Oooh, I specifically liked writing this chapter. ;)
Please Read&Review, Fav&Follow, and enjoy!
"Mr. Daley? I can see that you're on the scent of something-"
"Einstein. He's here." Larry narrowed his eyes as he scanned the landscape. Brooklyn had managed to find a window, but she quickly made it clear she needed to go to the bathroom so she wandered off to find a restroom, leaving Amelia and Larry to find Einstein.
"I saw him. A bunch of 'em…" Larry trailed off.
"Where?" Amelia asked.
Larry pointed in the direction of the Air and Space Museum. "…there."
"We're goin' to Air and Space." He decided.
"And so, the adventure continues." Amelia grinned. Larry smirked along with her as he turned to look at her. She looked right back at him.
"Something wrong, Mr. Daley?" Amelia asked in a soft voice.
Larry blinked. "No, I just-"
"Because I quite like the way you're looking at me."
"I'm not looking at you." Even though he was looking right at her.
"What's the mater, things getting too dangerous for you, Mr. Daley?" Amelia leaned toward him. "Because as I've already made clear, I'm not one to shy away from danger…" Amelia leaned in and gave Larry a soft kiss, his eyes wide open the whole time.
"Okay, that was, like, a thousand kinds of weird." Larry burst.
"I don't know why I did that, Mr. Daley. I just feel as if I've been asleep for a long time, and now I'm suddenly…awake." Amelia admitted.
"Actually, I can explain that-"
"Are you two kidding me?" Brooklyn walked into the room, giving them a shit-eating grin. "I leave for two minutes…"
"It's not what it looks like." Larry tried to defend his actions.
"Oh, just like the sailor chick, or Venus?" Brooklyn teased him. "I'm just yankin' your chain, tongue twister, it was about time you to kissed and made up."
Brooklyn sent a wink their way. "The children don't like it when mommy and daddy fight."
Larry's face quickly turned red, then suddenly the sound of hands clapping erupt behind them. Brooklyn whirled around and reached for her gun…that's when she realized she left it in the bathroom.
"Well, shit." She muttered under her breath, then quickly made sure the fedora was still on her head.
"Do'bree vye'cher. Or as you say: Good evening. Your daughter will come along quietly, Da? Or do you want to finish your little make-out part?" Ivan the Terrible asked as his henchmen pointed their rifles toward them.
"What?" Larry glanced back at the girls. "She's not my daughter. And we weren't…look, it wasn't a make-out party, Mister…wait-who are you?"
"I am Ivan Grozny. Tsar of Russia." Ivan stated.
Larry glanced back at Brooklyn who just shrugged.
"Uh, okay…"
"Ivan the Awesome?" Ivan suggested as if that'd trigger a memory.
"'Ivan the Awesome?'" Larry raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with your work."
Amelia quickly cut in and muttered to Larry. "Ivan the Terrible."
"Oooh…" Larry said.
"That is an inaccurate translation." Ivan stopped his foot impatiently. "But people like a scary sounding name, so here we are."
"You were a murderous tyrant." Brooklyn snapped after remembering the name from one of her history books. "You deserve that name."
"Tomayto tomahto." Ivan the Terrible shrugged. "And who are you, my pretty?"
"The names Bonnie." She snipped. "And I'll make you a deal." She stepped forward. "If your famous Streltsi can beat me in a foot race to the end of that corridor, we will not only surrender," she gestured back to her colleagues smugly. "But we will pledge our eternal allegiance to you above all others."
Larry and Amelia stared at Brooklyn with the widest horrified eyes possible.
"I like the sound of that." Ivan stroked his beard. "And if you win?"
"You've already caught us." Brooklyn shrugged. "So you win either way."
"Hmm…" Ivan thought about it for a moment. "I do so enjoy watching my captives suffer for my own entertainment. Agreed!"
He whirled on his men. "My Streltsi! Prepare to run like the Siberian Wind!"
The soldiers lined up like sprinters, Brooklyn with them.
