Chapter 2: Just Getting Started

"He so tricked us." Marlene muttered under her breath as she paced back and forth.

"We get it already." Gloria rolled her eyes. "Now would you stop trying to make a hole in my carpet and just sit down?"

Marlene stopped with fists by her sides.

"I will not sit down until justice is done! Don't tell me what to do!" Gloria raised a brow at the female and crossed her arms with a frown.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry." The female sat down on the chair, facing the couch Gloria and Selena was sitting on.

"Now," Selena spoke lazily while pulling at a loose string on her shirt, with her feet hanging off the edge of the couch, "you can vent your anger."

"He tricked me!" Selena jumped at the tone, surprised that her friend actually followed what she said. "He made sure we were all in before he and his brother jumped out the window and into their apartment!"

"Yeah," Selena shrugged after gathering herself back together, "there was that, but ya gotta admit. That thing they did was so awesome. I mean, who would even dare to jump out the window? Aside from suicidal beings, that is."

"And stuntmen?" Gloria added and Selena nodded.

"There are those people too."

"You guys!" Marlene whined and the other two turned back to her. "You have got to help me out here." Selena shook her head and let her head rest against the arm of the couch.

"Do you want to trick him or something?"

Gloria shook her head. "Na ah. You don't want to do that."

"Why not?" The two chorused with curiosity in their eyes.

"You just don't. Trust me. The last person who did that got so publicly humiliated that he hid out in the hospital right after." Selena leaned forward on the cushion she had placed on her lap.

"Wow. Sounds like a real bad boy."

Marlene rolled her eyes, knowing about her friend's fairytale fantasies. "Don't be ridiculous, Selena. He's obviously dangerous."

"She's kinda right, Sel."

Selena just played with the embroidery on the pillow as Marlene turned to Gloria. "Do you know him, G?"

"Maybe."

"So you do?"

"Yeah, I suppose I do…" Marlene's eyes grew wide. "But he's not bad either, guys. He and his team. In fact, if it weren't for them, Alex, Marty, Mel and me would still be stuck on Madagascar…and I probably would have married Jacundo instead of being with Melman right now."

"No. Way." Selena and Marlene stared at the female, who nodded solemnly.

"It's true. So, you see, Marlene-"

"If you're telling me to forgive him for what he did, I already did. A long time ago, actually."

"Then what are you so angry about?"

"Because he promised!" She got to her feet in a slight rage and the chair she was sitting on fell back. "I'm angry because he promised, but he didn't keep it. I just hate people like that."

"Actually," Selena pushed the pillow to the side and slipped her feet into her shoes, "it was a soldier's word, and knowing he's not a soldier anymore…" Selena stopped tying the laces of one shoe and looked up at Marlene's glare. "Did I say something wrong?"

"You just had to tell me that now, didn't you?"

Selena seemed to think about something before shrugging.

"Eh."

Gloria was getting tired of arguing with her defiant friend, so she got to her feet with a sigh. "It's been a week now, Marls. You should be over it by now."

Marlene frowned and crossed her arms. "I'm not going to some silly party when we all know he's going to be there. I'm going to strangle him if I see him even once."

"That's gonna be a sight." Gloria murmured under her breath while Selena jumped to her feet, her face a mask of surprise and shock.

"And miss out on one of the best parties ever?"

Marlene crossed her arms and spoke in a sullen tone. "It's just a party."

"It's a party, hosted by THE Julien Jacobs! Do you not get it? The guy's as famous as Alex!"

Gloria copied her sour friend's actions and glared at Selena.

"What am I? Expired cheese?"

Selena gave her a sweet smile. "Oh no, darling. I would never let cheese get expired. You can trust me on that." Gloria rolled her eyes and went to grab her things. Selena turned back to Marlene, this time dropping the smile and her hands on the other's shoulders. "I know I'm acting like a jerk right now, but I don't really care about that guy. This is a party. You're supposed to enjoy things with parties. You," she started to shake her, "are," Marlene tittered a bit on her feet, "going."

"Fine!"

"What?"

"I said fine. I'm, we're going. You were going to guilt trip me later anyway." A Cheshire grin was flashed back at her.

"Don't ya know it."

"Well, whatever." Marlene surveyed Gloria's small yet cozy apartment, which the woman had all to herself in the floor below them. "I need to talk to him anyway."

Selena tilted her head at her curiously while Gloria turned her attention back to the two.

"After all you've heard from G?"

"I don't care how sweet G put him as. And from the rumors floating about, I gather that he's a rebel. Obviously only good with having fights. Well, if he wants a fight, I'll give it to him." Selena had completely forgotten about the untied lace on her other shoe as she shook her head and frowned at Marlene.

