Passion Under Fire: Part IV
By The Jolt Master
Jessie and James arrived at the police station intact. No one followed them and no one recognized them. Even though they were in the safety of the police
station, no one seemed to notice them. Looking around at all the policemen, detectives and various people being interviewed, both citizens and criminals, they saw one officer standing at what appeared to be a front desk, similar to what is seen at a hotel. The desk itself was a dark mahogany color that was on a raised dais almost a foot above the main floor, so that the officer would have to look down at the person to discuss whatever the problem might be. They tentatively approached the front desk while the dark haired officer behind it wrote down some notes. James coughed politely to get his attention. He looked up from what he was doing, not looking too pleased, but not upset either.
"May I help you?"
"We, ah," James started, looking at Jessie, who returned the look. James looked back to the officer, his voice filled with a light uncertainty. "We ah, need to talk to someone."
"Well, I'm right here," the officer replied, looking a bit annoyed now.
"Yes, er, we can see that," stammered James, trying to compose himself to so
that he can finally betray Giovanni; the man who had been like a father figure to him for the past few years. Jessie seemed to know what he was thinking and took up the reins.
"We wish to see Giovanni go to jail," she blurted out. She took another breath, trying to calm her nerves. "He tried to kill us."
At that moment, an arcanine leaped up with both forepaws on the desk. Several
small streams of fire jetted out of its nose, as though the name Giovanni
inspired some sort of hatred within the almost regal hellhound. The officer
turned on the dog.
"Striker, get down. Now!"
The pokemon complied and went back to being on all fours. He then turned to his other side and called across the room.
"Jenny! We've got a couple of kids who want to talk about Giovanni."
"Thanks, Harrison," came the reply. With that, Officer Harrison and Striker
walked away from the front desk. Jessie and James were positively horrified at the officer's announcement to the whole station, coupled with Striker the
arcanine's appearance of battle-readiness. To their surprise, no one looked
ready to attack them or tried to take them out.
Officer Jenny walked to the front desk and stood were Harrison had been before. The slim brown-haired woman looked at them carefully. Jessie and James both began to feel very uncomfortable, thinking that this wasn't such a good idea. Maybe leaving would be better--
"I know you two," she said, leaning on the front desk, her eyes narrowing a bit at them and her voice dropping. "Jessie James! You're Jessie and James of Team Rocket!"
Fear set in now, but Jessie was able to overcome it first.
"Yes, yes we are," she started, her voice dropping also. "But we're not with Team Rocket anymore. In fact, they're trying to kill us! And we think Giovanni is behind it all."
"Why does he want you two dead?" Jenny asked.
"We don't know," James responded this time. "All I know is that I was shot by a couple of Rocket members." He tapped his shoulder to emphasize his point. "That sort of mission would most likely be a high priority type mission that only Giovanni hands out himself. When we managed to escape, he sent out a directive to everyone to find us."
James then handed her the memo he took off Harry from the elevator. Jenny read it over and nodded.
"May I keep this? For evidence?"
The ex-Rockets nodded their approval, then she gestured for them to follow her. They walked through a maze of desks, chairs, other cops, the din of ringing phones and crying victims to reach their destination of a small meeting room. Jenny peeked in and then entered, seeing no one inside. Jessie and James entered quickly and Jenny locked the door behind them. She gestured to have them sit at a small wooden table that had three chairs. The room itself was bare of any decorations, save a large mirror on one wall. The table had a tape recorder and a single microphone. They realized were in an interrogation room as Jenny pulled out a tape and popped into the recorder and set it into motion.
"August 15th, 2000. Time: 1:06pm PDT. Interviewing ex-Rocket members, Jessie and James. Also known as 'Jessie James.' Last names unknown. Their biographies and criminal files can be referenced by numbers TR-4829 and TR-4830. The latest violation believed to be committed by them is the attempted kidnapping of a Pokemon through use of an illegal tranquilizer. Violation of Pokemon Penal Codes 932.4 through 934.6 and Human Penal Code 12280, subsection b, illegal possession of an assault weapon and Human Penal Code 12022.53, subsection 6, discharging of said assault weapon in violation of Section 220, assault with intent to commit a specified felony."
Jessie and James looked at each other rather uneasily. It was already going very badly. Jenny then addressed them. Her tone was firm and professional.
