Dark Pasts, Hopeful Futures

by Thorned Rose

Consequences of actions must be faced and acknowledged in this extremely dark Rocketshippy sequel to A Diary Of Two Hearts. Six months apart can harden the gentlest of hearts, so how do they cope with the harrowing challenges they face?

7. 26th March, 2001

                                                Monday, March 26th 2001

      Jessie felt content when she woke up next to her fiancé; when they'd returned to his flat from the hospital the evening before, there had been a few letters stored for James that he never bothered collecting, and one of them had been his results for the blood test he'd done. He told her to open it whenever she wanted before heading off to the Silver Bullet to resign, and when he'd come back, the grin evident on her face made it clear to him that they'd been positive and she wanted what he'd been depriving her of for the last week. He deprived her no more. She was glad she was first awake, since the time presented to her to do some thinking was sufficient, even though she didn't like what she needed to dwell on at that time. She knew that James wanted to leave the city that day, which she had no problems with, and she was trying to imagine where they could live together in an area that was well out of danger for them. She also hated the thought of being spied on when they finally made their escape; she'd never heard of a successful break away from the dark circle she was contained in, bar James, and that was only because he'd been left for dead when the authorities went by or something. She didn't know the exact details but she bore no intentions on asking him what had happened all those years ago. She fought against the urge to giggle when her baby delivered another kick to the lining of her womb; it felt painful and amusing at the same time, and the reason she wanted to laugh was to vent the torment that had been steadily building up in her system. She conquered her desire since she didn't want James to wake up yet, and the more she reflected on the opportunity of leaving the city she hated, the more she felt like they were going to take a positive step into the right direction. She released a shiver in spite of all the sources of heat surrounding her; her boyfriend's body heat (he was sweltering from the three blankets she'd wanted the night before), said blankets, and she even slept in a slip. Well, that didn't really contain much heat due to its diaphanous effect, but it was still an article of clothing as far as she was concerned. She felt her partner move slightly in his sleep and she ensured that she didn't move again for a few minutes, and naturally every cell in her body was screaming for her to move, merely because she wasn't allowing herself to do so. She'd been quite lucky throughout her pregnancy thus far; she hadn't suffered from nausea, never mind morning sickness, and mucus plus other unpleasant factors had been kept minimal. In fact, she had barely believed she was with child when she was late, and she just assumed that it was some adverse affect from repeatedly not eating enough when she'd done fieldwork in Team Rocket. She'd travelled from disbelief to fear in a few short weeks seeing that nowhere would employ an outlawed pregnant woman, and from there she had gone into a world that she hated. Now she felt like all of that was behind her, and nothing really mattered since she had her lover back at her side, and he'd save her from whatever threatened their future. It is such a shame that hopes don't always transform into reality, especially in this particular couple's case.

      Butch was on the warpath when his sedatives finally wore off, and not one of the scientists felt safe in his presence after his reaction the night before; he'd known his partner was dead and yet he wanted to stay with her all night—was he perhaps devoted to some form of necrophilia? They'd restrained him on an examination table until he was almost overflowing with morphine, and they were afraid to approach him to unlock his manacles now that he was awake. His muscles and tendons were still immobile, and he took this opportunity of perpetual weakness to irately reflect on what had happened after paying heed to the final request to leave the room that had been broadcast over the intercom. He'd left the room and upon detecting a noise behind him, he returned to check the room one last time. He'd switched the light on and seen his partner wincing at the bright light, and then he'd covered her up with his upper clothing to remove the death chill from her body, and ecstatically called for assistance. It was this point where everything turned pear shaped for the star-crossed young man. He held his best friend in his arms tightly (he thought the feeling of hugging her without the usual few inches of flesh between them was sickening) and animatedly whispered to her:

      "Oh my gods how are you here? No that's not what I meant to say…I thought I'd lost you, I'm so glad you're here. You really worried me when they said that you'd…"

      "That's all?"
      "Cass, I'm flooded with emotion here, I'm speechless. Do you know how they revived you?"
      "What do you think? Idiot"

      "Of course you don't…I agree, how stupid of me to ask. How are you feeling?"

      "Are you going to bother me with questions the whole time you're here? If you are, then leave"

      "No, I promise that I won't, I'm just worried about you, that's all. I'm glad you made it, though I doubt you'll thank the doctors when you see…"

      "Are you just obsessed with how I look? I personally have no problem with the split down my face, or the plastic on the part of my body wherever it was removed from to fill it a bit. Are you missing my breasts so much that you hate touching me like this? I can see it in your eyes"

      "I'll get over it, it's just weird feeling you like this. Isn't it strange for you?"