"Wait, what happened to not going to the meeting and strangling him?"

"It's going to happen sooner or later, right?" Marlene shrugged and righted the fallen chair. "Why not now? Besides, I know you'll feel alone even with Gloria around, so I'll have to go."

"But-"

"I thought you wanted me to go to the party?"

"I do, but-"

"Great. Let's go." She walked out the door, leaving Gloria and Selena to look at each other in surprise. The latter placed a hand on her forehead with a sigh and just slipped the untied laces into her shoes.

"Please tell me this is going to end well."

"Sorry, girl, but I believe you'll have to ask Darla that. She's the psychic around here. You'll meet her later, don't worry."

"Oh gosh. What have I done?"

"Selena!" Marlene hissed at her friend, who was busy piling her plate with assorted food from the buffet. Gloria was pulled away by Julien Jacobs the minute the trio stepped into the luminous mansion the star owned. The African sent them an 'I'm so sorry' look before she got lost in the throng. Selena had stared star struck after Julien before her eyes spotted the not-so-crowded and slightly hidden buffet table.

Selena turned to her with her nose in the air. "I'm depressed, okay?"

"I don't care. You're lactose intolerant."

"Yeah, that works on milk. But this is cheese."

"Cheese is made from milk, silly."

"Come on. It's cheese! Ooh, mozzarella rolls. And are those cream cheese puffs?" Before she could get another piece, Marlene grabbed her hand and started pulling her away. "Okay fine. We'll come back later. Do you think we can get doggy bags?" Selena looked at her friend, who rolled her eyes, though a smile twitched from the corners of her mouth. "Mind if we chill out in the garden?"

Selena gasped in shock but managed to keep her plate in order when Marlene stopped abruptly and turned to her.

"There's a garden?"

"Outside. Well, obviously, gardens should be outside, but I think, hey!" Selena watched with a pout as a roll fell off her plate while Marlene tugged her out eagerly.

When they were outside, Marlene pulled them to a corner and looked at her friend. "Where is it?" Selena looked back with the same pout.

"My roll rolled away…Anyways," she turned to Marlene and pushed her glasses back up her nose, "why do you want to see it?"

"Well, I know the guy's got a fantastic garden that has Spanish roses. Those flowers are hard to maintain, most especially since it's used to hot weather, not this ever changing climate."

"Ah. That explains it."

"Like you didn't know." Selena just turned away from her and gestured forward.

"Right this way, ma'am. As you can see," they had barely walked a few feet past the marble steps when Selena got tackled to the ground, the pastries now flying through the air. The harsh thud when her skull met the concrete made Marlene wince.

Selena moaned in pain, unaware of the dark shadow hunched over her in what looked to be attack form. Her glasses had skittered elsewhere and all she saw was stars. "Wha, what…" she trailed off and closed her eyes, willing her head to follow her orders.

"Selena?" Marlene carefully approached the female, her eyes focused on the shadow above her friend's body. "Are you alright? Did it bite you?"

"Wh-what?" She forced her eyes open and found herself face-to-face with a Doberman. "What is-" She was interrupted by a huge wet tongue, that slapped all over her face and neck, making her giggle.

"Guardian!" The heavy weight was lifted off her, along with small whimpering sounds. A tall man knelt down on one knee beside her with one hand held out to her. He was dressed in a neatly pressed collared button-up shirt that was tucked into black pants and was paired with a necktie, shiny leather shoes, black watch and a black overcoat with a gray underside, and Selena couldn't help but admire how he wore himself confidently despite the clash of some of the clothes that worked perfectly on him. Kyle would most definitely call this a 9.5. "I'm so sorry. My dog doesn't usually tackle innocent by standers." He started to apologize until his ocean blue eyes blinked at her.

"It's fine. He's pretty adorable."

He shook his head and closed his fist over her hand, quickly pulling her up with him. "Uh, yeah."

"Selena," the man froze at the name and his jaw dropped in shock as said girl turned her head to Marlene, "are you alright?"

Selena nodded and dusted her hands, only to stop and looked down at her hands in disgust. "Aw man." She picked off the weird stickiness on her hands. "It's doggy drool with cream. Yuck."

"You can wash it off later."

The man backed away as quietly as possible and pulled the boy, who was watching the entire scene curiously, with him. "Private, come on." The boy sent him a confused frown and the man was just about to drag them away when the voice of the Asian called to him.

"Hey, thanks for taking the dog off."

"I-"

The lady shrugged and continued, apparently not hearing him.

"Well, it's not like I have anything against dogs. It's just…ah, forget it." She smiled at them and then at the dog, which seemed to be smiling back at her. "What's his name?"

Before he could say anything Private did it for him.

"Guardian."

"Guardian?"

