A/N: A huge thank-you to everyone who read, reviewed, and favorited/followed! Here's the next chapter.

-Chapter One-

Neal's stride was quickened and purposeful, as opposed to his usual lazy stroll, as his sneakers pounded the ground with every step. His hands were jammed firmly into the pockets of his jacket, clutching onto the envelope hidden inside them for dear life. Looking over his shoulder often, he kept an eye out for any other person that could possibly be lurking in the shadows of the dimly lit Portland, Oregon alleyways in which he was currently making his way through.

He hadn't been this jumpy while carrying out a heist in a long time, he wasn't exactly a newbie when it came to thievery, but this one was the exception. It wasn't exactly one of the shoplifting sprees that he was more accustomed to; there was twenty thousand dollars on the line. Twenty thousand dollars' worth in cash was at stake, which he had gained from some very expensive-and very stolen-watches.

If anything went wrong with the plan, it could result in him, and possibly his girlfriend (who had helped retrieve the watches from a train station, therefore helping him get away with the theft) getting put in jail for a very long time, all for a crime he committed. No pressure, though. No pressure at all.

At that point, however, everything was running smoothly. He had fenced off the watches and gotten the payment in the form of the stack of bills in the envelope, and was now headed back to meet Emma at an agreed spot.

A hint of a smile appeared on his face as he thought of Emma. They had talked about running away together to Tallahassee to change their identities and settle down for a change, as opposed to the cross-country stealing adventures they'd been going on for over a year now. The meeting spot wasn't far, all he had to do was make it there without incident and he'd practically be home free.

He became set on edge at one moment, suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling that he was being watched. He had known that feeling before, and he also knew it wouldn't end well for him if he ignored it. So he craned his head to either side, while still continuing to walk forward, until something caught his eye as he made a turn to the left.

His heart immediately jumped into his throat as he noticed the unmistakable shadowy figure of another person standing behind him. It was too dark to see the stranger's face, and swirling, white fog further blocked his vision of him, making the man look all the more intimidating. Neal honestly didn't care who he was, he just hoped to God that the guy wasn't looking for him.

His fears were confirmed as the man began to move in his direction, then proceed to break into a run.

Panic struck Neal like a bolt of lightning, causing him to speed up into a sprint, losing all hope of trying to go unnoticed. The only thing that was going through his head were thoughts of desperately trying to escape the person chasing him who was most likely a police officer, or even worse, a federal officer.

The more he sped up, the more the stranger sped up, he noted to himself. They seemed to be somewhat evenly matched in running speed, although the stranger seemed to be gaining ground on him. Or was that just his imagination?

Neal mentally cursed to himself as he turned down another, smaller alley, one he knew led to the meeting place. One that had with a tall fence standing in his way. Just what he needed.

Not planning on giving up, he grabbed onto the fence, tiny bits of rust rubbing off onto his hands. He then began to scale the fairly-tall barrier, using the metal chain-links as footholds. By the time he reached the top, the other man had just reached the very bottom.

Neal swung his leg over the top and onto the other side, trying his best to avoid the barbed wire strategically placed at the top in an attempt to prevent such escapes.

Jumping off the fence and landing awkwardly on the other side, he scrambled to his feet and, not wasting a second, took off yet again.

He turned down a third side alley, an even smaller and narrower one, one in which he had to feel his way along the walls to move forward at all. It was pitch black in that place, being only a narrow gap between two buildings. He felt his way along, trying not to step on any of the trash bags or bits of broken glass that littered the ground.

A light at the end of the alley became visible, marking its end and gradually growing closer as he moved forward until it overpowered the darkness entirely.

After reaching the end, Neal glanced around, adrenaline still pumping through his veins at a mile a minute from the chase. He didn't see the man anywhere. I've lost him, he thought. But he had to move fast, before he was found again.

He recognized his surroundings as the meeting place, audibly sighing in relief as he caught sight of Emma's blonde ponytail.

Emma leaned up against the tall city building, staring at the tiny screen of her phone and trying not to think of all the possible ways their plan could fail, most of which ended with someone going to jail.

She had been expecting Neal's voice to come out of the device after she dialed the number, but instead only got a robotic voice telling her "The number you are calling is no longer in service. You have reached an error..."

She snapped the phone shut and stuffed it away, scoffing at it. "It sure is an error."

At that moment, she saw a figure dart out from between two buildings and come running towards her after pausing for a moment, panting and out of breath. Emma immediately felt relief as he came into view.

"Hey! Where were you?" she asked him, more worried than mad.

"Sorry. Some guy was chasing me. I barely managed to get away from him."

"Some guy? Neal, did you know who it was? Was it a fed?"

"No idea. All I know is on my way back over here, this guy comes out of nowhere and starts chasing me. I panicked and ran away. I think I lost him, but I'm not a hundred percent sure. "

"Well, we'd better get out of here before anyone finds us. Did you get it?" said Emma in a hushed tone, even though she couldn't see anyone else that might possibly overhear them.

Neal pulled a thick, white envelope from his pocket, the green bills inside visible to nobody else but her. "Oh, I got it. Twenty grand, right here."

Emma's lips slowly spread into a grin, her worry momentarily subsiding, and she planted a quick kiss on his lips. "Let's go."

As they jogged away towards the car, Emma thought that this should've been an amazing moment for her, one she never thought could happen. She finally had someone that wanted her, that loved her. She was going to Tallahassee.

But Neal's story of being chased down an alley had unnerved her. The chance of something going wrong was too high for her liking. Her happiness was edged by a gnawing nervousness as they climbed into the Bug, also known as their car, and drove off into the night.