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On Eve's new chapter that I have so far, before I stalled and am only now getting around to going back to her and this:

Chapter One: A Mess of Proportions

Eve finally got out of the shower. She still felt down, but she was beginning to work herself into an immovable state.

It was a job. It was done. And she hadn’t even had to pull the trigger.

There was no need for her to be like this. She had done what was ordered, even if she hadn’t actually had to do anything, and now her task was finished and she could return to the Viridian base.

Arceus be damned if she had to be at 100% by the time she got to Headquarters. She just wanted to lie down and close her eyes, hopefully ignore everything around her for a while, maybe get in some sleep. That actually sounded very nice and inviting…

Brushing back her wet but now normal-colored hair, Eve came towards her bed and saw her lit up phone. Grabbing it, she sighed as she saw the many missed calls from Giovanni, and knew she had to let him know she was okay.

He had always been overly concerned with her.

“You’ve got some nerve, little girl.”

She winced and her hand flitted up to her head. She hated how random whispers, ghosts of the past really, always haunted ever since she’d gotten amnesia and was found and given a new life by Giovanni in that hospital.

She knows he saved her from some kind of car accident. She could still smell rubber, asphalt, and smoke. She even remembered him carrying her in his arms, and him looking down on her as he did so.

But sometimes, she wanted to remember the entire thing, to maybe stop wondering about her past.

“The past is the past,” she muttered to herself.

It was something that was best left behind and for her to forget, which was ironic given she couldn’t remember in the first place. Still, she needed to forget about the past, or else she wouldn’t be able to move on.

If the life she was living could be called moving on.

Deciding to leave Giovanni to later, she chose rest first and collapsed onto the bed on her front. She smothered her face into her pillow, reveling in its soft and comforting feel. Turning her head to the side, her tired eyes zeroed in on the red numbers of the digital clock by her bedside.

She watched it meaninglessly, until her eyes drifted shut and she fell asleep.

~*~*~

The room felt stifling and she wanted to get out of there. As far as she could tell, there really was no need for her to be there, other than for her father to parade her around.

Hero of Kanto…

She scoffed. As if she really earned that title. Team Rocket still lurked around, and was nowhere near defeated, like everyone chose to ignorantly believe. Like a young girl like herself could stop a huge criminal organization like Team Rocket in its track, simply by battling them and forcing them to concede defeat.

It was unbelievably stupid and laughably naïve.

She was done being naïve and young and ignorant and –

All the things she had been while she had been traveling on her pokémon journey, and had learned not to be as she experienced the world in all its gray truth.

“You look morose, standing here all by yourself,” a familiar accented voice said smoothly, chuckling darkly as the man slid into position next to her.

She tensed up, but made no move to bring attention to their corner or show any discomfort on her face that would show weakness to him.

“What do you want, Giovanni?” she asked harshly, refusing to look at him.

“What do I want? Nothing at the moment,” he said, aggravating her. “Although I do wonder why the ‘Hero of Kanto’ is all alone in a corner.”

She whirled on him, looking up at him with furious stormy gray eyes. Her fury died down as she saw that he had actually been looking down gently at her, and she went back to feeling uncomfortable.

It still brought up too many memories, memories she wanted to forget about her pokémon journey.

“Why do you care?” she muttered, back to glaring over at the oblivious, superficial crowd.

He didn’t answer her, choosing instead to echo her position and look over them as well.

“You look lovely in that green dress, Leaf,” he suddenly murmured. He turned to her, a brief smirk flitting across his lips. “But I think red’s still more your color.”

He reached out with a single finger, tracing her red-painted lips slowly, before his hand dropped to his side and he turned and left her to her corner.

She dazedly wondered if her lipstick had stained him.

Eve awoke, the last vestiges of the dream eluding her. She remembered a party, wearing a dress, and a tall, dark man that seemed to disturb her in and out of dreams. But even those small details were becoming foggy.

She always forgot. Always.

So Eve simply let it be and didn’t linger on it, like usual.

With that in mind, she began to get ready to set out and leave Celadon City behind. Hopefully, she could escape under the chaos Hollands’ suicide had left behind, and anonymously continue on her way back to Rocket Headquarters.

She easily moved through the apartment, making sure she had everything and hadn’t left anything behind. She herself was dressed in her usual clothing, and she made the checks she usually did, though as an extra precaution she had made sure to be certain her knives harness was strapped on snugly.

Eve was feeling a bit paranoid and she would rather be safe than sorry.

Before she left the apartment, she sent a quick text to Giovanni to reassure him she was fine and that he had no need to worry. She’d completed the job and he had nothing to be worried. It had been successful.

She effectively ignored that much of his worry was more over herself than the job itself.

With that, she left the apartment and made a quick exit out of the city. On the road heading out, Eve let out Houndour and Absol, with the latter throwing her a disgruntled look for keeping him in the pokéball too long after a job.

He’d been with his mistress a long time, and knew how she got after a job.

“Houndour?” the darker canine-like pokémon questioned him.

“Ab-Absol,” he answered gruffly, still watching his mistress.

Her quick, jerky steps said much about her state.

~*~*~

Eve sat on the ground by the base of the tree, leaning against it. Her two pokémon were quietly facing off, and she watched them closely. They waited patiently, tense and eying each other.

She made a sharp slashing gesture, and then the two pokémon lunged at each other, snarling aggressively. She did not want them to fight like pokémon, she wanted them to fight and attack like animals in a battle where losing meant death. She wanted them to fight dirty and be ready to strike viciously and without qualms.

