Chapter 6: Just Like a Thief

Thief, by Imagine Dragons.

Uploading this today because next week I'll be in FLORIDA meeting one of my best friends for the first time, so idk if I'll update or not. So this is just a precaution.

February 24th, 2016. Altea National Bank. 4:13 pm.

"Are you uh…are you really sure that doing this in the middle of the day is the best idea?" Hunk asked over the comms, his voice crackling with anxiety.

Pidge, across the room jotting down meaningless notes on a checkbook, glanced up at Hunk where he was positioned near the vaults, going through his pockets like he was missing something. "You know that this is the busiest time of day. No one will be able to pay us that much attention for too long."

Hunk shifted on his feet, eyes darting to look for a worker. "Yeah I know, but-"

"Buddy," Lance said over their comms. He was hidden from sight, waiting for Hunk's cue to make his entrance. "It's our first actual mission. I get it. But this scum waffle stole from every single one of his employees, and we're getting that stuff back."

"Okay but what idiot keeps stolen shit in a safety deposit box at the local bank?" Hunk protested in a hissed tone.

Pidge snorted and swiped a lollipop from the offered basket on the front desk. She unwrapped the sucker and stuck it in her mouth, grabbing a brochure about checking accounts and giving it a cursory once over. "The kind of person who is too confident in his ability to not get caught, and who doesn't bother watching his security cameras."

"Plus, this is personal," Lance reminded them. "Your Mom got stolen from, remember Hunk?"

Hunk huffed and waved down a consultant, eyebrows crinkling. "Oh, trust me, I'm aware. Just saying, if this goes wrong, we're sssssso good to see you, ma'am!" he finished off, tossing a dazzling smile at the young woman who had stepped over to assist him.

Pidge glanced back down at her pamphlet, keeping one eye on the situation.

"I was wondering if I could get into my family's safe deposit box?" Hunk asked. "My birth certificate is in there and I need it for a job interview."

This part was true. Hunk had an interview at a local café and needed to grab his certificate. It made for the perfect cover-up for their mission. The woman went through the usual procedure, asking Hunk for his set of keys and proof of identification, and then they disappeared together into the vault.

Pidge turned to the man behind the counter, setting the pamphlet down. "Excuse me, where are your restrooms?" she asked, knowing the answer perfectly well.

Sure enough, the clerk leaned across the counter and pointed in the direction of the vault. "Down that hall there, to your left."

"Thank you!"

She turned away and crossed the queues of people waiting desperately to deposit or withdraw or whatever they came in for before the bank closed at 5. "Good," she murmured.

Pidge had just reached the edge of the hallway when she heard a shout. She turned and spotted Lance, dressed in a handsome suit with his hair slicked back, spinning on another young man with outrage. "GIVE IT BACK!"

The man flung both hands up, though there was an irritated look on his face. "I don't have it, man!"

The clerks had stopped from behind their counters, watching the situation warily; anything too violent, and they'd call the police. Pidge glanced sideways, eyes picking out the half dozen cameras situated strategically around the room.

"Coran," she whispered, ducking her head to hide her lips. "Cameras. Ten seconds, for the full three."

"Copy."

"This ASSHOLE stole my WALLET!"

"I didn't take jack shit from you, you absolute LOON!"

Hunk and the woman appeared at the door of the vault just in time for Lance to throw the first swing, and then the room was utter chaos. All eyes on Lance and the man, fighting and shoving, and none on Pidge as she ducked into the vault, pulling on a pair of leather gloves as she did so.

McElroy's box was easy enough to find; it was massive, disgustingly so, and had his name emblazoned on it like a cattle brand. "Am I good?" she asked Coran softly as she inserted her copied keys into the lock.

"Set. You have two minutes and 17 ticks."

Pidge huffed and pulled the drawer out, sounds of the fight escalating even further from outside. The cover was heavy, but she got it out of the way quickly enough, scowling when she spotted the inside. "Oh, this is totally it."

She moved as fast as she could, depositing item after item into her shoulder bag, taking only the things she was certain belonged to someone else. They had a list of items to watch out for that she had displayed on her wrist computer, and she ticked them off mentally as she found each of them. Finally, she reached Hunk's mother's wedding band and smirked, pocketing that rather than dumping it into the bag.

Cleaned of everything but a couple of papers, Pidge slid the much-lighter drawer back into place and locked it back up. "Time?"

"42 ticks."

"Copy. How's the crowd?"

"Jesus, guys, calm down!" Hunk shouted, his way of letting her know that she would draw zero attention.

Even so, she peeked out cautiously before stepping, and when she did, she edged her way right back to the hallway near the bathroom.