      "You'd rather I had a normal body wouldn't you? Is this better?"

      She frightened him as she pushed him away from her body, but without using her hands. Somehow her chest had returned to its usual status after the drastic surgery she underwent, and the sudden unexpected force backwards hurt his torso in a way that he could not liken to anything else. His shocked expression removed the necessity for him to voice yet another question to piss her off with, and when he eventually stuttered out 'How…?' she punched him backwards with a strength she shouldn't possess at any stage, never mind the condition she was in now. He was momentarily winded from the unforeseen blow she'd delivered to his solar plexus, and something confounding happened when he heard a scientist returning to the room—or rather, what he thought was a scientist. Instead, he saw a minor fleet of bodyguards that had been sent to restrain him after his blatant refusal to leave the premises. He screamed to be left alone with Cassidy (the phrase that ignited the necrophilia insinuations), and when they looked at the bed it was as they had left it—made and empty. The woman he was referring to was located in a metal box in the mausoleum until formal arrangements regarding her funeral had been completed. Butch knew that he hadn't been hallucinating, but he couldn't see a trace of evidence showing that she'd been there except for the slight stinging along his abdomen. The guards decided that if they released him onto the streets, as initially intended, he could prove to be a liability to the organisation, and ultimately their jobs could be at stake. The only scientist willing to go near the restrained enraged male on a spare examination table was a cocky medical student, and he took great pleasure in injecting a substantial amount of morphine into him. Even in his sleeping state, his face was etched with torment and anguish.

      Now he was awake and any serene feelings that had spread in his body had splintered away, leaving an exposed and frustrated boy in its wake. His strength was no match for the sturdy straps that imprisoned his fatigued limbs, and evil images of Cassidy arguing with him flashed through his troubled skull like a piece of elasticised string. It felt like a thousand pound weight was atop his head as he wrenched his neck upwards slightly and glanced at the barely furbished room. The only noise he could detect was that of the scientists, and due to the dullness of the level, they sounded as if they were nowhere near his room. He released a short bark of terror as he turned his gaze back towards the ceiling; leaning over his body to greet him was Cassidy, and the same self-possessed smile played across her badly mutilated face. His eyes widened in terror as he wondered whether or not he was hallucinating again from the powerful drug. He shut his eyes and exhaled slowly and began counting to twenty until she cut him off at four by the supposed cadaver closing her lips over his. He reopened his startled eyes and watched her carefully as she broke off her tender kiss, but her attention was clearly divided, and he soon realised what that source of distraction was.

      Cassidy was by his side in an instant, and any sign of distemper had vanished from her face, only to be replaced with one of delight. Butch felt dizzy as he tried lifting his head to watch them for longer than approximately two minutes, and he felt disgust at enduring the sight of the woman he loved acting like putty for the other presence in the room.

      "Wonderful, isn't she?"

      "Wh-what do you mean? She's not a bit of property, she's…"

      "Silence. He can call me what he likes"

      "B-but Cass—"

      "I said be quiet, and don't interrupt him again"

      "As I was saying, isn't she wonderful? A beauty that can defy death and recreate what scientists stole from her. A woman that can hold more power in her grasp than any living creature can; a woman who isn't really here"

      As he said the final words of his sentence, she vanished in a second like she had done the night before, and Butch was terrified as he frantically sought for a solution to his question of what was real and what was not. Anger pulsed through his livid body as the other male released an evil laugh at the youth's mystification, and Butch at the brink of tears as he wondered whether or not his best friend was alive. The fact that his senses were perpetually dulled as a side effect from the aphrodisiac didn't help him in the slightest either.

