Disclaimer: I don't own O11 or anything therein or thereabouts or therefore.
A/N: InSilva is meeeen.
A/N2: Set shortly after O12. Not verse specific...take your pick. No, not Dominoes.
As far as Isabel could see, tonight couldn't possibly get much worse.
She had to figure that this might just be the most boring stake out of all time. They'd got a tip that Paul the Pony was making his latest deal in the apartment above a coin shop, and for the last three nights they'd had every coin shop in Los Angeles staked out.
This was deadly dull. And of course, being the new girl, she'd been assigned to the least likely option. It took time to prove herself, especially since her references from her old work had been mixed at best.
Not to mention that she'd told Robert and Danny that she was looking for a man named Paul the Pony and she'd thought for a while that the name might just actually kill them. It was probably a good thing that Tess hadn't been in the room. Or Linus. Actually, especially Linus. She'd never met a man who blushed that easily before.
Still, she was sort of glad that Danny happened to be visiting this week. This was the first time since they'd been back together that she'd had a case that took her away from home for several nights in a row. Not that she thought that Robert would have any trouble keeping himself entertained...actually, that was kind of the problem. But it was all still so new and she didn't want anything to ruin it. Women cops and long term relationships just didn't tend to mix.
Of course, there was nothing about their relationship that was conventional.
Maybe she should take comfort in that.
On the other hand, right now her debatably-wonderfully unconventional boyfriend was at home with his criminal mastermind partner. If she was lucky, she'd get back to find they'd eaten all the cookies. If she was unlucky she'd get back to find that they'd left a note saying they'd gone to steal the Golden Gate Bridge.
That thought definitely was not a comfort.
"Wait, what's that?" Ramirez said suddenly, jolting her out of her thoughts.
"Is it the Pony?" she asked intently, joining him at the window.
"I don't think..." He shook his head incredulously. "Is someone trying to break into the coin shop?"
That's what it looked like. Certainly, someone appeared to be squeezing their way through the door grille. "Someone's having a really unlucky night," she said with a grin. Here, at least, was some action. "Come on."
She sprinted downstairs, hardly waiting to see if Ramirez was following, and ran across the street and neatly kicked the door open. "Police! Freeze!" she yelled.
The man paused, standing next to the alarm system he'd obviously just deactivated. He raised his hands and turned slowly to face her.
Okay. Clearly she'd been wrong. Tonight could get a hell of a lot worse.
"Shit," Yen muttered angrily.
The phone was ringing and Rusty figured that at this time in the morning that was both cruel and unusual.
"Answer it," Danny mumbled from the other side of the room.
He sighed. Probably good advice. It was the room phone, and that meant that it had to be one of his staff. No one else knew they were in the Standard tonight, after all, so anyone else would have called his cell.
Actually, even he wasn't exactly sure why they'd wound up here. He and Isabel had a nice place on the beach, just outside of town, but somehow, after the movie, he and Danny had headed to his suite in the Standard for more movies and room service and...oh. Yeah, that was probably it.
He grabbed the phone. "Yeah?"
"Mr Ryan?" Lea. Who was MoD tonight. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but you said that you wanted to know if he called again..."
Rusty was awake in an instant. "He called tonight?"
"Twice so far," she answered.
Huh. "I said you should get me the minute he called."
"Katie was on the front desk, and she didn't want to disturb anyone," she explained, sounding nervous.
Right. Katie, who was all of twenty-one and probably wouldn't have the nerve to say boo to a goose, if that particular situation ever became necessary. His mouth tightened. "I'll be right down," he promised.
He got out of bed and dressed hurriedly, throwing a selection of clothes at Danny while he was at it. "Come on," he said impatiently.
Danny sat up, blinking heavily, but got ready without question. In fact, it wasn't until they were waiting for the elevator that he got round to asking "So where are we going anyway?"
"We're going to put the fear of God into a pervert," Rusty told him cheerfully.
"Huh." Danny thought about that for a few minutes. "Sounds like fun."
The elevator arrived. "So why would anyone say boo to a goose anyway," Rusty asked.
"To scare it, I guess," Danny shrugged.
Rusty shot him a look. "You can think of a lot of uses for a scared goose?"
"They say they're good watchdogs," Danny said thoughtfully.
"Good watchdogs aren't scared of someone going 'boo'," Rusty pointed out.
"Maybe fear makes foie gras taste better?" Danny suggested.
Rusty shuddered. "Nothing makes foie gras taste good."
"Philistine," Danny accused amiably as the elevator arrived and they got out.
"Goose-scarer," Rusty answered promptly.
