Chapter 3 – Butterflies And Hurricanes

The morning sun shone through a gap in the curtains, rousing Jessie from sleep. She fumbled for her alarm clock on the floor just under her bed, surprised when she realised there was still 15 minutes before it went off. 'Well that's a first…' she thought wide-eyed as she turned it off. Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, she abruptly remembered who was in the bunk above her. 'OK Jess, game face on, your priority is passing the training, anything else can wait. You need to focus. And remember… rule number one: you can only rely on yourself.' Quickly getting out of bed, she grabbed her rucksack and headed in to the bathroom.

The sound of the bathroom door shutting woke James, and it took him a few seconds to remember where he was, and who he was with. Last night's elation had now been replaced with apprehension – this would be their first chance to talk, and there was so much to talk about. Different scenarios danced through James' mind, each one more varied from the last. Would there be yelling? Crying? Hugging? He really didn't know what to expect. Swinging himself over the frame and climbing down the ladders, he rummaged in his rucksack for his toothbrush and toothpaste.

Jessie opened the bathroom door just as James stood up from retrieving his essentials and she found herself face to face with her old friend wearing nothing but boxers, hair dishevelled, and she was momentarily stunned, not expecting to see James half naked.

"Morning." she said politely, forcing herself to maintain eye contact.

"Good morning." James replied, grinning, reaching up to grab his uniform from his bed. "Are you finished with the bathroom?"

"Yep, it's all yours." Jessie tore her eyes away from his and walked over to the wardrobe, throwing her rucksack in to it. Hearing the bathroom door close, she raised an eyebrow. 'Well he certainly grew up!' she mused, a slight smile on her lips. He definitely wasn't the scrawny gangly kid she knew back then. Her mind flew back to when they shared a dorm at Pokémon tech, and she remembered how he would flat-out refuse to even change his t-shirt in front of her, becoming quite upset if she asked him about it. 'Huh, I guess he's changed…'

Jessie jumped slightly as the sound of the bathroom door snapped her out of her thoughts, and she quickly composed herself, game face back on. A sense of awkwardness was suddenly upon them, so much that needed to be said, so many years of hurt needing to be addressed. Jessie, in true form, decided to ignore this. James nervously cleared his throat.

"Jessie…" he started.

Jessie's expression was stony. "Not now James." she said, with a finality in her voice that James couldn't rebut. Striding over to the door she flung it open, calling over her shoulder as she left the room, "Are you coming or what?"

Running a hand through his hair, he sighed in defeat, before following his team mate out of the door.

xXx

To say Jessie was overjoyed was putting it mildly. They had passed the training and were now fully fledged field agents! James and Meowth were happy of course, but Jessie… It had been a long time since James had seen Jessie so ecstatic, since he had seen her face light up and her eyes sparkle with glee. It was infectious, to say the least. The trio had briefly returned to HQ to collect their things before setting off on their first official mission, a heist of the Pokémon centre in Celadon City. They had been walking through Viridian Forest for a while, and as the skies gradually turned darker and their legs grew wearier, they decided to set up camp for the night.

"We need firewood." said Jessie as she shrugged off her rucksack and sank down against a tree, her eyes on Meowth.

Meowth, who had been perched on James' head for the past few miles, jumped down and softly landed in the grass. "Yeah yeah, I'm on it," he replied as he wandered off in to the forest with a wave of his paw.

James wondered if now was finally the right time to talk. Jessie seemed happy enough, the teams triumph still etched on her face despite the long walk. He took a deep breath but Jessie spoke first.

"We need water too."

James swallowed his words and rummaged in his and Meowth's rucksacks for their canteens. Jessie held hers out for him and he took it from her, giving her a nod before heading towards the faint sound of running water.

Jessie removed her boots and stretched her legs out, sighing and wiggling her aching feet. It was only a week ago she was partnerless, again, and now… now she was a certified field agent with a team that so far worked extremely well together. Well, the cat would take some getting used to. She'd never known someone to talk so much! And James… so far he'd been true to his word. He had repeatedly told her this past week that he wouldn't let her down, going as far as busting out of hospital, even sacrificing himself for the team! Twice! And although she wanted to believe he meant it, it had only been a week. She wasn't going to let down her guard just yet. Experience had taught her that she couldn't trust anyone…

Giggling, Jessie and Danny closed the door of the storage room in the abandoned warehouse, throwing them in to darkness. Danny fumbled in his pockets for a second before bringing out a handful of tea lights, setting them on a nearby shelf and lighting them.

"Just call me Mr Romantic, eh?" he laughed, pulling Jessie close to him.

Jessie kissed him, the butterflies in her stomach growing as he backed her up against a table. After a few minutes, Danny pulled away.

"Jessie, I actually have something to tell you…" he said, looking at the floor.

Jessie's heart sank. Was he going to break up with her? No, that couldn't be it, not like this. She paused, hardly daring to breathe.

"I've decided it's time for me to move on. I'm heading up to Vermillion. This town, well, I just need something bigger, ya know?"

Jessie looked down, blinking back the tears. She wasn't about to let him see her cry! "What about us?" she asked as she hoisted herself on to the table, hoping she didn't sound too upset.

"Well, I was thinking… how about tonight we just make it all about us, eh? We got candles, we're all alone…" he took her hand and kissed her fingers, "it's just you and me babe."

Jessie looked back up at him, a smile on her lips, and he moved in to kiss her.

Jessie tried to stop thinking, to just enjoy this, but her mind had other ideas. He was leaving! It didn't matter to her that he was leaving the town rather than leaving her, he was still abandoning her! The kisses on her neck soon snapped her out of her thoughts, and she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Hey babe," he whispered in her ear between kisses, "how about tonight we go all the way?"

