"What do you think he's here for?"
James was halfway through a somewhat overly ambitious mouthful of pancakes when Jessie posed the question, his response consequently hindered by coughs and a temporary fight for breath.
"Who, Carter?" he finally asked, when he'd successfully washed the food down with some orange juice.
"No, Professor Oak," Jessie quipped, throwing him a friendly smirk. "Yes, Carter. Who else?"
Meowth rubbed his neck in thought, and tapped the cafeteria table with the handle of his knife. "Maybe da boss left him somethin' fancy in his will," he suggested. "If he's his cousin, he must a' had a decent share of da inheritance, 'specially since it sounded like Giovanni didn't have dat many leaves on his family tree."
"Well, it seems like it's the talk of the building," Jessie said. "His entrance wasn't exactly low profile."
James moved his attention away from his plate at this. "Other people are talking about him?" he asked, a little startled at this new piece of information.
"Uh huh," Jessie replied flatly. "It's hardly surprising. The guy was the boss' cousin, after all. That makes him something of a V.I.P." She let the steel spoon she'd been holding drop back into her bowl, and watched the cereal quake. "Wonder how he found this base in the first place."
They finished breakfast with little haste (seeing as they didn't really have anything to do), and repeated the order of events they'd rehearsed so well over the last few days: steal from the vending machine when no one was watching, pace around the halls with no purpose, and then sign out at reception to sit outside. The woman behind the desk smiled sympathetically as she gave them the piece of paper to sign, as if silently acknowledging that she thought the formality of a signature every time someone left the building was unnecessary, that it wasn't her idea.
"Have you three been assigned a new task yet?" she asked them, catching their attention just before they left the building.
"A new task?" James parroted, confused.
"Didn't dey stop missions until everything's less... Chaotic?" Meowth expanded.
The receptionist frowned. "The suspension was lifted this morning," she said. "They announced it through the speakers. Didn't you hear it?"
James grinned sheepishly under the glares of his partners, who he'd told the night before that sleeping in for once wouldn't hurt.
"I told ya we should a' set da alarm clock," Meowth grumbled.
Jessie settled on rolling her eyes, and looked back to the woman. "No, we haven't been given a task," she said. "Should we have?"
The woman tapped a few keys on her laptop, her face bathed in the pale glow of the screen as her eyes flickered over the text. "Ah- you're field agents," she muttered, seemingly more to herself than to the trio in front of her. "In that case, you can resume whatever you were doing before."
A strange mixture of emotions stirred within James as he took in this news; he was being given back the life he'd so badly missed, and yet something nagged at the back of his mind that all was not right. Even if they went back to their old routine, he knew that it could never be truly the same. James couldn't imagine pursuing the twerps with any of the hope or ambition he had previously held, not when his world had been twisted to the extent that everything he'd considered important now looked petty. A part of his conscious insisted that reverting to that state of bliss was impossible. He did his best to ignore it.
"Give me a hand with dis, would ya Jimmy?"
James turned at Meowth's question, and nodded his head, moving over to the balloon.
"I can't get da fire ta work properly," the cat Pokémon elaborated, tugging the rope above him in demonstration. A plume of flames reached upwards, but only for a couple of seconds: not for long enough to raise the aircraft. James huffed a sigh, and knelt down.
"Let me take a look," he offered. Meowth shifted over without comment to give him space.
"Any luck?" Jessie asked after a couple of minutes, having watched James fiddle with the controls with no articulated progress.
"Not so far," James said. His hand fumbled behind him briefly in search of a discarded screwdriver. "I don't see any obvious problems..."
"Budge," Jessie said curtly, swinging over the side of the basket with the ease of someone who'd performed such an action countless times. She barely had time to frown at the machinery before a grunt appeared behind them.
"Jessie and James?" he asked, his face slightly flushed (presumably from the jog he'd just broken out of).
"An' Meowth!" Meowth protested as his companions nodded.
"You've been removed from field work," the grunt told them.
