He tried not to take anything in. The stairs they climbed, the footsteps of the agents behind them, the doors to the office that grew unrelentingly closer- he shut it all out. As they were frisked by the guard for weapons, James willed himself to disconnect from his body entirely: pass through the wall and leave his soulless form behind to deal with this mess.

Jessie looked his way and he snapped back to reality. She parted her lips for a moment as if about to say something, and then closed them again. She didn't look scared. She looked intense, more than anything else. James saw her intrepidity, her passion, her warmth and rage and love and brilliance, all contained in those two blue eyes.

Would she really die here?

For her to be gone, snuffed out so quickly, was unthinkable. Unbearable.

The pang he felt swelling in his stomach was akin to the sensation after Giovanni's death, though it was far worse this time, amplified beyond belief.

No, no, no. They wouldn't die. It was too awful.

These thoughts looped over and over in the few seconds before they were ushered forwards, through the doors and into the office.

Carter was leafing through a stack of papers at his desk. He looked up at their arrival, and nodded to the grunts.

"Wait outside."

The two men obediently left, closing the doors behind them.

There was a dreadful pause. James waited for Carter to say something, soon longed for it when he merely left them in a horrid silence. How should they respond? Should they just wait? Sink to their knees and grovel?

Finally, Carter pursed his lips, and leaned forwards in his chair.

"Tell me what happened."

Jessie seemed to draw herself up, pushing her weight forwards. "The mission was going to plan, but we failed to alert the agents of the police's arrival in time. However, they-"

"I worked that bit out for myself," Carter interrupted. He wasn't shouting, nowhere near it, but there was an edge to his tone bordering on fury. "What I want to know is exactly what possessed you two to screw up something so simple."

James drew in a deep breath. If there was a way to talk themselves out of this, it was now or never. "Sir, we-"

"No on briefed us on the part where two people are shot," Jessie cut in, maintaining a deceptively respectful stance as she bit back more explicit criticism. James winced, and mentally begged her not to say anything else unruly.

Carter didn't respond immediately, looking at the younger woman with an unchanged expression. "The agent whose death you witnessed was a traitor," he said. "If your fates were switched she wouldn't have blinked an eye." He cast a glance out of the window beside him. "Whether or not you knew the details of the mission in full, you should have continued with your task. There is no excuse in that field."

"Are you going to kill us now?" Jessie asked, blurting the question. Her voice carried a mixture of defiance and a fear that made her words audibly tremor. Daring not to speak, James stood unmoving, a terrible sickness worming its way from his chest to the back of his throat. His head was suddenly light and he worried he might collapse on the spot.

For the first time in the exchange, Carter let his brow crease into a glare.

"Despite what you seem to believe, I do not enjoy killing people," he snapped. "And to answer your question, no. I wouldn't be so wasteful as to dispose of my employees because of one stupid error. Disloyalty I cannot forgive. But I believe the pair of you to have been motivated by fear. That I can at least understand, given the recent shift in events."

He gave the two of them a pensive, measured stare in turn. "Still, it merits punishment. I'm cutting your salaries for the month. And for that disgusting display of insubordination- which I will graciously assume was born out of mindless nerves- you can both go and unload the supplies that arrived from Kanto."

James only managed to nod mutely as relief washed over him, whilst Jessie mumbled: "Yes, sir."

"Do not treat this as anything but mercy," Carter told them. "I'm only speaking to you in person because you're supposedly high-ranking agents. Let me make this perfectly clear: this is your last chance. I won't tolerate any more screw-ups." He flicked his hand at them as if shaking off something unwanted. "Now get out. And you'd better pray to Arceus that if you see the inside of this room again, it's for something good."


"Oh shit," Jessie gasped as soon as the doors to the office closed behind her. She took her head in her hands and said nothing for a short while. "James, I... I'm sorry. Shit. I don't know what I was doing..."

Willing his breathing to slow, the lingering shock that kept his heart rate uncomfortably fast to fade, James shook his head. "It's okay. We're fine."

"That's not the point," Jessie groaned. "He could have easily had us killed in there. I risked it."

"No, you... He wouldn't have killed us for that. He said it himself."

Jessie just stared at the floor, looking close to tears and more afraid than James had seen her in some time. "Come on," she said, starting to walk. He followed.

Meowth met them halfway down the hall, his eyes wide as he caught sight of them. "Oh man- you two had me really worryin'," he exclaimed, pacing over to them with a relieved smile. His expression soon grew solemn again. "How'd it go? Everythin' okay?"

"Too early to tell, but I think so," Jessie replied shakily. "I nearly messed it all up, but... He let us off lightly enough- after a pretty damn severe warning."

