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Andrés was the first to arrive.
He’d been in Sri Lanka for four months and was planning on staying a little longer when one of Sergio’s handlers found him walking on the beach one evening. He was handed a note and all it said was, “Rio”.
Considering their last words spoken to each other, Sergio would only have contacted him like this because he needed help. Rio must have been captured. That was the only answer to his many questions that he could come up with. And if Rio had been captured then Sergio meant to find him, and to do that they would need help and they would need to plan and they would need secrecy. They would need to be as close to Madrid as possible without actually being in Spain. So of course, there was only one thing for Berlin to do.
He knew that his brother meant for him to go with the handler and to follow him to wherever Sergio was now. But instead he gave the handler a note to return to his brother that just said “San Giovanni”.
Now, nine days later, Andrés had arrived home.
The sun had not yet risen when he walked across the courtyard and pushed open the heavy wooden doors. He hadn’t been there for three years, not since… not since he left Martin. He hadn’t even collected any of his belongings because he couldn’t bare the thought of finding Martin there, devastated and heart broken over him. Or worse. Come back and find him gone.
As he entered the chapel that had once been his bedroom, he noticed it was unusually neat. Some items were missing, fragile items like the priceless vase he’d procured from a vault in Bruges, or the antique floor to ceiling mirror he’d found in the depths of the monastery itself. Some of his own artwork and sketchbooks. All gone. At first, he thought they’d been stolen. That perhaps Martin had taken them, but then he noticed a large dent in the chest plate of the medieval armour in the corner and that’s when he realised that they hadn’t been stolen. They’d all been destroyed.
Martin had destroyed them. It couldn’t have been anyone else. Deep down Andrés knew he couldn’t blame him. That destroying Andrés’ belongings was probably a very subdued reaction for Martin considering his fiery temper and what Andrés had done to him. Whether it was Martin who cleaned and tidied everything afterwards or the monks, Andrés wasn’t sure. But he knew with the last memories that he held of this room he wouldn’t be able to sleep in here.
He probably only had a few days until Sergio arrived with everyone, so he’d best claim a new room now.
He made his way down past the cells towards the West Chapel. By rights he should take that as his own but as he walked inside and stared at the vastness of it, at the naked walls and high up tiny windows with no glazing that let in a cold blast of February air, he decided no. This was not the place for him. No amount of blankets and log fires would be able to keep him warm in this room.
The cells next to this chapel were slightly larger. No doubt Sergio meant for them to be shared but it was Andrés’ home and after sharing that house in Toledo with its thin walls with sleep talkers, snorers and people who thought fucking at one in the morning meant they wouldn’t be heard for five months, he was absolutely not willing to share with anyone this time and hoped the stone walls would keep noise to a minimum.
He chose the cell on the left with the south facing and thankfully glazed window. He steadfastly ignored the cell opposite which had been Martin’s. The fear of going in there to find it empty, to find no trace of him was too much so he turned his focus onto turning his new cell into a welcoming bedroom.
Later that day he met with the caretaker for the monastery who would fetch any items the monks required that they could not grow or produce themselves. His name was Niccolò and he was well trusted by Andrés. They embraced like long lost brothers and Andrés paid him handsomely to supply him with the basics. Enough to last seven people two weeks. If they needed more than that then Sergio could sort his payment again.
While not one to ever admit to completing menial tasks such as doing laundry and changing bed sheets, he made sure to at least sweep the floors and put a pile of fresh laundry, supplied by the monks into each room. There were five other cells – not including Martin’s - in this corridor and he made sure there was at least one bed in each. There were of course more beds in storage should they be needed but unless Sergio was recruiting an army hopefully what they had should be sufficient. Although knowing how many people he recruited to work in the background for the Mint, Andrés wouldn’t put it past him to turn up with a full battalion.
He then made sure to take his old 2000-euro mattress and bed from the chapel and place it in his cell. He’d rather burn in hell before he let anyone else get their sticky little hands on the little bit of luxury he’d have here.
Niccolò returned just in time for supper. Andrés gratefully took the bags of food down to the kitchen, made himself a quick omelette, had a glass of wine, and then decided to retire for the night. He debated on whether to shave the beard he’d grown as a necessity to hide his identity, or whether to leave it. He knew he no longer looked like the Andrés de Fonollosa of the famous images spread across the world, what with his closely shaved head, beard and scars from the Mint. But shaving the beard may make him feel a little like his old self. However, having barely slept since he left Sri Lanka nine days ago, he suddenly felt weary and knew he would need his energy for the following day, so the beard would stay for at least one more night.
Tomorrow he would go through his belongings in his old bedroom and make sure that nothing overly personal remained there. The last thing he needed was for Tokyo of all people to come across his sketch books. She’d be insufferable. But he knew he would find items that reminded him of Martin and he didn’t want anyone else there to witness it.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The peace and tranquillity that the silence and stillness of the monastery gave him only lasted three days.
It was mid-morning and he had been out on the terrace that overlooked the town below, while enjoying the early spring sunshine and drinking a freshly brewed cup of coffee when he saw it. Dust clouds kicked up by cars. Many cars.
His first thought was that they were police, that they had found him. Who else would drive that many cars up that steep hill at such a speed. But as they got closer he realised none of the cars matched. It had to be his brother. And a lot of people. Although he hoped that the cars were filled with equipment and luggage rather than people. He wasn’t much of a conversationalist after a year on his own. His patience for small talk at an all time low. Too many people would just grate on him.
As the cars got closer he stood and made his way inside. He’d wait for them in the chapel, allow them to stretch their legs and get the inane comments about the monks out of their system before they reached him.
He stood at the stained glass window and watched them come in, hoping that his closely cropped beard looked presentable enough. He’d forgone completely removing it, but it was a mix of colours – grey and black - that he knew would be a great source of entertainment for the younger members of their group. As he watched on, he realised that there were definitely more people than he had expected there but he couldn’t quite make out who they were through the distorted and coloured glass.