"Wh-What?" Jessie choked, her skin paling visibly. The agent waved his hands.
"Nothing to worry about- your rank will remain the same," he clarified. "The same order goes for all field agents in this half Unova. No discrimination." James' stomach ceased to twist as the news sunk in; they weren't being fired or demoted. Better yet, they weren't being singled out for something.
"You're sending us mixed messages here," Jessie said. "We were told just yesterday that field work had been unsuspended."
The grunt pursed his lips. "I'm sorry, I don't know anything else about it."
"Wait- so dere are no field agents at all in dis area now?" Meowth questioned. "Ya sure 'bout dat?"
"That's what I was told to inform you," the grunt confirmed.
As James' thoughts settled enough for him to think about the matter, it dawned on him that it was a strange order. Field work had always been Team Rocket's main method of profit- to call it off in such a large zone seemed illogical.
"Never mind that," Jessie chimed in. "What are we meant to do? We've been field agents ever since we passed training!"
"I haven't been given any further details," the grunt replied, shrugging his shoulders. He turned to leave, but paused after a couple of steps. "You could try asking Pierce or someone," he suggested before continuing to walk away. They followed his advice, heading back towards headquarters and ditching the balloon in the process.
"Hey!" Meowth complained as a couple of agents pushed past them hurriedly. They glanced back at him momentarily, and one of them gestured to the lecture hall ahead.
"You're going to want to see this," the girl told them, then turned away and resumed her prior pace.
"See what?" Jessie asked, but only after the pair had jogged out of earshot.
"Shall we find out?" James proposed. Meowth and Jessie didn't have to reply: their expressions alone screamed 'yes'. Their gazes met briefly, and in unprepared unison, they strode forwards to the double doors.
The room was in chaos.
Agents bellowed overlapping questions to the person behind the podium, fury and bemusement all too clear in their shouts. The woman they were addressing looked overwhelmed.
"Calm down!" she ordered, with little compliance on behalf of her audience.
"Who the hell is deciding this crap?" James picked out amongst the tangle of words. He couldn't tell where the voice was coming from exactly, but it was female and vaguely familiar. "You can't just tell us that we're off the field, with no explanation, and expect us to go along with it!"
"That's all I've been told!" the woman defended. "I don't know what you want me to tell you!"
"Maybe start with who's suddenly calling shots around here?" a male grunt yelled back.
The woman sighed in frustration. "I can't-"
"It's okay," someone interrupted, their voice loud but steady. James didn't have to look at them to know who it was.
Carter moved through the crowd, and up onto the stage, where he smiled in sympathy to the woman. His royal blue suit caught in the light as he gestured for her to pass him the microphone.
"I'm sorry for all the confusion," he apologised when it was quiet enough for him to do so. All of a sudden, no one else was speaking. The attention of the room was was solely his. Carter flashed a sheepish smile. "It was by my decision that field missions in this area were terminated," he admitted. He allowed a few moments for the news to settle before going on: "My name is Carter. I arrived here the day before last in order to revise the will of my cousin, Giovanni- your former employer." No one else dared break the silence, so he continued. "It is with the highest admiration for my predecessor that I find myself taking over his role."
James' mind buzzed with unfiltered information. Once again, the hall broke out into a din of conversation as he tried to organise his thoughts. It was Meowth who was the first of the three to speak.
"Well," the cat said, looking up at Carter with tired eyes, "I guess we know why he's here now."
After the initial shock of Giovanni's replacement announcing himself, the agents in the room seemed to take more care in the liberty of their complaints. It seemed the realisation that it wouldn't be wise to argue about changes made by their new boss in front of him had hit them. It took little further encouragement for them to disperse, leaving the room as quickly as they'd entered. James, Jessie and Meowth were no exceptions to this pattern of behaviour.
"I suppose someone had to take over," Jessie said later on in one of the lobbies. "Why not him? He must have known Giovanni well enough."
"Oh, please," someone to their left scoffed. "It should have been one of the executives- not just his closest relative."
