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 33: Unexpected Miracles
I'm sorry for blaming you
for everything I just couldn't do
And I've hurt myself by hurting you
Some days I feel broke inside but I won't admit
Sometimes I just want to hide
'cause it's you I miss
You know it's so hard to say goodbye
when it comes to this
...Christina Aguilera - Hurt
Christmas miracles. Jessie couldn't help but feel scornful, yet she couldn't help but wonder as she stared at the large snowflakes falling, illuminated by the pale moonlight.
Jessie wasn't the only one who wondered. Far away, a young woman with golden blond hair sat in a darkened bedroom of a grand estate. She was staring at the window, where the silvery moonlight glanced on the fresh snow. Then she looked at the photograph in her hand: one of two little girls, one with red hair and bright blue eyes, one with blond hair and inquisitive purple eyes. Their arms were thrown over each other's shoulders and they grinned up at the camera.
"I am so sorry," the woman whispered. She placed the picture back in her bag and made sure it was hidden from view. No one could know that she had it. If anyone found out, she would be suspected of treason. She wasn't supposed to remember any of her past, nor was she supposed to carry around a photo of a girl who had been like her sister…
She pulled out the folder in her bag. She did that often since she had found it three days prior. Inside, she had papers that were even more incriminating than the photograph. Each paper was the profile of a Team Rocket Agent. Hers was on the top:
'F148: Cassidy Farrows. DOB: January 14, 1983. Status: Elite. In relationship with C157. Son – C 257, March 17, 2006. Loyal. Related Files: F048.'
F148. That was what she had been filed under. C157 was her boyfriend and partner: Butch Carson. His file was beneath hers. C257 was her son. Even now, seeing that her son already had a file number made her blood run hot in her veins. His future was already mapped out and he was only three-years-old. He would grow to be just like his parents…
Cassidy shook her head and put the papers containing hers and Butch's information on the bottom. The third paper was F048.
'F048: Catherine Farrows. DOB: September 26, 1959. Status: Former Elite. Husband non-affiliated, deceased March 3, 2003. Son – stillborn, July 14, 1980. Daughter – F148, January 14, 1983. Rebel, Apprehended December 18, 1988. Held SFI. Related files: RS05, L050, T066, K092, O017, P028, F148, C257'
Cassidy reread her mother's profile three more times. She stared at the photograph to the left of the words. When she had been twenty-one, Catherine Farrows had looked nearly identical to Cassidy. Same eyes, same bone structure. She had been beautiful. The word 'Rebel' stuck out. Catherine Farrows had been a traitor and she was being held in SFI – Seafoam Islands Prison. She was still being held there. Biting her lip, Cassidy shifted the remaining files:
'RS05: Jack Sakaki.' He had been the third son of Mr. and Madam Sakaki, the leaders of Team Rocket. He was a rebel who had been banished to the Andes. He was Jessie's father.
'L050: Miyamoto Lillis.' She had been partners with Catherine and Daphne. She was Jessie's mother.
'T066: Daphne Tourin.'
'K092: Heath Ketchum.'
'O017: Theodore Oak.'
'P028: Lana Parker.'
Then there were other files, each that had been referenced in the others.
'C057: Amy Carson.'
'H042: Delia Hazelwood.'
'T166: Laurel Domenica Tourin.'
'M189: James Morgan.'
'L150: Jessica Lillis.'
Cassidy had discovered these files five days ago when she had been asked to go to the Records Hall to get James Morgan's file. That was when she had gotten curious about the other files in the Records Hall. She knew her mother had been a part of Team Rocket. When she had been cleaning out her father's attic, she had found a picture of her mother in uniform…next to the picture of Cassidy and Jessie as four-year-olds. It was a matter of breaking into the Records Hall at night to satisfy Cassidy's curiosity, and when she did, she had opened up a Pandora's Box of information.
She had pieced it all together.
She had made a choice.
She had snuck out of headquarters in the dead of night, while her son slept, captured a pidgey and tied a note to its leg:
I am a prisoner in Seafoam Islands. I need help. I hear things. The Rockets are going to kill us and those in the Andes. Please help. My name is Catherine Farrows.
Then she watched as the pidgey carried the note towards Pallet Town.
That was four days ago.
She heard Butch call her. She hid the files and left to help him and Domino restrain James Morgan.
"Tea?" Jack asked, holding out a steaming mug. Jessie shrugged and took it. For a moment, they looked at each other.
"Does it ever get easier?" Jessie asked.
"Missing them?" Jack shook his head, "No."
