When James had been a younger man, the feeling of his heart pounding against his chest had always been a welcome one. He loved the adrenaline rush, the way that he could feel energy surging through his veins when he was about to get in over his head. Rush into battle. Make mistakes. He loved the smell of gasoline and gunpowder, and the feeling that he could be like all the heroes in the movies.

James wasn't the same man anymore though. Adrenaline and power fantasies had been replaced with calculated moves and practiced forms.

As it turned out, robbing a gas station left him feeling vastly different than he would have felt a year before. And even more different from it would have made him feel ten years before.

Qrow was outside, walking between pumps and disposing of small bombs in the trash cans that were between gas pumps. James knew that. As for him, he was in the back seat of the SUV pulling on a black mask that would hide his features when he went inside.

The whole thing was ready.

They were going to do this.

It was just time to do it.

Qrow got into the driver's seat again, and James carefully passed the shotgun that he'd gotten for Qrow earlier to the shorter man. He swallowed, watching as Qrow carefully loaded the weapon and trained his eyes on the area.

"Ready, Jim?"

James hesitated.

Nodded.

Stood up.

"Ready."

With that, James pushed the door open and crossed the parking lot in a half-sprint, pushed his way inside, and turned his gun onto the cashier inside before throwing the now emptied duffel bag from earlier onto the counter with a swing of one arm.

"Everything in the register!" James shouts the words, not used to hearing himself like this in so long. His life had been silence for so long.

Behind the desk, was a teenage girl, probably not much older than Winter was. Her eyes went wide, and he watched her mouth open up as if to say something. James didn't give her a chance, cocking the pistol and waiting, reaching onto the counter to grab a pack of gum and tossing it in the girl's direction. "Ring it up, then put everything in the bag." Instead of shouting this time, it was a growled command.

She obeyed his orders, scrambling for the pack of gum and ringing it up. James felt a rush of satisfaction at the sound of the cash register opening with a quiet ding.

As the girl began putting money into the bag with shaking hands, James felt his heart clench for a moment at the realization of what he was doing. This poor girl thought that he would kill her if she didn't listen.

The gun wasn't loaded, James reminded himself.

That would probably get him killed, but it was for the better, James reminded himself.

At least there wasn't the possibility of blood on his hands, James reminded himself..

James kept his eyes on the girl, watching her empty the register and hesitated. He could ask for the vault, he thought, but that gave her the chance to press the police button that he knew was under the counter just out of sight. He couldn't risk that.

He stopped, watching the girl carefully and spoke. "As soon as I leave this door, do yourself a favor and run as far away from this store as you can, understand?"

"Sir?"

"You'll regret it otherwise."

With that said, James reached out, zipped it shut, and sprinted out the door and to the car. As he approached, he realized that the front seat was left open intentionally, and Qrow had left the window in the back seat open.

James got close, throwing the bag through the window as he pulled the door open and immediately back closed once he was inside. He looked to the door to see that the girl had left the store, and was running across the street.

Good.

She should be safe there.

"Go." James says the word, looking back over his shoulder and listening closely for any sign of police. "We'll detonate the charges once we're out of the way. We have to go."

"What the... James, Did you-"

"I got the money, I did my job." James snaps back, just wanting desperately to get out of the area so that they could move onto the next job. Qrow doesn't wait any longer, pushing his foot to the gas pedal and beginning their trip away from the gas station. Qrow was about to open his mouth to say something but when he did, James was on the phone.

"Mascara." James' voice was hard, half-panicked. "This is General. Target 1 is cleared and we are in transit to our second target."

"Have you blown it yet?"

"Not yet." James looked back over at Qrow. "We're trying to get out of the area before we do that."

"Good thinking, General. Stay safe out there."

"We're trying." With that, James hung up and Qrow spoke . "Do you want us to stop for the plate switch?"

