AN- It's been such a long time but I finally got around to writing this! I've missed this so much :')
In general this story will be much lighter than If Skies Should Fall.
It's not 100% necessary to read If Skies Should Fall before this, as in it's technically possible to work out what's going on through context clues, but I advise at least skimming the first and last couple of chapters of ISSF if you want a clear picture.
I hope you enjoy! :D
Songs that inspired this chapter:
- Mauvaise journée, by Stromae
- Ghosts of my Hometown, by The Strike
- Black Swan Pablo Nouvelle Remix, by aeseaes and Pablo Nouvelle
- Cold Lights, by The Birthday Massacre
"Yeah, I'll get the uhhhh…"
Last night Cassidy had hacked into Team Rocket's database. It had taken her five hours, but finally, finally she'd done it, after weeks of nothing. Even sleep deprived she was still buzzing from the shock.
"... Nicely Spicely Bean Burger, no tomato, with the crinkle chips…"
Sure, it was a risk. It always was when you messed around with an organisation like that- though she'd taken every precaution she knew to cover her digital tracks. And no one had come for her yet, that was a good sign.
"... regular iced peach tea, and a cup holder, if you have one…"
She was sure she was near a breakthrough. All the dirt in Team Rocket waited at home for her to sift through, and it was only a matter of time before she found her golden piece of info.
"... how much are the nanab cookies?"
She could hardly wait…
"Excuse me? Miss?"
Cassidy snapped to attention. She'd almost forgotten where she was.
"I'm sorry," she said, plastering on her best customer service smile. "Could you repeat that?"
The elderly man she was serving hesitated. "Which part?"
"Just like, what food you want."
Before the customer's face could fall any further, Cassidy's coworker, Femi, stepped out from behind the fryer.
"The nanab cookies are fifty cents, sir," he clarified. "And that's one bean burger no tomato, crinkle chips with the sweet chilli sauce, a regular iced peach tea, and a cup holder- is that right?"
The man beamed at him. "Yes, that's right."
"And would you like any of the nanab cookies?"
"Oh, well since they're so cheap, I might as well get some for the grandkids- I'll have three, please."
"... and three nanab cookies," Femi confirmed, punching the order into the register. "Good taste, they're my favourite- feel free to grab a seat, I'll bring that over as soon as it's ready."
As the old man shuffled away, Femi turned to Cassidy.
"You good, Darla?"
Cassidy shook her head. "Yeah, sorry. Just zoned out for a minute."
Femi's eyebrow stayed arched, suspicious. "It's a little early to be forgetting a whole entire order."
"Look, we don't all have your photographic memory bullshit."
Femi got to work wrapping the burger while Cassidy bagged the cookies; by this point in their working relationship they seldom needed to decide these things out loud.
"Well as long as you're okay," Femi said. "You've been yawning a lot, that's all."
"Didn't sleep," Cassidy yawned, "very much." She put the cookies on the tray and moved onto the peach tea.
"Anything fun?" he asked.
"Nah, just… reading."
"You wanna be careful with that, especially at night. My mum got mad eye strain 'cause she read in the dim and wouldn't wear her glasses."
"Yeah," Cassidy mumbled, barely listening. She couldn't get the damn lid on the cup; she'd push down one side of the lid only for the other side to pop back up. Frustrated, she slammed her hand down over the whole lid- sending it flying and knocking the whole cup over.
"And she still won't wear them, even now that- hey, easy!" Femi exclaimed, noticing the spill. Most of the iced tea had splashed to the floor, and the rest of it was busy soaking into Cassidy's uniform.
Femi quickly pulled a length of paper towels from the roll, and knelt down by the spill to mop it up.
"Sorry," Cassidy groaned. She binned the sticky cup and got a fresh one. "I'll pour another-"
"Um, you know what? Why don't you take the rest of the day off, catch up on that sleep."
Cassidy was about to argue that she was perfectly capable when she realised his suggestion suited her. "I've already used all my sick days," she said eventually.