"Pay cut?" Meowth guessed. "Not dat it matters, as long as..." The cat pokémon wiped an arm across his eyes hastily as his shoulders hunched. "Jeez, guys."


The delivery trucks were parked a couple of hundred metres away from the building, visible from the gravel pathway on which they stood. Meowth, despite Jessie's instructions to go back to the dormitory and wait for them, refused to leave their side.

"I ain't abandonin' ya again anytime soon," he vowed as they walked. "I shouldn't have ever let you go in dat office."

"We didn't exactly have a choice in the matter," James reminded him. "You couldn't have gotten us out of it if you'd tried." He shrugged his shoulders, an act of counterfeit nonchalance. "Besides, we're fine, see? Just a little manual labour, that's all."

Neither of his team mates shared his fake optimism, and by the time they reached the trucks, James gave up the act altogether. The three vehicles were huge, and packed with countless boxes.

"Hi," an agent standing to the side greeted, vaguely suspicious. He raised his chin. "How can I help?"

"Unloading," Jessie replied brusquely. The man's face lifted.

"Pissed off the boss, huh?" He cheerily patted the side of one truck. "Well, if it's any condolence, you two just made my evening. I did not feel like heavy lifting tonight." He handed James a set of keys. "They're all yours. Remember to lock up when you're done." With that, he motioned to the other agents standing around, who followed him in high spirits.

Any illusion that they had gotten off easy vanished when they found out just how heavy the boxes were; James' arms ached after carrying just one to the cargo bay. Meowth attempted to help, but wasn't strong enough to lift the crates. Instead, he watched them and offered sporadic advice.

"Ya okay dere? Don't strain yourself- lift with ya legs, not ya back."

Twenty minutes passed and both Jessie and James were exhausted. They'd thought about getting their pokémon to help, but didn't dare risk it in such plain view of headquarters.

His throat dry and rapidly taking in air, James felt he couldn't possibly continue. The burning in his limbs refused to cease.

"How... How much left?" he panted, dragging a hand across his sweat-covered forehead.

"Not too much," Jessie replied breathlessly. "We're getting there."

"Wait," Meowth muttered. His ears perked up. "Quiet. Someone's coming."

Sure enough, three silhouettes emerged from the falling darkness, moving in their direction. As they got closer, it became apparent that they were grunts, all of them male, and no one with whom the trio was familiar.

"Maybe they got truck duty too?" James suggested, cautiously hopeful.

They fell silent as the agents approached them. The building's scattered lights provided a strange background: reassuring until James dared to dwell on the operations behind the walls. He set down the box he was holding, at least grateful for an excuse to momentarily pause. Jessie copied his actions. He thought she looked scared, and suddenly wondered if he should be too.

One of the agents raised his hand in greeting. "Hey," he called as they reached the trucks. "You're James and Jessica, right?"

"Yeah, that's them," the Rocket to his left said before they could respond. "Seen them before."

James swallowed. "What- What's-"

The first grunt who'd spoken tilted his head towards the cargo bay. "Just need to grab some food for the kitchen," he explained. "Show us where you put the boxes, you two?"

"Foodstuff is at the entrance, on the left," Jessie told him tersely.

"Yeah, just- Just show us real quick?"

"You can't miss it."

"I said show us."

The three men obstructing the path back towards headquarters, Jessie reluctantly moved around the corner to the cargo bay, James and Meowth following suit. Her hand was slid inside her skirt pocket, clutching Gourgeist's pokéball as she walked.

"Right there," she said. "Now excuse us."

As she made to walk back to the trucks, one of the Rockets reached forwards to seize her arm. She reacted swiftly, bringing her knee up into his stomach.

The other two grunts sprung into action as their counterpart recoiled from the blow. One managed to get ahold of Jessie whilst the other turned his attention to James, who barely had time to register the abrupt threat. He crossed his arms over his face reflexively as his attacker moved in to grab him.

His eyes were screwed shut, but he snapped them open at Meowth's yowl. The cat pokémon had launched himself at the grunt, his claws a blur of white as he swiped at the Rocket.

"Get off 'em!" he screeched. The man he had leapt onto yelled out in surprise and pain, then took Meowth by the scruff of his neck and flung him to the ground. Meowth bared his teeth and hissed, showing an animalistic aggression that he usually would have been desperate to conceal.

Jessie, meanwhile, was wrestling with her assailant for possession of her pokéball. She held it high above her head, fumbling for the release button whilst simultaneously fending off any further attacks.

"Let go!"

Instinct took over, and James rushed forwards, colliding with the grunt who'd thrown Meowth. Their brief grapple was ended when something hit James on the side of his jaw with such force that he fell to his knees.

He gasped at the shock of the pain, his hand clutching the injured side of his face as his vision span and trembled. James did his best to look up, to focus.

