(Not So) Golden Years [JAKE]

[Renee Jameson]

Renee Jameson

The water was frigid, poured from a bucket. And yet... The red-head was used to this by now. She stood in the bathtub, pouring the water over her head, letting it rinse the soap from her hair. She'd been lucky enough to be able to snag some conditioner on one of their runs a few weeks back, so when she allowed herself to use it, her hair was soft again. Though it might sound silly to some people, it helped her feel a little better. Nowadays, it was all the little things that kept her going. It was tough. But so was she.

Once satisfied that all the shampoo and conditioner was out of her hair, she stepped out of the bath and wrapped herself in one of the towels they had. A slight shiver passed over her, the cold air nipping at her bare skin. It was a little easier once covered, and so, once she was certain the towel wasn't going to fall, she stepped out of the bathroom, and into the room she shared with her work partner and best friend, Jake Muller. He was out of some trip doing who knew what. He said he wouldn't be home for a while.

Her long hair clung to her bare shoulders as she milled through the slightly run-down suite, trying to figure out what she was going to wear. Sharp blue eyes glanced towards the covered windows. More than once, she wanted to pull the drapes aside to gaze out at the ruined city, but she knew it was a bad idea. Especially now, while she was wearing nothing but a towel. Bending to rifle through her bag once again, she impatiently tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear. It was right about then that she heard a noise from somewhere not too far away.

Her hand instinctively grabbed her gun from just inside her bag, and she straightened slowly, listening for any sign of an approach. And then she heard it. Whirling around, gun raised and pointed, she was just about to call for the intruder to freeze when she noticed that she knew this person. Knew them very well. "Fucking hell, Jake! I thought we agreed to let the other know we were coming in as to avoid the possibility of friendly fire?" With a huff, she let the gun drop back into her bag, fixing him with an entirely unamused stare.

She was standing in a room, with nothing but a towel concealing her naked body from her best friend. It was taking everything she had to remain unflustered, in light of the... Certain feelings she had for this particular man. Feelings that a woman shouldn't have towards their best friend. "If you're not going to leave the room to let me get dressed in peace, can you at least turn around?" With a roll of her eyes she turned her back on him, crouching down to pick up various pieces of clothing. "So what's the plan. I assume you were scouting the next location? Or were you just out dicking around again?"

[JAKE MULLER]

The red head had left early at dawn. He left before the sun even rose, he knew the thick smog from the run down buildings would cover him from any eyes. He had scoured the room early the previous day making note of things they would need and places they could get things, plants were still flourishing at Erikas run down gym, he supposed that the followers kept it going for a peace of mind. Sometimes everyone needed that place to go in order to keep themselves sane. In his case screwing around with the rockets was more than enough to keep him going. It was part of his job and he could do it as a hobby. It really was a win win situation.

The agent got bored with it quick. He had already found the entrance he would be using for his undercover mission with Renee he found it quickly, an entrance right into where they hung all their outfits. Honestly they should keep more security in their hideout. He messed around with the power and spoke on the intercom calling himself the king of rebellion, he didn't give a name, they could figure it out on their own time. He promised them he would be back he wasn't lying he would be back but with a partner in crime.

Jake swung in through the window just to be met with a gun pressed against his forehead. He too managed to point his but dropped it as Renee dropped hers. Jake's jaw dropped slightly as his eyes trailed from her feet to her eyes. "You're ummm you should maybe put...."

"If you're not going to leave the room to let me get dressed in peace, can you at least turn around?"

Jake was interruppted and he rolled his eyes, he turned around letting out a really loud sigh on purpose before lifting his arms and placing his hands behind his head as he normally did to relieve his stress. "WEll if you didn't walk around half naked all the damn time we wouldn't have this problem you know." It had taken Renee and Jake awhile to find this room. The Celedon hotel had 6 floors with a rooftop the 6th floor had all broken walls and was open to the elements. Same with most of the fifth floor honestly, and all the ones below them were patrolled, they were lucky this one was still intact for the most part.

