Chapter Text
The amber liquid swishes around as she slowly spins the glass, expression blank. In moments she drains the glass, then sets it down on the counter just hard enough to insinuate to the bartender she’s in need of a refill. The gesture is hardly needed—she’s one of only a few spending such late hours in the bar on a work night, and the bartender has been keeping track of keeping her glass well stocked.
She rests her hands out flat on the counter as she waits for another, breathing so pointedly that even that sounds almost rehearsed.
“This is your last one, Robin,” the bartender says evenly as the refill is placed before her.
Robin looks up slowly with eyes heavy lidded from exhaustion, the corners of her lips turning slowly down.
“You should get home,” he says with genuine concern. “Let me call you a taxi. Please.”
“Don’t bother,” Robin mutters, grabbing the glass as she slides off the stool.
“Robin—” the bartender begins, but one of the other patrons intercepts him. While he’s distracted, Robin drains her glass then sets it down on the counter as she pulls on her coat. By the time the bartender turns back, the bell above the door is jingling.
“Oi, Stahl,” the other patron rumbles in a deep timbre. “The sad lady friend of yours?”
“She’s been a regular lately,” Stahl replies, face pinching in concern just as it has all of the previous times Robin’s visited. “Honestly, I don’t think she has any friends.”
“It look like she very good friends with Mr. Bourbon,” the patron winks theatrically, belting out a deep belly laugh moments later. His expression quickly sobers at Stahl’s incredulous glance. “Gregor makes joke. You just overthinking things. No one is without friends in world. Even if drunk lady not know it yet, this is undeniable truth.”
“That was rather wise of you, Gregor,” Stahl allows himself a grin.
“Gregor often is! Young people would see this if they’d stop every once in while to smell roses. But Gregor won’t keep you any longer! Stahl must be eager to close up, yes?”
“Just as soon as I call a taxi for you,” Stahl chuckles, even more so as Gregor makes a face of insulted indignation.
“Kids these days have no respect for Gregor!”
Robin mutters darkly, fumbling the keys in the lock, oversized coat already sliding off one shoulder as the door finally clicks open. With sluggish movements her shoes are kicked off one by one as the coat slouches off of her, falling to the ground in a dejected pile beside the haphazard pile of shoes and boots. With no less care she shuffles clumsily to the kitchen cabinet, pulling out a glass.
“Gods, they were right!” a voice says from the dark of her living room, too painfully chipper to be meaningful. She continues on as Robin whips around fast enough to cause herself dizziness, placing a hand heavily on the counter for balance. “You really are a mess, aren’t ya?”
“I’m not coming back,” Robin glares as the intruder turns on the lights, looking all too pleased with herself. Robin’s eyes narrow all the more at the face that hasn’t change in years, red hair pulled up into her trademark ponytail. The only thing that was different was her casual choice of dress, exchanged for her usual business-like pencil skirt and blouse.
“Aw c’mon, Robin. No need to treat your old friend Anna like that.”
“No shoes on in the house,” Robin says immediately out of habit, fishing out a bottle as Anna clicks her tongue.
“Haven’t you been hitting that enough lately?”
“How did you get in here?” Robin asks, though her voice is flat.
“Your landlord,” Anna provides. “He’s a bit of a perv, but seems like a nice enough old guy. He was happy enough to lend me a key.”
Hubba was happy enough to do just about anything for a woman who batted her eyelashes.
“Guess it’s time for me to move,” Robin deadpans.
“No need to jump to conclusions!” Anna lifts her hands up placatingly. “This is serious, Robin. I need your help.”
“I already said it,” Robin says with enough acid to melt metal. “I’m not going back.”
“Still bitter about all that?” Anna walks over to lean against the counter beside Robin. “It’s been… what? Five years now? Your little boy—”
Anna cuts herself off when Robin’s fists find a home in the front of her shirt, dragging her over until they’re nose to nose, nothing in Anna’s vision but the most enraged eyes she’s ever seen.
“Don’t you dare bring him up. Don’t you dare even speak about him. You and all of the other Excellus cronies can go to hell for all I care.”