Lia and Katie were both trying not to stare. He didn't mind at all.
"So how long's it been?" he asked, heading over to the desk.
"About five minutes since the second call," Lia told him.
"He's been calling a couple of times a week for the last three weeks," Rusty explained to Danny. "Waits until a female voice answers the phone. Then he keeps calling back, about every ten minutes." He didn't bother telling Danny the sort of things he said. Not like Danny couldn't read the fury. Not like Danny didn't have an imagination.
"I take it he won't be calling back after tonight," Danny said with a smile.
"That's the plan," Rusty agreed. He turned to Katie. "You holding up okay?"
She nodded, and to her credit she wasn't actually crying. But her hands were shaking enough that she was in imminent danger of spilling her mug of tea.
"If you want to head home, that's alright," he told her. He meant it. He didn't pay her to take that kind of abuse.
She shook her head quickly. "No, uh, I mean, I'm okay, Mr Ryan."
Sounded determined enough. He could respect that. He smiled. "You want something a little stronger in that tea?"
"Um..."
And that would be a 'yes-but-don't-make-me-say-it'. He turned to Danny with a silent 'You mind?'
"Of course not," Danny answered, heading swiftly towards the bar.
Lia blinked. "Your friend has a key to the bar?"
No. No, he didn't, and that was supposed to matter. He quickly threw Danny his own set of keys and ignored the amused look that came his way. He was supposed to be a legitimate businessman, damnit.
The phone rang just as Danny came back with a bottle of brandy.
Unidentified number. This would be it.
He picked the phone up quickly. "Hello, this is The Standard, how may I help you?" He modulated his voice, made it rich and soft and breathy, and by the look on Lia and Katie's face, he sounded enough like a woman to pass muster.
He really, really wasn't looking at Danny right now.
"Oh, I need your help," the voice moaned. Male. Sort of nasal. Interspersed with an unpleasant grunting noise. "I need your help real bad. It's so hard."
Right. He kept a careful eye on his watch. "What's so hard?" he asked, trying to sound innocent and seductive at the same time. He had to keep the guy talking for a minute.
He leaned back against the desk and listened to the stream of filth and threat, and this was what Katie had heard. And Bethany and Consuela on previous occasions. His smile was tight and it was probably a good thing that the guy didn't need any encouragement to keep going. "Me. I'm hard. You make me hard, you little bitch. I'm right outside. I can hear you breathing. I'm going to come in there and rip off that little skirt and shove you face down on the floor and I'm going to fuck the shit out of you."
It took him a while to get all that out. The words were well punctuated by grunts and moans and heavy breathing. And by the end of the little tirade, Rusty could hear flesh slapping against flesh.
This guy made him feel unclean just living on the same planet.
One minute three seconds. "Uh huh? Keep telling yourself that," he said in his normal voice.
"What the...?" The guy spluttered and hung up.
Right. That was stage one dealt with. And, by the look on Danny's face, Danny had heard enough of all that to make him just a little bit overwhelmingly angry.
"What now?" Danny asked conversationally.
Rusty grinned and held up the little bundle of wires leading between the phone and the computer. "Now we see exactly where Mr Charming is right now."
"Huh," Danny inspected the wires solemnly. "Livingston?"
"Livingston," Rusty confirmed. He'd explained the problem and Livingston had been only too happy to help. Now, all he had to do was run the search on the trace the computer had just made and...
Danny nodded. "So on a scale of one to ten, how illegal – "
" – about forty," Rusty said easily. He quickly glanced over at Lia and Katie. "Seriously, you want to be somewhere else right now, that's not a problem."
They both shook their heads. "You gotta be kidding," Lia snorted.
"Well, alright then." He grinned at the computer. Oh, he really owed Livingston a favour right now. He dialled the number.
After a couple of rings, the guy answered. "Uh, hello?"
Right voice. Even sounded out of breath.
"Good evening," he said pleasantly. "Am I addressing Mr Frederick Hertz?"
"Yeah, that's me," Hertz said belligerently.
"Mr Frederick Hertz of 3832 Creekside Lane, Los Angeles, CA 90017?" he persisted.
"...yeah." And Hertz was at least sounding apprehensive now.
"Mr Hertz," he went on, and his voice was very, very soft now. "I know your name. I know where you live. I know where you work. I know your social security number and I know how much you filed in taxes last year. Do you doubt that I know all this?"
"N...no," Hertz gulped.
"Good." He let the cold smile shine through in his voice. "Now. If you call my hotel and abuse my staff again...do you want me to call the police?"