So what's the plan. I assume you were scouting the next location? Or were you just out dicking around again?"

He narrowed his eyes into little slits before pulling out a chocolate bar and tossing it on the bed. "must be shark week." He snickered slightly before walking towards the window peering out in the alley way...empty. "dicking around for the most part." His smiled as he pressed his weight against the window sill. It was a nice day out and it was a shame that both of them were stuck inside for the next 8 hours or so...until nightfall.

"Rocket hideout. I already made my grand entrance should have been there it was hilarious, I discovered the power of the intercom button." His tone was dead serious but even Renee would be able to tell the humor behind it. It was the little things in life that kept them both going, in the females case it was a bottle of shampoo and conditioner, in jakes case the ability to press the big red button.

[Renee Jameson]

Renee Jameson

The minute she heard the sound of Jake turning around, feeling a little safer by the knowledge that there was no way he could see her right now, the blush spread over her cheeks. Her hands shook ever so slightly as she gathered her clothes, quickly slipping into her underwear, as though the tiny articles of clothing provided any sort of protection whatsoever. She was so busy trying to remind herself to breathe properly that she nearly missed his comment about it being shark week. Nearly. Her embarrassment temporarily forgotten, there was a new determination flaring through her as she let the towel fall to the floor, pulling on her usual dark, tight, yet comfortable clothing.

There was a strange sound navigating itself throughout the room as Renee ground her teeth together, her flare of frustration and anger that his comment brought forth radiating from her. It took everything she had not to snap back, not the throw one of her boots at him, or to kick him in the balls for ever insinuating such a thing. Forcing her focus to instead lock onto the task of brushing her hair, she pulled the tool from her bag, beginning to pull it through the long red strands. Already, her hair was doing its best to dry, forming little bits that flicked outwards at ridiculous angles, trying to curl as it was so used to doing.

Continuing to listen to the man as he told her of his adventure, she couldn't stop the roll of her eyes or the groan that left her as she walked to the window, peeking over his shoulder to figure out just what it was he was so interested in looking at. Muttering near his ear, she couldn't help but scold him slightly. "Arceus above, if you've blown our cover and caused them to up the guard in that area, I'll kick your ass, you hear me?" And then she wandered away from him, trying not the think about how close they'd been.

Busying herself by re-entering the bathroom, she took a moment to fix the way her hair fell, and to frown at the little imperfections that could be seen here and there on her features. Setting the hairbrush down, she leaned forward, her index fingers running the length of the lower part of her eyes, trying to rub away anything that might be causing the dark rings beneath them. She hated to think that they were there naturally, brought forth by the nature of her work, and the offset sleeping patterns. That is... When she was able to get any sleep at all.

Her tone was distracted as she continued her motions, the dark (really they weren't that bad, she was just champion of seeing the absolute worst) circles really bothering her, she called to Jake, whom she expected was still somewhere near the window. "So are we leaving at dusk then? Earlier? Later? Before your idiotic shenanigans, what was the security situation like? Where's our entrance point? Emergency exits? What are we after and how are we going to do it?" Still bent over the sink, leaning towards the mirror, the red-headed agent awaited the response from her partner as to what it was they were getting themselves into.

[JAKE MULLER]

Jake smiled coyly as if he hadn't thought of that. He slammed a piece of paper on the bed, on it was an outline of the building and his carefully drawn stick rockets. "The guy that guards the front has a funny looking face so I drew him with a funny face. My map is a masterpiece." He stood back a few giving a firm nod. Yes that deserved a frame. He furrowed a brow as she complained about blowing their cover. As if he could do that, they didn't have a clue what was going on. It's not like he had ever been caught. He never would be caught either. No matter how much he enjoyed dicking around, he still did his job, and that's all that mattered. He put his arm around the red head drawing her in close, his harsh eyes staring at hers. "I won't blow our cover you know I would never put you in danger, and even if MY cover got blown you would be safe Renee." He stepped back looking back at his map. It was time to get back to work, their job was never over.

