Chapter 5: Stars
The smell of musty old water and cold metal reached her nose as she woke from a most unpleasant dream. A 'drip.....drip.....drip' of water droplets could be heard in the hollow room, and she could also hear some shuffling of feet and clothing. The next thing she noticed was pain. Her side ached and throbbed. She could feel the blood move through her side with every beat of her heart. Her fingers made their way to touch her injured side, and felt a thick gauzy material over it, obviously a bandage or something. The air around her was cool and she felt a breeze as somebody came near. Her mind wasn't completely awake yet, and she didn't know where she was or what time of day it was. Her eyes slowly opened, a shadow of a man stood above her.
"J-.......Ja-," she tried, but was cut off.
"Giovanni. That's right," he answered coolly. It was The Boss, Giovanni, looming above Jessie. He had thought Jessie was saying his name, not James. He looked down at the defenseless woman lying on her back on the floor in front of him and noticed her breathing become faster and fear show itself on her face, although he could tell she was trying to hide it as her eyes adjusted to the lighting and she saw him. All people have cringed at the sight of his intimidating features and attitude, and he reveled in their fear of him. He felt all-powerful and strong. Now, this woman was at his mercy. It was his turn for revenge.
Jessie had now gathered most of her senses, although she guessed she had been drugged at some point, because she didn't feel quite right. She tried to creep away from this horrible man, using her elbows and legs to move herself backwards. She felt cool stone against her shoulder as she hit the wall. She was trapped in some sort of cell or room, and the man she most feared was smirking as he loomed over her. He took a few steps towards her, watching her press herself against the wall as if she could go right through it in an attempt to stay away from him.
"Jessica, daughter of Miyamoto, the greatest and most beautiful Rocket of her time. Aahhhh......the memories," he said to Jessie. She wondered what he was getting at with these mind games. "Jessica, of the profound Team Rocket......." He paused, looking to his captive with dark and venomous eyes. "..........Jessica, of my Team Rocket," he finished in a voice that Jessie did not like one bit. He took another step forward towards her, when she yelled out.
"Leave me alone! What do you want from me?!" Fear was evident in her voice as she yelled at him with as much courage and strength she could manage. Her side hurt when she breathed deeply, and yelling at Giovanni required a lot of breath. Giovanni just stared at her, listening to her quick breathing and her screams echo through the large and empty cell-like enclosure. The 'drip.......drip.......drip' could still be heard in the room. She tried her best to calm herself down and gather her senses to find out where she was, but to no avail. She was paranoid that the second she looked away, Giovanni would advance on her again, so she continued to stare back at him. Then a new sound was brought to her ears. Low and deep evil laughter came from Giovanni.
"Well, my pet, I want two things actually....." Jessie did not like the tone of his voice. Well, she never had, but now it seemed to be more menacing than she had ever heard it before. He took a few more steps towards her so he was now standing over her again, enjoying the sight of his trapped captive. "I want revenge....," he started. ".....and I want you," he hissed into her ear as he wrapped his hand around her hair and pulled her up. Jessie screamed as loud as she could, not minding the pain in her side and heart. Giovanni muffled her scream with his disgusting mouth. He smelled of alcohol, smoke, and a bad peppermint cologne.
She desperately yearned for James to be here. The last time Giovanni had jumped on her, James had saved her. Flashbacks filled her mind and tears filled her eyes as Giovanni continued to violently kiss her.
***
"Come on, Jessie! I know you don't want to go in there, and neither do I, but we need to be paid and we will be in even more trouble if we don't go now. Those damn twerps have made us even more late, and if we are any later The Boss will really threaten us. So, come on," James urged his partner.
"Alright, fine......It's just.....I have a funny feeling about this today, James," she replied, worry clearly evident in her voice.
"Jess, don't you worry your pretty little head about anyting! James and I are here wid ya!," Meowth had said, smiling.
"Okay, fine, I'm coming......but something still doesn't seem right," she replied, following her team-mates through the doors of the headquarters.
***
Her side hurt even more as Giovanni threw her over his shoulder, carrying her through the door of the cell-like room and down the halls. She cried and screamed, beating her fists against his back. She knew it was in vain though, because he wasn't even flinching at her hits, but instead, he seemed to enjoy them.
Through her tears, she stole a few glances of other Rockets in the halls. The second they saw Giovanni in his mad state, they ran off out of the way to business of their own. It would be mad to stop him. Every time they witnessed him dragging some poor girl away from the cells, they never saw the girl again. Some say the were killed, others say they killed themselves, and others said they were just locked up forever or used in experiments. Basically, nobody knew what happened to their boss' victims or what he did to them, although they all had pretty good (or bad) ideas.