"Teddy, Dear, why don't you help us with the baking, hmm?" Delia Ketchum asked kindly, poking her head into the living room. The eleven-year-old turquoise-haired boy just glanced over at the kindly woman with a strange expression. Though Delia was wonderful to Teddy and his twin niece and nephew, Teddy couldn't help but think of the two people that should have been there with him: Jessie and James. He still remembered that first Christmas together, when he, James, and a pregnant Jessie had been taken in by Delia. It was one of the best Christmases he'd ever had. He had loved it when Growlie pulled him around on the old sleigh or when he was helping Delia, Misty, and James make gingerbread men.
That was over now. Somehow childish things like that didn't feel all that special now that Jessie and James were gone and Teddy had to look after the twins. Pallet Town had lost its luster.
"No thanks," Teddy muttered, turning back to the window. Delia contemplated him for a moment before two little blurs ran into the room and hopped onto the sofa beside Teddy.
"C'mon Teddy! Come help!" little Henry chirped, bouncing on the sofa, his red curls bouncing along with him. His sister was more controlled, curling up onto Teddy's lap and staring up at him with big, blue eyes.
"Please, Teddy?" Rose Morgan begged, "I'll share my cookies with you."
Teddy felt his stomach do flip-flops. That was how the twins manipulated their parents into one more cookie or one more story before bed. James was a total sucker for Rose's puppy-dog eyes and Jessie always laughed at Henry's antics and said how much he was like his daddy.
"No," Teddy choked out, getting to his feet and walking to the door. He needed some air.
"Teddy!" the twins chirped, each one diving for one of his legs, like they used to do when Teddy had to go to school. Jessie would have to pry them off, threatening them with naps and broccoli.
"Rose, Henry, leave poor Teddy-"
"Would you guys get off me!?" Teddy lost his temper, shouting at the little reminders of life before it all went to hell. The twins looked dumbstruck at him and he took the moment to shake them off and storm out of the house. He ran down the road, away from Delia's house and passed the Oak lab.
He shouldn't have yelled at the twins. He knew that. They couldn't help it. They were little kids, not even four-years-old. And truthfully, they had taken everything pretty well. When they had awoken that fateful morning and found that their parents were gone, the twins had cried, but Teddy and Meowth took care of them. They had gotten the twins and the pokemon ready and they began the journey to Pallet Town. It had been slow-going, but thanks to Jessie and James's pokemon, they had managed to go from Cherrygrove Town to Tojo Village, just two hours from their home in Silver Shoal. Teddy had wanted to go home, but Meowth refused and left the kids with the other pokemon for the night. The next morning, he had returned with Seto and Silver.
Teddy stumbled and slipped on the icy path leading to the Pallet Docks. He landed hard on his stomach and he allowed the tears to spill out.
Meowth was gone again, this time taking Uncle Motorcycle, Uncle Silver, and Ash, Misty, Brock, and Tracey with him. Teddy sniffled and looked down the hill over the ocean. He remembered the events from two days before, when they all left him alone again.
"But you can't go!" Teddy protested, kneeling to Meowth's height, "What about me and Henry and Rose?"
"Youse kids will be fine. Delia an' Professor Oak will take good care of ya," Meowth said, "'sides, it's only for a couple days. I'll be back before you know it."
"But everyone's leaving..." Teddy said, watching as Uncle Silver and Uncle Motorcycle carried a couple duffel bags onto the boat.
"We'll all be back, Kid, and if your Uncle Motorcycle is right, den we'll have even more familiar faces 'round here," Meowth explained.
"Jessie and James?" Teddy asked hopefully.
"Maybe," Meowth said slowly, careful to avoid getting the kid's hopes up, "Your Uncle Motorcycle said dat lots of people who fight Team Rocket end up dere, so maybe Jess an' Jim will be dere."
But it had been two days. Teddy knew it wasn't a long time, but he knew that everything could change in two days. Two days after his mother died, he had been shuttled off to his father's estate. Two days after he had fallen onto the stove, Teddy had met James and had a family. Two days after arriving in Cherrygrove city, Jessie and James had vanished.
Feeling absolutely horrible, Teddy pushed himself up and shakily got to his feet. It was then that he noticed the bushes were rustling around him. His heart beat faster. He could see something move between the bare trees. He shouldn't have ran this far.
He reached for a pokeball on his belt, but really, what could his little bulbasaur do against some dangerous pokemon? Then something screamed, causing Teddy to fall back. He then felt vines picking him up.
"Carnivine?" Teddy asked hopefully. His hopes were dashed as a great big yellow plant emerged as its vines wrapped around the boy.
"Eh...nice victoreebell..." Teddy shook. Great. He was going to be eaten by a plant. What a great Christmas he was having.
Then there was another scream and a second, larger victoreebell appeared.
"Please don't eat me!" Teddy yelped, unnerved by the way the larger victoreebell was looking at him. Then it let out another scream. The victoreebell holding Teddy screamed back.
