Chapter Text
Danny was about to take a long sip from an ice-cold piña colada when ringing interrupted his thoughts. Perking up, he set his drink down and reached into the pocket of his swim shorts for his cellphone. He couldn’t help but grin when he saw the caller ID of the person trying to reach him. Immediately, he picked up.
Smiling, he put the phone to his ear and said, "Hey Rusty."
“Danny,” greeted Rusty. His tone of voice sounded just as calm and casual as it always did.
“What’s happened?” Danny asked bluntly, curious as to why Rusty had called him. They were close—he was probably the closest friend Danny’s ever had—but he found that Rusty would rarely call him without a good reason.
Rusty chuckled, and Danny couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the infectious sound. “What? A guy can’t call his friend just to talk? Something’s got to have happened?”
“We both know you aren’t one for small talk,” Danny replied.
The man on the other end of the phone hesitated, almost as if considering something. “Well. I’m one for small talk if it’s with you.”
“What’s happened?” Danny repeated.
He cut to the chase. “Reuben found a job for us.” After speaking, Rusty was subjected to a long, disappointed groan as Danny slumped back in his seat.
“Reuben went to you before me? Couldn’t even bother to call me himself?” He complained, running a hand through his hair. He was only a tiny bit upset about people choosing Rusty over him. Okay, maybe tiny was an understatement.
The man didn’t reply, knowing Danny was upset that his role as “leader” was being undermined once again. This was quite a common occurrence, and Rusty did his best to avoid making him feel worse.
“I’m on vacation,” Danny added into the phone, grabbing his drink to take another sip. He watched as the drops of condensation trickled down his fingers. “And I thought we agreed to no more heists for a long while.”
“Where’re you staying?” Rusty asked, suspiciously changing the subject.
“Florence.”
“Oh, Italy? Perfect,” Rusty said, and Danny could hear the smile in his voice. He didn’t need to see the thief in person to realize the grin on his face was one of mischief.
“…Why?” Danny questioned. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.
“You’re right next to France.”
Danny narrowed his eyes, leaning forward in his lounge chair, intrigued. “What exactly did Reuben tell you?”
***
Stepping off his train into the Paris Gare de Lyon, Danny was greeted by a bustling crowd of tourists and people on their way to work. He kept a firm grip on the handle of his suitcase as he navigated his way out of the busy train station.
Waiting for him outside the station was Rusty. He stood leaning against a lamppost and seemed very invested in the bag of trail mix he was picking at. The dress shirt he was wearing had its sleeves rolled up, revealing the many tattoos that wrapped around his arm. Danny approached him, a grin on his face.
“Enjoying yourself?” Danny asked, eyeing the trail mix.
Rusty rolled his eyes, a smile flickering across his face. “Shut up. Follow me; I got us a rental.”
Smirking, he let Rusty lead the way to a car that was parked not too far away from the train station. He put his luggage in the back and climbed into the passenger seat as Rusty started the engine.
Once they’d pulled out of the parking spot, Rusty glanced over at Danny and gestured to his trail mix he had placed in the cup holder.
Danny gave him a wry smile. “I’m good, thanks.”
“Suit yourself.”
Danny turned to look out his window, taking in their surroundings. He’d been to Paris before, but never for a job.
Sitting with Rusty, he realized how much he missed the feeling of being in the same car as him. Something about it was so peaceful. The two of them didn’t feel the need to fill the silence with unnecessary conversations. Just being around the other man was enough to keep him entertained.
After a few minutes of watching buildings pass by, Danny spoke up. “Who else is coming?”
“Haven’t talked to Reuben in person yet, but he mentioned getting Basher and Livingston on board,” he explained, one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting on the car window. “He’s refused to tell me anything else before we meet in person.”
Danny hummed in acknowledgment. An idea crossed his mind, and he turned to Rusty. “What about… Do you think we should—”
“—Yeah we should,” Rusty said, finishing his thought. “He did ask to be more involved.”
“Last I heard, he’s in London,” murmured Danny, fishing through his pocket to grab his cell phone. “I’ll give him a call.”
***
Danny climbed out of the car once they arrived at the hotel Reuben was staying at. Rusty popped open the trunk so they could grab their suitcases, and they made their way inside the building. The hotel was evidently high-end, so he was relieved that Reuben had agreed to reserve their rooms for them. At the front desk, Danny watched as his friend approached the hotel receptionist.
“Hi. I believe my friend Reuben should have booked a room for Robert Ryan,” he said, leaning on the counter. The receptionist looked down at her computer and typed a few words.
She examined her screen and then looked up at him. “It seems he’s booked you a double with a…” She glanced back down at her screen to check. “Daniel Ocean.”
Rusty’s carefree expression faltered. “What…? There’s—”
“—Two beds, right?” Danny interjected, confused.
The receptionist nodded. “Yes, two twin beds. Is that alright?”
