Chapter 48: Off the Mountain

Picture, you're the queen of everything
As far as the eye can see
Under your command
I will be your guardian
When all is crumbling
I steady your hand

You can never say never
While we don't know when
Time, time, time again
Younger now than we were before

...The Fray - Never Say Never

Jack sat in the waiting room of the pokemon center with his head in his hands and a sick feeling in his stomach. He still wasn't completely sure what had happened back in the cabin. All he knew was that one minute, Jessie was being tortured and the next, there was a hole in his floor and Miya's ninetales was shooting flames at the Rockets. Then Jessie's cuff glowed purple and fell from her wrists. Jack's ankle bracelet had done the same.

They were free.

Jack hadn't dwelled too much on that fact. He had ran to Jessie, carrying her outside where there was a fierce pokemon battle raging between Domino and her grunts and two young men. It had been a blond woman who had called him by name, directing him to a small plane. He realized quite quickly who she was as she helped him tend to his daughter. A steelix ended up destroying the Rockets' helicopter before starting an avalanche. The small plane barely made it off of the mountain in time.

They landed in a nearby town to get Jessie medical attention. She was touch and go for the majority of the flight and needed medical care. She had electricity burns and she had to be resuscitated twice during the flight by Brock. The only facility this town had was a pokemon center, but the Joy there was willing to help. She and her chansey had whisked Jessie into the ER, leaving Jack out in the waiting room with his rescuers: Brock Harrison, Catherine Farrows, Silver Sakaki, and a talking Meowth.

At the moment, Brock was using a phone to call his wife, Silver was sulking in a corner, and Meowth was pacing the floor. Catherine had gone to find coffee, knowing that they would be there awhile. Jack didn't know how to process any of it. He had a million questions for the little troupe that rescued him and Jessie from the mountains, but all of them were put on the backburner as he waited for news on his daughter. He lifted his head and his gaze was drawn to the window. The mountain that had been his constant companion was crumbling, the snow finally giving way after piling up for twenty-two years. The shack was gone, destroyed by Ninetails, Jessie's friends, and the avalanche that they all had barely escaped. It was with a sick pleasure in his stomach that Jack thought of Domino and her grunts, who hadn't been so lucky. Before meeting Domino and seeing the harm she had inflicted upon Jessie, he would have never wished that type of death on anyone.

Perhaps it was karma or fate. Or maybe it was just Miya. He liked to think so. He liked to think that maybe she intervened to save their daughter's life.

His heart gave an unpleasant lurch at the thought of Miya, and leaving her alone and unfound on that mountain. He remembered when he first arrived in the Andes. He had screamed her name and searched his four mile radius in the hope that she might be still alive somewhere. After awhile, he stopped trying, but a little part of him had always been on the lookout for some sign of her, just to give him that closure. Now he was leaving the mountain. He would never know and she would remain buried beneath the snow.

Miya's ninetails let out a whine and gently nuzzled his hand. There was no way that he had been about to leave the fox pokemon on that mountain. Jack didn't know how it had survived all those years, but he was thankful that it did. He owed Ninetails his daughter's life.

"Thank you," he whispered, "Thank you so much."

She whined back at him and curled down at his feet, only to perk back up again at the approaching footsteps. Catherine was there in front of him, offering a cup of coffee. He took it and watched as she sat down beside him. She was another enigma, barely recognizable after twenty-two years. She was too thin and too scarred.

"She'll be okay, Jack," Catherine said softly, "She's got a lot of Miya in her."

Jack said nothing. At twenty-six, Jessie was only two years younger than Miya had been when she died on the mountain. He didn't want to think that his daughter could die young like her mother.

"And aside from that, Meowth tells me that she'd be too hard-headed to give up now," Catherine continued.

"She is," the cat-type pokemon ejected suddenly, pausing in his pacing, "and she's da toughest person I know."

Jack managed a small smile at the fierce protectiveness of the pokemon for Jessie. Meowth had been difficult on the plane, almost as if he were guarding Jessie's unconscious form. He refused to completely trust Jack near her, even when Jack claimed to be her father. If anything, that just made Meowth more hostile.

"Agreed," Silver added from his corner, one of the first things he had said since they had arrived at the center. From the first moment Jack laid eyes on him, Jack knew that Silver was his nephew. He had the grey eyes of Ava Sakaki. Jack had yet to address this, but he knew there would be time later.

He did feel better knowing, however, that so many people were so sure that his daughter would pull through. It made him more hopeful.

0

Jessie was nearly blinded by the white lights. For one horrible moment, she didn't know where she was, but that feeling of panic was tamped down when she realized that a Nurse Joy was covering her with a blanket. She knew enough to know that she was in a pokemon center. She wanted to ask why and how, but her voice didn't seem to work. The last thing she remembered was her mother's face.

"Oh, you're awake!" Joy exclaimed when she turned and saw Jessie's eyes open. Jessie nodded and tried to move up to a sitting position. She winced in pain. Electric burns.

"Take it easy," Joy admonished as she held a little cup with a straw up to Jessie's lips "You've suffered a severe electric shock."

The water cooled Jessie's stinging throat and she managed to find her voice, "Where?" she croaked.

"Snow Peak Pokemon Center," Joy replied, "When your friends brought you here, you were unconscious."

"Jack?" she asked.

"I'll get your friends," Joy replied, leaving her. For a moment, Jessie felt panic. What if something had happened to Jack on the mountain? What if he had been hurt too?

She waited for a few moments, almost afraid of who would come through the door.

She was completely gobsmacked when a cream-coloured ball of fur launched up onto her bed and threw his paws around her neck.

"Ya scared da hell outta me, Jess!" Meowth protested. Jessie couldn't even feel the burns anymore as she wrapped her arms around the little feline.