Jessie was angry and wondered why nobody was helping her. She couldn't believe that people could be so heartless. But then again, this was Team Rocket. Most of the Rockets had hearts and goals, but just screwed up at one point in their life and ended up in this evil organization. There were some Rockets, however, that were really heartless. The Elite appeared to be heartless, and the scientists and cell-keepers as well. Giovanni, also. Jessie needed James now, in this heartless place, for he was full of light, warmth, safety, love, and heart.
She didn't know where she was, how she had gotten there, or when. All she remembered was herself holding the black-haired Elite's gun back at the hotel, ready to kill him. She had never killed before, and hoped she would never need to, so she hesitated to gather her thoughts. She looked to James' eyes and was about to shoot, but a pain, like a train had hit her, entered her side. Then she slid to the ground, a picture of James in her mind, and then darkness overwhelmed her. Then she woke up in that cell.
Now, she felt her energy leaving her, but she kept on hitting Giovanni and screaming with all she had. She was determined to fight till the end. She would rather die fighting than live and be helpless. But, she still wished James was here to save her and comfort her and to wash all her fears away. Giovanni shrugged slightly, readjusting Jessie on his shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain. Whatever drugs she had been issued were now worn off and she could feel the full extent of pain from her wound. The bullet had grazed her side, she figured, because she was obviously still alive.
Giovanni had now carried her for at least ten minutes through various halls, secret passages, and rooms. Now, they were entering a section of wall that opened to a hidden passageway. This room felt warmer than the other rooms, but smelled just as bad, maybe even worse. It smelt of smoke, alcohol, and peppermint. Jessie realized where they were now. Giovanni had brought her to his own personal quarters. She could barely see through tears that his rooms were dark and the walls were all a very darkly stained wood color. She kicked, hit, cursed, and flailed as much as she could to release herself from this monster. He laughed evilly again, throwing her.
As she was flung from his shoulder, she expected to land on hard ground. Instead, she landed on something much worse. She was thrown onto a bed. She felt all blood leave her face and she tried to scramble away, but she wasn't fast enough.
"Stay away! Get off of me! GET OFF OF ME!!," she screamed, hitting Giovanni as he pinned her down, trying savagely to kiss her. Finally, she slapped him, screaming, "YOU BASTARD!! Get away from me! I HATE YOU!!" This only seemed to make him do the opposite. He continued to advance on her.
***
"Jess, don't worry. Everything will be fine. Every time we have to go in there, we have been scared, but nothing ever happens. The worst that happens is that The Boss yells at us and occasionally throws a coffee mug against the wall or something. Nothing to really fear. Come on," James said. He squeezed Jessie's hand to comfort her, then walked ahead to catch up to Meowth. Jessie followed behind her companions into the headquarters.
They made their way through the halls and corridors to The Boss' meeting room. James looked to Jessie, and seeing as how she was still skeptical and worried about even being there, he knew he had to take a deep breath and be the first to enter the room. He knocked slightly on the large and expensive wooden door before opening it. The trio entered the dim room and stood up straight in front of The Boss' desk, waiting for him to move from his position in his chair. He was sitting in his desk chair with his back to them, and he was silhouetted by the little light that escaped the curtains from the window behind him. Smoke clouded about his head and filled the room with the strong smell of imported cigars. After a while of just standing and waiting for their boss to turn and address them, Meowth decided to speak up.
"Boss, sir......," he started nervously, "Jessie, James, and I are here for our meeting, sir." The trio saw another puff of smoke come from behind the dark chair, but Giovanni didn't turn or even speak to acknowledge their presence. An uncomfortable silence followed, with only the sound of a cigar being puffed and the nervous breathing of Jessie, James, and Meowth audible in the meeting room. The Boss knew exactly how to intimidate people effectively to make them cower under his rule. After a minute of the awkward silence, he finally spoke to the trio, but stayed facing the window with his back to them.
"So, what did you three fools manage to bring me this time?" James, Jessie, and Meowth were glad that The Boss had his back to them, because he would have seen them cringe if he was turned around.
"We are very close to capturing that very powerful and special Pikachu, sir. I believe that we will have it very soon and-," James started. Giovanni turned his chair around to face his frightened employees, still smoking his cigar. There was no expression evident on his face other than boredom, but his eyes betrayed him. They shone with the little light in the room with an angry and furious stare.
