eight: something wrong
As Jessie entered the jarringly lit storage room that was now their workspace, she found James and Meowth hunched over in conversation. The two of them stood up immediately upon her entering, Meowth bouncing over closer as they both looked her way pointedly. "What? Did you need me around for something so badly?" Jessie said, not feeling like a true greeting given this kind of reaction.
"No, we haven't heard a peep from those squeaky scientists. There's nothing new and we're all caught up," James said.
So what was up with their hyper alert reaction to her entering? She might have even taken the whole day given this information, right? Jessie sat down and frowned rather than ask more about whatever was up with them.
"Did you have a good time, Jess?" Meowth said with a smirk that implied it was a little too interested in the goings-on of a human couple. "I bet you were able to get as close to him as you wanted, huh?"
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet called out as it exited its pokeball, seeming to affirm what Meowth suspected.
"Haha, really?" Meowth replied.
Jessie took out the pokeball and pressed the button to bring her pokemon back in, not wanting to know what Wobbuffet had decided to mention. "If there's nothing to do here, maybe we should go and do something else. We can find ways to be useful to Team Rocket ourselves if they can't, right? We'll just get right out there and nab the most powerful pokemon while they're still working on ways to get their weak ones to pack a punch!"
"Right," James said, then peering toward the table. Jessie frowned, noting he was much more distracted than interested in her idea.
"Did you have something in mind?" Meowth asked.
"Hey, James," Jessie said loudly, ignoring Meowth's question. "If you have something to say, just say it!"
James looked back up, nodding. He glanced at Meowth, who frowned before continuing. "I was just discussing with Meowth if it was worth mentioning. I think it is."
"Might as well. It was just a little, uh, who knows," Meowth said.
James looked back toward Jessie, whose interest was definitely piqued. "Just today, while you were gone, your boyfriend's field partner came in," he said.
Cassidy had? Well, Butch had told her what was going on. She'd even watched them leaving with a bag packed, him mentioning when they'd be back. Maybe James thought Butch was playing the both of them, but that plainly wasn't what was going on. "And so? Was she critiquing what we're doing here again?" Jessie guessed.
"No. She was looking for him," James informed.
Was Cassidy just that picky and controlling, Jessie wondered? They'd come back later in the day rather than starting the work day first thing in the morning, and micromanaging didn't seem above Jessie's annoying rival at all. That was probably what had happened.
"She yelled at us when we said we didn't know where you two were," Meowth added.
"She was extremely upset. I hadn't seen her like that at all. Her looking for him wasn't surprising, but not being as composed as usual was odd," James said.
So James hadn't been implying what Jessie had suspected. He just didn't know what to make of Cassidy, and neither did Jessie from the scene spelled out. Was realizing she didn't have as much control over someone as she thought getting the annoying person upset? Maybe Cassidy really was jealous. Of course, the intrusion could have nothing to do with any of that at all. Jessie sat on the bench, resting a hand on her chin and deciding to disregard it all for the moment. "Thanks for telling me," she said to James with a shrug. "And yes, Meowth, I did have a good time."
"Details!" Meowth demanded what it wasn't about to get.
"Did you end up pushing him about the marriage topic?" James asked.
Pushing him? Had she? Jessie opened her eyes wider and stared out at the various stored experimental devices as she considered it. No, she decided. The topic had come up naturally, and there was no push at all. She had pressured others in the past to take a relationship further in various ways. That had just messed things up from there, and didn't want to do so again. Then again, maybe it had been right to push, and from there realize they'd never have given her what she wanted. Walking the line was difficult.
But this really wasn't the same situation at all. Butch had seemed surprised that she might consider the idea. What did he think about it? He'd only smiled, seeming elated during their brief conversation on the topic. Maybe it was even better not to rush. At the current point in their relationship, things seemed just fine. "Maybe it came up," Jessie admitted, not wanting to get into too much detail. "He wasn't at all opposed to the idea."
"Woah! You're blasting right along!" Meowth exclaimed, celebrating along with Jessie.
James was more reserved. "Be careful. Don't let him continually string you along, like a grunt baiting a pokemon into a trap," he warned.
"Oh, you mean like you've strung along your own fiancée for how many years?" Jessie asked.
"What? No! I haven't!" James insisted, losing his composure at the mention of Jessebelle. "She knows, and my parents know - They all know I don't want to marry her! They just ignore me." James continued to whine on after clarifying things.
Jessie had known it was more or less like that, but shifting to that topic saved her from having to keep talking about herself and her own situation. James's dramatics were a great distraction. She even joined in as Meowth started asking him teasing, invasive questions instead. She didn't need to discuss her boyfriend and their situation with either of her partners. Jessie was as content as she might be at this point. The current status quo was sublime, with a tomorrow that only held promise.
