Summary: Everyone needs help sometimes...even parents and older siblings.
Bridgit Mendler as Sonny (Parker's sister/17) 5'7
Connor Paolo as Donovan Devereaux (Sophie's Son/17) 5'7
Jamie Chung as Camille Borden (Hardison's Sister/15) 5'6
DONOVAN
"Mom, you were great." Donovan complimented as his mother began wiping off her makeup. She looked at him and narrowed her eyes a bit.
"Liar." But she couldn't keep the smile off of her face.
Every week since they moved to Boston two years ago, Donovan and his mother had been coming to the tiny little theater, Giggles & Laughs. At first, they just watched the plays that they produced, but after a month of watching Donovan's mother, Sophie, decided she wanted to take part.
Donovan had seen his mother act many times in the past and not one had been a pleasant experience. Despite the fact that Sophie was a very gifted liar and could transition into any alias she created when they were doing a con, professionally acting on a stage in front of anyone turned Sophie into a worse actress than Paris Hilton.
Despite the fact that she was horrible and barely anyone attended her plays, Donovan supported his mother; he was basically her stylist. Makeup, wardrobe malfunctions...he basically kept doing the same thing he had been doing on their cons.
They were both walking out of the theater and out of the alley behind like they usually did when Donovan was searching in his bag for his phone and realized that he left it back inside.
"Mom, I forgot my phone. I'll catch up to you after I get it."
"I'll wait outside for you." Donovan was about to argue that their apartment was only three blocks away, but thought better of it.
Of course, Donovan found his phone sitting right on the makeup counter which is where he had put it while he touched up his mothers makeup for the second act.
Quickly grabbing it, Donovan slipped it into the back pocket of his jeans before leaving the theater again.
When he got out the door, had to look both ways because his mom wasn't standing in front of the door like she usually would. He did, however, spot her with a couple of other people. Most of them were slightly recognizable, but there was only one person he knew.
"Nate!" Donovan rushed towards the group. He didn't hesitate to hug Nate who staggered back a bit, but centered himself before giving the kid a short hug back.
"Uh, hey Donovan."
"What are you doing here?" Donovan asked as he pulled back and stood next to Sophie. "I thought you stopped the whole chasing bad guys business. Plus. we're law abiding citizens now."
"Do you still have that Kasmir Malevich hanging up in your room?" Nate questioned, shoving his hand into his pockets and Donovan smirked.
"That guy paid fifty million bucks for a black square." He snickered as he shook his head. "People are so stupid." With his wandering eyes, he focused on a girl leaning against the car ten or so feet away. She was tall- around his height- with wavy blonde hair she had in a messy half-up/half-down do and she wore a pair of tight, high waisted black leather shorts over a pair of ripped pantyhose, a dark green tank top and a pair of ankle booties. She stood next to another girl with black hair, tanned skin and Asian features who was visibly nervous. The blonde noticed him starring and smirked before waving her fingers at him.
"Donovan, you up for the challenge?" He heard Nate ask and it made him realize that Nate had been speaking the entire time he was staring.
"Uh, yeah." He said with a nod. "Sure." And with that, Donovan went towards the blonde and Nate turned around as Sophie stepped next to him.
"He didn't hear anything I said, did he?" Sophie shook her head as her child began to converse with the blonde teenager.
"Not a word."
"So, you know Nate?"
After picking up Sophie and Donovan from Giggles & Laughs, Nate dropped the two off at their apartment building and gave them an address to go to the next day before driving off. That's how they ended up inside the penthouse apartment of Camille Borden and Alec Hardison only twelve hours later.
Donovan sat on the floor between the large L-shaped couch in the corner of it and the coffee table with the Camille sitting on the couch to his right. Sophie was at the other end talking to Nate who was perched on the arm. Hardison was sitting at his computers while Eliot and Sonny were in the kitchen getting snacks.
