Magnetic Forces of Love and Conspiracy

Written by BansheeGirl

A/N: Eeek! Sorry about the rather long wait for this chapter – my ability to write was unfortunately direly affected by the agonising wait for my Year 12 school results… I was so anxious I could hardly concentrate on anything! But I've received my results now, and passed with flying colours (go me!)… so it's back to writing! I'm estimating that there are about five or six more chapters to go (including this one), so you'd better start cherishing these updates… 'cos soon it all be done!

Anyway, please review once you're finished – I reached my goal of 100 reviews last chapter (thanks everyone!)… Let's see that magic again!

Disclaimer: See chapter 1 or 2!

Magnetic Forces of Love and Conspiracy

Chapter 18: Seen Enough Now

For the first time on their hike from Fieldsville to Saunders City, Jessie and James were finally walking side-by-side. It may have been the fact that on this third day, the alpine surroundings were quickly becoming less dense, giving them room to comfortably walk two-abreast along the mountain path. However, both Jessie and James were well aware that the previous night's events probably had a lot more to do with their ability to now walk within at least five feet of one another.

They had woken that morning and set off as early as possible, with the hope of reaching Saunders City before night fell. Jessie no longer carried a pack – it had still been far from dry, and she wore the only clothes that had managed to dry by the fire overnight. Her wool-lined boots were still a little damp, but seeing as Jessie had brought no other footwear she had been forced to endure that slight discomfort. Otherwise James had insisted they leave everything that was still wet in the cave; they would not need them for the remainder of the journey and he could collect them once they had dried on his way back.

When James had made this comment as they left the cave that morning, Jessie had been momentarily struck by the realisation that after today, she probably would not be seeing much of James again. Especially not alone, like this. She could not discern whether this gave her an uneasy feeling or not. It was true that she had come to enjoy chatting with James the night before. At times she was even able to completely ignore the terrible mess that for so long had clouded their history together.

While Jessie and James had indeed been walking side-by-side since that morning, it had still taken a good hour before either had begun to talk. Jessie did not know the reason for James' initial silence; perhaps he merely dared not speak to her unless she first indicated she was open to conversation. For that first hour though, Jessie's mind had been rampant with a million different thoughts. Her heart instantly sped up with anxiety just at the thought of arriving back in Saunders City that night. How would everyone react? Jessie couldn't help but think that her apparent death wouldn't have had a disheartening effect on many people. The media indeed would have been celebrating at the chance to report the story of her demise, and would undoubtedly continue their party once they discovered the whole situation had turned out to be a failed murder attempt that they could exploit on television, radio, magazines and the newspapers.

And then there was the murder attempt to think about. It almost seemed surreal to Jessie – that someone out there had actually tried to kill her. Every time she cast her mind back to the moments when the helicopter was plummeting to the ground her insides knotted and turned, and yet it was hard for her to connect those feelings to the deliberate actions of another human being. If you had a gun held to your head then you knew you were about to be murdered; being involved in a transport accident just didn't feel quite the same.

As Jessie now walked through the rapidly thinning snow, James talking by her side, she felt as though Saunders City and everything in it was a complete world away. So much had happened since meeting with James to first discuss the Fieldsville project a week beforehand. Jessie wondered whether it would even be possible to go back to the way things were… whether she wanted things to go back to the way they were.

James fell silent beside Jessie, seeming to have come to the end of his explanation as to how and when the Crystal Mountains were formed, or something to that effect. Jessie had really only been half-listening for the past fifteen minutes, more simply taking comfort in the continuing hum of his voice while her train of thought drifted away. She had wanted to listen to what he had to say, but it was mid-afternoon now and Jessie felt that she could no longer hold off preparing herself for what was to come once they reached Saunders City.