This would be the time for her to evaluate Houndour’s performance, see if the female canine pokémon was fit to be on a team like Eve’s. Pokémon battles were a necessity and happened often, but with Eve, it was rarer than the usual because she didn’t seek out or focus on pokémon battling. If Houndour wanted to stay with her and on her team, she had to be ready to and get used to the killing aspect that formed Eve’s team.

And well, she was evaluating Houndour overall. Eve had to know how well her previous trainer had trained her, what she was capable of, and what she was currently able to do. Right now, Eve was carefully noting the speed, evasion skill, and attack level Houndour was displaying, alongside calculating if Houndour would be alright on a team like Eve’s and with a trainer like her. Could Houndour handle going along with the things she did and what Eve would require her to learn and do in the long run?

Absol, after all, had torn plenty of throats out for her.

Eve whistled, stopping the two pokémon. She had seen enough, though she would still have to see how Houndour performed in a regular pokémon battle and what her skill set was.

“You passed,” she gave an acknowledging nod to Houndour, who happily barked at her.

She took out her bag and set out their food, releasing the rest of her pokémon. Her Gyarados was uncomfortable not having water around, but dealt with it as coolly as he usually did. Her Rhyhorn, oppositely, made herself at home and aimed for the food quickly. On the other hand, her Trapinch was lazily lying by his bowl, only taking a few bites every once and awhile.

She took out her own food, glad to have stocked up from Celadon City. She didn’t want to have to feed on ration bars, considering their bland or even disgusting tastes.

Suddenly, Eve’s phone rang and she frowned. Taking it out, she saw the number and frowned even more, reluctantly answering it.

“Eve,” Archer’s familiar cool voice answered her.

“Archer,” she greeted back, her voice becoming neutral and unrevealing.

“As I understand, you should be heading back to Headquarters, yes?”

“I’m on my way,” she affirmed, though she knew she wasn’t going to like his response. She was right.

“Good. That means you’ll probably go through Saffron. I need you to do a job. We have a window of opportunity to take out a rival. Blake Hall is in Saffron City. You should know him as the President of Altru Inc. and also as the leader of Team Dim Sun.”

Part II and the rest of the chapter (probably more typos), and the chapter's now named "Black Widow":

Eve shifted through her memory, and recalled the man. She tapped a finger against her thigh.

“How long do I have?”

“It’s probably best if you head there as fast as you can. The faster you get there, the more time you have to watch the target and plans things out.”

Eve gave her confirmation, before hanging up and then putting away her phone.

“Finish up, guys! We’ll be heading out soon.”

~*~*~

She got there with time to spare, finding a hotel room to stay in. From there, she got settled in, after a last minute decision, she’d gotten a bit dressed up before wandering outside. Keeping a low profile, she went around the city to look out for Blake Hall. She knew, after getting some more information, that he would be around the gambling district. Which is why she’d gone straight there and began to inconspicuously walk around, keeping an eye out from. It was just her luck that she found him exiting a casino not too long into her search.

Dark hair pulled into a low ponytail and eyes covered by those somewhat ridiculous sunglasses, Blake Hall was nowhere near an intimidating opponent for Giovanni or Team Rocket. His miniscule Team was more or less just an ant in the way.

What was valuable was the business.

Blake Hall had a pretty good business going on. He was currently the President of Altru Inc., a very innovative and promising energy company. While the company did well enough, obtaining money through the oil industry, it was the company’s work and research into new, and more reliable, energy sources that was the real goldmine.

If Hall was out, his company was up from grabs. There’ll be chaos, people wanting to sell their stocks in the company, etc. It would easy to capitalize on his death.

Without further thought, Eve looked down and made herself look busy and distracted, aiming straight for Hall. She promptly bumped into him purposely, and ended up falling to the ground next to him. She winced a bit from it, but she managed to brace herself enough for impact beforehand.

“Watch it, you – ”

Hall was cut off, as Eve looked up, looking up at him with her stormy gray eyes and a sheepish smile.

“Sorry,” she rubbed her head in ‘embarrassment.’ “I was so distracted, I wasn’t even paying attention to what direction I was going!”

Hall laughed loudly, extending a hand to her and helping her up. “No, no! I should have noticed you and taken care to step aside or warn you.”

Smiling at him, Eve held out her hand. “I’m Talia. It’snice to meet you…?”

“The name’s Blake,” he smiled at her, trying to be discreet as he looked her up and down. “You may have heard of me? Blake Hall, President of Altru Inc.?”

Eve made herself look like she finally recognized him. “Oh yes! I know you. But you’re so much more handsome than I heard you would be.”

He grinned a little more smugly, puffing up ridiculously. “Talia, dear, have you had dinner yet? I would love to take you out to dinner.”

Eve laughed lightly. “Well, that sounds like a wonderful offer. Of course I would!”

He’d politely held out his arm and she took it, and he’d led her to a car where they sat in the back and the driver up front started it.

“Go to that nice restaurant I went to yesterday. The one with the fabulous salmon,” Hall ordered his driver.

The driver started to move, and Hall turned back to her, starting in rambling about his company and trying to impress Eve. She was beyond grateful when they finally arrived at the restaurant, and he’d finally shut up. But then came the time in the restaurant, where after they’d ordered (and he insisted on ordering for her), she had to again suffer through another bout of boastful blathering.

When the meal came, she inwardly gave sigh in relief and pretended to focus on her meal of the salmon he’d praised and gone about earlier in the car.

~*~*~

Blake was feeling fantastic. His company was doing well, his Team were working hard, and he’d just won a jackpot at the casino. Lady Luck and life was on his side, and everything was falling onto his lap.

And now he’d found a catch.

