Here to There

L.R.T.

She woke up to the strong smell of flowers - something that made much more sense as her grogginess disappeared and she realized she was in the middle of a field. Flowers of every color, shape, and size ran across the huge expanse of land, the sun setting in the sky above and giving everything it shined on an orange-purple glow.

Looking down at herself, she noticed her hand and finger were no longer injured. That fact perturbed her more than any other, even when she saw that she was wearing one of her nightgowns - white as snow with lace at the hem and sleeveless shoulders. Confused as she was, there was something familiar and calming about the place.

Slowly she stood, wiggling her toes in the tiny daisies and poppies that laid underneath her feet. She ran a hand back through her hair only to find it tied in a long, loose braid with flyaway hairs blowing in the sudden light breeze. Wearing what she was, she should have gotten a chill but instead a flood of warmth rushed through her body, so intense that it made her audibly gasp.

The soft crunching of footsteps on flowers suddenly hit her ears, coming closer and closer. She scanned the area but saw nothing other than flowers for as far as her eyes could see. Turning around in place, she nearly choked on the perfumed air at the sight.

Not questioning it for a moment, she ran to him, her body almost bursting as she found herself able to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him. His arms slid around her waist and he lifted her off the ground, spinning and laughing while she buried her face against his neck. Nothing had ever felt more real. It smelled like him and laughed like him, he even spun her around the way he always had.

It was all so unbearable and beyond what she could handle that she started crying against his skin, her body trembling as her nails dug into his crisp white shirt. He set her down on the ground again and held her, letting her cry and murmuring in a soothing tone as if he were really there.

After a few minutes he pulled back, placing his hands on her cheeks and smiling at her. Even his smile still gave her butterflies and prompted her own, laughing slightly as he brushed away her tears with his thumbs. Before she could open her mouth, his lips were against hers. So much was put behind that one kiss despite the tenderness of it that once again it made her gasp at the intensity.

Sliding her hands down his chest, she clutched his shirt, saying against his lips, "I wish this were real."

He smiled again, kissing her softly once more before pulling away again and looking into her hopeful but sad blue eyes. "It is."

She shook her head slightly and looked down at their bare feet, mostly covered by flowers. "It feels like it is...but it's not." She swallowed hard and closed her eyes, her voice shaking when she stated, "You're dead."

"Well...that doesn't mean that this isn't real."

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, tears threatening to spill again. "What are you talking about?"

He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her close to his body, letting her rest her head against his chest. "This is what you were thinking about when you were holding that gun, right?"

She gripped the back of his shirt, starting quietly, "How did you -"

Running his fingers through her hair lovingly, he rested his chin on top of her head. "If you went through with it, this isn't what it would be like. We still wouldn't get our happy ending."

Her heart stopped for a moment and it was in that brief time that she realized she couldn't hear his beating even though her ear was right up against it. She squeezed her eyes shut again, two tears streaming down her cheeks. "How do we get it, then?"

Kissing the top of her head, he replied, "You live your life. Be happy. Fall in love again. Stop blaming yourself."

She shook her head quickly, nails digging into his skin through the fabric of his shirt. "I can't...I can't without you."

"Sure you can." He slowly pulled back from her and met her teary eyes, smiling again. "You've always been the strong one, remember?"

Shaking her head again, fervently this time, she argued, "There's no reason to be strong anymore."

"What about Meowth? And Mondo?"

"They...they have each other and they're better off."

Smile broadening a little, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers, the glint of familiar mischief she caught in his eyes making her heart ache like it never had before. "What about Professor Sycamore?"

She blinked at him and jerked her head back, staring in confused silence.

He grinned more and pulled her to him again, foreheads resting against each others. "It's okay, you know. I promise."

"What's okay?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"You know...you're just being stubborn right now, that's all." Kissing her quickly on the lips, he said, "Some things never change."

"James..." she managed to get out before crying again, her vision becoming blurry as the onslaught of tears welled up in her eyes.

Placing a hand on her cheek, he tilted his head and continued to smile. "It doesn't mean that you love me any less or that you're forgetting about me. I know you'll never do that. We're still soul mates but...just long distance ones."

"How can you -"

He kissed her again, more passionately this time, catching her as she let her body fall limp against his. "It's okay," he said against her lips. "Stop being stubborn and be happy. For me."