"Uh, yeah." Donovan asked Camille's question. "Whenever me and my mom stole something, Nate would show up a day or two later. Usually he'd spend a couple of hours with us before he and my mom started playing their little cat and mouse game."
"So, what you're saying is that they've always been this nauseating?" Sonny asked as she jumped over and onto the couch without spilling a bit of the soda from her can as she settled herself into the corner of the couch. Then she stretched out, putting her legs onto Camille's lap. From what Donovan could tell, she didn't seem to mind.
"Finally," Hardison breathed as he got up from his computer and trudged over to the couch, plopping down next to his sister before putting one of his feet up. "We can start."
"What about Parker?" Donovan asked.
"I'm here!" Camille barely had time to slide over- forcing Donovan to as well- before Parker fell onto the couch in the small space between Camille and Hardison. Donovan looked up to see there was a bit of a rafter situation going on and realized that Parker must've been lounging up there like a cat.
"Okay, what about Eliot?" Sonny questioned and Hardison smacked his lips.
"Boy's got ears like a bat." He said and both Sonny and Camille snorted. "He'll be fine." Pressing a button on his remote, a couple of pictures of Dubenich showed up the screen. "Victor Dubenich, executive vice-president in charge of new technology development over at Bering Aerospace." Eliot finally came out of the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn and kicked down Hardison's leg from the table- most likely for his comment- before simply stepping over Parker's and sitting down between Sophie and Sonny.
Glaring at Eliot, Hardison continued on with his presentation. "Rich daddy, trust fund, Yale MBA. Blah, blah blah..."
"Victor?" Nate shook his head. "Now when was the last time you met a Victor?"
"Russia, two weeks ago." Sonny answered. Eliot was next.
"Vietnam. Town called Banho Zay."
"Chinese border." Eliot gave Sophie a strange look.
"That's an odd thing for you to know."
"That's an odd place for you to be." She challenged and Eliot shook his head. Hardison continued.
"Now Bering is in charge of a lot of big fat government contracts." He said. "Some Department of Defense research, very classified stuff."
"Can we use that?" Camille asked, but Hardison shook his head.
"I don't think so. Dubenich is in charge of their commercial airline business."
"That's boring." Sonny complained. "I was hoping that we could frame him for selling state secrets or something like that."
"We're trying to tarnish his name." Nate reminded the blonde who handed her soda to Camille. "Not get him sent to a black-site prison." He looked back to Hardison and Camille. "I know when you sent Dubenich his designs you weren't supposed to make any copies-"
"Nah, I promised." Hardison said innocently with his hand on his chest. "That would be very wrong."
"Super wrong." Camille added.
"Donkey Kong not being a donkey wrong." Sonny put in as she stole Eliot's popcorn.
"Sean Bean's name not rhyming wrong." Camille continued.
"Show me your copies." Nate interrupted. Hardison had planned ahead and grabbed his tablet off the coffee table before pulling the designs up. To Donovan they looked like regular, normal- boring- blueprints of a plane.
"It's an airplane." He shrugged.
"It's a short alt domestic airliner," Nate corrected as he stood. He got closer to the screen, stopping behind the corner of the couch as Hardison pulled up the different blueprints. "Yeah, usually one hour flights. It's the fastest growing segment of the industry, very fuel efficient. High tech. Very nice carbon nose, it's got the titanium wrap. 3 to 1." That's when Nat noticed everyone was staring at him in question. "You know, you pick up things here and there."
"You pick up a lot of stuff." Hardison commented and Parker let out a bark of laughter.
"Ha!" She laughed before shoving popcorn in her mouth. Eliot looked at her strangely as Sonny reached into his bowl and stole a handful of popcorn. She split it with Camille who passed the can of soda to Donovan. Sophie was glad to see that they were getting along; Donovan didn't have many teenage friends.
"Check this out." Hardison clicked his remote and a photo of Dubenich and some other guy who looked like he just heard a joke he couldn't understand. "Now Dubenich and Pierson they were head to head for five years trying to grab the lead in an industry that's worth like eleventy-billion dollars."
