nathmxnroe-blog

[nathmxnroe-blog]

parker-mehta‌:

Who wouldn’t have been surprised to be approached with a job offer whilst hiding in the middle of a fashion week a couple years into criminal retirement? And it had worked out in his favour. Life had been getting slightly stale, even then, so getting back in the game was not a bad thing for him. 

“Just don’t think too hard. I wouldn’t want you to give yourself a migrane.” Nat may have been the mastermind, but they were both more than experienced in their fields. He listened whenever she advised him, and he could only hope that she would do the same right now. While this was his first proper crew, he knew that they didn’t always hold this same sense of respect and camaraderie.

(Not yet family, not for him, but he would sacrifice for them, easily.)

“Just plan a con to get me into a Buckingham palace party, and I’ll do anything you ask. I just haven’t had the chance to do it myself yet.” It needed a bigger team, and it needed a purpose, more than just his whim. And there were probably a decent amount of people that knew his different faces - which could only be a fun challenge.

“Oh but Parker, my love, I live for migraines. They keep me focused.” She winked and raised her glass a little, laughing. She didn’t often get migraines, she tried to avoid them really. And she didn’t do all the thinking and planning either, she might have been the Mastermind but her crew helped too. She was always willing to listen to their ideas. Sometimes, they were even better than hers. Some of the best ways to approach a con are from the view point of a hacker rather than a mastermind at the end of the day.

“Buckingham Palace? That’s high stakes my friend. But consider it on the list of potential things to do when we’ve got some free time.” She smiled knowingly over at him, already turning a handful of ideas over in her head. Throwing a party would be easy enough with the right identities. And they didn’t have to steal anything per-se to do it either. “I’m sure we can find a good reason to be party planners for the Queen. I can’t imagine she keeps one of those around for very long” She laughed. “Why the palace of all places?”

Escapism | Open

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Gathering the Troops || Nat, Parker, Scout, Rhi, Athena

@parker-mehta, @scoutprewett, @rhiannon-faust, @athenaganero

The first step of any con was getting her people together, which was admittedly, a relatively easy task. A brief text message with a time and a location was all Nat needed to do to gather them. Back when they’d been in San Francisco it had been even easier, usually just a time and whatever emoji she’d felt like using that day. Today wasn’t an emoji day and the tiny conference room of a local library wasn’t nearly as cushy as she’d have liked. But they were on a time limit and honestly, Nat just wanted to get it all on the table as quickly as possible. She’d arrived first, mostly because she found she was nervous and unable to relax. Being nervous was ridiculous though, one failure does not a pattern make, but she couldn’t shake the general unease.

Armed with her coffee and a magazine she settled in to wait for the others. This meeting was going to be quick and dirty. The faster they got their hands on the goods the sooner they could get the funds. It didn’t take long for people to show up, she hadn’t expected it to really. She smiled at each of them, easily covering up any sign of her nervousness. This was the Monroe crew of San Francisco. A phoenix from the ashes. They had this.

“Our absent friend James Vincent has proposed and idea.” She looked around the room as she spoke, taking in the reactions of her team. “A little... competition you could say. And I don’t know about you lot but I, for one, am not about to get shown up.” She sniffed haughtily, if a little playfully. “We’re going to steal ourselves the Samson and Delilah. The plan is simple enough. We’re going to steal the ink copy from a private collector, replace with one of Tony’s creations, and ransom it back to them. Quick and easy.” She smiled wide. “What do you say to that?”

[nathmxnroe-blog]

rhiannon-faust‌:

There was one thing that Rhiannon wasn’t able to handle and that was down time. It made her feel uneasy. It filled her with a weird energy that nothing seemed to fully get rid of no matter how many hours she spent in the gym or how much time she spent with her boys. Oh she loved them and being able to spend days on end with them without too much concern for the world, but she knew that even Ace could only handle her for so long. It wasn’t so much an itch for another job that got under her skin so much as an itch to feel needed by her crew. 

Deciding the best course of action was to try to use the gym to work out her frustration, even if she knew it was a fruitless search, as she dropped her bag on the floor looking around the large space trying to see who had shown up that day knowing everyday there was someone new either there or missing. Today though she spotted a familiar face that caused her to raise her eyebrows. “What are you doing here?” She asked curiously.

Nat was not the sort of person that like punching and she had never been particularly good at it. That’s why she had Rhiannon anyways. But what Nat did like was exercising, especially when she felt like she was crawling out of her skin. Jame’s had a great idea but Nat was still trying to pull her crew back together after the failure that was the last con. She’d run out her frustrations and make a plan of attack as she ran. She’d only been there an hour before she was dripping in sweat and feeling almost back to normal. Almost. And the last thing she’d expected to hear behind her was Rhiannon. Granted, Nat was pretty sure of all of her people finding Rhi here would be more likely than, say, Jana. But she still jerked a little.

