Disclaimer: I don't own (deep breath) Scipio, Hornet, Riccio, Mosca, Prosper, Boniface, Dotter Masimo, Venice, the basilica, the Doge's Palace (I think it's in Venice...), Italy, or it's government or orphans running around the streets. (gasps) But, I do own my people. If you steal them, you will face my wrath.
Chapter One
On with the story
"Do you have it?" Annette asked.
Cat flung her long thin braid behind her shoulder as she stared at the list. "Si, we have what we need." She patted the messenger bag hanging off her shoulder.
"Then let's get the hell outta here!" Annette whispered.
They dodged out of the store's door, and walked as fast as what looked normal, without being running.
After they were three blocks away, Annette giggled, then whooped loudly enough for many passerby to turn their heads and stare.
Cat blushed and pulled Annette into an alleyway.
"Why do you do that after everytime we steal?" Cat asked, walking past her to the next street over.
"It's my thing, the one I do after I complete a job." She said proudly, following Cat.
"Nobody is supposed to know that you were doing a job in the first place!"
"Come on," Annette looked to Cat as they walked down the empty street to the Star Palace, "Don't tell me that you don't have a thing that you do after a job. Everyone does!" Annette blew a long blonde wisp of hair out of her eyes. "Gio smokes, I woot, Jaser scratches her head--" Cat's barking laugh broke her off. She resumed, "Yeah, didn't you see that? Everytime, it's like she got fleas from the place or something."
Cat shook her head. No, she didn't have a thing, because a thing is what happens after you steal and enjoy it. That was the single big difference between her and the others.
Annette obviously loved it. It was the kind of job she had been setting herself up for back in England. One day, the Cloud family went on the first real vacation they've had in years. To Venice, the magical city with lots of water and stuff. Annette liked it so much here, she snuck off the return plane. By the time the rest of the family realized she wasn't in the loo, it was too late to turn the plane around. And since they couldn't afford to return, they didn't.
The Star Palace was more run down looking these days than it had way back. They still went in the old entrance, though. The one at the side that said, "No Admittance" in Italian. Cat found it easier to just walk in, than to pull the bell and wait for Prosper, Riccio, or Mosca to open the door. And yet, she missed the careful obsession of Scipio. Not for the first time, she wondered if she should have stayed in touch with everyone. Riccio, the hedgehog-headed one; Mosca, the rough-and-ready one; Prosper, the thoughtful one; Boniface, the adorable one; and, last, but not least, Scipio, the one that made it all happen.
Alas, she thought as they walked in the Palace, she didn't know where Riccio and Mosca were, Prosper and Boniface moved with Signora Spavento when she moved out of Venice, and Scipio... well, he's too old to hang out with them anymore.
"Honeys, we are home-ys!" Annette greeted the group.
"Took you fucking long enough." Gio hollered from the stage. Gio was the leader of the outfit, not necessarily the brains. He looked to be a slightly fat mixture of Riccio and Mosca, but with a completely different face. More mob boss than husky husband. His hair was dark brown and it stuck out at the sides and on top. "I was just about to send Verdelet to get you." Verdelet was a giant white and black mastiff that was living here when Gio moved in. He tails Gio and seems to understand human speak. A little too much to feel safe around. Cat didn't like the damned dog at all. It reminded her far too much of the Segreta Isle.
Jaser walked up to them from the bedding area where she was darning some pants.
"You got it?" She was Arabic, darkened skin and very short black hair, and her Italian was almost painful to listen to. She was also the newest one to live here, only here a couple of months. Prosper had taken up the language so much faster than her.
"Yeah, we got it." Cat said, wearily. Maybe she was getting too old for this...
"Then we got everything we need to break in." Gio said, almost happy. "Now, the entrance will be..." Ah, another of Giovanni's torrents. Cat flopped down onto her bed and prepared herself for a long day.
:Scipio paced around the table in the lounge. Well, not really a lounge. Some people actually work in this room.
Cindy typed desperately into the computer.
Scipio stopped pacing and began tapping his foot impatiently, and with great emphasis on waiting. She didn't even look up. She has been used to this treatment by fieldies for far too long to bother too much.
"Your next job is at the Doge's Palace," She said calmly.
"What am I doing there?" Scipio asked, grumpily.
"IR. Get on to the briefing room, man." She glared at him, with a look that said, Get out of my sight.
"'kay, bye." And he walked on to the next room.