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What has gone before... In chapter six, James has another horrible nightmare - the worst yet. He is very disturbed by it, but he gets over it. Later, our Team goes out to the Defier facility to get ready to do some damage. Meanwhile, Remear gets shot and killed by three mysterious men in dark suits. The plan to get the item back is well underway until eveything goes wrong - Kytty and Umiko fall under heavy fire (Kytty is believed to be dead), James and Meowth get seperated, Reece, Gengiess, and Jessie lose contact with them all. James has found himself in the laborotory where the item is being kept…
"Oh, Michael," he whispered, his voice sounding choked and heavy. He swallowed hard and looked at his little bother, feeling a mixture of sorrow, disbelief, terror, and shock. Why is he here? his mind screamed. Why...
"Oh, Mr. Roquet. It's good that you are here." James spun around, his hand reaching for his gun. Suddenly, the lights flipped on, hurting James' eyes for a brief second. It was enough. He heard the distinct sound of a magnemite and felt his gun yanked out of his hand by the sheer magnetic force. Cursing his own stupidity, James fell automatically into a defensive posture. Not that martial arts would do him a lot of good against a gun, but it made him feel better. Across the room stood three men in dark suits. The leader looked particularly evil. James placed himself in front of Michael's sleeping body, deciding to protect his little brother at all cost. The leader of the black suits sighed with a smile and shook his head, taking a step towards James. He reached out and petted the head of his magnemite, taking James' gun. He didn't even bother to train it on him.
"If I had known that you and your little friends were planning on coming here, I wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of trying to find you," the leader said, a twisted grin on his face. Warning signals went off in James' brain.
"What do you mean by that?" he hissed. "Who are you?"
"Now, now, I don't want to go into all that... bloody business. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust and the like. As for who I am..." He smiled again, taking another step towards James. "I guess it would only be right for me to introduce myself. You may call me Ashi Kurai," he finished with a bow. James glared at him but didn’t say anything. "Why so quiet?" Kurai said with mock sincerity. "I would assume you would have a lot of questions for us." He took another step towards James, who in turn put a protective arm over his brother. Ashi looked over James' shoulder at Michael with an amused expression on his face.
"He'll wake up soon," he said lightly. "Probably be very happy to see you. He's had a pretty bad month or so. Almost lost him twice," Kurai lamented, looking up at the ceiling. He turned back to James and grinned again. "But such a fighter. Always comes back. He has such terrible nightmares, though I would guess you know quite a bit about that." James blinked for a moment in surprise before forcing his guard back up. He would NOT show any weakness in front of this man.
"You see, that's part of the reason we're so interested in you, James," Kurai continued. "You two share a very special bond." James forced himself not to change his expression. Finally, Kurai sighed. "You know, this conversation is lacking when you don't ask any questions." At last, the tiny part of James' brain that had been shouting questions out since this whole thing began snapped and took over the rest of his consciousness.
"Fine," James said angrily. "You want me to ask some questions? I'll ask you some questions. Why is my brother here, what the hell are you talking about, and what do you want from me?"
"He certainly is good at getting to the core of a situation, isn't he?" Kurai asked one of his lackeys, who nodded. Turning back to James, he said, "Now those are all good questions. Why don't you have a seat and we can talk about it rationally?" Ashi gestured to a chair next to Michael's bed.
"I would prefer to stand," James replied through clenched teeth. Kurai cocked James' gun and pointed at the Rocket Member's head.
"Oh, I really do insist that you sit," he said smoothly.
"Relax, kid," Gengiess said as soothingly as he could muster with his deep, gruff voice. "Meowth probably just ripped out the transmitters so they couldn't be traced back here after he heard Umiko and Kytty getting into trouble."
"I know, but I'm so worried," she replied softly, trying not to let her voice catch in her throat. "Everything's going all wrong."
"I'm sure it'll work out okay in the end," Gengiess returned, resting his hand on her shoulder. "James and Meowth are tough. They've pulled through situations more dire than this." Gengiess looked up as he heard the soft footfalls of someone approaching. Jessie walked towards them, her skin glowing an odd blue from the light shinning on her from Reece's laptop. She looked very weary.
"How is she?" Gengiess asked, his face filled with concern. Jessie shook her head.