      Jessie eventually became bored of having to endure her thoughts as a source of company and nothing else, so she poked her lover in his ribs until he snapped from the secure grasps that slumber had latched around him. He mock-growled at her before lightly pressing her body beneath his in the midst of a passion-hungry kiss—an act to show that he could dominate her easily (the only problem was it made them both feel like repeating the events from the night before). Both felt reluctant to withdraw from their activity, yet it was surprisingly Jessie who chose to concede, her excuse being that the baby kicking her had momentarily killed the mood for her. He moved off her and they nestled together as she ignored the minor discomfort that her presently overactive baby was creating for her. Her nerves were tingling as he held her against his body, and even though she was at the height of her happiness, she somehow felt hollow; in total contrast to the enjoyment she got out of lying next to her lover, it made her realize how pathetic her flings over the previous months appeared. James could instinctively tell that something wasn't right with her, and when asked if she was upset over something, she just denied it and blamed the threatening tears on her chaotic hormones. He knew something was wrong with her, but he decided that it would probably be for the best if he didn't pursue the matter. He was still trying to forget that she'd nearly died a couple of nights beforehand, and he dreaded to think what might have happened to her if she'd left the pub in her bad mood the other night, as well as trying to forget that he'd betrayed her trust the one night he'd slept alone since they'd been reunited. She snapped herself out of her trance-like state and gave her lover another kiss before she asked him when he was due to go to work.

      "I'm not keen on the idea of leaving you alone"

      "I'm a big girl, I can manage on my own for a few hours. Besides, I can use the time to start packing your things"

      "Are you sure you want to leave? I hope I haven't forced you into that idea, because if…"

      "You haven't, and do you really think that I want to let our child grow up in this dump? We both hate this city, so why should it have to endure it when it's born?"

      "That's what I'm thinking, but I just wanted to be positive you felt the same way"
      "So when are you due to start work? You didn't answer me"

      "In half an hour, but I ignored the idea; I thought I'd skip my last day to pay my boss back for all the times he's made me scrape out the oven…"

      "No, you're going in and going to get your pay back; I don't remember you being rich enough to skip money being paid out. I'll be fine, so just get ready and go. Don't worry, okay?"

      "Do I have a choice in the matter?"

      "Do you ever?"
                                                                         **

      James had left in his uniform seventeen minutes later, but not to go directly to work. He'd intended calling into the building anyway, but he had a few more important issues to contend with first. He entered Team Rocket Headquarters without the same level of fear he would have suffered from months ago, but he still felt uneasy when he recalled the last time he'd set foot in the building; he'd been beaten up and publicly humiliated because of Jessie's near-betrayal, not to mention what finding Weezing a couple of hours beforehand had done to his mettle. There were no guards protecting the entrance so he had no trouble in gaining admission, so the first part of his plan had easily been completed. He strode with great animosity towards the reception desk, and to gain the drowsy receptionist's attention, he smacked the magazine out of her hand and prised her forwards by means of grabbing her collar. Lindsey looked surprised but didn't lose sight of the method available to her to reverse the situation. She swung her hands between his wrists and intended to compel them off her clothing, but he anticipated this move and avoided her attack with ease.

      "Get off me you cheating scum"

      "How about…no"

      "I mean it, get off me now"

      "Or what?"

      "It doesn't involve me"

      "What doesn't?"

      "Who you sleep with; if you have a problem, sort it out with…"
      "This isn't about Tyra. It's about me being bugged and I want to know where. You can deny it all you like but I know you're listening to every move I make"

      "And what are you going to do to make me remove it, huh? If you want me to leave it there, you're going the right way about it"

      "I don't care if I kill you, but you're going to tell me where it is, and failure to do so could result in things turning extremely nasty"

      "I'm not afraid of you"

      "I never said you had to be"

      With an unexpected movement, he had pulled her completely over the bureau and locked her in an unbreakable grip with one arm as he fluidly stretched behind the reception desk to claim her hand pistol. He pressed it against her head and reminded her that he had no problems in killing her to try and coax her into helping him, but she adamantly snarled that she'd rather die than allow his life to become any easier. By putting his knee against her back and forced her away from his body, he succeeded in dislocating both of her arms due to the strength his arm binding hers had maintained. He kept the pistol pointed at her unwaveringly as he claimed her position behind the computer. His skills were nowhere near as deft as hers, but he was still capable of smashing into the computer mainframe's supposedly top-secret files to try and gain the knowledge he wished to obtain. He found his file and whilst ignoring the content describing his ability to work, he located the transmission source, but it didn't help him in the slightest. He overrode the commands and replaced the codes in an advanced computer language that Lindsey would never have heard of—it was one advantage to having relations that specialised in cryptography when he was growing up. He picked the trembling woman up by her shoulder to add more pain when he was finished ruining the technology for Team Rocket, and it was only then that he noticed Giovanni's office was completely burned out. He mentally snickered at the sight of the incinerated room (It accounted for the lack of security visible in the area), but he hadn't quite finished in the large building yet. He solidified his grip on her arm to invoke more pain on the woman as he dragged her in the direction opposite to the entrance hall, and he took what he had initially entered the building for without any great distraction. When he was ready to leave with the object in a bag, he tossed the pistol aside and pushed the young woman back into a wall to relocate her shoulders and he strode out of the edifice with an odd sense of satisfaction. He never noticed the screams for help steadily growing in pitch of a supposed madman emanating from the hospital sector, and even if he had, he wasn't certain if he would return to there again for any reason.