"After the second one." James pushed his seat back, creating a pathway for him to move into the back seat of the car where Qrow could hear the older man unzipping the duffel bag and opening up the guitar case, shoving the money that he'd gotten inside into the foam so that it wouldn't get lost. He didn't know how much money was in the case now, and he had a feeling that he wasn't going to be able to find out until they split the money from the job.

That was fine with him.

"Got it." Qrow turned off of the main road and onto a side one so that they would be less likely to be noticed in their travel to the next location. James reached out for the side of the car, gripping onto the door so that he could stay steady instead of falling or getting hurt. He could feel the plastic bending under his hand, and for the first time, James didn't let go. Instead, he let the plastic bend until there was a crack.

Qrow heard the crack, and looked back over his shoulder to see James there for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but as soon as James realized that Qrow was looking at him and not the road because you never take your eyes off of the road don't you know that? James straightened up, barked at Qrow. "Eyes on the road!"

The smaller man's rusty eyes went wide for a moment, and then Qrow faced forward. "Shit, Jim, you aren't normally like this."

"Normally, we aren't risking getting killed." James growled the words. "I just want us to get this done, Qrow."

"When are you going to blow it?"

"When we get close to the next station." James says, rooting around the back seat and looking for the remote that had been in the bag earlier so that he could detonate the bombs that Qrow had left at the last gas station. "If we do it that way, police, fire, ambulances are all going there instead of paying attention to us."

"Shit." The word was barely audible in Qrow's throat, coming out sounding more ragged than usual. "That's diabolical."

"That." James checked his gun, opening up the chamber for a moment to check that there was nothing there before looking out the window. "Is business."

Slowly, the second gas station came into view, and James looked at Qrow. "Circle the block once."

"You sure?"

"Do it." James shifted in his seat, readying himself to sprint out of the SUV as soon as it rolled to a stop. "Buys us time."

"Alright."

James pressed the button, and in the distance he could hear the blasts of explosions. Panic gripped him, and for a moment refused to let go. When he started to see smoke rise in the distance, that was his sign that everything had worked. He hoped that the girl back at the station had gotten far enough away. That she'd been smart enough not to go back inside.

Oh well.

He couldn't think about that.

That was for later.

Now, he had a job to do and he wasn't going to let himself forget that fact.

Qrow circled the block and pulled into the parking lot. Once again, the two went through the same methods that they'd used earlier in the night.

Coordinated.

Organized.

Dancelike.

He hoped that news hadn't made it to other stores in the area that they were being attacked yet. He didn't know how the other two cars were doing, after all.

For just a moment, before James ran inside, he and Qrow locked eyes from behind their masks. James felt his mouth go dry as the reality of the situation sank back in. He didn't have time for this.

Feelings were for later. Pain was for later. When the adrenaline wore off, that would be when it got bad. But for now, he had one focus. One mind. One job.

James tore his eyes away from Qrow, and turned on his heel before running inside of the store, where he saw that the cashier had seen them, already hiding down behind the counter. The sprinting man held one arm out in front of him, leading with his right and smashing through the door. The door opened violently, and James found himself become vaguely aware of the glass shattering as he threw the bag onto the counter, and pulled his gun, false-cocking it for the second time that night.

This time, behind the counter, there wasn't a scared teenager. This time, it was a man, probably about his age. A man who had probably already gone ahead and called the police on them. Time was limited. James raised his voice, immediately jumping into a shout that belonged on a battlefield instead of a gas station. "Money in the bag!"

James looked back over his shoulder, checking for police, then back at the man behind the counter. "Now!" James pushed the bag further across the counter and tossed a pack of gum at the man, the same way that he done already. The man looked down at the pack of gum, and swallowed, realizing that James was serious.

The man picked up the pack of gum, and scanned it in, slowly ringing it up, and then James realized that the man was stalling, probably buying time until the police arrived.

Ok then.

James could handle that.

In a rush of adrenaline, James pushed himself across the counter, hopping up and pushing the raven haired cashier out of the way before reaching into the register, ripping out the tray with his right hand and throwing it into the bag. The man moved to stop him, but James only lashed out, switching his grip on his pistol before driving its butt straight into the man's jaw to knock him out without thinking about it.