"No," she sobbed, looking into his warm, caring eyes. "I need you! I love you!"

He grinned again, taking her hands in his and squeezing them gently. "I love you, too." His grin began to fade and he looked down, forcing himself to drop her hands from his. "I have to go. I just needed you to know -"

"What?" she barely squeaked out, looking at him in disbelief. "No...no, you can't go. You're here - you're right here! It's you...how can you just leave again?!"

Looking up at her through periwinkle strands of hair, he said, "I don't have much of a choice."

Defiant, she stood up straight and sniffled, clenching her fists. "Then I want to stay, too."

He shook his head, taking one of her fists and using his fingers to open it, entwining with hers. "You have to go back, Jess. Please...please remember what I said. When you finally get it, you'll be so happy...and then I'll be happy, too."

"Just tell me what you want me to do!"

He smiled again and kissed her cheek softly, nuzzling her lovingly. "Always be prepared for trouble."

Just as quickly as he'd appeared, he was gone again, leaving her alone and crumbling to her knees in the middle of the field of flowers. Repeatedly she screamed for him, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The next time she opened her eyes, she saw through thick tears a concerned Professor Sycamore looking down at her, one hand on her cheek and the other on top of her head, brushing through her hair.

Abruptly, she shot up and looked around, breathing heavily and still quietly choking back her sobs. The realization that she was back in Camphrier Town and James wasn't there hit her the same way the warmth of wherever she had just been had done. Clutching her chest and breathing heavier, certain that she was feeling her heart actually breaking, she shook her head and mumbled to herself, "No...no, no...I can't be here...I can't be back here..."

"Jessie..." Augustine said worriedly, sliding his arms around her - pain in his own chest be damned. "It's okay. It was just a bad dream."

She kept shaking her head, trying to get out of his arms. "It wasn't a bad dream! It was..." she trailed off into more tears, letting her body give in and slump against him. "It was James."

He swallowed hard and shut his eyes, holding her tightly and not letting go, no matter what she wanted right then. "I'm so sorry, Jessie."

"I...I felt him. I could feel him. I was touching him and kissing him and I could smell him and taste him." Still shaking her head, trying to will herself back to the utopia she had fallen from, she said in a hoarse whisper, "It was him. I know it was him."

"It probably was," he said softly, starting to smile slightly. "I wouldn't think he would let you get away with what you almost tried today without a talking to."

Shaking, she slowly pulled back from him and stared down at the bed. "He wants me to be happy."

"That sounds about right," Augustine replied, pulling some of the hair that stuck to her tear-stained cheeks back behind her ear. "That's why he came to get me."

"What are you talking about? I thought you said you ran into each other -"

Smiling a little more and glancing down at the bed himself, he interrupted, "I know what I said. It was only so you wouldn't be even more upset with him. And..." He sighed softly, shaking his head, "and so I looked a little less foolish, myself."

"You would go and do that..." she mumbled, turning her head away from him.

"He wanted you to be happy and be with the right person - even if it meant that it wasn't him."

"But it was him."

He nodded, kissing the side of her head and murmuring into her hair, "Yeah. I know."

Wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand, she sniffled. "I can't go back to Viridian City. I can't go back to Team Rocket. That...it was us. If I went back, I would only be wrapping myself in ghosts and making myself even more miserable."

"No one said you had to go back. Ever."

She let out a small laugh, slowly laying back down and pulling the sheets up to her chin. "Where am I supposed to go?"

Professor Sycamore laid down as well, licking his lips and glancing down at the foot of the bed to avoid her gaze. "Stay with me."

Darting her eyes to look at him, she slowly shook her head. "No...I - I can't. I've already been so much of a -"

"If you call yourself a burden one more time, I'll start making you put a penny in a jar every time you do," he said, glancing up at her with a small smile.

She smiled back slightly, biting her lip. "Joke's on you - I'm poor as dirt."

He shrugged a little, fighting back a wince but still making a face at the pain. "Then I guess you shouldn't go calling yourself a burden anymore."

Smiling more, biting her now-quivering lip harder, she met his eyes with her own. "Could I really stay? Just for a little while?"

Looking back into her eyes, he nodded, pained face replaced with a smile. "As long as you can stand me."

