James had led her from the living room back up into the bedroom. She had
remained unexpectedly calm, which was a shock to all -she seemed more lost
in thought than distraught. James felt uneasy about the way she had reacted
and couldn't help but wonder if she was having some kind of breakdown.
Her eyes seemed to re-focus as she realised that she had been led back into her room, not even conscious of how she had got there. She fingered the Pokeball at her waist slightly debating whether to release Eevee when she noticed for the first time that James was in the room with her.
He looked around uneasily, unsure if he should speak to her or leave her to grieve in her own time. She made the decision for him
"What happened?" She asked neutrally, her voice now devoid of any expression.
He explained the events to her as best as he could without breaking down himself, sure that if he did she would lose it. Even after he had finished telling her what had happened she still remained too calm for his liking. He kept expecting her to cry to shout and scream -anything, but there was just no reaction from her other than the slight nodding of her head as he finished speaking.
"Cassidy are you okay?" He asked hesitantly after a few awkward moments of silence.
She looked up at him with a confused expression on her face "Yeah" she answered airily "Yeah, fine" she repeated before leaving James in the room alone. He walked out of the room just in time to watch her slowly walking out of the front door, ignoring the calls of Mrs Ketchum as she did so. He went to the window watching her figure slowly walk down the path and further into Pallet Town. He knew that she probably just wanted some time to be alone with her thoughts, but he couldn't help but wonder if she was in a fit state of mind to be left on her own.
He honestly didn't know why he was still waiting for her. 'She's a rocket elite -she can take care of herself. I don't even know if she's coming back' he thought. 'although where else has she got to go?' he reasoned. 'What if she ... no she wouldn't -would she?' he tried to push these thoughts to the back of his mind but they just kept on resurfacing. 'She's a strong girl, she wouldn't do anything stupid ... but then again if he lost Jessie ...' at this thought he decided 'I have to go and make sure she's ok'. But just as he got up to leave she slipped silently through the front door. From the look on her face he could tell she had been crying ... maybe that was a good sign ... then again ...
"Who were they?" she asked snapping him out of his thoughts
"I don't know," he answered in all honesty
"There must have been something significant about them. Were they wearing uniforms? Anything about them?"
He shook his head mutely, his eyes sinking to the floor quickly hoping to avoid her gaze -a gesture she noticed immediately. Narrowing her eyes at him she spoke,
"You know something, don't you?"
His head snapped up quickly, realising his mistake, "No" he tried to assure her. 'I can't do this to her' he thought, panicked 'if she finds out she'll go out and get herself killed'
"He's not dead is he?"
He looked into her eyes, his resolve wavering "I-I'm not sure" he managed to stutter out
"Do you know where he is, where they took him?"
"Cassidy, I can't-"
"For Gods sakes James!" She snapped, "I haven't got time to stand around here and play games with you, tell me what you know, now!"
"I can't" his voice came out a lot weaker than he had expected. He knew he couldn't keep what he knew from her for long.
"Why?"
"Because I can't let you go and get yourself killed when I'm not even sure if he's still alive"
"and Jessie is?!" she reproached angrily "Why can you risk your life for her but I cant for Butch? What makes you so sure she's alive? How can you know?"
"I-I guess I don't" he admitted
"Then why do you still want to go after her?"
He thought about Jessie. His best friend, his whole world, he would do anything for her -even risk his life. Looking at Cassidy he realised that she felt exactly the same way. Finally he came up with the reason she had expected him to
"Because I need to cling on to the hope that she's still here," he spoke quietly.
"Me too" she echoed, hoping that he now understood the way she was feeling. After a moment of silence she spoke up again "Where is he James?"
"Cinnabar Island" he whispered dejectedly -realising that he had probably just sent the pair of them to their deaths.
"Right", Cassidy nodded and turned to leave.
"You're just going to go? We don't even know who we're dealing with" James pointed out as a last minute excuse to try and convince her not to go, although knowing his attempt would fail.
She turns back to face him and raises an eyebrow "Do u have a better idea?" she questioned.
"No"
"Then lets go"
Even after his whimpering had subsided Jessie still held Meowth close to her, seeking comfort in his warm embrace. She absentmindedly stroked his fur, trying desperately to keep her mind away from thinking about James. She couldn't start thinking about him or else she'd break down completely and never find out why she was there and what exactly had happened.
After a moment she pushed him back slightly, hoping to find out what was wrong with him
"Are you okay?" she asked gently
He sniffed once again and rubbed some of the tears from his eyes before nodding his head slowly. She smiled at him through her own tears, noting that he hadn't yet said a word to her.
"I thought I'd never see you again," she continued, hoping to get some kind of verbal reaction from her friend. Instead he wrapped his arms around her once again -silently telling her that he had thought the same thing.