“Running.” She smiled. It was a pretty sad answer but Nat didn’t think she needed to explain herself much more than that anyways. Brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear Nat stepped off the treadmill and grabbed her towel, wiping down her face a little. “And what are you doing here?” She smirked, pretty sure she already knew what her answer was going to be anyways. “How’ve you been, Rhi?”

Quiet time | open

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[nathmxnroe-blog]

scoutprewett‌:

She shrugged her shoulders at the mention of learning anything from Ace. Sure, he was the best at what he did, but she didn’t really need to gain his skillset as well. And there were too many ‘fundamental principles’ behind his work that he liked to try and teach Madi that she just didn’t have the patience for.

But she couldn’t miss the sincerity and intensity of Nat’s voice at the request to relax. Since when did Masterminds want their crew to stop working as hard? Was it because she knew that she was working on Carter again, and wanted to change her direction? Or was she genuinely concerned?

“I’ll - I’ll try. Hopefully when I get back to London I can take a break?” She already have lists of things to do once she got to London, most of them related to the crew, though several were .. less than tangential. But, it would be a break by her standards at least. More than five hours of sleep a night.

“And of course. Whatever you need.” She couldn’t say anything more, couldn’t make promises she knew she would break. Couldn’t say “and the one after that”, or “forever”, or “as long as you need me”. But they both knew that.

That was exactly the response Nat wanted to see from Scout when she implied learning something from Ace. Ace was talented, sure, but Scout was more talented in Nat’s opinion. And it meant a lot that Scout seemed to think the same thing. Scout might not have the finesse that Ace did but Scout’s style was uniquely Scout. A little bit of a calling card for their less involved jobs. “If you want to take a few days to yourself when we return to London you are more than welcome to do that. It’s not like I’m going to get mad at you for it.” Nat shrugged. “As long as you come back when I need you I honestly don’t care what you do in your free time.” Unless, of course, you were causing potential havoc for the team but Nat honestly didn’t think Scout had that in her.

Scout’s reply to her question wasn’t unexpected. Nat had long ago given up on trying to get Scout’s full devotion on her side. It chafed and oftentimes made her mad but Nat would rather have most than none of her. Some day she’d find whats-his-name’s death record and maybe then she’d finally be able to call Scout totally hers. Until then, she’d take what she could get. “Make sure to keep your phone close then.” Nat stood, placing her half drunk tea on a nearby table. “I’m probably going to head back to London in a few days. Check on the rest of our people. Just sticking around long enough to make sure no one gets stolen again.”

Find Him | Open

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sebastian-lam‌:

sabina-bobrovskova‌:

Sabina wanted to scoff at the idea of James being far too busy to join them for this meeting as if herself and Nathalie didn’t have enough going on themselves, and yet they made it a priority to show up not knowing what was on the table. If James continued to be absentee perhaps the Russian would find herself much more friendly with his lackey than the mastermind himself, not that it would take much for her to be more friendly to anyone than she was to him. But her bitterness stopped in it’s track as she saw the hen in front of her. She kept her face as neutral as possible as she studied the object for a moment longer before turning her attention to the other mastermind and Sebastian. 

As much as she wanted to cut James out of the conversation Sabina knew that it wouldn’t be worth his complaining down the line. All they would hear would be how her and Nathalie took the hen and cut the Vincent crew out when she had to give both Sebastian and Mickey credit for what they pulled off. “First move though is to make sure that Mickey is protected. If they’re going to target anyone for taking the hen it will be him first, and he has earned that,” Sabina finally suggested thoughtfully flickering her gaze over to the other woman. “As for Leverage I do think it would be best to include them in the conversation. With so much on the table with them being involved we need any advantage we can get.”

Sebastian crossed his arms while observing the two mastermind’s expressions at the Hen. He caught the tail end of shock from Nathalie and nothing really from Sabina. Not unexpected. He was a bit surprised that neither of them even had to think before telling (more like ordering ) him to stay. He had been hoping to just leave, or allow them to use the space while he went back to the hospital. But it seemed like he would be here a bit longer. 

He listened to their thoughts on the matter, his own cursory thoughts not exactly happy with what they were saying (expect Sabina’s concern for Mickey, even if it was for her own gain). He wasn’t a huge fan of Leverage currently or James’ choice to pair with other crews and them.  “ I’ll be keeping a close eye on Mickey until we can relatively say we’re in the clear.” And beyond, Sebastian thought. He wasn’t going to let this enemy crew anywhere near his friend, not again. He shifted in his seat, eyes glaring at the Hen and sighing. “I agree with Sabina.  Bring them into this even if we have to give up the Hen. Hiding this from them will just make them more antagonistic towards us.”