Shit.

James zipped the bag shut and looked down at the man. That was a new situation for him to deal with. James leaned down, picked the man up and tried to support him as best as he could before dragging the man as far back in the convenience store as he possibly could, getting him into a tiny bathroom in the very back that should be far from the blast radius for the actual bombs.

They could just not blast them, he supposed.

Or they could wait.

No.

That wasn't good enough.

James strapped the bag over himself, and lifted up the man, balancing him on his shoulders as he ran out the door, running to the car. Inside, he could see Qrow giving him a funny look. James didn't have time for this. "Open the door!"

Qrow got out, ran around the side and opened the car door, and James placed the man inside as carefully as he could before pulling the door shut behind him, crouching down on the floor. A shot of pain rushed up James' leg, into his hip and up his spine. Qrow sprinted back to the side of the car, and then they were moving, right onto the interstate.

"What the hell Jimmy?!" Qrow shouted at James, who was ready to spring and attack at any moment. This was going very poorly now. He'd have to fix things. The pain in his leg didn't help. "What's with the guy!"

"He wouldn't give the money." James answered, looking ahead. "We're ditching him with the plates at the farmstand, got it?"

"Fine!" Qrow yells back. "But he better not rat us out!"

"He won't!" James tries to control his volume and tone as they sped away from the station. He reaches into the area where he'd left the first detonator, grabbing up his twin and tossing it into the front seat carefully so that he could blast the gas station once the cashier- Tukson, the man's nametag said, was dropped off safely.

He could make out the sound of Qrow muttering some sort of obscenity under his breath, but tried to push it back. He needed to focus on the mission at hand. Not focus on the fact that things could possibly fall apart at any point. Or that it was the drive away that had almost gotten him killed, or the fact that he was in pain, or anything else. No, they had a farmstand to get to. As soon as they stopped, he was going to get out, drop Tukson, and get rid of the plates.

Priorities.

Right.

Priorities.

James braced himself against the door, looking forward as Qrow sped towards the farmstand that they'd stopped at a few days before. He swallowed, and when the car skidded to a stop, he winced then forced the back door open, pulled Tukson out carefully, and rested the man against the side of the farmstand carefully. Someone would notice him from the street.

He turned, seeing that Qrow was removing the back fake plate, and James went to the front, ripping down the steel plate with his left hand and got into the van, tossing the plate into the back and climbing into it, beginning to transfer the money from the latest job into the guitar case so that they could get it out unnoticed. That was the last thing on their checklist.

They just had to make it back in one piece.

Qrow got in.

James didn't hesitate to speak as he slid the shotgun that he'd given to Qrow into the guitar

case. "Detonator's in the passenger's seat. Blast it."

"You sure Jimmy?"

"Do it." James looked up, shoving the case closed and beginning to strip out of the all-black sweater that he'd put on earlier, shoving it into the black duffel bag that he had decided was going to carry their laundry as well as the briefcase that his gun had been given to him in.

Qrow took the detonator and hit the button. James zipped the duffel bag closed, and climbed into the front passenger's seat of the car. In the distance, James could hear the sound of more explosions. Something unnamable clenched him for a moment.

They had to get out of there.

James looked at Qrow. "Get us down by the river." He said. "We can take the walking trail, get to a bus stop, and ride back to the warehouse that way."

James saw Qrow nod, knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel tightly. James didn't say anything, he figured that Qrow had done this sort of job before. He was probably used to these sort of jobs, James told himself. It was better that Qrow was driving them back to the warehouse. Qrow finally spoke after a long minute or two. "Any sign we're being followed?"

"No." James mumbles the word, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he stripped off the pair of black leather gloves that he'd put on that morning and reached into his pocket, removing one of his customary white gloves to slide back onto his prosthetic. The fact that Qrow wasn't exactly able to look away from the road made him feel a bit more confident as he did this, though not by much. "Just get us to the river so that we can ditch the car."