"There you are!" Cassidy accosted Butch in the otherwise empty hall before he could even head back to his dorm to get into his uniform.
He stopped, observing her with some concern. She had pulled her arms close to her body, her jaw clenched, looking angry. At the same time, she was near tears, though only he might notice that, being familiar with how she used anger to cover up fear and sorrow. "Something happen?" Butch asked.
"What took you so long to get back," Cassidy spat, her words and tone seeming more accusing than asking an actual question. She paced, folding her arms and tensing up as she shook her head, peering around the corner for who might be listening in.
"If you need my help, I'm here now," Butch said seriously.
"You're here, but I guess that won't do me any good. You're putting Jessie over me now, aren't you," Cassidy accused, glaring up at him as she approached.
Upon hearing the statement, Butch was at a loss for words. He barely processed it. Of course, Jessie was his actual girlfriend, meanwhile Cassidy had never been. That meant Jessie was indeed number one, but seeing Cassidy nearly cry about it in front of him made him hesitate to affirm that fact. He'd never wanted to hurt Cassidy, but it seemed he'd done so yet again.
"You don't even care about what's happened, do you?" Cassidy continued, still putting up a front of rage as stepped menacingly toward him, still keeping her body tense though Butch still notice her subtle tremble. "What you promised was just a bunch of shit, wasn't it?"
The mention of a promise brought to mind the time with Jessie. Butch had promised to stay with Jessie no matter what, in Team Rocket or out of it. The former was problematic even if it turned out to be what Jessie wanted, and Butch had been dreaming of the latter. They'd even talked about marriage on the outing he'd just returned from. Just being able to talk about something like that without pretense was more than what Butch felt he deserved, and he'd been satisfied with that much. He wanted it, but he couldn't have it.
After all, then he'd never be able to follow through with the one promise he'd made to Cassidy.
Was that what she was referring to? Butch lightly placed his hand on his field partner's shoulder, and she looked up at him, her brow deeply furrowed as she pouted. "I'm here. Tell me what's going on," he said calmly.
Cassidy pursed her lips and swallowed, glancing away. "I thought they'd given up on that idiotic experiment they had been badgering us about. It's stupid, right?" she said before looking back into his eyes. "But now it's on again. You get what that means, right? I'm on the hook."
"You're not," Butch affirmed right away. "I meant what I said."
"Even now, with you and Jessie and all your bullshit?" Cassidy challenged.
He pulled his hand away, not wanting to expose her to his own upset. Everything that had gone on with Jessie did make following through with his promise to Cassidy difficult. But if the heat was really turning up, how could he let Cassidy fall like this? How could he just leave her behind after all she'd been through and everyone else in her life that had let her down? He couldn't just be a person that walked away from someone that needed him, counted on him. He wouldn't let his close friend - co-worker of several years be crushed like this, especially after he'd allowed her to count on him. "Yeah. I didn't think it'd be needed, but I meant it. I guess me and Jessie are done," he said, all while feeling crushed himself. What he'd selfishly wanted wasn't possible given what Cassidy was asking for, and Jessie might even be hurt by this as well. What had he been doing all this time?
"I'll tell her," Cassidy declared, interrupting his thoughts.
"No." Butch brought himself out of his contemplation, shaking his head. "I should."
"No. I will. I don't trust you to be clear enough."
Maybe he should insist on giving Jessie that much, but in the shock of everything else didn't speak after that declaration. Cassidy turned and left not long after making it.
Having moved past the topic of her love life, and then the various strifes both of her partners experienced in that area, Jessie ended up having fun joking with James and Meowth about the eccentric scientists they were working under. They all seemed pretty caught up in their own often silly ideas of how they could improve pokemon with what Jessie's group had termed their 'push button' devices, yet the group of them were supposed to take the scientists seriously. Her, James, and Meowth had fun pretending to push buttons while doing various silly things like pretending to explode or walking like a robot. Making fun of the scientists and assistants themselves while going through the various failures of devices was enough to fill the time, but then Jessie decided they were going to leave early since they weren't being given anything to do. It wasn't very responsible, but neither James nor Meowth objected. They left with smiles on their faces, Meowth discussing how they might fill their time to their own satisfaction.
"Where are you two going?" a known assistant to the scientists barked. Jessie and her friends both shuddered in surprise, caught in their escape. "We told you where we needed you right away."
That much wasn't true. "You haven't told us to do anything!" Jessie barked back. "If you had a job for us, you should have let us know right away!"
"I know you got the message!" the assistant countered.
"It was us."
