Disclaimer: I don't own The Italian Job or anything associated with it.

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Chapter Ten

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"Don't look so sour, Lyle. It's been a whole week. You've looked everywhere for her," Rob said, attempting to cheer him up.

"It's not like she could have just disappeared off the face of the earth. 'Sides, she has to come back for her share," Left Ear added.

"Charlie's doing a wire transfer for her, actually," Lyle replied, looking down into his glass as if it could tell him where Darcy had disappeared to.

"Ah... Well, chin up, Lyle, you might get lucky with one of the fine ladies here tonight," Rob said, his head turning to follow one of the said women. He grinned at her, standing when her eyes lingered on him. "Enjoy your night, boys. I've got work to do," he said, throwing a note next to his glass.

"How does he do that?" Left Ear asked, shaking his head.

Lyle laughed under his breath; he'd said those very same words the last time he'd seen Handsome Rob at work. It was a small comfort to know that he wasn't the only one mystified by Rob's unnatural ability with women.

"You all right?" Left Ear asked warily, hoping that Lyle's laughter wasn't a warning sign that he was about to throw up.

"Yeah. Fine. I've got things to do. Catch you later," he said, adding his own money to the table before leaving the bar.

Left Ear looked after his friend, and after paying for his own drink, left soon after.

...

Lyle opened his laptop, and within a few minutes, he had disabled the tap he'd put onto his ex-ex-ex-girlfriend's phone.

Another five minutes had him scouring the L.A. Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control Operations Center. After the last job, they'd immediately upgraded their security to keep hackers out, but Lyle had known they'd do something like that, and left a backdoor for himself. A small algorithm (but no less kick ass), that no one would notice in a hundred years.

It only took a few clicks to find the exact day and time he wanted; he'd already looked at it before, and knew exactly how to find it. A picture of Darcy Hill appeared on the screen, slightly blurred from the feed, but it was the last known shot he'd found of her in the security feeds. She'd gone into a building, and had never come back out.

It was only when Lyle went to the physical building himself that he found there were no cameras in the parking area, and the ones leading from the underground parking to the closest traffic light had been out for repair that very day. He had to wonder if Darcy had known about it, or if she'd organised the 'repair' job herself.

There were hundreds of cars that went along those streets every day, and it was taking him longer than he would have liked to find an unknown car that could possibly have Darcy within it.

Suddenly, a red warning flashed on his screen. Lyle hurried to check his power cord, but saw that it was connected and his laptop was fully charged. Then he read the warning itself, and a hurried click and save was all he had time for before he was kicked out of the L.A. Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control Center.

Someone had found his algorithm.

...

"There, all clean. Everything that should be there is there, and everything that shouldn't be there, isn't."

"Thank you, Darcy. It's a relief to know that it won't happen again."

"Oh, it probably will happen again. Some people have too much time on their hands and think they have something to prove. However, I can check your system every few months if you'd like. Not even the real Napster's as smart as me," Darcy said, grinning.

"And just how do you know that?" the manager asked, somewhat annoyed that her solution wasn't a permanent fix.

"Because I went to college with him," she replied, ignoring his surprised and wary expression. "I'll be sending my bill, and if I'm not paid by the specified time, I'll undo everything I've done."

By the time the man registered her words properly, Darcy was already in the elevator and heading down to the lobby.

...

Lyle stared. There was no other word for it, and even if there was, he was too shocked to think of it. The magazine stand in front of him was filled with news about Shawn Fanning and how he'd stolen the idea for Napster.

He paid for the magazine and somehow made his way back to his apartment without walking into anyone.

There were messages on his answering machine from his friends, and despite keeping his number silent, he also had messages from a few journalists and talk-show hosts. He sure hadn't had this sort of attention with Wired.

Still shocked and unable to talk, Lyle sank down into his seat and opened the magazine to read the article.

...