"On your mark!" Ivan shouted in Russian. "Get set! Go!"
The Russian soldiers took off like a shot down the hallway. Brooklyn immediately grabbed Larry and Amelia by their hands and bolted with them in the opposite direction into a stairwell.
Ivan stood there staring after them.
"Dammit." He muttered quietly.
The trio managed to get far enough away from the Russians that Brooklyn insisted on scouting ahead, just to make sure there wouldn't be any more surprises, when in reality she thought it'd be best to give Larry and Amelia some 'alone' time.
"Tell me, Mr. Daley, do you have a lady friend?" Amelia asked suddenly.
"What?" Larry burst, taken off guard.
"I mean, you're not horrible to look at. A certain kind of woman might even find you attractive. So what's your story?" Amelia asked curiously.
"Uh," Larry glanced back at her. "My story is, I don't have a story. I mean, I used to have a story, but we worked together at the museum, and then got kinda busy, and the story…ended."
"'Busy'? Busy is not a reason, Mr. Daley. Busy is an excuse." Amelia said.
"Well, whatever it was, she left." Larry shrugged. Brooklyn waved to the duo off in the distance, gesturing to another door.
"Perhaps you gave her no reason to stay." Amelia said.
"Yeah, okay, thanks for the life coaching." Larry muttered. "Can we just find Einstein now?"
The emergency exit Brooklyn found opened to reveal a side of The Castle. Brooklyn burst out, leading Larry and Amelia into the courtyard. The vast National Mall sat quietly between the looming white grandeur of the Capitol Dome and the Washington Monument. The trio turned to head across the Mall to the Air and Space Museum when suddenly, the group heard the sound of pounding boots. Brooklyn looked over her shoulder to see a huge column of medieval Russian soldiers now crossing the mall, cutting off their path to Air and Space.
"We're gonna have to lay low for a little while." Larry whispered.
"Where?" Amelia said. "They're going to search this whole square."
Larry quickly led Amelia across the Mall, leaving a suddenly horrorstricken Brooklyn standing by The Castle. The dark shadow the building casted was hiding the one person she'd never thought she'd see there.
"Gio?" Brooklyn's voice broke off in a soft whisper.
"Surprised to see me, babe?" Gio stepped out of the shadows, a silver handgun in his hand. "I had some buddies fly me out here, hope you don't mind."
Brooklyn remained frozen.
"Speechless, I see." Gio frowned. "No matter. It'll be less of a struggle for you."
The soft click of the handgun made Brooklyn flinch. Her heart seemed to be beating out of her chest. In that moment she was praying for a miracle.
"Gio." Brooklyn breathed. "Whatever you heard-"
"Shut the fuck up." Gio spat. "Lying bitch. I'm going to put you in the ground where you belong."
Brooklyn let out a shaky breath. "That's what I was afraid of."
Suddenly, the emergency exit from The Castle busted open and out came Capone and his men. To Brooklyn's surprise and sadness, Capone had only put on his under shirt, but you could still clearly see his monochrome muscles.
Capone's eye caught Brooklyn's, and was about to snap something when he realized Gio was pointing a gun at her. His face contorted into a whole 'nother person. He looked pissed, which Brooklyn was only slightly thankful for.
"Heyyy, pinstripes." Brooklyn tipped his fedora at him. "I was wondering when you'd be coming for your fedora."
"Who's this bub?" Capone walked up behind Brooklyn, his chest against her back; his eyes never broke away from Gio's. His men raised their tommy guns at the thief.
"Uh…" Brooklyn didn't know who she was more scared of, the mobster who was leaning against her back or her ex-boyfriend who was pointing a gun at her. "A friend."
"A guy who points a gun at a dame ain't no friend of mine." Al gestured to his men. "Take care of him boys."
"Wait-!" Brooklyn burst afraid his men were going to shoot Gio, but instead one of Capone's men snuck up behind Gio and knocked him out with the butt of his gun. As Capone's men collected Gio's body, Capone looked down at Brooklyn.
"What?" He asked.