"Don't worry about that," he dismissed, waving the hand that wasn't wiping up peach tea. "We're over the lunch rush anyway, I can close up."
There was a little flutter of gratitude in Cassidy's heart. Not a feeling she was used to. "Well actually that'd be ideal, if you really don't mind."
Femi smirked up at her. "No offence, but I'd probably have less to clean up if you left."
"Offence taken!" Cassidy scoffed. "Still, I'll take it."
She helped clean up the rest of the tea, and set another cup to fill before untying her apron. As she folded it on the counter Femi lidded the cup, succeeding annoyingly fast.
"Make sure you get good sleep," he said, bringing the drink to the tray of food. "Sleep deprivation's no joke."
"I will," she promised, not sure if she meant it. She picked up the tray, figuring the least she could do was take the order over on her way out. "Thank you, really."
"See you tomorrow Darla," Femi replied warmly.
"See ya."
Their only customer sat at the corner by the window- Cassidy dragged her feet over to him and plonked the tray down on the table.
"Have a yummy day."
The sky was a slab of grey as Cassidy exited Big Yum Burger. A few wingulls floated around in the air, probably migrating somewhere warmer for the winter. Objectively the little carpark through which she walked was pretty dingy, but she'd grown to appreciate its subtle beauty. It felt almost like safety, and that alone was something she treasured.
Not long ago it had been raining, so the streets all shimmered with the lights above them. The cold air plus the bustle of the city was enough to perk her up a little, and by the time she was home she wondered if she couldn't stay up a little longer.
She approached the entrance to the apartment block and swiped her card through the reader: "Darla Kuroki" lied her I.D, complete with a picture of Cassidy with short red hair.
She'd opted to cut and dye her hair for real rather than bother buying a wig, especially given how expensive the I.D had been. But living as Darla had been worth it. As far as the region of Kanto was concerned, she was a legitimate citizen, with a better record than Cassidy had ever managed under her real name.
Her apartment was up on the top floor, which meant a hell of a lot of stairs. The elevator worked just fine, but she knew if she closed herself up in those four metal walls she'd be right back in time to the moment she killed Carter.
A gun in her hands.
James passed out on the floor.
Carter's blood-
No, the stairs were fine.
She was gasping for air by the time she'd reached her door. It took her a few tries to jab her key in the hole, and then she stumbled through into the apartment, shrugging her backpack from her aching shoulders.
The room was a mess of documents, paper littering most of the floor. All she had in the way of furniture was a mini fridge and a mattress- unless you counted the printer, which most people didn't.
She kicked off her sneakers and headed straight for the mattress. The climb up the stairs had settled it: she needed sleep, now. Her investigation could wait a few more hours.
Pulling the blanket up to her neck, she set an alarm on her phone, then closed her eyes.
When she woke up it was dark. All she could see was the rectangle of light coming from her beeping phone.
She fumbled to shut the alarm off, then felt her way along the wall to the light switch, still half-asleep. She was sure she'd just been dreaming something amazing, but couldn't for the life of her remember what.
The lights buzzed on, revealing the sea of papers. She'd found that it was easier to organise her thoughts when she could arrange the information physically, but she'd be the first to admit things were getting a little out of hand. For the last couple of years she'd clipped every article she could find relating to Giovanni's assassination, and from there she'd compiled her own theories. She hadn't been able to prove anything yet- neither had the police- but she was sure Carter had something to do with it.
She went to her laptop, where a treasure trove of new info awaited. She'd copied a big chunk of Team Rocket's database onto her hard drive- every file containing Carter's name, plus the open investigation into Giovanni's death.
Scrolling through, she opened the juiciest looking documents first, starting with Carter's profile. Up popped his picture and basic info. Cassidy's eyes went straight to his place of birth: Celadon City. Not exactly damning news, but it was something. She kept scrolling, past all the boring stuff like height and weight, down to his background check.