The next few days passed as a blur. Lyle answered some of the messages, rejected others, and spent most of his time replying to the emails he was suddenly overwhelmed with. By the time he realised he hadn't eaten and ventured out for food, people were actually recognising him on the street.

He couldn't believe how nervous he was with all of the attention he was receiving. He could probably go to a bar and have his pick of any female inside, but the thought wasn't as pleasing as it might have been once.

Lyle smiled, nodded, and hurried his way out of the Thai takeaway store. It was close to his apartment, and that meant the least amount of interaction as possible.

And he'd been jealous of Fanning as the media darling, he thought to himself with an inward scoff.

Fumbling for his keys while trying not to drop his food, Lyle used the light to find the right key. Then he realised there shouldn't have been a light. He'd closed and locked his door behind him, using the usual key and number pad combination. No one should have been able to crack that.

Well, maybe one person could...

With that hopeful thought in mind, Lyle stepped into his apartment, and wasn't too surprised to see Darcy sitting on his armchair.

"Hello, Lyle."

"What are you doing in my apartment, Darcy?" Lyle asked. He didn't bother to ask how she got past his security system.

"I see you liked the article," she said, nodding towards the newly-framed article about Shawn Fanning's deception.

"You set that up?"

"Of course I did. Did you think the magical Napster fairies did it?"

"No; everyone knows they're elves," he replied, rolling his eyes at her.

Darcy just laughed and stood up, moving to him. "Hope you bought enough for two; I'm starving," she said, taking the bag from his hands. "Aw, they gave you an extra meal for free. What's that on the note? Something about keeping your mind strong?" she muttered, taking the extra container out of the bag. "Where are your chopsticks?"

Before he really knew how it happened, Lyle was sitting with Darcy in his lounge room, both of them eating Thai together as if it was completely normal.

...

"I brought you a present," Darcy said an hour or so after they'd finished eating. The empty containers were sitting on the coffee table, and they had just been talking since then.

"What sort of present?" Lyle asked with a frown.

"Open it and see," Darcy said, sliding a small square box across the coffee table.

Still frowning, Lyle picked up the box and opened it warily. After everything that had happened, he wasn't sure what to expect.

His eyes widened slightly as he recognised what was inside it. A green floppy disc was sitting in the box, looking as pretty and battered as the day it had been stolen.

"I told you I'd get the disc back, Lyle," Darcy said, grinning.

"You mean ... All of this was about my disc?" he asked, barely able to wrap his mind around the fact.

"Well, that and the money," she replied, smirking now.

Lyle shook his head, a slow grin spreading across his face. "You are unbelievably amazing, Darcy Hill!" He kissed her, surprising himself.

What surprised him even more that she kissed him back, her arms around his shoulders.

Pulling away, he looked at Darcy with a slightly dopey grin. "Awesome."

"I know I am," she said, laughing softly at his expression.

"Will … will you stay? With me, I mean?" Lyle asked, hesitant. His heart plummeted when she stepped away from him.

"Do you really think I came back for Thai food? I could have sent that disc in the mail, you know… I'm staying, whether you think or know you want me to," Darcy added with a grin.

"I know I want you to stay," he hurried to say, moving to kiss her again. Lyle's eyes landed on the stereo behind Darcy. "Wait right there," he said, quickly moving to find the remote control.

Turning around, Darcy saw the stereo. Shaking her head, she laughed. The sound drew Lyle's attention and he looked at her with a slight frown.

"You don't need a stereo to get my clothes off," Darcy said. "Even if it is a NAD T770 digital decoder with 70-watt amps and Burr-Brown DAC's," she added, laughing when his mouth fell open. "Thought I didn't know, did you?"

"Uh. Yeah, something like that," Lyle said, reddening slightly.

"Well, Mr. Richardson, I guess I'll just have to see what I need to do to get your clothes off," she said, heading to the bedroom as she undid her shirt.

Lyle followed her quickly, grinning broadly.

...

The end.

Thank you to everyone for reading this. I hope you've enjoyed the story.

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