Rusty seemed to let out a sigh of relief, but his expression was still strained. “Yes, that works.” The two of them continued to check in and finally received their room keycard. As they got into an elevator, Danny smirked at Rusty.
“You seemed pretty concerned about sharing a room with me for a second there,” Danny teased, and Rusty elbowed him playfully as they leaned against the wall.
“Why wouldn’t I be? You snore, and I’d like to get some sleep,” Rusty replied.
Danny shifted to face Rusty, the edges of his mouth pulled into a smirk. “I’m not that bad. Remember that time I stayed on your couch for—”
“—Yes, I remember. I also remember not being able to sleep because of how thin the walls were.”
Danny grinned smugly. “Yeah, yeah.”
The two exited the elevator on their floor and made their way into their room. He was thankful that it seemed to be big enough for the two of them. Rusty seemed more thankful to have discovered a minibar located in the corner. After they had finished scoping out the room, Danny watched as Rusty collapsed onto his bed with a sigh.
“What if we just stayed here all day?” he groaned, stretching his arms above his head. The curtains were drawn, casting a warm light onto his bed. Danny took note of how he looked like a cat basking in the sun. “We could tell Reuben we got in late…”
He smirked slightly, sitting at the foot of his bed. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. M’tired,” Rusty murmured, burying his head in a pillow.
Danny laughed and rolled his eyes. “You’re tired? I’m the one who just had a ten-hour train ride.”
His friend sat up and gave him a look. “Fine. I’ll call Reuben and let him know we’re here.”
***
Around three to four hours later (Rusty had taken a long nap), Danny found himself waiting with his friend outside the door to Reuben’s suite. He decided not to say anything about how the man had booked himself such a large room while forcing Rusty and him to share.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and Reuben stood there in the doorway, a smile on his face and a cigar in his hands. He ushered the two of them into the room.
Rusty sniffed the air, a look on his face. “Since when is smoking in hotel rooms allowed?” he quipped, raising an eyebrow at Reuben.
“Oh relax! I know the owner,” he exclaimed, waving his hand dismissively. He clapped both of them on the backs, enthusiastically. “So, how was the trip, boys?”
As Danny entered the room, he spotted Basher and Livingston sitting on the couch playing cards. Well, sitting was an understatement. Basher was sprawled out on half the couch, while Livingston seemed to be taking up as little space as possible. He waved to them and turned back to Reuben.
“It was long. Also, I can’t believe you called Rusty before me,” he said, half-joking, half-serious.
Rusty smirked at Danny’s complaint as Reuben patted him on the shoulder. "Sorry, Danny, I thought I’d let Rusty tell you. Don’t worry ‘bout it! You both are just as good a thief as the other in my eyes.”
He frowned, already formulating a list of grievances to spew to Reuben. “I—"
“—So,” Rusty began, interrupting what was bound to create an argument. “Do you have anyone else coming?”
Shaking his head, Reuben replied, “Our client requested a smaller team. Fewer people to worry about getting caught.”
The expression on Rusty’s face turned quizzical. “Should we be worried?”
The man shook his head once again. “Not if we know what we’re doing.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. Danny grinned as Reuben raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Who is that?” he said, turning to the two of them. He knew something was up.
Danny ignored him and went to open the hotel door.
Realization dawned on Reuben’s face. “Oh no. You guys didn’t—”
“Oh, we did,” Rusty chuckled, as Danny unlocked the door to reveal Linus Caldwell standing there, a backpack slung over his shoulders and his baseball cap on.
“Hey guys!” Linus said as he entered the room. His smile faltered when he saw Reuben’s irate expression. “Uh, did I miss something?”
“Thought we could use an extra man,” Rusty explained to Reuben. “Linus expressed interest in having a bigger part in our schemes, so...”
Reuben raised his hands in frustration. “You guys! This heist is extremely risky; we can’t have a rookie on the crew!”
Linus’s mouth opened, and his eyebrows furrowed. He was about to speak up when Danny interrupted him. “Linus isn’t a rookie. He’s done quite a few heists with us now.”
“Yes but—”
“Oi Reuben! Just lay off the kid, will you?” Basher spoke up from his spot on the couch. “We can use his help.”
Reuben groaned but surprisingly, seemed to listen to Basher’s words.
Livingston, who had been quiet since they entered, spoke up. “So... what’s the job, Reuben? You’ve kept us waiting long enough,”
Reuben sighed and made his way to the front of the room. “Fine. I was talking to one of my friends, and he told me ‘bout this possible client. The assignment is simple enough. We’d only be stealing one thing.”
Rusty spoke up, his face serious. “One thing?”
“This guy—he’s a collector of sorts. He likes collecting paintings. Anyway, it’s his wife’s birthday soon, and he has a very special gift in mind for her. Her favorite artist is Vermeer, and fortunately for us, one of his originals is located here in Paris.”