"Any suggestions for what we should look for?" Qrow asks. "I figure you have a way to keep us secret."

"Tree cover." James says. "And we'll probably need a minute to get everything in order before we catch a bus and get back to the warehouse." James reached into his pocket, removed his phone and turned it on, seeing that he'd gotten texts from others to let him know that their parts were going smoothly. Roman and Junior had made it back to the warehouse, and Glynda was reporting that things were going well for her and Winter.

James began to write out a message of his own, hoping that it'd be enough to assure the others that he was coming back in one piece, the same as Qrow was.

"On the left look good?" Qrow asked, and James looked up from the half-typed message to see that there was a small boat landing that had probably been set out for kayakers. James shifted in his seat, sitting upright and scanning the area quickly. "Back in so that the back of the car is facing the river. That way we can pretend that we're getting a boat out."

"You sure that'll work Jimmy?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Qrow chuckled, pulled off the road, and followed James' instructions. "Point taken."

Once the car parked, James was unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out, going to the back and pulling open the door on the back seat so that he could grab their bags. "You're wearing streets under that, right?"

"Yeah." Qrow answered, sliding his shirt off over his head and tossing it into James' direction. James took it, and shoved it into the duffel bag that the rest of his clothes had been in. Once he was ready, Qrow was hopping out of his side of the car. He reached into his pocket and tossed his phone into the back seat, and James did the same, sending off the message that announced he and Qrow were on the way back, along with an instruction for Roman and Junior that said to wait ten minutes before exploding the car.

James looked at Qrow, and held out the guitar case for the man to take. Qrow reached out, taking it, and James slung the duffel bag over his shoulder, hoping that he looked casual enough that him carrying supplies from the gym would be believable. Qrow could pull off a guitar case, but James wasn't sure that he looked the right part for what he was doing.

There was a moment of silence. James swallowed, and looked down the walking trail, then back at Qrow. "I think we have something to do."

"Yeah." Qrow said, gesturing down the trail and James nodded, starting along the way while Qrow walked alongside him. "So we take the first bus we can find, right?"

"Yeah." James said. "Most of them will bring us in the right direction."

"Alright." Qrow shifted the guitar case in his grip, walking alongside James and looking out at the river once in a while in an attempt to distract himself from the fact that he and James were actually making their way back from the job. He didn't know which bag had the money, and he had a strong feeling that James wasn't going to be telling him.

"So what do we do once we get back?"

James sighed. "I don't know." He walked carefully, trying to ease the pain in his leg and hips, for the first time allowing himself to slip his right hand into his pocket since he felt more comfortable with it there than out in the open at the moment. "Count the money. Then we're out of there for the night."

"And after that?" Qrow laughed. "I get the feeling I'm not making it back to Vale tonight."

"Right." James felt his expression tighten as he realized what was coming next. "I have a house."

"I know." Qrow said. "Wanna get dinner?"

"Pizza sounds good." James answered, absentmindedly. He didn't want to cook that night. Not for the life of him. "But for now, we need to get back and see that everyone is safe."

"Right. You know-" Qrow cut himself off, and when James looked up he realized that there was a bus stop no more than twenty feet ahead of them. Qrow looked at James, then the stop. "We don't know each other, right?"

"Right." James mumbled, looking further down. "You wait here, I'll-"

"You don't have to do that, Jimmy." Qrow said. "I don't think it'll matter."

James shook his head. "If you think there isn't a manhunt for us, you're wrong. We're better off split right now."

Qrow hesitated. "Ok."

"Alright." James mumbled the word. "I'll see you soon, ok Qrow?"

"Ok."

With that, James continued down the trail as Qrow stepped up to the bus stop, making himself comfortable in its shade. For a moment, James didn't know whether he was going to see Qrow again after that. He didn't know if one of them would be spotted, or would get into trouble.

James shoved the worry back. He couldn't deal with that right now. He had to get back to the warehouse so that there could be a payout.