      Butch was terrified; his company kept showing him 'Cassidy', but she disappeared moments later if it sounded like medics were in the area, and he wasn't certain if he was hallucinating because of the morphine, or if he was transfixed in some surreal alternative universe. Unfortunately for him neither option was the correct answer, and the other person in the room was perpetually taunting him with what he thought to be the love interest of his life. When he'd finally yelled himself hoarse, his tormentor finally revealed the truth to the terrified young man, and although it was interlaced with lies, it was comforting for Butch to know that he wasn't imagining the whole thing.

      "As you must probably be able to assume, a real woman of Cassidy's size and condition would not be able to vanish from your vision quite as quickly as she somehow is managing to do, correct?"

      "What have you done with her?"

      "Correct?"
      "Yes, now wha--"

      "She's not really able to do it, and if you cooperate with me, I'll show you how she does it. But first, you have to promise to do me a favour if you hear your explanation"

      "It depends on the task"
      "If you want to see Cassidy again, you'll agree with my terms, regardless of what their consistence is, now do you accept?"

      "Yes"

      "Sorry? What did you say?"

      "I SAID YES, NOW TELL ME"
      "The Cassidy you are seeing before you is not the one you've worked with, nor is she the one you love. If you did love her, you would have noticed immediately that this is an impostor"
      "But, how can any human do what she did? And where is my real Cass?"

      "Save your questions until the end. As I was explaining, no human is capable of this lovely creature before me, correct? Her purpose is to act in whatever manner you want her to, and she is loyal—a perfect woman. But of course, perfect women don't exist. They can't go for two minutes without bitching about something, or listing off your flaws mercilessly in public"

      "Your point being?"

      "This is merely a shell of a woman—she is in fact a ditto, that has undergone a serious quantity of tests for Giovanni in the name of 'science'. She can assume into any breathing creature, including humans, and have all of their memories, traits, strengths, weaknesses…but she can use her own powers to enhance these. She needs but a nanosecond of flesh-to-flesh contact"

      "Great, but what does this have to do with me getting Cassidy back?"

      "If you do something for me, I'll let you see your beloved for as long as you want. Are you going to comply with my side of the bargain first?"

      "All right. What do I have to do then?"

                                                                          **

      Jessie's mind was spinning with reasons for her to be excited about the forthcoming move whilst she was in the midst of folding away some of James' belongings, but she was distracted from them when a sudden and previously unfelt pain raged through her stomach. She doubled up and spent so much energy to trying to reduce the feeling that she held no ability to prevent the tears from gliding out of her tightly squeezed eyes, and she wished she'd lessened her haste to send James to work. She felt moisture seeping through the seat of her jeans and it made her even more frantic with fear, and whereas she had hated her child the other day, she wanted more than anything for it not to be a miscarriage she was suffering from at the present. Her body trembled so rapidly that she appeared to be squatting against a vibrating bed, and without any indication of a warning, the pain vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving a very confused and petrified young woman in its wake. When her shaking was less erratic, she moved her right hand between her legs, and a pulsing surge of relief poured out of her system when she saw that the unwanted moisture didn't contain any specks of red, indicating that she wasn't about to give birth prematurely. She leant back against the side of the bed and exhaled deeply in exoneration to herself for the nasty thoughts she'd brewed regarding her baby's welfare, but her actions caused James' wallet to fall off the bed—it must have fallen out of his jacket pocket when he'd left that morning. Curiosity took over her fragile body and she opened it to look at his various cards; she found herself admiring his distinctly chiselled features in each picture, since most of their previous fake picture forms of identification had been nothing short of something escaped from a comedy film, yet in these he looked extremely handsome to her. She noticed that he'd also hidden a few pictures of her (they had obviously been cherished since an early age, due to the times they'd been taken) where credit cards should be kept, and she felt moved that he'd done that. She'd always imagined it was only sentimental old men that did it for some reason. The high figure that totalled the money in his wallet seemed outstanding to her, since she didn't think he could have earned all that much in a pub and a restaurant, but obviously she was mistaken. What she didn't know was almost thirty percent of his daily earnings came from young women and occasionally a young male giving him tips as well as their phone numbers (he'd never even read the name of whoever was flirting with him due to his detestation of trivial conversations, especially with drunk women he didn't know). There were a few worthless pieces of paper scrunched into the very last pocket in it, mainly receipts and the like, but she discovered that it was where he tended to keep their contraception.

