Author's note:
Hey everyone! Thank you so, so much for entertaining my little plot bunny's attempt to venture out of the burrow. And to those of you who reviewed... I really can't thank you enough. I honestly wasn't expecting any reviews and they were such pleasant surprises. It means so much and those comments were what kept me writing.
So anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! (:
Thick as Thieves
Chapter 1 – The Plan
Sebastian lifted Santana off the stage after they had shared a five-second lip lock at the crowd's incessant chants of "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" They accepted the free drinks they had been presented for their impromptu performances and waltzed off to a deserted corner of the bar.
"Well, how was that, 'Ms Sanchez'?" Sebastian said mockingly, swirling the ice in his scotch around and making little clinking noises. "I thought the song choice was a nice touch."
"Oh shut your trap." Santana rebutted with a similar tone, a smile tugging at her full lips. "How much longer do we have anyway?"
"According to my watch… three minutes and twelve seconds."
"Great."
"So I take it phase one went smoothly enough?"
"Would I be here if it didn't?"
"Touché."
"Let's just say you'd better be at the top of your game tonight, Smythe. I have a feeling this is gonna be a tricky one."
"Have I ever not been? Besides, I'm sure it's just going to be like any other assignment we've done-"
Sebastian was cut of mid-sentence by a shout, followed by the sound of a small explosion. He raised an eyebrow at Santana, reflecting the pleased and somewhat relieved expression on her face.
The familiar sounds of mayhem reached their ears– cries, shrieks and yells… crashing, cluttering, thudding…
That was their cue.
They gulped back their drinks, grabbed each other's hands and ran towards the club house. When Santana almost fell over, she paused to pull off her heels while using Sebastian's sturdy arm for balance. Before too long they were back to running across the grass, inconspicuously sneaking behind the swarm of panicked party guests preoccupied by the blast.
With the ongoing pandemonium, no one noticed the pair slip into the single-storey building.
"And that" Sebastian gasped out between breaths "Is what you call a diversion."
Santana and Sebastian were doubled over in the luxuriously-furnished room, trying to catch their breaths. It was a huge lawn they had just sprinted across and their lungs were desperate for oxygen.
"Damn straight." Santana chokes out between breaths. Slowly, they both recovered. "It was my idea to set the tiny charge under the buffet table. All we needed was couple of overturned trays of hors d'oevres and whatever shmancy shit. If I had left the task to you, you would have used a whole crate of gunpowder in the kitchen and the whole place would be on fire right now-"
"But admit it – that would have been far more awesome though!" Sebastian interrupted. It'd have been so awesome."
"…And not to mention create a long list of casualties." Santana finished. "Seb. We lie, we steal, we cheat. But we don't kill. You know that's not who we are."
At her words, his smile faltered. He found himself unable to meet her eyes, looking away from her intense, yet surprisingly gentle gaze.
In their line of work, they were both honestly surprised that neither had sunk quite that low yet. But then again, both Sebastian and Santana had a very strong grasp that what they did was simply an occupation, a way to get by. No one needed to get excessively hurt by their job.
In all their multiple exploits, the worst physical harm the partners had ever caused their victims was a head injury that required hospitalization on one of their earlier missions as a team. They were just getting used to each other's antics.
Roughly 4 years earlier
Santana inspected her 'outfit' in the bathroom mirror. "Some outfit" she thought bitterly. "More like scrap pieces of lace held together by thread. Bloody pervert who invented skimpy lingerie."
Her task for the evening was to be caught doing the dirty with their target (a big-screen movie star who shall remain nameless) by her 'husband', portrayed by none other than her new ally Sebastian Smythe. He would threaten to sue or leak the news to the media, effectively destroying said target's marriage and flawless, squeaky-clean image. Hence, said target would pay the young couple a significant amount of money to keep what happened quiet. They would then run off, leaving no loose ends or traces of ever having been in Los Angeles to begin with.
It was her and Sebastian's fourth assignment together.