It took a large amount of will power to not make a sarcastic comment about Fitz and protecting him. She knew a comment like that was liable to go over as well as her proposing her crew took the hen. She kept her face calm and composed, unwilling to give away anymore than she had to. “Fitz will be fine with his hitter keeping an eye on him. The less people we have hanging by his beside the less likely we are to draw attention to the fact he’s there. Unless you checked him in under his real name.” She doubted it but in the heat of the moment mistakes happened. And they could at the very least, handle that one. Maybe. She didn’t want to think about it too much really. Thinking about Fitz longer than absolutely necessary was only prone to remind her of things she didn’t want to be reminded of at the moment.

“More antagonistic?” Nat wasn’t sure there was anymore they could actually do that would make Parker any more angry at them. “We’ll contact them then. Tell them that in his escape Fitz managed to take a prize. It’s up to them what we do with said prize.” Her eyes lingered on the Hen, unwilling to let it go. To loose control of it completely. But she hadn’t joined Leverage to reap in the spoils. If losing the hen meant making them happy again then she’d do it. At the end of the day they were better prepared to help people and that’s what Nat wanted most. She pulled her phone out of her purse and put it face up on the table. “Shall we then?”

Not All Lost| Sabina, Nat, & Seb

[nathmxnroe-blog]

parker-mehta‌:

It was actually surprisingly easy, needing no visual grift, merely social engineering. Apparently, it was 80% of any hacking, so perhaps he could be doing Scout’s job as well. Though there was no way he could replicate her personality. That was too difficult for any grift.

“Please, Nat, they talk about them for weeks after any of them. I’m just surprised the majority remember them at all, outside of the headaches they get.” Parker winked at her, before taking another sip from his drink. “And I wasn’t surprised. You just - caught me on the wrong foot.”

It was a poor lie, but there was no reason for him to mix up truth and falsehood right now, and it was fun, standing at the edge of the party. They’d always both been driven by a sense of mutual respect, understanding that the other knew what they were doing in their field, and leaving them to it.

He had missed it. Having full reliance on his own skills, on other people’s skills, on the job turning out the way it should. (Perhaps this was what half the party was about. The fact that he still could.) 

“We should. Get you to stop thinking so hard about everything all the time.”

“It is amazing they remember them by the end, all things considered.” Nat agreed, taking another drink. Most of her memories of his parties were often fuzzy around the edges. The only one that was sharp and memorable had been the first and Nat hadn’t been going to that party to go to a party. There was no way she’d drink while she was trying to get Parker to work with her. “Oh?” She smiled over at him, totally unconvinced that that had been an honest answer. “That’s just how I planned it. Worked out in our favor in the end anyways, right?”

“It’s my job to think hard, Parker.” Another sip. So much for pacing. Oh well. It’s not like they had a gig in the morning anyways. “But I will admit that it is nice to have an evening off. Especially after...everything.” He shrugged, not exactly feeling the deep, dark, desire to hash out her recent failures as a mastermind mostly drunk. “Next time you get the itch to throw a party let me know. I’ll work it into our schedule.”

Escapism | Open

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scoutprewett‌:

A shrill whistle pierced the air, and Scout flinched away from the source of the noise, before remembering it was the kettle. So she busied her hands with pouring the drinks, an extra spoon of coffee in her own (there was no way she could even think about sleeping just yet), nodded at the instructions.

Nearly smiled at the thought of Ace trying to push her around.

“Of course, sure, sure.” They were all still in Paris to watch Mickey recover, probably all in the hospital, standing around with worried expressions on their face, Mickey making a joke from where he lay on the hospital bed. She had thought about going to visit, but she was the reason he had lost his gift from Athena, and if Athena was there, well, she didn’t want to face her just yet. 

Eventually, sure, in time.

(But it wasn’t just Athena was it? No, it was the hospital bed, and a person who had been found where they had once been lost, and her wounds still ached inside her ribcage, and to watch someone else healing felt like the most profound act of blasphemy)

“I’ll leave that on stnadby, and Ace is better with leaving no trace on systems, so I’ll get him to help there, and it should only take a few days, though maybe faster if we want to get back home, because I think we’ll only be able to do it while still in France. Is there anything else that you need doing, getting done, finished?”

Her words tumbled out as she tried to arrange them in her head, slipping from her grasp and landing on the floor, so she took a sip of her burning hot coffee inside, nearly choked on the heat of it.  

