Company of thieves

AN:Hey guys! Clodagh here, and I'm back with a not so new brand new story! I say this because I've actually had it all mapped out and started working on it over a year ago, and the past few months have simply been a matter of writing filler bits in the middle! As we all know I'm terrible at not updating for months because I don't have anything written-never fear, because this entire story is completely finished, so you'll get it once a week! Seeing as it is now Tuesday we shall receive a new chapter every Tuesday! This is an AU, not set in the vampire world, just the characters! I have a massive playlist for this fanfic too, so I'll probably write a playlist chapter at the end of this fanfic, but if any songs inspired certain chapters I'll put them either here if they aren't spoilery or at the bottom of the chapter if they are! I hope you guys enjoy and please tell me what you think because this is really my goodbye to The Vampire Diaries as I don't watch it anymore and don't see myself writing any more for it. So Company of Thieves is my last hoorah! Have a great day!

SONG RECS: Run by Kill it Kid, Too Close by Alex Clare, Wonderland by Natalia Kills, and Up in Flames by She Wants Revenge.

People in their right minds never take pride in their talents."-To Kill A Mockingbird

When you're a thief, there are rules. Don't go after the same place twice. Don't contact your team for three months after a job. Trust no one. And never, ever fall in love. These are the rules.

And I, Caroline Forbes, am breaking all of them.

It was to be a simple job. A practice run, if you will. The security was lacking, the systems weren't very hi tech, and there weren't many cameras. Caroline knew for a fact that there was a game on tonight, and when there was a game on, there was a game of rock paper scissors to see who has to go patrol. After the game of rock paper scissors, bickering and bargaining ensue, lasting at least twenty minutes before they all get distracted by the game again, before realising that someone has yet to patrol. This gives a thirty minute window to get in, get what you desire, and get out of there. As long as you know which corridors they patrol in which order, have a way to get in from the roof, and are able to take out the cameras, you're fine. Caroline was sorted for this job.

She had her in.

She had the patrol plan and the floor plan memorized.

She had her escape route.

Her techy friend had gained access to the footage of that particular skylight and room, and had set it on a loop. No one would be able to tell any different, and definitely not guards who would merely glance at that screen. She had also disabled the roof sensitivity, the skylight alarm, the floor alarm and the trip lasers.

Damn, Caroline loved her techy friend. She owed that girl a takeaway.

It would be easy street.

Or at least, that's what she thought.

She managed to get onto the roof by being brave, daring and stupid by climbing up and ridiculously tall tree, nimbly tip-toeing across a thinning branch and made a leap for the rooftop, managing to swipe one arm and leg over the ledge. She grunted as she pulled herself up. She scurried quickly across the roof to the third skylight on the left, dropping her bag to the roof floor beside her. She dug around and quickly set up the harness, her hands expertly tying the required knots and levering the rope so it would be pulled taunt so she wouldn't hit the floor too fast. Leaving her kit on the ground and pulling on her black gloves and slipping her lock kit into her small tool kit tied around her small waist, and clipped herself into the harness and lowered herself down by using the remote. She stopped just short of the floor, and a voice burst out in her right ear. "Be careful here, Caroline. Swing a little to the right, there's a trick trip point on the floor where you're about to step," the voice warned. Caroline unclipped the harness and held onto the rope, swinging herself lightly. "I thought you said you'd taken care of it, Bonnie!" she whispered indignantly.

Bonnie clucked. "It's not my fault! Some systems backup and very fast!"

Caroline huffed. "Keep moving, we're on a tight schedule," her friend warned.

"Yeah, yeah," the blonde grumbled. She nimbly darted forward, avoiding the walls and artefacts'.

"Not too fast!" she friend chastised quickly, and Caroline could see her in her mind's eye, hunched over her computer and tapping furiously on the key board. Caroline halted abruptly. "Be careful, the-"

"lasers."

"What?" Bonnie asked.

"Bonnie," Caroline said through gritted teeth, "some of the lasers are back on."

Caroline could practically hear Bonnie scowling. "That can't be right, I disabled them. Unless-"

"Never mind that," Caroline interrupted quickly. "How long do I have before they all come on?"

