Hello all, lightheart77 here, with chapter 7! Yes, it's seven! Thank you to all who review the last chapter and the ones before it. I hope ya'll forgive the long wait for some of the chapters. I've been doing my best to get all sorts of stuff up along with this story. So, thank you again for being so patient. And I'm going to take a review's advice to not bold the chapters, so hopefully that will be okay for the rest of you.

I hope you'll all like this chapter. Chase is back and tries a move as you've probably have figured out from that snip-it I left. You remember it? Here's a refresher:

Chase held out his hand but being careful so not to anger the half vixen besides him, "So… Can we be friends?"

Alexa sighed and took his hand, "I guess, for now."

Chase leaned in and kissed her cheek, catching Alexa off guard. "I look forward to working with you," he grinned.

Yes sports fans, it's gonna get interesting. And so read on good people. Read on and be sure to review!

Chapter 7: A Reluctant Alliance

It was a couple hours later when Alexa finally arrived back at the safe house with the dark night sky and the stars shining bright. She went in through the window from a tree top and sighed heavily calling out, "Ken? Jamie?" she stood up and began to walk through the hallway, "Where are you guys?"

"In here, Alexa," called back Jamie.

Alexa walked into the main room with Jamie at the table with her laptop out, typing, and Ken behind her watching and nodding thoughtfully at the documents she had pulled up. "How goes it?" Alexa asked.

Jamie continued to type but replied with a smile, "I'm getting close. But the system hasn't run in years, you know. So it's taking me a while."

"We have sandwiches if you're hungry," Ken added.

"Starving," she retorted, grabbing a sandwich, and took a bite.

"So, how did scouting go?" asked Jamie, as she leaned on her arm reading another set of documents.

"Security wasn't tight at all, just as we predicted. So I got everything we need," Alexa explain, taking another bite.

"That's good," Ken noted.

"And now," Jamie typed in some finally things and hit enter, "we have communications."

"Good," Alexa stated after swallowing. "Now we can hook up to the bugs I placed and we can get on the inside a little easier," she then stuffed the rest of her sandwich in her mouth.

"Oh yeah, Alexa, about the job, I think…" but before Jamie could finish her sentence, something popped up onto the screen with a "bing." She looked to it with surprise, "Huh, we have an incoming message."

Alexa nearly choked on the rest of her sandwich, but was able to get it down, "What?" she croaked, "From who!"

"Unknown…" Jamie replied, looking to her ring-tailed friend, "You don't think…"

"Oh, if it is, he's gonna get an earful and a piece of my mind. Put him on," she added, with venom and distaste in her voice.

Jamie type in the command, with a bing, "Done."

"Hello, New Cooper Gang. Are we all settled in?" asked familiar sarcastic voice.

"You've got some nerve. Calling us after that stunt you pulled. You're lucky you're on the other end of the receiver right on, otherwise you wouldn't have that sarcastic tone of yours," Alexa stated with cruelty.

Chase gave a small chuckle and replied, "My, my, you hold a grudge. I only called to see if you need any help."

"Why would we need your help?" Alexa asked, not holding back a sour note.

"Ahem," Jamie interrupted, "Yeah, about that Alexa. Um… we may need his help."

On the other side of the receiver, Chase's ears popped up with interest.

"Why?" Alexa asked in a stern voice.

"Well, we need another guy for the job… because while Ken and I are handling the ruby, you have to distract the crowd. In other words…"

"In other words what?" the fur on Alexa's neck was standing on end.

"You need to dance with him," Jamie put bluntly but quietly.

"WHAT?" shrieked Alexa while a roar of laughter came over the radio. "You shut up!" she yelled to Chase.

"This is what we expected…" grumbled Ken as he rubbed his ears.

Chase continued to chuckle, "I would love to dance with you Miss Alexa, quite honored actually."

"Yeah, sure you would," Alexa scoffed.

Chase gave a static like sigh. "Listen," he began softly and calmly, "I can sincerely say that I want to help you. In fact you can even run that through a lie detector voice modulator. I'm sure you're friend is familiar with such systems and knows no amount of technology here could change a voice pattern."

Jamie nodded, "He's right." She began to type in a new program and then asked Chase, "Could you say that again?"

"I can sincerely say that I want to help you," he repeated.

Jamie typed in another command and just for safety measures compared the two voice profiles. "They match, and he's telling the truth."

"I… well…" Alexa stuttered on, but finally regained her voice in an irritable tone, "Fine. Listen you, you get one chance. You hear me? Do anything that's against us and you're dead. Got it?"

"Yes. I understand," he replied, more to Alexa than anyone else. "When shall we meet?"

"At the palace, 8:00 P.M., tomorrow night, and be sure to dress in a suit and tie," Jamie listed.

"I will," he replied, "Until then, later." And with that he hung up.

Ken turned to Alexa to see her staring down at the ground with a blank stare. He put a hand on her shoulder, "Alexa? You know this is for the good of the job. We will take him down if he does anything that may be against us."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she looked up to her friends with a sad smile. "Listen, I'll be out getting some fresh air," she walked over to the door way but was halted by her friend's reply.

"Alexa, please, don't be mad…" Jamie began.