"It's bad," Jessie said with a sigh. "Really, really bad. There isn't a whole lot I can do here. I can't get the bleeding to stop. We need to get her to a hospital. Now." Gengiess nodded and stood up.
"James and Meowth should be able to find their way to a safe house when they get out of the facility. We'll dismantle the camp and take Kytty someplace Rocket-friendly." He looked over at the horizon and shielded his eyes. "It's not long until sunrise, anyway. We'll be sitting ducks out here."
"We're just going to leave James and Meowth here?" Reece asked, incredulous.
"They'll be fine, kid. Probably better off without us. Meowth can always pass himself off as a wild pokémon," Gengiess explained. "James has a great ability to disappear when he doesn't want to be found. I wouldn't worry about them."
"I'm going to stay, Gengiess," Jessie said suddenly. She was looking off in the direction towards the facility, her gaze intense, as if she was seeing something they couldn't. "I need to be here. I'm not sure why." Gengiess looked at her carefully for a moment. Finally, he turned to Reece.
"Kid, why don't you go help Umiko get Kytty ready to move," he said. Reece almost protested, then realized Gengiess had just said, in a polite way, 'Get lost.'
"Sure," she replied and walked off. Gengiess turned back to Jessie.
"What do you see?" he asked her. Jessie looked at him, confused.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Gengiess sighed. "I know you and James are close, Jessie. I want to know what you're sensing right now."
"'Sensing?' What do you think I am?" she asked, a little angry. "That I'm some kind of telepath or something? All I know is that James is in trouble, I'm his partner, and I need to be there for him. I'll catch you later," she snapped, starting to walk off. She stopped and turned around, giving Gengiess a hug. Then she disappeared through the trees.
"'What do I think,' Jessie?" he repeated after her retreated form, starting to break down the camp. "It's more of a question of what do I know."
"Alright, Mr. Roquet. I'm going to ask you a few questions. That alright?" he asked almost sweetly. James said nothing. Ashi nodded. "Good. Now, let's start. Do you remember your first encounter with the Team Rocket Organization?" James turned his head away from Kurai, not planning on saying anything. Kurai sighed. "Now then, let's not be difficult. Answer the question or I'll have Banes kill that pikato over there, okay?" He nodded to one of his lackeys who went over the cage and stuck his gun through the bars. "I think that would upset Michael a bit, don't you? He's really bonded with that little pokémon."
James cursed softly to himself. "I was fifteen," he started slowly. "I was approached by the Organization and asked to join."
"Wrong!" Kurai said with a small amount of enthusiasm. "You were five, wandering the streets, hungry, begging for food. Team Rocket picked you up and took you back to a laboratory of theirs. Any of this familiar?"
"No, it's not," James replied angrily. "Stop making things up! You're just trying to confuse me. I..." James stopped in mid-sentence. He looked back at the leader. "My dream," he whispered. "The one I had before I ever left for the mission. How did you..."
"Not a dream, young man," Kurai explained, his voice oily. "More like a forgotten memory." He walked over to a table and picked up a stack of papers. "Did you really think it was just chance that you were put with a foster parent who happened to be a very high member of Team Rocket? A man who forced you to go beyond a standard education and let you rise above your peers?"
"I... I never thought about it that way," James whispered, looking down at the floor.
"Of course you didn't," Kurai snapped, dropping the papers back on the desk. "They didn't want you to. After Team Rocket identified you, they put you someplace assessable. You and that lovely partner of yours."
"Leave Jessie out of this!" James shouted, his anger flooding back.
Kurai smiled. "But I can't," he protested. "You both play such an interesting role in this saga. Your pairing was no accident either."
"Why are you telling me all of this?" James asked in frustration. His arms were starting to ache from the position he was in.
"Because, we want to be honest with you, unlike the Rocket organization. We want to become your friends."
"By kidnapping my brother and tying me to a chair?" James seethed. Kurai shrugged.
"We have to make sure we are friends before we let you run around loose. Can't have you turning on us. Michael is… insurance. Among other things."
James cursed under his breath. This was really, really bad. He tried tugging at the binds again, but only succeeded in making his wrists bleed. Kurai shook his head.
"I would stop doing that if I were you. You're only making this harder on yourself." He walked back over to the desk and picked up the papers again, reading them carefully. "Back to the questions, eh, Mr. Roquet? Now, what is your specific job in Team Rocket?"
