as she tried to establish what had just happened. She didn't know how long she lay there thinking the events over in her mind but the next thing she knew the sun was slowly making its way though the sky. She turned over to face Butch's still sleeping form. The early morning sunlight was just lighting up his features and she smiled despite herself. She reached out a hand to touch his face and hesitated. She pulled back and quietly slipped out of the bed, careful as not to wake her partner. Cassidy slowly left the room, making her way downstairs. She entered the living room and curled up on one of the sofa's. She could hardly contain her sobs as she rocked back and forth in an attempt to console herself. She was so wrapped up in her own grief that she didn't notice the figure standing behind her until it placed a hand on her shoulder
"Oh Cassidy dear what's wrong?" Mrs Ketchum asked gently
Cassidy looked up at her furiously wiping at her eyes "It-it's nothing Mrs Ketchum" She replied shakily "I'm fine"
Obviously not believing a work she had said Mrs Ketchum sat down beside her and turned to face her
"I'm sure Rocket elites don't cry for no reason" She observed
"It's nothing… it's… it's… Butch" She finally got out
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really"
"Well I'm not going to make you if you really don't want to, but I think it will help"
"It's just… I'm…I'm sorry I can't do this"
"It's alright, I understand but you really should speak to someone. It's obviously not doing you any good keeping it bottled up inside"
She got up and began to make her way into the kitchen. Cassidy realised she was right and really didn't want her to leave
"I'm pregnant" She blurted out loudly
Mrs Ketchum was caught off guard and turned back to face Cassidy, her eyes wide with shock
"I'm pregnant" Cassidy whispered again before lowering her head into her hands and began sobbing. Her shoulders shook slightly as Mrs Ketchum sat down beside her again and pulled her into a hug. After a while Cassidy looked up at her with tear filled eyes
"What am I going to do?" She asked, the fear evident in her voice
"I presume this was an accident?"
She nodded her head solemnly
"Then you have some important decisions to make-"
"I'm keeping the baby" Cassidy broke in determinedly "I-I just don't know what Butch will say…"
"Then you really need to talk to him, he has a right to know"
"I know, it's just… I'm so scared… what if I lose him?… I can't lose him… I love him too much…"
"It's not going to be easy Cassidy… Does he love you?"
She looked down at her hands then shaking her head she met Mrs Ketchum's eyes
"I don't know" She replied quietly
She sighed "You have to speak to him Cassidy… I know it might seem like it but its not the end of the world… things will get better –you'll see"
"I suppose so…"
"They will, trust me… Now lets get you some breakfast you really need to keep up your strength in your condition"
"What condition?" Misty asked having just entered the room.
Cassidy blushed a very deep shade of red and tried desperately to hide her tear stained face. Luckily Mrs Ketchum answered for her
"Well after having a building fall on her Cassidy's still in quite a weak condition" She explained
"Oh right, for a minute there I thought she was pregnant!"
"Whose pregnant?" Brock asked, just making his way into the room
"No ones pregnant" Mrs Ketchum replied
"Why would anyone be pregnant?" Ash asked sleepily rubbing his eyes as he entered.
Cassidy, who had become progressively reddening throughout the exchange got up and proceeded to run out of the room and back up the stairs. Leaving three very confused people in her wake.
She rushed into what she thought was her room and it took her a moment to realise it wasn't. She looked over to the bed where James was laying and slowly began to walk over to him. A bandage covered his forehead and his left arm was bandaged. Other than a few other scrapes and bruises he just seemed to be sleeping.
She moved closer to the bed, but quickly jumped back in surprise when he began to stir. He opened his eyes slowly and gazed around unsure. His eyes rested on a very shocked looking Cassidy and he looked at her confusedly. His voice was quiet, almost inaudible
"Where's Jessie?"
To be continued…
Well that one was abit longer than my other ones coz I really wanted to concentrate on B&C before I went back to the rocketshipping : ) In the next chapter find out what's happened to Jessie so don't panic people rocketshipping is still alive!
I'm sorry if I offended any twerp fans in this chapter but Ash will get better! I know ALL characters are really OOC but that's the way I like them,
Please review, it's really appreciated and it'll inspire me to write quicker.
Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far I never would have written more than chapter 1 if you hadn't ; )