Nat didn’t miss Scout’s jerk at the loud noise and she felt bad about that. Sure, her and Scout didn’t exactly have a great working relationship but that didn’t mean she liked seeing one of hers wound so tight like that. She kept it to herself. She wasn’t really in the mood to give a pep talk and she doubted Scout would want to sit there and hear it either. Nat’s expression softened as Scout turned back around, smiling wistfully at her. “Perhaps you can learn something from him. Just make sure you don’t let him learn anything from you. Learning new tricks is always a bonus, right?” She smirked, eyes dancing a little. Using Ace to make Scout even better at her job sounded like a great idea to Nat.

“What I need is for you to relax Scout.” Nat held her cup gently, watching the steam rise off of it, her expression carefully guarded. “You’re working too hard again. And I don’t know if it’s because we failed to get the egg but you’ll cease to be at the top of your game if you are exhausted.” She kept her voice pointed but soft. “We lost this one. What matters is that I didn’t lose any of you.” Except for Athena, which stung just thinking about really, but Nat wasn’t ready to really lose her just yet. “This is not my first failure. It is, perhaps, the second most embarrassing failure I have suffered, but there will be other cons. Perhaps cons with less guns and crews working against us.” Her smile turned to a smirk. “And will you be with me for the next one, Scout?”

Find Him | Open

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sebastian-lam‌:

Sebastian glanced from one mastermind to the other feeling slight resentment that James wasn’t here to take care of this. They did their jobs (even if Sebastian hadn’t had the best string of luck lately) and James Vincent was supposed to do his. Instead, Sebastian was here and he gave a nod to the both of them. “James is busy,” he started, expressionless and not willing to let them see any hint of weakness. The two of them could destroy him if they wanted, Sebastian had no doubt of that. He would cover for James in this meeting and James could deal with the consequences of not being here and giving minimal directions. “However he told us to facilitate and work with you to the best of our ability.” 

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the Hen and placed it the center of the table, the early morning sun glinting across the gold and sapphire. “Apparently the other crew split the Egg and its contents while fleeing. Mickey, being as talented as he is, was able to snatch the Hen right from under their noses.” He shortly explained, shifting back to a comfortable position in his chair. “So we might have failed the job but we aren’t walking away empty-handed.” He told both of them while meeting their eyes. “I’m no mastermind so I’ll let the two of you handle this while James is away.” He said, making sure it was clear that the only reason they were getting this chance was because James Vincent was working on something else. He didn’t trust them and did not like this as he had no doubt both women would take undue credit. Mickey was the one who had succeeded and he was a Vincent, through and through.

Nat would be lying if she said she didn’t at least admire Sebastian’s resolve. He had the makings of a good mastermind so far. With a little polishing James might find himself with more competition. And one so close to home to boot. “Busy.” Nat didn’t believe it but she shot Sebastian a smile that one could almost call friendly. “He must trust you a lot to let you talk in his stead." She planed on saying more pointed remarks at James but then Sebastian plonked what Nat could only describe as the best thing she’d seen in days. The Hen. It was resplendent, beautiful, amazing. She wanted to grab it and run but she steepled her hands and leaned in to look at it more closely, careful to wipe the shock off her face. It was real, she had no doubt. But the fact James had deemed them worthy enough to share this information with put her on edge. She sat back in her chair, mind whirring.

“You’re staying.” Her voice was cool and calm and brokered no argument. Like hell she was going to let James’s mouthpiece sit out on this discussion. She would not open the door to hear him complain about not being included. “It’s not the egg but it is something. We should be careful. Once the other crew finds out what they’ve lost I’m sure they’ll be back to get it and I’ll be damned if they’re putting another one of ours in the backseat of a car and running off again. Should we hide it or should we give it to Leverage? See if that’ll soften our...friend’s opinions on the matter.” It felt a lot like groveling but Nat did want to make this Leverage thing work, she admired them, and to be totally honest, having her crew on their bad side left Nat feeling paranoid. “What are your thoughts?” Nat asked, clearly asking both Sabina and Sebastian.

Not All Lost| Sabina, Nat, & Seb

[nathmxnroe-blog]

parker-mehta‌:

He hadn’t managed to host a proper party in quite a while, perhaps twice since Nat had hired him? The colours, the noise, the flashes of peoples faces, the decadence, hedonism. All the glitz and glamour that could ever cover up the world, displayed with such revelry here. 

Perhaps Nat didn’t need another drink, but he had offered it, and seeing her relax in such a way, well, it was only champagne. “You underestimate me, really. It shouldn’t have taken me so long. I just had to kick a Chancellor of something or other out of the room, then send out invites. Not too difficult.” 

The smile on his face morphed from subtle to gentle as looked over at her, then back out at the crowd. “Reminds me a bit of when we first met, doesn’t it?”

