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The next morning rolled in soon enough but for the owner of the stolen gem, time crawled and he was slipping deeper into grief with every waking second. He hardly slept and he was two seconds away from bawling into the chief inspector’s shoulder when he had to give the same account over and over again. No one saw a thing. No one knew what happened. None of the security could find any traces of a leak or an inside job. The station was bustling with activity, and the chief was feeling the pressure for handling one of the biggest gem heists of the year.

“Lemme get this again, from the top. The gem’s with ya on the Elizabeth Dane. You check the case-”

“A HUNDRED times!! A hundred times and I SWEAR to God it was right. There.”

“Okay, so ya check the case over an’ over while ya were on the ship an’ ya didn’t let anyone else ‘ave a look–”

“Because I couldn’t TRUST anyone else near it!!”

“Okay, it’s the morning before the reveal. You an’ the Dane arrive. Ya get down, you’re immediately driven to the hall for the dinner. Ya get there an’ ya check the gem one last time-”

“Except that I didn’t because I was already SURE there was no way in fucking hell anyone was going to get into that case WITHOUT ME KNOWING SO–”

“Umm chief?” An officer piped from the doorway. “Ya might wanna take a look at this. You too, sir, come with me.” Curious, the chief and distraught owner hurry after the officer only to find every computer screen in the station was streaming the same feed. A girl with a cat mask and pigtails, this time dressed in more casual - but still black - attire.

“HELLOOOOOOO~ Is this thing on? Can everybody hear me? Specially you Mister Higglebottom!” She was live, and broadcasting from somewhere even the police IT support had trouble tracing. She knew her way around tech, enough to fool the cops at least.

“It’s Higgsbumme!!!” the man fumed, obviously offended.

“Whatever~! Enough with the chitty-chatty! I’ve got somethin’ ya waaaaaant~” And out she pulled the beloved gem. “An’ if ya ever wanna see this baby again, you’re gonna have ta pay up! Or else~”

“Or.. Or else what??”

The girl grins and places the camera further away. The camera is on a tripod and it gets a view of a bare, sturdy table. The masked girl places the gem on the table and then slowly fishes out a sledgehammer from off-screen. “Or else I’ll just shatter this baby to itty bitty pieces an’ nobody gets anythin’! That’s the sad ending a’this game though. Dontcha wanna get the good endin’ on ya first try?”

⊱.｡*ﾟ+.*.｡⋅. ──────

     Nick pulled over before the towering gate of the mansion, placing his motorcycle where it would not be so easily observed by the habitants inside. There was the buzzer by the side wall, but 1. It was way too early for casual visits and 2. He had always preferred the exercise. So the thief left his motorcycle there–he wouldn’t want to ruin the neighborhood’s perfectly trimmed grass–and made his way to the back side of the building, without much fuss starting to scale the wall. He reached the top of the wall in seconds, and waited there crouching, paying the utmost attention to his wristwatch, the seconds ticking steadily. As it nearly reached a half minute he slid down the wall, landing on the balls of his feet. Waited some more. It was a game of hide and seek, really. With him and the security cameras as the players.

     He reached the balcony without any of the alarm blaring, as usual, then rapped his knuckles on the window glass. There was a scuffing sound, followed with something falling, the thud mellowed by the carpeted floor. Nick couldn’t help a grin at this. And it was with this smirk when Greenlight found his friend on the other side of his window.

     “Really, Nick? How many goddamn time must I ask you–?” he grumbled as he slid the window open and stepped back, giving Nick room to walk in.

     “What? You told me to come ASAP and I did,” the thief replied, though anyone could easily detect the laughter in his tone.

     “–to use the front door like actual, normal people, or at least warn me that you’re coming?” Green had continued his rant as though Nick had said nothing. “My heart is healthy! I shouldn’t’ve known what heart attack feels like!”

     “Ok, ok, I’m sorry,” Nick relented. Both boys knew he was only saying it so they could move on from the topic. “So what you’ve got?”

     “I managed to tap her.” Green sat at his swivel chair with abandon, his lanky frame barely making it creak, then scooted closer to his desk, where three screens and two keyboards rested. He took one of the latter, yanking them on his lap. “We should be able to listen in once she made a call or something.“

     “Her location?”

     “Saved.”

     Nick nodded, the simple gesture appreciative. “So who is she?”

     “Now that you’ve mentioned that..” Green frowned. “I think you should keep a good distance from this one. I couldn’t find much actually but what I did find–”

     But Nick never got to hear what Greenlight had found out about the girl, because a beeping sound started. Both of them fell quiet, waiting.

     “HELLOOOOOOO~ Is this thing on? Can everybody hear me? Specially you Mister Higglebottom!”

     Her voice was crystal clear, as though she was standing with them in the room. “Screen!” Green hissed, and dove to type a series of commands. The two previously black screens blinked on, one of them displaying a girl in a cat mask.

     “That’s her,” Nick murmured, frowning at the sight.

     The other screen displayed several men, identities made somewhat clear by the following conversation. Both boys snickered–even Nick–at the man’s indignant protest about his name. “What a riot,” commented Green, but the way he said it displayed awe rather than disapproval.

     They watched the scenes in both screens unfold.. until the girl pulled out an actual sledgehammer. Both temporary spies jerked, startled.

     "Oh no no no no no.” Greenlight shook his head as though the gesture could be seen by the girl and stop her rash action.

     “Well, fuck.” Nick’s curse was soft, but what it lacked in volume it made up for in tone.

     Miles and miles away there was nothing they could do at the moment, save for waiting for what would happen next.