She again began to stroke his fur in an attempt to reassure him when she noticed something on his back that she hadn't earlier. Bur before she could question him his head snapped up and looked towards the door. She also looked at the door wondering what on earth caused his sudden reaction when she heard footsteps approaching.
"Meowth you'd better-" but even before she completed her sentence he had already jumped from her lap and hidden himself under her bed. "Good" she whispered to herself, before tensing, awaiting the opening of the door.
As the doctor entered she immediately noticed the look on Jessie's face "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you" she assured.
Jessie relaxed slightly but still watched her every move suspiciously. The doctor proceeded to replace a bag of clear fluid to the drip which Jessie only just noticed she was hooked up to again.
"What is that?" she asked motioning towards the bag of liquid.
"It's just to help keep your fluids up," the doctor continued after a moments silence "I'm sorry about earlier." She apologised, "I tried to warn you"
"I just want to know what's going on and when I can get out of here"
"Believe me, you're not the only one," the doctor whispered mournfully. Moving to the bedside cabinet she picked up some sort of chart and removed a pen from her pocket "How's your leg feeling?" she asked slightly more cheerfully.
Confused, Jessie looked down at her leg "It was broken" she whispered more to herself than anyone.
"I know, but how does it feel now?" the doctor pushed.
After a moment Jessie responded "Fine" she said confusedly "I-I even walked on it"
"This soon? That's great!" the doctor exclaimed and began to scribble something down on her chart.
"How?" Jessie asked shakily "It was broken" she repeated, "James told me it was broken"
"It was"
Jessie shook he head slightly and began to massage her temples slightly, feeling a headache coming on "I don't understand" she muttered, becoming increasingly frustrated "Can't anyone give me a straight answer in this place!"
The doctor looked at her sympathetically but knew she couldn't tell her what had really happened "I'm sorry" she apologised "I'd tell you if I could"
"Of course you would" Jessie sarcastically commented, just wanting the doctor to leave so she could speak to Meowth.
As the doctor replaced the chart on the side her pen rolled from the cabinet and landed on the floor, rolling slightly under the bed. Before Jessie could protest the doctor had bent down and immediately noticed a pair of feline eyes staring straight at her.
"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you" she commented as she reached out and took Meowth into her arms, much to Jessie's surprise without any protest from him. Jessie watched on as the doctor gently petted Meowth, 'maybe she can be trusted after all' she mused, looking at Meowth's content features.
"I guess you must have met Becky?" the doctor snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Yeah" she replied distractedly
"She's grown quite attached to this little Meowth. He must be yours, right?"
"Yeah, well sort of"
"Here, you'd better take him, if he's found in here ... well lets just say you had better hide him"
Jessie gratefully took Meowth from her arms, glad that she wasn't going to be left alone "Thanks"
"If you need anything, just press the buzzer and someone will be in" she spoke motioning to a button to the left hand side of her. Just as the doctor was about to leave Jessie spoke up again, seeing this as her only opportunity
"Doctor?"
"Call me Rachael" she insisted
"Rachael ... do you know what happened in Viridian?"
She looked uncomfortable for a second before replying, "I really don't know for sure ... I'm sorry".
"Do you think they're all dead? Just like your boss said?"
"I learned a long time ago that you can't always believe what he says," she replied with a weak smile "But I'll see what I can find out"
Jessie returned the smile and watched the other woman leave before turning her attention back to Meowth. His eyes were still focused on the door an unreadable expression on his face "She's scared" he spoke for the first time.
Jessie, although pleased that her feline companion was now speaking, kept a large amount of sadness in her voice "She's not the only one" she commented. Meowth looked up at her sadly. He had never seen her like this before, where was the strong Jessie he knew? Her dull eyes worried him more than anything. Had she really given up all hope? If so it was going to make it a lot harder for them to get out of there.
He knew what her next question was going to be and yet he knew he couldn't tell her the answers right now, 'she has enough with her own problems', he reasoned 'she doesn't need mine as well'
"Meowth, where did these scars on your back come from?"
He winced slightly as he recalled what had been done to him but knew he had to stay strong for both of their sakes. "Dat aint important now Jess"
"Damn it Meowth! I'm fed up with not getting any answers!" she snapped feeling really agitated that no one seemed to want to explain what in the world was going on.
"I know Jess, but right now we've gotta worry about getting out of here. It's not safe"
"I'm not going anywhere until I find out what's going on!" she demanded, folding her arms defiantly across her chest and looking expectantly at the cat.
Meowth sighed, 'I guess some of the old Jessie is still in there' he thought agitatedly "Okay Jess, I'll tell yous what I know"
"Well it's about time someone did!"
TBC ...
Okay now for the excuses ...
Sorry for the major delay in writing this chapter. I could put the blame on a number of different things like Uni, Christmas or writers block and I guess it was kind of all of these combined with severe laziness! ^_^;;; I *promise* I wont take as long on the rest of the chapters so please review, after a day at uni filled with exams I really need it!!!