“Whoa whoa whoa!” Anna says hurriedly, hands up in surrender again. “This has nothing to do with Excellus or his company! Well actually, a little bit in—ow, ow, okay!” Anna flinches as Robin’s grip tightens. “I left them years ago! Shortly after you did! The help I need is personal, and from someone I know is trustworthy.”
Robin gives Anna a long look before releasing her shirt. She drains her glass while she waits for Anna to recover.
“I was robbed,” Anna says, serious enough that Robin knows the jokes are over.
“That’s when you call the police,” Robin says unhelpfully.
“Look, it’s not that simple, okay?” Anna frowns. “I own a travel company now, and it’s doing well enough, but I’m working on getting it bigger. So I had some of my guys working on plans for new and improved planes, ships—for travel, and to eventually breach into the aerospace industry. But Robin, we are talking about cutting edge fuel efficiency! These plans would see me taking the aerospace industry by storm.”
“So someone stole your plans,” Robin interrupts, sounding all the more bored for Anna’s enthusiasm.
“Not just any someone. Wyvern Corp, the leading company in all things aerospace engineering.”
“And you thought it somehow made more sense to come to me than the authorities why…?”
“It’s not like I have enough proof, Robin! The guys at Wyvern are clever, I’ll give them that, but I won’t give up my plans. Not without a fight.”
“What could I possibly do, Anna?” Robin sighs. “I’m an ex-insurance investigator that’s living on welfare.”
“They steal my plans, I steal them back,” Anna says firmly.
“That doesn’t answer my question. I’m not a thief.”
“No, I’ve already got those. What I need is someone honest.”
“You have what?” Robin leans back, giving Anna a wary look.
“I want you to lead the team to steal my plans back.”
Robin splutters, glad for the counter to lean on.
“Finding willing people that steal for a living is easy, but I need someone I know—someone honest—to keep them in line. And it always helps that you’re a master at keeping three steps ahead of the competition.”
“Anna, you must realize how crazy this sounds. I don’t need to get caught up in this sort of thing. For old times’ sake I’ll pretend you didn’t just share some crazy illegal plan with me, but—”
“Robin, take a guess what insurance company covers Wyvern Corp.”
Robin feels her own heartbeat pick up, knowing all too well that Anna had known all along how Robin would react. Even knowing that, Robin couldn’t hide her excitement.
“Excellus Insurance would take one hell of a blow from Wyvern Corp’s loss,” Anna adds helpfully.
Robin pours herself another drink, hands shaking. She feels Anna watching her, already knowing every inch of the smug grin she’s wearing.
“It’s just stealing one set of plans? In and out?”
Anna deftly snatches the glass from in front of Robin and helps herself to its contents.
“In and out. That’s it.”
Anna sets the glass down before she holds out her hand. Robin eyes it for a few long moments before they shake, Anna’s grin only growing.
“Can’t wait for you to meet the team.”
“No.”
Anna does a double take as Robin immediately turns around. She sticks her foot in the way as Robin makes to open the door.
“You’re going to make us work with her?” one of the thieves asks incredulously, lollipop dancing over his tongue as he speaks, green eyes narrowing.
“I was starting to think you were smart when you left Excellus,” Robin hisses at Anna, attempting for privacy even though the other three present knew full well she is unhappy from body language alone. “Then you go and do this. All of my newfound respect for you—gone.”
“You have to admit these guys are good!” Anna speaks like she’s delivering a sales pitch. In this case, it wasn’t too far of a stretch. “You would know.”
“Yeah, I would. I was the one that saw them all put away.”
“Still kinda hurt about that!” the girl shouts over, face curled in a pout.
“Look, all of you,” Anna says, spreading her arms out like a zookeeper calming some antsy monkeys. “This is just one job. I’m sure you can all get along up until some tidy sums all find their way to your bank accounts.”
The thieves make some minor grumbles, but go silent.
“I’m not doing it for the money,” Robin relinquishes her hold on the doorknob.
“But it can’t hurt. I hear alcoholism is an expensive venture.”