Her smiled warmed more as she took the drink from him and tipped it towards him a little in a silent toast, gently sipping from it, forcing herself to pace. “Oh? Just a Chancellor? Must’ve pulled out one of your bigger personalities to get that accomplished. I doubt that news went over well.” She loved him for that though. His ability to take no shit when it came to getting what he wanted. “Your parties are infamous. They talked about them for weeks the last time you hosted one.” A small, albeit sharp, pang of regret hitting her, knowing she’d been keeping him far too busy to host nearly as many.

She looked away from him, scanning the crowd out of habit before settling on admiring the view in front of them. It was spectacular in every way, and Parker’s soft gaze made her feel vulnerable and exposed. “That was a party all right wasn’t it? I kind of miss having the ability to drop in and surprise you like that. Priceless, really.” She looked over long to flash a smirk at him. That was a good memory. A good moment in time where she’d felt invincible and amazing all at once. Parker was the best and she’d convinced him to come back for her. She had the world by the horns then. Now? Now it felt a little like she was barely holding on for the ride. “We’ll need to make more time for these parties more often from here on out.”

Escapism | Open

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scoutprewett:

There was a smile that looked as fake as her own facade, but it was a smile nonetheless, which was more than what she could sometimes get out of Nat. Not that she tried very hard for it, opting for that veneer of professionalism to avoid conversations from veering where neither of them wanted it to go. 

But then her smile turned sharp and Scout could feel it where it punctured under her ribcage, that question (when they both knew the answer, both knew the inevitability of it) hovering in the air again. Questioning her loyalty, questioning her decisions. (That’s all that smile could ever mean to Scout)

She folded over slightly at it, one arm wrapping protectively around her waist as she turned the kettle on, her returning smile faded at the edges. That - that was a good suggestion, and a necessary thing, and something she would have jumped on immediately.

(There was so much she did normally that just hadn’t happened yet, new aliases, plane tickets, connections, wrap up, information gathering. Did Nat know half of what she did for the crew? Did it matter when she couldn’t do it now?)

So instead she nodded mutely at the suggestion, pulling two mugs towards her from the dresser, finding a little bottle of milk from the minifridge. “Thanks.” The word faded out like a ghost in the air, so Scout tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and tried again.

“Thanks. For checking up on me. And I’ll get Ace on it right away. And can you let me know if anyone wants tickets out of Paris right now? Or upgraded service? I- I- I- can do that if necessary.” 

There were still layers she needed to dive into, but there was an information notice from London about Russian gang activity that would only take her a night to fully make her own, and then she could go back to London and deal with whatever needed to be over there, out of other people’s prying eyes.

Nat watched Scout putter around, not missing the way she seemed to curl in on herself at Nat’s less than friendly remarks. She knew she shouldn’t have been so sharp but Scout had a way of bringing it out of her, didn’t help that Nat was already in a less than pleasant state of mind. Losing the egg, losing Athena. It had taken a lot out of her. She force herself to relax more, let it go. Scout hadn’t done a damn thing to get snipped at, yet, and she would try harder not to do that to her.She didn’t need to lose another so soon.

“I don’t know if anyone wants out of Paris right now, if they want tickets they can ask you or get them themselves. I have a...feeling more will want to stay behind that I would initially like so I won’t waste your time trying to get everyone a seat.” Nat was more than aware of what Scout did for their family at the end of the crew but she wouldn’t make her do all of that work if half of them wouldn’t even give it a second glance. And Nat wanted Scout to relax, it was beyond obvious she was on edge, frayed.

“Don’t let Ace push you around.” Not that Nathalie knew Ace at all but she didn’t want Scout to be meek around him either. “Just make sure all the footage of us is suddenly...not there anymore.” She smiled. “And I don’t want you spending a week doing something the two of you can do in a few days.”

Find Him | Open

[nathmxnroe-blog]

parker-mehta:

Tokyo Fashion Week

The week after Paris

Open

It was easy to pretend like the last week hadn’t happened, easy to forget when everything was models and flashing lights and debauchery of a kind that the world had forgotten since he had been working with Monroe. Foriegn place, different food, interesting people, who cared about an egg that got lost on the backstreets of Paris when different sorts of money laundering was going on here, when the world kept running along, gaining speed as it went, new connections, new deals, new money.

He had attended a few shows, flashed different IDs to get into different VIP venues, been welcomed with a kiss or a slap - depending on the person or the reception. But the big show was tonight, invitations handed out, and people all heard the rumours of his private party happening tonight, passed down as legend or memory, and the money was aching to attend.

He had invited a few people along from the crews, admitted others more begrudgingly, left them to their own devices as he carved out whatever paths he felt like. 

And here they were, by the side of a pool of a penthouse suite in the center of Tokyo, and Parker offered over a flute of champagne with a smile on his lips. “So, what do you think?”