Her eyes seemed to re-focus as she realised that she had been led back into her room, not even conscious of how she had got there. She fingered the Pokeball at her waist slightly debating whether to release Eevee when she noticed for the first time that James was in the room with her.
He looked around uneasily, unsure if he should speak to her or leave her to grieve in her own time. She made the decision for him
"What happened?" She asked neutrally, her voice now devoid of any expression.
He explained the events to her as best as he could without breaking down himself, sure that if he did she would lose it. Even after he had finished telling her what had happened she still remained too calm for his liking. He kept expecting her to cry to shout and scream -anything, but there was just no reaction from her other than the slight nodding of her head as he finished speaking.
"Cassidy are you okay?" He asked hesitantly after a few awkward moments of silence.
She looked up at him with a confused expression on her face "Yeah" she answered airily "Yeah, fine" she repeated before leaving James in the room alone. He walked out of the room just in time to watch her slowly walking out of the front door, ignoring the calls of Mrs Ketchum as she did so. He went to the window watching her figure slowly walk down the path and further into Pallet Town. He knew that she probably just wanted some time to be alone with her thoughts, but he couldn't help but wonder if she was in a fit state of mind to be left on her own.
He honestly didn't know why he was still waiting for her. 'She's a rocket elite -she can take care of herself. I don't even know if she's coming back' he thought. 'although where else has she got to go?' he reasoned. 'What if she ... no she wouldn't -would she?' he tried to push these thoughts to the back of his mind but they just kept on resurfacing. 'She's a strong girl, she wouldn't do anything stupid ... but then again if he lost Jessie ...' at this thought he decided 'I have to go and make sure she's ok'. But just as he got up to leave she slipped silently through the front door. From the look on her face he could tell she had been crying ... maybe that was a good sign ... then again ...
"Who were they?" she asked snapping him out of his thoughts
"I don't know," he answered in all honesty
"There must have been something significant about them. Were they wearing uniforms? Anything about them?"
He shook his head mutely, his eyes sinking to the floor quickly hoping to avoid her gaze -a gesture she noticed immediately. Narrowing her eyes at him she spoke,
"You know something, don't you?"
His head snapped up quickly, realising his mistake, "No" he tried to assure her. 'I can't do this to her' he thought, panicked 'if she finds out she'll go out and get herself killed'
"He's not dead is he?"
He looked into her eyes, his resolve wavering "I-I'm not sure" he managed to stutter out
"Do you know where he is, where they took him?"
"Cassidy, I can't-"
"For Gods sakes James!" She snapped, "I haven't got time to stand around here and play games with you, tell me what you know, now!"
"I can't" his voice came out a lot weaker than he had expected. He knew he couldn't keep what he knew from her for long.
"Why?"
"Because I can't let you go and get yourself killed when I'm not even sure if he's still alive"
"and Jessie is?!" she reproached angrily "Why can you risk your life for her but I cant for Butch? What makes you so sure she's alive? How can you know?"
"I-I guess I don't" he admitted
"Then why do you still want to go after her?"
He thought about Jessie. His best friend, his whole world, he would do anything for her -even risk his life. Looking at Cassidy he realised that she felt exactly the same way. Finally he came up with the reason she had expected him to
"Because I need to cling on to the hope that she's still here," he spoke quietly.
"Me too" she echoed, hoping that he now understood the way she was feeling. After a moment of silence she spoke up again "Where is he James?"
"Cinnabar Island" he whispered dejectedly -realising that he had probably just sent the pair of them to their deaths.
"Right", Cassidy nodded and turned to leave.
"You're just going to go? We don't even know who we're dealing with" James pointed out as a last minute excuse to try and convince her not to go, although knowing his attempt would fail.
She turns back to face him and raises an eyebrow "Do u have a better idea?" she questioned.
"No"
"Then lets go"
Even after his whimpering had subsided Jessie still held Meowth close to her, seeking comfort in his warm embrace. She absentmindedly stroked his fur, trying desperately to keep her mind away from thinking about James. She couldn't start thinking about him or else she'd break down completely and never find out why she was there and what exactly had happened.
After a moment she pushed him back slightly, hoping to find out what was wrong with him
"Are you okay?" she asked gently
He sniffed once again and rubbed some of the tears from his eyes before nodding his head slowly. She smiled at him through her own tears, noting that he hadn't yet said a word to her.
"I thought I'd never see you again," she continued, hoping to get some kind of verbal reaction from her friend. Instead he wrapped his arms around her once again -silently telling her that he had thought the same thing.
She again began to stroke his fur in an attempt to reassure him when she noticed something on his back that she hadn't earlier. Bur before she could question him his head snapped up and looked towards the door. She also looked at the door wondering what on earth caused his sudden reaction when she heard footsteps approaching.