"So Pierson got there first," Parker pointed out. "Dubenich took a short cut."
Nate nodded. "So he's got a rival. He's got a rival that pisses him off so much he hired us to steal his designs. This is good."
"What are you thinking, Nate?" Sophie asked.
"I'm thinking Nigerians. Yeah," He nodded again as he began to walk away. "Nigerians will do nicely." Everyone watched Nate leave before turning to Sophie, who seemed to be the only person to understand him.
"Well, he hasn't changed a bit."
"So, what exactly do you do?"
Nate, Sophie, Parker, Eliot and Hardison were already out and putting the plan in motion- well, once Nate finally sat down and explained his plan; He wanted to ruin Dubenich by, in the simplest terms, showing everyone exactly who he was and sicing the FBI on him and his entire company.
Unfortunately, anyone under eighteen was not required in the plan; Sonny and Camille couldn't get too close to Dubenich anyway, as he already knew their faces, but Donovan's skills just weren't needed other than dressing his mother before sending her off to do her con.
Despite the fact that they weren't needed, Nate decided it was best to keep the teens close which was why Sonny, Camille and Donovan were in the café across the street from Bering Aerospace. It was mostly occupied by high school students and college kids, so none of the teens stood out.
Camille raised her eyes to meet Donovan's- who sat across the U-shaped booth from her- before lowering it back to her laptop. "I'm gonna try not to take offense from that, but since you asked, I might as well tell you; I'm a hacker- and a good one at that."
"Oh," Donovan nodded. "And what about you?" He directed at Sonny who was laying the curved bend of the booth with her eyes closed.
"I'm a thief." She answered, not even bothering to open her eyes. "Parker's more about money, but I just like stuff."
"Stuff?" Donovan questioned and Sonny sat up with a sigh.
She shrugged. "Diamonds, houses, art, clothes- anything really." She said looking out the floor to ceiling window behind their booth. "What about you? I know your mom's a grifter, but I'm not sure what you are."
"Uh," Donovan cleared his throat. "I guess, you could say that I'm her stylist." Sonny raised an eyebrow in surprise and even Camille stopped pressing keys on her laptop to look at him. "I mean, I grift every now and then, but I usually just help my mom. If she needs to look like an Egyptian diplomat, than I made her look like an Egyptian diplomat- things like that."
"So your superpower is being a girl?" Sonny asked with a grin and Camille snorted. Donovan opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by the shrill ringing of his phone. Glaring playfully at the two girls, he pulled his phone out from the pocket of his jacket before looking to see that Nate was calling.
"Yeah?" He answered.
"Donovan, you're in play." Was what Nate opened with. "We need Dubenich' office clear for Parker, but his son, Victor Jr, is on his way to the building. I need you to intercept him. He's only a street away."
"Got it." Ending the call, Donovan put his phone away and looked to the girls. "Sorry ladies, but I gotta run."
"Where is he going?" Camille wondered as Donovan sprinted out of the café. She didn't even get an answer before Sonny ran after him. "Great." She sighed.
"What are you doing?" Donovan questioned when Sonny caught up to him. He was no longer running, having already caught sight of his mark. He was nowhere as...portly as his father, just a bit chubby with short dark hair and slightly red cheeks.
"Helping." She grinned. "So, I guess the question is; what are we doing?" Knowing he wouldn't be able to convince her to leave, he told her about distracting Dubenich's son and- before he could say anything- Sonny was already making her way towards Victor Jr.
"What are you doing?" He asked as she shed her jacket and tossed it at him. Now she was dressed only in a pair of jeans and a flowy white top. Pulling her wavy blonde hair out of it's ponytail, Sonny gave him a grin.
"Being distracting." Then she turned around and rushed up the front steps of Bering Aerospace, arriving at the door just before Victor Jr. could enter. Grabbing his arm lightly, Sonny turned him around and gave him a sweet smile.