At the tender age of nineteen, Santana had already been involved more scandals than the average middle-aged con artists. She was good at what she did. She had dropped out of law school after her freshman year to focus on her 'job', but had she stayed on, she would have topped her class. Intelligence and quick-wit were a part of her, not to mention the snarkiness and fierce determination to win. But oh the irony: while she had studied upholding the law, she now used the information to work all ways around it.
However, when she was to be married to yet another old property tycoon, she found herself questioning how long she would be able to pull this same game alone until she was caught. People were getting more careful and less gullible and Santana was worried that her cover would soon be blown. How many fake identities can one have?
So when a dashing young stranger showed up at her wedding reception to tell her he saw right through her lie, she was all ears for his proposition of camaraderie. Was she losing her magic touch? Even though she did not trust him the slightest, his offer of comradeship was one she could not refuse. The guy had everything planned out! So she agreed to meet him for a proper discussion before making her decision.
On the last day of the five day-long wedding celebration, the young bride was nowhere to be found. She vanished without a trace and none of the attendees ever heard from or saw her again. They never saw the 20 carat white gold and diamond wedding ring or the 18 carat sapphire and silver engagement ring either.
As their alliance progressed and blossomed, Santana had to admit that having an experienced partner in crime definitely had its perks. Together, they were able to pull off more risky tasks. Instead of their small, private individual scams, they could venture deeper into the underworld of crime, widen their list of contacts and expand their target range into corporate and industrial scales.
Not to mention: man, was she glad she got to spend her wedding night with her new gorgeous sex god of an ally instead of a sweaty old man.
Unable to stall any longer, Santana applied a fresh coat of dark red lipstick, rearranged her features into a sultry pout and exited the ensuite bathroom. She struck a seductive pose, leaning against the doorframe and took in the actor lying on the queen bed.
The hotel room was illuminated dimly by the orangey glow of a bedside lamp. The man was lying on his side with his head propped up by his elbow, wearing nothing but a pair of dark boxer briefs as he spread out on top of thecheap sheets. Santana wasn't gonna lie, she was lucky this time. The man was undeniably handsome and in very good shape for a middle-aged man. He was a Hollywood actor, for crying out loud. Might as well have some fun while she was at it.
She strutted over to the bed and ran her fingers through his dark blonde curls. He closed his eyes and sighed, leaning into her touch. In one swift moment, he grabbed her around the waist and flipped her onto her back on the bed, hovering lightly above her and attaching his lips firmly to hers. Santana kissed him back passionately, tracing her tongue along his lower lip before pulling it into her mouth and sucking gently. He shuddered at the sensation and pinned her wrists above her head with one hand while the other explored her body.
He grazed his fingers along her collar bones and down her sternum, breaking from the kiss momentarily to glance appreciatively at her breasts in the sheer black and red lace bra. He ran his warm hand along her flat, toned stomach while licking a wide strip on her throat. Santana bit back a moan when his mouth followed the path his hand had previously travelled, squirming lightly against his hold on her wrists.
As turned on as she was, Santana immensely disliked her lack of control over the situation and promptly turned the tables so she was straddling the man's chest. With a coy smile, she began trailing open mouth kisses down his toned torso. Looking up to meet his lust-blown eyes, she carefully used her teeth to grip the waistband of his boxers and with a teasing smirk started dragging them down painfully slowly.
That was when the hotel door flew open, hitting the wall with a loud bang and flooding the dim room with light from the hallway.
"What the fuck?" Sebastian yelled with a perfected tone of mock surprise and anger.
Startled, the actor literally jumped out of bed. However, he got tangled with the sheets and Santana's long limbs, tripping over and hitting his head on the edge of the bedside table.
It would have been a funny sight, but the actor was knocked out cold and the deep gash above his left eyebrow was bleeding profusely. It definitely needed stitches.
Santana and Sebastian were in a state of panic of their own. What were they going to do?