"Um..." Obviously Hertz was struggling to find the right answer.
"Yes," Rusty told him. "The answer you're looking for is yes. You do want me to call the police. Because the alternative is that I don't call the police. The alternative is that I come find you and we explore more...direct...methods of dealing with the problem. Would you like to know what those methods are?"
"No!" Hertz yelped at once and by the sound of things he'd never been so scared in his life. "Oh, god, no, I'll never do it again, I swear, I swear."
"Well, alright then," he said slowly. "But remember. I know who you are."
He hung up the phone. Really, he doubted that Hertz would call back. But somehow, he wanted a little more insurance on the matter.
Lia and Katie were both staring at him like they'd never seen him before.
He grinned reassuringly. "I watch a lot of movies," he said, as if that was any kind of explanation.
They accepted it as if it was.
"Show's over, guys," he said, stretching. "I don't think he'll call back, especially not tonight, but call me if he does."
"Of course, Mr Ryan," Lia nodded. "Would you and Mr Ocean like breakfast delivered tomorrow?"
Oh, that sounded good. "About eight? Thanks, Lia."
"I bet you're sorry you ever moved out," Danny murmured as they headed back to the elevator.
"There are compensations," he pointed out with a fond smile.
As if on cue, his phone started playing 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic'.
That was...Isabel was supposed to be working right now. And a phone call in the middle of the night was rarely a good sign. He swallowed hard in sudden fear.
Danny's hand was on his arm as he answered.
"Robert?" She was barely speaking above a whisper. "Robert, I just arrested Yen."
Huh. Well. That was different.
"Was he doing something illegal?" he asked with interest. Danny was frowning and he quickly mouthed 'Yen's been arrested' and watched the mix of amusement and concern dawn.
"You think I'm going to arrest him if he wasn't?" Isabel shot back.
He could point out that technically speaking a few months ago she'd arrested him for waiting in line, but that seemed kinda churlish. "He okay?" he checked, because even though he was sure she would have said he still had to be sure.
"He's pissed off," she told him, and he could hear the grimace in her voice.
"Don't worry," he assured her. "That's completely normal."
"He was breaking into the coin shop below the apartment we were staking out."
Oh, that was just flat out unlucky. And he could hear the question in her voice and it needed answered right away. "Didn't even know he was in town," he said. "I'll get down there with some bail money as soon as – "
" – he hasn't been processed yet," she interrupted tightly. "We were on a stakeout, we're supposed to debrief before dealing with any other business. It would be a lot more convenient if he just...vanished."
Huh. That would save Yen from a warrant for his arrest when he undoubtedly failed to show up for his court date. Would make it much safer for Yen to spend time in California all round. But still... "You sure?"
"I'd quite like it if your friends didn't hate me, Robert," she explained, sounding exasperated.
He smiled. "Huh. I think that might be the most romantic thing you've ever said to me."
"Uh huh?" He could picture her standing there, rolling her eyes. "Remember, I've seen what happens to people your friends don't like."
He frowned. Underneath the light and the banter there was just a hint of genuine insecurity and he hated hearing that. It really wasn't her. But he supposed he could understand why, and that hurt.
"Isabel – " he began softly, and Danny hearing the change in tone carefully moved away.
" – not now, Robert," she interrupted quickly.
Yeah. She was at work and he was talking to her on his phone. "Later," he agreed. They'd talk later. And they would. A beat, and his voice was upbeat and unconcerned. "We'll take care of it. And, actually, there was something I wanted to ask you..."
"You're trading favours with your girlfriend?" She made a tutting noise with her tongue. "That's low, Robert."
He grinned. "Oh, don't worry," he assured her. "This is something you'd want to do."
"Really." She sounded a little sceptical. "Well, I'm intrigued."
He smiled and started talking. When he was finished, he hung up the phone and Danny was looking at him expectantly. "Yen?"
"Yen," he agreed. "We've got a jailbreak to plan."
Isabel stared down at the phone in her hand disconsolately. When she was actually talking to Robert it was easy. He made her smile, he made her laugh...he was the best times she'd ever have, wrapped up into one amazing man. She loved...no, she wasn't going to let herself think like that yet. Not again. Once bitten, twice shy. She loved the way he made her feel, and that should be enough for now. But she still couldn't help but wonder just how easy she was to walk away from.
Sometimes she wondered what her place in his life really was, and just how much it was worth.
Oh, not all the time. Definitely not all the time. But times like now, with his friends on side and her on the other? She had to wonder which way she'd jump. And she wondered if he'd have taken the news quite so calmly if it had been Danny in the coinshop.