There was a sharp yelp, and Meowth skidded across the ground before him. Before James could formulate any kind of plan to help, the grunt delivered a kick to Meowth's head. He fell limp.

"Meowth!" James exclaimed. He struggled to his feet as fear coursed through him, sharp and fresh. Jessie's hand was empty now, the pokéball on the ground and out of reach. The man tussling with her quickly kicked it away.

And suddenly, Jessie went still. Her eyes darted between Meowth, James, and something in the hand of the grunt behind him. James followed her gaze to the gun the man held and realized what had hit him.

"Don't," she whispered. James wasn't sure to whom the statement was addressed.

Hands grabbed his arms from behind. His only reaction was to stare down at Meowth, searching for some sign that he was still breathing. As they were pushed further into the seclusion of the cargo bay, the man with the gun stood at the entrance, weapon poised in quiet warning.

The first blow caught James off guard. He wrapped his arms around his stomach, doubling over as dull pain coarsed through his gut. Jessie's shout of dismay rang out, followed by a thud and her low, suppressed groan.

Pain, again- this time in his cheek. James staggered backwards and fell on his shoulder. Instinct turned his face towards the ground and curled his knees to his chest; something struck him in his ribs and he cried out. Relentless, the attack came again and again, and somewhere in the back of his mind it occurred to him that he was being kicked.

"Stop! Stop it!" he could hear Jessie screaming. Another shout rang out- not hers.

The kicking subsided, and James lay sobbing, too weak to move for a few moments. He turned his head to look up at Jessie. She seemed torn between retaliation and compliance- James saw her duck out of the grasp of her captor, then falter as her attention turned once more to the gun.

Her hesitation, however brief, gave the two unarmed grunts a window to attack. One took hold of her upper arm whilst the other swept her legs from underneath her. Jessie fell hard onto her back, spluttering as her weight hit the concrete.

"Please," James begged, willing himself to stand. "Please, don't-"

Jessie shrieked as the man yanked her arm backwards, twisting it at an unnatural angle. Eyes widening, James racked his brain for something he could do or say that wouldn't make things even worse.

But Jessie's saviour turned out to be one of the grunts themselves- the one with the gun.

"Take it easy," he said. "Nothing that stops them working, remember?"

His accomplice frowned, but relinquished his hold on Jessie. Soon after-seemingly irritated at having been held back- he threw a punch at her face. James flinched, cringing at the spurt of blood that dribbled from Jessie's nose.

He shrank away- an involuntary movement- as the grunts passed him. A final slug to his stomach and they seemed satisfied.

"That's enough."

James whimpered in pain and nausea as they retreated into the open. In just seconds they were out of sight.


Alone again. They turned at the same time to the crumpled form of their team mate, outlined against the afterglow.

On shuddering legs, Jessie stood, and reached a hand down to James, who took it. He was surprised at the strength she mustered to heave him to his feet, even with the blood still trickling down her face and injuries that must have been equal to or greater than his own. Wordless and weak, they made the short journey together. Jessie knelt.

"Meowth?"

In a jittering motion, she eased the glove off her left arm and held it in front of his face. A moment of utter dread, and she felt the warmth of his breath against her fingertips.

"He's okay," she choked out, overwhelmed by a cocktail of immeasurable relief and the lingering terror of the alternative. She gingerly scooped him into her arms, retrieved Gourgeist's pokéball, and stood.

"We need to get him a- a potion, or something," she said. "Can you walk?"

James found that he could- it was his upper body that had sustained most of the damage. They split up once back in headquarters, throwing caution to the wind. Whilst Jessie carried Meowth to their room, James headed for the supplies area he vaguely remembered to hold medicinal supplies.

The halls, although not crowded, were far from bare, and he got more than a couple of odd stares as he rushed to his destination. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the glass of a window, hardly taking in the mottled bruises already forming, the pink and red of raw flesh where his skin had broken.

Finding the door already open, he flipped the light switch and started frantically rummaging through the boxes. He grabbed anything he came across that he thought they might need: bandages, painkillers, antiseptic, and finally the potion he'd set out to find. As soon as it was in his possession, he departed.

When he reached the dormitory, Meowth was lying on the lower bunk bed, still unconscious. Jessie sat next to him, dabbing the blood from his fur with a damp cloth.

"Did you get it?"

James nodded, and crossed the room to her side. He uncapped the bottle, then carefully applied the spray.