James sighed. "I'm a fall guy, basically. My team and I distract the media attention away from the main jobs of Team Rocket. We do little things that make a lot of noise. You know, rob pokécenters, make speeches, wear the easily identifiable uniforms. Stuff like that."
"Sounds like a difficult job," Kurai replied. James shrugged and said nothing. "In fact, I would venture to say it's probably the hardest job in the entire Organization. Putting an incompetent face on a very, very competent group. Why did you get that assignment, do you think?"
James shrugged again. "I guess it's because we're good at what we do. We can avoid getting arrested and are good showman."
"Wrong again!" Kurai exclaimed. He looked at the paper he held in his hands very carefully. Suddenly, he looked over at James and grinned. "Would you like to know a secret?"
"What?" James asked after a moment's hesitation.
"Well, there's something special about Michael." James' eyes narrowed. "You see, your genetic structure and his are very similar."
"We're brothers," James growled. "What would you expect?"
"True, true. But of course, that's not the only person to whom he is apparently very closely related."
"What do you mean?"
Kurai chuckled. "Michael has some very interesting DNA. A great deal that he shares with your partner, Jessica Marie Dunstin, as well."
James looked at him in shock. "What?" he asked. "How is that possible? That could only be so if we were..." James' eyes opened wide. "Oh my God," he whispered. He looked over at Kurai, fear in his eyes. "We're not... brother and sister?"
Kurai looked at him for a moment, then burst our laughing. "Oh, goodness, no!" he gasped, wiping away a tear. "Worried about incest, are we?" He laughed once more before getting a hold of himself. "Not at all, Mr. Roquet. You see, Michael isn't your brother." He walked close to James and leaned over next to him, speaking softly.
"He's your son."
It was impossible. First of all, she'd never been pregnant. Second of all, Michael was ten years old! That meant Jessie would have been ten when Michael was born. She definitely couldn't have had children then. Besides, she and James had only been physical for three years. This wasn't adding up.
She looked out over the laboratory and saw Michael sleeping on a table, perfectly oblivious to the drama unfolding around him. She had to get him and James out of there, soon. She wasn't sure how she was going to do that. The place was crawling with Defiers, everyone on red alert. Jessie had almost been caught trying to sneak in. Sneaking out seemed out of the question. With a soft sigh, she leaned back in the duct, trying to make herself comfortable. She would simply have to wait until the opportunity presented itself for escape.
It's better than being dead, he thought to himself. Another wave of sickness passed over him. Or not. Finally, feeling his system mostly purged of filth, Meowth hauled himself up a tree to rest. He closed his eyes, shivering as the cold night air blew though his wet, matted fur. I wonder if anyone is still alive, he thought to himself. Gengiess, Jessie, and Reece were probably alright, since they were on the back lines. But Kytty and Umiko... Meowth felt his chest tighten at the thought. He had a sinking feeling that at least one of them was most likely dead, if not both. And James, well, the Defiers probably had him by now and were interrogating him. At least he was close to Michael. There might still be a chance to complete this mission yet.
"But not before they find out the truth," Meowth whispered to himself. All the secrets the Boss had been trying to keep were coming unraveled. Meowth knew the secrecy was over the minute he had gotten word that the Defiers were planning on kidnapping Michael. They let them take him. Why? Meowth knew he was going to need an answer to that question before the day was over. If they hadn't let the Defiers take Michael when they did, they probably would have tried again later. If they tried it in the winter, the frail child would have most likely perished along the journey. Even now, deep in the middle of autumn, it was a risk.
"Poor Michael," Meowth lamented, adjusting himself on the branch so he could sit comfortably and watch the facility at the same time. His expression suddenly changed into one of grim resolution. "But this might be his only chance at ever getting well," Meowth murmured. He sat back and prepared to wait a long time.
"You can look at the evidence yourself if you don't believe me," Kurai offered, holding out the papers so James could see. "Biologically, you and Jessica are Michael's parents. I thought you might want to know, just in case any of you ever need a kidney transplant or a blood transfusion."
"Michael is a ten year old!" James protested. "Jessie and I are only twenty. I think your facts are way off base."
Kurai shrugged. "The base-sugar-phosphate groups don't lie, kid. Think about it," he replied, knocking on James' head. "Aren't you supposed to be smart? What does Team Rocket do a lot of?"