      It was only when she was putting the contents back into the pocket when something struck her like a shower of ice; if he'd been chaste for the six months like he'd claimed, then why did he have condoms on his person before she'd told him the results? And why did the purchase date on the outer packaging say the packet of three had been bought three days beforehand, when he hadn't been speaking to her for twenty-four hours? But most importantly, why was there only one remaining, when he'd slept with her for the first time in their reunion the night before—where was the missing one? She dropped the wallet as nausea rebuilt its way through her already weakened body, and the same hateful thought kept springing through her mind: he's had it off with someone, but who? A waitress? A barmaid? His boss who'd gone to the hospital to see them? It was the most likely conclusion; since she knew that Flora or whatever her name was had had her eye on him for quite some time, and she knew not of any barmaids at the Silver Bullet in the first place, and he'd hardly arrange to meet a waitress after a night shift. But then again, he'd been very reluctant to return to the restaurant that morning—was it the prospect of telling the girl he'd slept with his fiancée so she wasn't worth anything to him any more? She didn't know whether this hurt her more or the chance he'd met up with a hooker just to get payback, but the thought of him sleeping with three prostitutes one after the other wouldn't hurt her as much as the true version of events.

      James returned two hours after her unfortunate spell, and he immediately noticed that something was worrying his beloved due to the haunted look dwelling in her facial features. She brushed them aside when he kissed her gently even though her head was screaming questions like whether or not he'd met up with the woman, and whether or not she was a better kisser than she was. She walked away from him and sat at the small table (one of the few items of furniture occupying his apartment), and as he joined her, he put a handful of pages in front of her, the contents of which brushed aside all of her brooding anger and replaced her hollow heart with a feeling of pure enchantment. They were an assortment of patterns for wedding dresses in mixed styles from a variety of eras, and each one before her appealed greatly to her taste, showing that her fiancé had taken great care in his selection.

      "Bear with me Jess, I know that you've wanted to have a great wedding since you were small, but with a baby on the way, I don't think it's feasible to imagine it now. I've got enough material for whichever style you choose, and I'm prepared to ruin my fingers sewing it for you if it need be. It's not going to be as good as anything you'd buy in a shop, but it'll save us a great deal of money in the long term"

      "It won't be as good, you're right. It'll be a lot better and are you sure that you want to do this?"

      "You've been deprived of enough things in life as it is, and I want to make sure that a half-decent dress isn't one of them. Well, at least I hope it's half-decent…"

      "I'd wear a dishcloth if you'd made it James, so don't worry about this, okay?"
      "It's what you're saying now, but it might sound a bit different when your hormones change as you see the end product"

      "Thanks a million Jamie"

      "You call me that again and you can do it yourself!"

      "Oh all right, but only because I hate sewing"

      "Don't worry, I believe you on that one"

      Her churlish thoughts vanished as he pressed his lips over hers, and she knew that if they returned, at least now she'd been presented with ample time to enjoy a moment like this before she confronted him. He could still taste pique in her reaction, even though she did seem less distant than when he'd first entered the flat, and he was struggling to think of a reason for her changing moods in the relatively short time he'd left her alone.

      James received confirmation of Jessie's ill-humour a couple of hours later when they were heatedly kissing on the bed as a last time before they left the city, and it came in the form of her pushing him sharply away from her, like she had done the other night. He asked her what was wrong with her as she glared at him, and as she fixed her clothing, she grumbled out something that he couldn't quite catch. When he asked her to repeat it, she snapped out an obscenity-laced response to how stupid he was if he couldn't hear her, and she started to get up. He saw tears icing her opalescent eyes, and he knew whatever was wrong was truly hurting her feelings, so he felt guilty before he even knew what he'd supposedly done or failed to do. James was frightened that she'd leave him for the dangerous streets like she'd done the other night so he stood up and caught her by her wrists as he demanded an explanation, to which he received:

      "Why are you stopping me? Wouldn't it be more fun if you didn't let me go?"

      "What are you on about?"

