Chapter II: If Only Evil

It was midmorning when the two finally reached the outskirts of Saffron City and 
already James could feel the tension of the previous evening lifting from his 
shoulders. He let his mind wander to far simpler things, like Jessie’s silken 
skin and slender legs. His eyes widened as his usually stuttering brain began to 
focus in on his most austere fantasy: a rainy night, roses, a bed, a 
declaration, and then finally he would –

“James, we’re going to have to stop for gas soon.” Jessie said, leaning over 
across his lap to the glove compartment, abruptly shattering his erotic vision. 
The moment was not lost on James; his entire body tensed at her at her gentle 
touch and her inadvertent proximity to his…James quickly shut his eyes tight, 
trying desperately to think of something innocuous, but found he was failing 
miserably. 

“Here let me get that for you!” he exclaimed suddenly, reaching into the small 
compartment and pulling forth a neatly folded map. Jessie gave him a puzzled 
look, but said nothing. He just smiled at her sheepishly. 

“Thank you…” she said, tilting her head quizzically to one side as she slowly 
reached for the map in James’s outstretched hand. 

“You might want to pull over so we can figure out where we need to go.” 

“Yes, that was the plan.” She replied, pulling to the side of the rode and 
slowing the jeep to a stop. 

Quickly unfolding the map and resting it against the steering wheel, Jessie 
began to study it carefully, softly reading the street names and buildings aloud 
to herself. 

James could not bring himself to look at his partner just yet. He felt more than 
a little embarrassed and almost guilty for the things he had thought of doing to 
her, so he simply sat there, quietly staring at his feet. 

And there it was: the uncomfortable silence. God how she hated it. It seemed to 
her that every opportune and perfect moment she had ever had with the man had 
been tainted with that insufferable quiet. 

“James, just please say something.”

He was startled by her words. In truth, she had never spoken to him in such a 
manner, nor had she ever asked of him such an earnest request. She did not look 
up from the map as she spoke to him, but he could tell that she wasn’t really 
looking at it. He paused for a moment, trying to think of something to say.

“Do you know what I was thinking, Jess?” he asked, shifting his weight so he sat 
with his eyes towards her.

“No, what?”

“I was thinking how beautiful you looked today.”

Now this made Jessie tear her eyes away from the map. She blushed as she looked 
up to James’s cheerful, smiling face, her fingers letting the sheer paper of the 
map slip from their grasp. Her heart nearly stopped. 

“Thank you, James.” She took her hand and tenderly placed it over his. With this 
he smiled even more broadly, clasping her hand tightly, tracing his thumb along 
the ridges of her knuckles and watching as her eyes deepened and disappeared 
into his. 

“You’re welcome.” he whispered, and gently let loose his hold.

“Now, how about that gas station? Does us no good to end up stranded out here, 
now does it?” 

Jessie sighed and looked away. “No James, no it doesn’t.”

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The rest of the ride was spent in silence.

What had happened earlier was almost too much for either to process. James was 
petrified he’d said something he shouldn’t have and Jessie’s only worry was that 
things would become awkward between them. She knew that with the coming days she 
would need him more than ever, yet she could not admit that to him.

The gas station was only a few short miles from where they had stopped. It was 
an older building, its roof was in disrepair and the plain wood siding had been 
stripped of its finish long ago. At first glance it appeared as if no one was 
here, but the new car parked out front said otherwise. Despite all of its 
shortcomings, there was no denying that there was a distinct quality to place. 
She could have sworn to herself she had been here before, though.

“Jess,” James said as they pulled up to an open pump, breaking their long 
silence, “have you ever thought about what it might be like if we were ever 
split up? You know, if one of use were to be reassigned or something?”

“Of course not. That could never happen.” she replied as she jumped out of the 
jeep and grabbed hold of the gas pump. 

“What makes you so sure?”

“Well, you and I are a team, aren’t we? Without you there is no me and I don’t 
think that I could do any of this without you.”

She’d said a little more than she wanted to. Inwardly cursing herself, she hoped 
that maybe James hadn’t really comprehended everything she meant. He had made an 
irritating habit of that.

He smiled. “I’m glad to hear it.”

“You’ve been asking a lot of questions lately” Jessie said, undoing the gas cap 
and inserting the pump. “Why?”

“Oh, no reason I guess.” He answered, nervously brushing away a strand of hair 
from his face. “It feels likes it’s been a long time since we actually talked to 
one another and I just like knowing what’s going on in that head of yours, 
that’s all.” 

“Oh…well then, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course you can, anything.”

Jessie glanced at him pensively. “Have you ever been in love?”

And without thinking, he blurted out a response. “Yes.”

“With whom?” 

He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. Now he was in trouble. 

“I…I…lots of different girls. One was shy, the other sweet, and another was mean 
and yet another scared. All of them have been different, but they were all the 
same.”

Jessie didn’t know what the hell James was talking about. She furrowed her brow, 
filing through all the girls she had known back at Rocket HQ, but she couldn’t 
place any of them with what he had just said.

The pump clicked and shut off. $22.17

“I’ve got it!”

Jessie looked up to see James already making his way towards the door. 

‘Always the gentlemen.’ She thought, leaning against the jeep. 	

But just as he reached out to push open the door to the station, Jessie yelled 
out to him.

“You never answered my question!”

He paused for a moment, turning to look towards her.  

“Think harder!” he shouted, grinning, before finally disappearing behind the 
door.

Whatever it was that was going through his head she doubted she’d ever know. 

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More than a minute passed.

“What on earth could be taking him so long?’ she thought to herself as she took 
a step towards the door. 

And just as she set her foot down on the loose gravel, a loud pop rang through 
the air.

Her heart stopped beating. 
 
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