Title - Skin Deep
Chapter title - Mr And Mrs Reynolds
Author - OblivionsGarden
Genre - Romance/Drama
Disclaimer - I do not own The Thief Lord, book or film, in anyway shape or form. I only own my original characters and the plot for this fic. For this chapter I own, Mr and Mrs Reynolds.

Summary - Scip and Victor get a new case. But with the grandparents a harsh reminder of the Hartliebs and the runaway being the last thing Scipio expected, should he send her packing? Can she help him through his darkest times and use some of her colour to brighten his world?

A/n - My seconds multi-chaptered Thief Lord fic. Yay! Another Scipio/OC fic, of course but this one is different to the last. Please read and review, I'd greatly appreciate it. Hope you enjoy, xx (:

"No case today, Scipio?" Victor kicked the door shut as he tried not to drop the towel covered box in his arms. Scipio Massimo was lay on his back across the sofa, his boots discarded on the floor.
"I found the missing necklace for ." He sighed. "It was in her suitcase. You know, the one she refused to let me search because, and I quote, 'what kind of idiot would forget where they put their own jewelery?'." Victor chuckled and gently placed his box on the desk. "What's that?" Scipio asked.
"A daughter for Lando and Paula." Victor lifted a small tortoise from the box and moved out onto the balcony. He placed it beside the two larger tortoises and smiled. "I think I'll call you Elizabeth."
Scipio rolled his dark eyes as the telephone on Victor's desk started to ring. He jumped up from the sofa and ran forward, snatching the phone up before Victor could reach it.
"Victor Getz's office, Scipio speaking." Victor huffed as Scipio sat in his chair and propped his feet on the desk. "I'm his colleague...Yes, I do...Well whenever is easiest for you ...Tomorow, two thirty? Yes that's fine. You know where the office is? OK. Goodbye." Scipio hung up with a contented smile as he scrawled down a name and time in Victor's notepad.
"Who was that?" Asked Victor.
"A who will be stopping by to discuss a case tomorrow."
"Did he say what kind of case?"
"A runaway."
Victor frowned. "Another one?"
"Yes. Let's hope Mr and Mrs Reynolds are nothing like the Heartliebs."
"Oh god, I don't think the world could cope with more of them." Victor grimaced at the thought of all the trouble he'd had when Prosper and Bo turned up in Venice. "If I'm completely honest, I don't think Venice could handle another Bo either. Let's hope this runaway is nice and...quiet."
"I quite like Bo's...Um...Exitable-ness." Scipio plopped back down into the sofa, soon drifting into a peaceful sleep whilst Victor made sure Elizabeth was well settled.

"Scipio, put your shoes back on and sort your hair out." Victor said as he finished cleaning the last of his office. It was twenty past two and the new clients would be here in ten minutes.
"You sound like my father." Scipio muttered, reaching for his boots. No longer the heeled boots he wore as the Thief Lord, but flat black, doc martin boots. Much more comfortable, since he didn't need to be taller than anyone now. Once he'd pulled them on he moved over to a small mirror that hung on the wall. Using his fingers, he combed through his shoulder length, raven hair. "Better?" He asked, turning on his heel. Victor nodded, adjusting his tie.

At exactly thirty minutes past two, there was a knock on the door. Victor answered to two tall people. The tall man wore a sharp black suit and had cold blue eyes. The just as tall woman wore a matching skirt suit and had straighter than straight ebony hair.
"Mr and Mrs Reynolds?" Victor asked. The couple nodded. "Come in. I am Victor Getz, you spoke to my colleague Scipio on the phone."
"Good Afternoon." Scipio forced a smile. The man reminded him too much of his father for anything other than forced politeness.
"Afternoon." Said in a cold tone that matched his eyes. "We're looking for our granddaughter, Rosaline."
"Granddaughter?" Spluttered Victor. "I apologize but you don't look old enough."
"Our daughter was a foolish girl. Teenage pregnancy." Explained .
"Ah." Victor nodded. "Do you have a photograph of Rosaline?"
"No."
"Oh..."
"Rosaline is eighteen and fairly short for her age. She's rather fond of hair dye and tattoos, so she isn't easy to miss in a crowd."
"Right. What colour hair dye?"
"When she left it was purple but I wouldn't be surprised if it was different now." Victor noted this down before lifting his head to see Scipio staring at Mr. Reynolds. He recognized the discomfort in his eyes and with a frown, turned back to face the new clients. "And do you know what tattoo's she has?"
"Well where do we begin?" Mr. Reynolds let out a humorless laugh, "There's something on her knuckles, god knows what it says. She's got writing on her wrists, there's bats behind one of her ears...She's covered in them, I can't give you a full list we'd be here all day."
"She has a lip ring and a nose stud too." Added Mrs, Reynolds.
"Right." Victor finished writing down his notes. "Well, unless there's anything else we should know, you can go about you day and we'll get on the case."
"Well, you have our number. Good day to you, sirs." And with that sat, the Reynolds' left the building.
"Joy of joys. More Hartliebs."
"Mmm." Scipio nodded his agreement.
"What's up, with you?"
"He reminds me of my father."
"Ah." Victor watched the younger man for a moment. "Have you spoken to him since the dealings with the Conte and Contessa?"
Scipio shook his head, his unmanageable tangle of hair flying around. "I haven't had a need to. I left a letter. That's all he deserved." Clearly uncomfortable with the topic of conversation, Scipio moved over to the coat hooks and pulled down his black mac coat.
"Scipio?"
"Yes?"
"Maybe you should pay him a visit sometime. Let him know his son isn't dead."
"Perhaps. He probably wouldn't care if I was...Anyway...I'm going to pick up some cat food and take it up to Ida's. I'll keep my eye out for anyone with tattoo's and oddly coloured hair." Before Victor could reply, the ex-Thief Lord was already out of the door.
"Still moves without a sound...Some habits never die." Victor mused to himself before propping his feet on his desk and resting his eyes for just a moment.