Realizing where this conversation was going, Danny’s eyes widened, and he made eye contact with Rusty. “He can’t seriously want us to—”
“The Louvre is home to The Lacemaker, one of Vermeer’s smallest works. It’s nowhere near as popular as the Mona Lisa, so its theft wouldn’t attract as much attention. We should be able to break in, replace it with a replica, and get back out,” Reuben said, finishing his explanation as if the heist would be as easy as stealing candy from a baby. The rest of the team just listened in shock.
“Well?” Reuben asked, put off by the lack of enthusiasm from the group.
“We—we’re supposed to steal from one of the most secure museums in the world? That’s impossible!” Livingston stammered, his face looking even paler than usual.
Danny immediately began to brainstorm, thoughts of how to go about this heist running through his head. “Nothing’s impossible. Toulour has stolen from The Louvre before. Twice! If he can get away with it, we can pull this off.”
However, Linus seemed to think otherwise. “Seriously guys? Why would we want to steal from a museum? That’s precious artwork that the public goes to see! There’s something weird to me about stealing a painting just to give it to some rich guy…”
“Last time I checked, heists aren’t morally correct in the first place, kid. If you’re worried about that, you’re in the wrong line of business,” Reuben retorted. “Besides, no one will even know we stole it.”
Linus put his head in his hands, exasperated. “Fine but—The Louvre?! Of all places? It’s like we’re asking to get caught!”
Danny glanced over and smirked when he caught Rusty’s eye. “Not if we’re prepared.”
****
Rusty lay on his back in bed staring at the ceiling as Danny sat next to him. The latter was looking over the blueprints and maps of The Louvre that Reuben had provided them with. While he did that, Rusty snacked on some almonds he had found in the minibar.
“What are we gonna do about security?” Rusty murmured, his mouth full.
Danny ran a hand through his hair, examining the blueprints. “We’ll have to find a way to get Livingston in the system to shut off the cameras.”
In response, Rusty let out a small hum. “Yeah, but how do we handle the security guards on the night shift?”
This question silenced Danny. He began to mull it over thoughtfully, when Rusty chucked an almond at him. Dodging Rusty’s attack, he scoffed. “Dumbass.”
Rusty chuckled and rolled over, so he was lying on his stomach, propped up on his elbows. “What if… We figure out the track the guards take and what time they’ll be in each room? Then we’d know what path to take to avoid them.”
The other man let out a sigh. “But how would we find out that information in the first place?”
“Well… if we get Livingston access to the cameras like we did during the Benedict Job, we could tap into them at night and study the paths the guards take.”
Danny nodded and leaned over Rusty to grab his notebook. With a huff, he sat against the headboard and scrawled something down. “And if we have control of the cameras—”
“—We could play a loop on the feed. Make it look like we were never there,” Rusty finished, taking another bite of his almonds.
Looking over, he couldn’t help but grin at the other man. Rusty met his gaze and pushed himself up, leaning against the headboard next to Danny, their shoulders almost touching. He peered over at what he’d written down. “Still don’t have allthe security handled…” he murmured, his voice low in Danny’s ear.
Danny, caught off-guard, sat up straighter. “What?”
“The paintings have sensors on the backs of the frames. If we take it off the wall, an alarm will trigger.”
“We could go to Nagel. I’m sure he has some tool that can temporarily disable the mechanics for us,” Danny reasoned. Rusty nodded thoughtfully as if to say, ‘That’d work.’
They fell into a comfortable silence, Rusty intently chewing his almonds and watching Danny as he scratched down notes on the blueprints. The lamp on their bedside table cast a faint glow around the room, creating shadows on their faces. Danny looked up and saw that Rusty’s eyes were trained on him, glinting in the dim light.
“What?” he asked, looking at the other man.
“Nothing,” Rusty mumbled, and reached into his bag of almonds, popping one into his mouth. “How’d Tess handle you taking off?”
Danny leaned back against the headboard, letting out a small sigh. “How do you think?”
“That bad, huh?”
He let out a long exhale. “Tess barely puts up with me as it is. She’d freak if she knew what we’re stealing,” he murmured. “I don’t think she can get past the fact that I was in jail for four years.”
Rusty nodded silently, listening to Danny speak.
“What about Isabel? Does she know you’re here?” Danny asked, his eyes focused on one of the bed sheets, trying not to zone out.
Rusty shrugged, peeling at the plastic of his almond packet awkwardly. “Ehh. We’re… not talking to each other at the moment.”
“Seriously Rus? You had one good thing going for you—”
Rusty looked at him, offended. “Hey! I have plenty of good things going for me.”
Danny flinched, not realizing the weight of his words. He decided to slowly get up from the bed, rolling up the blueprints. He glanced back at Rusty, who sat looking up at him and felt a pang of guilt go through his chest. The last thing he wanted to do was upset him.
“Sorry… We should go to bed. We’re tired.”