She took a deep, shaky breath and scooted close to him, curling up against his body and placing her sore hand against his chest once again. Closing her eyes, she couldn't help but smile more at the beating of his heart she felt against her hand and in her ears.

She still had no idea what James had meant by everything being okay and telling her to stop being stubborn; maybe it didn't mean anything at all but was just James being James. Opening one eye, she glanced up at the ceiling, thinking to herself, "Still trying to be my hero...now who's the stubborn one?"

Resting her chin and arms on the back of the sofa, Jessie grinned as Meowth rubbed a tiny cloth bag all over his face, purrs that could give a construction site a run for its money emanating from his mouth. She snickered, watching him roll around on the floor and paw at the thing, teasing him, "Hey, drunkie...I should probably take that thing away from you now..."

He stopped mid-face rub and narrowed his eyes at her, his pupils dilated beyond the sliver they usually were. Letting out a hiss and keeping his glare on her for a few more seconds, he returned to happily playing with the bag.

Emerging from the elevator, Professor Sycamore stared down at his hand, fingering whatever he held in it. He looked up and saw Jessie actually laughing and Meowth reverting back to his more primal urges.

He joined her on the couch, eyebrows raised at the Pokemon that was now hugging the object of its affection to his body. "Well, it's good to know that my Poke-nip gets his seal of approval."

"You ask for it, you know," Jessie said, smiling at him coyly. "I drink and now you've got Meowth on drugs." Resting back against the couch, she held her hands up in innocence. "Don't look at me when he's pawning your TV for his latest fix."

"If I always have some on hand, that won't be a problem, will it?" he replied with a smile before lowering his gaze and letting out a heavy sigh.

Jessie frowned and tilted her head to the side. "What is it?"

Taking a deep breath, he ran a hand back through his hair anxiously. "I've been asked to go with some workers to what's left of the Team Flare hideout in Geosenge."

She shifted against the couch at the mention of both Team Flare and the city she had made a specific point to stay as far away from as possible. "Why?"

"The police have finally finished their investigation and they'd like to start cleaning it up. They were actually kind enough to think of me and see if I would want to join them to make sure they didn't get rid of anything important Lysandre may have in regards to mega-evolution."

Nodding slightly, she looked down at her lap, lowering her voice. "That makes sense. If it's there, that means he doesn't have it and there's no one else that should be trusted with that kind of information but you."

"Well..." he started cautiously, rubbing the back of his neck, "there's also the fact that I didn't notice him wearing his ring in Camphrier Town. He may still have it and didn't want to risk losing it but..."

Jessie blinked and urged him on, "But?"

"It...is possible that he's already lost it and it's in the ruins of the hideout." He reached into the pocket of his lab coat and took out the object he was playing with, keeping it hidden in his clasped hand. "If there's a chance that I can get it back, I have to take it. I have to keep him from using mega-evolution as a means to his end."

She smiled a little and reached forward, placing her hand over his. "You know that I'll never be against ruining that freak's plans in any way possible."

Augustine looked up at her through his hair and laughed slightly, shaking his head. "I wasn't expecting you to be. In fact, the real reason I needed to tell you this is because..." Inhaling sharply, he took his hand from under hers and used his other to turn her hand palm up. From his other hand he placed a stone in hers and quickly made her close her hand. "I would never, ever ask you to do this if I didn't think it was important."

Jessie swallowed hard and nodded a little, eyes darting to her hand, his own still holding it closed. "What is it?"

"It's a Mewtwonite Y. The Guru, Gurkinn, gave it to me years ago when I first became a professor and delved deeper into my research. I don't know how he got it and I have no idea if it would actually work on Mewtwo..." He sighed, taking his hand away from hers, "Provided it even exists."

She looked up at him quizzically, almost in disbelief. "What? Of course it exists. I've seen it a bunch of times."

Professor Sycamore jerked his head up to look at her, eyes wide with disbelief of his own. "What?! When? How?"

Shrugging as she opened her palm to look at the stone inside, she replied, "Several very long stories but I'll cut to the chase: Team Rocket made Mewtwo."

"Not just Team Rocket," came the slurred voice from the floor, "but da boss himself!" Lower lip suddenly trembling, Meowth sat up and put his head in his paws, wailing, "I miss my clone!"

"Right, because the world needs more than one of you," Jessie retorted.