Robin glares, but falls short of a rebuttal. Instead, she changes the subject.
“This isn’t going to work. I know these guys. Each one of them works alone.”
“Yeah, well money can inspire people to do an astounding number of things,” Anna grins.
Robin says nothing, waiting just long enough to make sure that Anna gets the message: “I am not impressed.” She finally walks over to her three partners—or rather, charges—glancing them over as she recalls their backgrounds.
First, Lon’qu Wei: an ex-special forces operative turned mercenary that’s taken numerous jobs over the years, some less savory than others. At the time of his and Robin’s first meeting, he was working as a retrieval specialist. An attractive man, but so freaked out by women that Robin felt surprise in the fact that Anna had managed to get close enough to him to convince him to come in the first place. She must have sent him her rates on a paper airplane.
Next to Lon’qu—though still just past arm’s reach—is Nowi Kete. A young hacker and computer genius who likes to make trouble just for the fun of it. Their last meeting had come about from a little scheme in which she’d siphoned funds from numerous Excellus Insurance holdings. As formidable as her computer skills were, remaining inconspicuous was not another of her outstanding talents. In fact, she seemed to thrive on the attention. She grins at Robin watching her, twirling some loose strands of green hair that have escaped from her ponytail.
Standing beside Nowi, sucking on a lollipop, is Gaius. No known last name, and Robin almost suspected he didn’t know it himself. The man was a flat out kleptomaniac with a penchant for sweets. As crazy as he seems, she’d never seen a better cat burglar.
Even with all of their skills, none were capable of giving Robin the slip. She has no doubt in the slightest that there are hard feelings. Eyeing them as warily as they eye her, Anna slips a manila envelope over.
“This is all the info I’ve got on Wyvern Corp’s security system. Send me the plans when you’ve got them, and you’ll see your pay shortly after. Good luck!”
Anna waves before turning sharply on her heel and jogging out the door. Robin decides to read the contents of the envelope before the awkward silence can get to her.
“So, Miss High and Mighty decided to step off her perch to get down in the mud with the rest of us thieves?” Gaius drawls, flicking his lollipop stick into the trashcan.
“I’m just doing this to help a friend,” Robin says evenly, leaving out the part where revenge proved to be a strong motivator.
“This isn’t some sort of trick where you try to get us caught in the act then turn us over, is it?” Nowi says, cheeks puffed out in another childish pout.
“I’m not an investigator anymore, insurance or otherwise,” Robin returns, tossing a page of blueprints over to Gaius, who nearly fumbles them in his surprise. “The layout looks pretty basic. There’s nothing too high tech in terms of security. Kind of strange to not have better guard over plans as game changing as Anna claims.”
“Could be a case of hiding in plain sight,” Gaius replies, eyes flicking back and forth over the building blueprints like a typewriter.
“Perhaps,” Robin steps forward slowly. “Well then, shall we get started?”
“Can you hear me alright? I’m talking to you, Lon’qu!” Nowi chirps over the intercom.
“There’s no need to shout,” Lon’qu grumbles. Robin can hear him grinding his teeth. “I am right next to you.”
“I just need to make sure!” Nowi replies. “You wouldn’t let me show you the proper way to put it in.”
“I don’t need you touching me.”
“Guys, focus.” Robin rolls her eyes. “Is everyone in position?”
“Yep!” Nowi is practically singing with excitement.
“Alright, get ready to go on my count,” Robin’s eyes narrow as she stares at the electronic layout of the Wyvern Corp building in front of her. Though she directs the team from the safety of an empty office room a building over, her heart beats as thunderously as if she were leading the charge herself. She glances out the window at the building about to be assailed, looking up to the roof as if she can see the three thieves right in front of her. “And no freelancing.”
“Perish the thought,” Gaius quips, hooking himself into the safety harness.
“But what if find a really shiny diamond just sitting there alone in a—”
“Nowi,” Robin growls warningly.
“Oh, fine,” she huffs.