It was as he was still squinting through the window trying to make out the two figures hitting and shoving each other that he could see unloading one of the cars and feeling like he recognised them from somewhere that his brother found him.
“Hello, Andrés.”
Andrés turned to see his hermanito standing before him, a cautious smile on his face. He looked well, tanned with more meat on his bones. Murillo must have been taking good care of him. Much better than Andrés had when they’d been together. Before the argument.
“Sergio,” he replied as he walked toward him and pulled him into a fierce hug. He saw Murillo watching them from the entrance to the chapel and immediately pulled away from Sergio to pull her into an embrace too. She stumbled into his arms in surprise but happily returned the gesture. “Thank you for looking after him.”
Pulling back to look up at Andrés she simply smiled and said, “It was my pleasure.”
Andrés smiled and turned back towards his brother, “I’m still angry about all this but for now I’m happy enough to see you that I’m willing to forgive.”
“Thank you, Andrés,” Sergio said and pulled him into a hug once more.
Initially Andrés and Sergio had stayed together, travelling around Asia. They had been in Palawan on the anniversary of the Mint when the Inspectora had arrived. Of course, Andrés knew that his brother had fallen in love with the enemy during his time spent with her during the Heist. She was a formidable woman, it was easy to understand why. However, what he didn’t know was that Sergio had left her with exact coordinates to follow while ensuring that BOTH he and Andrés would be there at the same time as her. He’d put them both in an immense amount of danger for a woman he’d known for a week a year prior.
Andrés, being a true romantic at heart could understand that. Of course, he could. But it was the hypocrisy of it all that drove his anger. It was Sergio who had insisted that Andrés and Martin would not be able to make rational decisions because of their love for one another. And so Andrés had to leave Martin behind and hadn’t even been allowed to make contact with him after the heist in case the authorities were watching. Yet Sergio allowed love to influence his own rational thinking in one of the worst ways. But the worst of it all was that he failed to see what he had done wrong, how his actions and words had impacted Andrés so negatively. So Andrés left and didn’t have any contact with his brother until he was handed the note two weeks ago.
“I’m glad you’re in a forgiving mood,” Sergio began, “because…”
“Hey Berlin! Did you spend all your money on botox? I don’t know how but you look even more handsome!” Denver shouted as he all but pounced on Andrés. “That beard is sexy as hell, huh!”
“Denver. I forgot how obnoxious your laugh was,” Andrés said as he pulled back from him and grinned.
It was then that he noticed the others approaching. First there was Stockholm smiling at him while carrying what Berlin assumed to be the child she’d been pregnant with in the Mint. Then came Helsinki and Nairobi who both forced hugs on him before Tokyo followed them into the room.
“Tokyo.”
She paused and watched him for a minute before giving him a short nod and a smile, “Berlin.”
“Is this your bedroom?” Nairobi interrupted. “The Professor said you slept in a chapel. It’s certainly extravagant enough for you but I don’t see a bed.”
“Ah no,” Andrés replied. “I moved to one of the cells. I thought this would be good for a classroom.”
“If memory serves, I’m pretty sure you said you’d rather sleep on a bed of hot coals than one of the cells.” Andrés turned round so quickly at the sound of that voice he stumbled against Helsinki.
There he was. There was Martin. Standing in the same place Andrés had seen him stand so many times before, but he had never looked so radiant.
This must be what Sergio was talking about with his forgiving mood. And okay, yeah he could forgive him for bringing Martin here to him.
“It would certainly be warmer,” Andrés all but whispered as he stepped forward.
“Palermo,” Martin said with a hesitant smile as he held out his hand, officially introducing himself as part of the team.
Andrés reached forward and took his hand. However he didn’t shake it, he just held it in his own and stared into the translucent blue of Martin’s eyes, pulled into their depths by the twinkling spark of mischief that always radiated from them.
“I swear Professor if they start to make out you owe me a thousand euros,” a gruff yet familiar voice said as he came into the room.
Andrés turned to watch both Santiago and Jakov join them and reluctantly tore himself away from Martin to pull them both into each of his arms. “You old bastards! I missed your ugly faces!”
The three of them laughed together, Santiago and Jakov eventually introducing themselves as Bogota and Marseille just as an argument broke out down the hallway.
“I told you to carry it!”
“It’s your bag! It’s full of your shit! You carry it!”
“My arms are full with Tio’s equipment!”
Andrés whipped around to stare accusingly at Sergio. “Tio?!” He bellowed as he stepped forward, ready to strangle his younger brother.
Both Jakov and Santiago jumped in front of him to pull him back and stop him from killing their leader.
“Now, Berlin I can explain…” Sergio began.
“You brought the Bastard and the Traitor!”
“Hey Papa! You promised to stop calling me that. Remember Abuela said it would give me a complex.”
Once again, Andrés turned, only to see his eldest child standing before him with a stupid grin on his face.
“Matias. Why are you here?” Andrés asked, reaching out as if he wanted to strangle his first born along with Sergio. However, Santiago pushed his arms down before he could reach him.
“Tio said you needed help,” Matias shrugged. “And you always taught me family came before anything else, so here I am.”
Andrés loved his son, he really did. But he had never wanted Matias involved in any of his heists. Not only did he lack the natural intelligence to pull off a smooth job without getting caught, but he had a wonderful sort of innocence to him that Andrés had always wanted to protect. He’d promised the child’s mother he would do so, and it was a promise he had always done his best to keep. However, hearing him speak of the importance of family and realising how much he had missed him, he was suddenly glad to have his dreamer child with him.
“For fuck’s sake,” Andrés said with a roll of his eyes before pulling Matias towards him and into a warm embrace. “Fine. You stay,” he said and looked over at Sergio, “But he goes, or I do.”
“Berlin, please…”
“Papa, come on!” The Traitor said.
Andrés let go of Matias and turned his angry stare to Rafael. “No. You don’t get to call me that!” he shouted, all but thrusting his pointed finger into his son’s face.
“But, Papa…”
“No! Absolutely not. Get out of my home.