"Wait, wait..." the professor said, frazzled, waving his hands in the air and shutting his eyes as he tried to understand. "Your organization...your boss...created this Pokemon? And there are clones?"

Looking back down at the stone, she said, "When you put it like that, I suppose I can understand your reaction."

Professor Sycamore shook his head, reaching for the stone but being blocked by Jessie. "Jessie, I can't give this to you. Not now that I know all this."

She held her hand with the stone in it to her chest, frowning at him. "What? Why not? It's not like we had anything to do with Mewtwo and I have no idea what happened to the thing."

"Every time we saw it, it was...it was..." Burying his face against his Poke-nip bag, Meowth sobbed out, "a mistake!"

Jessie turned her frown to Meowth. "I think you've had too much to sniff."

"Jessie, I'm begging you. Please." He put both of his hands on her cheeks and looked into her eyes, his own dark ones pleading. "The only reason I even considered giving this to you was because I wasn't entirely certain that Mewtwo wasn't simply a myth. Now that I know it's real and there's an equally real possibility that stone may work on it, I can't put you in that kind of danger. I won't."

Standing up, she tucked the stone away in her front pocket and crossed her arms. "I can handle it."

Professor Sycamore stood as well, the look in his eyes changing from concern and worry to annoyance. "This isn't a game, Jessie! Being that you've seen Mewtwo in the flesh, I take it that you can confirm how terrifying and strong it is." Getting a nod in response, he continued, "These stones take Pokemon that we once thought were at their maximum power and push it even further. The damage that could be done with that stone is..." he trailed off and shook his head.

"One problem: they would have to find it first and from what I remember, it's not really in to that," she snapped.

"Hey!"

Jessie and the professor turned and watched as a clumsy Meowth made three attempts to jump onto the back of the couch before giving up and laying back down on the floor.

"Dis could be da nip talkin' but...if some bad dude is out dere lookin' for dis ting, wouldn't Jess be da last place dey'd check? 'Cause of all dose reasons you said." He waved his paw in the air, limply. "Ya know, da danger and da love and all dat business."

Clenching her teeth, she turned her head away from both Meowth and Professor Sycamore, her cheeks tinting with pink. Augustine looked down, averting his gaze from her as well, unmanaged hair in his eyes. There was an all-encompassing silence that was only broken when Meowth began to snore loudly behind the couch.

"He's not wrong," Professor Sycamore said quietly. "They would assume that I would never put you in harm's way and never suspect that you had it the entire time." He looked up at her slightly, sticking his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. "As if this whole situation wasn't dangerous enough."

Glancing at him, she met his eyes briefly before looking away once again, out the large window to the bustling city of Lumiose below. "I can handle it. You can trust me."

He let out a long, heaving sigh, rubbing a hand across his face. "It's not that I don't trust you -"

Jessie blinked at the thought that went through her mind and quickly turned to look at him, startling the young professor. "I'll come with you."

"What?"

"To the hideout. I'll go with you. That way you can babysit me all you like."

"It's not babysitting -"

"I need to go there at some point anyway," she blurted out, pursing her lips together after.

Augustine stepped closer to her, looking at her sympathetically. "Jessie..."

"Dere's dis cabin outside da town a ways," Meowth groaned, seemingly a voice without a body. "Team Rocket surveillance place. Mondo said it's been abandoned since..." he trailed off.

Jessie forced a small smile, gesturing with her head behind the couch. "See? It'll be fine."

He ran both of his hands back through his hair and laughed softly, nervously. "You're not going to take 'no' for an answer, are you?"

She shrugged and sat back down on the couch, peering down at Meowth. "You coming, too?"

A grin slowly spread across the Pokemon's face as he lifted his paw and gave a paws up in response. "Ya ain't gettin' rid of me!"

Reaching down, she poked him in his belly, causing him to whine out a meow and squirm. "So I've noticed."

Professor Sycamore joined Jessie, flopping down on the couch and resting his head back against it. "The entire point was to avoid any possible contact with Lysandre at all -"

"That worked out so well for you before," she said flatly.

Unable to argue that point, he simply nodded a little, eyes travelling to the small bulge in her front pocket. "I hate every part of this, you know."

Placing her hand on his shoulder and squeezing, Jessie leaned forward and said, "Welcome to the life of the illustrious Team Rocket."