No recorded criminal history. Was the CEO of the jewellery company Goldlink prior to his appointment as head of TR.
Was initially listed as a person of interest in the Operation Calm investigation. No supporting evidence found to suggest culpability.
"The fuck's Operation Calm," Cassidy muttered. She skimmed the rest of Carter's file, and, finding nothing else interesting, went back to the keyword search.
Typing "Operation Calm" yielded a whole string of new documents, so she added "Carter" to narrow it down. Only a couple of files contained both keywords; she double-clicked on the first one.
Report 0C12
Carter Sakaki
Relation to deceased: Maternal cousin
Possible motive: Stands to inherit the Team Rocket empire
Initial observations: Carter did not seem intimidated by our offer to meet in person, and readily agreed to an interview. His body language showed no signs of deception.
He provided an alibi for the day of Giovanni Sakaki's murder (company luncheon), which was supported by the other employees in attendance.
However, this does not rule him out as a potential culprit, as he likely would have hired a third party to commit the assassination.
Updated observations: As part of Operation Calm, a recording device was planted on Carter during his interview. His watch was confiscated under the guise of a security check, then bugged and returned to him. The device recorded over two weeks of audio before the signal was lost. Nothing warranting further investigation was recorded during that time.
Frowning, Cassidy moved onto the second file, titled "New Leadership- IMPORTANT".
UPDATE- Operation Calm has concluded that Carter Sakaki was not involved in the assassination of Giovanni Sakaki.
Therefore he is cleared to be appointed as the new leader of Team Rocket.
Any concerns regarding this decision should be forwarded to an executive. Outspoken complaints shall not be tolerated.
Glory to Team Rocket.
Cassidy sucked her teeth in disappointment, though she wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. If Team Rocket had found any dirt on Carter he never would have taken over in the first place. Still, it was mildly comforting to know he'd at least been on their suspect list.
Next she typed in "Operation Calm suspect". There were hundreds of results, so she sorted the files by date, figuring the ones that hadn't been updated since the year of Giovanni's death were likely dead ends.
One file had been updated a few weeks ago. She opened it hungrily.
Report 0C83
Suspect location update- Muranaka Saya, the only assassin captured alive at the scene of Giovanni's murder, is being held in Celadon City Jail. This was confirmed by our Celadon informant.
Muranaka is awaiting trial and is currently the only person being charged with Giovanni's assassination.
We have the go-ahead to send agents posing as lawyers to interrogate her. She likely has crucial information, and should be
The sound of a vehicle pulling up outside snatched Cassidy's attention.
She checked her phone for the time: 2AM already! She must have slept longer than she'd reckoned.
Leaving the laptop where it was, she dimmed the lights, and went over to the window for a look outside. She knew she was probably being paranoid- people ordered pizza to the apartment block all the time. It still made her feel better to check.
A black SUV was crawling up the concrete. It came to a stop at the end of the road, away from the streetlights.
She held her breath as the car's doors swung open.
Five people climbed out of the vehicle, not a pizza between them. They were all wearing black, and moved the way Cassidy had been taught to in basic training: quickly and quietly, communicating in hand signals. Spreading out as they came closer.
"Shit," Cassidy hissed. "Shit shit shit!"
She hurried away from the window, collecting her shoes and hopping frantically as she pulled them on. Then she darted to the kitchen cabinet, where she kept her emergency getaway bag.
In it was everything she'd need in a pinch- as well as basics like food and survival gear there was a tin of cough sweets, two changes of clothes, a memory stick with a back-up of her data, an MP3 player loaded with music, and some personal memorabilia. She slung the weighty backpack over her shoulders and pulled the straps tight.
Ever since she'd moved into the building she'd been preparing for this, but it was still a shock now it was actually happening.
She shook her head. No time for shock.
Her hand ran over her belt, checking all the pokéballs were there. Satisfied, she moved back to the window to see if she could make anything out.
