Chapter Text
The plan had been simple. Break into the most highly decorated Ravkan art gallery, steal a 5 million kruge painting and break back out again. And to Nina’s surprise, they had done it. She really shouldn’t have been surprised, after all they had broken into the Ice Court not so long ago but that never really did sink into her head properly, so her expectations were defined by her pre-heist mindset.
Now she could relax as they waited for the guards to go on their rounds and leave the exit unattended. By Kaz’s calculations, they would have a seven minute window in which they could smuggle the artwork out of the building before being seen. The office for the night shift workers was only two rooms away and so they had a clear view of how heavily guarded their escape route would be when they left. If needed, Inej could always scout it out before the others, after all no one would see the Wraith but they would probably notice a Fjerdan and a Ravkan deserter from a mile away. The others would have been similarly conspicuous as Jesper was too tall for his own good, Wylan looked as though he shouldn’t be in the gallery -still working on his poker face, Nina noted- and Kaz had brought his cane. ‘They’ll hear you, you know?’ She had said to him on the trek between the shore and the gallery, ‘I am aware that my cane makes noise, thank you Nina.' He’d returned snarkily. He had recently become far more attached to it, the Ice Court had really messed it up but she didn’t argue. They all knew better than to comment about his leg.
“Dare I say this might have been our greatest job. No drama involved, it’s refreshing.” Nina said as she sat down on the floor, stretching her legs out before her. She pulled a waffle out of her large purse which had been a part of her costume, but also a great way to store her food.
“Dare I say you may have just cursed our luck.” Jesper replied, twitching with his hands on his revolvers. Inej gave him a playful shove.
“Oh come on, you have to admit that this has been possibly the nicest job we’ve done in a while.” Inej teased. Jesper was only there in case the plan went south, he simply had to follow the others as they acted out the plan. Very easy in the eyes of everyone else, boring in his, Nina observed by the way he rolled his eyes and spun around in pure boredom. Matthias and Wylan were occupying themselves with something in Wylan’s obnoxiously large satchel and Kaz was scanning the room as usual.
“Brekker, do lighten up. We’re finished, you don’t have to look so stoic,” Nina smirked as she spoke but Kaz didn’t spare her a glance. If someone wasn’t looking so carefully, they may think that he was admiring the art but with his head tilted to the side slightly and his cane jutting out to the side, the Ravkan knew better. He was most certainly scheming.
“If I wanted your opinion, Zenik, I would ask for it.” Kaz’s head tilted further and Nina swore that she could see the cells in his brain colliding faster and faster. Matthias scowled at him and stood up, leaving Wylan to finish up whatever they were doing.
“So enlighten us. What do you want?” Nina tried to entertain Kaz but gave Matthias a look that more than showed her urge to deck the Kerch man. Matthias smiled.
“Continue eating your waffles, Nina. You’ll get more sense out of them.” Jesper added. Inej and Wylan smirked at him but again Kaz did not move.
“I think Rollins used to own this one. Strange how fast these things move.” Kaz finally coughed up. Inej’s eyes rolled and she joined Kaz’s side, pointing a sharp finger at the painting.
“A painting has got you in this mood?” She asked. Kaz wasn’t often lost in thought at art but Nina hadn’t known Kaz to speak Pekka’s name in almost four months. Kaz nodded and averted his attention to his pocket watch that he had retrieved from his coat. Inej looked up to his eyes and sighed, pulling her mask over her face. Nina tried to contain her smile but struggled to keep it in so instead she showed it to Matthias in an attempt to make it look less like she was finding joy in Inej’s boredom. Anything was entertaining to her in this room, she had been staring at the various lumps of paint for almost an hour and so her latest smile came at the Suli’s expense.
As Nina stuffed a second waffle into her mouth, she watched as Inej slipped out of the room and into the dark abyss. It would be a few minutes before she came back so Nina tried to see what was in Wylan’s bag, it must have been something worth looking at if Matthias was interested in it but the leather cover was thrown over before she could snatch a look. Whatever was in it, she was sure it would be revealed before long, or not at all. Saints, she was bored.
Inej was back already, dropping down from a rafter in the ceiling. Kaz turnt from the paintings and propped himself against his cane while he waited for her to speak but she looked slightly startled. She pulled her headscarf down and instantly began collecting her things from the floor. Kaz cleared his throat and Inej stood up, blinking herself back to the job.
“The guards aren’t as idiotic as you claimed.” She slotted some of her knives back into their places. “We have to be smart about this.” Nina was finally enjoying herself again but when she went to take yet another bite from her waffle, the world began to shift in front of her eyes. Kaz gave Inej some snarky response that Nina couldn’t quite make out, she heard the rasp of his voice but the world was growing dark around the corner of her vision and her ears were no longer picking everything up. She needed to get up. She wanted to get up but lifting her arms was like dragging dead weights out of a lake.
There was a noise flooding her ears that she could feel should not be there. Raised voices like shouting were creeping up on them far quicker than any of them had anticipated. Her eyes remained open but the art gallery was fading away. Kaz was saying something to her, she could only tell from the rasp in his voice and the intense tapping of his cane. It was as though the noise was hitting a wall in her brain. Something slipped through the cracks, Matthias was by her side, his low voice growing by her side.
“Nina? Nina, what's wrong?” He was shaking her shoulder, willing her to give him a response. She couldn’t grasp one. The waffle she was eating was discarded in her lap and her head was falling back.
“Nina we have to go!” Kaz growled. Matthias wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hauled her up, moving her away from the centre of the room. The out of place noise was louder, almost as if it was in the room with her. She tried to say something but soon the darkness swallowed up her vision. Her body was numb and her brain ceased to function.