K, here's the second chapter... yeah, it's been a while, but i finally have it done. / enjoy

"Alexander, he's dead. Come on! We're running out of time. If we don't get this done in the next ten minutes, there's going to be hell to pay."

"I know. Just give me a minute. I dropped a few coins and the sack's getting heavier."

"Well, mine is too, but we have to keep going. This way. I see an air vent in the ceiling."

The small Pikachu's bright green eyes darted from one corner of the shadowed hallway to another. It would only be seconds before an alarm went off and they'd be caught. She desperately clung to the cloth sack trailing behind her before leaving it and asking her partner for a boost. Responding loyally, an exhausted Raichu lifted his companion with his long, cord-like tail, grimacing as he looked into the blood-soaked face of Game Corner's owner.

"Almost there. Just a little higher."

"I can't go any higher! Just use that rope!" Alexander cried irritably. It had been a long night for him as he'd had to take out multiple Houndoom and many security guards. Stretching his tail as far as it could possibly go, he heard the delightful clank of the vent cover opening.

"I got it!"

"Great, Laila. Now get up there before I need a therapist."

Scrambling to the safety of the air vent, Laila turned to her partner and, with a smirk, remarked, "Too late for that. Now throw me the bags. We have to get going." One by one, the bulky bags of goods were tossed up to Laila. Once everything was up, she lowered the rope she'd slung over her shoulder on the way over to the casino for Alexander. Closing the vent's cover with a click, the two scampered through the air system in hopes it would lead them outside. To their pleasure, it did, but as soon as Laila set foot on the pavement of the parking lot, a flash of multi colored lights came upon her.

"Drop the bag and put your hands in the air," came a voice from a megaphone.

Laila's eyes narrowed. "Damn," she whispered to herself. "Alexander, help me out here. Think we can pull off a combination?"

"Sure. Night slash-shock wave?"

"Okay. Just make sure none of the loot gets damaged." Having said that, Alexander leaped to Laila's side and began storing the necessary power for a dangerous shock wave. Hearing the click of guns at the police's disposal, Laila quickly shot Alexander a power boost of her own electricity before letting loose an ominous night slash. The shock wave was released and collided with the night slash and sailed at the policemen in flashes of black, orange, and yellow. Making contact with the vehicles, there was a cracking explosion, blowing back many of the officers and creating a diversion. Bullets were fired from every direction as the fires raged.

"Come on," Laila hissed, grabbing one of the cloth bags and sprinting off into a nearby ally. Alexander followed closely behind, moving as gracefully as a Spinda on a tightrope. Reaching the end of the alleyway, the two squeezed through a small hole on the bottom of a chain-link fence. However, on his way through, Alexander's pack snagged on a small stick of metal jutting perpendicularly. Both electric mice stopped in their tracks as the sound of dropped coins reached their ears. "Alexander!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Help me pick these up. I'll just take it back like this." As quickly and quietly as they could, they began scraping the fallen coins back into the torn bag. When they were done, they could already hear the sirens coming around the corner. Desperately seeking help, Laila unleashed a strong thunder into the dark sky.

"Come on," she muttered to herself, clinging to her black hat as a gust of wind swept through the alley. Looking to the corner of the street, she saw the remaining squad cars stop, their lights fully on the thieves. Alexander clenched his jaw, mentally blaming himself for their near complete capture. An officer emerged from the car with a larger gun--something Team Rocket used all the time. But it was no ordinary gun. Within the barrel was a net, and a strong one at that. Not even the team's strongest Rydon could penetrate it. Every thread in it was created with rubber extracts, fire proof material, and coated with plastic as to not soak in any water. It was incredibly tough material and could be used over and over no matter what hit it. Laila's thoughts raced in panic. She thought they were both through. Heather wasn't on time and couldn't save them now. She was probably too far away anyway. It all seemed to move in slow motion after that. Both their ears picked up on the click of the trigger as the net was released; the blast of it being shot out at them; the overhead sound of feathers lashing frantically over the wind. Alexander glanced up in time to lock eyes with the reason for Laila's earlier thunderbolt: Heather, a larger-than-average Fearow. In a moment, Heather had gathered enough energy and released a massive hyper beam at the launched net, colliding with it in mid air. Knocking it back at the line of police, Alexander leaped onto Heather's uneven back, followed closely by Laila. With one mighty flap of her wings, Heather lifted herself into the air.