“Papa, please…”
“STOP CALLING ME PAPA!” he yelled. “You lost that right to ever call me that again when you fucked my wife, now leave!”
The room immediately erupted in noise, with Matias and Martin shouting in surprise that Rafael would do such a thing and the others completely shocked that Andrés not only had two adult children but that one of them apparently enjoyed fucking his stepmother.
Rafael immediately started to sputter and deny the allegations of pervert and “mother fucker”, and ignored the “Am I finally the favourite?” from Matias, while Andrés turned and walked away from them all towards his cell.
Sergio immediately ran after him, and unfortunately his stupidly long legs caught up with him before he could get further than a few steps away from the chapel.
“Why him?” he asked. “Matias I understand to an extent. But Rafael?”
“We need him,” Sergio said. Andrés scoffed at him but was ignored. “No. We do. We need an expert hacker and Rio is unfortunately unavailable. There’s no one else that good who we can trust.”
“I don’t trust him and you shouldn’t either,” Andrés said. “What makes you think he won’t fuck Murillo as soon as he gets the chance?”
“Two reasons,” Sergio said. “One, I have no doubt that Raquel would tear his dick off with her bare hands if he even tried,” he explained, making Andrés fight to hold back a smile. “And two, he and I had a conversation and he’s never regretted anything more than what happened between you two. The police said you’d died in the Mint. He thought you were gone and he’d never gotten a chance to make amends.”
Andrés watched his brother closely before looking back at the others who all immediately looked away pretending to admire the drapes and artwork on the walls.
“They already picked their names,” Sergio whispered. “Pamplona…”
“Pamplona?” Andrés asked with a raised eyebrow. Knowing straight away that it was Matias’ choice. “That boy is an idiot. Are you sure you want him involved?”
Sergio however ignored him and carried on, telling him of Rafael’s name, “and Boston.”
Boston. Huh. That was possibly even more idiotic. But it did suit him.
Andrés knew he had to relent. That they would need an expert and that Rafael was probably even better than Rio.
He looked at his children once more before turning back to Sergio. “Keep him away from me,” he said before finally leaving and going to his cell. “There are more beds in the store downstairs,” he called over his shoulder. “I’m sure Boston and Pamplona can help you fetch them.”
And then he was inside his cell, away from them all and able to hide. For now at least. He wouldn’t be able to stay long. He’d have to leave soon enough and find out what actually happened to Rio and what Sergio had planned to get him back.
~*~*~*~*~*~
After the fifth knock on the door in thirty minutes to ask the most ridiculous question like “where is the toilet paper?” or “how do we get to the kitchen?” and even “is there a laundry room because I have a pile of Cincinnati diapers to wash?” he admitted defeat and left the room, shouting to them all that Palermo knew the layout of the entire building and where things were kept as well as he did since he owned half of it and all of the structural renovations were his doing in the first place.
Nairobi ignored his outburst as he entered the kitchen to help unload the extra supplies they'd brought and instead wrapped an arm around his shoulders and smacked a big wet kiss on his cheek. “Stop sulking, Berlin. We missed you.”
Andrés rolled his eyes and instead focussed on emptying the box in front of him.
“Lisbon said you and Palermo lived here together,” Nairobi said.
“Who is Lisbon?” Andrés asked as he studied the ingredients on one of the pre-packaged rice packets in his hand.
“The Inspectora,” Nairobi answered with a wave of her hand as she too got distracted by the weird food items she was unloading from her box. “He's gay, right?” She added. “He was your boyfriend?”
Andrés sighed, ignoring the curious way both Tokyo and Denver were watching him from their corner of the kitchen, waiting for his answer.
“Did Lisbon also tell you that I married my fifth wife here? That she also lived here with myself and Palermo? And that the Professor lived here for months at a time too?”
Nairobi narrowed her eyes at him, not ignoring the fact that he didn't actually answer her.
“Is she the one who slept with Boston?” Tokyo asked.
Andrés huffed and went back to his food packets. “I left the monastery with her about a year before the Mint. Palermo left to do his own thing.”
He could feel the others watching him still but he wasn't willing to give them any further information as it had absolutely nothing to them and he would go to his grave before he told them anything more.
Nairobi, being the only one in the room with some sense of tact seemed to realise that it was time to change the subject. “Hey Denver, did you meet any lady boys in Thailand?”
As Denver laughed and started to tell a story about some of the strip clubs he'd encountered, Andrés let the familiarity of them working together calm him and made sure that Tokyo didn't put the vegetables on the meat shelf in the fridge as she had a horrid habit of doing.
It was there, an hour later and having an unexpectedly enjoying time, that his two sons and Martin found him.
Rafael wisely hung back while Andrés allowed himself to be hugged by Matías again as Martin watched on.
“Have you cheered up yet, Papa?” Matías asked.
“Pamplona, with you here how could I not be happy?” He asked, grinning at his son.
Yes he had been annoyed with Sergio for bringing Matías into all of this, but he had not spoken with him since he had left prison and made sure that Matías was following Santiago’s lead and behaving himself. Of course he'd made sure to send him money at infrequent intervals over the past two years. Enough that if he had wanted to, he wouldn't have had to work another day in his life. But he guessed his son must enjoy the manual labour as he'd stuck with Santiago and was now here as a result.
Matías grinned at him for a moment, then looked down suddenly shy, “You won't make fun of my name?”
Andrés frowned. “Why would I make fun of your name?”
“Well,” he shrugged, “Boston did.”
Andrés looked at his other son with a scowl. Rafael for his part did look somewhat regretful for doing so. However, Matías was entitled to pick his own name and Andrés completely understood his reasoning for it even if he did think it sounded idiotic.
“I wouldn't pay attention to someone who chose an American city as their name,” he began, ignoring Denver’s protest. “It just shows how uncultured and lacking in passion they are. Pamplona is a wonderful choice.”
Matías sent a smug grin at his younger brother. Watching them and the way they acted it didn’t feel like they were both in their late twenties instead of early teens. They’d never really grown out of the fighting for Papa’s attention stage.