A lovely young woman with silky brown hair he’d managed to quickly sneak a touch of, eyes that were fiery as storms but just as gray as them, and a sleek body that moved like a dancer’s. She laughed into his ear, her slender hands touching his chest, and letting him boldly hold her hips. He grinned roguishly and chanced a kiss to her neck, letting the giggling girl drag him into his room. Inside, he leaned forward and aimed a kiss right for her lips, only to be shocked as a change overcame Talia.

Her face became less giggly and drunken, and instead was stony as her hand shot out and dripped his throat, pushing him against the door. He could feel his air being cut off and he was struggling to breathe, so he desperately pushed her forward and used all his strength to do so. She moved back and almost stumbled onto the bed, but since she still had a grip on him, he’d come chasing after. Grabbing her hand and managing to yank it off his throat, he turned to make a dash towards the door, only for strong legs to come up and encircle his throat again and start choking him once more.

Blake could feel his airways being crushed, and his made desperate grabs at her legs. But her thighs choking him squeezed only harder and he knew his veins were probably popping out of his skin and bursting.

His vision immediately started getting hazy and he found it harder to think. He was gasping for breath, and he was already seeing losing sight.

What little vision he had left, he saw Talia’s face above him, looking down at him dispassionately as she choked the life out of him without remorse.

And then he saw nothing at all.

~*~*~

Eve blinked and looked down, cautiously making sure Hall wasn’t going to pop up alive and struggle again. When she was sure of that, she unfolded her legs, and sat up a little more on the edge of the bed as Hall’s body slid off the edge and hit the ground with a thump. Checking for a pulse, she found nothing.

Deciding to get to work, she hauled him onto the bed and removed his clothing. From there, she found his tie from the pile of his clothing and carefully tied it around his neck and tightened it tightly. Then she clinically took his hand and wrapped it around his genitalia, making sure he was holding himself in a tight grip.

As far anyone was concerned, he would have died in an erotic asphyxiation accident.

That got dark very quickly.

Good writing as always, but could the second one perhaps have a higher rating on it...?

Hm, you mean like the second part have a warning or something? Although I have shown Eve killing before...

I did worry about the end part getting to be too much, but a reviewer did ask that (as an assassin story) that it would be darker, since it didn't seem dark enough or have enough impact, etc.

Basically this:
"For an assasin story, it's not dark enough... No Impact. It needs to be darker. About the dark criminal world and the assassination... The story title and synopsis revolt around there but the story itself rarely touch there.."

To be fair, I kind of looked at it and was like, really? And also because the story, even the summary, showed it's not revolving around Eve as an 'assassin' but more on other stuff anyway.

Hm...I finally finished this yesterday, so I hope you guys enjoy~

Chapter Two: Lavender Blues

Eve was heading back to Viridian, making great headway into her journey back. It was when she’d stopped by Lavender Town that she was surprised. The normally peaceful town was in chaos.

She blinked, observing the people running around and the fires on buildings. She frowned to herself, remembering there was a Team Rocket unit that had been set up there. If they were the cause of this…

Team Rocket’s presence was supposed to be on the down low. They weren’t supposed to be causing such a huge uproar and making a racket that would draw attention to them.

And she was certain it was Team Rocket, and Grunt work at that, considering the signs she was seeing all around. She almost sneered, but held it in and instead called in to Giovanni to report about the situation.

“Eve,” he greeted her and she felt herself hold herself immobile at his voice. Shaking her head, she spoke into the phone indifferently.

“Giovanni, there’s a situation here in Lavender Town.”

She could hear the frown in his voice as he next spoke.

“What situation? Tell me what is wrong.”

So she told him what she saw of Lavender Town. Eve could hear him inhale in irritation.

“Find the unit and take over,” Giovanni ordered. “Make sure they learn their lesson.”

“Of course, Giovanni. I’ll return back with them afterwards.”

“Make sure you do so quickly,” he murmured, and she uncomfortably straightened up.

She hung up then without another word, making her wince at herself. However, she pushed it out of her mind and began looking through the town, making sure to keep to herself and blend in with the panicking citizens.

Closer to where the Pokémon Tower was, she saw a group of Rocket agents skulking in the shadows of the tower. One of them was yelling about and waving their arms, while the rest stood placidly and irritably next to the angry red head. A young woman stood with the group, looking blandly at the yelling red head and occasionally tugging at a strand of her highlighted pixie cut. The electric blue highlights were in deep contrast to the natural black hair, and she could assume from the hairstyle that the woman was the rebellious, maybe punkish type.

If she had a chip on her shoulder, she’ll find that Eve wouldn’t tolerate much sass, especially directed towards her.

Aside from the young woman and the red head, there were two other males that were rather average. Good-looking, yes. Not memorable though. Average coloring, average handsomeness, average height and weight. Not too tall, not too short. Not too skinny, but definitely far from overweight (a leanness that belied that they might be at least capable of some fight).

She knew at that point, that they were disorganized and something had upset their unit and mission there, else this whole situation wouldn’t have erupted the way it seemed to have. Eve fingered a pokéball, before she took it off her belt and threw it from all the way where she was, her Absol landing in the middle of the group and surprising them.

He growled viciously at them, freaking them out and making them become terrified of him.

“Hey! You freak! Get the hell out of here,” the red head made a swipe towards Eve’s Absol.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Eve spoke out then, catching their attention. She gave them all a cold look, as they instantly recognized her and looked at her with both awe and fear. “He’s been known to tear off the hands that dare come near him and do stupid things like that.”

She whistled and he came towards her in a sleek strut that emphasized Absol’s grace and deadliness.

“I don’t want to know what happened here. You can each fill out a report back in Headquarters to do that. What I do know is that there is currently chaos in a town that’s usually peaceful, and that brings attention. Attention that Team Rocket is currently trying to avoid,” she sneered at them, making them all flinch.