Jessie glared over her shoulder to retort to the speaker, but quickly balked when she saw who it was. "C-Cassidy?" she remarked. James turned at this to confirm the presence of their nemeses.
"And B-"
"Don't even think about it," Butch snapped before James could get his name wrong.
"What are youse two doin' here?" Meowth asked, raising an eyebrow. "I t'ought you had woik in Sinnoh!"
"I t'ought so too," Butch smirked, "but what can I say? It seems like everything's going down here. It was too much to resist, especially since things in Sinnoh are... Disorganised, to put it mildly."
"You flew all the way over here just to see the drama?" Jessie questioned, unbelieving. Cassidy laughed bitterly.
"I wish that was it," she snarled. "You idiots clearly don't know how screwed up things are in some of the other regions. The cops are on all our asses 24/7, and so far, it's been every person for themselves. We flew over here because we heard that things are somewhat together in Unova. Or at least that there wasn't as huge a risk of getting mobbed by the police every time we turned a corner."
For the first time since the beginning of their exchange, James noticed that Butch and Cassidy's uniform was looking worse for wear. "When did you arrive?" he asked them.
"About an hour ago," Butch replied, and then noticed that James was looking at the state of his clothes. "Oh, yeah." He turned his shoulder to examine a rip in his sleeve, exposing a thin cut that ran down his arm. "A pack of Growlithe will do that to you. Stupid Officer Jenny."
Jessie had moved her attention back to arguing with Cassidy, who sported the same bruises as her partner. "What makes you think that an executive will do any better than this guy?" she asked.
"Oh, come on. If Giovanni's cousin had anything to do with Team Rocket, don't you think we would have seen him by now? Or at least have heard of him?" Cassidy countered. "Anonymity says nothing for one's reputation. He's just some inexperienced guy in a business suit who happens to be the only living relative of a dead criminal mastermind."
Butch shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know." He pushed himself up from his chair, wincing as his weight pressed down on his injured ankle. "I'm going to try and find a new uniform to change into," he muttered. Cassidy stood to join him.
"We should clean up the cuts first, before they get infected," she said quietly. Butch nodded.
"Typical of you losers to get pummelled," Jessie snorted. "Can you ever keep out of trouble for more than five minutes?"
Cassidy gritted her teeth, looking unusually fragile despite her display of anger, as though she was about to collapse. "Jessie," she said softly, almost too calm. "I know that for the last couple of weeks you've had the good luck to have been babied by the agents who know what they're doing, but we haven't." Her purple eyes glinted with both fury and terror. "It's hell in the other regions. I thought-"
She bit back a sob as her voice cracked, and then recomposed her glare. "I thought we were going to die."
"Cass-" Butch started, frowning with worry, but was cut off by Cassidy's response:
"Someone has to tell them what it's like," she growled. "They've got no fucking clue." A brief silence passed before she continued, barely pausing between her flurry of words. "The cops must have doubled their efforts in bringing in Rockets, because suddenly they were everywhere. We had a couple of close calls, but we managed to throw a disguise together and spent a week in some shitty motel. But then the police tracked us down, and a guy mugged us as we were walking out of the city, and Butch got stabbed, and we had to sneak into a hospital just to get him treated without getting arrested." Cassidy drew in a long breath that left her shuddering. "It's not what it was like before. No one's there to bail you out, and god knows how many years on a sentence our criminal records have clocked up. Long story short, Jessie, I'm exhausted, and a lot of people I care about are either missing or in jail. I'm not in the mood for some stupid argument."
For once, Jessie said nothing in response to her rival. She simply watched, dumbstruck, as Cassidy trudged out of the room, Butch limping a few steps behind her.
A few days later, a note came through the door of Jessie, James and Meowth's room. It was printed, and told them to go up to Giovanni's old office. The request more than slightly unsettled them; not only was it strange thinking of returning to that room and knowing that the man who'd always been there wouldn't, but the message didn't tell them why. In their unfortunate experience, a meeting with the boss was rarely a good thing. But, not having much other choice, they went.