"We can stop for a rest, if you'd like," said James, rousing Jessie from her reverie. Without waiting for an answer he had slowed to a halt and unshouldered his pack by a very large rock that towered just above his head. Jessie walked over to join him, and stood to lean back against the rock. It was warm with the afternoon sun, and she pressed her entire back against the rock to steal its heat.

"Tea?" James asked, and Jessie nodded. James made the tea with the hot water he had boiled that morning and carried in a thermos for the day's walk. Passing the steaming mug to her, they both leant back against the warm rock. Silently they sipped their tea, looking out at the landscape before them. To their left was the wintry wilderness from which they had come, and to their right Saunders City was just visible as a mass of blue buildings looming in the distance.

Jessie briefly glanced at James beside her. This very situation would be outrageously ridiculous to any outsider – here was a woman happily having a cup of tea with the head councilman of the village she was planning to demolish in a few short months' time…

And this brought her to the final problem that had been playing on her mind for quite a while now.

The Fieldsville project was just another of Paramount Corps.' endeavours. Another way to expand the company; another way to expand the company's bank account. Jessie hadn't even really cared about the project at all until her ex- Team Rocket partner had walked onto the scene. That had changed things. And so had her experience in Fieldsville, and the trek with James that followed it. Jessie struggled with the acknowledgement that her stance on the project had indeed itself changed. She was supposed to be a strong, inflexible businesswoman. That was how Jessie had achieved so much at such a young age. She was afraid that she would seem weak if she backed down from the project; that she'd lose her credibility as one of the most successful and powerful figures in Saunders City.

Jessie looked at James again, and sighed.

She might lose some credibility. But how much would be lost if she didn't back down from the project? Four-hundred peoples' homes, four-hundred peoples' livelihoods, and the quiet, untouched peace and beauty of the Fieldsville area. Not to mention any remaining shred of peace that still existed between herself and James.

James suddenly looked sideways to Jessie, who was still gazing at him. Their eyes instantly met, and Jessie quickly looked away, smiling in an attempt to brush off the slight embarrassment she felt at James catching her staring at him. Jessie felt her cheeks burn, and for a moment believed that it was probably true that she'd lost credibility if such a simple thing could cause this flustered reaction.

"James," Jessie quickly said, half in an attempt to shake off the awkward moment, and half because if she didn't say what she was about to say now, she didn't know when or if she would have another chance to do so.

James looked to Jessie, his eyebrows raised in indication for her to go on.

With this Jessie realised that she didn't quite know how to go on. There was no easy way to say what she wanted say whilst retaining some sense of dignity. To go on would mean she would no longer hold control over the situation between herself and James. It took a moment for Jessie to quickly push these thoughts away, and she inhaled deeply before speaking again.

"I… I've been thinking. I've been… actually thinking a lot over the past few days," she said, and felt like throwing herself off the nearest mountain. She sounded like a complete moron who had never done any thinking in her life.

"Anyway," she continued, her eyes facing downward and wide with clear frustration. "I have reassessed several… several aspects of the plan to build a ski resort in place of the Fieldsville settlement. And… well, as a result of that reassessment," Jessie said, and finally looked up to face James, "I've decided to cancel the project."

James stared at Jessie, unmoving for a few good seconds. Then his facial expression morphed into a frown, and he inclined his head in puzzlement. "You've decided to… cancel the project? As in… not level Fieldsville to the ground?"

Jessie did not respond for a second, as if she were reluctant to admit it. "Yeah. That's about it," she said, nodding.

She watched as James' eyes widened with utter astonishment. He looked away as if he were trying to process this announcement, and then turned back to Jessie.

"Wow. Jessie, I mean… just… Thankyou. Thankyou so much. You really have no idea how much this means to me. To everyone in Fieldsville," James said sincerely, his face displaying nothing but seriousness.

Jessie smiled weakly. "I have some idea."

James returned a smile at these words, and stepped back as if to look at Jessie in a completely new light. Jessie stood awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do next. She looked at James, who was still smiling, and still appearing quite dumbstruck. When he realised that Jessie was peering questioningly at him, he shook his head, and dipped down to pick up his pack.