He supposed it was partly his own fault they were like that. A week before he’d married Rafael’s mother he’d stumbled across his first love from when he’d been a teenager. They’d spent the weekend reminiscing, making passionate love and apparently conceiving a child. Seven months later, he was accompanying his wife to their first ultrasound appointment when they’d encountered a very pregnant ex-girlfriend. Of course neither woman had been happy about the other but Andrés had tried to do the right thing and split his time between the two children. Matias’ mother had been the more reasonable of the two but she unfortunately died from complications during her second pregnancy, the unborn child dying with her. Matias had then gone to live with his grandmother while Andrés realised in his grief for her that Rafael’s mother was a horribly vapid woman who he would not waste any more time on.
He visited both of his sons when he could, often taking them both on trips at the same time and each time their rivalry for his affections would cause them to bicker and fight. And it was something neither of them had grown out of.
Instead of a rebuttal Rafael stuck his tongue out at Matias and turned to the others, “The Professor has asked us to make lunch.”
Hoping to avoid cooking for everyone for as long as possible, Andrés took that as his cue to leave. “Well I shall leave you to it then,” he said with a nod and walking out of the room.
“Berlin,” Martín said, reaching out to stop him walking past. “Can I speak with you for a moment, please?”
Knowing that whatever conversation was about to be had would be better held in private, Andrés held his arm out to allow Martin to lead the way.
Martin led him towards the small courtyard with the shrine to San Giovanni. It was out of the way and secluded enough to be considered private. The monks only came there early in the morning to say their prayers and would leave again. The only residents that never left were the peacocks who guarded the shrine, and they were busy searching the grass for bugs.
Martín chose to sit on the stone bench to the side that allowed them to be out of sight of anyone trying to watch them through a window, and so Andrés joined him. They sat for a few moments, watching the birds before Martin finally spoke.
“I understand now why you said what you did,” he said. ”And I fully accept your decision to walk away.”
Andrés wasn't sure what to say to that so he said nothing and waited for Martin to continue.
“I always accepted it but it took me a long time to learn to live with it,” he added as he turned his head up to look at the sky. “I was a broken man after you left me, Andrés. I would have been happy to have stayed by your side in friendship for the rest of my life and I'd made peace with that. But you took that option away from me and shattered my soul into a million pieces.”
Tears were starting to form in Martin’s eyes and Andrés wanted nothing more than to wipe them away, to pull Martin close and tell him he shattered his own soul too, but a lump stuck in his throat and stopped any words from coming out.
“I didn't know what to do with myself. I stayed here for a month while I waited on you to come back. Then I heard from Santiago that you took Rafael to do steal the Viking gold and it… I guess I realised then that you wouldn't come back.” The tears were freely falling from Martin's face now. “Brother Joao found me. Passed out drunk and lying next to your old antique pistol. They took me to the hospital to get me help. I left after two days and went back to my old life. The one I left for you.”
Andrés was stunned. He knew he'd hurt Martin, that his actions would shatter him. That was the plan after all. But to know what he did made Martin feel that desolate that he would even consider taking his own life was enough to devastate Andrés.
“I don’t think I would have gone through with it. But it did cross my mind,” Martín clarified. “Once I got away from here, I couldn’t let myself go back to that way of thinking, to that feeling so I tried to forget it by finding work. Legal work. Something mind numbing and menial that wouldn’t remind me of you.”
Andrés couldn’t keep it in any longer. He had to apologise. To let Martin know that he’d never meant the hurt he caused to have been this bad.
Leaning forward he took Martin’s face between his hands, and stared into the deep blue pools of his eyes, “My wonderful, beautiful, ingeniero. Walking away from you was both the most difficult and stupidest thing I have ever done in my life. It is my only regret,” he said. ”I dreaded to think about you wasting your life away, waiting here for me. Or worse having left and never planning to come back. But the thought that you almost… That something worse may have happened. I cannot bear it.”
Martín nodded, the smallest of smiles appearing on his lips. Andrés wanted to kiss it away. To ensure their kiss that night wouldn't be their last, but Martín had said he had gone back to his old life and that life had never had any space in it for Andrés. It's why he tempted Martín away from it in the first place. So instead he pulled away and placed his hands back in his own lap.
“So,” he began as he sat back and smiled up at Martin. “You've gone back to teaching? At the University?”
Martín shook his head. “No, they had no positions open,” he explained. “I teach secondary school now. Mostly the upper years but I still have to do one general science class per semester, and deal with all the raging hormones that kids those age seem to be ruled by.”
Andrés shuddered at the thought and laughed with Martin. However before they could continue Tokyo interrupted them and called them to go eat with everyone.
“We'll talk more later,” Martín said, giving his hand a quick squeeze before he stood and left to join the others.
~*~*~*~*~*~
A week later Andrés had yet to have a chance to speak with Martin on his own. To really ask him all the questions he wanted to. Was he happy in his job? Did he regret leaving academia in the first place? Did he regret Andrés? Why did he come back? He also needed to explain himself further. He didn’t think his comments on their first day had been enough. However, as much as they had not yet had the chance to speak with one another, it didn’t mean that they hadn’t spent time together on their own.
On the first evening, after they’d all eaten and reacquainted themselves with each other, Sergio pulled both he and Martin into the chapel, now classroom to explain why they would need to use the gold plan, and to go over how they should all teach the heist to the others, as it would be a group effort this time around. Sergio, for as brilliant as he was, knew that Andrés and Martin knew the plan better than him and would be able to answer questions that he himself could not.
Martin had gone to the safe and pulled out all of the plans, each step neatly placed inside its own folder with the blueprints for the vault rolled up into a cylinder carrier. Andrés had been surprised to see them so well kept. When he’d realised what had happened to his bedroom he’d assumed that Martin had destroyed everything else.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Martin said as he’d placed everything onto the desk. “This plan is my child, of course I would make sure everything was stored safely.”
Andrés had just smiled at him as they put their heads together and devised their plan for The Plan.
