By Lucky-Racer
Chapter 11 – Dedicated to Karania Avalon
A/n: Nope, I'm still not dead XD Just absent for a while, is all.
Well, time for a sentimental moment, here. I re-read some of my chapters for this story today. I laughed at some, and grimaced at others, and sometimes (rarely XD) thought, 'Hey, that was decent,'. So, yeah. Those of you who have been with me for some or all of this time, thank you. You have shaped my writing and its style over the past two years, along with having watched me grow, etc. I love you all! In particular I'd like to thank Karania Avalon for all the support she's given me. This one's for you, Karania:)
"It is time."
The young woman had arrived at Magma headquarters early that morning because of the summons from Harlin over her communicator. He had mentioned something about her old partner. She had been waiting in the lobby for a while now. Twirling a lock of dark black hair with an almost blue sheen, she sighed; she wasn't a very patient person. Starting to tap her foot, she thought, Well, I suppose that it does take a while to get from one headquarters to another…
"Sapphy! Did you not hear me?" The woman turned around to see Joren standing in the lobby of the headquarters. She got up, not used to seeing the black, white, and blue of an Aqua uniform in the Magma headquarters. Ahh, Joren. The infamous double agent.
"Joren!" Sapphire replied, restraining from hugging him. It had been a while since they'd last seen each other. She smiled in spite of herself. "So, do you know what's going on here? What's this got to do with Cody and my ex-partner?"
"Well, you see-"
"There are things that should not be discussed so openly," Harlin's voice had the tone of steel. Looking at his agents with somewhat of a glare, his face softened at them. "Hello, Cody and Sasha. Goodness knows I've missed you two around here. Too many newbies making too many mistakes… ugh. Let us go to a more… private place to discuss things."
Turning to look at Joren, Sapphire shrugged, wearing a what-else-can-we-do look.
When they finally arrived at Harlin's office, the two agents had a seat while their boss chose to pace.
"This mission might be difficult, or it might be a piece of cake. I don't know Sasha as well as I know you two," he nodded at each of them, "because, as you probably know, she wasn't that good of an agent…"
"You just never gave her a chance!" Sapphire said angrily. "Please don't bash Sasha, she really was a help on our joint thefts. She was a friend to me as well as a partner. Just because she wasn't always in the spotlight didn't mean she wasn't doing her job."
Harlin pursed his lips. "Fine. I see your point. But your friendship with her is going to make this mission difficult."
Sapphire shared a knowing glance with Joren, but Harlin chose to disregard it.
.:Flashback:.
It was during the third year of Sasha and Sapphire's partnership. The two were assigned a scam, to rob a laboratory. Although they were both twelve, almost thirteen, and Sapphire might look too old to pass as ten, Sasha was developing at a slightly slower pace than her, and was going to pose as the Pokemon trainer just beginning her journey.
Professor Oak smiled at the young girl, who was new. She looked nervous, as most new trainers did. Sasha always was good at acting. Or perhaps it was real nerves showing.
The pair thought that this might be a somewhat easy heist, although acquiring the fake birth certificate for Sasha, proclaiming that she was ten years old and named Sara, was a painstakingly long process.
"Now, you may choose, Sara," Oak said kindly. "There's Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle."
"Hmm…" Sasha replied, tugging at the hem of her cotton T-shirt. It seemed weird to her to be wearing regular clothes, instead of her Team Magma uniform. She had also dyed her hair a different color, in case something went wrong and Oak called the authorities, so that they would not be able to truly recognize her.
She readjusted her non-prescription glasses, another precaution, for Sasha didn't need glasses. "Sara" did.
She did anything she could think of to stall for the valuable time that Sapphy would need. "I'm sorry, but may I please use the restroom?"
It took all of Oak's willpower to keep from chuckling. She was probably confused, the poor girl. "Sure, and when you get back you can think about it some more." Oak went to do some paperwork at his desk while she was gone.