"Right, let's get going, before you change your mind," he said, and started to walk off in the direction of Saunders City. Jessie pushed off from the rock that they had been leaning against, and as she jogged to catch up with him she heard James laughing quietly to himself.

"What's so funny?" She queried suspiciously.

James turned to her as they walked, and he beamed at her. Jessie realised that she hadn't seen him smile so earnestly since their days in Team Rocket.

"Nothing," James said. "I'm just happy, that's all."

Night had fallen. Having walked all the way to the outer suburbs of Saunders City, Jessie and James had encountered the opportunity to catch a bus into the city's centre. The pair had attracted more than a few odd glances as they sat down at the back of the bus, and they guessed that it wasn't simply the fact that they were looking rather worn after hiking for three days that this was so. It seemed that Jessie's 'death' was common news, and Jessie and James did their best not to draw further attention.

The bus rumbled through the darkness, and Jessie quietly spoke to James.

"There will be people to notify… I'll no doubt have to make a police statement, and not to mention make some sort of address to the media… I don't know how long it will all take. They'll all probably want to speak with you as well. I hope you don't mind…"

"Not at all," James immediately said. "I'd be happy to help."

Jessie smiled. She sat back into the leather bus-seat, and closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again. "I'm so tired," she said. "All I want to do is have a shower and go to bed…" She groaned – despite being back in Saunders City, those luxuries were undoubtedly still hours away.

James sighed in agreement. "I usually stay at The Franklin hotel when I need to be in Saunders City for longer than a day. Do you mind if I call the hotel to make a booking when we get to your office?"

Jessie had her eyes closed again and had her head leaning back against the seat. Opening one eye, she spoke, "Don't be stupid. You can stay at my apartment; there's more than enough room."

"Jessie, I don't want to intrude or anything…"

"It's fine," Jessie said, sounding nonchalant. "It's a four-bedroom apartment, for crying out loud. You'll hardly be intruding. Plus…" She sat up, and opened both eyes. "I owe you something. You did save my life, remember."

James considered Jessie for a moment.

"I never thanked you for that," Jessie continued softly, almost timidly. "So… thankyou."

"Jessie, you don't have to thank me. And you don't owe me anything."

Jessie looked at James for a long time, before turning away to look out of the bus window. She really didn't know how to respond to that. Prior to the three-day trip with James, Jessie would certainly have agreed very much with his words. But now?

Silence followed until the bus reached the street upon which the Paramount Corps. skyscraper stood, and even then they stepped off the bus and began the short walk in total quietness. The pair unfortunately kept on getting into these awkward moments, no matter how casually they had come to speak at any other time.

Jessie and James finally reached the rotating silver doors of the Paramount Corps. skyscraper. Jessie stood for a moment before the doors, wishing that she did not have to face the onslaught of questions and all amount of other fuss that she was bound to experience over the next few hours. She glanced sideways at James, who reassuringly nodded for her to go in.

Taking a deep breath, Jessie stepped forward through the doors with her old friend close at her heel.

Woo! Your eighteenth (yikes!) chapter, finally done! I hope you enjoyed this chapter – I know there was a lot of 'thinking' that went on, particularly on Jessie's behalf, but I just think it's really important to make clear the characters' thoughts and emotions at this point of the story.

Anyway, please hit me with your own thoughts in a nice, lovely review! Thanks to everyone who did so last time – you all rock! Oh, and for anyone who is interested, I've started a LiveJournal account… so head over to my profile page and click on the 'Home page' link if you want to check up on me every now and again! And if you've got jour own LJ account, feel free to Friend me!

I may not get another chapter out before December 25th, so I'll take this opportunity to wish everyone a merry Christmas! May you get lots of presents, give lots of hugs, and eat lots of food!

Well, till next time!

BansheeGirl.