"Uh..." Apparently Victor Jr. wasn't exactly a ladies man. "Can I help you?"
"Connaissez-vous le francais?" She asked. Can you speak French? Victor Jr looked confused.
"I-I don't know what you're saying." Sonny gave him another smile.
"Parfait." Perfect, She replied. "J'ai besoin de toi pour rester là tout à fait jusqu'à ce que je te dise de bouger, d'accord?" I need you to stand there perfectly still until I tell you to move, okay? She asked in perfect French, giving him an expectant look as she faced him away from the door. He nodded, seeming very unsure of whether or not he was doing what she wanted. She figured that Donovan would find some way to signal her when Parker was done, so she kept talking. "Étant donné que votre père a essayé de me tuer, je devrais détester votre visage, mais je le trouve très mignon, comme un chipmunk. Je suis désolé que je prenne ton père et sa compagnie entière, ce qui va pratiquement la faillite, mais je suis sûr que tu vas bien." Considering your father tried to kill me, I should hate your face, but I find it very cute- like a chipmunk. I'm sorry that I'm about to take your father and his entire company down, which will practically bankrupt him, but I'm sure you'll be fine. Sonny's phone vibrated in her pocket and she held up a finger at Victor Jr. before taking out her phone and checking the message. It was from Donovan;
Parker's done.
Sliding her phone back into her pocket, Sonny grabbed Victor Jr. gently by his shoulders before giving him a kiss on each cheek. "Au revoir!"
Sonny skipped down the steps and rounded the corner where Donovan was waiting with her jacket. "Nice." He applauded as he handed her the jacket and she slipped it back on. "I didn't know you knew French."
Sonny shrugged. "Parker got sentenced to ten years in a Paris Prison." She told him. "It took me a couple of days to break her out, so I figured I'd learn French." Donovan raised an eyebrow.
"You learned French in a couple of days?" Sonny gave him a condescending smile before pinching his cheek.
"Oh, you're so adorable." She chuckled. "I learned it in a couple of hours." Then she walked away, leaving Donovan to stare after her before he realized he should be following.
Only two days later and everything was already in place; After his meeting with Sophie, Dubenich had met the Nigerians at their 'office' where he thought he was taking a bribe, then he found the ridiculously obvious listening device Parker planted in his office- now it was the day of the shareholders meeting.
After packing up everything they'd need for later- FBI jackets and matching hats, stuff like that- Sonny pulled Nate aside as they were getting into the cars. Nate would be driving Sophie and Hardison while Eliot had gotten stuck driving the teenagers and Parker.
"Hey, Nate." He looked at her worriedly.
"What is it?" He asked. "Everything okay?"
Sonny nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine." She assured him. "It's just...I know we have to take down Dubenich- I mean, the guy tried to kill us for Gods sake."
"Then what is it?" Sonny didn't seem to know how to pose her question.
"What...what's gonna happen to his son?" She asked. "He shouldn't pay for his fathers mistakes." Nate put a hand on her shoulder.
"I've already dealt with that." He assured her. "Dubenich has parents in Virginia. After everything goes down, a friend of Sophie's will pose as a Social Worker and take Victor Jr. from his school and to his grandparents. Hardison'll hack into their records so everything looks legit. Hey," Nate looked Sonny in the eye. "He's gonna be fine."
"I don't trust easy." She reminded him and Nat nodded in understanding. "But if you say that he'll be okay, I'm gonna trust you...please don't make me regret it."
"What was all that about?" Donovan asked when Sonny finally got in the back seat of the car. Parker had called dibs and the look on Eliot's face when Donovan asked if he could drive made the teen want to pee himself.
"Nothing." Sonny told him as the car began moving. "Just...I'm starting to see what you guys do in Nate."
Everything was finished; Dubenich's name and company was ruined, he was on his way to jail and Victor Jr was most likely on his way to an airport to go and live with his grandparents.
