#dimethief

After shoving copious amounts of whipped cream down their throat, Bandit finally prepares to leave for his holiday. He then nearly trips over because his ankles are bound by Blitz’s hands.

“Don’t go, Dom.” 

“I’m-” Bandit drags the man with sheer power of spite and determination, “Going-” He doesn’t care if the younger man will get carpet burn, “Right-” Just a little bit more. The doorknob is within his reach,” Now!”

“I don’t know. Maybe you should listen to him.” Jäger blocks the way and Bandit’s patience is paper thin from snapping.

“Okay. Alright. You know what?” Bandit relaxes his body and licks on the remaining cream that’s caked on his beard, “Consider yourselves invited. Come with me.”

“Oh?” 

“You heard me,” Bandit pulls on his beard and may as well rip them off, “See if I will get lost or not. I’m going to hire you as my guard dog if you don’t believe how much of an independant and capable traveller that I am. 

“But we haven’t applied for ours yet.” Blitz looks up, almost puppy-like.

“I will talk to Harishva. Tell him it’s under special circumstances or some shit like that.”

“You don’t have to do that. I will let you go.” Jäger steps away from the door, revealing his true intention as someone who wanted to drag the prank a bit longer.

Bandit lunges to grab on the other man’s collar, “No, you’re going to come. See the end of this. You’re in for it.” 

That’s the biggest ‘uh-oh’ moment. Blitz and Jäger planned to stall their colleague’s departure so IQ can work on other pranks, but it turns out they pressed all the wrong buttons tonight. Now here they are, successfully igniting the age old temper that Bandit had gained from his rowdy undercover days.

“Monika will be confused.”

“Fine. Bring her too. We’re all going.” Bandit kicks the door down and struts away. Blitz tries to follow the man and Jäger goes to warn IQ for the shitstorm they’re about to get involved in. How surprising and whimsical it would be if Harry agrees to such a rash proposition? 

And it happens. Throughout the half an hour drive to the airport, Bandit seems to not care for IQ’s piercing gaze, Blitz’s thousand questions and Jäger’s futile attempt to ease the chaotic atmosphere. The first words he musters is when they board on the aeroplane, “This is just a week's worth of trip. Shut your mouths.” They land in London. Bandit walks ahead from his group, but at some point he’s either behind or on their side. Even when they stay at a motel room with two beds, Bandit insists to sleep on the couch because as he says, “I didn’t plan to have this many people around me. You’ll have to make do with one bed, boys.”  

“I mean, it’s only fair. Marius and I can share one and Monika can have one for herself.”

“Why did you even book two beds?” IQ asks while chucking a blanket over Bandit.

“So I can fuck. What else?” Bandit smirks at her frown.

“TMI. That’s just, agh!” 

“Time to sleep! We’ve got a train ride early in the morning, right?” Jäger turns off the light, too eager and excited.

“Right. To Amsterdam.” Bandit closes his eyes. When he opens them up, it’s almost like he time travelled to some distant future where he’s already on the railway express. He honestly can’t remember the exact moment of waking up, rubbing his dry eyes, swallowing dry toasts as whole and hauling their luggages to the station and nearly missing out on their ride- Oh, perhaps that’s why he’s having a memory slip. It had been overtly hectic for his half-awaken brain. 

“Where to now?” IQ nudges on his side as the speaker reminds them of their stop. 

“We need to rent a car.” Hence that’s what they do. Jäger wants a hardy SUV while Blitz points at a sleek saloon, so they settle with IQ’s choice of a ute that runs with diesel.

“I’ll drive. You look too tired for this.” Jäger pokes on the bag under Bandit’s eyes.

“No. You won’t know where to go.”

“I don’t want to die in a car crash. Let him drive.” IQ pushes him down and that’s that. They promised to wake him up upon reaching Dwingelderveld, because they will be going on a road that’s off the navigation.

When it’s Bandit’s turn to drive, they arrive at some country side without anything much around them. Green pasture that meets the dusk-drawn orange sky on a parallel line. He parks up next to a house that appears a little rusted on the outside, but the interior is quite modern and minimalistic.

“This is nice,” Blitz gawks in awe, “When did you buy this place?”

“Years ago. With money that I earned from the Rainbow,” Bandit yanks open a cupboard to find bottles of beer, “Have as much as you want.” He proceeds to crack one open and grab a seat on the porch. 

“So quiet. Haven’t had this kind of scenery for- I don’t know. It’s been too damn long.” Jäger settles down on the ledge, facing Bandit’s right side.

“Yeah. Makes me forget about what we do back there.” Blitz tries to squeeze on the small stool that Bandit’s already sitting on, and chuckles when pushed away.

“Almost makes me feel like I want to stay here,” IQ walks down to enjoy the soil under the soles of her shoes, “Forever.” She turns around to lock her eyes with Bandit’s, to which he averts.

“I guess there’s no use to hide things from you.” Bandit downs his drink and opens another.

“Dominic. Is this where you go during the holiday season?”

“Not all the time. Just somewhere to stay for a bit before I return to my family. I stay until when I’m ready,” Bandit scratches a little, “It works better that way. Getting things out of my system.”

“What if you aren’t ready soon enough?” Blitz rubs his thumb against the line that separates between the beer and empty space in the bottle.

“Then I don’t go. Trust me, it’s best for all.”

“Is that why you want to stay here forever?” IQ won’t beat around the bush. Blitz gasps when he remembers the foolish tale he had told back at the base, the Fool card from Tarot.

“And get court martialed? Hell no. Not after what I’ve done for them,” Bandit lowers his head, “Not after all this. But I do think about retirement from time to time.”

“I see.” Wind sways their hair and seeps through the clothes. The chill passes through each and every one, and yet none feels it the same at this very moment. 

“Hey, but you brought us here. To your secret lair.” Blitz extends his warm hand to lay it on Bandit’s. 

“Yeah. And we’re here to get back with you. You won’t have to leave alone.” Jäger hangs his arm around the other men’s shoulders, enveloping Bandit and reaching out to Blitz.

“Don’t worry about missing a thing. I will take care of them.” IQ strolls back to stand in front of Bandit. She’s blocking the magnificent view of nature, but Bandit is surrounded by the bond that may shine brighter than the sunset.

“Goddamn it. I didn’t bring you all here to make a charity case out of me,” Bandit keeps his eyes glued on the wooden boards beneath him. He dares to not look up. Not that he’s crying or embarrassed, but there’s a veil of complicated vulnerability that he’s uncomfortable to show, “You’re all here to see that I will come back to the base. I won’t get lost or desert you. I will go back on my own feet.”

“Yes, we know.”