She wasn't jealous of Danny. Not in that way. Oh, maybe for a brief moment when she'd first seen them actually together, relaxed and talking and unaware that there was anyone else in the world...well, she'd be lying if she said she hadn't wondered. But she wasn't an idiot and she was still alive because she had the instincts of a detective, and part of that was understanding people. An hour or so of observing, and she knew there was nothing there for her to be jealous of.
Nothing, that was, except a lifetime's worth of history, an invisible, unbreakable bond, and enough love to keep Hallmark in business for several decades.
Not that she was ever going to make him choose. She hadn't needed Tess to tell her that. If it came to it, she didn't even want him to choose. She liked Danny just fine and the last thing she wanted was to chase Robert's friends away.
Danny wasn't the issue here. This was all between her and Robert.
And the other part of it...he was a criminal and she was a cop and this wasn't West Side Story. Oh, she didn't have any moral problems with what he did. She never truly had. She'd built a career investigating master thieves, and she knew all about marks who could take care of themselves, and marks who deserved everything they got. And truthfully, even when she'd been at the height of her career, she'd felt more admiration than condemnation.
She was fine with what Robert did, but it was her duty to arrest him.
Not that she was working those cases anymore. A change of focus had seemed best, not least because she'd wanted to avoid arresting anyone she knew.
Look how well that had turned out.
God, was she fooling herself here? Could this ever work? Did Robert even want it to?
She sighed; she had to think about this later. Right now she had to go listen to Henderson spend half an hour explaining how once again there was absolutely no sign of Paul the Pony and that his nonappearance was clearly all their fault and they were completely useless, before Rattray got up to speak and told them that they mustn't be disheartened
Fun times. Still. After that she'd go deal with the favour for Robert. And, naturally, he'd been one hundred percent right. She did want to. In fact she was looking forward to it. Huh. She'd be willing to bet that Ramirez would be happy to help if she asked.
And, somewhere in the middle of all this, Robert was going to break Yen out of the holding cell. Because she'd asked him to.
Didn't matter how she tried to compartmentalise, clearly one of them had made a choice.
Half an hour and the bare minimum of effort later and they were leaning against the wall outside the Barrington Hotel, just waiting.
"So, Isabel," Danny began casually.
Rusty didn't look round. "Yeah."
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Danny nod. "She's – "
" – no. More...wary," Rusty corrected. "What comes of me walking out of her life and not calling for four years." No matter how secure you are, that sort of thing left a mark.
There was a long pause. "Yeah," Danny agreed at last, his voice just a little more neutral than it should have been..
Rusty winced inside. Yeah. He hadn't meant that as an accusation. He shot a quick glance of understanding and apology and Danny accepted it with a wave of his hand.
"I guess I'm not the most reliable of boyfriends," he said with a tight smile.
"You came back," Danny pointed out quietly.
"I left," he answered. "Not to mention..." He shook his head, carefully not looking at Danny. Not to mention that she maybe hadn't fully understood what she was signing up for. Back in Rome, in the beginning, it had just been the two of them. Nothing complicated. No network of people who relied on him. No one else who got his time, his love. No one else he would die for. No Danny. It was a hell of a thing to get used to.
Danny grimaced. "You want me to – " he offered unhappily.
" – no," Rusty said firmly. Not that.
"Just for a while," Danny argued reluctantly. "Just until things settle down."
"Uh huh." Rusty turned to look at him. "You want to think about what she'd say when she figured out what we were doing?"
"She might not..." Danny began, then he trailed off. "She would."
"Oh, she would," he nodded. He had absolutely no trouble imagining the expression on Isabel's face if she figured that he was avoiding seeing his friends to make her feel more comfortable. Something to be avoided at all costs. He sighed. "You know, I always figured that once you've got the girl, the next bit's supposed to be easy."
"Mmm." Danny looked at him. "I have no idea what you were basing that on."
He thought for a few moments. "Disney," he said at last, decidedly.
"Think you might be basing your life on the wrong movies," Danny told him, grinning.
He shrugged. "Long as it's not – "
" – Brazil," Danny nodded, and a moment later they fell in a step behind as Turk, Virgil and Linus trailed out of the hotel, arguing bitterly.
"I told you we should have used the back way," Turk said.
Virgil sighed. "If we'd used the back way, don't you think the cops would have been watching that too? It was just a bad plan."
"I didn't know they were watching us," Linus protested defensively. "I don't even know why they were watching us."
"They weren't watching you," Danny told them calmly, and Rusty watched, amused, as the three jumped about a foot in the air and whirled round to face them.