      "No point denying it, now answer my question"
      "For the last time I didn't hear it"

      "'Was she better than me?' is what I asked, so answer it"

      "I have no idea what you mean by that"

      "Come off it you spineless bastard, I know all about you fucking some broad the other night"

      James fell silent momentarily as he vacillated; his cowardice didn't extend to him wanting to deny it, yet he didn't know what he should say in such a situation. He never broke eye contact with her even though it pained him to watch miniature lakes welling up in her sapphire eyes, and she felt even worse when she knew her intimation was correct. She wanted to break away from him and find sanctuary in a dark, quiet corner distant from all people, but even though his grip on her was considerably weaker since she accused him, it was still too strong for her to escape from it as she felt like she was weak beyond redemption. He noticed that his fingers were leaving white prints in their wake on her fragile skin and he let go of her so he didn't hurt her; he had no desire in hurting women, and he never once intended killing the secretary earlier. He watched her anger crumble away to transmute into despair and misery, and he didn't know what to say to either give her comfort or respite. He held her and whispered apologies as she cried into his torso, and this surprised both of them as neither expected her to relent to her heart before she'd finished what could be quite a fierce argument between them. He had more tact than to tell her it meant nothing to him (that would certainly make his infidelity sound even worse), and he cautiously waited until her outburst had nearly vanquished before saying anything to her regarding the whole mess he'd chosen to make as his abode.

      "I'm never going to see her again, ever. I'm not going to say it meant nothing, but I did it out of frustration and anger because you'd left me"
      "You wouldn't sleep with me when I kept asking you, but the minute I turned my back you rushed into bed with the nearest whore around"

      "It wasn't like that"
      "So you've been playing away whilst you were still with me?"

      "No…I saw someone I used to go out with and temptation threw my senses into the abyss. I regretted doing it, but the only reason I wanted her was because I'd been denying myself of you and my hormones took over. I'm so unbelievably sorry"

      "Sorry's not going to cut it this time James. This is what…"

      Jessie allowed her sentence to trail away to nothing as a gut-wrenching realisation reached her angry head, and the more she dwelt on it, the more she knew it was right.

      "It's her, isn't it?"
      "Who?"
      "THE SAME BITCH YOU SCREWED LAST TIME YOU IGNORANT BASTARD"

      Again, James fell silent instantly and his face revealed what he could not, which left an overall tense atmosphere clawing at each of them, toying with their inwrought feelings. Jessie felt far queasier than she had done when she feared a miscarriage, and his ratification of her shot in the dark hit her far harder than any physical torment she had ever undergone. All of her emotions were torn out of her tremulous body by this knowledge and she was left with a hollow sense of nothingness as she continued to dwell on her fiancé's blunt portrayal of faithlessness.

      "So she is better than me"

      "Don't talk like that"

      "It's true…you went back to her…y-you're with me because you got me pregnant…it's her you want"

      "Jessie that's not true in the slightest, it's you I love. She's--"

      "The one you love. If not, why do you keep going to her James? Even after what she did to me? I'm not worth anything to you, is that it?"
      "Jessie, don't talk like that, I love you and I always have. If you're not worth anything, then why am I here, trying to convince you of a candid reason for you to marry scum like me? Right now I can't even think of one, so I'm not going to be surprised if you do decide to walk out on me. I made a mistake, I'm human and I can't change that. I'm not perfect, and it's not as if I ever pretended to be"

      "She tried to kill me and you slept with her out of thanks…is that it? Will you give her a proper reward whenever she succeeds?"
      "Of course that's not what it was like, and there's nothing I can do to change your mind if that's what you choose to believe. But just think about what is going to happen if you choose to leave, and think about what the baby will grow up like if you return to your apartment"

      "Are you threatening me?"

      "No. If you want me to never see you again, I'll comply without complaint and still support our child, even if you don't want me to see her either"

      "This is hard for me to cope with James, but I do want to see you again. I'm just not sure how long it'll take me to get over this"

      "Do you still want to move?"
      "Y-yes, but I'm not sure if we'll be together by the time we reach wherever we're going"

      "Neither am I, and if I lose you over something as stupid as this, I won't be able to forgive myself. Can I get you anything?"
      "J-James?"
      "Yes?"
      "If we sit down together and talk about…well, can you promise me that whatever passes our lips will remain here in Viridian, and not to be brought up again in our new home? Including your fling"

      "If it's what you want, then certainly"