"Now, what do you know about Giovanni and is it worth enough to keep you two out of jail?"
**** **** **** ****
A few hours later, Jessie and James had explained the details of the past few
days and recounted just about every criminal act they had ever done under
Giovanni and Team Rocket's direction. While both of the ex-Rockets felt some
relief for confessing to their sins against society, Jessie was strangely
emotional. She had been crying softly on James' shoulder for the past fifteen
minutes while James held her. The officer looked tired, but she was smiling. She was finally going to bust the son of a bitch.
"Okay," she began, "you've given me a lot of information that would send him
away for a while. But a good lawyer, which I know he has, will get him off of
most of these charges you're making. Something very solid is going to be
needed." She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I need you to get
Giovanni to confess to trying to kill you."
Both Jessie and James blanched at her words. After a minute of stunned silence, Jessie spoke up, sounding almost hysterical.
"You want us...to go back there?? Are you crazy?! How are we supposed to do
that? We barely escaped with our lives to get here! We came here for
protection!"
"I wish I were crazy," replied Jenny, her tone very somber. "If you were able to get him to confess to trying to kill you though, I can assure you that two
counts of attempted murder gets minimum twelve to twenty years...maybe even
more. It's very convincing to a jury to hear a man confess on tape, since you'll be wearing bugs." She looked at them steadily. "But I need your help, otherwise, he'll be back in business in a couple years at best."
"If you do this," she continued, "we can hide you through Witness Protection
until he's convicted."
"But what if he isn't convicted?" Jessie said, her eyes red from her crying.
"You get that confession and he will be," she replied, the authority in her
voice didn't waver at all. Jessie and James looked back at her, still rather
stunned by her request. They looked at each other, then back to the officer.
"We need some time alone," said James softly.
The officer nodded, then left the room. They were alone and they both sighed
very heavily, both in weariness and grave concern.
"Jessie...are you sure about this? I mean, if we do this, we could get killed!"
"I know," she nodded thoughtfully, looking a bit pale and very tired. "But if we don't do this, we'll be on the run forever. We'll be always be looking over our shoulders. They may eventually capture and kill us."
James looked at her uncomfortably. He did not want to hear that, but she was
right. It was either seek protection by going into the lion's den or run forever and never be sure they'll see the next dawn.
"Okay," he replied softly, taking her hand in his and squeezing it firmly.
"Let's do it. Let's get Giovanni."
From behind the one-way mirror, Jenny smiled broadly as James' voice came over the dark hallway's little speaker. She directed another officer to get the bugs and outfits they would need.
*** *** *** ***
Jessie and James had been moved to a room with bunk beds and handed their new
disguises: black Team Rocket uniforms. Jessie guessed they kept runaway kids
here when the police needed to contact parents to pick them up. James was not
too concerned about the room's function. He was focusing on a plan to get
Giovanni to confess. He stripped down to nothing, the flat metallic box already strapped to him and the little microphone taped near his neck, along with the connecting wire taped down the middle of his chest. Jessie wouldn't be wearing one, because her outfit was too small. He was glancing over it while Jessie had already gotten her tight one piece outfit on her, accentuating her curvy body. The police were right, there was no where they could hide a bug on her. As she looked at herself in the full length mirror, she furrowed her brows a bit at where the hem of the tube dress stopped. She pulled it down some more, but it would not go any further than her butt.
"I can't believe how short this is," she muttered. James looked at her and
smiled rather lustfully.
"Neither can I."
Jessie smirked at him in the mirror, then reached up to push her hair away when the dress hiked itself up and over her hips. James enjoyed the lovely view of her backside.
"Oh Jessie, you are so good to me."
She had not bothered to pull her dress down as she turned around to face him, a sly smile painted on her lips. James' jaw dropped some at the lovely vision. She then stepped over to him, tilting her hips purposely. James dropped most of his clothes, then brought Jessie close to him, making skin contact below the waist. Their pulses were already accelerating. They smiled at each other, then kissed lovingly and passionately. After some long moments, they stopped. They knew that people were waiting for them and needed to get going. James held up her panties from a single finger, smiling broadly.
"Did you want these now?"
Jessie giggled and took them off his finger, then swatted him playfully.