Jessie turned around. The man next to Cassidy that had spoken was of course, familiar, but it seemed like all life had been drained from him since that morning. His eyes, his voice, his deadpan expression, none of it was like the person Jessie had gotten to know at all. Cassidy glared at Jessie, seeming somewhat disturbed herself. Such actions on the rival's part were typical, but Jessie's boyfriend changing in such a dramatic fashion since that morning wasn't normal. Something had clearly happened. Even knowing she ought to wait until later to ask, Jessie decided she wanted to know right away. "What's with you?" she demanded, trying meet Butch's eyes even as he stared at the ground.
"Go ahead of me," Cassidy directed. "I'll let Jessie know."
"He can let me know anything he wants to himself!" Jessie shouted. Why was Cassidy butting in? Jessie's rival seemed to have enough respect to stay out of their relationship before.
Butch hesitated, looking back toward Jessie, but Cassidy stepped between them. "He's done with you. I can tell you what's needed," Cassidy said firmly.
"You can mind your own business!" Jessie shouted back. Of course he wasn't done with her. That made no sense. Why was Cassidy suddenly getting like this after knowing to step back? And more annoyingly, why wasn't Jessie's boyfriend saying anything, or even reacting at all? Jessie had just been concerned about whatever was going on. "Get out of my way," she said, taking a step closer to Cassidy. Jessie raised her fists, not quite ready to fight but not exactly feeling above it at the moment either.
"I just told you he's done with you," Cassidy repeated. She finally did look toward her field partner. "That's right, isn't it? You can tell her that."
"It's obviously wrong. Let this interloper know," Jessie said, trying to meet eyes with the man who refused to, though he had just been giving her all of his attention for days. "Butch! Look at me! Talk to me!" Jessie said.
Her boyfriend finally did look up, still with the defeated expression on his face. "I'm sorry," he said. "I can't- Yeah..."
The response wasn't clear, though it did have some unfortunate implications. Jessie wasn't able to immediately reply. In the lull, the lab assistant spoke. "You're the one, right? Let's get moving." Butch followed him back into the next hall.
Though Jessie wanted to stop them, find out what was going on, again Cassidy got in the way. "You've been misunderstanding things," she said.
"Shut up," Jessie shot back. What had made her boyfriend suddenly look like that? Jessie didn't know, but suddenly wanted to take the invitation and quit Team Rocket right away if that was how staying was going to affect Butch, or even anyone. He'd promised that, so she could let him know she was ready, couldn't she? Well, that might be hasty, but Jessie at least wanted to talk to him.
Cassidy still blabbed on and she stood in the way. "He's mine, you know," she said.
"Huh?" Jessie's brow furrowed. What was with this delusion. "Your what? Your ex?" she said.
"No," Cassidy seemed to admit what Butch had already affirmed. "He's just mine. You never had him, and you never will."
"He's your what?" Jessie asked again. She gave Cassidy only a second to respond, and no answer was provided, so she continued. "You can't even answer that? You're just rambling. He's actually mine you know. My friend, lover, boyfriend - he was none of that for you, isn't that right?"
Cassidy's shoulders went up as she folded her arms, but then she just scowled. "He never told you about us?" she asked.
"He told me something happened, and you were unsatisfying," Jessie shot back. Maybe he hadn't been so crass, but Cassidy needed to know to back off already. "Maybe he doesn't bother to tell you about anything, but we're actually together."
Cassidy seemed to be taken aback by that comment at first, but then just sighed. "Did you think you were the only one?" she said calmly. "He's fooled around like that plenty of times."
Jessie had known Butch had been with other people, the one in front of her included. It had briefly bothered her, even having decided not to be bothered at all. Even so, Cassidy shoving the fact in her face did have some kind of effect. Even with his past, she trusted him. But why wasn't he out here talking to his girlfriend, and instead letting his co-worker go on and on with this crap?
"You were nothing special," Cassidy declared. Jessie realized she'd stepped back instead of continuing to insist this person get out of her way. Before that could be corrected, Cassidy continued on with her nonsense. "Meanwhile, I have a connection with him that's beyond what you think you had. Beyond your comprehension, really. So just forget about him."
With that, Cassidy followed where Butch and the lab assistant had gone. After the door to the next hall slammed, Jessie found anger overtaking her, and she followed. Finding the door had been locked, she began pounding on it. "Open up! Let me in, right now!"
"Jessie!" James and Meowth approached her, but Jessie wasn't ready to be consoled, not even really listening to what they said. What Cassidy had said obviously made no sense, but neither had Butch's reaction. Forget Cassidy's bizarreness, she wanted to talk to her boyfriend right away. Something was wrong. What was any of this even about?
(End Part I)