Already waiting outside were about twenty other agents, a revelation that somewhat quelled James' anxiety. Butch and Cassidy were among those present. James wondered, examining their stony expressions, if they knew something that he didn't, but the double doors opened before he could reach any unfounded conclusion.
"Carter will see you all now," Matori- Giovanni's former secretary- told them, leaning out of the doorway momentarily.
Carter was standing behind the mahogany desk when they walked in, a silhouette against the large window behind him. He smiled at the group.
"Good morning," he greeted. A couple of people mumbled a shy response. "I'm sorry for the short notice- I've been in Kalos for the last thirty six hours, but I wanted to get this done as soon as I could." Carter rose an eyebrow at his subordinates' nervous faces, and chuckled. "I'm not firing you if that's what you're worrying about," he assured them.
Upon Carter's gesture, two grunts that had been standing quietly, awaiting his order, moved forwards with stacks of folders in their arms. "As you've probably noticed," Carter said, addressing the agents before him, "everyone here is a field agent." James glanced around, surprised that he'd let this fact slip his attention; then again, there was barely anyone else there with whom he was familiar with. "The reason I called off your usual line of work is because I want to make some changes in the way missions are handled." The grunts had started to hand each agent one of the folders. James took his with a small nod, and examined the envelope. It was blank other than a sticker with his name and membership number printed on it.
"These folders are yours and yours alone," Carter continued. "Read them carefully, and make sure you know all of the details. Don't worry about anyone else's task, and don't share them with each other. All that matters is that you fulfil your part of the mission. We will leave at noon tomorrow."
As Meowth was given his folder, Carter looked at him strangely, and turned to Matori for an explanation.
"This is Meowth, the Pokémon I mentioned before, sir," she explained. "Whilst he is still a Pokémon by definition, he has the same capabilities of a human, and is a fully fledged member of Team Rocket."
"Is that right?" Carter murmured, staring at the cat with obvious interest.
"Yes sir," Meowth responded quietly, not sure whether the question was rhetorical. Carter blinked in mild disbelief.
"Incredible." He looked back at the rest of the agents. "You may go. Be there on time tomorrow at the parking lot."
The group turned to leave, but Butch and Cassidy hesitated.
"Uh, sir?" Butch piped up uneasily.
Carter studied the younger, teal-haired man. "Yes?"
"Um, we, er, don't have folders, sir," Butch stated. A look of realisation came over Carter's face.
"Ah- you're the two who travelled from Sinnoh, aren't you?" he asked.
"Yes sir," Cassidy answered, avoiding his eyes. Carter reached under his desk, and produced two more envelopes.
"Here," he said. Butch and Cassidy took the folders silently. They turned to leave, but Carter called them back.
"Wait," he commanded. James saw his two rivals tense up. "I want to ask you two some questions about the situation in Sinnoh," Carter said. "The rest of you can go."
James swiftly walked back to the exit of the room along with the others, not needing any further encouragement. His shoulders relaxed as soon as he was back in the corridor. He began to realise just how intimidated he'd been by Giovanni's successor. Carter had the same authoritative air about him; he wasn't totally similar to Giovanni, but the resemblance was clear.
He glanced back at the office, watching Butch and Cassidy as they stood obediently in front of Carter's desk. James and Butch's lines of sight met briefly; Butch hastily looked away, but not before James had seen the dread written on his face. Then the door swung shut, and Butch was out of view, cut off by the layer of knotted oak.
"What does yours say?" Jessie inquired as soon as she'd finished reading through her mission briefing. James balked slightly.
"I thought we weren't meant to tell each other," he said.
"Phh- since when do we keep to the rules?" Jessie replied. "C'mon," she said, lowering her voice. "No one can hear us- and it's not like it'll make any difference if we know what the other person is doing."
Skimming over the words one last time, James sighed in submission. "Fine. It just says to distract the two guards at the side entrance of the bank, and lead them into the alleyway on-" (he looked back at the papers) "-Rooster Street," he disclosed.