*** *** *** ***
The two of them walked toward Officer Jenny's office, dressed in their black Team Rocket outfits. James looked the same as he had before when he worked for Team Rocket, but now dressed in black. Jessie had on her one piece outfit, white elbow length gloves and matching thigh-high heeled boots. Jessie kept tugging at her hemline to try to keep it over some imaginary line of comfort, but it wasn't working. Several transients passed them, being escorted by other cops as they continued down the hall. Jessie picked up their stench and immediately felt sick to her stomach. James noticed it, but couldn't do anything as Jessie immediately bolted for the ladies' room. Some time passed and James became concerned for her. He was about three seconds short of going in after her when Jessie stepped out, looking a bit pale, but apparently feeling better. Something in her eyes was different, like some revelation had been made known to her.
"Jessie, are you okay?" James' voice was filled with concern for his lover.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine," she replied, absently waving him off. "It's just my
nerves. This week has been a harrowing one."
"I agree, but that's twice in one day. Maybe we shouldn't do this."
"No," Jessie replied quickly. "No, we need to do this. We must do this.
Otherwise, Giovanni wins."
James nodded his head and put an arm around Jessie's waist. They continued
towards Jenny's office to go over a plan to arrest the crime boss.
*** *** *** ***
"Okay," Jenny started, as they sat in the back of a moving van, bouncing and
lurching a bit from the unevenness in the road, "put simply, once you get into Giovanni's office, get him to confess to giving the order to kill you two. That's it. Once he says it, we'll be there in thirty seconds to bust him. You can even leave, which I encourage you to do. There's no reason for you two to be in danger for any longer than you have to be. We'll have it recorded over here."
She gestured to the electronic recording equipment built inside the van.
Apparently, this was so that the police could record the conversation with
James' bug. Jessie and James nodded, understanding what needed to be done. They had the ID's from Harry and Ron, so they should be able to get in, provided that they didn't deactivate them if they had been discovered as missing. They soon stopped in front of a very large structure, just at the edge of the town. There weren't too many people about, so Jessie and James hopped out the back of the unmarked white van and quickly crossed the street to the main entrance. No one really seemed to take note of them as they stood in front of the door. The security cameras focused on them as they both swiped the borrowed ID's in opposite slots on the left and right side of the door. A little red light flashed for a second, then both of them lit up green. The door clicked open and they let themselves inside, closing the door behind them.
"Whaddya think their chances are, Jen?" asked one of the officers with a headset on.
"Not good, Steve," she sighed as she watched them go in and silently wished them luck. "But they're the best chance we have."
*** *** *** ***
A small light lit up on a black phone and a voice came over the intercom.
"Mr. Giovanni, sir. This is Thompson, down in Security. Ron and Harry have returned to the building."
"Good," he replied, pulling open a small top drawer, revealing a .22 pistol.
"Let them proceed."
*** *** *** ***
Jessie and James strode confidently towards Giovanni's office, which was located on the fifth floor. They got to an elevator and waited for it to arrive. Despite their confident appearance, they were both scared out of their wits. They kept looking around casually, making sure that no one was eyeing them suspiciously. No one was. Finally, the elevator arrived and they stepped in. Just as the doors almost closed, a quick fist came between the crack of the two doors and stopped them from closing. The ex-Rockets gave a little jump as two Rockets in white outfits stepped in, laughing.
"Didn't you hear us yelling to hold the door?" chuckled the blond one.
"Ah, no, sorry. I was focused on something else," James replied.
"Yeah, I can see that," remarked the other one, a brown-haired guy, as he looked Jessie over, smiling. "Hey there."
"Hi," Jessie replied rather curtly. She knew she had to play it up better than that and definitely not hang on James' arm. They would immediately become suspicious if she did that. She became her old self, smiling slyly.
"So what's the news of the day, boys?"
"Harry's still in the hospital," replied the blond one. "You probably heard
about it. He got beaten by those traitorous bastards, Jessie and James. Man, I would love to kick their asses!"
"Yeah, and er, they're so clumsy and stupid, too," James threw in, forcing the uneasiness in his voice to dissipate.
The other Rockets laughed heartily at James' comment. The elevator reached the third floor and they got off, still laughing and commenting about Jessie and James.
"And their hair!! Man, how goofy can you look with dark pink and blue hair?