“You all had the specific orders of setting up here, and subtly containing a Rocket presence in the area, and to take note of passing trainers. Obviously, that’s gone poorly,” she said, allowing a bit of scorn to filter through her voice. “Now I’m taking over and you all need to start cleaning up and erasing all evidence of your presence here. When you’re done, we’re evacuating the area and heading back to Viridian City, where each one of you will be reporting to Giovanni directly.”

That put even more fear in them and they straightened up.

“Yes, ma’am!”

They scrambled away from her after her dismissal and began to clean up around their area, before going inside the tower and retrieving their things from there.

Her head was already starting to ache with the trouble she was undoubtedly just saddled with.

~*~*~

Eve learned the leader of this unit was the electric blue hair-streaked woman, whose name was Janette Tudor. She recognized the name, even remembering that some had dubbed her The Tudor Rose.

She was…less punkish, but still a rebellious type of person. As she observed the other woman, who was ironically older than Eve and yet lower in rank, she noted that Janette was spunky and even good enough to lead…just a very unsure leader at the moment.

Her unit got along with each other and with her (minus that red head, who proceeded to annoy Eve with every little thing he did). The problems were that they treated her more like a friend and didn’t take too well to taking orders.

All in all, the more she watched and observed the details about the group, the more she realized that there was potential overall in them. Janette especially (as Eve observed her the most), but her leadership was lacking.

This might be a little spontaneous, but…

“Tudor,” Eve spoke out and the young woman snapped to attention, eagerly coming over to her. “We’ll be together for a long journey, and your leadership can be quite lacking,” she bluntly told the other. “Therefore I want you to stick close and take note of what you should be doing to keep your unit in line.”

The woman’s downtrodden expression was quick to change into an enthusiastic one.

“Yes, ma’am! You can bet I’ll do my best to become a better leader in your presence, ma’am!”

Eve almost rolled her eyes. Well, at least Janette didn’t have that chip that Eve was worried she’d have.

“So do you have family?” Eve wondered, continuing to extricate information from her.

“Yes, actually. I’m an only child of Catherine and Anders Tudor, both military. I grew up around military bases actually, so I guess you can call me a military brat,” she shrugged. “They were ‘killed in the line of duty’ so I ran away and lived on my own, usually in shelters and the like for a few days. Then I was recruited into Team Rocket first through my cracker skills and worked as a Grunt in the tech division. But after hearing about you, I decided to become more of a field agent and have been doing my best to hold myself to your standards.”

Eve hid her twitch, watching the woman warily, and seeing the intent stare directed at herself.

“That’s…nice. Anything else?”

Eve found a few more things about Janette. One, her parents weren’t actually dead. They’d been found alive, long after the attack where a fellow soldier suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress had turned on their unit in the middle of them infiltrating an island that was housing a branch of Team Magma.

She also, after constant emphasis at different times, hugely admired Eve. In fact, it was beyond hero worship. She was practically infatuated.

Janette, it seemed, had some sort of…crush.

“Keep close and learn what you can,” Eve decided to brush it off and focus on what really mattered.

It was a strange and unexpected detail, but something that Eve could deal with in the long run.

~*~*~

They were finally almost finished and Eve had noted Lavender Town was settling down for the most part. Fires had been put out, and now there was only smoke trailing into the dark sky. They were now having dinner and letting their pokémon eat with them.

It was then that she noted the treatment of the pokémon. Most of them, from Janette to the twin-like Fred and Grant (something about the pairing of the F and G of their first names gnawed at her…) were pretty cordial enough with their pokémon, if not indifferent sometimes. Though each of them had a pokémon they were inclined to treat the best compared to the others, so the situation wasn’t wholly unsalvageable.

But that was barely good enough, and the red head –Peter Wrick –was the worse, as she watched him and his Rattata.

“You there,” she snapped out and everyone looked at her and saw who she was looking at.

Peter shifted uncomfortably, while everyone else shot him pitiable looks. She crumbled up the paper towel she’d been using and stood up slowly, still watching him. However, she addressed the others then as well.

“How dismal. Your pokémon are like your partners,” she laughed slightly, but it didn’t sound like a nice laugh at all. “Your pokémon need to work in concert with you. They are paired with you as you are paired with a human partner. It’s your team versus the rest of the world, any and all who are against Team Rocket.”

She stalked towards Peter, who cowered back as she neared. And though she was still addressing the group, she never took her eyes off of him.

“Team Rocket’s main go-to, for our front specialty, are usually pokémon. To steal them, coerce them and bring them into the Team, etc. We run in a specific way. Our goal is to create a Team that is powerful in every way –money, pokémon, collection…”

She reached Peter, who looked up at her from his spot in fear. She then snapped her hand out and gripped his hair, pulling him forward, before she twisted him backwards so that he bent back and was unable to gain balance at the same time as his spine was bending too much backwards.

“Broken pokémon are useless. The same way broken agents are useless.”

To drive in her point a little more, she bent him a little more at the same time as she tightened her grip on his hair, earning a yelp from him.

Eve let go then and he toppled backwards, laying there helplessly and trying to regain his bearings and let his body recuperate.

“Treat your pokémon any lesser than yourself, and you’ll find that you can become just as useless and disposable to us as you think they are to you.”

She then walked back to where her pokémon, all proud and poised in their spots (and as dangerous as she), were predatorily watching the rest of them (human and pokémon alike) as they ate their meal.

This group was pitiably naïve and miserably unknowing of the mechanics of the Team.