      "In that case I'll make us a cup of coffee each, and I think you need some of your medicine. Your voice sounds like it's grinding stone together"

      Although it might have sounded like his voice was caught in the midst of a stone mill, James was mentally willing himself to smash his head open on some large rocks for being stupid enough to sleep with someone else, and to make matters worse it was someone who'd tried to kill his fiancée (the fact he'd been caught didn't bother him in the slightest). He exhaled deeply as he searched the bags for a packet of medicine that Jessie would have put away earlier, unless she'd maliciously flushed every single one of them down the toilet to exact a fraction of her revenge. Fortunately, she had done no such thing and he found them without suffering from any great hardship. He noticed his wallet with some of its contents spilt out on the floor and he wondered if anything was in it that had led to Jessie making such an assumption since he knew she hadn't left the flat in his absence. He picked the small item up, and it was only when he was gathering the minor belongings that he noticed an odd discolour visible on the patch of faded carpet beside the coins. Panic soared through his head as he looked at it, as it didn't look like any ink or drink he'd ever possessed, and if it wasn't one of them then it must have been either something Jessie had owned or some of her bodily fluid. He raced out of the room to see if she was all right in the kitchen and to determine whether or not anything serious was wrong with her, but he collided with her outside the door and he received some of his punishment for sleeping with Tyra in the form of having two scalding cups of coffee spilt down his front in their entirety. Despite the seriousness of their argument, Jessie failed to stop an apology and a giggle from escaping her mouth at the sight of him pulling the boiling clothes away from his body. He flashed her a sarcastically appreciative smile as he ignored the burning that tormented his stomach and lower, and even though he was in a high level of intense pain as this happened, it was pleasant for him to hear her badly suppressed laughter. He excused himself as he grabbed the bag Jessie had packed on his behalf and headed into the shower room to cool down his skin, and it was this unforeseen turn of events that delayed their talk by twenty minutes.

      He re-emerged from the small room in a different set of clothes, his disgruntled expression passing as a commentary on how he was feeling since he failed to do so. When Jessie attempted to stifle another bout of laughter, she asked him how he was feeling, but she exploded back into fits of giggles upon seeing him expose his stomach—his usually inviting smooth skin was now red and splotchy where the boiling liquid had burnt him. He fixed his attire and delivered a warm smile and a shrug to her question if he was feeling all right (it was amazing he could decipher it at all due to the shrieks of mirth sprouting from her mouth). She took him off his guard by pressing her lips solidly against his as she informed him that his actions had been almost completely forgiven, and that she'd never make coffee for him again if that was what was going to happen. It was when she said this that James' memory recalled the reason why he'd rushed so speedily out of the room in the first place, and instantly put a damper on his joy that Jessie was treating him as she usually did again.

      "Are you all right?"

      "What do you mean?"

      "There's a stain by my bed, are you all right? Nothing happened when I was out did it?"

      "Actually James, yes something did happen, and I only didn't want you to get too worried so I haven't told you yet"

      "Jessie, are you all right? The baby--"

      "She's fine, it's just when you were out I felt ill and a moisture was seeping out from me, and I was so frightened, but then I saw your wallet and learnt of your betrayal, and I just haven't had the chance to tell you"

      "How do you feel now? I wish you hadn't been alone when it occurred"

      "It's fine now, but it really shook me up when it was happening. I thought I was losing it and I had no way of contacting you. I felt so alone and…"

      "Shhhh honey, it's okay now, I'm not going to leave you alone now, I'm staying by your side, and I don't intend leaving it unless you want me to"

      17:35 hours…

      James had provided Jessie with all of the answers to whatever questions she'd provided in relation to his one-night stand, even though it had hurt both of them to relish the details the way they seemed to be doing. Unfortunately for James, the worst was yet to come when Jessie chose this moment to reveal why she'd become involved in the same lifestyle that James had hated, and why she felt like it was her only option.