The window was open at the top, just enough for her to hear the light crunch of footsteps through the gravel. Half-hidden behind the curtain it was difficult to get a good look, but she spotted the shadow of someone below. They lingered for a moment, then moved out of sight.
Since taking the stairs was out of the question…
"Now," she whispered to herself, and slowly, carefully, pried the window open.
There was no way they could know which window was hers from outside, even if they somehow had her apartment number. That's what she kept telling herself as she climbed up to crouch on the ledge.
The night breeze hit her with a shiver. She tightened her grip on the frame, unable to stop her eyes from drifting down. A long way to fall. Ordinarily she would have been much more confident, but it had been a long time since she'd done anything as tactical as climb a building at night.
Muscle memory would have to do its job.
Jumping down wasn't an option- even if she made the landing without breaking something, she'd surely be heard.
Steadying her breath, Cassidy moved her hands up, one at a time, to the drainpipe that ran along the roof. It wouldn't bear her whole weight, but it gave her enough purchase to stand at full height.
She craned her neck up and sideways, looking at the metal flagpole between her and the roof. By the moonlight she could see the bumps of rust along it, though the base it was screwed into looked sturdy. She wondered if it would hold her without breaking, then decided it would have to.
Before she could get scared she put a deep bend in her knees, and sprung sideways from the windowsill.
Her splayed hands caught the flagpole; she pushed her legs backwards to stop her swinging too far forwards, waiting for the momentum to die down until she was still. Hanging by her hands wasn't exactly an easy job, especially with the weight of the backpack pressing down on her shoulders, but she was at least grateful that the metal didn't creak. Though she'd never been scared of heights, she still knew better than to look down at her dangling legs. Her nerves didn't need that right now.
As she began the painful task of pulling herself up, she thought back to the countless pull-ups they'd been made to do in training, backpack and all, sometimes in the pouring rain. And it wasn't raining now, so really, she told herself, she had no excuse.
Her muscles begged to differ. She'd pulled her head up over the pole when her arms went from aching to searing, every instinct screaming for her to stop. Defiant, she pushed on until her chest was up too, and her arms flooded with white hot agony. Gasping out, she leant forwards so her stomach rested on the pole. For a second she thought she was going to overbalance and fly headfirst towards the ground, but she shifted her balance back at the last second, saving herself.
A few more deep breaths to console her hammering heart, then she pulled her legs up. The base of the flagpole was just thick enough to stand on, though it wasn't much more spacious than a tightrope.
However much she commanded her knees not to wobble, the cold night air made it impossible not to shiver a little. Like a gymnast she kept her arms stretched out for balance, until she was standing tall enough to make a jump for the roof.
Cassidy's shoes scuffed the brick wall as she scrabbled up and over.
"What was that?"
She jolted at the faint voice somewhere below her, then skittered away from the edge, mouthing the worst curses she knew. There went her plan to sneak down the fire exit.
Crouched on the flat, rain-slicked roof, she waited for another sound.
There was a whoosh, and a pulse of light hit the car park's only tree. No mistaking it: a pokémon being deployed.
Panicked, she ran for the air vent and ducked behind it, just as the whirring flutter of insect wings rose to her level.
She heard the pokémon land on the roof behind her, and the thud of two boots touching down. The agent's footsteps slapped slowly across the wet asphalt, closer to Cassidy.
"Are you up here?" the man asked softly. "Darla?"
Cassidy kept on breathing, slow and steady. The stars between the clouds looked shaky in the sky, for all her efforts to calm herself. She kept her hand hovered over Houndoom's pokéball, endeavouring not to use it unless she absolutely had to.
The agent crept more slowly the closer he got. She closed her eyes, concentrating- he was coming around the left side of the vent.
Reopening her eyes she started to shuffle round to the right, as quickly as she could without making noise. But if she was going to flank him, she needed an edge.
Just as the agent was coming around the corner to the spot Cassidy had left, she took a vial of sleep powder and a pack of gum from her pocket, then chucked the gum.