Nathalie had never been fond of large parties. At least, large parties where she wasn’t trying to nail a contact. She never quite sure who to be. Herself felt wrong, she was just a nobody from San Francisco. Not exactly someone interesting to talk to while you sipped at flutes of expensive champagne. And she couldn’t go around talking about her crew’s exploits considering their...less than legal ways of doing things. So it left her in a grey area, an area she tended to avoid really. But Parker had extended an invitation and she was loathe to tell him no. She respected him too much. And what better way to forget about Paris than rubbing shoulders with people too rich for their own good?

And so she found herself mingling, pretending to be someone she wasn’t in favor of being exciting, new, interesting. Half way through the evening she drifted away from her new found, giggling, air headed, friends to drift towards Parker, just seeing him made her feel a little bit better. A stark reminder of who she was. Who she wanted to be. She took his offering with a bright smile, the effects of her first few drinks softening it around the edges. “Your parties never fail to impress, my friend. But I must say, you have out done yourself on the venue. The view is...amazing.” She took a small sip of her drink, pacing herself. “I’m still not sure how you managed to put this all together in a week though.”

Escapism | Open

[nathmxnroe-blog]

sebastian-lam:

sabina-bobrovskova:

There was nothing more that Sabina wanted than to lock herself in a hotel room surrounded by alcohol, but just because the mastermind’s pride was wounded didn’t mean that her job was over. It would have been all too easy to ignore the text from Sebastian as she blocked out the world that rushed around the Parisian streets, but then she would be failing her crew a second time. Her family. And that was simply unacceptable for her. Sabina would have time later to lick her wounds and recover from failing.

Besides even if it wouldn’t mean failing once more it would leave whatever prize was left in the clutches of Nathalie, and honestly that was enough to have the Russian sliding into the car she had personally on hold for whenever she had business in Paris. She would never be caught sliding into a dirty old cab after all even after a botched job. While Nathalie’s arrival may have been without fanfare, Sabina knew that the car she drove would at least get some attention. It was worthy of drool from an average person who wouldn’t know much about cars. The look on the valet’s face was easily dismissed as she passed off the keys before heading into the hotel.

Sabina hadn’t figured that she would be the first to arrive, but it was all too entertaining for a split second to hang back and study Nathalie for a moment. “Ah, such a welcoming voice. That will make him open right up,” With little care the blonde leaned against the wall beside the door watching for it to open. She wasn’t even entirely sure that she trusted that he would be there. For her it only made sense that James would try to get something over them like this.

For Sebastian, waiting felt like an eternity locked inside his own chaotic thoughts and that the two masterminds had gotten there much too quickly. However, his own thoughts didn’t matter right now and they wouldn’t until he finally got the Hen safely into their hands. Then Sebastian could focus on the turmoil that didn’t look like it would vanish on its own. James should be here, Sebastian thought absently. James would know better than him on the right actions to take. He would never know for sure, but a small part of him wondered if they would have succeeded in this job if James Vincent had been around. 

Yet the past was the past and all Sebastian could do was this. He stood at the voices of Nathalie and Sabina, looking around one more time to make sure everything of his was away.  Sebastian didn’t want either Mastermind perceiving anything from his temporary quarters, even if it made them on guard. He was sure it was obvious he didn’t trust them but at this point, Sebastian did not care. Opening the door, Sebastian met the eyes of both Nathalie Monroe and Sabina Bobrovskova. He wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t intimidated by their presence, as both women were successful and powerful masterminds.   There was no James Vincent as a buffer, just his orders which Sebastian would follow. 

“Come in.” He stated, trying to gauge their expressions for any hint of their thoughts. He could tell neither was pleased to be here. They were all in the same boat. “Let’s sit down. Do either of you want something to drink or can we get right to business?” He inquired, letting them further into the room, the Hen growing ever heavier while on his person.

Nathalie barely spared Sabina a glance, she wasn’t worth the effort and it didn’t matter if he found her tone insulting or not. He’d called for this meeting and he’d be a damn fool to cancel because he’s feelings got hurt. The door opened quickly and Nathalie was already scanning the room, looking for something that would help her learn more about this man. There wasn’t much, if anything laying about but Nathalie easily kept the frustration over it off her face. He would be smarter than the average Joe. You didn’t work on a team like theirs and not learn how to hide. Not if you were worth your salt anyways.

She stepped warily into the room after Sebastian, easily sinking into a nearby chair, deeply interested in why he’d called them here, sans James. She waved her hand and scanned the room again. “I’m not here to make small talk, Sebastian. I would like to know what you want to talk about.” She smiled but its edges were sharp. “I have a sap treatment in a couple hours and I’d really rather not be tardy.”