"Thank god," Alexander said, breathing a sigh of relief as the sirens grew quieter. "You came just in time. I thought we were caught." He still clutched the torn bag in his hands, making sure no coins spilled out.

"Yeah, no thanks to you," Laila teased. With one hand, she reached under her hat to rearrange her longer tuff of fur before she went on. "Leave it to you to find the one spot that tears it and makes you drop everything.

Alexander shifted his weight as Heather continued on the course to the base. "Hey, it wasn't entirely my fault. I wouldn't have been so jittery if I hadn't had to stare at the owner's face for so long." Glancing at his pointed tail, he grimaced once again at the sight of the drying blood. "Ugh, speaking of… Laila, think you could get this off when we get back?"

"Aw, come on. Take it like a man." He scoffed at Laila's taunt.

Heather rolled her eyes at the two. Finally able to get her word in, she mused, "God, you sound like a bickering old couple." Her voice was the same scratchy tone as it always was. "Take it down a notch, will ya?"

Alexander flustered, scooping a few coins back into place. Then, nearly ignoring her statements, he asked, "By the way, what's the update on the most wanted list?"

"Eh, same old-same old. Your boss is still at the top of the federal listings. Domino's not far behind."

Laila scowled. "That Black Tulip girl?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, puh-leez. She's not nearly as big of a threat as the boss. She needs to stop playing in the garden and get a real mission for once."

Alexander chuckled in response to Laila's frustration. "What about the local list?" he smiled to Heather.

"Amber's still got the two of you beat. You've got to admit--she's good at what she does."

Laila smirked, shrugging her shoulders into a more comfortable position. "Hey, second or third isn't that bad. Quite a switch from Rookie of the Month." By then, the headquarters were in sight. Pointing a finger in its direction, she asked, "Could you just drop us off at the front? It's the only place I can reach the biometric lock."

"Sure thing." Gently curving her wings, Heather glided downward to the main entrance. Once landing, Laila hopped to the ground and assisted Alexander with his load. Readying for takeoff once more, Heather stated, "Well, I'm glad to be of any help to you two whenever you might need it." Winking, she added, "As always."

"And thank you so much for that." The Raichu spoke his words with utter sincerity. "Without you, we'd probably be in a high security prison."

"Don't mention it. Just take care of yourselves. I'd hate to see my two favorite mice all locked up in a cage."

This made the two smile at the irony of the large bird's words. They soon bid farewell and watched as Heather flew back to the inner city. Laila took a deep breath, putting on her business look before peering into the biometric sensor. Identifying the small Pikachu, the towering doors creaked open. As the two crept inside, they were soon greeted by a tall, yet oddly thin human. His short, spiked hair jutted out in very deep emerald locks from under his had. His eyes were a vivid rust color and made a dramatic contrast with his dark uniform. Kneeling down on his knees, he pet both Pokemon in a friendly greeting.

"Welcome back, you guys," he grinned in a higher voice than a usual Rocket agent. "I see the trip was successful."

"Hey, Mark! And yes, it was," Laila responded, though in her own language. Alexander only nodded in agreement.

Mark's smile, however, slanted a bit. "If only I could understand you two. It'd be nice to have an actual conversation with you." He stood at his full height once again and led Laila and Alexander through a corridor to an enormous set of iron doors. Wrenching one open just enough, Mark nodded to them as a silent farewell. After the electric agents entered the gloomy, dungeon-like room, an echoing clatter was heard ricocheting off the solid walls.

The chamber itself wasn't that impressive. The electricity was poorly managed and flickered from time to time. Dust clung to the air from the unswept, uncarpeted floor. A single wooden desk sat in the middle of the room in front of a row of dull, chrome filing cabinets. On the polished desk's surface, many piles of paper were neatly stacked, topped by decorative weights. Looming over them was the boss, Giovanni. His slitted eyes scanned the bags in Laila and Alexander's hands as he smirked, seemingly pleased. With two fingers, he removed a lit cigarette from his mouth and exhaled a puff of smoke. At his other hand sat a tamed Persian. The gem on its head seemed to flicker in the dim light, and its fur rose as it spotted the two electric mice. Giovanni stroked its back seductively as if urging it not to attack two of his best agents.