They're obviously not too bright either."
James' anger was only shown by his tightening grip on the elevator's handrail. He muttered through clenched teeth.
"Those arrogant sons of b--" The elevator doors closed and they continued to the fifth floor.
Once they reached the top floor, they walked down several empty corridors to a door. It was a simple wooden door, Giovanni's name was marked in gold lettering. They both took a deep breath and whispered to the bug that they were going into the office.
They entered a nicely decorated room with a couple of sofas and chairs, along
with a table of magazines and several plants placed about to give the room a sense of balance. Further ahead, a young, very pretty woman was typing at her
computer when she saw them come in. She had the Rocket logo as a brooch, instead of wearing a uniform like everyone else did. She smiled cordially to them, her voice rather perky.
"May I help you two?
James was almost drawn in by her attractiveness, but shook it off as Jessie
spoke up.
"We're here to see Giovanni."
"Do you have an appointment?" she inquired, the smile faded quickly.
"He's expecting us," Jessie replied, not missing a beat. "We're Butch and
Cassidy."
"One moment then," the secretary picks up the phone and punches up a couple
numbers. The ex-Rockets look at each other a bit nervously, but an observer
would not have noticed it. They looked as arrogant as before, as though they had never left the Team Rocket organization.
"Okay," the secretary said, smiling brightly as she hung up the phone. "He can see you now. Just go through the door behind me."
The ex-Rockets nodded and went through the door. They found themselves in a
short hallway that led to another door similar to the one they entered to meet the secretary. James looked over at Jessie, his brows furrowed some and his voice hushed.
"What's with the cowboy names? It's bad enough we were 'Jessie James' when we
worked for Giovanni."
"Tell me, 'Sundance,' if this doesn't feel like high noon at the O.K. Corral," she whispered her reply.
James pursed his lips, but nodded his agreement. He only hoped that it wouldn't be a one-sided gunfight.
They opened the door and let themselves into Giovanni's office. The appearance of this office was more spartan than the other office they had seen over a year ago. There was a large window facing in the same direction as the front entrance.
"Hello, Jessie and James."
The ex-Rockets both wanted to crawl away and hide themselves as Giovanni slowly swiveled around in his large leather executive chair, no longer facing the window behind him. The coldness in his dark piercing eyes made them both very fearful. The evil smile that crossed his face did not help matters either.
"And, once again, you've wasted more of my money and resources by hiding from
me. You both have such a knack for that. I have scores of Rockets looking for
you two and you wind up here. Although, the missing badges tipped me to the
possibility that you might show up."
James grasped for Jessie's hand and held on tightly. She did the same, her other hand protectively reached over for James' arm. Neither of them said anything, mostly out of a profound fear of the crime boss.
"So here you are," Giovanni continued, staring intently at both of them, "no
doubt wondering why I sent out a couple of assassins to finish you two off."
They both blinked. He confessed! Why was that too easy? They could just leave
now, but James spoke up, his voice quivering.
"We-we've always been loyal to you. We always tried our best for Team Rocket and we were the best!"
"'Were' James," replied Giovanni, his demeanor very calm. "That's the key word here. You both 'were' -- past tense. As in, no longer 'are.' You both are a costly liability. Do either of you bumbling idiots have any idea how much you have cost me this past year in trying to complete your last assignment?"
Jessie and James looked at each other a bit sheepishly, but it was apparent to each other that they were still pretty scared of Giovanni. He continued to
discuss his reasons.
"It went into the millions. Any business executive knows when to cut their
losses and that's exactly what I did. I chose to execute you two because of what you know about Team Rocket, the inner workings, and me. Despite the failed attempt, your loyalty to me would make you too stupid to go to the police. And now..."
The executive reached into the open drawer, drew out the small caliber pistol he had there and made it visible to the ex-Rockets. Jessie managed to squeak out a comment.
"That's...that's a nice gun you have, sir."
*** *** *** ***
Downstairs, the police worked furiously to bypass the security system. The
thirty seconds had already gone by and everyone was getting a little tense.
"Jenny! Jenny, come in! Over?" crackled Jenny's shoulder radio. She clicked the button and responded.
"What's up, Stevens?"
"Giovanni's got a gun."
