Fated

Summary: Jessie finds herself in exile, forced into captivity with a mysterious stranger. With nowhere to go and seemingly no hope of escape, they share the stories behind their miserable fates. Hers is filled with questions. His is filled with answers.

Chapter 11: Bad Moves

Don't think I don't think about it
Don't think I don't have regrets
Don't think it don't get to me
Between the work and the hurt and the whiskey
Don't think I don't wonder 'bout
Could've been, should've been all worked out
I know what I felt, and I know what I said
But don't think I don't think about it
...Darius Rucker - Don't Think I Don't Think About It

"Alright, your turn," Jessie announced as she scooped up a spoonful of her soup.

"You're impatient," Jack commented.

"Would you just tell me, already?" Jessie snapped, "Was she pregnant?"

Jack smiled grimly.

I stumbled down the hallway of the Team Rocket Headquarters towards my brother's private quarters, the image of the little plus sign burned into my brain forever.

"She was!" Jessie exclaimed, fascination on her face as she surveyed Jack, who now looked a little embarrassed.

When I reached Joe's door, I pounded on it, hoping that he was in and that I wouldn't have to make small talk with Isabelle. After what seemed like an age, but in reality was only a few seconds, the door opened and revealed my brother's harried face.

"What are you doing here, Jack?" he asked, his weary expression morphing to one of concern as he took in the look of frenzied look on my face, "What's wrong?"

"I need your help," I begged.

"Come in," he nodded his head towards his apartment that he shared with Isabelle when they were in Viridian, "Isabelle's in bed, so try to keep it down," he cautioned me.

"S-sure," I stammered as I sat heavily on the couch. He shot me a peculiar look. He then went to the bar and poured a very stiff scotch and passed me a tumbler. This was one of the reasons why I chose to go to him and not Gio. Joe and I had been close ever since we were kids. There was an seven-year age difference between me and Giovanni so we've never really seen eye-to-eye. Joseph was only four years older than me and often got stuck entertaining me whenever Mother and Father took Giovanni to show him the family business. Joe was the model big brother. He never complained or saw me as a chore the way Gio did. He was always so warm and open.

"Alright, Jackie, what's going on?" Joe asked, settling across from me.

"Miya is pregnant with my kid," I said in one breath before shakily taking a drink. Joe's eyebrows shot to his hairline.

"Miya? As in Miyamoto, Mother's favourite agent?" he asked, blinking. I nodded mournfully.

"Joe…I don't know…I can't…" it was suddenly hard to breath again, as it had been in Miya's apartment when I raced out of there after seeing the pink sign on the white plastic stick.

"Woa…you left Miya alone after she took the test?" Jessie asked for clarification.

"Not one of my finer moments, but yes," Jack admitted.

"Dick move!" she berated him. He cringed and ran a hand through his red hair.

"I was scared out of my mind," he tried defending himself as he sat on the edge of his bed.

"And you think she wasn't?" Jessie asked, "She just found out she was having a kid!"

"I know," Jack said quietly, "Believe me, I didn't handle it all that well."

"Easy, little brother," Joe said, trying to comfort me.

"Joe, I-I don't know what to do," I admitted, my voice cracking.

"Alright, well, first off, is it yours?" he asked. I looked at him.

"That's what I said, Joe," I reminded him.

"But are you sure? How do you know she isn't trying to saddle you with some other bloke's kid?" he questioned.

"Bastard," Jessie commented. Jack sighed.

"Miya wouldn't…no way. If she says it's mine, I believe her," I said. He nodded.

"Hold up a sec, Bro, I just have to go check on Isa," he said, disappearing from the room and leaving me fidgeting on the couch. I felt winded. My secret girlfriend was pregnant with my child. I couldn't have a kid. It just wasn't possible. What was I going to do? Marry her the way Gio married Jade after he found out Jade was pregnant? What would everyone think? What would mother think?