"My guess?" Bonnie typed on her keyboard again. "Maybe six minutes, at most." There was a pause as another laser activated. "Make that four."

Caroline groaned, and rocked herself back and forth on her feet, bending over and leaning forward slightly, and her mind zoomed through her different options.

"Bon," she said slowly, "this will go by fast. We're getting a blast from the past."

Bonnie spoke exasperatedly, "Caroline, you wouldn't try-"

But it was too late. Caroline had already launched forward, on to her hand, splitting her legs in the air and twisting to avoid a particularly sharp laser. Her leg slide to the floor and she pulled herself through a low beam, then stepped carefully over one higher up just after that, narrowly avoiding her head coming into contact with a laser and blowing the whole operation. She danced, hopped and twirled her way around the beams, using routines she hadn't in so long.

She cartwheeled around the corner, to the safe zone where the valuables were. Caroline knew that the floor pressure was off, as there was already someone there, working on HER FABERGE EGG. Caroline's jaw dropped and her eyes bulged in shock as she took in the man in from of her. She could only see his back, of course, as he worked at the lock. He hadn't appeared to have noticed her. "If you're here to catch me, you aren't doing a very good job of it," the man said calmly with a British accent, it was almost cheerful, Caroline thought. Caroline huffed. All her hard work! All Bonnie's hard work! HER EGG. That was supposed to be hers! "How long did it take you?" She asked, her eyes narrowing. The man in question turned around in surprise. None of the guards on shift were women, and this voice was definitely female. He turned around, and they both eyed each other warily. He was good looking, Caroline admitted begrudgingly. Sandy blonde curls, moss green eyes, tall and obviously VERY toned...wait, no, damnit! He's stealing HER EGG. It doesn't matter if he's hot. She didn't miss him checking her out either, and then he replied. "Six minutes." Caroline furrowed her brow. "And I must say, love that was a VERY impressive show back there." Caroline glared at him, moving closer.

"That 'show' was only necessary because YOU put the lasers back up!" she snapped. "It was supposed to be easy in, and now I'm losing time, so excuse me." She barged forward towards the egg, careful to not touch the glass. "Bobcat?" she asked Bonnie, agitated. "Is it still off?"

"C, what is going on down there? I swear I didn't see him there! Someone-wait- what- someone is messing with my feed!" she cried, indignant.

Caroline whirled around to the man beside her, who was looking at her, amused. "Stop it!" she hissed at him, then spoke to Bonnie again. "Is it off?"

"Yes, it is. But be quick, we don't have long."

Moss green eyes stared at her. "Stop what, sweetheart?"

"Whoever you have messing with my feed," she hissed through gritted teeth as she pushed him out of the way and got to work at picking the lock of the case. She pressed her ear to it, waiting to hear the click. "I don't have anyone 'messing' with your feeds. I never instructed it," he replied sourly. Caroline scoffed.

"What, you can't control your people? Or they have no loyalty to you?"

The man chuckled darkly. "Something like that."

"Well, that's the difference between us," she said and grinned triumphantly as she heard the click. "The people I work with- we're loyal, and we trust each other on jobs. We can work together. I don't have to buy, bribe or blackmail loyalty, none of us do," she ranted and reached her hand into the case and held her breath as she gently but firmly grasped the egg. Caroline carefully lifted it out and grinned triumphantly, but then frowned as she examined it closer. "Wait- this isn't the real thing!" she cried indignantly, and whirled to her companion, who had disappeared. "Damnit!" she whisper yelled, hating herself for being so stupid.

"What is it?" Bonnie asked in her ear. "What's going on?"

"We were conned," Caroline said shortly. "It's over, we're out of here, Bobcat," she explained using Bonnie's nicknames. They all had them; it was safer in this business. Caroline ran her hand over her face. "All that work," she muttered angrily as she put the fake egg in the case, locking it again, and making her way back out to where her harness was hanging down from the skylight. "who are you," she murmured as she rose into the light.

