Chapter Text
Flynn Rider felt stones settle in his stomach as he jumped the castle roof. This was wrong so very wrong. Never mind the fact the people he was working with literally threatened him. If it weren’t for that then he wouldn’t even be here. Working to steal a crown of a missing princess whose parents were obviously still grieving.
He looked over at the view provided by the high royal tower seeing the green hills and dense forests he wondered if he could see home if he went a little higher. Flynn Rider may be a no-good thief but even he had some standards when it came to thieving. It also didn’t hurt he had a healthy amount of loyalty to the kingdom instilled in him. Corona was the only kingdom in all the seven kingdoms where he wasn’t wanted for his exploits. It was also the one place he always went back to.
One of his “partners” shoved his shoulder to grab Flynn’s attention, “Hey Rider don’t forget why you're here.”
The thief tried not to glare or show any of his contempt to the pair of brothers watching him, “Come on when am I ever going to get a view like this in another place in Corona.”
The brothers didn’t seem to believe him but left him alone as they got ready for the heist of this kingdoms century. As Flynn watched them pull out the supplies he couldn’t help but admit he was a bit impressed with the Stabbingtons. They were a bit on the stupid side and were more often than not plain goons for better thieves such as himself. The pair were the classic losers who usually got caught whenever a heist got hairy but like roaches, they seemed to always find a way.
Patchy and Sideburns were not ones to mess with when it came to serious crime though. Although while Flynn doubted that they would be able to follow through with their threats he wasn’t willing to risk it either. A lot can go wrong and it was better if he just dealt with them before they had the chance to follow through. Flynn Rider already had plenty of ideas to get rid of them.
“Guys I want a castle,” Flynn said, watching the view.
Sideburns sneered, “Get this job done and it might just happen.”
Patchy grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and securely tied him to the rope. Looking at the floor Flynn saw the sheer amount of guards in the area. Although with how open the space between them and the crown was snatching the crown was going to be a piece of cake. As the Sabbingtons slowly lowered Flynn towards the crown he kept still in an x-formation to keep from swinging too much. He didn’t want to get caught besides his reservations he had a reputation to uphold.
As he was lowered he slowly reached one hand towards the crown while the other held the satchel. None of the royal guards noticed him yet. That’s when he froze at the sound of one of them sneezing. Perfect.
“Oh, hay fever.”
The guard sniffed, not realizing the current situation, “Yeah.”
Flynn had already been rushing out of the skylight, ignoring the cries of stop and wait from the guards. The group of thieves were quick when making their escape running and jumping off the castle roofs. By the time the guards were forming search parties the thieves were already over the bridge and out of the capital. With Flynn making endless commentary at the expense of the guards.
“Can you guys imagine me in a castle? Because I certainly can!” the man cried, holding his satchel up in victory. “Gentlemen this is a very big day!”
The brothers ignored him keeping focus on escaping with their prize. As they headed deeper and deeper into the woods Flynn started to worry, what if they did escape? The worst-case scenario was that the Stabbingtons take the crown and Flynn becomes wanted in Corona. He didn’t want to think about the implications of such a change. It was a good thing everyone thought of him as nothing but a daring pretty boy. It was time to turn up the pretty boy act.
Flynn started gasping for air, placing a hand on a tree to lean against, “Wow, you guys are really in shape.”
Sideburns stared at him annoyed, “Keep running Rider.”
The man was about too when his eyes caught the sight of their wanted poster. This time he didn’t even try to pretend, “Oh, come on your wanted poster is perfect, but nobody can get my nose right. Seriously?”
Horses blared at the distance catching their attention. The royal guard were getting closer and they weren’t far off. In fact, the guards had caught a glimpse of the pair from the nearby cliff.
Running as fast as they could jumping stones and slapping stray tree branches the group ran and ran until they were forced to stop. It was a dead end. Individually, there was no way anyone of them could scale the height on their own without being given a boost. There wouldn’t be enough time and all of them would only get caught. It was just the thought Flynn had after placing his hand on the dead end and turning to the brothers.
“Alright, okay give me a boost and I’ll pull you up.” Flynn bargained, it was a lie of course, why would he even help the guys who threatened him?
The Stabbingtons shared a look clearly not believing Flynn’s words. Smart choice.
Sideburns held his hand out, “Give us the satchel first.”
Flynn gasped in fake shock and surprise, “I just, I can’t believe that after all, we’ve been through together that you don’t trust me?”
They only gave him dead looks and silence as they rightly so suspected what his plans were. They have been with him long enough to know how Flynn played the game and they weren’t stupid either. The current partnership they had was doomed to fail from the start, it was based on blackmail and threats. No honor among thieves.
“Owe,” Flynn said, mirroring their dead-eyed look but handing the satchel over to prevent an argument, the sooner he got over the obstacle the sooner he could ditch them.
With teamwork that could happen between brothers, the Stabbingtons made a makeshift ladder with their bodies. Patchy held the feet of his brother while Sideburns was on his shoulders pushing Flynn over the cliff with great difficulty. Flynn, on the other hand, climbed both brothers carelessly even using Sideburn's face as a stepping stool towards the top.
Flynn looked down at the duo from his perch innocently, it looks like neither had noticed they were missing something very important.
“Now help us up pretty boy,” Sideburns ordered, holding his hand out expectantly. Waiting for a hand that wouldn’t be grabbing back.
Flynn took great pleasure in his next actions, “Sorry,” He said, showing off the satchel he snagged while they were distracted, “my hands are full.” Before dashing off deeper into the forest.
The shout that echoed would be embedded in Flynn Rider’s memories for years to come. Now all he had to do was outrun the other people chasing him, easy right?