Alexa turned back and stated, "I'm not mad. Don't worry about it. I'm fine." She then open and shut the door behind her without another word.

"Do you believe that?" Ken asked his vixen friend.

She sighed, looking toward the door, "I just don't know. But, she'll be fine. Hopefully," she added.

…

Alexa walked out into the night, looking up to the starry sky. She soon found a good tree nearby and climbed up to a thick branch. She sighed and rubbed her hands together to keep them warm as she tried to get her thoughts together. "I don't know why, but… I feel okay about him joining." She put her hands in her pockets and looked back up to the sky, "But why…"

He's tried to kill me, and steal the Thievius Raccoonus, yet he wants to help me and the gang… is this going to be like that tigress who tried to get rid of dad, or is he really someone we can trust? These are the questions that make my head hurt, she thought as she rubbed her temples.

The wind blew by, and ruffled her hair in its usual ponytail as she sat, allowing her thoughts to get in some sort of order, when she was interrupted by a voice above her.

"You know, I'm really not such a bad guy."

"Gah!" she said in surprise and looked up to see the familiar male raccoon sitting on one of the higher branches. "Why are you here! One: we're meeting tomorrow. Two: do you know how much I'm dieing to knock you off that branch?"

He chuckled and looked down to her, "I just figured you'd be out here and would want some company."

"Now why would you say that?" she asked, almost curious to hear his answer.

"I've watched you for some time now, and whenever you want to think or blow off some steam you climb up a tree. Are you sure you're not part cat?" he asked sarcastically.

"I'm sure," she responded, with a little humor. But her voice turned stern, "What do you want?"

Chase hopped down to a branch near Alexa, close enough to speak to but far enough so to escape if she'd want to kill him. "I wanted to talk to you. Is that some sort of crime?"

"We have nothing to talk about. So leave or I'll make you leave," she added glaring at him.

"Come on. I mean, we're on the same team—"

"We are not on the same team. You are just another guy that we need for the job," she told him with spite.

"Either way, we're still on same team," he kept urging. "So… will you listen?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really," he replied honestly.

"Then fine," she sighed.

"I really wasn't trying to kill you before," he began.

"I've heard this story before."

"Please, here me out. I've had plenty of chances to kill you but I didn't," he explained.

"That's true," she realized. Is that why I don't mind? Because he didn't take his chance to kill me, she thought.

Chase held out his hand but being careful so not to anger the half vixen besides him, "So… Can we be friends?"

Alexa sighed and took his hand, "I guess, for now."

Chase leaned in and kissed her cheek, catching Alexa off guard. "I look forward to working with you," he grinned. He let go quickly and dropped down to the ground before the girl could react.

"Why you!" she shouted as she stood up on the branch but she noticed that there was something in her hand. It was a necklace.

"A gift," Chase stated, as if reading her mind. "I hope to see you wearing it."

Alexa looked down to a beautiful gold chain then back to Chase, "Why—"

"Would I give that to you?" he shrugged his shoulders, turning back to her with a smile, and adding, "Felt like you could use it. See ya," he said walking off.

"Y-you…" Alexa stammered. "I should just… Arg!" she felt so confused and flabbergasted as she sat back down on the branch. "Who does he think he is?" she muttered irritably as she looked down to see what was on the gold chain. It was a beautifully detailed, gold hallow heart with a twisting silver piece to connect the heart to the chain. "It really is a handsome piece of jewelry," she thought with a small smile. "Ah!" she shouted to the sky.

After a few minutes, she sat there thinking, allowing herself to calm down. The silence was broken when she finally muttered, "What's going on! Am I…. am I starting to actually like him? I don't know what to do," she added with a frustrated tone. She looked down to the necklace and mumbled her thoughts, "I should throw this down to the ground right now, but…"

Alexa stuffed it into her pocket and jumped down onto one of the branches near the safe house, then went from the safe house roof down to the path into the main room, where Jamie stayed trying to get things set up. "Jamie, I want you to run this for any trackers."

"Alexa?" the fox turned in surprise to see her friend standing beside her, "You're feeling better already? Usually you're gone for hours before you cool off from one of your fits."

"I told you. I'm fine and I just wanted fresh air. But now, I want you to run this," she stated, placing the necklace in Jamie's hand.

"Wow, this so detailed and beautiful… did you get from you father?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah," Alexa agreed, "Run it to make sure he's not tracking me."

"Gotcha," Jamie placed the chain with the hollow heart on to the table, typing in the command to check for any signals.

Alexa looked around, "Where's Ken?" she asked pulling up a chair next to her friend.

"Bed," she said simply, "he was exhausted. He didn't really get much sleep on the plane."

"Oh."

Jamie then hit enter and looked at the results, saying, "Wow. I guess your parents aren't as paranoid as we thought. No tacking devices."

"What? Are you sure?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well, yeah. The system may be old, but it's not stupid."

"I guess," Alexa said, trying to think of why Chase wouldn't want to track her. How could it be possible that the person who wanted to steal the Thievius Raccoonus wouldn't want to keep tabs on the person who has it?

Jamie examined the necklace as Alexa was deep in thought and pondered, "Have you ever worn this before?"

Alexa snatched back the necklace, "Just got it a while ago."

"You should totally wear it on the job," Jamie noted looking up to Alexa.

"Why?" Alexa questioned putting the heart and chain into her pocket.

"'Cause it would really match your disguise dress for the party," Jaime said excitedly.

Alexa groaned. "Why does it have to be dresses? I hate dresses," she muttered. "And it's even more unfortunate that there's nothing I can do about it."

Jaime giggled, "Okay, we'll get off that subject. I've got a question of why were you so surprised when we found out there wasn't any tracker on that necklace. I mean, your dad isn't as paranoid as you mom."

"Uh, right… my dad," Alexa replied in a daze, still trying to figure out this puzzle.

"Wait a sec. It wasn't your dad?" Jamie asked.

"Wha—Of course it was from my dad," Alexa responded, coming out of her daze.

"No, you're lying. You always get in that sort of daze when you lie," said Jamie, knowing her friend all too well. "But if it wasn't from your dad, and you kept it, asking for it to be scanned, then it must have from…" she gasped. "Chase gave it to you, didn't he?"

"Eh—No!" she then turned red, and looked down to the ground adding, "Well, maybe…"

"I knew it!" Jamie exclaimed. "What did he say?" she then gasped again asking, "Did he kiss you again?"

"Stop it, Jamie!" Alexa stated with frustration. "Yes, I talked to him again. So what?"

"So? He likes you and you like him," Jamie said with glee.

"Who said I liked him?" the ring-tail said with more aggravation.

"You did," said the fox, with a toothy grin.

"No, you did."

"Well, don't you?" Jamie questioned.

"No… well, yes…. No, maybe… I don't know!" Alexa sighed regretfully, and put her head into her hands. "I'm so confused."

Jamie smiled kindly, "Well, that's what happens when you have a crush on a guy."

"But why him! He's like the enemy!" she grumbled, still looking down in her hands.

"Do you think that's true? Do you really think he's the enemy?" Jamie asked in a quiet, kind voice.

Alexa sighed looked up to her friend, and honestly said, "I really don't know anymore."

Jamie grinned and said, "You know what this means, right?"

"No, but I've got a bad feeling about it."

"You've got to get to know him."

"Bad feeling was right."

"Oh, come on. He might open up to you. I mean, you're pretty easy to talk to."

"Really? Still…"

"Who knows, he may surprise you," Jamie ended with a smile. "So, what did he say?"

"Nothing much," Alexa stated standing up, "I'm gonna head up and get some sleep." She placed her binucome on the computer desk adding, "Upload the pics and plans, then head to bed yourself. We'll finalize the plan in the morning."

Jamie hooked it up to the computer nodding, "Can do."

With that, Alexa went up the steps to the top floor where she opened the door to her room. She collapsed on her bed, giving a long drawn out sigh, and looked out to the window, muttering, "This is the very same room my dad stayed in. I wonder if he ever got nervous before a big heist…" she gave a big yawn and mumbled a few more words before drifting off into sleep, "I wonder if dad ever… got nervous at the sight of… mom…"

Silence over took the room, as the hollow calm breaths of the teen girl dominated. Yet unknown to her, a lone male raccoon was on a tree branch beneath her window sill, listening in on her conversation.

"So," he whispered to himself, "she has a crush on me, huh?" He gave a sigh, "This will make my job even harder."

His thoughts were interrupted by a vibration of a cell phone in his pocket. He jumped down from branch to branch and reached the ground pulling out his cell, "Yes?"

"Your status," came a raspy voice over the phone.

"I'm in their ranks," Chase replied in a monotone.

"But you still haven't got the book? I thought you would have been done by now. Shouldn't you be done by now?" the voice asked in irritation.

"No, give it a little more time—"

"You do realize what will happen if you don't do your job soon. Do you want your little brother to end up dead?" the voice questioned.

"I know what will happen. Everything will go according to plan," Chase said mournfully.

"Good," the voice said with a bit of happiness.

"Can I please speak with him?" Chase nearly pleaded.

"No, not until you show progress," the rasp said cruelly.

"Yes, sir. I will not fail you Father," Chase hung up and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. His body began to shake with horrible chills and his fists clenched, till finally he punched one of the nearest trees with his gloved hand, sending shockwaves through it. Tears of frustration and heart ache trickled down his fur. He dug his hand into his jacket and brought out a picture of a young male raccoon, about age ten, with jet black hair and blue eyes, grinning like a fool. "I will save you," he whispered to the picture.

He then wiped away his final tears, gently putting the picture back, and began walking back from where he came.

OOO, a new revelation in the plot: Chase has a little BROTHER! So now what are you all thinking? Is he really going to be another Nelya or a person who… wait, I can't say much more. That would ruin the rest of the story for all of you patient readers. (Audience shouts: BOO! NO FAIR!) I'm sorry but it is all I can give you.

Speaking of patient readers, again thanks so much for waiting so long of an update. I know it seemed forever (felt that way to me too) but it finally came, right? Now, I expect reviews. And if you must give criticism, do so but do please be kind.

And so, until the next chapter good people, later