      "Look James, don't interrupt me as I tell you this, okay? It's hard enough for me to admit, so I might as well get it all out in the one fluid motion, right? After I'd been discharged from the hospital without any of my belongings and friends, I had no alternative but to spend a few nights sleeping rough in the woods. One night I heard gunshots and I saw two men running past me, and a third fell next to me. H-he p-put his hand up my top and p-pointed the gun over my heart, telling me not to move unless I wanted to meet my m-makers. A few police officers came into the area and they assumed that we were just young, hormonal teenagers or something, and he said nothing had passed us. When they left on a wild goose chase in the opposite direction, he pulled the hammer back on his gun and ordered me to follow him. I had no choice since I had a child growing inside me, and I couldn't risk becoming entirely alone. I didn't recognise my surroundings but I knew it a dodgy part of the city as I saw events folding around me. I was pushed forward onto the ground and to draw my attention to the person in front of me, he stood on my left hand until I heard a bone break beneath the unbearable pressure. I knew who it was without an introduction. When my moth—um, I was forced into a few foster homes before I met you at an early age and some of those weren't hosted by the nicest people in the world. He'd called into one of them every so often, du Paor that is. He's a few years older than me, and I now realise that he'd been calling to bully the kid for money. It was the last home I ever stayed in because he'd beat me up if the other guy weren't around to try and make the repayments faster, but I wasn't cared about enough and the beatings became more frequent whilst the payments became less. I escaped, and after all these years I ran into his presence again. He knew we'd hooked up because of his dealings with Deryck, and he made my life a misery for us both escaping his grasp like we had. I was used as a sex toy repeatedly by whoever felt like it, and it was horrible when I didn't steal enough for him. I refused to go into the drugs business, and he warned me time and time again that he had eyes all over the city, so if I wanted to leave nobody would mind sending another nameless body into the river. It became even worse when they realised I hadn't had a period in the time I'd been in their company, so the sex became more painful and orders now included threats that if I failed, then I'd 'accidentally' fall victim to a miscarriage. The reason I hated you for betraying me was not because you'd slept with someone else, especially her, but it was because I spent that time out cold because someone beat me up so badly, hence the reason why my face looks like street pizza at the moment. We've got to leave tonight, because I was told to take you there and you'd be killed, and when I disobeyed…well, I'd have had an abortion without any say in the matter as you plainly saw. I didn't mean to be such a lying thieving slut James, I'm sooooo sorry"

      "I can't forgive you when you've done nothing wrong. I got involved in the same way—being at the scene of the crime, and then not being allowed into society after it in case I shopped them. I was a slut in one sense as well, and that's why I used to let the gay rumours get to me. I made the mistake of being good at it the first time, and since I hated it so much, it was used as a way of making him feel better whilst I lived in misery. It was even worse when I left the city for a couple of months, but I had to return because I didn't know how I would see you when you came back from that school otherwise. As for your life in foster homes, I know about your mother Jess, and I have done for a couple of years. I found out when I was on file duty in the early stages"

      "Y-you know about her?"
      "I know what's on file, and I'm not going to press matters because I know it's a touchy subject. You needn't say anything, okay?"

      She nodded meekly through a new course of tears, and what James had said was only half true; Giovanni had deliberately requested to his own mother for her to have Jessie sent into foster homes of ill repute to stop her learning the truth: Miyamoto had been assassinated for hosting a coup d'état against Madame Boss. He knew that the way she was happy in snowy weather was that she felt closer to her mother at those times, and if she knew the truth she would never act like that, never mind the fact that she would either have killed Giovanni or died trying in the name of revenge. He held the emotional woman against his torso to offer some decree of comfort, and he felt guilty for allowing her to tell him about anything she'd been hiding, as it had turned her world upside down as she recalled it. He also knew that it wasn't completely fluid, and that she'd omitted a few parts.

      Viridian City bus stop, 21:56 hours…

      Jessie and James were poring over an information point on the outer wall of the station as they tried to decide where they'd set up their new life, and to make the bitterly cold March winds seem less torturous, they were amusing themselves by making fun of certain towns' and cities' names. It was only the sleet that conjoined the biting wind after they ended the game with explaining how phallic Goldenrod City sounded that they began to think about it seriously, and Jessie's attention was almost instantly drawn to the name of Pearl Port. It was somewhere that neither of them had been, yet always yearned to visit due to the fables surrounding its supposed scenery and almost total seclusion, and these factors seduced both of their thoughts. It was one of the most expensive tickets to buy out of the available routes, so it was ideal for them to make a clean break where nobody would recognise or threaten them. They encountered another stroke of bad luck with this also; Tyra saw them boarding the bus seventeen minutes later with its destination clearly emblazoned on the top of the window, and the resurrected subject was standing near them in the station, and his excellent hearing allowed him to learn their destination. And his links in both Team Rocket would cause their gleaming new world to come shattering around them before they knew what would hit them, especially when he donated this information to du Paor and his minions. They were going to pay for what they did, or rather didn't do to him…