He couldn't afford to worry too much.

James looked back over his shoulder to see Qrow, standing there at the bus stop still. Worry still gripped him. James frowned, clenched his hands into fists, and just walked. He was going to find a bus stop, he was going to take it, and soon he and Qrow were going to be getting off and making the walk back to the warehouse by foot.

That was the part James really didn't look forward to.

After that, he wasn't sure how they were getting back to his house for the night. He figured they'd have to figure it out as they went. Maybe call a taxi to get them there.

James didn't know how long he walked, just that it was several minutes. For the entire time, he tried hard to keep his mind empty and focus on boarding a bus. Ignore his pain. Up ahead, he could see a bus crossing into view.

There was a bus stop, nearly 40 feet away. James frowned, steeled himself, and began the run to the stop, racing the bus there. He couldn't afford to miss this bus. The stakes were too high if he did, and he didn't want to leave Qrow to head to the warehouse alone.

Even less, he didn't want to be anywhere near the car when they finally exploded it. If there were going to be cops in the area, he didn't want to be there.

James sprinted to the stop, pulling up just in time to stop the driver from rolling past the stop. James reached into his pocket, removed a few coins to cover his fare, and stepped onto the bus, sitting down on the first empty seat near the door.

If he had to make a run like that again, he had the strong feeling that he was going to collapse. He'd had to run a lot today, and his body wasn't exactly used to him running a lot these days. James' leg and hips were already aching, but this last run had only exasperated it and turned the ache into a burn.

The bus began to move, and James squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, shifting the bag in his lap and hugging it close to his body in a way that looked like it was more for comfort than to protect it.

James reopened his eyes, and leaned his head against the cool window, finally feeling like he'd be able to breathe if it wasn't for the pain shooting up his body.

He watched every tree as the bus passed by, and when he saw Qrow at the bus stop with the guitar, James was relieved.

Qrow got on, paid his fee at the door, and stood near the seat where James was. "Do you mind?" Qrow asked, gesturing to the guitar, then to the empty seat next to James'.

"I get off in a few stops." James mumbled, looking up at Qrow before stiffly shifting in his seat to make room for the guitar case. Qrow set the hard case down, and simply focused on not falling as the bus moved, holding tight onto one of the handles that hung from the bus ceiling.

They didn't talk. They focused on the ride ahead. James reached into his pocket, finding his regular phone and turning it on, checking that this bus was going to bring them by the warehouse.

It was about seven stops up, which was annoying, but it wasn't as though they were riding through the entire route. They'd have to get to the warehouse through the back, but that was fine.

It meant that their actual stop was at a grocery store, which made them getting off at the same time less of a concern.

When the bus finally pulled up to the store, James pulled the cord to create a dinging sound. The bus rolled to a stop in front of the warehouse, and then James and Qrow were getting off.

James started in the direction of the store, and to his relief, Qrow followed soon after. He walked behind the store, through the parking lot to find an hold foot trail that had fallen abandoned for the most part, aside from the few people that passed by the area looking for places to smoke or looking to get back to apartment buildings.

As soon as they were out of view, James dropped his bag off of his shoulder and took a seat on a large rock that had been strategically placed to keep cars off of the trail.

He leaned forward, buried his face in his hands, and pushed back the desire to cry. To break. To let the pain take over the world. Qrow stopped dead in his tracks, and looked down at James.

"Jimmy?"

"I just need a minute." James mumbled, not sure what to do. "Pain."

Qrow's eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed again. He took a half-step back, looked around the area, and then back at James once he knew that nobody was watching them.

James looked up at Qrow, who seemed to be instinctively patting his pockets in search of something. When Qrow found it, James saw that he was holding a flask of something out for James.

"Take it." Qrow's voice was gravelly. "We can get you something when we get back."

James reached out, took the flask and uncapped it, drinking deeply from it, ignoring the burn in his throat, and hoping that it'd be enough to make him feel like he could walk back.