"Ok this is the entrance to uniform room" He whispered. His finger pointed to a blue X on the map he scribbled while he was out running the streets. "Its to the west of the follower housing. So we will sneak into the housing complex. Its guarded but the guards switch at 7:18 pm there's a five minute window for us to slip through the holes in the walls. From there we go to the straight back, guards switch again at 8:18 we have a five minute window to get from this back wall into the vent that I took apart early today that's hidden by this wonderfully drawn bush." Jake said pointing to the green 'cloud' on this piece of small paper. He coughed once before pulling out another slip.

"In the center of the rocket hideout are two keys in a case. These keys give us access to well to be honest a nicer place to live along with access to food and water. ALSO a door within the hideout that they keep all their pokemon in. If you're feeling bold we can attempt to snag one each. Arcanine and Ninetails are great and will always be my first command, but if we want ANY chance of taking them down we need a strong team. More than just one pokemon ya know?" Jake said. He looked back out the window before pulling the current closed.

"WE leave at dusk, but we must give us time to travel and look innocent. Followers aren't allowed on the streets past 7 if need be we need some sort of alibi so I stole two rocket radios." He tossed those on the bed as well. "as far as the person on the other end knows, Carlos and Nancy are in training for undercovers. Those are our names don't mess up sweetcakes." He jumped on the bed, the springs creaking loudly. He could NOT wait to be out of this dump hole. There was an amazing room on the first floor, a living area where the old owner used to live in, beautiful views of the once lively city...
now it was a city of ashes.

[Renee Jameson]

Renee Jameson

At some point, she had wandered back from the bathroom, realizing she'd have no idea what Jake was talking about if she wasn't there to look down at this map he'd drawn. What she didn't expect was for him to suddenly pull her in close. She found herself holding her breath, ice blue eyes staring into his as he told her something about never putting her in danger. She probably should have been paying more attention, should have said something about needing to make sure he was safe too, but her sharp tongue was suddenly kept at bay by the man before her.

To her relief, his attention was soon back on his map. She let her breath out in a silent stream of air, her blue eyes lingering on Jake as they traversed to view his map. She had to focus. What the hell is wrong with you... She asked herself, begging her brain to listen to what it was her best friend was saying. It would seem that someone was looking out for her, because she tuned in right as he began to explain the plan. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she nodded along to what he was saying, smirking or shaking her head whenever he joked about something.

When Jake commented about their Pokemon, her thoughts drifted to Vivianne. She muttered, mostly to herself, but if he chose to listen, he would easily hear. "Right... Two fire types isn't a good strategy. We could use some help on that front..." She was busy thinking about the plan he'd drawn out, when she heard the last bit. She straightened, whirling to face him. "Honestly Jake, you come up with some great plans, but you can't think of better names than Carlos and Nancy? Carlos? Do you really think you look anything like a Carlos? Arceus you can be dense sometimes!"

He was on the bed now, having leapt onto it after delivering his plan. She settled for the edge of the bed, keeping herself propped up with her legs. She shook her head one last time before her fingers began to thread through her hair, pulling the long red locks into a braid. "Alright, well what can we do until it's time to leave? Any preparation that needs to be done? Or have you gone and figured everything out, and your just dragging me along because you need a way to distract people? You're not dressing me in stupid clothes to flaunt me in front of male guards again, understand?"