It skipped across the roof and landed in a puddle, snapping the agent's attention towards the sound for a vital moment. Cassidy took her shot and snuck the rest of the way behind him. He heard her coming a second too late; by the time he was turning around she was already poised to throw the sleep powder in his face.
The agent's eyes widened at the glittering dust cloud around him. He opened his mouth to yell, but his muscles started to slump before more than a confused murmur could come out. He stumbled around in a drunken box step, then collapsed.
Cassidy kept her mouth and nose pressed tight into the elbow of her sleeve until the wind washed the dust cloud away. She braved a step towards the fallen agent and gave his arm a little kick to check he was fully out. When he didn't flinch, she knelt down to see if he was carrying anything useful.
She couldn't help but take a look at his face. Curls of ginger hair falling around his sleepy features. Only a kid, really. Probably the same age she and Butch had been back in their gun-for-hire days.
He had a gun holstered, but so did Cassidy- still, she didn't want him using it if he woke up, so took the bullets. What really interested her, however, was the pokéball on his belt.
Now that she was free to look around again, she had a clear view of the yanmega the agent had flown up on. It was perched on the edge of the roof, apparently content to just chill while its trainer lay unconscious. Studying the agent's 'R'-branded pokéball, Cassidy instantly recognised the purple and red colouring. Those kind of pokéballs were used to assign agents loaner pokémon, shake-and-go style. Which meant the pokémon inside had no particular bond to anyone yet.
Good news for Cassidy.
She clipped the pokéball to her belt and strode carefully towards the yanmega.
"Hey," she whispered, holding her palms up to show she wasn't armed. "How's it."
The yanmega buzzed disinterestedly. It paid her little mind as she got closer, and when she put her palm on its back it made no move to buck her off. She swung her leg over to mount it, and knocked her knees gently into its sides.
"Hyah."
The yanmega took off with a rustle into the sky. Cassidy held her breath as her feet left the roof, her chest fluttering. She wasn't used to riding insect pokémon, and didn't much care for the feel of it, but she could hardly afford to be picky. She'd flown enough pokémon to keep a straight line, that was the important thing.
Another flash from down below. She grit her teeth.
"Fuck's sake!"
She knocked her knees a little harder, spurring the yanmega on as the rising shadow of a pidgeot blotted the sky behind her.
Air whistling past her ears and watering her eyes, everything was a blur and a shriek. She looked back, shielding her eyes from the wind to get a good look at her pursuer. As she'd feared, the pidgeot had a human on its back. Which meant they'd probably-
"Gust!" the agent yelled.
Cassidy swerved up, avoiding the worse of the attack but still sent zig-zagging. She soon got yanmega flying straight again, and headed for the clouds. She wasn't interested in a fight, not one bit.
The air was soon damp and foggy as she went higher and higher, until she could barely see an inch ahead. Dangerous, but she figured if she couldn't see, she couldn't be seen, either.
Another attack fired from somewhere below, missing her totally. Keep flying was her only plan. If she remembered right, there wasn't anything in the airspace the way she was heading. She kept on going through the clouds for what felt like minutes, until she was as sure as she could be that no one was right behind her. Then she steered the yanmega down to get a look at where she was.
She was whizzing over the long stretch of fields that bordered the city. Not much in the way of cover until the forestline. She kept dipping down, hoping to make a landing while she was still out of sight.
"Hurricane!"
To her horror, the agent's command came not far behind her, as the pidgeot too emerged from the clouds. Cassidy turned around just in time to see the lines of warping air rushing towards her, and then everything lurched.
The yanmega was thrown forwards with a pained buzz, but this time it didn't recover when Cassidy tried steering it up again. Its wings fluttered erratically, to no effect. A pit of dread opened up in her stomach as she realised what had happened: it was confused.
So began her descent, spiralling forwards and down on a yanmega that had forgotten where it was. The ground was too close for her to make a decision before she hit it.