"Well done, sixty-three. Eighty-seven," he praised Laila and Alexander respectively. Smoke still slithered from his throat as he spoke in a deep voice.. "You are done for this week. You can expect another mission due next Tuesday." Laila nodded, trying her best to hide an excited grin. Giovanni took another drag from his cigarette, signifying the end of his words. As any obedient underling, Laila and Alexander stepped forward and placed their treasures at the foot of the desk. The boss snickered, releasing small amounts of smoke from his lungs once again before calling, "Eighty-seven!"

"Rai," was what came to the human's ears. Alexander stopped in his tracks and cringed when he heard Giovanni's voice. Turning back around slowly to face him, Alexander found his eyes boring into him.

"Eighty-seven, I've received word from another agent that you've been having many confrontations with Goldenrod's police force. Is this true?"

Alexander nodded, not taking his eyes off Giovanni.

"Then I expect you to be making less ruckus during your missions. There will be no consequences this time. However, if this continues, you will be suspended from all official assignments until you've completed a set amount of training hours. It that clear?"

Straightening his back, Alexander hoped he held a confident posture. He saluted as the boss dismissed him. Turning around, he managed to hold it together until the iron doors closed behind him.

Laila immediately hopped to his side and asked, "What was that all about? You're not in trouble, are you?"

"Not yet," he responded, feeling the sting of threatening tears behind his eyes. But he had to stay strong. He couldn't lose it in front of Laila. "But if I keep holding you back, I will be. Laila, don't you think you should go on your next mission alone? I really don't' want you to get hurt because of me."

"Alexander, what are you talking about?" Her brow furrowed as she spoke. "I wouldn't have been able to do anything alone. What makes you say that?"

"Well, he muttered, fixing his gaze on the tiled floor. "I just don't want to see you get hurt. If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't have run into the cops. You wouldn't have almost been shot…" He struggled to blink back tears as the grazed the edge of his eyelids. He, however, was unsuccessful. The thought of his best friend lying in her own sticky blood was too much. "I don't want to watch you die."

Laila's ears fell as her eyes grew soft. She removed her hat and let it fall to the ground before she lifted her friend's chin with both hands. Looking directly into his eyes, she said, "Look at me, Alexander. I don't have a scratch on me. If not for you, the Game Corner's owner would've killed me. You were the one who knocked the gun out of his hands in the first place. And you were the one who threw yourself in front of him when he came after me." she wiped a charged tear from his cheek. "If you hadn't killed him, I would've been." Picking up her hat, she tugged it on backwards, grinning at Alexander. "I can't rely on anyone in this business as much as you. So will we stick together?"

Alexander smiled at his friend. No matter what the situation, she always seemed to know exactly what to say. "Sure," he chuckled, turning his cap to copy Laila. However, his smile became a frown as his bloody tail caught his eye. "Ugh, but before we go back to the commons, can we get this clean? It still smells like him."

Laila giggled, closing her bright green eyes with amusement. Taking his hand, she said, "Come on," and led him to the dorms.

After fully recovering his mind from the mission, Alexander was more than willing to go back to the commons; a large, cafeteria-like room in which most of the agents were when not taking a job. The florescent-lit room had thick, concrete walls that blocked sunlight from every angle, yet still held a cheery feel. Vending machines dotted the perimeter of the wall, but few were stocked. This often rose complaints from hungry agents that didn't have an outside supply.

At that particular time, there wasn't much of a crowd. However, Mark spotted Laila as she led Alexander though the propped open double doors. "Hey, you guys," he laughed as the Pikachu jumped to his shoulder. "I take it the boss wasn't too hard on you."

"Rai," Alexander responded softly, clutching his tail in his hands.

Mark sat on the frigid floor next to his friend. "He couldn't have been that hard on you. Was it because you didn't get the right thing?" Laila shook her head and imitated a siren with her voice. Alexander's ears lowered as he bit his lip. "Oh, the police." He set his hand on the top of the Raichu's head and ruffled his fur. "Don't let it get you down. Everyone makes mistakes. I still do, and I'm only human."

Alexander forced a smile, unintentionally showing one of his pointed teeth.

"That's the spirit. Now what do you say we get something to eat?" Mark smiled. "You must've had a long night."

Both Alexander and Laila smiled at his friendly gesture and walked off with him to a vending machine.

there ya have it. tell me what you think