“Okay, Gaius, start rappelling down on five—” Robin cuts herself off with a flinch as Gaius immediately leaps from the top of the building. She whips her binoculars up, just barely catching a dark shape free falling before coming to a stop precisely at the right window. He’s laughing to himself, obviously thrilled.
“Already done,” he says, a grin still in his voice.
“You better hope to the gods no one else happened to be looking,” Robin mutters, although she knows his dark clothes paired with the late hour make it unlikely anyone would notice unless they were specifically looking for him.
“The vibration detectors are on,” Gaius notes as he dangles in his harness, choosing to ignore Robin’s griping.
“Just go nice and easy,” Robin instructs.
“Easy for you to say,” Gaius snarks, though he is already at work applying the heated torch to cut his way in.
“You guys know where to be,” Robin adds for the benefit of Lon’qu and Nowi, but she can already hear them going in through the service exit, finding their way to the elevator shaft.
While Nowi hums under her breath, Robin takes a few steps away from the computer screen to better watch Gaius at work. With his new hole finally cut, Gaius uses suction cups to carefully remove the circle of glass. Robin cringes as he throws it over his shoulder, but there’s no time to berate him as he slips through the opening with catlike grace.
“You’ll be taking your left,” Robin says instead, moving back to the computer in anticipation of the action about to come its way.
“Already got it,” Gaius returns. “We’ve gone over this plan twenty times already. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you had no faith in us.”
“Perish the thought,” Robin says at once. Gaius snorts in response.
“How much longer, Gaius?” Lon’qu says suddenly. Robin takes that to mean they’re in position atop the elevator.
There’s immediately a rumble that Robin picks up through the com. Lon’qu’s and Nowi’s breathing both catches for an instant when the elevator they’re standing on starts its descent.
“We’re on the way!” Nowi reports.
Robin simply nods, even with no way of them seeing her. Gaius must still be setting up the equipment in the maintenance room.
“Do you have eyes on security, Gaius?”
“Yeah,” Gaius says after a pause, the grin in his voice again. Finally, a new image flickers on Robin’s computer as Gaius sends her the backdoor into the system. “Looks like another typical, boring night for them.”
“Good,” Robin nods, her mind already analyzing the new information as she pulls up more data from Wyvern Corp’s security system. “Let’s keep it that way.”
“Door’s open,” Gaius says to the other two as the elevator settles down.
Lon’qu and Nowi clamber down into the elevator car before jogging out into the basement, Nowi already pulling a keycard out of her pocket in preparation for the locked door. She already has it attached to her phone by a cord to start hacking the keypad once they arrive. She immediately gets to work, Lon’qu standing by impatiently.
“Gaius,” Robin frowns as she stares at her screen, “are you getting chatter on any of their frequencies?”
“No…?” Gaius says, suddenly uncertain. “Are you seeing something I don’t?”
“There’s eight on the duty roster, and I only see four at their post.”
“Is this going to be a problem?” Lon’qu cuts in.
“Not sure yet,” Robin replies. “Just give me a second. Gaius, can you get me the cameras?”
“On it.” Gaius is at it for a few long moments before Robin sees the new camera feeds.
“Okay, Lon’qu, this might actually be a problem,” Robin grimaces. “We’ve got four guards making their rounds early.”
“But why?” Nowi looks up from her phone, panic edging into her voice. “I thought we did all this planning to avoid this!”
“Less talking, more hacking,” Lon’qu grunts.
“Please, my phone’s doing most of the work anyway,” Nowi retorts, sticking out her tongue.
“Play offs,” Robin hits her forehead lightly with the palm of her hand. “They’re doing the rounds early so that they can catch the game.”
“Who would’ve even thought of that?” Nowi mutters with just a hint of admiration in her voice.
“That doesn’t really help us right now,” Gaius hisses.
Robin can only watch silently as the guards notice locked doors open when they should be closed. Gaius makes a displeased noise as they immediately began rushing straight towards Lon’qu and Nowi’s direction, speaking hurriedly to each other.
“Do we pull out?” Lon’qu asks, sounding far more calm than Robin feels.