"So, you three once again managed to be the most incompetent and unsuccessful team on your league, I believe," said The Boss as his neck and facial muscles tensed. "As I have told you all before, it is my money being wasted to fund your folly expeditions! It is my organization that is getting an unwanted reputation because of your silly appearances and schemes! And it is my time being wasted because of your idiotic actions!" The Boss was now standing with his fists slammed down on his desk, his cigar in an ashtray, and his face now showing just how infuriated he really was. He was breathing loudly from screaming at them and was watching them intently, waiting for a reply that would not enrage him further. Meowth was standing as upright as possible next to James, while trying to suppress the urge to yell out in defense of him and his hardworking human companions. James was standing stiffly, like he was preparing to be punched or yelled at and badgered more. He was trying to be strong and brave, even though on the inside, he felt like running away or cowering behind Jessie. He couldn't hide behind Jessie though, because she was the one hiding behind him. She hadn't spoken a single word since entering the meeting room and was acting very strange. Clenching her teeth and staring down at the floor in shame was all she could do to try and control her nervous and frightened shaking form. This was unlike Jessie to have her eyes cast downward in fear and shame. She was supposed to always hold her head high with pride and stay strong no matter what, James thought. He really did despise what their Boss did to his friends.
* * *
"My, my, my. Aren't you rebellious," Giovanni said mockingly. He reached over to his nightstand for the bottle of alcohol with one hand and greedily gulped most of the contents down. He was already drunk, and he was only getting worse with every swallow. He still had Jessie pinned down with his other hand while he continued to devoured the liquid. Some of the toxic drink missed Giovanni's mouth and dripped down, moistening Jessie's arm, making her cringe at the coldness of the drink on her skin and it's acrid smell. Soon, the bottle was emptied by the leader of Team Rocket and was thrown against the wall, glass shattering as a result of his madness. Jessie continued to struggle against Giovanni's advances on her while her mind screamed for James.
* * *
Giovanni stared angrily at the faces of his three employees, waiting for a response of some sort. A whimper, explanation, or beg would have been sufficient for now. Any noise that revealed their fear that would send a pleasant tingle down his spine from his acute ears would have been enough for Giovanni. But only silence ensued. Giovanni picked up his cigar again and puffed out a large cloud of smoke. Silence followed his puff as he continued to just stare at his employees in evil amusement. The deadly silence was almost more amusing than the sweet sounds of pleading, he thought. Giovanni continued like this, making the three frightened beings in front of him suffer in the silence, afraid to speak.
*Puff*
*Puff*
*Puff*
This was most enjoyable now to him. It was all he could do to not break out in ironic laughter at his enjoyment of his cruel intimidating game of silence. His little game was ended when James cleared his throat slightly.
"Uh.....Sir?," started James, "as we said, we are doing our best and we are truly sorry for our failures......But we plan on succeeding from now on, Sir."
"Hmmm.....Yes, well, I've heard it all before, James," sighed Giovanni in a bored nonchalant manner as he put out his cigar in the ash tray before continuing. "But how do I know that you will succeed? I've given you three countless chances to redeem yourselves, but all you fools seem capable of is failure." Giovanni shook his head in disapproval. He loved playing mind games with his subjects and he loved the fact that he was always a few steps ahead of them. He glanced over to see Jessie staring at a select point on the floor, trying to contain her shaking form. "Now, what do you have to say for your miserable team, Jessie?" Giovanni noticed that Jessie was acting more frightened than usual, and only James had spoken up today, which was very unusual. He figured that his ill-intentioned glances to her caught her off guard.
Being the leviathan he was, he wasn't ashamed to admit that he was attracted to the red-head. He could even go as far to say that he lusted for her. Jessie meant more to Giovanni than she would ever know, actually. Not only did he lust for her, but his want for her ran deep into his mind, although even he didn't know how deep yet. Lust, anger, revenge, and a much more sinister plan could all be fulfilled through Jessie. But Giovanni hadn't figured this out yet. But he did know that he lusted for her and admired her potential in Team Rocket. That was one of the reasons he kept her on the team. Her mother, Miyamoto, also influenced Giovanni's decisions regarding Jessie and her team-mates. He hated James though.
James could've had more money than Giovanni, but he threw it all away. To Giovanni, that was just plain idiocy. He also spited the fact that James could be more powerful than himself if he claimed his money. Things from James' past also indirectly haunted Giovanni greatly. Overall, Giovanni spited James, and that gave him more reason to lust for Jessie, because he had suspected a special bond between the two. Giovanni's motives were all wrapped up in the roots of his team's past, his own past, his battle with the law, and the future.
Back to the situation at hand, Giovanni waited for a reply from Jessie, who was trying to find words within her throat. Giovanni got up from his chair and walked over to stand in front of Jessie, James, and Meowth. He could tell that his employees were close to panicking, which was perfect. That made them vulnerable. He waited for a response from the stuttering Jessie. James and Meowth glanced to her with pity, worry, and fear hidden beneath their features.
"Well, Sir......You see.....I......Um.....We........I would have to say that-," she was abruptly cut off by Giovanni. He couldn't take it anymore, he just couldn't. He lost control. He had silenced the terrified woman with his own disgusting lips, pressing himself to her, restraining her against the wall. She was too shocked and scared to even move. Luckily, James and Meowth weren't.