Jessie's eyes widened. Was she ready for this? She was old enough after all, and they often fooled about with each other. Danny continued kissing her neck and collarbone, and she closed her eyes, trying to think.

"But we don't have any protection!" murmured Jessie.

Danny pulled away and gave her a sly grin as he reached in to his pocket. "I came prepared." He laughed, placing it on the table before kissing her neck again.

Jessie's mind raced, this was a big decision and she wasn't sure she was truly ready, but his kisses were so distracting. Maybe if she said yes… maybe he wouldn't leave her…

"It's our last night together babe…" he persisted, nibbling her earlobe.

For some reason she didn't understand Jessie felt she couldn't say no, and she agreed, kissing him deeply. She held her breath as he took her virginity, and she wondered if this is what it felt like to be a woman, if this is what it felt like to be loved…

After a few minutes it was over, and Danny moved instantly away from her. Jessie hopped off the table and fixed her clothes. She wrapped her arms around Danny's waist and buried her head in his chest, doubt starting to creep in to her mind.

"You do love me don't you?" she asked, her voice muffled by his chest.

"Sure I do. But listen, I gotta go, I gotta tell the guys I'm leaving. You understand right babe?"

Jessie loosened her grip, putting on a brave façade. "Yeah, sure."

She lifted her head and leant in for a kiss, but to her surprise he just gave her a quick peck on the lips before wiggling out of her arms and heading towards the door, shouting "I'll catch up with you later yeah?" over his shoulder as he left.

Jessie sank back on the edge of the table, wondering what the hell just happened. She felt dirty, but tried to push those thoughts away, telling herself Danny wasn't like that. As the tears started to fall, she told herself it was due to Danny leaving, and she buried her head in her hands, thankful that no-one was around to see tough Jessie cry.

xXx

Jessie had been cycling round Vermillion for what seemed like hours, but eventually she found what she was looking for. Eyes shining, she called out to Danny, waving as she approached him and his friends. She skidded to a halt before them, and her smile faded as she saw some of Danny's new friends whispering to each other and snickering behind their hands. She dismounted her bike as Danny walked up to her.

"What're ya doin' here Jess?" he asked with a frown.

"I figured Sunnytown was getting too small for me too." She replied, forcing a smile.

"Awwwwkwaaaaard" he said as he turned slightly towards his friends, causing them to laugh harder.

"What the hell Danny?" Jessie said, her voice quivering with rage.

"I figured I got what I wanted on my last night with you guys. I didn't expect to see you again. You know we're not a thing, right babe?"

Jessie face flushed red with anger and embarrassment. "Don't call me babe." She snarled as she mounted her bike. "I got some friends to see in Vermillion, I ain't here for you, don't flatter yourself." she spat, flicking her hair and riding away from them, cursing herself for being so stupid. She didn't stop until she reached the harbour.

'What the hell am I gonna do now?' she thought, eyes stinging with the threat of tears. 'I can't go back to Sunnytown. I couldn't face them.' She thought of James, and a pang of guilt crashed over her. Maybe she could at least go and get him, and they could move on together. 'No. I can't. I was his one true friend and I just left him! He's better off without me.' She slammed her fist against the bench she was sat on overlooking the harbour, hating herself for letting the tears fall freely, hating herself for trusting Danny, and hating herself for abandoning James. 'Everyone's better off without me…'

xXx

James eventually found the stream, and knelt to dip each canteen in to it, the freezing water stinging his bare hand. So much had happened this past week. Jessie had started off cold towards him, but during the course of their training programme had started to come round as he continuously proved to her that she could trust him, that he wouldn't let her down. Frowning slightly, he wondered what had happened to make her this way? James was pretty intuitive when it came to reading people. He supposed it was because he was so in touch with his own emotions, he could easily see when others were hiding thoughts or feelings, sometimes even from themselves. He knew from this past week that she was an exceptional agent, and he figured from things she said that her previous team mates weren't good enough. 'Surely her trust issues couldn't be because of them? The walls she had up were way too high to be caused by crappy team mates,' he mused as he sank back on to his heels, squeezing his freezing hand between his thighs.

No, that girl definitely had some tough times since they last saw each other, that was for certain. As much as he wanted to talk about her leaving, clear the air, get things off his chest, maybe it was better to leave it for now. He sighed, running his dry hand through his hair. The last thing he wanted was to push her away, especially when she was finally starting to warm up to him. For whatever reason, she found it hard to trust people. And despite the hurt she had caused him, he still cared about her. So he would do the decent thing and allow her to start trusting him in her own time. 'Wasn't that the most important thing?' he questioned himself. If there was any hope of rekindling their lost friendship, and of becoming the greatest team in the whole of Team Rocket history like he had promised her that night during training, then they had to learn to trust each other first. And that could take some time. Pulling his glove on to his frozen fingers, James gathered up the canteens and began making his way back to the clearing.

xXx

James hadn't got very far when he heard the unmistakable sound of his feline team mate.

"Hey Jimmy, gis a hand would ya?" Meowth called through the trees. James squinted in the direction of the voice, the fading light making spotting the scratch-cat difficult. "Dis way Jim!" Meowth called again, and James detected movement through the trees as Meowth waved a paw.

Traipsing through the undergrowth of the forest, James approached Meowth who stood triumphantly next to a rather large pile of firewood. Well, rather large for the cat to carry by himself.

"Here, take these," James threw the canteens to Meowth, and stooped down to lift the wood.

"Tanks Jim, you're a real pal!" replied Meowth, and he started back towards the camp, his eyes better equipped to manoeuvre through the thicket.

"What are team mates for?" James smiled in amusement as he followed the cat, wondering how he'd managed to end up on a team with a girl he never thought he'd see again and a walking talking oddball Pokémon. Life certainly was strange!