It wasn’t the way he had wanted to spend the evening with Martin. But he wasn’t going to complain. Especially as four hours later, Andrés was woken from his sleep by his bedroom door creaking open. Fear immediately ran through him as he grabbed his gun and pointed it at the intruder.
“It’s me,” a voice hissed. “It’s Martin.”
Andrés had been able to make out the shape of Martin then, his back pinned to the door and his hands in the air.
“Martin? What are you doing?” he asked as he put his gun back down on the bedside table.
Instead of answering Martin walked over to him and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Martin?”
“I just want to sleep,” Martin said.
It was then that Andrés realised what Martin wanted. He smoothly moved over to the opposite side of the narrow bed, making room for Martin and lifting the blankets so that he could join him. Martin quietly slid in beside him and turned so he was facing away from Andrés. They had often slept like this. Together in the same bed. Especially during the winter months when it got exceptionally cold at night in the monastery. But it was not something he ever imagined would happen again.
Andrés lay perfectly still for a moment, listening to Martin’s breaths before he slid closer. As he wrapped an arm around Martin’s waist and pulled him back towards him, he buried his nose in the soft hair in front of him, inhaling deeply and revelling in the familiar scent.
Martin said nothing, but relaxed against him and wound their fingers together.
They fell asleep like that and much to Andrés’ disappointment, Martin was gone in the morning. The same thing had happened each night after with Martin joining him in the middle of night and leaving before Andrés woke in the morning.
During the day they were too busy taking turns with Sergio, teaching everyone else to even so much as look at each other let alone talk. Their down time was taken up with the others demanding their time. Whether it was to try and pull details out of Martin about himself and his life prior to joining them or they were quizzing Andrés about what he had done since he'd left the Mint.
Of course he spoke about the fake death announcement that the CNI had published and what had actually happened. The ones who had been there on the boat as Sergio and Helsinki pulled bullet after bullet from his arms and legs weren't as interested as Santiago and Matias who had pushed for answers. But they listened anyway. The CNI hadn’t actually released any images of his dead body but video footage from the body cameras of the infiltrating police. They'd shot him on his arms, his legs and hip, and clipped his left ear leaving him with a hideous scar. In the released footage it had looked like he'd been shot in the head. It was rather clever of them if he did say so himself.
After assuming that he was dead the police squad set off the mines Río had laid buying Helsinki enough time to pull Andrés out and through the tunnel.
Both Martín and Rafael had looked quite upset at the tale, obviously remembering thinking he was dead from what the media had told them. His lack of communication with either of them afterwards most likely adding to that. However neither of them made a comment and went on to join in conversation with the others.
While he did his utmost to ignore Rafael, Andrés enjoyed hearing Martín speak to everyone else. Not just because he had missed his voice but also because he was able to watch Martin returning to become the man he had left three years ago. With each story growing bolder and more outrageous, Martin's laugh became louder and louder until it was able to drown out even Denver's. His confidence was coming back and gone was the timid man that had found him in the chapel on that first day. His spark was returning and Andrés couldn't help but think it had a lot to do with them sleeping next to each other each night.
It was on their eighth night, after Martin had spent the afternoon teaching everyone how they would get the gold out, science and equations and all, that Andrés lay awake waiting for him. Martin had been beyond beautiful as he explained it all, a huge grin and eyes sparkling with triumph the entire time. He looked even more beautiful than the first time he’d explained it to Sergio and Andrés couldn’t help but marvel at the man he was still so deeply in love with.
When Martin finally joined Andrés in bed, Andrés said nothing as he watched him get comfortable and took up his own usual position behind him. He waited until he felt Martin relax before he spoke.
“I lied.”
Martin, having just been about to doze off jumped slightly at the sudden disturbance. “What?” he asked quietly.
“I lied to you,” Andrés repeated. “When I left. Every single thing I said was true. How I felt, how spectacular and magnificent what we had was in comparison to all the women. But I lied about my desire.”
Martin sighed and sat up, “Andrés…”
“Please Martin,” Andrés said as he too sat up and placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him from leaving. “You deserve to know the truth.”
“And what is the truth?” Martin finally asked as he turned back to face him.
“What Sergio said about us clouding each other’s judgement in the Mint. It’s true. We would have, and we probably will this time too. But if anything had happened to you in there, I wouldn’t have been able to live with it. So I needed you to not be a part of the Sergio’s plan, and the only way I knew that would ensure you wouldn’t have followed me was to severe all ties with you. So I lied and told you it would be impossible to make sure you stayed away.”
Martin stared at him for moment, watching him as if looking for any lies this time too. “We could have discussed it like adults. I would have waited for you to return…”
“Martin, please,” Andrés said. “You would have done everything in your power to be inside that building with me.”
Martin sighed and looked away again and Andrés knew then that he agreed. He would have infiltrated the plan any way he could have to ensure he’d been there, if only just to annoy Sergio than anything else.
“Look, that’s not what I want to focus on,” Andrés started again, reaching over this time to take Martin’s hand in his. “I need to tell you that being here with you, seeing you again? I feel like the piece of me that fractured when I left is finally starting to heal and I know that you feel it too.”
Martin pulled his hand away and got out of the bed and started to pace. “You’re playing on my emotions again, Andrés and I really don’t think I can deal with that.”
“I’m not,” Andrés said, scrambling to his knees and reaching out for Martin to pull him back towards the bed. “I promise, I would never do that to you again.”
Martin stopped at the edge and looked down at him. “Then what are you doing?”
Andrés reached up and cupped Martin’s face in his hand, “I’m trying to tell you that I am in love with you,” Andrés said, making Martin’s breath hitch. “I have never been more in love with you than I am right now, and I wish for nothing more than to show you that not only do I love you, and feel our connection deeper than ever before, but I desire every single inch of you.”
Andrés reached up to kiss him, placing the softest of kisses on Martin’s lips before Martin pulled away with tears in his eyes.
“I can’t do this again,” he said as he wiped at his eyes. “I can’t let you do this to me again.”