"I don't know. Theft, international affairs, genetic engine--" James stopped. He shut his eyes tightly and turned his head down to the floor. "Shit," he whispered. "Shit, shit, SHIT!" Kurai laughed.
"Meet Michael Roquet, James," he continued, placing a hand on the sleeping boy's chest. "You and Jessica are the proud parents of the Team Rocket human engineering project."
"I don't believe this. I DO NOT believe this," James said, his voice shaky. "When did they do this to us? How did they do this? Why US? Why our DNA?"
"As for when, I would guess around the time you were nine or ten years old. As for how, well, I think you schooling can answer that. Why, however, has the most intriguing answer of all," responded Kurai. James looked up at him.
"Why?" he asked softly, his expression dark and haunted. He had never felt so violated.
"I'm truly surprised you haven't figured that out either," Kurai said lightly. He sat down on a table across from James, lifted up the pack he had brought with him, and started rifling through it. "Let's see what you were carrying, Mr. Roquet. An extra gun and three clips of bullets, an IV, two bottles of animoauxdrixle…" Kurai held up the bottles of yellow liquid. "That's good," he said evenly. "We were running out. This is pretty potent stuff. For your son, I assume? He really is quite sickly, hmmm?"
"Why?" James growled, his voice getting low and angry. Kurai put down the pack and looked at James carefully.
"You honestly don't know, do you?" Kurai slowly replied, his eyes narrowing. He sighed and stood up, walking over to James. "Think, Mr. Roquet. Think. You and your partner, Jessie - you would say you have a pretty close relationship with her, right?" James nodded, but said nothing. "Sometimes, it's almost as if you two know what the other one is thinking. There is a reason for this." Kurai stepped around James and looked down at Michael. Ashi brushed a few strands of the boy's long blue hair out of his sleeping face. He sighed again.
"It's the same reason why Michael can never seem to get well. We were hoping he would learn some control, but he hasn't been very successful. Apparently, his cap broke after the accident. Of course, yours seems to be breaking down as well."
"Control what?" James asked, confused. "What 'cap?' Which accident?"
"Oh, you know. The little fire at Michael's house four years ago." Kurai clucked his tongue and shook his head, stepping back from Michael and walking to the center of the room. "Now that got completely out of hand."
James felt his chest tighten as he watched Kurai, absorbing what he had said. "You set that fire," he said evenly, afraid of the rage and anger building up inside of him.
"Of course I didn't. Banes did, didn't you Banes?" he replied, his voice chipper.
"Sure did, boss," the lackey replied, his face a stone mask.
"You see, we were really just trying to get rid of Michael's foster parents. They were members of Team Rocket as well, if you couldn't guess." Kurai jumped up and sat on the lab table across from James. "Unfortunately, Michael was in the house at the time. We didn't realize it. Our sources said he wasn't home. Needless to say, we thought the kid was a charcoal briquette. We only found out recently that he had survived. Plus, we now had the data on the original donor parents," Kurai continued, sliding off the table and walking close to James. "When we noticed that two new members were added to the Rocket Organization right after the fire occurred - a pair of orphans with exceptional intelligence and skills and were only sixteen years old - we found out that one of them had a 'brother' in the hospital that he was visiting. The pieces simply fell together."
"You killed his parents," James said softly, looking down at the floor, his expression dark. Kurai couldn't see his eyes.
"Well, in a manner of speaking, yes," Kurai returned. "But it was all for the greater good, you see. Well, my greater good, anyway."
James' expression didn't change in the slightest. "You destroyed Michael's life and you killed his parents." The tone of his voice sent a chill through the room. Kurai reflexively stepped back.
"Now James, please relax. It's a war. War is hell. People die in wars," he explained quickly. Suddenly a pale, green glow began to surround James. The rope binding his hands started to burn away, curling and blackening and eventually turning to ash.
"You KILLED them, you BASTARD!" James bellowed, standing up, the light surrounding him so bright Kurai could scarcely stand to look at him. Ashi turned to run when two soft pings rang out through the room. He watched in horror as his two lackeys grabbed their chests, which now had gaping, bleeding holes in them, and collapsed to the ground. Out of the ventilation duct hopped a familiar redhead, her eyes blazing with anger, a blue aura flickering around her body. She cocked her gun and aimed it at him. Trapped. Kurai looked back at James and swallowed hard.