~*~*~

Thinking back to the pokémon, she was reminded of the main incident of this town that had caused Team Rocket some setbacks.

It was why she was in front of the grave of the Marowak that was accidentally killed some years ago, when the original Rocket unit had been set up in the town and had mucked up their mission with Marowak’s death.

She hadn’t been in the Team at the time (she was almost sure of this, but not quite –her memory wasn’t reliable after all). But she did know that it was one of the reasons why pokémon being taken in alive was made known to be preferable –pokémon were usually more profitable alive, and they were also more useful alive to the Team.

What use were pokémon that couldn’t do anything for them? Make them, and keep them, healthy and strong, so that they not only cooperated with the Team, but become just as loyal as any human member.

That was why the Grunts, the ones who usually tended to make their pokémon miserable and even end up abusing them, would be extremely punished should they be caught doing so.

Damaged pokémon weren’t any use to the Team, which made the owners just as of no use.

“Hello. I hadn’t expected to see anyone here.”

She turned, broken out of her thoughts, to see an elderly man, who carried a small bouquet of flowers for a grave. She was surprised when he came closer to her and placed it at the gravemarker of the Marowak’s grave.

“It’s nice to see others visiting her,” the old man, whom Eve could guess was Mr. Fuji when she recollected anyone that could’ve been important in this town and who would care enough to visit the late Marowak. “It was unfortunate what happened, but what can be expected out of anything involving Team Rocket? They don’t care about pokémon…”

Eve hmmed, looking to the grave. Then she turned back to the old man.

“That would be incorrect. Pokémon are a necessity and part of Team Rocket’s livelihood. The fools who had been here and had killed the Marowak? A bunch of idiots with no sense and an inability to control themselves and keep the situation in control. They’re the lowest of Team Rocket for a reason.”

Still, Eve took something from her pocket that she purposely brought along to bring to here, when she first thought of coming to the Marowak’s grave.

A single red spider lily that she managed to find around the area.

“Higanbana,” Mr. Fuji murmured, gazing at the flower.

Eve smiled, though it wasn’t cold or cruel at all, nor indifferent.

It was a little sad.

“Perhaps she will find she will meet her child again in reincarnation.”

What with the Cubone child she left behind, as told to her by Fred and Grant, having found a home with the old man beside her, it would be a long while until then perhaps.

“The Flower of the Afterlife doesn’t always have to be associated with Hell,” she mused aloud.

She started to walk away then and didn’t look back at the contemplative man behind her.

Chapter Three: Lightning Strikes

They’d just rushed through Route 12 and then 11 to reach Vermilion City. It was nighttime by the time they reached the Electric City, and they were ready to take a break and stop for the night at the Vermilion base located there.

Eve felt restless though. She couldn’t stay in the base with them, instead choosing to wander around the city on her own. Funnily enough, she found herself standing in front of the Pokémon Fan Club House.

Something about it felt familiar, but she couldn’t remember.

She scoffed to herself. It wasn’t like that was something new. She was always close to reaching for something in her mind, so close but never too close.

Making the decision to head in, Eve went into the Club House and was immediately assaulted with the sounds of people fighting amongst themselves. It gave her a sense of nostalgia though, so she didn’t even feel annoyed. She was more amused as she listened to them argue over the best Eevee evolution.

“No, no, no! The original Eeveelutions are the best!”

“I disagree! Sylveon are adorable!”

She laughed quietly to herself, feeling an ache inside she couldn’t explain. She swallowed the bitterness short and walked back out quickly, cutting her visit short. Instead, she headed to the harbor and leaned against the wooden rails.

For a while, she just watched the ships coming and leaving, the lights fully on in many of them. She herself was more in the shadows though.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

She didn’t look back at the gym leader, feeling herself smile tiredly.

“Didn’t expect you to come seeking me out so quickly,” she replied back with a tinge more revealing sense than she’d wanted to come out.

Lieutenant Lucien Surge was always someone she had never minded being around or hanging with. He always had a steady composure, and in the world they lived in, she had found him to be the closest to a best friend that she had in Team Rocket.

“You son of a gun,” she murmured but was grinning as she finally turned to him, not surprised that he had moved closer to her in the meantime. She accepted the quick, friendly embrace and pat on the back, both of which she echoed, before they pulled back and were grinning widely at each other.

“How is it you can always sneak up on me?” Eve asked laughingly.

“Experience,” Lucien boasted. But he shook his head. “But you knew I was here. Don’t lie. No one ever gets by you, Widow.”

“Had to cater to your ego, didn’t I?” she kept grinning.

“Tough luck, sugar lips. Didn’t work…much,” Lucien cracked back. “Want to head to the shooting range?”

“You know what…yeah. I’ve got some pent-up aggression to take out,” Eve decided to go with him. He raised his eyebrows at her, but she didn’t elaborate. “We heading over or what?”

“Come on then,” he smirked. “I’ve got some new toys since the last time you were in the city.”

Eve laughed freely and followed the man to his car, where she let him blast his music as he drove like a maniac back to his gym. Parking haphazardly to the side of the gym, the two of them made the familiar trek to the back, where Lucien had his own personal shooting range set up. His gun collection was also locked up there, and she whistled as she saw the new firearms he’d bought.

“Impressive indeed,” she complimented. “You shoot them yet?”

“Nah, got them this morning. Haven’t had a chance,” he huffed. “Want to try some of them out?”

“Yes,” Eve held out a hand. Lucien snickered as he grabbed one of the newer ones and tossed it to her.

For some time the two of them shot at targets, and Eve relaxed with each bullet that was let out. The tension just eased out of her body while she shot up the target she was aiming at.

“You got some issues?” Lucien asked, moving to go behind her as he finished up.