Andrés shook his head and climbed out of the bed as Martin backed away towards the door. “Martin, please.”
Martin held his hand up, “You gave me everything, Andrés. Everything. Then you snatched it away.”
“I promise, that is not what I’m doing now,” Andrés said. “Please. Just… stay. I don’t, I don’t want to sleep without you here. We don’t have to talk anymore. Just sleep.”
For a minute it looked like Martin was going to relent and follow Andrés back to bed but instead he just shook his head. “I can’t.” he said and finally left, the door slamming loudly in his wake.
Andrés wanted nothing more than to scream but instead he climbed into bed and tried not to dwell on the coldness that seeped in without Martin’s body head to keep him warm.
~*~*~~*~*~
Andrés gave up on sleep just before dawn. A part of him had wished that he’d not said anything to Martin so that he had continued to sleep beside him, but he owed Martin the truth.
Climbing out of bed, he ignored Martin’s dressing gown that he’d left there the night before and pulled on his own before he quietly made his way down to the kitchen to make some coffee. However when he got there the room was already occupied.
Rafael was sitting at the table with a laptop and a tablet in front of him and a notebook by his side. He was frowning in confusion as he stared at the laptop, brow furrowed in much the same way Andrés’ often did when he was had a problem he was struggling to solve. He had probably come here to work so as not to keep his brother awake in the cell they shared.
When the door to the kitchen fell closed behind Andrés as he entered, Rafael looked up in surprise. He opened his mouth as if to speak but then thought better of it and turned back to his work.
Feeling drained and not in the mood to argue, Andrés made his way to the stove where the coffee pot sat. “Coffee?” he asked.
Rafael was silent for a moment before he quietly said, “Yes. Thank you.”
Andrés nodded and set about making them both coffee. Rafael had always liked his coffee black, like Andrés. He’d tried to encourage Matias to drink it the same, but he preferred soda and sweet drinks over coffee, much to Andrés’ dismay. He also preferred vodka to wine and if he hadn’t looked so much like himself, Andrés would wonder if he were actually the father.
It didn’t take long and once the coffee was ready Andrés sat down opposite his son and watched as he continued to work.
“Trouble sleeping?” Andrés finally asked.
Rafael again looked surprised but nodded. “Tio Ser… I mean the Professor asked me to help with the broadcast issues the Pakistani’s are having.”
Andrés nodded, knowing it was something they had to resolve sooner rather than later. “Just make sure you rest once you resolve this. A heist like this doesn’t allow for much sleep once we’re in. It’s important for you to rest as much as possible before hand.”
“Should you not do the same?”
Smiling Andrés nodded. “I should but…” he tailed off with a shrug, not sure he was ready to open up to his son again.
Silence fell over them again for a few moments, both of them caught up in their own thoughts before Rafael spoke again.
“She left.”
Andrés slowly lifted his head to look at his son.
“She always said that you wouldn’t really disinherit me. That I was your proudest creation. I knew better though. I knew you better. But then you died and no money came and she left.”
“I know,” Andrés replied.
While he had made sure that Matias was well taken care of, he also regularly checked on what Rafael was doing and had been completely unsurprised when he discovered that Tatiana had left him and remarried, this time into the royal family. A nephew of the King’s cousin, but still, he had titles where Rafael and Andrés had none.
“I’m sorry, Papa,” Rafael said, taking his glasses of to rub the tears at his eyes.
“What you did is unforgivable,” Andrés said. “But, I think my anger and hurt was more at the betrayal than her leaving me.”
Rafael looked at him in confusion.
“I was planning on leaving her too,” he said. “She just beat me to it.”
“You were going to leave her?” Rafael asked in confusion.
Andrés nodded. “I was in love with someone else and I wanted to be free of her before I entered the Mint so that I could finally go back to him once we were out.”
“Him?” Rafael asked in surprise then realisation dawned on his face. “Martin?”
Andrés nodded, unsure of why he was telling Rafael this. “Sergio wouldn’t let me go to him after though. He’d already moved on with his life, he said. It would put us all in danger… so I didn’t go back.”
“He loves you too, Papa. I see it every time he looks at you,” Rafael tried to reassure him.
“I’m aware,” Andrés said. “But love is complicated, as I’m sure you know.”
Rafael nodded and looked back down at his notebook.
“What about you? Have you moved on from her?” Andrés asked him, a small smile on his face.
“Not really,” Rafael said. “There have been women, but none who really stuck. Matias is better at the whole wooing thing than I am.”
“Your brother is a romantic. Like me. You’re an intellect, like Sergio,” Andrés said with a grin. “But even a massive nerd like my brother is able to find a magnificent woman to spend the rest of his life with. You will too.”
Rafael grinned back but before he could reply they were joined by Nairobi who looked as sleep deprived as they both were.
“Please tell me there’s more coffee?” she said. “Helsi’s snores are unbearable, I hardly slept.”
“Here,” Rafael said as he handed her his untouched cup. “You can have mine.”
“Gracias, Boston,” she said with a grin, collapsing into the seat next to him.
Rafael smiled at her briefly and Andrés raised his eyebrow at him. Of all the women in the world, he would never have picked Nairobi for him. Matias maybe, but Rafael? But he had to admit, there were worse choices he could make.
“Excuse me,” he said as he stood. “I need to freshen up before breakfast.”
“Yeah you look like Hell,” Nairobi commented.
Andrés just smirked. “Do try to get some rest before class, Boston. Palermo has more science in store for us and you’ll need to concentrate.”
“I will, Papa.”
Ignoring Nairobi’s approving smile he left them both to it. He would try and rest a little more himself as it was surely to be a trying day.
~*~*~*~*~*~
His predictions were somewhat correct.
The day began at breakfast with Tokyo deliberately sniping at Martin. Apparently he’d woken her up when he left Andrés’ room and then entered his own room, slamming both doors and then throwing things around his room and “ranting” to himself all night.
“I thought we agreed that new personal relationships weren’t allowed,” she’d hissed at them all. “Aren’t we going to talk about the fact that Palermo hasn’t slept in his own room the entire time we’ve been here until last night?”
