AN: Alright Guys, here we go, the ball level! I also want to thank those of you who have followed, faved and given feedback so far, I really appreciate it!


After an excruciating flight spent trying to keep Nate sedated, the gang finally landed in Calcutta. Josephina didn't think she'd ever been so happy to get into the van as they retrieved it from the hanger it had been transported to. Sly and the twins slept peacefully while Josie helped Bentley direct Murray to the palace. Lights were being put up, celebration preparations taking place throughout the grounds. Guard assignments being handed out, guests arriving, in all there was a strange sense of ordered chaos.

"There's a cave nearby we can set up in." Bentley said, pointing to a small cave entrance opposite the drawbridge.

"Fantastic... Cave living! My favorite."

"Well there's no need to be sarcastic..." Bentley rolled his eyes.

"Bentley, I have a question... Do you enjoy sleeping in caves?"

"Excuse me?"

"Because you wanted to set up shop in a cave in Egypt too... and now again you're wanting to hide in a cave... So my question is, do you have a secret thing for caves?"

"Of course not. I just want us to be-"

"Safe, secure, control over escape routes. No, no, I get it. But if we doctored a few invitations we could, quite easily procure a place either in the palace or at the very least inside the walls and we would not have to sleep in a cave. Looking at the skyline of this place," she gestured out the front window. "I'd say that the tower over by what I'm assuming is the guest house, would be the perfect place for us to set up shop. Electricity, a roof, and a nice view."

"That could work..."

"I'll check it out myself if it'll make you feel better." Sighing Bentley nodded, and Josephina slipped out the back doors of the van. From where they'd parked it was only a short jog to the palace. Getting in was easier than it should have been, and Josie walked through the streets to the tower. The area it was in was close to the guest house as she'd thought, on the edge of the palace, with plenty of shadows to hide any activity. She held off on reporting to Bentley, instead swapping her earpieces and contacting Trista.

"Josie, what's up?"

"We're in India and-"

"Rajan's palace, I figured you'd end up here. Carmelita got a call with explicit orders to get over there as soon as possible. She brought us along. We're getting settled in the guest house right now."

"Oh fantastic. I'll make contact later. Good luck."

"Same to you." Returning her other earpiece she made her way to the roof of the tower to contact Bentley.

"Bentley, this place is perfect. Let's get settled."


Getting the gang settled took a bit of doing, but the building was structurally sound, had electricity and running water, and a view of a good portion of the palace grounds. Josie leaned against the small balcony and looked out over the buildings. Nearly every building was overflowing with guests, guards patrolled the streets and the rooftops, servants scurried to make the palace presentable, and six thieves settled in for a long week. Her tail flicked and she watched the sun set below the horizon. Bentley joined her, taking in the layout of what he could see before turning to speak.

"I need more information about this place before we go anywhere near that party tomorrow night."

"Guest list, patrol routes, building usages, important structures... It's a lot. What are you putting me on?"

"Guard patrols and hopefully the guest list as well. Rajan's sure to keep the patrol routes and guard assignments in the guard house," Bentley pointed to a building a few blocks away. "Unfortunately the guard house door is locked via a code pad, and I don't have access to Rajan's codes or his network yet."

"So... I'm just supposed to magically teleport inside?" Josephina had done it, but such a thing required the right equipment, spiritual wave frequency, weather conditions and ingredients, or in short it had only happened once and she'd ended up in a cell for three months because she'd teleported into the middle of a drug lord's operation while trying to steal information she could use to bust him. She really didn't want to have to go through that again, and she'd needed a mystic to help her do it in the first place. None of Cooper's team was even slightly capable of any spell casting.

"No, no, there's a back entrance through a cellar, but it's locked up tight and the key is carried by the head of security." Bentley passed her a picture of a large rhino man.

"When did you take this?"

"Sly took it fifteen minutes ago and I tagged that guy with a holographic marker. Should show up in your binocucom and your thief mask imager. Get the key and make your way inside."

"From there it's just a matter of finding the routes and guard assignments. Pictures of the docs, put them back where I found them, no need to raise suspicion."

"Precisely."

"Relax pal, you're acting like I've never done a covert job before."

"Well... yes... I'd assumed-"

"You know what assuming does to people right?"

"Just go get the key to the cellar..." Bentley gave her a flat glare before making his way back into the tower. Josephina smirked and slipped over the railing, looking down to see a cart full of flower petals waiting below.

"Feels like there should be a hawk or something screaming in my ear..." She shrugged, pushing off the narrow ledge and diving to land in the cart. Brushing rose and tulip petals of all colors from her fur she stalked down the street, searching for the captain of the guard. The raspberry pink circle made it easy to find him, and she smirked as she slipped behind him. She relieved him of his key and marker instantly leapt to where the cellar was located. Yanking the old hatch open she pocketed the key and slipped down into the mostly dark cellar.