"Easy, Mr. Roquet. You don't know the kind of power your wielding. You... you could destroy this whole place!" James took another step forward, his hands surrounded by a crackling green energy, his eyes glowing with a similar light. He looked critically at the cowering Kurai. Suddenly, his glowing eyes went wide with grief and anger.
"YOU KILLED MY FATHER!" he screamed, his voice nearly breaking. James leapt forward and grabbed Kurai by the front of his shirt, hauling him two feet off the ground. The light grew more and more intense. The last thing Kurai ever saw was James' face filled with anguish. The world suddenly exploded and went dark.
JESSIE!
Jessie jumped, banging her head on the top of the duct. What was that voice? She could have sworn she had just heard someone call her name. It sounded like...
James? she thought hesitantly.
Jessie, I understand everything now.
Understand what? she asked silently, her heart in her stomach. She felt such incredible hurt in James thoughts. It didn't even dawn on her that they were communicating telepathically. Hadn't it always been that way?
Yes, it has, James replied, interrupting her thoughts. I'm going to get rid of the bastard, Jessie. Can you take care of the guards?
Yes. I only have two shots left. I won't miss. But James…
What?
Don't do anything you'll regret, she cautioned. James was silent for a minute.
I won't. Protect Michael, okay?
Of course, Jessie replied. She watched in fascination as a green glow enveloped James. It wasn't that surprising to her, though. She felt like it was a part of him she had always seen, but never realized it until now. She felt her own aura flicker to life in response, a deep azure color that matched her eyes. With precise accuracy, she took out the two guards and dropped to the floor of the laboratory, blocking the escape route of the Defier leader. He looked at her with terror and turned back to face an angry James.
He said something, but Jessie didn’t pay any attention. She ran across the laboratory and grabbed Michael's delicate form, holding him close enough to let her aura shield them both. She felt agony sweep over her as she felt the same thing James had discovered in his sweep of Kurai's mind. They had killed her father. They had killed Remear. She bowed her head in grief over Michael's body.
Suddenly, she felt something warm brush against her leg. Looking down, she saw the pikato, nuzzling Michael's side. She pulled it into her aura as well, creating a shell of safety as James' sorrow and her own exploded around them.
It was a quiet - that odd sort of quiet just before dawn, when the nocturnal creatures were settling in for the day and everyone else was just starting to stir. Meowth closed his eyes and relished in the peacefulness of the forest. It was hard to believe that so much had happened in one night.
He knew that once this mission was over, he was going to have to contact The Boss. Hopefully, he could convince them to release Michael's physician, Dr. Docker. The poor guy had been picked up by Team Rocket moments after Michael was kidnapped and had been kept under lock and key for over a month now. Giovanni was worried he would try to contact James before the time was right. That was part of the reason he had disconnected James' phone card. Poor James. Meowth wondered how he was going to handle...
A sudden explosion broke Meowth's train of thought. The heat from blast swept over Meowth and would have knocked him out of the tree, had it not been for his claws. He looked up and squinted through the smoke at the burning remains of what had at one time been the Defier Facility. Meowth felt his eyes filling with tears, although it wasn't because of the smoke in his eyes. Nothing could have survived that. Nothing. Meowth turned and was about to hop out of the tree and head off to the rendezvous point when something caught his eye in the wreckage. Meowth looked back and gasped.
Coming out of the fire, surrounded by a great, green-blue glow, was James, supporting Jessie as they walked. In his arms he carried Michael, who looked very frail, but at the same time, very much alive. Meowth looked at them in disbelief.
When they reached the tree line, James laid Michael out flat on the ground and he and Jessie sat back to back against the tree Meowth had been perched in. The odd glow faded as they closed their eyes and relaxed. Meowth leapt out of the tree and stood silently on the ground next to them. After a moment, James opened his eyes and smiled at the pokémon.
"We're okay, Meowth," he whispered hoarsely. He reached out his hand and scratched the cat behind the ears. "We're okay and I understand now. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Meowth replied, somewhat confused. But James had already fallen asleep, Jessie leaning against his shoulder, Michael curled around his legs, and a pikato sitting on his head.