Magnetic Forces of Love and Conspiracy

Written by BansheeGirl

A/N: See, told you I'd update soon! And you'll like this chapter – I've finally decided to reveal a few things you should find very interesting… Surprises even for all of my lovely readers who read Jessie's New Groove! As always, please review once you've finished reading! Thankies!

Disclaimer: See chapter 1 or 2!

Magnetic Forces of Love and Conspiracy

Chapter 13: Last to Know

"What do you want?" Jessie spat, making James stop dead where he was. The pair stood in the room on opposite sides of the bed Jessie had slept in, and Jessie intended to keep it that way.

She watched as James smiled incredulously. "As a matter of fact I simply came to see how you are. But I see that not even my general concern is welcomed when it comes to you, is it Jessie?" He stated rather calmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Jessie grinned sardonically. "Got it in one, Jimmy. Now, if you don't mind?" She waved her head toward the door. James, however, stayed put.

"You've got some nerve, don't you?" James suddenly exclaimed, a little louder than Jessie had anticipated. "You can't continue to treat me, or any of the rest of us like dirt!"

"I'll treat you and everyone else exactly how I want to, thanks very much."

"Not unless you'd like to find your own hospitality, Jessie," James immediately retaliated, and to Jessie's dismay he rounded the end of the bed and came to stand directly in front of her. The bed no longer provided a barrier between her and James; her last bid to hold some stance of power was gone.

"You are goddamn lucky that you're even alive," James said, glaring into Jessie. "We are sticking our necks out here to help you. Some people might say that's a crazy thing to do, considering you plan to destroy Fieldsville. But we're doing it anyway. Are you really in a position to argue?"

Jessie glowered at James, barely able to keep her rage from boiling over. "Get out," she scorned.

James' eyes widened in disbelief. "Get out? Jessie, if wasn't for me, Mary and the others probably would have refused to let you stay here."

"If it wasn't for you, the others wouldn't even know who I am, and would've willingly leant a poor, injured stranger their hospitality anyway," Jessie retorted, a fierce smirk playing across her face.

James' brow furrowed, and he let out an angry sigh. "I can't believe this. I really can't. I thought I'd seen how much of a bitch you've become back in Saunders City, but this… You've just added a whole new level to the word. You owe us some dignity Jessie."

"I owe you nothing," Jessie immediately hissed, her face mere inches from James'. She could suddenly feel hot tears burning in her eyes, and Jessie knew they were a mixture of both fury and all-too-painful memories. It seemed James noticed Jessie's impending tears, too, for he slowly stepped backwards away from Jessie; a confused expression plastered across his face.

Jessie blinked her eyelids furiously in attempt to banish her tears, whilst inwardly chastising herself for allowing herself to become so emotional. She glanced over to James, who was still staring at Jessie with a baffled look on his face. An awkward silence fell upon the room.

"What's going on?" Came a voice from the door; this time it was Mary carrying a tray of breakfast for Jessie.

Mary's arrival shattered the icy atmosphere of the room, and Jessie noticed that, like her, James suddenly appeared somewhat disoriented.

"Uh… nothing," James finally said in a rather unsure tone, and he ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair. "I should go…" He said, and glanced at Jessie one last time. The look they exchanged was undiscernible even to Jessie, but James swiftly exited the room before anything more could be said.

Mary eyed James out of the door, before turning to Jessie. As Mary opened her mouth undoubtedly to question Jessie as to what had just occurred, Jessie had gathered her wits and quickly interjected to save any further talk on the incident.

"Is that my breakfast?"

Without waiting for an answer, Jessie slid back into her bed and sat up against the bed-head. "Well, come on!" She said, motioning for Mary to bring over her breakfast. "I haven't got all day, you know."

James entered the Lodging House much later that day after several hours at the council offices dealing with issues concerning the damage caused by the storm the previous night. He wearily made his way into the kitchen which was empty, save for Mary toiling away over the stove. Seating himself down at a table in the middle of the room, James let out a drained sigh and rubbed his tired eyes.

"How is she?" He asked, trying to sound indifferent.

"She's fine," Mary replied, "She had a bath after breakfast, but otherwise she's been fast asleep for most of the day."

James nodded absentmindedly. He still could not get that image of Jessie on the verge of tears out of his mind. Indeed, it had been distracting him all day. He had never fathomed that she could still be so upset with him, even after all these years…

James looked up to see that Mary had pulled up a chair next to him. She peered at him with a knowing expression in her eyes.

"She didn't know, did she?"

A lump caught in James' throat. "Didn't know… what?" He said, though knowing very well what Mary was talking about.

"She didn't know that you were a double-agent. She didn't know that you really worked for the Police Intelligence Agency, did she?"

James remained silent, staring down at the table for a long time. "No," he finally said.

"You said that you and Miss Avalon were partners, yesterday," Mary prompted.

James looked up at Mary. "Yeah…" He began, "Team Rocket agents were generally sent out in pairs. We were partners."

"But you didn't tell her who you really were. Even though you became… quite good friends, am I right?"

James nodded, almost regretfully. "She only found out that I was one of the double-agents after the takedown operation seven years ago…" He closed his eyes; memories of the most famous operational attack the Police Department had conducted in history – the takedown of Team Rocket – came flooding back to him. The takedown had only been possible because of the inside information that a select few double-agents – James included – had been sent in to secretly feed back to the Police Intelligence Agency. After a few years, the Police Department had gathered enough information to launch a grand-scale attack on all Team Rocket bases, finally taking down the renowned crime organisation for good.

"She was going to be given a sentence, along with the rest of the captured Team Rocket agents," James continued. "But I managed to talk the Police Department into letting her go. During our time in Team Rocket I usually managed to sabotage every one of our Pokémon-stealing plans… so she wasn't really accountable for any major crime. I believe she only had to complete six months of community service, for damages. Still… she never forgave me for lying to her for all those years…"

"It must have been hard for her," Mary said, and James was surprised at the note of genuine sympathy in her voice. He waited a moment before responding.

"I never meant…" He began, though struggled to find the words to continue. "I never meant for things to get so messy. I never planned to develop friendships with anyone in Team Rocket; everything was supposed to be purely business. But… things just didn't turn out that way…"

Mary extended her hand and placed it on top of one of James'. "I can see it must have been hard for you, too. Don't be so harsh on yourself."

He frowned. "You saw her this morning! She was upset. She's still upset about it…"

"She must have cared about you a lot, then. When you care for someone it doesn't just disappear easily. Maybe this is your chance to salvage a friendship?"

James eyed Mary sceptically. "You want me to salvage a friendship with Jessica Avalon? What happened to burning Paramount Corps. to the ground?"

The elderly woman smiled shrewdly, and pushed herself up from her seat to resume her cooking at the stove once again. "Oh, I have no sympathy for Paramount Corps.," she said, "But… perhaps Jessica Avalon isn't the embodiment of Satan I thought she was before."

James absorbed Mary's words, and suddenly felt a pang of guilt for yelling at Jessie the way he had that morning. And yet, the fact that she wanted to destroy Fieldsville still presented itself as a rather important element in the matter.

It seemed like James had suddenly become uncomfortably stuck between a rock and a very hard place.

Did I say that I'd be trying to make chapters shorter? Hm, well, that plan certainly doesn't appear to have taken effect yet! Oh well. Next time.

So, what does everyone think of this chapter? I had a lot of fun writing it (oh, the angst!), and I hope everyone likes the nice little revelations! Tell me what you think!

Also, for all who reviewed last chapter... I give you a big THANKYOU! And jellybeans! Lots 'n lotsa jellybeans!

You'll be hearing from me soon!

BansheeGirl.