"Let her go! You fucking bastard! Get your hands off of her right now!" James knew that he shouldn't have said what he did to The Boss, but the fury inside of him came out. James pulled on Giovanni's shoulder, detaching him from roughly kissing Jessie, then punched him in the jaw all in a split second. James knew that he would be punished, possibly 'taken away' for what he had just done. Nobody had ever hit The Boss and gotten away with it. James wasn't afraid though. He would rather protect the woman he secretly loved and suffer a thousand deaths, than just stand by and let his love be violated by that monster.
"Jessie, get out of here!," yelled James as he continued to fight with Giovanni. "Just run! I'll take care of th-," James couldn't finish his order due to a hit from Giovanni. Jessie was too stunned and scared to move and do what James told her to do. Her mind told her to move and get out of there and help James, but her body didn't respond. She just slid to the floor against the wall, staring at the fist fight taking place in front of her, trying to get a hold on herself. The feeling of Giovanni's ill-tasting mouth still lingered on her lips and she had to suppress the strong urge to vomit. Luckily, Meowth used a light scratch attack to snap Jessie out of her trance of terror and help her up.
Giovanni and James were now squaring off, waiting to read their opponents next move. Giovanni had a bloody lip and James had a cut on his left cheek near his eye from one of Giovanni's ring cutting into his flesh. James was now in defensive mode and Giovanni was trying to end this fight with himself being the victor. James was now only waiting for Giovanni to 'end' the fight or for his boss to slip up and leave him with a route of escape.
James' opportunity came when Giovanni threw a punch at him, but it was dodged in a swift motion. While their boss was still caught off guard by James' quick movement, Meowth scratch attacked him, giving James time to escape with Jessie. Giovanni grabbed his face in pain and then grabbed for a chair in his office, preparing to hurl it towards the door Meowth was attempting to reach as an exit.
Meowth ran as fast as he could through the door and didn't stop till he caught up with his teammates. Their boss could clearly be heard howling out obscenities and various threats to them from inside his office.
"THAT'S IT!!!!! YOU WON'T GET AWAY!!!! JUST REMEMBER THAT I OWN YOU!!!! I FUCKING OWN YOU THREE FOOLS!!!!! I COULD HAVE YOU KILLED FOR THIS!!!!!! THANKS TO YOURSELVES, YOUR PAY IS NEXT TO NOTHING!!!!!! ONE MORE SLIP-UP AND I WILL HAVE YOU IMBECILES EXECUTED!!!!!! YOU ARE DISGRACES TO TEAM ROCKET!!!!!!!," he continued to yell as Jessie, James, and Meowth caught their breath down the hall a ways. They winced in fear as he yelled because his words stung them for many reasons. They were really on their last line now, they were going to have even less money now, and they were on their boss' very bad side. One more mess-up and they would definitely cease to exist.
"Are you alright, Jessie?," asked James, still catching his breath. Jessie nodded in response, her breathing still fast and her heart still racing from what had just happened. "Alright, then let's get out of here for the time being. It isn't safe."
They hastily left their headquarters without speaking a single word the whole time. When they reached the surrounding forest, Meowth let out a sigh of relief of getting away, and of awareness of their new predicament. Then Jessie spoke.
"Thanks, James," Jessie said meekly, blushing slightly from embarrassment of what their boss had done to her. He turned his head to look at her and she continued. "If you wouldn't have stopped The Boss, then I would be in real trouble........ Thanks."
"No problem. What are friends for, eh? I know times will be even tougher without hardly any food or money, but we'll stick together no matter what? Right?" James extended his right arm. Jessie then placed her hand on top of James', received a reassuring smile from James, then was followed by Meowth.
"Right! Friends forever!," they all said in unison.
* * *
Jessie remembered all the times they had said "friends forever!" like it was yesterday. At this point though, she didn't know if she could last forever. Giovanni was continuing in his crazed actions, stripping her of all her clothing and dignity. She cried silent tears and stared out the window to the moon, hoping and praying that she would someday see James again and that he could hear her message.
Suddenly, she felt a huge weight on her, and discovered that Giovanni had fallen unconscious in his drunken and drugged insane state. She closed her eyes tightly, tears streaming down her face now in joy, instead of fear. Her hopes had been answered. She pushed Giovanni off of her and set up the situation to look as if he had done what he had intended to do. If she set it up to look as if the act of rape had occurred, then possibly she would be let go in the morning if Giovanni thought he did what he wanted to do. She was lucky that she had managed to protect herself from this monster.
Looking to the night's sky to the stars and moon, she pictures James adoring face in her mind before forcing herself into a troubled sleep.
To be continued.........
A/N: Please review!!! Sorry this took so long to get posted, but some things have been going on lately.......I'll spare you all though. So, please tell be what you think, it would be much appreciated. And thanks again to Thorned Rose and everybody else who