She put down her own firearm and took off her muffler, turning to face him.

“Annoying memories,” she said flatly.

“Annoying missing memories,” Lucien murmured, filling in what she wasn’t saying.

“Nothing unusual,” she shrugged, not looking at him.

He put the muffler back on her head, peeling off one side. “Up for a competition? Loser makes dinner.”

“I want a medium rare steak,” she told him.

“Who says I’m going to lose?!”

Eve snickered under her breath as she picked her chosen gun and waited until the targets had been reset. Then, on the count of three, Eve shot first into her target.

“You know, I’ve had more recent experience at shooting live people than you,” she said over the sound of the gun firing.

“Bullshit! Well, yeah –maybe that’s true. But I’ve got a lifetime of experience, sweetheart!”

“Know that, Rambo,” Eve playfully sneered. “But I’ve got myself time and experience to equal that out, especially with you stagnating as a gym leader!”

“Hah! That means nothing,” Lucien snarked. “I’ve got more time to kill than running around on the roads and all. I can just hang out here and waste time with my guns, and not lose any skill.”

It was his turn and she admitted that he was pretty impressive too.

“To be honest,” Lucien said afterwards. “You probably have a better kill count and maybe even fighting skills, but I’ve got the edge of shooting. I need a sparring partner,” he grumbled at the end. “You need to come around more often.”

“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Eve mused aloud, following Lucien to start picking up the shells from the ground. “I need someone to fight with than usually Archer.” At that, she grimaced.

“Stick up his ass still lodged in?” Lucien said crudely, grinning viciously.

It made Eve feel a little better and not as upset as she usually was at the mention of the blunet Rocket Executive.

“Sometimes I really just can’t be around him,” she pursed her lips, glaring at the ground.

Lucien patted her shoulder. “Look, don’t bother with him. He’s…got his own issues. Now come on –I’ll make the steaks.”

“I lost,” she said in amusement.

He shrugged back in answer. “I’m feeling steaks anyhow. Now quit complaining and come on.”

Eve shook her head, but gladly followed him back to his home.

~*~*~

After dinner, where they caught up on Team Rocket business and what was going on in their lives, they decided to head to a bar. From there, Lucien ordered straight up vodka while Eve decided to go with a Whiskey on the Rocks first.

“So how’re you and Giovanni?” Lucien asked, watching her carefully.

She was frowning into her glass. “Fine. He checks in, makes sure I do my job and I’m okay, and that’s it.”

She was pretty evasive to him though. He was curious still, because he knew the past. Knew how Giovanni felt himself. Had never forgotten how Leaf felt, even if she was Eve now…

Not that he hadn’t forgotten the rule. Don’t mention anything of the past. Don’t hint it to her. Don’t talk about it to her. The past was best forgotten.

But he’d been mind-numbingly in love with Leaf like he was with Eve now.

Just like Giovanni was.

“Another glass, bartender!” Eve called out, already finished with hers and sliding the empty glass smoothly to the bartender. He refilled it and slid it back, with Eve neatly catching it. Not a single drop had been spilled between the two.

Amused, Lucien chuckled and downed his own drink and made to get a refill.

If Giovanni had known about this outing and him letting Eve drink, he’d kill Lucien. In fact, the lieutenant was pretty sure that he would have preferred that Eve hadn’t stopped by the city at all, or that the two of them hadn’t met up.

He was always a jealous bastard.

Muttering under his breath, he began sipping at his new drink, watching the girl by his side.

“You ever feel like the world is against you?” Eve asked him suddenly.

“All the fucking time,” Lucien replied.

“I hate this,” she confessed to him. “I hate what I’m doing. I hate this line…this circle…damn it, this something that surrounds, is in between me and Giovanni all the time. There’s a line that’s not supposed to be crossed, but I know it does because it’s become too blurry and I don’t know what to do.”

“You ever think of just giving into him?” Lucien said carefully, picking up his drink and looking down into it.

Damn, what was he saying?

Still, she went quiet at that and he didn’t push her to answer.

“There’s something inside of me that just can’t do that,” she said finally, voice restrained.

‘That would be the Leaf still inside of you,’ he thought tiredly. ‘The girl who couldn’t keep away from Giovanni, but couldn’t come too near his darkness either.’

“Let’s just drink,” he said instead. “We’re getting too depressing.”

Shit, when it came to Giovanni, he’d never been on the man’s good side. Not since they both met this girl and it just became something in between them that would never go away so long as all three of them were alive.

And an hour later, after their drinking binge, he was more than sure that if Giovanni ever found out what had happened in the bar, he’d definitely be killed.

But if Giovanni knew that he and Eve sort of drunkenly crashed into each other at the inside of his house, just a step through the door, the other man would come to personally take care of Lucien himself.

However, as Lucien remembered, he had never been the one in contention with Leaf. He had never been the man that had pulled her in, only to reveal the darkness too late.

Then again, Leaf and Giovanni –Eve and Giovanni? They’d always been magnetized towards each other no matter what. Towards the end of Leaf, even after Giovanni had revealed who he really was, the two of them seemed drawn to each other regardless.

Lucien was just standing in the way.

Honestly, he was damn well okay with that (besides, Archer was in a worse situation). He didn’t mind being the bitter man that was in the way, and he’ll continue to be that bitter man right up to the moment Giovanni put a bullet in his head.

Right now, with his hands buried into her hair, his lips moving against hers, he didn’t mind being on death row.

He was in love and wanted to hold onto her for as long as he could, so he was okay being a little unsteady.

~*~*~

The next morning called for a headache and warning bells to sound in his head as he woke up, feeling the warm body next to him before he even looked over.