Then Joe returned and suddenly he looked a little more confident. He sat back in his chair and asked, "Is she keeping the kid?"

"I don't know," I admitted, "I just really, really had to get out of there. I didn't…she didn't…"

"Okay, so little brother, we have to look at this from a logical point of view," he said, "You started sleeping with Mother's best agent, who is now carrying your kid. You've got a whole mess of problems ahead of you."

"Don't you think I know that?" I snapped, raking a hand through my hair.

"Easy, there, Jack," he chided me, "Now first and foremost, you can never acknowledge this. This kid could be lethal to you."

"WHAT is that bullshit?" Jessie asked incredulous.

"My brother's advice," Jack said wearily.

"What?" I asked. He leaned forward and spoke in a low whisper.

"Look at what happened to Giovanni when he married Jade because she was pregnant. Mother barely acknowledges he exists. He's lost all favour with her," he revealed. That made sense, but what did that have to do with my situation? Then Joe explained, "Mother has always had high hopes for you, Jack. You were supposed to find a suitable woman, marry her, and then do the kid thing. If she catches wind that you've disgraced yourself this way, she'll be devastated."

I felt uneasy, "But what if…how…I don't want to hurt Miya…"

"By staying with her, you could hurt her more," Joe told me seriously, "First off, you put her best agent out of commission. Second, Mother wants to avoid another 'Jade incident'. She won't take kindly to another disgrace to the family name and just might take action to prevent another disgrace."

I frowned at my brother, "Joe, this is Mother we're talking about. She wouldn't…"

"Wouldn't she, Jack? Her reputation is everything to her. She won't stand for having two sons quickly marry to cover up some mistake," Joe replied. I was still frowning.

"But what about Silver? She dotes on him," I said. Joe shook his head.

"Sure, because he's likely to be the next heir. Besides even if Mother doesn't object, you still have to deal with Gio," he said.

"What?" I asked.

"Gio," Joseph repeated, "He doesn't like competition, our brother. You know that. He competes with us all the time. Why do you think he was so happy to have a male heir? He thought Silver would gain him favour with Mother, but now I'm having a kid that could gain me even more favour with Mother. He hates that. Why do you think he's so concerned with Isabelle?" he asked. That did make a little sense.

"What does this have to do with me and Miya?" I asked wearily.

"Think about it this way, Jack. There is a reason why I don't want anyone knowing the sex of the baby and a reason why I've hired a couple grunts to accompany Isabelle on errands. I don't want to give Gio the incentive or the chance to do something to sabotage me and Isabelle," he explained, "If you stuck with Miya, then his sights would be on her as well."

"Joe, this is our brother you're talking about," I said incredulously, "You're making it sound as if everyone in the family is out to get us."

"That's because they are, Jack. You can live in your own little bubble and believe that those perfect pictures on Mother's mantle are the truth, but there's evil behind all those fake smiles, Jack. All of it…the money, the power…it corrupts us. It seeps into our veins and takes hold and then nothing, not even family, matters anymore. It's our weakness, the dark part of our legacy," he said with conviction and for the first time, I saw true, serious wisdom on his normally jovial face, "It's our dark side."

"Dark side?" Jessie asked, "What are you, a jedi or something?"

"It feels like it sometimes," Jack admitted, "And looking back, Joseph spoke the truth. All of us, Mother, Gio, Joe, and me…we all had that part in us. We could all be seduced by the idea of power, wealth and glory. They were. I was," he revealed.

"Jack, with this kid…if you acknowledge it, it will only cause more harm," Joe told me, "Miya will have a very large target on her back. Your unborn kid will have a target on its back before its out of the womb. Mother will disinherit you and all your dreams will be gone. Never again will she take you seriously," he prophesized. That last part ended up making my stomach turn involuntarily. I didn't want that to happen. I wanted the inheritance that I was entitled to and yet…

"But Miya…" I trailed off, thinking of the woman who captivated me so, who made me feel so alive, and who was now alone with my child inside her.

"You have no obligation, here, Jack," he said, "It was her fault. She was the one who was supposed to prevent-"

"WHAT?" Jessie yelped in horror, "He did not say that!" she gasped, scandalized.

"He did," Jack confirmed.

"What a no-good, rotten, sexist piece of-"

"I can tell you're not going to like the next part," Jack sighed.

"She was the one who was supposed to prevent this sort of thing. It's her body after all. If she wanted to screw, she should have taken the precautions to make one-hundred percent certain that this didn't happen," Joe said, "You're not at fault, Jack."

I blinked. It was so easy to cling to those words, to shrug off the impending responsibility. Maybe…

"Forget about it, Jack," he advised, leaning back into his chair, "It's not your burden. Just forget it."

"Tell me you didn't take that jackass's advice," Jessie moaned. Jack bowed his head, his face the epitome of remorse and shame.

"You suck!" she exclaimed.

"I know," he said softly.

"Like, who believes that shit? I hope Miya kicked your ass for that," Jessie claimed, shooting him a reproachful glare. Jack was looking older and older with each passing second.

I did my best to avoid Miya and I succeeded for about two days. I tried to put it out of my mind, like Joseph told me to. I thought about the inheritance that I would surely lose if Mother found out. I thought of Miya and what could happen to her. I wasn't willing to let her get hurt…but then, what if she needn't get hurt? What if she chose not to have the baby? That would be the best situation for me. No kid to worry about and then maybe Miya and I could take some time…decide where we stood. No pressure. The thought gave me hope. Surely she wouldn't want a baby. It would interfere with her work and it would be expensive. She'd have no life or freedom. She wouldn't want that. If there was anything I knew about Miya, it was that she was a free spirit and that it was impossible to hold her down.

I was down in the gym with Catherine watching as Heath Ketchum's team made another attempt at the obstacle course. They were beginning to grasp the concept of working together. Finally.

"At least they've moved from 'pathetic' to 'suck'," Catherine observed, drumming her fingers as she watched the brawny Ted Oak grudgingly stop to help Heath pull Lana over a barrier.

"Hardly an improvement," I muttered, "It's a damn good thing we have sprinklers in the gym or Ketchum would have been cooked."

"Well, I don't know why you had to set up those flaming loops," Catherine chided me, "They can't even run this. What hope did they have with fire obstacles?" she shook her head.

"Maybe I was hoping it would force them to be better," I snapped back, "Some people thrive under pressure."

She shot me a glare, "On that note, whatever personal pressure you're going through, could you PLEASE not take it out on me and the grunts?" she shot back, causing me to blink in surprise, "Don't think I haven't noticed that you've been short with all of us over the past couple days. I saw the way you battled them earlier. Knocking out their pokemon in one hit hardly teaches them a thing," she scolded. I gritted my teach. Really? She, one of my mother's Rockets, was scolding me? I outranked her.

"Am I interrupting?" an all too familiar voice suddenly questioned from the doorway, interrupting my thoughts. I whirled around to see Miya standing there, her eyebrows raised. Suddenly all those things I tried to forget came rushing back. Her. The baby. Me. Everything.

Catherine, on the other hand, broke into a grin and rushed to her partner, "What are you doing here?" she asked, "Where's Daph? You didn't kill her, did you?"

Miya laughed, "She's still very much alive, though if I have to listen to her complain anymore about every little thing, she won't be," she muttered, causing Catherine to grin knowingly.

"Just tune her out," Catherine advised sympathetically.

"I'll try, but I make no promises," Miya warned, "And as for why I'm here, I actually have to talk with Mr. Sakaki," she revealed, her intense blue eyes on me.

"We're a little busy," I said stiffly. Those eyes narrowed at me as if she knew my views on the situation.

"I can wait," she said in a challenging voice. I gritted my teeth and breezed by her, gesturing for her to come with. Over my shoulder, I saw her frown and share an exasperated look with Catherine before she turned and followed me to the little office in the back of the gym. I shut the door behind her as she turned to me.

"You disappeared," she said simply, staring at me.

"Lot to process," I shrugged in what I hoped was a nonchalant gesture.

"I'm keeping it," Miya announced. Fuck.

"Dammit, Miya, why would you do that?" I shot at her, kicking the desk. She glared up at me.

"Because I don't run away from my problems, Jack," she replied coldly.

"Are you insane?" I asked, "Do you even realize that this entire thing in a mistake? My mother will KILL you if she finds out about this! My brother will do it if she doesn't! You don't know what you're messing with here! This kid…this thing…it'll KILL you!" I shouted, trying to make her see. She didn't flinch.

"You don't know that," she said evenly.

"I think I know my family!" I snapped, "My mother already has one son that screwed up and got landed with a kid. She won't tolerate another. We screwed up, Miya, but that doesn't mean we have to pay for it!" I growled. Something dawned on Miya's face, like she suddenly understood all the secrets of the universe.

"This isn't even about me, is it?" she said, "It's about your inheritance."

"Don't be ridic-"

"It's about your fucking inheritance," she repeated, shaking her head as he eyed me with disbelief. That look…it made me snap.

"So what if it is!" I shouted, "I worked my ass off for that inheritance and I'm not going to lose it now because you can't take a pill!"

She slapped me. Hard.

"Good," Jessie commented, glaring at him.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Miya cried, "You think this is all my fault? You can go fuck yourself!" she shouted, turning to leave.

"Who's running away now?" I shot at her, my cheek still stinging. She whirled around.

"That would be you, you selfish bastard!" she yelled, "I thought you were different! I thought that you gave a damn! I thought that you cared about something other than money! If I wanted a cold, conniving, self-centered jerk, then I would have gone for one of your brothers! I would have expected this from them! I thought you were better than that!" she cried, her eyes shining as she screamed at me. Then she blazed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

I was left alone, staring numbly at the spot where she had just stood. I knew that her words shouldn't hurt me, but they stung more than that slap did. I had let her down. I was the cold, conniving, self-centered jerk that she had originally thought that I was better than.

I tried to tell myself that it didn't matter, that she didn't matter. What was she, anyways? She was my subordinate. I wasn't supposed to care what she thought. The only person's opinion of me that mattered was my mother's. That's what I told myself as I walked back towards the training field where Catherine was supervising the grunts who couldn't do a thing right.

But as I watched the three recruits run the course, I couldn't shake the sudden, inexplicable feeling that me and them were the same: none of us could thrive under pressure.

"Wow," Jessie said, shaking her head. Jack grimaced and nodded in shame.

"I'll never forget that moment," he admitted, bowing his head, "Still, after all these years, it haunts me."

"Your first mistake was listening to that moron of a brother of yours," Jessie retorted.

"I agree," he said, "I should have asked myself: 'What does Joseph stand to gain?'. It could have saved me a lot of grief."

"Why didn't you?" Jessie asked.

"I was a scared twenty-two-year-old. I was barely an adult and I thought that my older brother could make my decisions for me. Surely you could understand?" he beseeched her, "Hasn't there even been a moment in your life, Jessilina, where you were scared and just wished that someone else could decide for you?"

Jessie nodded, "I suppose there has been," she admitted, remembering the moment when she received the most shocking news of her life and how at the time she had wished more than anything that she could have just curled up and let someone else make that grown-up decision, "but I stepped up."

TBC

AN: So here's the latest. Jessie's a bit critical here. So not everything is rosey in Jack's world and things are going to get a little complicated in Jessie's. If you're enjoying this so far, let me know! If you're not, then let me know how I can improve!

Songs that inspired this chapter:
- This Woman's Work by Kate Bush.
-Songs Like This by Carrie Underwood.
-Wall of Shame by Course of Nature.
-Don't Think I Don't Think About It by Darius Rucker.
-Speeding Cars by Imogen Heap