A single bare bulb illuminated the center of the room and not much else, and rats scurried around the dark edges. It was a food storage area, full of shelves of various foods, barrels and sacks and crates and of course the rats. Shuddering at the sanitation issues she moved up the stairs and cautiously peered around the corner at the top. A kitchen, hot and full of cooking meals for the guards to eat, but no chef waiting on it. Frowning Josephina continued on into the actual barracks, where guards sat playing cards, eating dinner, or drinking. With a grimace she pressed against the wall and moved down the hallway she'd stepped into.

It was dark, with only a few lights struggling to brighten the gloom of the building's sad halls. Cracked paint peeled off the walls and floated to the tile floor. Surprisingly for the issues in the cellar, the rest of the barracks was fairly clean. The floor was mopped and swept, the tables and chairs cleaned regularly. Josephina was slightly impressed. Some of the guard houses she'd been in had been far worse. She ducked into a closet as a pair of guards rounded the corner ahead of her.

As they passed she peered out of the closet, before slipping back into the hall and continuing towards what she hoped would eventually lead her to the office. She completed a loop of the building before making her way to the second floor where the bunks were. The office sat to her left, locked but with a small window at the top she was able to fit through with only a small amount of difficulty. Josephina nodded as she found another set of keys for the file cabinets sitting on the desk, and set to work pulling the information she needed from the manila folders inside.

"Sorry Bentley, there's no guest list here. Rajan must have it."

"I'll send Sly to look. Send me what you have and get out of there." Bentley cried as she sent the pictures to him and carefully returned everything to the way it had been. "Perfect! Now hurry up and get out of there before you're spotted."

"Relax Bentley, I've got this covered." She smirked and made her way out of the office, passing snoring guards and restless sleepers as she made her way to a nearby window and out into the street.


Nate and Nate stepped silently down the narrow streets, their boots hardly making a noise as they moved together towards their target. The pair's pink eyes scoured the area ahead of them, taking the guards on the roof and the flashlight carrying heavyweights as they rounded the corners. Nat twirled her baton nervously, her fur on edge. Bentley had sent them to find the important structures and figure out what several buildings were being used for. They'd already managed to get pictures of three of the most important buildings, those being the guest house, the palace and the drawbridge, but they'd yet to find any information on the buildings Bentley had requested. Nate glanced at the next building, just ahead of them. It had a large garage door, and was rather plain in design.

The smell of tires, motor oil, and metal leaked from beyond the door but it refused to budge. Nat frowned and glared at the door.

"Well that's a bust... This building is pretty secluded, not much in the area, situated below the palace and the guard house on the cliff, built into the rock face... It's got to be for something important..." She glared at the chasm on the other side of the narrow road.

"Agreed. No windows either. Let's take up positions behind those crates and wait for anything that comes by." Nodding Natalie followed her brother into the space between the crates and they settled down for the wait. A helicopter flew by then vanished again, and just as Nat's legs were starting to cramp from crouching too long a truck drove up to the building. Nate batted her arm and carefully slid from their hiding place as the door rattled closed.

"This is vehicle storage, probably only for Rajan's guards though." He said pulling up the pictures he'd snapped of the interior and the truck before the door had closed. "I think we're almost done. Bentley said something about a turret, a waterfall and a balcony, let's find those and get back to the tower before we miss dinner."


Sly's ears swiveled as he listened to any commotion inside the guest house. With the late hour most of the guests were asleep, but a few were arguing with the guards about rooming. He slipped through the door, straining to hear where the argument was taking place. The doors directly in front of him opened up and he dove into cover as Rajan stepped out of the room.

The massive tiger stalked down one hall, leaving his room door open as he went to deal with the problem. "Sly now's your chance! Rajan has to keep the guest list in his personal office. Josie didn't find anything on the guests outside of a memo stating that they shouldn't be allowed to wander the village. Run in and find that list while he's distracted by that annoying guest!"

Sly nodded and sprinted into the lavish room, ducking to the side as a cobra snapped at him. "Woah! Bentley this guy's using snakes as security..."

"Just try to avoid getting bitten Sly... I don't have any anti-venom with me... Rajan's office should be just beyond those doors." The office doors opened without a sound, swinging open to an office just as well organized and opulent as the bedroom. Sly shut the doors before moving to the desk in search of the list he needed.

"Bentley, I'm not finding a guest list here..." Sly frowned as he dug through the piles of paper.

"Try the computer Sly. Maybe Rajan's got a list stored there." The computer hummed to life quietly as Sly flicked it on.

"Sorry pal, it's password protected. I don't have the skills or the time to figure it out either."

"I can try to hack it remotely but it'll take me some time... Rajan's security is pretty tight."

"Do your thing Bentley, from the sound of it that guest still isn't satisfied."

The screen flashed several warnings as Bentley worked his magic with the codes and firewalls, and then it opened several files. "Okay pal, I've got a list of names, downloading them now."

"Fantastic. I'll clean up the system and make sure we're not detected."

"Sound's like Rajan was able to calm that guest down, I'll get out of here and make my way back to the hideout."


Okay so there you have it, the gang's settled in for the next heist! Let me know what you think!