Crashing into the cornfield, the yanmega took most of the impact while Cassidy was sent hurtling forwards. She tried to land on her shoulder and do something of a tactical roll, but the backpack tripped her up and despite her best efforts, she ended up in a groaning heap.
Not bothering to dust herself off, she kept low in the cover of the corn. First she discarded the Team Rocket brand pokéball, which for all she knew could be bugged- the yanmega knocked out somewhere behind her just wasn't worth the risk to keep. Then she scurried through the cornrow, towards the trees.
She didn't know if anyone had seen her crash or if she was being followed, so kept as quick and quiet as possible as she brushed past the corn leaves. She only realised she'd stopped breathing when her chest got all tight.
Soon she heard the sound of flowing water; the field thinned out to a river that cut off the forest.
A glance over her shoulder to check she was clear, and she hopped the river in one mighty jump. The forest welcomed her, dark and protective.
No more Darla. Once more, Cassidy was on the run.
In the guts of Team Rocket HQ, Ravi spun lazily in their desk chair. They'd been waiting for an update to come through their earpiece. Waiting too long. Something had gone wrong, they were sure of it.
"Tea?"
Mondo had appeared in the doorway with a tray. He passed a mug to Ravi, who smiled at him.
"Thank y- hang on," Ravi said as their earpiece finally started to chime. They made a shooing motion at Mondo, who flashed a smile back and scarpered.
"Come in Commander?" the voice through the earpiece spoke.
"Get on with it," Ravi snapped. "Did you get her or not?"
"Well, that's- the apartment was hers, but she fled, and-"
Ravi put their head in their hand. "So she got away."
"...It's ongoing."
"She got away," Ravi said, too quietly to be heard. They sighed. "So stop talking to me and get to chasing her."
"Y-Yes, Commander Ravi."
The call ended with a boop. Ravi wanted to scream, preferably while punching a hole in something. Didn't those idiots know it was their head on the line here?
There hadn't been an update on Jessie in years, and the rumours of James skulking around Kanto weren't enough to act on. Cassidy had been the one real lead worth following, and their team had gone and bungled the thing. Square one, again.
Ravi took a deep breath, and a deeper gulp of tea. Calm. They would be calm, and the mission would be a success.
They guessed if they wanted this job done right, they'd have to do it themselves.
A long walk and three bus rides later, Cassidy had made it into late morning without a Rocket in sight.
After exiting the forest she'd kept to rural paths on foot, and on the buses she'd made sure to keep her face pointed away from the cameras. She still didn't know how Team Rocket had discovered she was living as Darla, so it was hard not to think they might be everywhere.
The first two buses had just been to put as much distance between her and her crash site as possible, but the third bus had been more deliberate. It was to the one place left in Kanto that she knew was safe. If it was still standing, that was.
Now all that was left was the trek through the woods.
The leaves the looming winter had sofar spared dappled the sky with ruby. No clouds today, not like the night before. Warming rays of sun strung down through the trees. And the path she took wasn't an official one, so no one else was here.
Her legs killed, and she needed sleep, but there was a peace in her exhaustion that she would enjoy as long as it lasted.
When she finally found the place she was looking for, she almost didn't recognise it.
The shack had always been partial to a bit of ivy, but now it was absolutely covered in it, roof and all. From a distance it didn't look like a building but some weird lump of foliage.
Late autumn had coloured the ivy all yellows and reds. She gazed at the blending colours for a moment, nostalgia crashing over her, then got to work finding the door.
About to start the annoying task of picking the lock, she realised she still had the key. Since she'd always kept it in her wallet, it was one of the few things from her past she'd held onto.
She fished it out.
The key still fit.
She turned it, pushed the door-
- and narrowly dodged a baseball bat heading for her face.
Cassidy staggered back and fell to the leaf-coated ground, as the person wielding the baseball bat stepped out into the sunlight.
They looked at each other, amazed.
"Jessie?"