Lance, with a wide grin and a bloody nose, spotted her. His grin darkened and he pointed to the other guy's jacket as the police dragged him back. "Come on! Check his pockets, please! My whole paycheck is in there, I can't eat if I don't have it!"

"Sir, could you please empty your pockets?" the police asked the guy.

The man, who Allura and Coran had notified them was an identity thief, grumbled but complied, emptying first his right and then his left pockets. His eyes widened the slightest fraction as his hand went into the left, and Pidge smothered a grin. Lance's pick-pocketing skills worked both ways, and she loved it.

He pulled out Lance's wallet, a baffled look on his face, and Lance pointed emphatically at it. "I told you!"

"Sir, we're going to need you to return the wallet to the man immediately and then return with us to the station," the police officer holding Lance back said sternly. She released Lance and held out a hand.

"But I didn't…I never…I didn't take this!" the man protested.

"The wallet in your hand says otherwise," the other officer said, eyes dark. "Now hand it back."

The man scowled and pitched the wallet to the ground. "I didn't fucking take the damn thing!"

"Sir, we're going to have to ask for some identification right now," the first officer ordered.

The man's face went pale and Pidge bit down on her lip to keep from smiling. "Uh…I don't uh…I don't have any on me."

"You came to the bank without identification?"

"I…well no, I…"

"Then please take it out, sir."

The guys eyes shifted and he bolted, instantly pursuing a chase by the police. One of the security guards stepped over and waved a hand. "Please resume, folks. There isn't anything else to see here."

He turned to Lance, a scowl on his face. "And you. I can't ban you from the vicinity, but that fist fight-"

"I know," Lance said, voice dropping to a sheepish tone as he knelt to pick up his wallet. "I just…I just really needed that money, sir. I'm sorry."

The guard softened a bit and nodded abruptly, eyes traversing the rest of the room and landing on Pidge. "Miss, are you all right?"

Pidge hesitated, eyes watering. "Is…nothing's going to happen?"

The guard rushed over to her, leaving Lance to walk swiftly and silently out of the building with Hunk on his heels. "Not at all, honey," the man promised soothingly. Pidge was grateful he said it in a fatherly way rather than a creepy one, because her acting would have become much more forced otherwise. "Would you like me to walk you out?"

Pidge licked her lips, prying her fingers from the wall. "Yes please," she whispered.

The guard turned to walk alongside her, starting up a pleasant running commentary on his three kids and his Rottweiler, who was pregnant. "Those kids are gonna be running around with baby Rottweilers and man, if that isn't the cutest and simultaneously most terrifying mental image ever, I don't know what is!"

She giggled and settled her hand on the door, turning to the guard and giving him a small smile. "Thank you, sir. For keeping me calm and walking me here. I have pretty bad anxiety, so-"

"Say nothing more, young lady, I understand. Here," he offered, leaning back and plucking a lollipop from the welcome table. "Have some candy!"

Pidge bit back her smile and took the offered treat, teeth aching at the thought of another sucker so soon after her first. "Thank you, sir. I hope you have a good rest of your day. I'll be sure to put in a good word."

The guard's chest puffed up and he waved pleasantly to Pidge as she walked outside and rounded the corner. Hunk caught up to her first, falling in step alongside her with Lance not too far behind, his nose cleaned up and hair once again messy.

"Got everything?" Lance asked without looking at her.

Pidge snorted. "What, did you think I would leave without it all?" She dug into her pocket and pulled out the ring, handing it over to Hunk. "As if."

They clambered into Lance's truck, parked across the street in the mall parking lot, and Pidge dug through her bag, smirking. "I got every item. Now we just have to get that piece of shit fired."

"Done and done," Hunk chuckled. "Coran and I hacked the computer system at Mom's workplace, caught him stealing from the employee lockers on multiple occasions. It's on the way to corporate and the other store managers as we speak."

"Hunk, you are the best," Pidge declared, leaning in from the backseat to high five him.

When they got back to the base, Allura and Coran were waiting with envelopes and boxes to mail back all of the stolen items, and the group set to work on addressing and labelling everything, making sure all of the things got into the right boxes.

"I'm proud of you three," Allura said after a while.

They glanced up and at one another, a little surprised. Allura didn't give out praise very often, and when she did, it was because she was genuinely impressed. Pidge pursed her lips. "Could've used another set of eyes," she observed, wrapping up a box with packing tape. "I wasn't guarded on all sides, and it could have ended badly."

"We'll find someone," Coran promised, handing over the address label for her box. "In the meantime, take the praise. She isn't likely to hand it out again."

"Rude," Lance mumbled under his breath. "We do great work."