“No,” Robin says at once, smothering her own concern with detached logic and backup plans. “We’re getting this done tonight. Gaius, cut off their communication. We can’t have them calling in for any backup.”
“Done,” Gaius fiddles with a few wires, smiling as he watches the guards through the cameras cringing at the new grating screech over their radios. They all struggle for only a few seconds before they resort to turning them off. Robin spares a moment to observe the guard post to see the other four guards are quick to do the same, not wanting any distraction from the ball game they already have up on one of their security screens.
“Okay, Lon’qu. They’re still coming your way. Clear them out. Use Nowi for bait if you have to.”
“Got it,” Lon’qu runs off immediately as Nowi makes a noise somewhere between a gasp and a choke.
“Why do I have to be bait?”
“Don’t worry, Nowi,” Robin crosses her arms, still watching the security cameras like a hawk as she tracks the guards’ progress. “They’re not going to get the chance to touch you.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better!” Nowi wails, holding her phone up to her face and shaking it. “Come on, baby, work faster!”
“Freeze!”
Nowi drops her phone at the new voice from outside of her com, slowly turning to face four angry guards with her hands up. Her phone dangles sadly from the cord connecting it to the door’s keypad.
“Get away from there! Slowly,” the first guard commands, gun pointed straight at her. Nowi glances at her phone, but it’s still in the middle of cracking the code.
“Aw, boo.”
She pauses with a look of confusion as Lon’qu suddenly appears from behind the guards. The one with the gun pointed at her doesn’t get a chance to ask about the weird look before one of his fellows behind him gets a strong hit to the back of the head and crumples to the floor. The other two fumble with the guns at their belts, but one doesn’t get the chance to get it out of the holster before Lon’qu judo flips him over a yard away.
The first guard whips around, trying to get a clear shot as Lon’qu grapples with the only other guard standing. Three punches in quick succession, then a kick sends the guard hurtling into the one trying to take aim. Though those two are knocked off their feet, the guard he’d flipped before tries to turn the tide by pointing his gun at Lon’qu while his back is turned. Instead, Lon’qu spins around, disarming him then following up with a punch to the face that knocks him out cold.
He turns around to face Nowi, who’d taken cover on the floor during the confusion. In smooth motions, he releases the magazine then throws it at the forehead of the last conscious guard, who to his credit still refuses to give up and was raising his gun in a last ditch effort. His head slumps and his gun falls slack in his hand.
“So that’s what you do,” Nowi gives a low whistle of appreciation, rising from her crouched position with her phone in her hand. “Janaff did his job too.”
“Who?” Lon’qu looks confused for only a moment before he goes for annoyed disbelief at the realization.
“I named my phone Janaff!” Nowi supplies even though he’s already caught on.
“Of course,” Lon’qu grumbles. “Move it.”
Nowi leads the way through the newly opened door smiling like a kid in a candy store.
“Are you guys in?” Robin presses, pacing the floor.
“Oh, we’re in alright,” Nowi gushes. “This is like the nerve center of their entire system. And it’s so old school! Just look at this old motherboard!”
“You know what you’re here to do,” Robin instructs.
Nowi makes a little “mm hmm” then goes straight to work, inserting her USB into the nearest port and pulling up the files.
“Alright, you’ve got it,” Lon’qu grunts, already making for the exit. “Let’s go.”
“Not yet. Computers automatically make multiple copies of everything stored in the system. I’m not leaving these crooks with even a crumb.” Nowi hits the last key with an air of finality. “All done, Boss Lady!”
“Okay, leave the spike.”
“Okay!” Nowi returns with infinitely more cheer. “Do your job, babies!”
“What was that?” Lon’qu asks as the mainframe goes dark in seconds. “A virus?”
“Not just one. Babies, plural!”
Lon’qu and Nowi are walking out as Gaius’s voice comes in over the coms.
“Houston, we have a problem.”
“What do you mean?” Robin frowns.
“Those guards from earlier reset all the security on the roof and upper floors. Probably to fix the extra radio noise.” There’s a crackle as Gaius opens a lollipop wrapper. “Going up’s going to be an issue.”