"Okay," the man grabbed Private roughly and sent a glare down at the surprised boy, "I think it's time for us to go."

"Wait! Who are you?" Selena tilted her head after the man and stared at his retreating back. "Mickey?" The man paused abruptly. "I knew it." He turned around with a mask of anger and strode back to them, making sure he towered over her. "Whoa." She blinked up at him after taking an unconscious step back. "How-"

"The name's Kowalski."

"Okay, Micks, but I-"

"What did I just say?"

"Okay, I get it. You hate the name. You don't have to get all-"

"No, you don't get it. You don't get anything. You don't. Why can't you just listen to me for once? Why can't you just do that? Is that so hard?"

"Listen, I was just-"

"Just what?"

In a huff, she crossed her arms and pouted at him. "Maybe if you would just shut up and listen, I could finish my sentence?"

"You never finish anything."

"I think you just described yourself." Her cool demeanor seemed to piss Kowalski off even more, if his fists were any indication. Selena glanced down at his hands and back at him with a raised brow. "Are you going to hit me now?" He visibly relaxed and crossed his arms, still looking down at her.

"Like I'll waste anything with you. You worthless piece of hey!" A loud smack followed the slap Selena gave Kowalski to his head. The lady gruffly crossed her arms and glared back at him.

"For your information, you were the one who started this. Don't you dare get angry with me. I have done nothing to you."

"But why do you have to target me all the time? Isn't there anyone worthy of your time?"

"You started this. And I'm fine, thank you for asking."

"I don't care what happens to you. Just get lost."

"Fine with me, jerkface."

By this time, Skipper and another man, who had a scar across his face, had joined the group outside.

"What did you just call me?"

"I don't recall you being deaf."

Kowalski just shook his head in annoyance. "I've had enough." He walked past the female and unknowingly stepped on something, which produced a weird crunching sound from under his perfectly shined dress shoes.

A soft gasp escaped from Selena's lips when Kowalski stepped back. "My glasses."

"You can still see." Kowalski murmured and walked away, but stopped at the sound of sneakers against gravel. He turned back to see the Asian running away and sadness overcame him. After he bent down to pick up the broken spectacles, a foot spanned into his view. He looked up just as the foot rammed into his side, sending his breath out of his lungs. The move even made him stagger back a bit and he looked up at an angry looking Marlene, who quickly grabbed his shirt and pulled him up to her face.

"You can trick me all you want," she hissed and her hands curled tightly into his shirt, "but if you ever mess with my friend again, you'll get more than that."

Guardian snarled and glared at Marlene, who did the same and emitted a growl from her throat. The dog immediately backed down with a whine and Marlene turned back to Kowalski.

"You got it?" Too shocked and out of breath to reply, he just nodded. "Great. If you're not going to be nice, at least back off before I call Jay." At the mention of the name, he looked up at her in shock. She let him go with a slight push and hurried after Selena, who had disappeared past the huge gates.

"I-I didn't mean it." Kowalski heaved when he turned back to look at his friends. "You know I didn't. Right, Private?" The boy looked at the glasses and back at the man in uncertainty.

"Well…"

"Sorry."

Skipper shook his head. "Sorry's not gonna cut it. He's going to kill us. He'll make us do laps around the entire city, fifty times."

Private and the other man paled at this and Kowalski, who was forcing himself to stand despite the pain, bowed his head in shame.

"I'll fix this."

"If this explodes-"

Kowalski glared at him and cut him short. "I don't think that's going to happen, Skipper, because I'm not planning on using any kind of device against her. All I need is permission to go home. It's going to take me a while."

"This better work."

"It WILL, Skipper. I know her. I just need Rico to help me get the materials I need. You can continue the babysitting job on the subject with Private."

"It's not a…" Kowalski raised a brow at him. "Fine. So it is. I don't want it to be called that."

The scarred man crossed his arms and grinned.

"D guy's a hugh bab'. (The guy's a huge baby.)"

"Unfortunately. But you two are not getting off the hook on this mission, you hear me?"

"Yes sir." The two chorused before heading off into the trees. Skipper turned to Private who was lost in thought. The man nudged the boy and was met with a small frown.

"I don't think Marlene's happy with what we did last time we met, Skippah."

"I don't really care, Private. The lady deserves it."

"And why?"

"That was classified information she was after. I told her that, but did she listen? No."

"But we didn't have to ditch her and Selena like that."

"She is demanding information civilians shouldn't know about."

"Well, you shouldn't have showcased it in the first place. Ow." Private held his head after Skipper smacked the back of his head.

"She was blackmailing me, don't you forget that, young Private. Now drop the subject. We still have a royal brat to take care of." Private dropped his hand and sighed in resignation.

"Yes, Skippah."