"Oh, God," Linus groaned.
"How did you find us?" Turk demanded.
"The usual way," Rusty said with a shrug.
"Your girlfriend just arrested Yen," Linus pointed out accusingly. "Again."
"And then she called Rusty," Danny said calmly.
"And then she called me," he agreed.
"And we're going to get Yen out – "
" – before he's arrested – "
" and then – "
" – well, problem solved," he nodded.
Linus wasn't looking exactly convinced. "But she arrested him," she said again.
"He'll get over it," Rusty said with a shrug. And that might be just a little more optimistic than he really felt.
"Sure," Turk nodded. "Just as soon as he's punched you out a couple of times."
Virgil rounded on him. "You think Yen could take Rusty in a fight?"
"Definitely," Turk said.
"Oh, you've lost it," Virgil said, shaking his head. "You've finally lost it. You're talking out of your – "
" – fifty dollars," Turk said insistently.
"Done," Virgil said promptly.
Rusty exchanged a long look with Danny. Apparently he was going to wind up in a fistfight with Yen now. It was shaping up to be an odd sort of night.
It was getting close to dawn when they approached Creekside Lane.
"You going to tell me how you actually got his name and address?" Ramirez asked from behind her. "You're not telling me the guy was so dumb he didn't block caller ID?"
"I told you I didn't ask," she said, and that was the truth. She hadn't had to ask. She'd been there when Livingston and set everything up and she'd approved completely.
Ramirez chuckled. "I think I might love your boyfriend, just a little," he said.
Mmm. He wasn't the only one. Just like she'd figured, Ramirez had been only too happy to get involved. He had a wife and three daughters. If he was any more chivalrous he'd probably slap Hertz in the face with a glove.
"Let's do this," she said firmly, knocking on the door.
She had no doubt that whatever Robert had said to the guy would be enough to prevent the guy from calling the Standard again. Much to her surprise, Robert took his responsibilities to his hotel extremely seriously. His expression, after he'd first been told about the obscene calls had been one of tight and intense fury. And, in spite of everything, she had to admit to being just a little but flattered that he trusted her enough to let her see that.
At any rate this wasn't about making sure the bastard didn't pull this shit on the Standard again. This was about making sure he didn't pull it anywhere again.
A couple of minutes and the door swung open slowly and a woman was standing there, looking at her with a hint of aggression in her eyes. "Yeah?"
"Mrs Louisa Hertz?" she checked with a polite smile, flashing her ID quickly. "We're looking to speak to your husband, William Hertz? Is he available?"
Ten minutes later and they were standing in the hallway watching the argument rage.
Hertz had looked terrified when he'd seen them. And, if anything, he'd looked relieved to find out they were official.
His wife on the other hand hadn't been in the slightest bit relieved to hear that he'd been making unpleasant phone calls. Apparently it wasn't the first time. Isabel couldn't help but feel sorry for her, but the thing was, if it was her, she'd want to know.
Now they were just here in order to make sure the argument didn't spill over into anything nastier. And to take a certain amount of pleasure in the moment when Mrs Hertz pointed stiffly upstairs. "Pack your bags and get the hell out of my house," she demanded. "I am through giving you any more chances."
His expression hangdog, Hertz obeyed. Ramirez went with him to make absolutely certain he was planning on leaving.
"Do you have someone to call?" Isabel asked gently. It had been a long time since she'd worked anything that got her routinely exposed to domestic incidents. That didn't mean she'd forgotten how to act like a human being.
"Yeah," she said, with a wan smile. "My sister will come over, if only to say 'I told you so'." She sighed. "Let me tell you something, dear. Don't ever believe a man will change for you. He won't. Lying shits, the lot of them."
Her words stayed with Isabel long after they'd escorted Hertz from the premises.
"Thank your boyfriend for me, will ya?" Ramirez said gleefully. "It's been too long since I got to do anything that righteous. Did you see the look on that slug's face when we showed up? What the hell did your boyfriend say to him, anyway?"
She smiled absently. "I didn't ask," she told him again.
"There's a guy with style," Ramirez added wonderingly. "You hang onto him."
She would if she could.
"You worried about the wife?" Ramirez hazarded. "I wouldn't, she seemed tough. And you can't honestly say that she wouldn't be better off without that sick loser."
Yeah, Isabel was inclined to agree. And that wasn't what she was worrying about.
Was she asking Robert to change for her? She wasn't asking him to give up his work or his friends. All she was really asking was that she was part of his life too and that he was part of hers.