"Tell that to my bruised thigh in training last week," Allura muttered.

"You know I'm a long range kinda person!"

Allura tisked and then looked to Coran, raising an eyebrow. "Speaking of…we have gifts for the three of you. For a successful first mission. My father designed them, years ago, and Coran has been tinkering with all of them to better suit them towards all of your personalities and abilities."

Coran excused himself from the table and sprinted up the stairs, footsteps thunking overhead. Lance gnawed on his lip and then looked between Allura, Hunk, and Pidge. "While he's doing that…we've been thinking, if it's okay with you, that uh…when this semester is over, we could maybe live here? For the summer?"

Allura's eyes brightened and she nodded instantly, pressing her hands together in a prayerful way. "Of course you may. We'll make up rooms for you and you can do with them as you please."

Hunk smiled. "Anything we want with them?"

"Within reason."

"Got them!"

Coran came vaulting down the stairs two at a time, a large bag in his hand, and leapt nimbly off the last step, a twinkle in his eyes and a smirk on his lips. "Presents at the ready, Princess!"

Allura beckoned for the bag and set it next to her chair, digging into the parcel and rummaging about. "All right, Pidge first. These are all weapons, by the way, so please be cautious."

Lance almost choked on his tea. "Weapons?" he croaked.

Allura frowned just a little, hesitating. "Well…yes. You're all adults, and I…I couldn't live with myself if you didn't have some sort of protection other than knives."

"Wait…are you giving us guns?" Hunk squeaked.

"If you would be quiet and listen, perhaps you would know."

Hunk gave her a sheepish look. "Sorry."

Allura chuckled and rummaged through the bag, pulling out what looked very suspiciously like a revolver, save for the fact that it was tinted green. "Pidge, this is yours. It originally belonged to the leader of the Olkari gang. Coran suited it more to your needs."

Pidge took it gingerly, eyes nervous. "It's…is it loaded? Allura, I don't know how comfortable I am with guns."

Allura huffed and turned the item around. "It is not a revolver," she informed her. "Rather, it's…well, I suppose the most generic term is grappling hook."

"It's a WHAT?"

Pidge practically ripped the item from the woman's hands, twisting it around in her hands with awe. "I've been trying to design one of these for years, but I could never get the line tension right. How-?"

"Point and shoot, essentially. But unlike typical hooks from movies and TV, it latches onto any flat surface kinetically. No hook to worry about. Green button is to shoot, red to retract, and the yellow automatically connects the monitor to your own computer."

Pidge gaped and turned the weapon around again. Sure enough, implanted into the handle was a tiny screen, no more than the size of a first generation iPod. "I can't conceal it though, can I? If someone sees it they'll think that"-

"The barrel folds down against the handle so that it looks like a phone. It should fit comfortably into your pockets. Care to try it?"

"Inside?" Pidge asked, eyes widening.

Coran lifted an eyebrow and pointed at the ceiling, nearly twenty feet above them. "We certainly have the space for it."

Pidge scooted from her seat and squished one eye shut, her tongue poking out as she lifted her arms and aimed at the ceiling. Her pointer finger closed down on the green button and a dark line swung out from the barrel, propelled to the ceiling and latching there firmly. Pidge tugged a little on the item and glanced at Allura. "I won't fall?"

"Not at all."

"If you do, I'll catch you," Lance promised.

Pidge looked to Hunk. "Hunk?"

"I got you."

"Rude," Lance grumbled.

Pidge smirked and looked to Allura. "How do I-?"

"Put your full weight onto it and it will pull you up."

Pidge lifted her feet off of the ground and shrieked as the line rappelled upwards until she was dangling twenty feet in the air, eyes wide. "Sweet! Now uh…how do I get down?"

Laughter came from below and she shot the group a middle finger in response. Allura only laughed harder. "Take your finger off the green and press it again."

She did so, a little shakily, and sure enough, the line started extending again, this time a bit more slowly, lowering her back to earth. She pressed the red when her feet settled to the floor and the line whipped away, leaving her breathless. "That…was awesome. Thank you!"

Pidge pressed the barrel back into the handle and snorted. "It looks like a flip phone," she noted, shoving it into her pocket.

"Exactly. No one will want to steal it that way!" Coran said cheerfully.

Allura waved him off and dove back into her bag. "Hunk, I know you do better with less upfront things. So I have two items for you, left by the Balmeran gang leader."

"Weren't they like, the most peaceful gang in the city?" Pidge mused.

Coran hummed, stroking his mustache. "Indeed. But don't let them fool you; they put up a tough fight when you threaten them. Very close knit, that group."

