UNDERCOVER

Chapter 2 - Alisa

Ansel ducked immediately, rushing forward to grab JaQ and turning a corner. That shot hadn't come from him.

"Hey hey hey, you alive there?" he asked as he fired down the tunnel at the assailant he couldn't see due to the dim lighting.

"What do you care? That was Alisa, why don't you run to her now?" JaQ spat at him, her tone dripping with hate and full of pain as she grit her teeth.

Ansel bent for a moment to look at her wound.

"Alright, it went clean through, but we still need to get you out of here." Ansel glanced around hurriedly, then ducked again as bullets hit the walls of the tunnel around him.

"F*ck Alisa, what do you want?" Ansel screamed in annoyance at having his operation blown.

"Leave her, and I'll leave you alive," a mildly accented voice replied, throwing Ansel off guard for a moment. He had imagined hearing that voice a million times, and every time, it played out differently in his head. None of his imagination drew close to this moment. He'd only ever imagined that they'd both be shooting at others but never each other.

"F*ck," he cursed and leaned out the corner, firing a few shots forcing Alisa to duck and run to another corner to take cover.

Running out of rounds, Ansel threw the gun down and grabbed JaQ by the shoulder hurrying down the tunnel.

"You have to leave me. That b***h will kill us both" JaQ groaned as she struggled to keep up with Ansel.

Simply shaking his head, Ansel continued to pull JaQ along with him. Somewhere in his heart, he refused to believe Alisa would shoot him but JaQ was a different question, hence he could not let her go.

Just as they turned another corner, flashlights shone through, nearly blinding them.

"F*ck f*ck f*ck," Ansel cursed, hurriedly turning around. He rounded another corner, but right at this time, loud footsteps echoed in the dark, and before he could react, a figure tackled him to the ground.

Kicking the figure off from atop him, Ansel hurried to stand and put some distance between them. His assailant did the same, getting quickly into a fighting stance.

Ansel took a moment to study her, it had been three years since he last saw her, and she was very different then. Every day since that day, he decided to come back home and join the Acorn Region Police Department; he fantasized about meeting her. Think over and over what he would say to her in his mind. Everything he'd thought about then was useless because he'd firmly believed she didn't have much of a choice when she left. Seeing her today, however, he found himself at a loss for words. She didn't look like she was doing anything against her will. He felt that given how much he knew her, he should be able to tell.

"It's really you" he muttered. It felt like just a moment ago when he was given Intel about her by his traitor of a Case Officer.

"Hello, Ansel," her cold voice woke him from his reverie as he studied the new person before him.

She was dressed in loose clothing like she'd always been, but over her face was a bandana mask with an image he found familiar but couldn't remember where he'd seen it.

"I don't see how killing me helps you" Ansel knew his cover had been blown. Alisa would never believe he'd suddenly turned to a world of crime.

"I don't want you dead. Just come with me quietly," she replied, shaking her head.

"Why?" Ansel asked skeptically thinking furiously for a way out of this situation. Alisa had always bested him in hand-to-hand combat with her family's technique. Not to mention that he had to protect JaQ too. Speaking of which, where was JaQ?

"Why?" Alisa asked back, relaxing her stance as she studied him.

Was that reminiscence in her eyes? He wondered.

"I heard you're a legendary chemist. I never thought you had it in you." She finally gazed into his eyes, and for a moment, her expression faltered, and she hurriedly avoided his gaze.

"You never really know people, I guess?" Ansel replied his tone lowered deep in sentiment.

"Or people change," Alisa replied, her tone even lower. She looked back up again, her eyes steeled and full of determination, all hesitation gone from it.

It was those eyes Ansel remembered, those eyes before the bullet was sent.

"I'll see you later, Alisa, and we'll have a good talk." Ansel suddenly smiled, and just before Alisa could react, bright lights came from behind her.

"Police! Hands where I can see them!" the voice was too close for her to make any moves. And given the lighting in this tunnel, any action from her could earn her a bullet. A scared man with a gun was often scarier than an angry one.

Turning back to where Ansel was, she realized he had disappeared and a smile crawled up her face. He wasn't the best, but he was surely the most slippery. Getting him today was a stroke of luck but she wasn't about to give up. Fate may have led them in different directions but she was determined to keep him by her side. Even if he would hate her.

"Step back slowly towards my voice." The voice changed to that of a woman, and she was almost forced to turn around at the familiarity of the voice, but she restrained the impulse.

"On your knees, interlock your fingers behind your head." The orders kept coming, and she didn't hesitate to oblige.

An officer came forward, bending her hands behind her and putting her in cuffs.

"Oh, look what I got here. What a lovely surprise" the Police Captain walked around until she was facing Alisa.

"I knew that voice sounded familiar" Alisa replied with a confident smile as she tilted her head.

"You do realize you are going to get Ansel killed, right?" she asked, squinting.

"Yeah, I won't tell you how to lead your family, and you don't tell me how to do my job," the Captain replied with raised brows and walked away back the way they came.