Not All Lost| Sabina, Nat, & Seb

[nathmxnroe-blog]

scoutprewett:

Scout flinched at the sudden sound of Nat’s voice in the room, convinced for a second that it was in her head and that she was finally going mad, before facing the figure silhouetted in her doorway. Too many options were in front of her (again), and Scout debated whether or not she should stay curled up in a ball right here, before deciding that wouldn’t do for her boss.

So she let out a sigh and uncrumpled herself from the small space she was wedged in, cracking the bones in her back, before walking to the sink to try her best to clean her face. (She knew she had been on the wrong side of things - at least in Monroe’s eyes - had gone after the person Carter instead of the egg, which was what Nathalie had always feared from her)

She had to prove that she could stay.

“I’m working on the DGSE if that’s French enough for you? Never was too interesting in the art collection.” Her voice was surprisingly steady, despite its slight hoarseness, flat and emotionless as she tried to recalibrate to interacting with another human. 

The lights got turned on as Scout offered Nat one of the few seats in the room, before turning on the kettle for the two of them. “So- so what brings you here instead of the - the Imperial rich place?”

Nat smiled but it wasn’t very glittering. There wasn’t much happiness left in her right now. And while Scout was part of her family she had always found it harder to related to her. To open up to her. This whim to check on her? It was as new to Nat as it probably was to Scout. At least she got off the computer for her, she’d half expected her to keep her nose buried in it for the duration of her visit. She respected her for that. She closed the door behind her and perched on the edge of the chair, watching Scout putter around the little room. She looked haggard but Nat probably did too.

“Well, it is French I’ll give you that, but I’m pretty sure my Van Gogh is probably a little more tangible than what you’re looking at. I find people watching dreadfully boring when I’m not running a con.” She smiled, it’s edges sharp. “Unless you’re in the DSGE footage to erase that we were ever here. But I think it would go faster if you...” She paused, and sniffed obstinately. “Worked with the others. We covered a lot of ground. Means a lot of footage we don’t want floating around.” Not that Nat didn’t think Scout could do it, she knew she could after all, she was the best. But She didn’t want her locked up in here by herself cleaning up after the other crews too. “Get a hold of Ace. Make him help.”

“I came to check on you. And I’m hardly staying in the nicest hotel Paris has to offer.” It wasn’t the slums though. “But it does offer a free spa service and trust me, I needed some pampering, split ends are not my friends.” She laughed and allowed herself to get more settled on the little chair. “Just trying to make sure my people are all right is all. You just happened to be the first that checked in.” She didn’t require that of her people but it never went unappreciated after a con either.

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[nathmxnroe-blog]

sebastian-lam:

Location: A hotel not far from Mickey’s hospital

Time: Morning after the con

In truth, it didn’t take long for Sebastian to decide what to do with the Hen that still rested in his pocket. No matter his personal thoughts on the matter and his stout distrust of almost everyone outside his own crew, he had been decided since Mickey had been taken back further in the hospital and Seb had remained in the waiting room. 

James may not have been around for this job but his orders had been clear. Follow the other Masterminds lead and try and get along with the other crews. Work with them, even if you don’t trust them. It had been difficult. Sebastian had done what he could and even James couldn’t be too vexed with him for saving Mickey, not after he had introduced his crew as a family to Sebastian (The mastermind had to have known what that would mean to Seb, what he would do to protect them).. Besides with Mickey’s quick thinking, they weren't walking away empty-handed, even if they had failed the job.  

With a sigh, Sebastian finally picked up his phone and sent off a quick text to Sabina and Nathalie. Simple and to the point that he needed to talk to them about the job with an offer of using his hotel room as a meeting point. That it was important.

 He would follow James’ command, though every bone in his body felt wrong about it, that he was betraying Mickey’s trust in him by handing it over, especially to the other masterminds. 

Still, he had made his choice. He would deal with it.

Nat glared at her phone when the message came in. Of all the impudent things. It clearly couldn’t have been too important to James if he was using his hitter as his mouth piece. Nat forced herself to swallow the rising anger as she pocketed the phone, not bothering to ext him back. She’d come, but only because she knew he’d ask Sabina to be there. And if James was speaking through Sebastian she didn’t want them to team up against her...or for their crews to be a step ahead of hers because her pride got in the way.

And she needed a reason to stop licking her wounds anyways. They’d lost this round but at least no one was coming out of it any worse for wear. The bullet could have very well been in Fitz instead of someone else and Nat wasn’t sure Leverage would want to keep them around if they’d lost both the Egg and Fitz. She left her ritzy hotel room, a splurge to soothe her wounded pride, to head to Sebastian’s place. Of course he’d be near the hospital, Nat had intentionally picked a place further away, albeit not much more than a modest taxi fare ride away. She considered walking but hailed a cab anyways. There was little point in tiring herself out for this adventure.