"Yes," Allura agreed. "So Hunk, here's your crossbow."

Lance nearly choked. "His what?" he managed to get out.

Allura lifted what was most definitely a crossbow out of her bag, a smile dancing in her eyes. It was a pale yellow color, faded, but it glimmered like it had been recently polished. The arrow knocked in the bow glinted, the end of it similar to Pidge's grappling gun, and rope coiled from behind. "It works somewhat like Pidge's weapon, however you can replace the surface friction arrow with a lethal one should the need arise."

Hunk squeaked. "It shouldn't."

"Annndddddd...ah, here," she declared, pulling a small fabric bag from inside her own bag. It resembled a coin purse, if not a bit bigger. "Be careful with it."

"What's in it?" Hunk asked, taking the pale yellow pouch with cautious fingers.

"A bomb," Allura said, her voice deadly serious.

There was a long silence, and then the woman snickered and shook her head, tucking a strand of hair behind one ear. "I'm teasing you. They are bombs, however. Smoke bombs."

Lance whooped. "Dude, like in the movies? That's awesome!"

"Quite. They react to only a pound of physical pressure, so store them cautiously. There is a space in the base of the crossbow that will hold them without making them burst. A single pellet will fill a reasonably sized room. They're not lethal, merely annoying."

"Hmm. Like Pidge," Hunk mused, taking the crossbow from Allura as well.

"I resent that."

"I know you do. So, where are the replacement heads for the crossbow? You know, if I do need them?"

Coran pointed to the length of the bow. "In here. There's a hatch inside that can hold up to two dozen lethal arrows and a dozen non-lethal at the same time. You don't need to remove the kinetic portion, as the other ones will connect to that one just by being pressed on. And you can retract the attached wire by hitting the red button on the back. Hold green to shoot, release to be lowered, and yellow to call the arrow back to you."

Hunk nodded. In his hands, the bow was small, maybe the size of a toaster, and he fidgeted with it. "Can I conceal it?"

"Unfortunately, not well," Allura said, clucking her tongue. "However, the Balmeran paladin was able to fit it into a simple backpack, which in most places will not be searched."

"You can, however, take the extra arrows and slide them up a sleeve or into a boot," Coran informed him.

"Good to know."

"What about me?" Lance asked impatiently.

Allura tisked and leaned back into the bag, pulling out yet another gun, this one a bit longer and slimmer than Pidge's, with a sniper feel to it. The whole thing was tinged a light cerulean blue, and Lance took it from her gingerly. "What does it do?" he asked, squinting one eye shut and looking down the barrel.

"Shoots non-lethal projectiles that, when they hit someone, will knock them unconscious for up to two hours. If it doesn't hit a person, it acts as a regular bullet. So be cautious with what you shoot at. You…can shoot, correct?"

Lance gave a wicked grin and spun in a firm circle, locking his gaze onto the far concrete wall. "That photo there," he offered, pointing to a piece of generic mountain scenery that had been hung up to give the place a little bit more of a lived in feeling. "I'm going to hit the bottom right corner."

Pidge snorted. "Yeah right."

His lips quirked and Lance breathed, both eyes open, and his finger twitched on the trigger. The wood of the frame exploded in the bottom right corner and only the bottom right corner. He lowered the gun, sticking his thumb on the safety, and bowed low, looking up in time to see Pidge clamp her jaw shut. "Sixteen years of video games and five years of hunting with my dad," he offered with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "Not to mention six years of archery."

"Oh, wonderful! We do have a bow and some arrows around here as well," Allura noted. "If you're ever in need of them, of course. Anyway, that belonged to the blue paladin, the leader of the Nalquad gang."

"They control the riverside," Pidge piped up.

"Correct. The barrel of the gun does minimize, by the way, and makes the gun appear to be….similar to a thermos. Enough that most people will not look twice," Allura assured them. "Because of your ability to aim, I am also going to provide you with a set of the throwing stars that the Nalquad's are famous for. They can't break, but they can be lost, so please be cautious. We only have about two dozen left."

She proceeded to open up one of the cabinet drawers in the dining room and pull out a sleek black case about the size of a laptop.

"You keep throwing stars in the dining room?" Hunk asked dryly.

"Do you not?"

"No. No I don't."

She handed the box off to Lance and then stepped back, clasping her hands in front of her. "I…I hope these serve you well. And I am eager to see where this mission of ours takes us. Pidge, we will retrieve your family. And we will shut down the Galra. Permanently."

New chapter of From the Top by tomorrow at the latest, because I have work. Yay.

I'd appreciate some reviews? It's really disheartening to only get one review when you put up a chapter this long.