“Mind your own fucking business or you can go rescue your boyfriend on your own,” Martin had snapped at her.
While he appreciated the sentiment from Martin as Tokyo needed to be put firmly in her place and reminded of the respect she owed to the rest of them, Andrés sighed and braced himself to intervene but it was surprisingly Marseille who stepped in.
“That’s not new,” he said, stunning most and confusing some. “They’ve been together since the Bode-Museum in Berlin.”
Everyone then turned to stare at Andrés, realisation dawning on each of their faces.
“Tokyo,” Sergio then interjected when she’d looked like she wanted to complain again. “I’m sure you being kept awake wasn’t deliberate,” he told her with a look that left no room for further arguments.
So Tokyo let it go but Martin remained in a foul mood. His lesson that day was on the process of melting the gold into pellets small enough to push through the pipes. It was one of his favourite aspects of the heist to talk about but today his lesson was monotonous and lacking that passion that Andrés knew he had.
It was clear that Martin was as exhausted as Andrés himself was and when Denver and Matias asked questions, instead of taking the time to break down the science and make them fall in love with it, he just snapped at them and told them to pay attention.
After an hour of his less than enthusiastic ramblings about flash points and poisonous gases, Andrés was finally able to catch Sergio’s eye and signal for him to put an end to it. Which he did. He interrupted Martin and told the rest to go over their previous notes and to meet back in the classroom after lunch.
Martin had let his head hang as he made his way around the desk and kicked an antique chest that Andrés was actually very fond of but wisely chose not to comment on as he sat and watched the others traipse out of the classroom.
As Sergio brought up the rear of the group he leaned into Andrés’ space, “Fix this,” he hissed and then he was gone with the others.
Andrés sat and waited until he could no longer hear the others then he stood and closed the drapes at the entrance of the chapel to give them some privacy.
“Kind of ironic we’re going to have this conversation here, no?” Martin said with a defeated smile.
“What conversation?” Andrés asked as he stepped closer, putting himself at the opposite side of the desk.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Martin said. “I kept thinking, what if I had just stayed?”
“Funnily enough, I’ve had the very same thoughts myself over the years.”
Martin just stared at him for a moment before looking away. “God, I wished I still smoked.”
“Why did you quit?” Andrés asked as he watched Martin walk around the desk towards him.
Martin shrugged, “I had flu last year, a hazard of being around so many germ-infested children. Smoking didn’t really help with breathing.”
“It’s probably best in the long run,” Andrés answered.
“Your brother was right, y’know.”
Andrés smiled. “He’s right about a lot of things. Care to clarify?”
“When he said I’d moved on,” Martin explained. “His name was Giovanni.”
“Was?”
“Car accident,” Martin said.
“I’m sorry,” Andrés said, genuinely feeling sorrow on Martin’s behalf.
“We had a good life together. Not filled with the thrills and danger you and I had but I felt happy for the first time in a long time. When he died I thought I was cursed. That I was destined to be alone. I was only just starting to love him.”
“You’re not cursed, Martin,” Andrés told him. “And I definitely don’t feel that you’re destined to be alone.”
Martin smiled at him. “I suppose this is where you tell me that I have a future with you?”
“I meant everything I said last night,” Andrés said honestly. “I did not mean for it to upset you but you deserved to know the truth, that I want you. That for the past three years I’ve thought of nothing but you and what it would be like to be by your side, to wake up with you in my arms each morning. If you let me, I’d gladly spend the rest of my life proving to you just how much you are loved.”
Andrés watched as Martin’s breath caught in the back of his throat, much as it had the night before as he reached forward, grabbed Andrés by his tie and pulled him into a bruising kiss. Andrés fell into him, wrapping his arms around Martin and embracing him tightly and not willing to let him go. He’d dreamt of this every night since he’d walked away, and it was so much better than he remembered.
With his hands cradling Andrés’ face, Martin pulled back and smiled at him. “Next time you propose to me, you better be on bended knee and have a ring in your hand.”
Andrés grinned, “As you wish, mi amor.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lessons ended up being scrapped for the rest of the day as neither Martin nor Andrés were available. They’d sequestered themselves away inside Andrés’ room to spend some much needed time together.
While they both lusted after each other, they had avoided doing more than kissing. While he could guess that Martin was reluctant to push Andrés should he walk away from him again, Andrés didn’t want a quick afternoon fuck. He wanted to take his time and learn every inch of Martin’s body, draw pleasure out of him for as long as possible, knowing that they wouldn’t be interrupted.
So they had spent the afternoon more or less cuddling in Andrés’ bed as they shared stories of the past three years.
“What was it like?” Martin asked as hey lay his head on Andrés’ chest. “Inside the Mint?”
“Exhilarating,” Andrés answered. “Stressful. And terrifying.”
Martin looked up at him then. “You nearly died.” He said, stroking a finger across Andrés’ scarred ear.
“A few times,” Andrés nodded, thinking about the shoot out in the loading bay when the hostages escaped, and Tokyo playing Russian roulette with him.
He decided against telling Martin that as he didn’t want to have to explain to Rio why she was dead and hadn’t come to rescue him with everyone else.
“I did some stupid things.”
“Like order Denver to kill Stockholm?” Martin asked with a small smile.
Andrés smiled back. “That. And I fucked a hostage.”
Martin froze and stared at him in surprise. “Andrés what…”
“I don’t know,” Andrés shrugged. “I was terrified and thought I was going to die. I thought she actually wanted me. Turns out she was also terrified and thought fucking me was the only way to save herself.”
“Mierda,” Martin hissed.
“When I realised, I was enraged. I wanted to beat her. But I realised I’d done enough damage. It was the last time I touched a woman.”
Martin’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Are you serious?”
Andrés nodded. “Women never actually want me for me, they just pretend they do for their own benefit. Whether it’s for a child or for money, or to ensure their safety, they’re all just thinking about themselves in the end. There is absolutely nothing a woman could offer me now that I would actually want.”