In the car park, the man was muttering angrily in to his own ear piece. "Damnit, Kol! What did I tell you about sticking to the plan?"

"Sorry, Nik, I've always been a rebel, you know that," the voice boomed in his ear. "My question is-who the hell was THAT?" Kol asked. "Because boy was she flexible."

"Shut it, Batman," Klaus said irritably.

She knew he was following her. It wasn't hard to tell, his moves were sloppy, his posture, hair cut and stature gave him away. Caroline smirked to herself as she passed a jewellers, not even turning her gaze to it. She had bigger fish to fry. Her blonde curls hung around her shoulders as she turned to glance back as she entered the mouth of an alley in her favourite city, Chicago. He was there, of course, and she gave him a coy smile before entering the alley, knowing he'd follow her. She stopped about half way in, hidden from sight, and she leaned against the wall, her body arched forward.

"You were following me," Caroline stated. The man grinned lecherously at her.

"Why wouldn't I? A pretty little thing like you. And you wanted me to." Caroline giggled and he moved closer to her. "My mother warned me to stay away from strange men," she giggled playfully. The man was now a mere foot in front of her, his hands on the wall either side of her head. "Well let me tell you something, Caroline," he whispered in her ear, "they were right." At this, Caroline promptly lifted her knee and connect it with his groin sharply, shoving him back, before driving her pointed heeled boot into his shin. The man grunted, surprised, and lunged for her. What the goon didn't seem to realise, however, was that Caroline was a lot smarter, a lot more flexible and a lot more angry than he was.

Whilst he lunged clumsily, she reached up to the fire escape and pulled herself half way up, swinging her legs out to kick him in the chest, then snapping her foot up to connect with his jaw. To his credit, he simply rolled his jaw, and moved forward, but was met with a sharp shock and he crumpled to the ground just in time to see the blonde she devil slip a black rectangular object into her pocket. She strode forward and put his foot to his back and yanking one of his arms back, popping his shoulder and twisting it back painfully.

"Who sent you?" she demanded, and he remained silent. Caroline scoffed. "Listen jackass, I don't have time for this. Who sent you?"

"Maybe I came after you myself," the thug taunted, and she barked out a laugh.

"Please, you don't have two brain cells to rub together. Who sent you and how do you know my name?" she demanded forcefully.

"Oh, we know a lot more than your name, Caroline Forbes, daughter of Elizabeth Forbes, grand thief of Chicago. Miss Mystic Fall's, ex chair of the prom committee, head cheerleader. Do gooder, perfectionist, team leader, and very flexible. We know your name, your team, where you come from, where you live. So you see, Caroline Forbes, we don't just know your name. We know everything."

Caroline stood up straighter, keeping her grip on the man. He knew everything. Not many people know her actual name, fewer know where she comes from. Caroline mentally shook herself, and leaned closer to his ear. "I'm not a patient person. Now, I'm only going to ask one more time. Who is we and why were you after me?" she snapped in a cold voice. She heard his cold chuckle. "I have a message. He says he wants it back. He wants what is his back."

"Who? Who wants it back?" Caroline asked desperately, not knowing what he was talking about.

"Big Vinnie, of course!" the man said joyously. "Vincent Moroney. Ring any bells, sweet cheeks?"

Caroline huffed. "I don't have IT, whatever it is. I can't help you there."

The man tutted. "The boss ain't gonna like that, girlie. He ain't gonna like that at all," he warned.

"Well you can tell 'Big Vinnie' that I don't have what he's looking for," she said flippantly, "and I'm not scared of him."

The thug whistled lowly. "And that is your mistake, Blondie." Caroline bristled, that name sounded so foreign coming from this strangers lips. "Okay, we're done here," she snapped, and quickly pressed the taser to his side again and slipped away, leaving him convulsing on the ground. Once she was out of range and far enough away, Caroline pulled out a phone and hit speed dial.

"Stef?" Caroline asked in a small voice as she strode down the street, "Can I stay with you tonight? Something happened, we need to talk." With that, Caroline shut the phone, tossed it into her bag and shoved her hands in her pockets, bracing herself against the harsh Chicago Autumn winds.