"Meowth you'd better-" but even before she completed her sentence he had already jumped from her lap and hidden himself under her bed. "Good" she whispered to herself, before tensing, awaiting the opening of the door.
As the doctor entered she immediately noticed the look on Jessie's face "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you" she assured.
Jessie relaxed slightly but still watched her every move suspiciously. The doctor proceeded to replace a bag of clear fluid to the drip which Jessie only just noticed she was hooked up to again.
"What is that?" she asked motioning towards the bag of liquid.
"It's just to help keep your fluids up," the doctor continued after a moments silence "I'm sorry about earlier." She apologised, "I tried to warn you"
"I just want to know what's going on and when I can get out of here"
"Believe me, you're not the only one," the doctor whispered mournfully. Moving to the bedside cabinet she picked up some sort of chart and removed a pen from her pocket "How's your leg feeling?" she asked slightly more cheerfully.
Confused, Jessie looked down at her leg "It was broken" she whispered more to herself than anyone.
"I know, but how does it feel now?" the doctor pushed.
After a moment Jessie responded "Fine" she said confusedly "I-I even walked on it"
"This soon? That's great!" the doctor exclaimed and began to scribble something down on her chart.
"How?" Jessie asked shakily "It was broken" she repeated, "James told me it was broken"
"It was"
Jessie shook he head slightly and began to massage her temples slightly, feeling a headache coming on "I don't understand" she muttered, becoming increasingly frustrated "Can't anyone give me a straight answer in this place!"
The doctor looked at her sympathetically but knew she couldn't tell her what had really happened "I'm sorry" she apologised "I'd tell you if I could"
"Of course you would" Jessie sarcastically commented, just wanting the doctor to leave so she could speak to Meowth.
As the doctor replaced the chart on the side her pen rolled from the cabinet and landed on the floor, rolling slightly under the bed. Before Jessie could protest the doctor had bent down and immediately noticed a pair of feline eyes staring straight at her.
"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you" she commented as she reached out and took Meowth into her arms, much to Jessie's surprise without any protest from him. Jessie watched on as the doctor gently petted Meowth, 'maybe she can be trusted after all' she mused, looking at Meowth's content features.
"I guess you must have met Becky?" the doctor snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Yeah" she replied distractedly
"She's grown quite attached to this little Meowth. He must be yours, right?"
"Yeah, well sort of"
"Here, you'd better take him, if he's found in here ... well lets just say you had better hide him"
Jessie gratefully took Meowth from her arms, glad that she wasn't going to be left alone "Thanks"
"If you need anything, just press the buzzer and someone will be in" she spoke motioning to a button to the left hand side of her. Just as the doctor was about to leave Jessie spoke up again, seeing this as her only opportunity
"Doctor?"
"Call me Rachael" she insisted
"Rachael ... do you know what happened in Viridian?"
She looked uncomfortable for a second before replying, "I really don't know for sure ... I'm sorry".
"Do you think they're all dead? Just like your boss said?"
"I learned a long time ago that you can't always believe what he says," she replied with a weak smile "But I'll see what I can find out"
Jessie returned the smile and watched the other woman leave before turning her attention back to Meowth. His eyes were still focused on the door an unreadable expression on his face "She's scared" he spoke for the first time.
Jessie, although pleased that her feline companion was now speaking, kept a large amount of sadness in her voice "She's not the only one" she commented. Meowth looked up at her sadly. He had never seen her like this before, where was the strong Jessie he knew? Her dull eyes worried him more than anything. Had she really given up all hope? If so it was going to make it a lot harder for them to get out of there.
He knew what her next question was going to be and yet he knew he couldn't tell her the answers right now, 'she has enough with her own problems', he reasoned 'she doesn't need mine as well'
"Meowth, where did these scars on your back come from?"
He winced slightly as he recalled what had been done to him but knew he had to stay strong for both of their sakes. "Dat aint important now Jess"
"Damn it Meowth! I'm fed up with not getting any answers!" she snapped feeling really agitated that no one seemed to want to explain what in the world was going on.
"I know Jess, but right now we've gotta worry about getting out of here. It's not safe"
"I'm not going anywhere until I find out what's going on!" she demanded, folding her arms defiantly across her chest and looking expectantly at the cat.
Meowth sighed, 'I guess some of the old Jessie is still in there' he thought agitatedly "Okay Jess, I'll tell yous what I know"
"Well it's about time someone did!"
TBC ...
Okay now for the excuses ...
Sorry for the major delay in writing this chapter. I could put the blame on a number of different things like Uni, Christmas or writers block and I guess it was kind of all of these combined with severe laziness! ^_^;;; I *promise* I wont take as long on the rest of the chapters so please review, after a day at uni filled with exams I really need it!!!