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Watching the chair turn around in the office of the captain, Hartley felt his heart drop to the bottom of his body. This was the scene that Sarah was supposed to be doing with him and Booth.
Only Sarah was sitting next to him, in handcuffs, and Booth had never made it to Russia, escaping the truck.
Hartley guessed that Booth was back in Bali, burning his place to the ground. What he didn't expect was for Booth to be sitting in the chair, smirking at them.
"Oh, damn, you guys aren't who I wanted to see," Booth said sharply. "Just kidding." He chuckled, putting his feet in the table. He noticed their mouths beginning to move and silenced them with a look. "Before you starting blabbering your nonsense, let me speak. I figured out your little scheme the moment you first came face to face with me, Hartley. Honestly, it was too easy. I would know an FBI agent or whatever profiler shit you came up with because they don't like me very much."
Hartley gritted his teeth.
Nolan seemed to notice this but continued on. "So before I even got to the airport, I escaped using my amazing skills and then found everything I could on the Bishop and sent it to Inspector Das. And now here we are, though, you won't be here for much longer," he said to Sarah. "You're being transferred to another prison by tomorrow night."
Booth stood up from the chair, walking around until he was in front of the desk and sat back down.
"See, your scheme was to trick me into becoming buddies with Hartley, becoming vulnerable and all that crap. Teamwork would be a thing, still hating that word, and everything would play out to me taking him to the egg." He looked towards Sarah. "I'd make hilarious jokes, the audience roots for me and John to win, and then the double cross. Whomp , Whomp, wah! Did I miss anything?"
"Yes, that was our plan," Sarah admitted.
Booth nodded slowly, lacing his hands together in his lap. "Obviously that didn't work, also, btw, prison gray isn't your color. You look... awful. Should I say? But I'm here to tell you that after the eggs are secure and sold, I'm breaking you guys out. Yeah, let that sink in. We'll plan a gigantic scheme so epic that it will definitely put Das' insta account to shame."
"Why would we ever work with you?" John demanded, shifting in his seat.
"Ah, I'm not done yet," Booth mused. "If you disagree, it's simple, you're both separated and in jail for the rest of your lives, or a good chunk of them. You never know these days. But if you accept my offer, who knows? We might even become friends."
Sarah and John looked at each other, having a silent conversation with their eyes. They realized they had no choice, so they agreed.
That's how they ended up, a week later, in Paris, planning to steal from the Louvre.
Booth was good, maybe even better than them. Though that would never be said in front of his ears for him to quip about until the end of their days.
He was smart and very detail oriented, but took risks, mostly unnecessary ones. He was observant, though, able to call Hartley out on his bullshit.
They definitely had to admit he was growing on them. They'd even started to become sorta friends.
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Teamwork was a concept foreign to Nolan. Something that felt weird in his mouth like raw pork. But he was willing to try it so he didn't have to continue to combat against his so called rivals.
He'd learned from both of them, different things. Mostly because they were different people, but clicked together like jigsaw pieces.
He'd learned when his quips were perfect, and that was helpful because he always had a billion, waiting to be used on the spot. He learned to be more charming, which was something he was pretty prized at already, but also to use his looks to his advantage. He learned how to play the game better than anyone else, how to charm and remain inconspicuous.
He was proud to say that he was teaching them, too. Taught them how to think on their feet and when to use risks to their advantage.
They grew closer as the time for their heist neared. Their stresses were flaming, but somehow this reversals of the scene had definitely been a good choice on Booth's part.
Why?
Because the heist went off without a hitch. Everyone knew what to do, no one was a blubbering idiot. They played their roles and did exactly as planned.
Now, here they were, landing in the town of where they'd be meeting their dealer two days from then. They settled into their rooms at the hotel they'd booked into, resting.
The next day came quickly, bringing along the boredom of the trade. Since Booth had orchestrated this scheme for the prized possession from the Louvre, he had to meet with the client.
He wanted this to go as seamlessly as possible so he told Sarah and Hartley to keep their mouths shut when they approached the site of the trade.
It went relatively well. Sarah and Hartley kept their mouths shut as Nolan handled the process of the trade. He got to make his quips and when it was finally over, he stalked away.
The drive to their airport was quiet, leaving Nolan time to think. He had grown to like this teamwork thing, though it still rolled like tar in his mouth. He felt more at peace, knowing he had some people watching his back.
He felt for once like he had a family. He didn't know how the Bishop and Hartley felt, but he desperately needed to keep working with them, besides, the show had to have some major twists in it, right?
This was going to be one of them. He just hoped that his idea wasn't crushed.
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As they watched Booth do something on his tablet, they decided between their ability to almost know what the other was thinking about something.
Nolan Booth had grown on them. Mister 'I Work Alone' and 'I have People problems'. It was fascinating how much he had grown to be almost apart of them. He felt like sort of part of their family now.
They realized that they didn't want to do this without him anymore. He made their lives better. He was what broke their serious faces, reminding them that this was supposed to be fun and an adventure.
Yeah, that's right. Stealing is and adventure, at least for them it was.
You got to go to all these cool places, kick ass, and get a large sum of money for it. It was the perfect job.
They agreed right then and there.
They both hoped that he wouldn't shoot them down.
"Hey, Booth," Hartley called. "Can Sarah and I talk to you?"
Booth looked up from his tablet, setting it down on the table. "What about? Is this about your cuts? I'll have the money transferred to your account, jeez. Keep your greedy fingers to yourself."
"Uh," John said hesitantly, looking to Sarah for reassurance. She gave him a warm, encouraging smile. "It's not about that."
Booth raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Now, you've intrigued me."
Hartley seemed to struggle to find the words.
"We...uh..."
Booth sighed exasperated. "You guys can't just leave me hanging there. It's too much. Haven't you ever been to a play?"
"We've been talking," Sarah took over. "And we've made a decision about our future."
"Are you guys getting married?!" Nolan demanded excitedly. "I claim best man and breaking the glass over someone's head."
"We're not getting married... yet," Sarah said with a look to John. "We've made a decision about you and our future together."
"We want to invite you to be apart of the family, officially," John added.
The room went silence stricken, mostly because Booth had froze in his seat. His eye was twitching and he seemed to be deep in thought.
"Unfortunately, I'm going to have to say no," Nolan’s voice was soft.
John and Sarah felt their faces fall slightly.
“You’re turning us down?” John demanded.
Nolan held up a hand. “You didn’t let me finish, Hartley. I have to decline because I was about ask you to be apart of my family.”
Sarah and John’s eyebrows raised. “Really?” Sarah asked him. “You’ve considered that?”
Nolan’s lips curved into a smirk. “Obviously, I’d be a very shitty person if I was joking.”
“Well, in that case, yes,” they agreed.
“Group hug,” He said excitedly. “Yes, even you, Hartley. You’re not ruining it.”
John rolled his eyes, but obliged.
So that’s how they came to be a family, giving each one what they were searching for.
For Booth, people to care about him and for him to care about.
For Sarah and Hartley, to be able to extend their feelings within their circle.
It was a family, not by blood, but by love.
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