Then the strangest thing happened. The victoreebell dropped Teddy and stalked off. The large victoreebell remained, using its long tendrils to touch Teddy's face curiously.
"Uh, hi," Teddy gulped, too afraid to move. The plant trilled again.
"Uh, thanks for not letting your friend eat me," Teddy said.
"Teddy!" a familiar voice cried. Teddy snapped his head over and saw Ash and his Uncle Motorcycle running towards him.
"Uncle!" Teddy gasped.
"Are you alright?" Motorcycle asked, looking at the large victoreebell.
"Uh yeah-"
"Hey, what's goin' on here, Kid?" Meowth asked, bounding up the hill.
"Meowth!"
Then the victoreebell let out a bunch of screams at Meowth.
"Ugh, that thing's giving me a headache!" Motorcycle groaned, reaching for a pokeball.
"Wait!" Meowth announced, "I know dis here victoreebell! It used to belong to James!"
"James?" Teddy asked, "You used to belong to my brother?"
Victoreebell trilled affirmatively.
"Agh, you deal with this one, Cat. I've got to go deal with Delia and my father. Come on, Little Ketchum," Motorcycle grumbled.
"I'm not little!" Ash shouted, chasing the older man up the path."
"Meowth, what's going on?" Teddy asked.
"We've gotta get out of here. If da Rockets aren't here in da next couple hours, den dey will be here by nightfall," Meowth explained.
"Did you find James?" Teddy asked hopefully.
"Nah, but we found a few others," Meowth said. Victoreebelle let out a bunch of screams, causing Teddy to flinch. Meowth sighed.
"Jimmy and Jess were captured by Team Rocket. We don't know where dey are," he explained to the plant, who let out a bunch of screams.
"Huh?" Meowth said, "You wanna help rescue James?"
Victoreebell nodded.
"Alright, let's get down to da boat," Meowth said. Victoreebell and Teddy followed.
"Meowth, what about the twins?" Teddy asked.
"I'll go back an' help Delia wit dem," Meowth replied, "Just get on da boat wit Victoreebell. He might come in handy."
Victoreebell let out a few more screams.
"Huh? Yeah, sure we'll wait. Youse have to say goodbye to da family after all," Meowth agreed, "Now you get, Kiddo!"
Teddy nodded and finished jogging to the mid-sized craft alone.
"Teddy!" Misty greeted him, "Here, get this on and head on down below. I'm going to run help Ash and Motorcycle."
"Uh...okay," Teddy agreed, slipping on the life jacket and carefully making his way below deck. He had already slipped enough. His eyes were immediately drawn to the five people he didn't recognize. They were wrapped in blankets and all of them had the same characteristics: gaunt, thin, and pale.
"Ah, Ted, come here and stir this pot," Brock motioned him over, "I have to call Olivia."
Teddy did as he was told, eying the five people as he did so. Tracey was kindly tending to the five. Silver then made his way below deck, wearing a frown, as usual.
"This stop in Pallet is the most idiotic thing I have ever-"
"You said yourself that they would realize who was responsible for the breakout," Tracey observed, "and if the Rocket Boss's other actions are any indication, then our loved ones here would be in danger."
"If the Rockets find us, we're dead," Silver stated matter-of-factly.
"So would our loved ones," Tracey argued, "Would you really leave Jessie and James's children here to die?"
One of the five sickly figures suddenly looked more alert. A woman with thin, straw-like blond hair.
"Teddy! Teddy!" Henry's little voice cried.
"I want Teddy!" Rose echoed her brother.
"He's on da boat, kids," Meowth said.
"Below deck," Misty added, "Do you want me to-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Henry and Rose ran down the stairs, Henry slipping at the bottom and Rose launching herself at Teddy.
"Teddy, we're sorry!" Rose cried, snuggling into his stomach.
"Oh, Rose, I'm sorry," Teddy whispered, looking passed her to Henry, who was holding his knee and giving Teddy a watery look, "Rose, give me a sec-"
But the little girl had let go of him and turned to her brother with her hands on her hips, "Oh, Henry!" she said in a perfect imitation of Jessie and the way she often chided the little boy.
A shuffling sound made the three look over to the woman with the blond hair, who had risen and was clutching her brown blanket tighter around her thin frame. Her dark, purple eyes glanced over the three children, but rested on Rose, with her purple hair and bright, shining blue eyes.
"Mrs. Farrows?" Misty asked, as she and all of the rest looked on in confusion.
The blond woman's eyes found Meowth standing on the second step from the bottom. Speaking directly to him, she said, "What can I do to help?"
Her voice was hoarse and quiet from years of being unused.
"Mrs. Farrows, you should rest-"
"No. I'm going to do what I should have done twenty-one years ago," the woman said.