Finally, Santana called for an ambulance from the hotel phone, claiming she was a maid who discovered him bleeding on the floor. The pair then fled the scene and no one knew they were ever at the scene.
They read in the tabloids a few days later that the actor had hurt himself by falling and hitting his head on a rock while hiking with his teenage son. His publicity team must have put two and two together and realized there was no justifiable reason for him to be practically naked in a hotel room and covered with lipstick marks on a night that his wife was away watching his daughter's dance recital. So to keep his devoted-family-man slate clean they probably bribed his son to fabricate the story of the hiking trip.
But the night the accident happened was when both Santana and Sebastian silently decided that they would never want to be directly responsible for the death of someone. They were thieves and conmen, but never killers.
Now comfortably seated around the mahogany table, sipping cups of strong coffee, Santana and Sebastian began discussing remaining logistics, paying special attention to the slightest details.
The guy Santana had removed from the picture in Phase one was Scott Henley, the son of Russell Henley and the heir of the Venus Energy empire. Russell had sent Scott on a task of introducing himself and the company to potential merger partners, including Graham Sexton, the CEO of Mercury Energy. He had specifically told his son that while he was to maintain a good relationship with Graham, a merger between the two companies would be a disaster of huge proportions and was never to happen under any circumstance.
Russell decided that handling this business merger was a good preparatory opportunity for his son to practice running a huge empire. Plus, it was Sexton's Twin daughters' birthday and the party scene was where Scott liked to be.
Of course, being half-dressed and blindfolded in a temporary drug-induced coma in the penthouse suite wasn't part of the plan
So basically, now that Scott was out of the way with no chance of interfering, Sebastian was going to introduce himself as Scott Henley to Graham Sexton. He was going to ensure that the merger between Venus and Mercury is made successfully.
The merger would cause the downfall of both Venus and Mercury and instead benefit their biggest competitor, Nectar Utility. This would impact the national stock market hugely and having anticipated the changes, Santana and Sebastian's personal bank accounts would burgeon.
The real Scott would most likely have no recollection of the night's events when he comes to and tell his father that his wishes went exactly as planned to avoid a long, angry lecture. He would have a lot of explaining to do to his dad for not dissuading the merger when the time came, but by then it would be too late and Santana and Sebastian would be far away, the value in their bank accounts significantly greater.
Downing the final gulps of their coffee, Santana and Sebastian rose from the table and went to get dressed and ready for Phase two of their operation.
Graham Sexton was currently consoling his hysterical, overly-dramatic twin princesses. Oh how their special day was ruined, but Daddy would make up for it by throwing a second party the following week. They were such spoiled brats but had Daddy wrapped right around their perfectly-manicured fingers. They were insisting that Daddy invite a certain Mr. Martin Solomon to the compensation party, only this time without his plain fiancée. Graham agreed as he mentally tried to figure out who the hell this joker was.
Done convincing Ashley and Christie that the small commotion at the buffet table was not a national disaster and simply a build up of some hot gas combusting (or so he had been told by a nearby waiter), Graham checked his watch and began heading back towards the main house to await the arrival of a possible business partner's young son; the successor. The last time he had seen Scott Henley, the boy had been just a wee kid waddling around the house on chubby his little toddler legs. His girls were three years younger than Scott.
"I wonder if they'd get along, if they ever met." Graham mused to himself.
"So, how do I look?" Sebastian chimed, turning away from the mirror to face Santana.
She looked him over from head to toe with a speculative look on her face, taking in the tailored Ralph Lauren suit and polished Prada dress shoes, the carefully-styled hair and clean-shaven face.
Sex on a fucking stick.
"Horrible, as always." She drawled.
At her comment, Sebastian chuckled lightly and Santana felt a small flutter in her stomach at the sound.
They had become so accustomed to each other. Their scents were familiar. Their voices were the most soothing sound to the other's ears. Their bodies were each other's home. After all they'd been through over the years, this was only natural, right? Santana shook away her thoughts.