Brooklyn glanced up at him. "Don't," she slid her finger across her throat. "Take care of him, but, like, if he woke up on a boat in the middle of the ocean I wouldn't mind." She smirked kindly.
Capone couldn't help but grin at the girl. "You heard her boys. Make it happen."
And they did.
Brooklyn turned to Capone with a hand on the fedora on her head. She smirked in realization Capone was being nice.
And that's when it hit her.
Al Capone was being nice.
Brooklyn's face fell as she stared with narrowed eyes at the mobster.
"Thanks…" she said hesitantly. "What you did…that was…nice."
"Yea," Capone took a step closer, looming over the girl. Her heart began to race so fast she could feel it in her head. "So now you owe me."
Brooklyn took one large step backwards with a raised eyebrow.
"What?" she burst. "I didn't ask you to help me."
"Yea, but I did anyways." Capone made the space between them disappear with ease. He lowered his face close to her ear as she stood there, once again frozen. "Isn't that apart of your thief code? Helping those you help you?"
"…What?" Brooklyn's voice was barely a whisper.
"Don't play coy with me, doll." Capone said. "I know a thief when I see one."
"I…" Capone's closeness to Brooklyn distracted her, she could barely think straight. "I, I'm…" she let out a sigh of defeat. "What do you want?"
"Oh, I'm not cashing in right away, doll, that'd be a waste." Capone smirked deviously. "I'll wait for my moment."
"You think you're so smooth, don't you?" Brooklyn remarked suddenly regaining her composure. "I don't buy it, Godfather."
"Oh, really, Clara Bow?" Capone said. "What don't you buy?"
Brooklyn blinked; surprised by his reference, and not realizing how close Capone was looming over her. Clara Bow? Brooklyn began racking her mind for facts on Clara Bow. She was an actress of the 20s, star in silent films, but…she was a sex symbol of the 20s. She looked up at Capone confused.
She opened her mouth to retort, but was quickly cut off…by Capone's mouth on her's. Brooklyn couldn't make sense of what was happening, all she could feel was one of Capone's hands wrapped around the small of her back, the other behind her neck, and his soft lips roughly kissing her.
Once Capone finally pulled away Brooklyn began to blink repeatedly, still utterly confused.
"Is that smooth enough for you, doll?" he grinned.
"Uh…um," Brooklyn couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with the man she was too flustered. "Yea, that was more buyable…I guess."
"You guess?"
Brooklyn shot the mobster a warning glare and a pointed finger. "Don't you try anything, you can fugetaboutit, doll." She mocked in a thick Brooklyn accent.
Capone's eyes sparkled, like a child getting a new toy Christmas Day. He was going to enjoy playing with his new toy; sadly for Brooklyn she was the toy.
"Get on outta here, doll." Capone started to walk away from Brooklyn, his hands tucked in his pockets. "And keep my hat." He glanced back at her and winked. "It looks good on ya."
Capone and his men disappeared back through the exit, leaving a red faced and flustered Brooklyn standing in the light of the moon. Brooklyn tore the fedora off her head and threw it across the courtyard…at least that's what she'd hoped. It only landed a few inches away from her.
She was totally played by Al Capone, just like how she manipulated the sailor Joey. Well, she didn't go that far, but she could only assume Capone was more dedicated to his job than she was. She had let the mobster get the best of her, even though he did help her out, he was known for being a ladies man.
Brooklyn held her screech of fury in, only escaping from her mouth as little shrieks. Not only had Capone played her, he knew she was a thief. He had blackmail.
"FUCK!" Brooklyn shouted at the tops of her lungs and kicked Capone's hat in the dirt. "Fucking fuckity fuck fuck!"
Capone had gotten her when she was the most vulnerable too! She was losing her touch.
Brooklyn glared down at the dirty hat determinedly. She'd get Capone back, but at the moment she had to help Larry and Amelia.
She picked the fedora out of the dirt, dusted it off, and placed it back on her head.
Gio was out of the way.
There was nothing holding her back now.