Now they were all ready to go their separate ways; Parker and Donovan had gone to pick up Sophie from a shoe store of all places before meeting up with everyone else in the park where Nate would be showing up soon.
Camille and Sonny were already ready and waiting by the time Nate and the others finally showed up and Hardison didn't bother waiting for handing each person their own checks.
"Job well-" Nate cut himself off when he saw how much money had been given to him. "Whoa..."
'A hundred million dollars?' Sonny mouthed to herself before she, and everyone else, looked to Hardison and Camille for an explanation.
It was Hardison who explained. "There was an overlap in the London stock market. Valuation carried over to NASDAQ and… I'm just very good at what I do."
"This is the score." Parker breathed incredulously. "The score."
"Age of the geek, baby." Hardison grinned as he moved between Camille and Sonny before he and his sister fist bumped one another. Even Eliot had a smile on his face.
"Somebody kiss this man so I don't have to."
"So, this is it?" Donovan questioned. "We've taken down Dubenich, destroyed his name and even got him sent to jail. It's all over."
Nate looked slightly uncomfortable. "Uh, yeah." He cleared his throat. "Pleasure working with you."
"Yeah." Eliot nodded. "One show only. No encores."
"I already forgot your names." Parker claimed. Donovan smile in amusement, but the look on Sonny's face told him that it might've been true.
After a long moment of staring at each other, everyone finally just turned away and headed in different directions.
Donovan was walking with his mother on his arm when he saw the small smile on his face. "We're not going are we?" He asked and she nodded her head.
"That would be correct, darling."
With a sigh, Donovan took his mother through a short cut that would, most likely, put both he and Sophie back into Nate's path. His mother sat on a bench and he joined her.
"So," She began and Donovan looked over. "That girl..."
"Which girl?" Sophie gave him a look telling him that he knew exactly which girl. "Oh, that girl."
"What are you gonna do?" She asked. "We're probably going to be sticking around a bit longer- and so will she."
Donovan let out a breath as he hand his hand through his dark curls. "I don't know, mom." He replied honestly. "She doesn't exactly seem like the type to have a steady boyfriend."
"Who said anything about boyfriends?" Sophie inquired as she pulled out her phone and began dialing Nate's number. "Just start with a date." She suggested, putting the phone to her ear. "That's where all great love affairs begin."
Nate showed up only a few moments later and, unsurprisingly, the others were with him. Nate answered his phone when it rang, but then he noticed Sophie and Donovan.
Sophie stood and made he way over to the group, but Donovan stayed where he was. Then, as if she came out of thin air, Sonny sat down where his mother had been sitting.
"You know, Parker and I, we don't tend to stay in one place for very long." She told him and he nodded. "I mean, the longest time we ever stayed in one place was Italy, but that was only because Parker refused to leave without going on a gondola ride." She grinned and Donovan couldn't help but do so also. "What I'm trying to say is, this staying still thing is gonna take some getting used to. Maybe it'd be an easier transition if I had someone to help me with it?"
"Don't worry," Donovan barely got out of the way before Camille dropped down on the bench, squeezing herself between the two, and crossing her legs. "You'll have me; I'll keep you from getting angsty and help you avoid having a Bella/Edward drama filled relationship that'll make me want to gouge my eyes out."
Sonny pushed her blonde hair out of her face as the wind began to blow harder. "I have no idea what your talking about."
"Me, either." Donovan agreed and Camille rolled her eyes.
"Sure you don't." She sighed before looking at them both warningly. "But I'm telling you now; if this turns into some Gossip Girl love octagon because one of you can't express your feelings and the other can't deal with that, I will murder you both in your sleep." She patted both of their legs before standing up. "Nice talk."
Once she was gone, both teens stared after her. "She's scary." Donovan acknowledged.
"Cami Borden took an axe and gave her only friend forty whacks..." Sonny sang lowly and Donovan snorted. "And when she saw what she had done, she gave the other forty one."