Being late October, the Venice air was bitterly cold as Scipio made his way towards the local shop. He paid for the cat food quickly and headed off in the direction of Ida's house. As he walked he thought about what Victor had said. Should he go and see his father? After everything the wretched man put him through? Scipio shook his head at his thoughts as a fine drizzle of rain started to dampen his coat. Maybe he could go and see Dottore one day. Just not quite yet. And definitely not alone. It'd be hard enough explaining why his 16 year old son has the body of a 21 year old man.
"Shouldn't you be looking for our grand daughter?" The sharp demand came close to Scipio's ear, catching him of guard and almost causing him to drop the cat food.
"...I'm off work for the evening although I am also keeping an eye out for the girl. Mr. Getz is finding some leads as we speak."
"I should hope so. And just so you know Mr,Massimo-"
"Scipio."
"Excuse me."
"Call me Scipio."
"Well...Scipio, walking around with your head down is not what I call 'keeping an eye out.'" marched off leaving Scipio to shake his head at her rudeness before carrying on, on his way.

By the time he reached Ida's, his coat was soaked through, the rain having gradually got heavier and heavier. Given Ida's rule of 'no knocking if you're practically family', Scipio entered through the kitchen door, leaving the cat food on the side.
"Ida?"
"Scip!" The familiar voice came before a familiar blur of blonde curls came hurtling down the hall and into Scipio's awaiting, outstretched arms.
"Hello Bo." Scip scooped the boy up and hung him over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. "Where's the rest of the group."
"Sitting room." Bo answered. With a nod, Scipio went through into the sitting room to find almost everyone sat around a board game on the floor.
"Monopoly." Ida said in reply to Scipio's curious stare. She was sat in the window seat with a book in her lap. "Any new cases?"
"Actually, there's another run away case." Scip placed Bo back onto his feet and ruffled his hair.
"A runaway?" Hornet moved away from the game to sit on the arm of Scipio's chair.
"Yep. And the grandparents unfortunately are far too like a mixture of Esther Hartlieb and my father for my liking." Bo grimaced at the mention of his Aunt's name.
"Well, don't make the same mistakes as Victor did." Riccio instructed.
"What do you mean?" Frowned Prosper.
"Well, he just tried to take you and Bo straight back without hearing your side of the story. Maybe this runaway is the same. Especially if her grandparents are like your aunt and Scip's dad."
"Perhaps." Scipio nodded. "If we find her, I'll be sure to get the story."
"Her? Oh, I hope she joins the gang." Hornet sighed.
"What?"
"Oh...I don't meant that I hope she's an orphan or that anything bad has happened...It'd just be nice to have another girl around. There's six boys to two girls here. It's a little over powering."
"Especially with two as hyper as Bo and Riccio." Ida agreed.
"I'm not hyper." Riccio defended. "I'm just...Excitable."
"Same thing." Chuckled Mosca.
"Isn't."
"Is."
"Isn't."
"Is!"
"Boys! Honestly!" Gasped Hornet before turning back to an amused Scipio. "Do you have a photo like Victor had of these two?"
"No. Just a description."
"Well what does she look like. If we see her we can tell you."
"She's eighteen, short for her age...Likes to dye her hair which was purple the last time her grandparents saw her. Although they said she's likely to have dyed it since...Erm, lots of tattoos, a lip piercing and a nose piercing."
"She sounds fantastic." Smiled Hornet.
Ida smiled. "She does sound rather...Unique."