Meanwhile, Sapphire was using all of her lock picking skills to try and pry open the outside door to the vault. It was where all the Pokemon were kept. It was the emergency door, so obviously it would have sensors that blared sirens if it was opened. She had already scanned it for sensors and deactivated three, which she hoped were all of them. Sighing, she only had one lock pick left; she twisted it around, hoping for a good result...
Pop! The door came smoothly open as she put her tools away. Grinning, she went into the vault and stuffed as many Pokeballs as her Team-Magma-insignia-inscribed duffel bag could hold. And that was quite a lot. Although the room was so large, she hardly thought that Oakhead would notice, because she only took away Pokeballs at random intervals. With some luck, he would simply assume that that trainer had wanted their Pokemon back.
Taking as many as she dared, careful to make no trace that she was there, she scampered back to the door, shutting it a little too loudly…
Oak looked up from his paperwork. He thought he heard the vault door to the outside open. Furrowing his eyebrows, he walked towards the door, scanning his palm and punching in the password.
Inside, everything seemed to be in order. There were infrequent gaps in the rows and rows of Pokeballs, but that was to be expected. You never knew when a trainer would call in and want a Pokemon to be teleported over, and have Pokemon to give back.
Frowning slightly, he was about to go back to his desk, when he had a feeling of unease. Checking on Ash's Tauros herd, he saw one missing. Ash never asked for any of his Tauros.
Professor Oak sprinted to the front door.
A few seconds earlier in the bathroom, Sasha heard the signal. The vault door slamming, but not too loudly to send Oak running to the scene. Hopefully. He was occupied, so this was her chance to escape. She carefully lifted the window in the bathroom door, crept outside, and shut it behind her, waiting for Sapphire to show up.
The saw each other and grinned, then started to sprint away. As soon as they escaped into the nearby woods, Professor Oak came out the front door. "Sasha!" He yelled into the air. "I know you're out there. And I know you have a friend, too. Know that I'll never speak to anyone from Magma ever again! "
"Oh, Damn it," Sasha breathed as Sapphire gaped at her with horror.
"What?! He was supposed to think that Team Aqua conned him!"
"I know," Sasha replied grimly. "I left my real access card back there, the Team Magma one." She silently pulled a fake Team Aqua card out of her wallet, the one she was supposed to 'conveniently' leave behind for Professor Oak to find.
"Oh, Sash," Sapphire breathed. "Harlin will have your head."
"I know."
"Ugh! Sasha!" Harlin snapped, pacing around his conference chamber. He was not happy.
Both partners were standing before him, a sign of respect. He was commending… well, supposed to be commending them for their good job on the Oak Heist. But then he heard the misdemeanor. Which in Harlin's eyes was a huge mistake.
"I don't think that you've realized the damage you've done here. Professor Oak lives to help people. He'd even help outlaws like us, Team Magma, once in a blue moon, if only give us advice on how to treat Pokemon. But him being as good as he is… you've just cost Team Magma, Sasha. You should be ashamed. You two are dismissed."
"But!" She protested.
"Now," He snapped. "Oh, and Sapphire… good job."
But she couldn't celebrate. She looked to her partner with concern. "Sash..."
Sasha could only turn on her heel and flee to her quarters.
.:End Flashback:.
Snapping back to the present, Sapphire looked at Joren again and back to Harlin.
Yes, she would do this. She would do this for Sasha's sake.
A/n: Ooh, my first mainly flashback chapter!
Ah, it feels good to be back, my friends I've worked on this chapter off and on (mostly off, lol) for close to a year now, and I finally finished it today and got a chance to get it posted.
Thanks again to all of you for sticking with me through the good and the bad (lol), and I hope that you liked this chapter!
I have fanfiction fever now and I can't wait to type more! So expect an update sooner than last time, XD, and since today is Tuesday, I'd wager I'll have another chapter up by Saturday. :)
And if I may, two quick shoutouts to Kablay and Miss Clairely, two of my real life friends. Thanks guys for being so awesome :D And of course I love all my reviewers as well. You're great!
So please R&R by pushing the little "Go" button down there. Thanks!