Hell, he was the one who'd come back. After four years she'd almost got past the point of missing him. Certainly she'd always been completely capable of living without him.
(It was just that she didn't want to. It was just that trying hurt.)
"It's getting late," she told Ramirez. "Early," she amended, glancing towards the lightening sky. "Don't know about you but I'm thinking it's time to head home."
She really wanted to know how everything had gone with Yen. And she wanted to tell Robert about Hertz.
Most of all, she just wanted to see him. It had been a long night.
As ever, walking into somewhere looking like you know exactly where you're going had served the trick and he, Danny and Linus barely had to wave a piece of paper at the front desk sergeant before they were being waved onto the cell block.
Of course, it helped that the twins had managed to get through half an hour before and deposited the gas canister into the ventilation system.
Right now it probably smelled like a skunk had crawled in there. And died.
He was glad they had masks. Helped with the whole not-being-recognised part of the deal too.
Of course, the cops and the prisoners didn't have any masks and they were on the receiving end of several baleful stares. Yen was glaring the hardest. Rusty really wouldn't like to bet whether they'd been recognised or not. Huh. Turk and Virgil might just get to see that fight after all.
He looked carefully above the cell. Yup. Just like he'd thought. Air vent ran all the way along the ceiling there, clearly unreachable from floor level. Not to mention there wasn't any grille or access panel in the cell. And the equipment they'd brought in with them wasn't large enough to conceal a person anyway.
Long as the cops were focusing on those factors they'd be fine.
Without even glancing at Yen, they headed upstairs and Rusty gazed at the entrance to the air ducts, not letting his unhappiness show. To Linus, at least.
"Tight fit," Danny commented helpfully.
Uh huh. "Think we need a greaseman to get back our greaseman," he suggested.
"But it's not a problem, right?" Linus said anxiously.
"Nah." He flashed a brief grin. "Go get in position."
He vanished. They stood around for a couple of minutes, giving him time to get in position. No point in unless the distraction was in place, after all.
"Maybe you need to figure out what she wants to know," Danny said quietly.
"Uh huh," he said, resigned but not surprised. They'd never really got the hang of not-my-problem, after all.
Danny looked at him. "Have you even told her – "
" – you think it's that simple?" he asked, eyebrows raised.
Naturally, Danny was undeterred. "Three words, Rus'. I'm sure you can manage them if you really put your mind to it."
He sighed. "And you didn't – "
" – I did persuade Tess to marry me," Danny pointed out. "Twice."
Mmm. He nodded. "And that took a lot of effort," he agreed affably.
Danny pursed his lips. "You know, maybe you should just – "
" – one step at a time," he answered quickly, diving into the ventilation duct before Danny could finish that sentence.
Danny's laughter followed him all along the tunnel until he was right above the cell block.
As he'd already established there was no grille or anything there. There was however a joining section between two pieces, and if he'd turned onto his side and – ow – bang his shoulder against the top of the shaft apparently, he could unscrew it here and here, and now if he just undid the final screw, it would fall open a fraction.
First of all, he had to make sure no one was looking. With a certain amount of wriggling around, he managed to get to his phone and send the text to Linus.
A second later and there was the sound of screaming, pounding feet, and general pandemonium.
He grinned and undid the last screw.
Yen glared up at him and he shrugged and then, as he watched, Yen sprinted silently across the cell, leapt up with one foot on the wall, throwing himself higher up into the top corner, then springboarding backwards across the room, his hand outstretched.
Rusty just managed to catch him. Which was good. He seriously doubted he'd have ever heard the end of it if he'd let Yen fall.
Not that that seemed to impress Yen much. "Shit," he said accusatorily.
Rusty shrugged. "We got you out," he offered.
Yen's expression didn't change.
Uh huh. Maybe they should just get out of here.
He made his way back down the shift quickly to where Danny was waiting with the case, and with ill grace, Yen folded himself up and slipped inside.
"Let's go," he said.
Getting out before they noticed the empty cell was kind of a given.
Fortunately the main floor was still full of people milling around and frantically trying to get away from the skunks that Linus had surreptitiously released.
"Can't you do something?" the desk sergeant demanded shrilly, from atop his desk.
He shrugged. "Call animal control?" he suggested.
"Animal control," Danny nodded. "Definitely."
"Yeah...sorry," Linus added, following them out.
It was about dawn. He groaned. "We're gonna miss breakfast," he told Danny sulkily.
Danny didn't look too bothered. "I'm sure you've got something at your place."
Huh. He considered that. "Whisky?"
"Whisky," Danny agreed. He looked over at Linus. "Fetch Turk and Virgil, will you?"