He took several minutes to let the alcohol take effect. He felt the pain in his hip slowly start to ebb away, and then James stood up, picked up the bag, and began the walk back to the warehouse.

Stopping himself from limping was the hardest part by far.

It made the walk feel like it took hours, despite the fact that it was mere minutes. They approached the warehouse from the back, and Qrow took the lead this time, going to the back door and knocking on the sheet metal side.

As usual, Junior got the door and James stepped inside, immediately leaning against the wall and dropping his bag down at his side. "Go to Roman." James mumbles to Qrow.

Qrow nodded, and went to Roman. Junior stood at James' side, looked him up and down for a moment.

"Need help?"

"Can't walk." James answered as he felt Junior wrap an arm around him, acting half as a crutch for the time being and getting him to the centre of the warehouse, where a couple of seats had been set up for them.

James slumped down into a seat, and looked around the room to see everyone.

They all looked like hell.

James forced a smile.

"Hey."

Winter was the first to move. She stepped towards James, reached out, and James opened his arms, sitting upright and hugging her close for just a moment. He could feel her grip on his shirt, and that left a pang in his chest.

"You made it back." She whispered.

"I did." James pulled away now, releasing Winter, who stood up straight and fixed her hair. He could see tears beading in her eyes, and wanted to say something, but decided against it. The last thing that James wanted was her feeling embarrassed.

James swallowed and straightened himself up, letting his eyes scan the few in the room. He could feel their eyes on him. He reached back, braced himself on the back of his chair and he stood. Put on a brave face. Forced a wave of pain back.

"We should get this money counted, shouldn't we?" James smiled at the group, trying hard to hide his pain. He stepped forward, wished he had something to help take the pressure off of his leg, and he looked over the small table where three bags had been left open.

A designer handbag, a messenger bag, and a guitar case. If anything, it said a lot about the way that the three sets had to make it back to the warehouse.

Glynda pulled her seat closer to the table, and picked up a pile of bills that someone had placed on the table. James watched as she sat in front of him, flicking from bill to bill. Across the table, Roman was sitting cross-legged in his chair, passing bills from a pile in his right hand to one in his left and James could make out the sound of him counting the dollars under his breath.

Qrow looked up at James, and smiled. "Wanna count, Jimmy?"

James nodded, pulled up a seat, and began counting. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do or say to Qrow, or how they were supposed to get back to his house now that the job was done and he didn't feel like he could walk anymore.

He picked up a pile of bills, and carefully James began to fold the bills down over his thumb, mentally keeping track of the sum as he went. He felt the tap of Junior's hand on his shoulder and looked back at him, keeping the number 210 in mind.

"What is it?" James asked, looking up at the taller man.

Junior dropped his voice. "Do you want a place to stay for the night?" James opened his mouth to say something, then his eyes darted over to Qrow, who was watching them.

"I want to say yes." James said. "But my medication is at my house and Qrow needs to be taken back to Vale."

Junior raised a brow, his eyes flicking from James to Qrow and for a moment, James couldn't make out what the other man was thinking. What he wanted to say. What he was speculating on.

"I think we're ordering dinner." Junior offered. "You two could join us for that, take a cab back to your house if that works for you."

James thought, looked to Roman, Qrow, then back to Junior. "That sounds like it could be good. Are you going to get the car before this is all done?"

"I think so." Junior said, his eyes meeting Roman's. "Think about it?"

"I will." James nodded, then looked down to the bills, going back to counting.

By the time he'd finished, he counted four hundred and fifty four dollars in his pile. This wasn't the big payout on the job, that would be later. This was just their pocket change.

In the end, they had come around with a bit over two thousand dollars, split six ways. The group started saying their goodbyes, sure that they'd have a meeting again soon for the big payout.

James was sure he'd hugged everyone there in the warehouse before he left. Said his thank yous and goodbyes for the night.

And when Junior arrived with his car, James had been ready to go already, Qrow in tow. The ride back to the apartment on Candle Street was a relief all its own.