“Not even sex?”
“Not even sex.”
Martin slowly stroked a hand down Andrés’ side, under the fabric of his shirt that lay open from earlier. “So you haven’t had sex since then?”
Andrés smiled. “I didn’t say that.”
Martin sat up in surprise as realisation hit him. “You fucked men.”
“A few,” he shrugged. “But they never really satisfied my desire. They weren’t who I wanted,” he added as he reached up to stroke Martin’s jaw.
“Keep sweet talking me like this and we’ll never make it out of this room. They’ll have to rob the bank without us.”
Andrés grinned. “Never.”
As they fell into another round of passionate kissing, they didn’t realise how much time had passed until a knock at the door interrupted them.
“Yes?” Andres called and apparently that meant come in as Sergio walked in with his eyes closed and hand held in front of his face.
“Hopefully I’m not interrupting…”
“If you thought you were interrupting then why did you come in?” Martin asked as he climbed off Andrés.
Sergio carefully opened one eye at that and seeing them more or less fully dressed, he lowered his hand and smiled at them both.
“Will you join us for dinner?” he asked. “We’ve all missed you today.”
Andrés looked at Martin who smiled and gave him a shrug.
“We’ll be there shortly Hermanito,” he told him as he sat up and began to button his shirt back up.
Sergio nodded at them both before he turned and left the room.
“Your brother is weird, you know that right?” Martin asked.
Unable to stop himself, Andrés barked in laughter. It was the first real laugh he’d felt since that fateful day three years prior and he hoped that Martin continued to spread such joy in him.
When they finally joined the others outside, it was to numerous cheers and whistles from them all. Even Tokyo spared them a grin. Martin gave them all the middle finger as he sat down but Andrés just grinned triumphantly as he sat next to him.
“At least there’s no chance of Boston stealing this one, huh?” Denver laughed before Stockholm elbowed him in the stomach.
“He’s more Pamplona’s type,” Rafael said with a smile at his father.
Andrés raised an eyebrow at both his sons in surprise.
“You think you’re the only bisexual in the family, Papa?” Matias asked with a grin of his own. “But don’t worry, he’s not actually my type.”
“And what makes you think either of you are my type?” Martin asked as he dished food onto both his own and Andrés’ plates. “I like the older gentleman, not someone who looks like he’s just graduated school.”
“I’m only eight years older than you,” Andrés huffed.
“Still older though,” Martin said to him with a wink.
Andrés couldn’t stop himself from grinning at him before he turned back to his plate.
“Oh God, they’re going to be insufferably cute, aren’t they?” Nairobi asked with a groan.
The others laughed as they agreed, and Andrés couldn’t bring himself to care because he agreed also. His love for Martin would no doubt wear the others down. But at least they only had six more weeks here together at the monastery, and not a full five months like before. As much as it would annoy them, they’d survive.
“So, Pamplona, what is your type then?” Tokyo asked with a flirty grin. “Men and women?”
Matias grinned. He actually knew about the Russian roulette incident as apparently Sergio of all people had told him and Rafael. Probably to try and stop either of them from fucking her. “Not you,” was all he said before he shoved a forkful of food into his mouth.
Andrés watched on as Rafael and Matias shared some sort of secret handshake in triumph and couldn’t stop himself from smiling at the both of them. Rafael had hurt him, yes, but he was suddenly extremely happy to have them both here with him and looked forward to working with them both to realise his and Martin’s dream.
Like a family should.
~*~*~*~*~*~
“Welcome to the Bank of Spain,” Andrés said as he pulled off his mask.
Río was filming him for the videos that the Pakistanis would release of them, showing the world how to steal ninety tons of gold. As the world thought he was dead he knew that revealing his (freshly shaven) face would cause the first shock to ripple through the CNI.
As he danced around the foundry they had made, he spent time sharing the screen with Bogota and Denver before all but dancing over to Martin.
“Now, I know you are all aware by now that the Professor and I, are brothers. But just as there are families of doctors and lawyers, there are families of thieves,” he said. “Let me introduce to you my sons.”
He reached an arm around Rafael’s shoulders, grabbed his chin in one and pointed his smiling face at Rio. “Look at the family resemblance. He looks just like his uncle, no?” Andrés asked the camera. “I give you Boston, who may be the world's most proficient hacker of cyber security. No offense, Río.”
“None taken,” Río shouted back at him with a laugh.
Rafael rolled his eyes at Andrés and went back to loading the pellets into the pump.
“And Pamplona,” Andrés added with a grin of his own as he pulled Matías over from where he was loading the gold onto the furnace. “One of the world's best foundry workers and welders. Without him we would never have gotten into the vault before it flooded.”
“Please Papa, you'll give me an ego as big as yours,” Matías laughed before he too went back to his work.
“Family is important,” Andrés said. “Always make sure to spend time with the ones you love most.” He told the camera before spinning around and finally seeing the one person he was yet to speak with.
“Ah Palermo, mi amor, please share with the world how we plan to get all of this beautiful gold out of the bank.”
Andrés draped his arm around Martin’s shoulders and watched him lovingly as he enthusiastically explained the Darcy-Weisbach formula to the camera, his glee shining through in that mischievous little grin he had on his face.
“Glorious,” Andrés said before stealing a kiss. “Anything else to add?”
Martín turned to step in front of Andrés then so that the camera had to focus fully on him. “To all my students at home, remember to study, pass your exams and assert yourself because one day you too might be able to achieve greatness such as ours.”
He turned back to Andrés, laughing and Andrés couldn't resist pulling him into a fierce kiss. He ignored the cat calls and complaints from the others as he dropped down onto one knee, stared up at Martin’s beautiful face, and pulled out a ring made from the very gold they were stealing.
“Marry me?”
Martin laughed once more before pulling him back up to stand. “Si, I’ll marry you.”
Martin jumped on him then and as they kissed each other once more to even more catcalls and cheers, he hoped that Río got it all on video so that the world would know that not only was he alive, and together with his family once more, but he was happy and very much in love.
END