"Oh God," she exclaimed as her eyes widened. She whirled around to the other
officers. "Marcus! Fillmore! They're in danger! Blow the door!! Blow the door
NOW!!"
*** *** *** ***
James immediately stepped in front of Jessie to protect her. Giovanni stood up now, gun in hand, then stepped around to the front of his desk. He looked at them, shaking his head.
"James, James, James. Don't you remember the evils of truth and love? Love makes you feel invincible, making one act with chivalry and gallantry!" Giovanni's expression darkened as he pointed the gun at him. "And chivalry is dead."
Giovanni pulled the trigger. The resulting shot echoed loudly in the sparse
office. James screamed in agony as he bent over and dropped to his knees,
clutching his stomach. Jessie screamed in terror at seeing her lover get shot
again. Right after that, an explosion rumbled throughout the building. The
office swayed a bit, then stilled as Giovanni whirled around and looked out the window. He could see smoke billowing up from the entrance below. James let out a pained cackle as Jessie went down to help him.
"Not so..stupid, eh?" James ripped off the transceiver from his stomach. The
small stainless steel box was bent and the bullet had lodged itself into the
casing. The microphone cord dangled from it uselessly. James tossed it aside and worked to stand up with Jessie's help. Giovanni was livid as he turned back to the ex-Rockets. The dark, murderous look in his eyes had returned with a vengeance. His deep voice matched his eyes.
"And clever makes you dead too." With that, he raised the gun again. They both looked at him in pure abject fear. Another crack from the pistol and Jessie screamed again. She fell backwards as a waterfall of blood gushed from her chest. James turned to see her hit the ground. He yelled for her and quickly scrambled to her side, cradling her in his arms. Tears flowed freely as he rocked Jessie's lifeless body, crying out her name repeatedly, telling her to not to leave him. James' worst nightmare had come true as Giovanni laughed evilly and drew a bead on James' head. He pulled the hammer back.
The police stormed in with a thunderous crash. The door had been kicked off its hinges and a number of guns and rifles cocked at Giovanni. Voices shouted at him to surrender and drop his weapon. Giovanni was visibly shaken by the show of force and dropped his gun on the desk behind him. The police swarmed him quickly and cuffed him. Jenny strode in, her lips pursed tight at the ex-Rockets. She kneeled down to comfort James, placing a pair of fingers on Jessie's neck. James wept profusely still, but a little smile crossed Jenny's face.
"She's still alive, but barely."
*** *** *** ***
James sat outside the ICU a number of hours later. But it felt like days. His
eyes were still bloodshot from crying, but they were of hope now as the doctors worked to save his lover's life. He prayed silently for the first time ever. He wanted so much for everything to be normal, but he knew that it wouldn't be. Not a for a long time coming.
"James."
He looked up from his chair and saw two boys in black Rocket uniforms, similar to James'. They didn't appear threatening, so he stood up to face them. The shorter of the two spoke up.
"Ah, look, we're.....we're sorry. Um, we're the ones who shot you."
James looked at them solemnly, not saying a word. The boy continued.
"We're gonna testify against Giovanni also. I mean, ah, you know, we were just following his orders."
"Following his orders?" James replied quietly. "Since when is it ever right to kill someone because they ordered you to?"
Both of the boys were a bit speechless as the gravity of their past actions sunk in. They looked at each other, then back at James. Not having anything or knowing what else to say, the two of them turned and left. The guilt they would carry would last for the rest of their lives. James shook his head a bit and sighed heavily. He was about to sit down when the doctor came out. James turned around and his face immediately changed to that of great concern.
"Is she going to be okay, doctor?"
"Yes, she will. We were really concerned for a while because of the blood loss, but she's very strong and has a lot to live for." The doctor smiled as he said that.
James sighed with great relief to hear that she was going to be okay. Something in his brain clicked and he looked at the doctor with a puzzled expression.
"A lot to live for? What does that mean?"
"Well," the doctor started, his face beaming a bit, "I have some even better
news for you."
The nurse standing in the reception area some fifty feet away happened to glance up at James and the doctor as they spoke. She saw James take a step back with a little smile on his face, moved his lips, then fainted, falling flat on his back. The doctor shook his head and chuckled. He then walked over to the concerned nurse and smiled.
"It's okay. He handled the news pretty well."