“I consider that a compliment,” Alex stated with a chuckle, though he couldn’t miss the boy’s incredulity at his next words, even if he couldn’t see him too well in the dim light. “Not jokin’, nope, an’ you can hit that button, if you want,” he grinned back. “Jus’ be sure to roll or toss it towards those guys as fast as possible when you do,” he explained.

{”Resting is for the weary and I  don’t much like sitting idle,”} Lir accentuated her words with a frown and a deliberately dejected sigh, giving the couch behind him a dark look at his pointing to it. {”That couch is half your size. There’s no better position. Unless you sleep curled up like a cat and I think only a cat would be comfortable that way,”} she argued quickly.{”Plenty of empty beds in the room. Or you can just…share mine,”} she smiled faintly.

{”Oh please. The devices are just fine. Or will be, at any rate,”} she sighed back with a grin that was pure mischief. {”I don’t like all the beeping things and needles and sensors attached to me,”} she shrugged. {”That’s all.”} It really wasn’t, but there was still no easy way to say this and this was hardly the place, too.

{”You wouldn’t have ratted me out!”} she exclaimed with all due drama a moment later, as he took a seat at the edge of her bed.

     { “Resting is for the recently shot people,” } he corrected her sternly, { “and I’m sorry but you don’t get a say this time.” } His features softened a little as he added, { “Think of it this way. The more you rest the quicker you recover and out of the hospital.” } He laughed at Lir’s idea about sharing the bed. Much as Matt would like that, he wouldn’t want to cause her any discomfort, and.. he really wouldn’t want to think of the nurse’s reaction should she come in when they were on the bed together. { “Don’t worry, it’s no big deal.” }

Lir gave him a very dramatic, quite poignant roll of her eyes. {”I wasn’t kidding. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t at least be doing some paperwork, is there?”} she shrugged, signing carefully with one hand despite his telling her not to sign at all right now.{”And I heard your neck crack when you got up; it sounded like twigs snapping,”} she teased him a moment later. {”I figure we can ask the nurses to make up a bed for you as well. To rest properly at least,”} she suggested.

He hadn’t been entirely convinced by her promise, and of course he would already know this was no promise anyone could make and actually hold to it. Still, Lir smiled at his words, the gravity in his expression as he’d signed his message. {”I know. I promise I’ll try for you not to have to do that.”}

The nurse took her sweet time checking over everything. And missing most of the things Lir expected her to miss as well,which made the time agent struggle to keep from smiling smugly. “Thank you,” she nodded to the woman as the latter took her leave, returning her attention to Matt a moment later- not that he didn’t have her attention at all times, really.

{”I think you always are,”} she signed back. {”How about you sit down at least…or I’ll have to get up to make you.”}

     { “There is one solid reason, actually. That being you need to rest and not bother with work for the moment.” } To her suggestion he waved a hand dismissively, and pointed to the couch he had used earlier. It should be enough, really. { “Only need to figure out a better position.” }

     He watched her sign the words, not quite convinced, but figured he should let it go for now. In their line of work, it was a promise as good as any.

Alex smirked at the younger man’s words. “Well, I’ve been offering to teach you too, for some time now, you know,” he sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes at Callidora, whose face was, unsurprisingly enough, a very vivid scarlet by now.

Nick’s expression was still thunderous at  the girl’s explanation and Alex caught him looking at her not without some puzzlement. Still, he seemed to accept her explanation…which was a relief, this was not a topic to get into in their current surroundings; nevermind the fact they’d attracted far too much attention on themselves already.

“I don’ go around carrying extra suits,” he sighed to Nick’s question with a shrug, “however, past the door over to our left, two rooms down,is one of our host’s wardrobes. Me and Callidora will run interference for you,” he nodded.

wingedbutnotquite:

Callidora barely managed not to fidget as Nick stared her down at her words, his eyes flitting back  to the large vase in question before returning to her. He hadn’t believed her and, in all fairness, he was right not to, she thought, a little wave of panic swelling through her. She felt the water in all the vases and even the fountain in the atrium, one room over, respond to her agitation and forced herself to exhale. Starting a flood in the middle of the party was probably…a very bad idea, she sighed.

She sighed again, this time with relief, when the young man seemed to drop the subject, accepting her explanation. She was so bad at lying, she sighed to herself, but if he had, in fact, believed her…She wouldn’t mind the use of some of the fae’s innate ability to lie and tell the truth at the same time right now, she was feeling embarrassed enough to want to disappear right about now.

Despite her chaotic thoughts, a little giggle that she turned into a cough hastily escaped her lips at Alex’s teasing tone towards his friend. And then, she stared at the former at his last words.

“Me?I…I really shouldn’t get in your way,” she shook her head. Granted, she had absolutely no idea whatsoever what was going on here, but surely, they didn’t want her in the middle of it.

     Nick spared one last glare for Alex, only to make sure he did not think the remark had gone unnoticed. But angry as he was, Nick still got his eyes set on the prize. And if that called for him to be the one acting mature this time, then so be it. There would be plenty of time later to get back to Alex.

     He didn’t turn his head at Alex’s direction, instead doing a mental check, thankful to his own habit of inspecting locations ahead of time. A brief nod, acknowledging he had gathered where the wardrobe should be, followed with a firm shake of his head. “I’m with her,” he cocked his head to Calli, “you don’t need her help for that.” Honestly, why would Alex even suggest it? Everyone knows not to last-minute-include a stranger in a well established plan.

Inej: *Smiles*

Kaz: