Part  XVII (17), written by Annie


      Geneva walked toward the roof. She wanted to see the stars and feel the 
      cool night breeze again.
      It wasn't hard to get up there, really. She handed the grunt a card, he 
      slid it through the computer, and the green light came on. She got her 
      card back and walked through the door and up the series of steps that went 
      to the roof.
      The night air was cool and welcoming, and it hit her like a wave of 
      refreshing water. She sighed and leaned against the closed door. It was 
      just so peaceful up here...
      Geneva instantly froze. Someone was up here besides her. She could hear 
      the breathing, and he or she was making a little noise.
      She turned around the corner and looked. James was sitting down, his legs 
      dangling from the roof. He looked very troubled about something. She 
      wanted to know what it was, maybe even to help, yet she couldn't get over 
      the fact that he had been the one who abducted her and changed her life.
      "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to disturb you..." she mumbled, taking a step 
      back toward the door.
      "It's okay," he replied. "You can come and sit down if you want."
      She walked over to him and sat down. He handed her a donut. She smiled. 
      "Thanks."
      "You're welcome," he replied. He had the manners of a gentleman, at 
      least...
      She took a bite out of the donut and chewed it, savoring the taste. "Have 
      you ever had second thoughts about this Team Rocket business?" she asked. 
      "I mean, it's interesting in the beginning, but there are some things that 
      a life of crime just can't buy."
      He looked at her, though he seemed to be looking through her. His eyes 
      sent shivers up her spine as he surveyed her. "Every moment of every 
      single day, I wonder if it could have been different. It's a matter of 
      destiny, right? Or is it? is there really a force in control of your life, 
      or is it just you?" he asked her.
      "I don't know what to believe."
      James looked down at his untouched donut. Normally he would have eaten the 
      entire box by now, but for some reason he just wasn't hungry. What was 
      wrong with him?
      "Why did you come up here?" she continued.
      He looked up from the donut and gazed out at the forest. "Every time I 
      close my eyes I see that girl. She was just having a good time... watching 
      TV... and I killed her. I killed her, and I don't know why I did. It felt 
      so good, you know? I felt like I would kill and kill and kill and never 
      stop, and nobody could ever touch me again."
      She touched his shoulder. "James... it's okay... what you did back there 
      was wrong. Everyone knows that, but don't dwell over it. It was in the 
      past. You made a mistake. Don't dwell on that mistake. Learn from it."
      He looked at her. "It's not that simple, Geneva. It's not too late for 
      you. You're very young. You have a life ahead of you. You can get out of 
      this nightmare before it's too late. I hear that once you start killing, 
      there's no end to it, and pretty soon that's all you ever do."
      She took another bite of the donut and chewed. She thought for a moment. 
      "You know, James, I think you only pretend to be a dense idiot. I think 
      you use that for a cover. I think you're trying to hide who you really 
      are."
      He said nothing. She continued. "We talked along this line last week. I 
      know we did. If you did something wrong, why don't you work to make it 
      right?"
      She could feel his eyes upon her. "You're not as dense as your brother."
      "Thanks... I guess..."
      "I'll try to make it right. I'll do whatever I can to make it right. I 
      just don't want to... I don't want to be bad. I never wanted to be... 
      wait, why am I saying this to you?"
      "Because I'm a good person to talk to and I don't have a mallet?"
      He blinked. "Yeah, that might be it."
      James stood up and grabbed the box of donuts. "Look, Geneva... I'm going 
      inside... see you later..."
      She looked up at him. "See you later..."
      Jesse had bribed the guard into telling her where James had gone. She had 
      also gotten more information. Geneva, the Twerp's sister, had gone up to 
      the roof about eight minutes after him. They had probably met each other 
      on the roof, that was certain. It was hard to be on the same floor and not 
      meet the other person.
      He was sitting down and talking with Geneva. It had probably been the end 
      of the conversation, for he had gotten up. He walked back toward her. She 
      had never seen that look on his face before. It was so abstract and 
      troubled...
      She let him pass. She waited until he had gone halfway down the stairs to 
      confront him.
      "What's wrong, James?"
      He looked surprised to see her. He gave a yelp and jumped. "Please don't 
      scare me like that, Jesse!"
      His face had regained that façade of indifference. It was impossible to 
      tell his true feelings from that position. He had given up showing his 
      emotions by the time he was about five. Showing emotions always made him 
      hurt, and he was better off keeping his thoughts and feelings to himself. 
      Still, there was something wrong with his eyes, something that always 
      lurked inside them... something dark....
      "James, if something is wrong, you can just talk to me."
      "Nothing is wrong, Jesse. You know that I would go to you if I had a 
      problem."
      She glared at him. "Is that it, then? You would rather talk to the sister 
      of some half-wit than someone you've known most of your life?" she spat.
      "I don't know what you're talking about, Jesse..." he said. "You've got me 
      all confused!" He gripped his head and collapsed to the stairs, still 
      managing to keep the donuts inside their container in the process.
      "What is wrong with you, James?"
      "Nothing's wrong with me."
      "Ever since this entire mission started, you've been acting like more of 
      an idiot than usual, and sometimes you act like there's something wrong 
      with you. What's wrong? Look, I can tell! Don't act so surprised! You're 
      not telling me something important!"
      He looked at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Geneva and I 
      were discussing tactics for a mission we'll be doing soon."
      He couldn't believe what was happening. He was lying to the one he loved, 
      or at least lying more so than usual. Of course, facial expressions and 
      unrevealed feelings weren't exactly lies, but they were pretty close to 
      it. He'd also made minor lies to keep her from figuring out his secret.
      "Jesse, I'll meet you in my room later tonight. We can watch some movies."
      She looked at him. "Really?"
      "Yes. Be there at eleven."
      "I will," she replied, laughing.
      The next morning, the Ketchum family assembled for their morning meal. 
      Delia was wearing a mask over most of her face because it was almost 
      impossible for someone to eat and wear a veil. The veils were beside her 
      on the table.
      Of course, her being Delia Ketchum, she had to pop the famous question.
      "Ash? Are you wearing clean you-know-what?" she asked. It was early 
      morning, and everyone was tired.
      "MOM!" Ash yelled. "Stop it! This is embarassing!"
      Geneva tried to chew cereal and not laugh, but as we all know, that is 
      almost impossible to attempt.
      Giovanni looked disturbed. "Um... Ash... answer her question... and we can 
      all just forget about it..."
      Ash looked at his mother. "No. I am not wearing clean underware.... and I 
      haven't had any clean underware for the past week...." he said in a 
      totally calm voice. It took him fifteen minutes to explain everything 
      horrible he had done to his underware, and his restroom habits.
      Delia looked pale. "Well... try to change it sometime soon, dear..."
      Geneva proceeded to try to not throw up. Giovanni was staring at his 
      breakfast, sick to his stomach. How could someone keep such horrid 
      grooming habits?
      The three grunts who happened to be in the room serving at that time 
      excused themselves. They all ran to the 'fresher. The sound of puking 
      could be heard for about two minutes.
      Ash looked at everyone. "What? You asked..."
      They all shuddered and looked away.