"Kill Giovanni?" Motorcycle asked humorlessly, "Little late, ain't ya, Cath?"
The woman shook her head.
"I'm going to find my god-daughter."
Jessie sighed and hoped that her children were having a good Christmas, wherever they were. And maybe...would it be too much to hope for a Christmas miracle that James was somehow on his way to them? If miracles did exist, anyways. If she couldn't be there for her kids, then he was the next best thing.
James was out of it. Hungry, tired, but unable to sleep. He was laying in his childhood bed, which had most of the headboard torn off from the previous night's attempt to escape. He also couldn't move. He had been put in a strait-jacket, also new after the previous night. And he didn't know what Domino had injected in his arm, but it was definitely doing a number on his head. At least he couldn't feel the cuts on his wrist from the hand cuffs that had been attached to his former headboard.
The room swam and he barely registered what was going on around him. His head was messed up. Reality blurred and twisted in his mind.
"Don't stop," she whispered breathlessly, "Don't ever stop, James."
"Jessie!" he gasped as they moved together beneath the sheets. Her moans of pleasure hit his ears in warm breaths, spurring him towards the edge.
"Think it's taking affect?" a sharp, scratchy voice asked somewhere above him.
"Yeah. He's ready to be bent to Jessiebelle's will," another familiar voice answered, strangely not sounding all that pleased.
He collapsed on top of her, seeing only the red of her hair splayed over the pine green pillow cases.
"I love you," she gasped, bringing his face back to hers and pressing an innocent kiss to his lips.
"Are you okay?" that scratchy, frog-like voice asked in a tone laced with concern. A pause and James saw a flash of golden hair.
"No," that female voice said, "I think I might be sick."
"Cassidy-"
"I don't think I've ever hated who we've become more than I do right now."
"We have orders, Cass."
"I know, but just give me one goddamn minute, Butch."
"Cassidy, you should go back to Viridian."
"I was just there two days ago."
"I know, but it's Christmas and he needs you."
Heels clicked on the floor as she walked away. Heavier footsteps followed her out the door.
A thud echoed in the house, and emerald eyes caught blue and then both sets of eyes traveled to the red glare of the digital clock on the nightstand. 6:00 am.
"You know what that means," she whispered, "Your son is awake."
James picked out red numbers to his left. He didn't know what they meant, nor what was happening when those numbers turned a pale hand pink.
"My son," a soft, southern drawl whispered as tresses of purplish hair tickled his cheek.
"Annette? Darling what are you doing in here? Madam Domino said..."
He stumbled in the dark, tripping to find something to cover himself up. He could hear her doing the same on the other side of the room. He pulled on a pair of pajama pants and fought with an undershirt.
"Momma, Daddy, open the door!" a little voice protested. With a glance at her, he stumbled to let their son in before he woke the whole house. The little boy stared up at his father with a grin and a sparkle in his bright green eyes.
"Madam Domino does not tell me what to do in my own house," that soft voice had turned harsh.
"Annette, you know the stress we're under from-"
"Thomas, what are we doing?"
"Darling, we-"
"He's right, Thomas. We failed him."
"Annette..."
"Thomas, you heard what the girl said."
"That Rocket girl? You're going to listen to a criminal-"
"Her name is Cassidy and is it so difficult to believe that I would listen to a criminal? You listened to them since you signed that piece of paper."
"Annette, I have no choice. If we don't go through with this…if we don't…
"You, Sir, are going to wake the whole house," he said to his young son. Little Henry Morgan laughed as he was swept into his father's arms.
"You're both going to wake up the house," Jessie said, warm laughter in her voice. He looked back at her and saw the love radiating from her eyes as she watched him hold their son close to him.
"Darling, you know we cannot go back on our word to the Sakaki's-"
"Is that more important than our son?" that woman with the soft voice was crying.
"Annette, you don't know-"
"No, Thomas. I do know. I know that we lost our child. Now why should we force him to lose his?"
And for a moment, reality blurred back and James could have sworn he saw tears streaming down the face of a woman who he had thought held no emotion.
Jack and Jessie sat side-by-side, staring down into their respective mugs, each thinking about Christmas, each thinking of loved ones.
Neither heard the faint POP of a pink cat teleporting into the room, nor did they see the lone tear falling from its aqua eyes.
TBC
AN: Here's another 'what's happening in the world off the mountain' chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. I would really love to hear your feedback. It feels like interest in this fic has fallen off. Is there something I'm doing that you don't like? Is there something I need to improve upon? Please let me know!
Songs the inspired this chapter:
-Hurt by Christina Aguilera. It permeated every part of this chapter for me, from Cassidy and Jessie to Teddy and the twins to James and his parents.
-Fight by Ghost of Gloria. Wonderful and inspiring song.