Meowth looked up from his own briefing. "It's a bit back ta basics, ain't it?" he asked with a small smile. "Robbin' a bank. Real old school."
"I wouldn't call it 'basic'," Jessie replied under her breath. "But yes, it's a bit old-fashioned. Still, it's always quick profit."
"If it don't all get screwed up," Meowth said. James' thoughts suddenly concerned themselves with Carter's policies on bail. He hoped they were generous.
"What's your job, Meowth?" Jessie went on.
"Uh..." Meowth studied the sheets of paper. "I'm meant ta help da agents load da money into da van once dey've pulled off da heist," he revealed. "An' you, Jess?"
"I think I'm with you," she said. "I'm driving one of the getaway vehicles."
"Den I'll make sure I'm not in da van you're drivin'," Meowth snickered. "Don't wanna be dere when ya crash it." His teasing was short-lived as Jessie whacked him over the back of his head, making him yelp in pain.
"I'm an excellent driver!" she snapped. As usual, her anger quickly dissipated. "It's odd, having individual tasks, and not knowing what everyone else is doing," she noted. "I mean, as long as it works..."
"If it doesn't, just floor it," James suggested. Jessie grinned.
"Okay," she agreed. "But if it all goes wrong, I won't wait for you two sorry mugs. Soon as anything goes to hell, I'm out of there," she joked.
"I don't doubt it for a second," Meowth told her. He groaned as he took a second blow to the head.
The weather had taken a rare turn for the better, the sun free to warm the earth with only a few clouds to obstruct it.
"Lovely day to rob a bank," Jessie said. Despite her usual witty attitude, James could tell that she was nervous. Little things gave it away, like the way she fidgeted with her hair every couple of minutes. James was doing his best to cover up his own feelings of foreboding, but he knew that the attempt was probably a pointless one. They all knew each other well enough to pick up on the signs that meant nothing to anyone else.
Their disguises were simple, as they had been told simply to dress as civilians. Some of the agents who'd be pulling off the robbery itself were holding balaclavas to mask their faces from the security cameras.
The drive to the bank was a long one, consisting of three changes in vehicle along the way. When they finally reached the city, half the agents were in a minibus, whilst the others purposely lagged a few minutes behind in a large truck. They pulled into a car park about half a mile away from the location they were targeting, and grouped up briefly.
"Make this quick and clean," the woman who'd been driving the bus James was in said softly. "Stick to your briefings. Two vans will pull up outside the bank when we've got the money. Be there quickly. We can't risk losing everything by waiting for anyone. If something goes wrong and it's impossible to recover the situation, we'll call off the mission. It shouldn't come to that, but if it does, surrender if you can't get to the van in time. It's better than getting shot by security." A few people laughed nervously. "Okay, let's go. Don't approach the building in groups- walk around a bit by yourselves first. Make it look like you're normal citizens. Just be there at the time specified on your briefing."
"Well, see you in twenty," Jessie said to Meowth and James as the group started to break up. Meowth nodded.
"Good luck," he replied, smiling, and then tagged along beside another agent, walking on all fours like an ordinary Pokémon.
James looked at Jessie, wishing he didn't have to go off by himself. He wasn't used to doing anything like this without her and Meowth by his side.
"See you," he said simply. Jessie laughed at his expression.
"You look like you're about to be sick," she informed him. "Sheesh, relax, James. We do this stuff all the time. You'll be fine."
"Okay," he breathed. Jessie turned on her heel, and raised her arm in a subtle wave as she walked down the street.
Sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans, James took a few moments to work out which way he was going, and then started off down the pavement. He looked at the sunlight that drowned his surroundings as he walked. Pathetic fallacy seemed to be confused.
AN-
I'm sorry it took longer than usual to update this (as always!). The next instalment should be easier to write, so I'll try and get that out sooner to make up for the lack of new content. Thanks for reading!