[JAKE MULLER]

His grin widened when she mentioned dressing up in stupid clothes again. Oh that one time was a wonderful time. Look Renee my plan will work. My name will Jose and your name will be Barbara. I know you are going to hate me but you need to wear this! " He held up her outfit and watching her eyes turn into narrow slits made him amused. He didn't have the best outfit either. However her persona for the whole thing was perfect. She was able to flaunt herself and distract the guards they were able to get into where they needed to be and life was wonderful. Jake snapped out of his trance and back into reality before a light chuckle escaped. "No rediculous outfits this time....and instead of being my cousin from St. Paul from the Zagos region you can be my Girlfriend from Hoeen about that?" He gave her a playful nudge before taking a kit from underneath the bed. He carfully applied a fake scar above his eye, that looked threatening he could probably get the lower ranked rockets to listen to him.


"Besides getting into character my dear nancy from Dewford Town, there's nothing." He walked back across the room before placing his arms on her waist and looking down at her with his deep eyes. "I'm dense Nancy? Well for Dialgas sake I get us to where we need to be without getting caught right?" Jake leaned in ever so carefully pressing his lips gently to hers. He had never paired them as boyfriend and girlfriend before and it was quite the risk. He pulled back smiling at her for just a moment poking her nose ever so slightly with his index finger. "Carlos and Nancy boyfriend and Girlfriend Rocket Techs from Goldenrod city. I want those Pokemon my dear. We need them. It will be dusk soon." He whispered to her. The sun would be going down within the hour, it was best that they got ready for a mission that could very well get them caught.

[Renee Jameson]

Renee Jameson

Furious. She was furious. Her blue eyes were alight, her lips pulled down into a tight frown as she stared at him hard enough to gaze upon his soul. No, furious did not even begin to cover the way she was feeling anymore. Fingers curled, nails biting viciously into her palm. It took everything she had not to bite her lip, only because the last time she'd done that, she'd caused her lip to bleed. She watched in silence, teeth grinding against one another as Jake applied what seemed to be a fake scar from a kit he'd pulled out from beneath the bed.

She wanted to hit him. She was going to do it. The moment he got close enough, she was going to give him a slap like none other that he'd ever experienced in his life. And it was going to be delightful. Who the fuck does he think he is? Boyfriend and girlfriend? THAT is his story? Yes, she was going to smack him. Of course, her plan came to a screeching halt when he suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist, trapping her arms against her side. Her fingers splayed out as though she were disgusted by something, and the redhead quit breathing all together.

Blue eyes were blank, the fire in them having died so suddenly that her stomach felt heavy, as though she might just vomit. Oh Arceus... Those eyes.. The way he just stared down at her.. Glancing down the line of his nose so that his deep eyes burned into hers, leaving her knees feeling weak. And he leaned closer. Closer still. Until his lips were upon hers. They were slightly rugged, just as she'd imagined they would be time and time again. Rugged and warm. It sent a blazing heat through her that seized her heart, stealing what little breath she had left.

When he broke the kiss, she couldn't look him in the eye. She wanted to drop her head, to look away, but all she could bring herself to do was stare at his nose. Anything to avoid looking into those eyes. Even when he poked her nose, she didn't budge. Didn't breathe. She didn't take another breathe until her lungs screamed at her. Until his hushed whisper, the way his voice seemed to rumble slightly, caused her heart to tighten again. It was then that she breathed in, the stream of air disturbed and shaky as tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.

She wanted to be angry with him. Wanted it so badly. But she couldn't find that anger. It was like he'd stomped it out, like you would to a nuisance of a fire. "Wh-Who do you.. Why.." She had to get out of here. Out of his arms. Probably more aggressively than she'd intended, she twisted in his grip, arms pulling away from each other, pulling out of his arms. As soon as she figured she could make it, she ducked down, stepping a little clumsily away from him. She just had to get away from him. And so she headed to the only place that she thought could be safe.

If he'd called after her or tried to stop her, she didn't notice. She'd blocked everything from her mind until the bathroom door slammed shut, providing a solid wall between herself and Jake. It made her feel a little bit safer, especially when she flicked the lock. When she spoke again, through the bathroom door,  her voice was shaky and cracking. "Who the fuck d-do you think you are..."