She arrived with little pomp and circumstance, not even stopping to ask for what room he was in. He’d told her that much. She paused outside his door and sighed, opting to knock on the door rather than bust her way inside. If it were one of her own she might but Sebastian was an unknown and frankly, she didn’t feel like getting punched either. “It’s Nathalie. Let me in or I’ll do it myself.” Her tone wasn’t harsh but it wasn’t exactly overtly friendly either.

Not All Lost| Sabina, Nat, & Seb

[nathmxnroe-blog]

scoutprewett:

Some small hotel in the outskirts of Paris

9pm - a day or so after the con

She had escaped as soon as possible, the remains of that first night too broken to remember, then finding her way on the underground and into some small hotel with clean bedsheets and blackout curtains. A cursory message to Monroe that she was alive, then a more detailed location soon after.

(One person had gone missing. No need to add to the fear)

She was sat on the floor in the corner of the room, tucked between the bed and the wall, knees to her chest, a single laptop whirring away endlessly infront of her, dry tears on her cheeks.

At least she was breathing properly now, that sharpness in the ribs that had been present since things had started going wrong had eased away, the cotton in her lungs the moment they had started chasing Mickey melting, the stone in her stone since she had sat in the car and watched the information from Mickey’s phone blank out finally lifting.

But the tension in her shoulders from when she had panned from camera to camera to camera to camera in the Palais hadn’t gone yet. Searching and looking and trying his phone again and checking for security - look, her hands were still shaking.

(She was going through the cameras from all the available security feeds from the stores around the street corner the white van had pulled into. Catching nothing more than a license plate ditched by the side of the road five miles away. Spending twenty seven hours straight examining every frame, putting together the model of every angle possible. Missing the video where Carter was pulled into the van. Only seeing the top of a phone as it landed on the pavement just within the view of a bank camera.)

The relief of Seb’s text chiming through had left her limp-limbed in the car, all energy slumping out of her, it had mixed with the acid in her throat and left a spinning concoction that still hadn’t gone.

(Fear, ice-cold and confusing flooded through her when the police came up to her, gentle confusion on his face, offering Carter’s ID to her. ‘This is his fake ID, isn’t it? Can we have the real one please?’ Words, stuck in your throat as you tried to explain that Carter Russell did exist. That you were engaged. That he was real)

There was only space for the one laptop by her feet, but she had tapped into the French DGSE with a brutality that had improved their security when they were immediately made aware, but the backdoor she had written into their code alongside them gave her easy access. Searching their database in a vain hope that something new would turn up.

(One miracle had occurred. Couldn’t a second one?)

Hunger was a distant thought, as was sleep (you think you may have gotten a few hours that first night, though you barely remember a bed), her chin resting on her knees, eyes not straying from the progress and informational alerts that sometimes appeared, before being dismissed.

Again. And again. And again.

The only reason she’d looked at her phone after getting the hell out of that damn mansion was because it was a habit. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, want to pretend to be excited they’d found Mickey. She was relieved he was okay but she found little victory in finding him but losing the egg. They’d been hired to get the egg. Just thinking about it made her blood boil. It had been a disaster of a con and Nat was not coming out of it all sunshine and roses.  It was, however, refreshing to see that at least someone on her crew still knew how it worked. And Scout of all people too. She was going to leave her be, it wasn’t uncommon for them to go their separate ways after a con, especially after a con as taxing as this one had been. 

That lasted all of an hour. At a loss for what to do with herself but unwilling to leave Paris when so many of her own were still here she gave up pretending like the shops were interesting and instead pulled out her phone to look for Scout. Why Scout and not Rhiannon or Tony, Nat couldn’t tell you and before she could put too much thought into it she was standing outside a hotel. Nothing to gawk at and probably not some place Nat would spend her money on. But it wasn’t like she knew Scout all that well to begin with. Finding her room number was easy enough and for a moment Nat considered knocking. Instead she pulled out her lock picking kit and the door slid open easily. Hotels were so easy to break into.

She leaned against the door frame, watching Scout as she hunched over her computer. Nat was pretty sure she knew what she was doing and barely managed to hold back the exasperated scoff. “You know, I’m pretty sure you’re doing yourself a disservice by sitting like that and sitting in a pitch dark room at the same time. You’re in Paris, Scout. You should be enjoying the sights...picking your next target. I was thinking the Imperial Fritillaries. I’ve been meaning to collect more Van Gogh for my collection.” She smirked, not really serious but not really not serious either.

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[nathmxnroe-blog]

Text: Via & Rhi

Nathalie: Via. Go to the bathroom. Meet us in the basement. Look for Ace.

Nathalie: Rhi. Are you safe?