Looked like he was hosting a party.
Isabel wasn't at all surprised when she got home to discover that Yen, Turk and Virgil Malloy and Linus were visiting. She'd figured it was unlikely that Yen was pulling whatever he was pulling by himself, and she'd believed Robert when he said he hadn't known what Yen was doing, and that left the likelihood that some of the others were involved.
The moment she walked into the room, Robert was holding out a cold beer and a piece of coffee cake. She took both gratefully and smiled at him. "Cake?"
"'s breakfast," he explained with a shrug.
She supposed that made sense. Cake and beer for breakfast. Well, after the night she'd had it sounded like a fantastic idea.
That was the thing about living with Robert. There might not be milk or laundry detergent when she needed to put her hands on it, but there would always be her favourite brand of beer in the fridge and cake in the cupboard. And mostly she could live with that.
She flopped down onto the sofa beside him and resisted the urge to curl in close to him. There were rather too many people in the room for her to be completely comfortable with that.
Yen was sitting on the chair in the corner, glaring at her. She glanced over and sighed. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "I didn't exactly have a choice."
The answer was long, involved and unhappy and made her wish that Chinese was one of the languages Dad had insisted she learn growing up.
"I'm sorry," she said again, slightly more sharply. "And I'm glad that you got out okay at least."
That led to another stream of Chinese, this time directed at Robert and Danny.
Robert caught her enquiring look. "There were skunks," he explained. "And a stink bomb."
"Oh." Her eyes widened and she made a mental note to avoid going nearthe whole building for a week or two.
Yen's diatribe got a little louder.
"I don't think that's entirely fair," Danny protested mildly.
"Would you rather be in jail right now?" Robert added.
"Shit," Yen muttered, and really he didn't seem any more annoyed at her than he was at them, or Linus, or himself for that matter.
"So how did it go with Hertz?" Robert asked with a smile.
She grinned back at him. "His wife kicked him out of the house. I don't think he's going to be making any more obscene calls."
"Wait, what's this?" Virgil asked, and of course Robert had to tell the story from the beginning, and she took over when it got to her part, and there was approval and amusement by turn, and even if she was still technically on the other side, even though she'd arrested one of them, she still felt accepted. And then she was listening to the story of the great jail break, and laughing at all the right moments and she could see Linus and the twins relax as they realised how much she'd been cheering them on.
It didn't make a difference to Robert and Danny. She already had their confidence. Or maybe she had Robert's and Robert had Danny's. And maybe that didn't make a difference either.
"You're not going to get in trouble, are you?" Linus asked anxiously. "You know, for Yen vanishing?"
She smiled slightly. He really was very sweet. "No," she assured him. "We'd already handed him off to the LAPD. Right at that moment in time, he was nothing to do with me. And they only had him on a trespassing charge anyway. It's as embarrassing as all hell for them, but they'll work on making sure it doesn't get out and they don't even know who he was." She caught Robert's eye and they shared a moment of silent understanding. In spite of her words, they'd keep an eye on the situation. Just to be sure. He wasn't about to let her get into trouble for this, and that was more than sweet.
When he looked at her like that it was difficult to keep a hold of her fears.
It was much later and Danny had gone home to Tess, and Linus, Turk, Virgil and Yen had gone to further investigate the coin shop after Isabel had assured them that it was only being watched at night, and now they were just hanging around the house, relaxing.
Isabel was getting changed after her bath, and Rusty was lounging on the bed, ostensibly checking over the staff rotas for the next week. Really, he was figuring out exactly what he wanted to say. He didn't get this sort of nervous before he robbed banks.
"There's no end to this stake out in sight," Isabel called from the bathroom in Italian. When she'd been a kid, her Dad had insisted they speak different languages at different times at home, just to keep in practice. Sometimes the habit stuck. He wasn't completely sure she was always aware she was doing it and he found that more than a little endearing. "If you ask me, the Pony isn't going to show. Somehow, he's onto us and the odds are good he's skipped town. But Henderson won't listen to me."
"Maybe you need to do some digging on your own?" he suggested.
"I've thought about it," she agreed with a sigh. "But it's a little early to be sneaking around behind the boss' back."
"Playing by the rules?" He smiled. "That doesn't sound like you."
"Maybe if I'd been a little more by the book I'd still have a job in Amsterdam," she answered.
His smile faded and he got up and crossed the room, standing in the bathroom door, and she was stood in front of the mirror. "Is that what you want?" he asked softly.