"Oh, Meowth," she gasped, tears slipping from her eyes as she embraced her friend. Meowth was probably the last being that Jessie thought she'd see at that moment, but she had never been more thankful for him. She looked over his shoulder, half expecting to see James, but instead, there was Jack, looking older than she had ever seen him. Beside him, there was an older, heavily scarred blond lady, and two young men that Jessie did recognize: Brock and Silver. A ninetales sat at Jack's feet.

"I...I don't understand," Jessie stammered.

"Meowth managed to get your children to Seto's cabin," Silver answered, "I escorted them to Pallet Town, where the cat came up with a half-baked plan to find you."

"They arrived shortly after Domino," Jack added, sitting down beside her bedside to take her hand, "They're the reason we're here. Without them, we would've been buried in an avalanche."

"It was good timing," Brock said with a smile. Jessie nodded her head, knowing that that good timing wasn't an accident or coincidence.

"Mom," she whispered under her breath,

"What?" Jack asked. Meowth gave her a dubious look.

"Nothing," Jessie said quickly, "So what happened to Domino and her goons?"

Jack made a face and explained, "They didn't make it out of the avalanche."

Jessie frowned, wondering if Mew saved any of them like it normally would have or if it left Domino to the fate she deserved. Jessie hoped it was the latter. If anyone deserved to be crushed by a mountain, it was Domino.

"We'll be staying here until Joy determines that you're fit to travel," Brock changed the subject, "Silver says that we shouldn't linger."

"Once the coward has word that we're here, no doubt he'll send more goons," Silver growled, absently playing with a bandage on his arm.

"It is true," Jack agreed.

Jessie attempted to sit up more, "Well, what are we waiting for?" she wondered, "I'm okay. I-"

"We've already decided to stay the night," the blond woman with the scarred face said softly, "Take the time to rest. Joy said your injuries are extensive."

Jessie didn't look convinced.

"Catherine's right, Jessie," Jack added, "You're not about to walk out of here in your condition."

Jessie frowned and asked, "Catherine? As in Mom's friend? Cassidy's mom?"

A sad, almost strained smile appeared on Catherine's face as she confirmed Jessie's statement, "Yes, that's me...though it's been a long time since I was either of those things."

"What do you mean?" Jessie wondered. Catherine pulled up another chair.

"After your mother passed...I was devastated. She was my best friend. We were like sisters and then...she was gone," she explained, "A year later, so was I...imprisoned in one of Giovanni's prisons under the Seafoam Islands."

"You?" Jack asked, his eyes wide, "But...why?"

"I'm assuming because Giovanni Sakaki is a psychotic, murdering asshole," Silver supplied helpfully.

"You really hate him, don't you?" Brock commented.

"Hate implies caring," Silver corrected, "and I could really care less about the deplorable creature. Continue, Mrs. Farrows."

His tone left no room for argument, even though Jessie could clearly see Jack's frown.

"Everything happened so fast and I was too slow to stop any of it...and then I was too naive and too stubborn," Catherine began, "When Giovanni took over, he was taking over at a time when most of Team Rocket was grieving. Miya was the first to pass away that December. She wasn't the last. Madam Boss and Joseph, Giovanni and Jack's brother, were found dead in her office. Amy Carson, her secretary, was found dead outside the doors."

"Amy?" Jack questioned, "Her too?"

"Yes," Catherine said sadly, "I think that she was a loose end to be tied up. If she had lived, I believe that she would have contradicted Giovanni's story. He told everyone that you were the one who murdered them, out of revenge for Miya, and that you had fled. I didn't believe it."

Jack looked dubious and asked, "Really?"

"You had some difficulties with your mother and brother, but I knew you loved them," Catherine replied, "and I remembered how much you cared about Amy and Butch. You would never hurt them and after what happened to Jade, I knew that you would never take a child's mother away like that."

Silver made an odd sort of noise that he disguised as a cough.

Catherine continued, "Miya had told me before that it was Giovanni that you two had been worried about. I put it together. I convinced the old crowd that he had been lying. We met a few times, trying to piece together what happened, if you had fled or if it was something more sinister. All we knew was that you and Jessie were both gone."

"Gone?" Jessie wondered.

"I went to Viridian Peak the day after the murders took place," Catherine revealed, "If you had been there, I would've took you home with me. Your mother had even put it in her will. She and Miki didn't always get on. Miki had been living a pretty rough party life in the Peak and there had been some hard feelings after your grandmother passed. When I got there, you and your aunt were months, I searched orphanages and whatever leads I could find, but eventually, I had to admit defeat. I had failed. I was forced to admit that either you were with your father or Giovanni had done something to you and your aunt."

"Wow," Jessie breathed, wondering what it would have been like if Catherine had succeeded in finding her all those years ago. Would all of this never have happened? Would she and Cassidy have taken a different path? Would they have taken on the world as friends -sisters- instead of bitter rivals?

"I wish that I could have done more for you, Jessie," Catherine admitted, "I really, really, do. Meowth has told me a little about your past."

At this, Meowth managed a sheepish grin and shrugged at Jessie.

"So how did you end up imprisoned?" Jack wondered.

"As I said, a bunch of us didn't believe Giovanni's story. We knew that there was more too it. We knew that Giovanni being in charge meant trouble for all. We didn't like what Giovanni was doing to the organization. Teams were split, horrible experiments were carried out, and anyone who supported Madam Boss was persecuted. We wanted to do something and we had found out that the best way to do that was to break into Giovanni's office. We figured that we could find something that would help us. We had planned our little heist to be on the one year anniversary of Miya's death..."

TBC

Next: Catherine's Story