-Hi Dad,-
-I've gone to go hang out with Lisa and Co.-
-Should be back after dinner, otherwise I'll ask Lisa to call you.-
-I know its been an issue since Mum died and I don't really like it,-
-but given my problem we should get mobile phones.-
-The SMS thing could let us communicate without me needing others.-
-Please consider it.-

I stared at the note for Dad before sticking it to the fridge and heading to the lair. It was another cowardly use of my speech issue, but I really didn't want to try and have the talk without giving him some time to think on it. Let him calm down before deciding, I hoped.

A short bus trip later, I was within walking distance of my new home away from home. I don't know what it said about me that I was more comfortable in a villain lair than I was in my own home. The strange detachment between Dad and I that had been there since the crash and hadn't receded much after the locker. Even with him trying harder to connect.

I heard an invitation at my knocking on the door and entered. Every one was already upstairs in the loft, which was a nice surprise.

"Taylor, perfect timing, we've just got a job request from the boss." said Brian. I tilted my head in question and Lisa answered.

"He wants us to do a bank job this Thursday."

That surprised me, would have thought that that would be a bit too ambitious for us, but I was intrigued. I pulled my phone out and tapped away.

-Isn't that risky?-

"Yes, very."

Brian was clearly unimpressed at the whole idea.

Lisa stood near the TV, a phone in hand. I could only guess that it was our mysterious employer on the other end. The rest were lounging on the couch and seats.

"But its like an initiation into a life of villainy. Can't be a villain without a bank robbery." She said, obviously wanting us to go along with the idea.

"Still a bad idea. What's the average haul for a bank heist?"

"Maybe twenty kay?" She replied after a little thought.

"Yeah, not really that much considering that a bank in Brocton Bay will have even less cash on hand with all the villains around. So knock off another five thou and we end up with maybe three grand each. That's less than our other jobs."

"Three thousand in spending money could always help." Piped in Alec, the mention of money grabbing his attention.

"What is worth buying that we'd try to rob a bank with the hero presence in this city?" he asked, and Alec just shrugged.

"We've won plenty of fights, even before we got her." Said Rachel, finally joining the conversation, and nodded in my direction in a dismissive manner.

"Fights where we picked out battles, where we could move about, not trapped in a bank full of hostages."

General nods from the group, while I sat and took in the discussion.

"It will be harder to slip away, and if we want anything worth a damn we'll have to fight. Even with your power Lisa, it will take time to get through all the security and the capes will arrive in no time flat."

Alec grinned and said "But think of the rep we'd gain for getting away with it."

"He's right." said Bitch.

"And yet, not getting caught is better for our reputation long term."

"What do you think?" asked Lisa looking my way. I had gotten carried away observing. On the one hand it sounded like it could be fun, but I didn't really want to get arrested on my second outing as a cape.

-Rep would be good.-
-Doesn't sound worth the risk though.-

Alec rolled his eyes, while Rachel looked at the phone blankly. I looked at her for a moment, awaiting a snide comment, before something clicked. I face palmed and typed. I don't know why I didn't think of it before when I had researched her history.

-Can Rachel read?-

"Shit." Said Brian, aptly summing up everyone's opinion on the matter.

"What?" Asked Rachel.

"You can't read?" Alec sounded disbelieving. I was kind of surprised this hadn't come up earlier.

"Only some words."

"Well as inconvenient as that is, I have some reasons to take this job." Said Lisa, quickly regaining out attention. "The boss wants a job done at a particular time, so I managed to wrangle some extra funding from him if we do the job."

"The bank is actually my idea and he liked it. The Protectorate have an event outside town on Thursday so they won't be able to respond in time. We hit Bay Central in Downtown, Ward jurisdiction stops New Wave from coming in."

"So we are just attacking the bank with the heaviest security in the city with Arcadia nearby." Brian said, trying to wrap his head around the crazy.

"Yes, and the entire team can't all pop out of school without attracting the wrong sort of attention. So we'd be fighting a partial team of junior heroes and they are down one Shadow Stalker. With me so far?"

"Well that sounds a lot more doable. Still not really worth the money." He said, with less disagreement in his body language than earlier.

"Ah, but I got the boss to give us twice what we haul in. We take fifteen, we get payed an extra thirty. Or he brings us up to a minimum twenty five thou, whichever is more. So we all walk away with a minimum five kay each as long as we get away."

"Why the hell would he do that, it makes no sense." I had to agree with Brian on that point, tasty amounts of cash aside, that did seem suspicious.

"And hell cover costs for this job." She added, her mouth a huge grin.

I mimed out a confused Why? gesture. I hadn't even seen that much in a bank account, let alone in cash.

"One, he wants a team with a reputation on call. Two he must want this job done real bad."

-Distraction?-

"Probably, but with the money we'd be getting that really isn't our concern."

"That's some nice incentive, but attacking one of the most secure buildings in the city and certain conflict with the Wards..."

"And Thursday afternoon will have the highest amount of cash, as the armoured cars will have made several drop offs by then. So we'd be looking at, at least thirty though, so we'd get ninety."

Brian just whistled. It looked like she'd hit the magic number. It was a very pretty number.

"Alright, I'm in."

"Finally, of course I'm in." said Alec.

Rachel just grunted in agreement.

They all looked at me. I was a bit nervous about the idea, but it would net me a bunch of cash and stick it to the PRT hard if we were successful. I should have been worried that one of my major motivations as a person lately has been vindictive spite. Just a shame I couldn't take it out on Sophia.

-So, what's the plan?-