Her reflection met his eyes and there was a long, tense silence. "No," she said at last. "No, not really. I have Dad back now. And you."
"But...?" he prompted gently.
"But sometimes I wonder how much I really have you," she said quietly. "You came back because it was convenient, and because you had an opportunity. And you're always so...pragmatic. Sometimes I think there's nothing in your life you couldn't walk away from in a heartbeat."
"There are no things in my life I can't walk away from," he agreed carefully. "But there are some people I'll never walk away from," Saul. Danny. Isabel.
"You walked away before," she pointed out.
"Yeah," he agreed.
"If you hadn't, I would have arrested you," she admitted. "You know that, right?"
"I know that," he nodded. He did. He'd always known that. "I know you don't think what I do is wrong."
"You're a good man," she said heavily. "That's not the problem."
Huh. A good man? He tilted his head to the side. "I don't think anyone's ever called me that before," he observed."
"Don't let it go to your head," she told him dryly. "You're still a thief, a cheat and a liar."
"Yes, but I have some bad qualities too," he assured her gravely.
She laughed and instantly grew solemn. "I just don't know what we're doing here, Robert." She looked down, looked away from him. "Sometimes it feels like we're just playing house."
He took a deep breath. "Ti amo."
There was a long moment of silence. She turned round slowly, staring at him, and still she said nothing.
He shrugged. "If it makes a difference," he added in English.
"I arrested Yen today," she said in a whisper. "Next time it could be you. And don't tell me you'll never get caught. I know you're brilliant and I know you're careful. But if everyone thought they'd get caught there wouldn't be anymore crime."
He didn't know what to say. Getting arrested was rarely the worst case scenario as far as he was concerned. He managed the risk and he'd rarely had to face even the possibility...but she looked at him and she knew all the worst case scenarios and she'd already imagined them all. And he'd done the reverse, of course. She spent her days chasing bad guys and he knew what could happen if one of them turned round and came for her. But he'd never considered asking her to quit.
He looked at her carefully. "Are you asking me – " he began.
" – no!" she interrupted fiercely. "Not that. Just...if you have to leave, leave. Don't hesitate. But..." She took a deep breath. "If you walk away again, I come with you."
Instantly his mind was filled with a thousand scenarios where he would want her as far away as possible, where he would want her safe. "We're talking about something that will probably never happen," he prevaricated. He flashed a dazzling smile at her. "Like you said, I'm careful. And I'm brilliant. In more ways than one."
She wasn't going to be distracted. "You said you have people you don't walk away from. That people are what makes home for you. Well, you say you love me and your home is with me." The fierceness on her face died away just a little, and there was vulnerability and need there. "Promise me you'll always come home."
He closed his eyes for a second and he didn't think he could deny her. "If you say the same," he said unsteadily, his eyes open and fixed on her.
After a second she nodded. "I promise."
"I promise," he echoed a half second later and she stepped forwards and melted into his arms, and he held her like he was never going to let go.
"Say it again," she murmured a little later, and he knew she wasn't talking about the promise anymore.
"Ti amo," he whispered, and it was a soft, fervent prayer.
"Mmm." He could feel her smiling against his shoulder. "That sounds nice. With enough practice, maybe you can even say it in English, huh?"
He grinned. "There are lots of words that sound better in other languages," he assured her with dignity.
"Oh, yes?" She looked up at him, a teasing smile playing over her lips. "Like what?"
"Gervitungl," he answered promptly and unexpectedly, and she immediately spluttered with laughter.
"What's that?" she demanded, when she had her breath back.
"'s Icelandic," he told her. "Means 'unreal moon'. Sounds much better than satellite, don't you think?"
"I suppose," she agreed.
His voice grew soft and husky and he punctuated his words with delicate little kisses. "And then there's je t'aime,...cara mia... Wǒ ài nǐ... Tuyo para siempre...voulez-vous coucher avec moi?"
"That sounds better in French, does it?" she asked, her hands trailing tenderly over his chest, unbuttoning his shirt as slowly as possible.
"That sounds good in any language," he assured her, kissing her neck and leaning over and turning on the tap with purpose, and behind them the steam rose up as the tub filled.
"I suppose I could point out that's not, strictly speaking, taking me to bed," she pointed out, pouring in some bubble bath and pulling his shirt off completely.
"I suppose I could say that apparently I'm not the only one in the room with commitment issues," he said, his eyebrows raised.
She stilled, her hands in the process of unfastening his belt, and she looked him straight in the eyes. "I love you, Robert."
That was...he'd never...They tumbled backwards into the bath, amid kisses and bubbles, and the rest was far from silence.