Spotting Eve still quietly slumbering, he blinked lethargically before staring up at his ceiling.

“Life’s a piece of shit,” he muttered, rubbing a hand down his face.

His phone rang and he saw who it was. He thought that was just his luck.

“Giovanni,” he mumbled into the phone, watching Eve sleep as he sat up on the bed.

“You were rather careless last night,” Giovanni’s voice was dark as he spoke smoothly, though Lucien wasn’t deaf to the anger simmering underneath.

That Giovanni wasn’t already there meant that, despite the fact he was pretty watchful over Eve and had eyes everywhere, the Rocket Boss didn’t know anything beyond the fact they’d gotten horribly drunk at a bar.

Lucien was in hot water with him, but he wasn’t dead just yet.

“I made sure she’s alright and didn’t get into any drunken problems,” Lucien answered nonchalantly. “Don’t worry about her too much.”

Giovanni was probably really irritated right now.

“Take care not to step over anymore lines than you’ve already had,” Giovanni ordered, a bit of his irritation seeping through to his voice.

“Yes, sir,” Lucien refrained from letting out a hysterical laugh.

All those lines were crossed and gone.

“Good,” Giovanni snapped before hanging up on him.

“Ugh,” Lucien heard Eve grumble, shifting on the bed. She then groggily got up from the bed and then rushed to his bathroom, starting to throw up.

Lucien shook his head, wearing a small smile. She’d never been very good with alcohol, even back before she ever became the Rocket agent she was these days.

Leaf had been horrible handling alcohol.

Chapter Eight: Deforesting the Problem

Norman Morris got the sense that he’d been caught in a trap.

He had been in the process of working out the little antidote scam he had going on in the Viridian Forest, when two Rocket agents (not grunts –not with their outfits) approached him.

One was a gorgeous woman, who gave him the sense of hair-raising danger. He’d only gotten that sense from one other female, and the 17 year old assassin was thankfully not around.

But this woman...this woman screamed wickedness and sensuality just by the way she moved and by the way her lips curved and her hips swayed. And despite portraying blindness, he could sense that she could still see somehow.

The other was a bulky man, wearing a cloak and an unnerving mask. Two slits made up for eyes, but it was the ever present and never changing grin that formed the mouth, on the otherwise blank “face”, that made him want to cringe back.

He didn’t know their exact rank, but he knew they were completely above him.

“Norman Morris, wasn’t it?” the woman asked with a spreading smirk on her red lips. “I’m Lilith. This is Masked Man.”

In any other situation, Norman would have chuckled at the other man’s name, but he’d always had good instincts, which were now screaming at him to just nod obediently and not step out of line with these two.

Lilith continued, “I heard you were running quite a successful business out here? Something to do with Beedrills?”

Norman tried to give a charming smile, shaking off nerves. “Yes, that’s quite right. Would you like me to give you a tour?”

A very foreboding smile crossed her lips.

“Would I ever.”

Norman had the sudden thought he might have just unknowingly signed a devil’s contract.

~*~*~

Norman really wasn’t sure what to feel when next up, Eve the Widowmaker was now crossing his path. He’d already dealt with two demons, he didn’t fancy crossing hairs with the devil’s right hand.

But then again…

“Eve, you know, I think I’m really glad to see you,” Norman said suddenly, causing the teenaged assassin to raise an eyebrow at him.

“I hope you’re not being sarcastic,” she said dryly.

And he smiled a bit because at least Eve wasn’t going to bite his head off, like he’d felt every second he’d been with the other two. Eve was dangerous, but she wasn’t a loose cannon.

“There’s two Rocket agents milling around. A man and a woman –one calls himself the Masked Man and the other Lilith. Don’t know their exact rank, but I’m pretty sure above mine. They were asking about my Beedrill business. They were asking for some samples,” he reported succinctly.

Eve scowled darkly, causing Norman to tense. Even if he was aware she wasn’t going to attack him, he could tell by her reaction that she wasn’t pleased by this information.

“I don’t know their ranks either, though I can guess around lieutenant ranks. However, they’re red flagged. Continue to report to me about any other indiscretions of theirs, understand?” Eve ordered harshly.

Norman wanted to ask questions, but one doesn’t simply ask questions of the Widow without suffering consequences. Instead, he nodded even more obediently than he had to the other two, and Eve lightened up her scowl.

“There’s boy traveling around here with two Eevee, another boy with a Teddiursa and a Pancham, and one more with a Buizel. A girl is accompanying them. They are Raphael d’Alcott ,Mal Thrones, Felix Verity, and Sonia Darkin. I thought you would want to know, since they’re technically in ‘your’ territory,” Eve informed him indifferently.

Norman was intrigued. But still, he felt this issue with those unknown agents took precedent, especially if Eve was so upset by their presence in the forest.

He had a feeling something was up, and things were going to go Primeape shit soon.

~*~*~

Eve was more than unhappy with the news that those two were there. She was uneasy and wary about what they were up to and why they would be interested in the likes of Norman Morris and his type of business.

Ever since her first time crossing their paths, she’d had a bad feeling about the duo. They bothered to the extent where after the meeting, thoughts of them would occasionally dog her at times and refuse to leave her thoughts. If she wasn’t careful, it seemed borderline obsessive and she hated that and hated they were making her this way somehow.

Norman being distracted with the thoughts of the group of trainers would hopefully distract him away from Eve’s choice to confront the two mysterious Rockets. She hoped she’d be done in time with these two, that she could catch up to the kids and warn them away and hurry them through the forest (if only for sake of Caius Darkin and his kid being there).