"For a person who makes her living on deception, you are can be a horrible liar sometimes." Sebastian said. "Now being one of those times. I look pretty damn suave, if I do say so myself. Like James Bond suave."
He turned back to the mirror and winked at his reflection, clucking his tongue and sliding his hands into his pockets with an air of superiority.
"And you're a self-righteous ass." Santana retorted, though the sound came out less blunt than she liked as she fought back a smile. "But yes, you look decent, 'Mr. Henley'." She added, gesturing parenthesis with her fingers as she rolled her eyes. "Third alias in one night - must be a new record."
"Fourth, actually." He corrected. Then continued: "Gas station. Wasn't necessary, but I thought 'What the heck'." To answer her raised eyebrow.
"Ah. I see." She nodded. "Well, you best be gone. Don't want to be late and set a bad impression, now do we?"
Santana turned away and went to check her laptop. She gingerly picked up a small bugging device from the bedside table and attached it to a brass tie clip. Holding it lightly in her palm, she strode over and stood in front of Sebastian, fixing the slender pin in place then buttoning up the suit jacket.
Her hands lingered on his chest as she smoothed down the lapels of the slim-cut blazer, feeling his heartbeat through the heavy fabric. Warm, gentle hands wrapped around hers, holding them in place.
They stayed in that position for a while, Santana avoiding the gaze she felt burning deep past her skin and right into her very being. She was so confused, and hated feeling this way. She wondered what Sebastian was thinking in that very moment, whether his stomach was fluttering pleasantly with butterflies like hers currently was. She promptly stopped her train of thought. They were friends, nothing more.
Only they weren't.
'Friend' was too mild a term for what he was to her. She felt a little guilty for even thinking that. A friend was someone easily cast aside, someone to be forgotten in years to come regardless of how many promises made and broken. What Sebastian and Santana had was different. They were two halves of a whole. What they shared deserved a worthier term, but both of them knew all too well that neither was a fan of labels. Why ruin something with easily-misinterpreted terminology?
Neither wished to move from their embrace, but the beeping emanating from Santana's laptop indicated it was five minutes to their scheduled meeting time with Graham Sexton. Sebastian sighed. Santana raised her eyes, meeting the beautiful sea green that represented so much to her. It was freedom, it was security, it was her joie de vivre. That particular shade of deep green, with flecks of yellow and gold surrounded by a rim of stormy grey, symbolized vitality and the essence of life itself.
They moved in at the same time, their lips quickly meeting in a passionate, yet surprisingly tender kiss.
Unlike all the other kisses they had shared both on and off assignments, this one was real. It was the first one that stirred something deep within them both, something beyond the usual lust and desire.
And it scared the shit out of them.
Santana was the first to break the kiss as she stopped for air, which filled her lungs as a gasp when his lips latched on to her throat instead. Somehow, Santana managed conjure up the will to push him away even as that gloriously talented tongue of his licked at the sensitive spot behind her jaw.
"Sebastian. Not now."
For a brief second it looked as if he would protest, but resignation crossed his features and he stepped away, only to lean forward again to peck her once more on the cheek.
"Wish me luck" he whispered. "I'm probably not going to need it but it's nice all the same."
Santana smiled. "Good luck."
Sebastian gathered his wallet and left the bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind him.
Santana sunk onto the bed and cradled her head in her hands, running her fingers through her hair.
What the hell were her feelings doing?
Author's note:
So... there. It turned out a little heavier than I expected, especially that little interaction scene at the end. It kinda just wrote itself, I guess. I'm hoping that the explanation of the plan cleared some doubts up about what Santana and Sebastian were up to in the prologues...
And sorry for the super late update! I'm overseas right now and trying to spend as much time with the family as possible during this short trip, so my anti-social tendencies have been exceptionally undesirable at the moment and I haven't been able to really sit down and write. I do try my best to upload as frequently as I can.
Thank you for reading!
Next up: The Vacation