Its effect was not instantaneous, but over the next few minutes Meowth's breathing grew steadily more stable, a fact that brought both his human partners great relief. It was only when they were sure that his condition was not critical that they began to tally their own injuries; Jessie had a broken nose and was showing the beginnings of a black eye; a patch of skin on the side of James' jaw had been stripped away where the gun had hit him. Lifting their shirts to examine the skin beneath revealed harsh blotches of purplish-blue, bruises they suspected to overlay at least a couple of broken ribs. With all the concern over Meowth's wellbeing, James had more or less managed to ignore the ache, but now it hit him fully. Grimacing, he sucked in air through his teeth and told himself that he'd survived worse. That particular coping mechanism had gotten him through a great deal of past misfortunes.

"Been quite a few blast-offs since we last got messed up this bad," Jessie remarked, then let out a shaky breath. "Oh Arceus, James... What the hell are we going to do?"

Meowth's groan sounded before either of them could say anything more- they both quickly turned to the feline, watching as he opened his eyes in a series of blinks and sat up on the mattress.

"Ugh..."

"How are you? Are you okay?" James babbled.

"Yeah, I- whoa." Meowth gaped as he took his first proper look at the humans. His expression morphed from shocked, to upset, and finally to sheer rage.

"Does anything hurt?" Jessie pressed. "You don't feel dizzy?"

Brushing her questions aside with a shake of his head, Meowth gestured to their wounded faces. "Dey did dat?" he growled.

"Right after they knocked you out," Jessie said. "Cowards."

When she was convinced that Meowth wasn't concussed, Jessie moved back to the door. James watched as, without a word, she double-checked the locks and bolted the latch. No clear emotions stirred within him, spare a dull and inexplicable fascination.


"We... We have to leave." Still paranoid that someone could be listening in, James kept his tone soft.

Jessie scoffed. "I seem to remember more than a couple of problems with that plan."

"I know but- even if it's a big risk, it's better than staying here!" He breathed out. "You were right before. All of this... The deaths... We can't be a part of it."

Jessie paused before responding. "What about everybody else?"

"Huh?"

"I'm assuming you don't think we're the only ones who have a problem with Carter's methods," she elaborated. "So, what about the others? We just leave them to kill and get killed?"

In a disconcerted stupor, James stared at her. "No, but- none of this is our fault!"

"Like it or not, we're part of this organization," Jessie said. "We didn't get dragged into this as innocents."

"We didn't join when all this was going on!"

"It's a crime syndicate, Jim," Meowth interjected. "Did ya really t'ink nothin' uglier dan theft was goin' on behind the curtains? Or dat nothin' was ever gonna get worse?"

Rendered momentarily speechless at being outnumbered, James could only flit his gaze between them, hoping someone might convert to his line of reason.

"I don't know," Jessie continued, "I just... Hell, I feel like we should try to do something."

"But..." Trailing off, James extended his palm towards Jessie's bad eye, which had, by this point, swollen shut. "If this is what we get for screwing up on a mission, what do you think is going to happen if-" A quaking sigh snatched the words from his mouth. "I just don't want any of us to get hurt."

"Yeah, well, that's a danger that comes with this virtuous career." She gave a quick shake of her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound angry."

James met Meowth's line of sight, entreating him with a slight raise of his eyebrows.

"I'm wid Jess on dis one," the cat pokémon said. "Leavin's a death wish. I mean, maybe stayin' is too, but at least we can go down fightin'."

James didn't give voice to the response that rang through his mind.

He didn't want them to go down at all.


Sleep evaded all three of them for a while. In the black stillness, James lay, the air cold against his open eyes. All that prevented total darkness was the digital clock, which printed numbers in red light against the wall; James counted the seconds between each flash, making a game out of guessing when the next minute would roll over.

He had learned that the key to minimalising the pain in his ribs and stomach was to lie as still as possible. The pain in his jaw, however, persisted no matter what he did- a low ache sporadically punctuated with stinging stabs. It was far from intolerable, but uncomfortable enough to render slumber difficult.

Inkay's pokéball sat in his palm. He ran his fingers over the gloss of the plastic, wanting nothing more in that moment than to hit the release button but resisting the temptation. James didn't want Inkay to see them like this. No- his pokémon would remain in relative innocence for as long as it was in his power to allow.

There was comfort to be drawn, however, from the company of his partners. He could hear Jessie's wispy breathing, the deep rumble of Meowth's purr. They were here. He was not alone.

It was that thought that fended off the worst of his anxiety, and it was that thought that sent him to sleep.


AN- Oh boy. This chapter took way longer than it should have. I made a habit of sitting down with my laptop every night, adding a hundred or so words to the document, and then crawling into bed with the promise (lie) that I'd finish it the next day. But it's here! Finally! I apologize for the wait.

Also, I would like to acknowledge how cruel I'm being to the poor trio in this story. It was never going to be a light-hearted tale of joy, for sure, but gosh I'm mean. I need to get to writing some happier oneshots.

New chapter will be up ASAP- and if you're following any of my other stories, I intend to update those too. Thank you all so much for reading!