Lon’qu immediately starts walking away from Nowi.
“Hey, where are you going?” Nowi calls.
“Every man for himself,” Lon’qu returns flatly.
“Hey, I’m the one with the merchandise!” Nowi shakes her backpack.
“I’m the one with the exit,” Gaius cuts in bitingly.
“And I’m the one with the plan,” Robin speaks above them all. “Now listen up. I get that you children don’t play well together, but you’re going to need to deal with each other for exactly seven more minutes. Get to the elevator and head down. We’re going with the Burn Scam.”
Nowi and Lon’qu exchange quick glances before heading to the elevator, throwing their backpacks to the ground to dig in them for changes of clothes.
“Plan B then?” Lon’qu asks.
“Technically, this is G,” Robin returns matter-of-factly.
Lon’qu turns away while Nowi changes. She’s already switched from her black turtleneck to a cream blouse when Gaius meets them, stripping off his shirt with no shame.
“What’s got you so hot under the collar, Lon’qu?” he teases at Lon’qu’s tinged cheeks. Lon’qu grunts warningly.
“How many plans do you have?” Nowi asks, impressed.
“Yeah,” Gaius adds. “You have a plan F too?”
“Yes, but you wouldn’t like that one.”
“Why not?” Gaius snickers as the elevator starts going down.
“Gaius dies in plan F.”
“What?!”
“I like plan F,” Lon’qu says with a hint of amusement as he knots his tie.
“I’m ready, Gaius!” Nowi holds up the makeup bag as soon as his costume change is complete.
“You guys are going to meet a guard as soon as you walk out of that elevator,” Robin says, packing up her things. “I’ll be waiting for you outside.”
“That tickles,” Nowi whines, squirming under Gaius’s makeup brush.
“Hey, stop moving!”
Lon’qu wordlessly holds out the crutch as the elevator comes to a halt.
Robin was right. A guard walks over as they exit the elevator, Lon’qu first, then Gaius by Nowi’s side, Nowi sporting a leg brace, crutch, and a fake burn scar covering the right side of her face. The guard stares at them walking out, catching on Nowi as he finally attempts to speak.
“What are you—?”
“What are you staring at?” Lon’qu growls loudly, his whole body tense.
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Nowi grimaces with every limped step, the three of them still making for the door.
“No, it’s not!” Lon’qu shouts. “Just keep staring, why don’t you?!”
“Oh gods, I’m sorry!” the guard’s eyes flick everywhere, shuffling awkwardly.
“Let’s just get you a car and bring you home,” Gaius says, his hand on Nowi’s arm as she groans theatrically.
Lon’qu shoves the door open forcefully, glaring daggers at the security guard. Robin is pulling up in her car as the three thieves walk unhindered out the front door. Nowi passes along her crutch to Gaius as she hops in the passenger seat.
Robin waits until they’re all in the car to drive away wordlessly.
“It’s done,” Nowi says with pride.
Robin had pulled up by a park the next city over, the dashboard clock reading past one o’clock in the morning when they’d all gathered together for Nowi to send the plans to Anna.
“Good,” Robin says, suddenly sounding very tired. “The money should be sent to all of your accounts later today.”
“Hey, can we talk about how awesome we were back there?” Nowi grins, looking around the circle. “We made a really good team!”
“Yeah, well don’t expect any encores,” Gaius brings his teeth down on the lollipop in his mouth with a crack.
“I agree,” Lon’qu adds.
“C’mon,” Nowi turns to Robin. “You guys have to admit it was nice being on the same side.”
“No, we are not on the same side,” Robin says immediately. “I am not a thief.”
“You are now,” Gaius grins. “Be honest. You didn’t have even a little bit of fun straying from the straight laced white knight?”
Robin stares at him for a long moment before turning away—as do they all, each heading their own way, the job finished. Considering she will never see them again, Robin thinks, it probably won’t hurt to admit it. Last night she had shrugged off the mantle of White Knight for Black King.
And she had enjoyed it.