She finally caught sight of the two, who were whispering to each other in a clearing, where there were boxes full of fake antidotes laying around. There were a suspicious lack of Rocket agents, and Eve wondered why there weren’t even Grunts in the area.

Eve didn’t waste any time. “Why are you two here? What is your business in this forest?”

The two paused before slowly moving to look at her. The Masked Man was unreadable because of that idiotic mask, but Lilith smirked slightly.

“If it isn’t the infamous Eve. What have we done to earn the honor of requiring your presence? Is there anything we can do for you?” Lilith asked with an obvious tinge of mocking.

Eve refrained from showing emotion, but it was just barely. Something about Lilith made her want to smash her face in…

“I heard you were around,” Eve said coolly. “I wanted to make sure you weren’t interfering with Norman’s business. He may be lower level than ourselves, but he’s quite the success and does good work.”

Lilith laughed lightly, though the echoes of mocking were still there.

“Of course not,” Lilith waved a hand dismissively. “We were just curious and wanted to see how work was doing over here. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there, Eve?”

Eve rather felt hatred at how Lilith addressed her. She disliked everything about the woman, and could feel her hands itch to wring her neck.

“No,” Eve replied brusquely. “But if you have no real business here other than to fulfill your curiosity, I suggest you head back to Headquarters and find something useful to do.”

“As you wish,” the Masked Man spoke for once, speaking with a deep, gravelly voice.

Eve eyed him carefully, before nodding in his direction and then returning her attention to Lilith, who was frowning slightly.

“Very well, we’ll leave,” Lilith sighed in boredom.

She suddenly strode up to Eve, making Eve tense up and instinctively slip a knife into her hand. However, she was shocked at the other’s next action, which was to place a close-lipped, firm kiss on her lips.

Lilith pulled back and a smirk came back onto her mouth.

“Such poisonous lips,” Lilith purred. “I bet you really do poison all those around you with your presence, Rappaccini.”

And then Lilith rejoined her companion, with the both of them moving away and leaving Eve behind to finger her knife thoughtfully, scrutinizing their backs.

~*~*~

Eve hid her grimace, looking at Odette blandly. The quirky Psychic was smiling brightly at her, and she was almost tempted to just turn around and walk away.

“Hiya, boss,” Fred waved, which Grant echoed enthusiastically.

Janet quietly stood back behind them, cheeks tinted red.

She really didn’t understand why she was saddled with this group of agents, the only ones lower level than her and whom weren’t the usual terrified mess others were at the sight of her. No, these agents had to be like Growlithe pups, intent on chasing and slobbering at Eve’s heels.

“I was gonna sic Norman on them…” Eve started. “But they are your assignment. Not a serious assignment, mind you, so success isn’t a top priority –but that doesn’t mean you can mess around!” she warned, looking directly at Odette who started to hum.

Damn woman would probably fail on purpose because she thought it was funny. Or just think it was enough to scare the living bejeesus out of them, and keep chasing them in the meantime without a care to the assignment, so long as she was at least driving the living fear (or panic at the sight of this unit) into those kids.

Which, in hindsight, wasn’t so bad as they weren’t being or showing incompetency…Eve inwardly shrugged. Perhaps harassing and scaring a high profile group such as this would be enough to make Team Rocket’s name on “the streets” feared again, knowing that this was the time the Team was aiming to slowly reemerge as trouble in Kanto.

Then again, Eve was of the mind it was starting to be a bad idea. Those two she met were really agitating her, and she just knew something was in the air and was about to break loose within Team Rocket’s ranks.

“Find them,” Eve said distractedly. “Kidnap one of them, like you’re supposed to. Don’t keep the kid though. You want them to go back to the others and be scared, terrify the rest of them.”

“Does that mean we get to torture ‘em?” Odette asked slyly.

“No.”

Odette huffed, but hadn’t meant it anyway. She and the others weren’t within that level of Team Rocket with those capabilities, and it was only reserved for certain types of Rocket enemies…None of which include the innocent group of people and of the criminal and underworld kind.

“Can you come with us?” Janet blurted out, finally speaking up.

Eve turned her eyes on the other female, who straightened up in attention at that. She frowned, but thought on it.

It would be easier for them to nab Sonia if she came along, what with Eve’s device and all. And choosing Sonia, the most powerful of the group, would emphasize the unit and the Team’s dangerousness, as well as put the extra fear into the group because of that. They would be more prompted to speak out to people about them…

Maybe draw the attention off this pathetic Anti-Psychic movement, and more onto Team Rocket.

“Alright, I’ll come,” Eve smiled thinly. “But it’s my orders being followed, and exactly. Do you all understand?”

“Yes, ma’am!” they all chorused, even Odette amusingly enough.

~*~*~

Eve stood on standby, just watching the events unfold. She was within distance that would allow her device to clash with Sonia’s, but Odette being in range would hamper the Psychic. Instead, she had Odette at a farther range from the rest of them, running interference should one of the kids escape from the perimeter that was set.

She stayed out of sight as well, making sure she was still close enough to run initial interference if need be, but she was sure the others were well-trained enough to take on a bunch of kids, especially with Odette out of the way and not going off on her own decisions and playing around.

Sure enough, she found herself faced with a bright-face and proud Janet, and smugly grinning Fred and Grant, with a knocked out Sonia between them.

“Report later. We need to go before the others catch up to us,” Eve ordered, though she subtly examined the girl.

Unconscious but fine, luckily enough. At least three can follow directions.

They began their run out of there, following Eve’s lead as she veered towards Norman’s Beedrill base, still having a feeling about it. She was annoyed how the feeling persisted, but she never ignored those instincts. If something was wrong, then something was mostly likely about to happen and happen there.

(What I have so far...)