(A/N)Hello!
Sorry, it took me so long to update this! But I do hope the wait was worth it!
This is so exciting that I'm finally getting into "Leverage: Redemption", and go along with the story. This story is gonna be so crazy, especially with the second half, so I can't wait!
And this should be obvious, but SPOILERS FOR "LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION"!
Without further adieu, here is chapter 1 of season 1!
First Person POV (Kaira)
It's been a year since Nathan Ford died. I didn't know much about what had happened, as Sophie wasn't too open about it. What I did gather though, was it was sudden and he wasn't murdered. And it hurt like Hell. But it was this odd feeling too, cause with my sister and parent's death, I could blame it on Blackpoole, which made it easier to handle. But with Nate, there was no one to blame.
So the year was rough. It still hurt, and every time I thought I had moved on, I would get upset again. I missed the hell outta Nathan. He was basically my father, and he was gone. Like every other thing that I love, he was gone. And there was no other person to blame but Nate. But I had my family, and eventually over the year, I became okay. Things that reminded me of Nate didn't bring me pain, but happiness. I was able to move on.
Though, in that year, we lost contact with Sophie. No texts, no calls, no nothing. The only other message we got from Sophie was the funeral date and location. I've been to too many, but this one was the hardest. Actually, it never gets easier going to funerals. I made it through not great, but okay.
But one day, a year after Nate's death, we decided we needed to help Sophie. We still hadn't heard from her yet. So, after arranging a babysitter to watch the kids, we headed back to Boston, texting Sophie along the way to warn her we were coming. The place I had called home for three years. Where Eliot proposed playing a song he wrote, where we made promises that we'd never fall apart. Where we comforted each other after nightmares woke us up. Where I became Kaira Lynn Spencer.
After looking at the bar we called home, we found the graveyard. There we saw Sophie, dressed in a black suit, changing a white rose from the vase. It killed me to see how upset she was. We were silent, so she didn't hear us.
"Grifter." I heard her say to Nate's grave.
Eliot walked up first.
"Hitter." He said.
Hardison walked up.
"Hacker." Hardison said.
Parker walked up.
"Thief." Parker said.
I have a small smile on my face as I walked up.
"Jack of trades." I said.
I looked at Nate's grave.
"Mastermind." I whispered.
Sophie stood up, surprised to see us, but not. She walked in between us and left. Eliot, Hardison, and Parker followed. I stayed. They turned back to me.
"I nee-" I barely get out.
They nod understandably and continue walking away. I knelt down at Nate's gravestone. It read "Nathan Ford: Beloved Father, Husband, and Friend". I tried not to cry as I sat there.
"Hey, Nathan. The kids are doing great. Nathaniel's a mini Eliot, God help me when he's older." I chuckled a bit.
"Sophia's a mini me, God help Eliot." I chuckle a bit, starting to tear up.
"And Eli's a bit of us both, so God help us both." I chuckle once again, though quieter.
I started crying a bit harder.
"I miss you Nathan. You know, I tell myself that you had your peace, and I can move on, cause you'd want me to, but it's hard. You're gone. Just like every other godforsaken thing I love! Kasey, mom, dad, Nonno, Nonna." I calmed myself down, wiping the tears from my eyes.
"We're still in the war you started with your crusade. The crusade we joined after the first job we all did 12 years ago, with the Nigerians. Though every day it feels like I'm in a losing battle, Nathan. These bad guys, they're worse than ever. We can't bend the law, cause the law has been rewritten. But I keep going cause of my kids." I start tearing slightly, having a memory.
"Remember before we took down that guy who burned down a stable to get his investment back, I was questioning things with Eliot? It was the day before we went to get the horse, and you took me aside, and you asked me if I loved Eliot, and I told you I did, and you told me that I had to tell him, and I had to fight for it, cause you fight for the things you love. Then you threatened to give Eliot a talkin too." I chuckled again.
"Then you got back from Kentucky, and I was fully ready to put it all out there, but the ass had to beat me to the punch." I smiled at the memory.
My smile dropped quickly.
"Why'd you have to die on me, you bastard? You convinced me that I could be redeemed and that I had a chance to do some good before I cashed in that ticket to Hell. And now, I've been married for 10 years to an amazing cowboy, a mom to three amazing kids, and the best partners a thief could have. I'm where I am at now cause of you, Nathan. You were basically my dad, and you had to die on me. I wish you were here, dad. God, I miss you." I traded up again.
I kissed my fingers and placed them on the top of Nate's headstone. I try calming myself down, but then I felt three hands on my shoulders. I stand up and turn to see Parker, Hardison, and Eliot.
"You okay, mama?" Eliot asked me.
I nodded yes.
"Let's get going, Kai." Hardison said.
Parker put her arm around my shoulder and we walked back to the car.
We drove over to Sophie's place, which was beautiful. We went into the kitchen, and Eliot, Parker, and I sat on one side of the island, Hardison beside me, then Sophie beside Parker. Eliot was refilling Hardison's glass as Parker came up to sit.
"We found other people who heard about us and were doing the same thing, so we recruited them." Parker explained our exploits to Sophie.
"We have 12 active teams all over the world." I continued explaining as Eliot filled my glass low.
"Leverage: International." Hardison revealed.
"And no shortage of rich bad guys." Parker added.
"Sadly not." Sophie said.
"Hardison says it's because we live in the worst timeline." Parker said.
"Well, we do." Hardison pointed out.
"I suppose it's a matter of perspective, but yeah." I added.
"Hey. To Nate, yeah?" Hardison raised his glass.
"One year gone but never forgotten." Hardison toasted.
"To Nate." Eliot said.
"To dad." I whispered as we took a sip of our drinks.
"He was self-rightoeus. He was arrogant. I swear to God he made it up half the time, but… I miss the hell out of him." Eliot said, solemn.
I kinda chuckled, thinking of Nate.
"He was a bastard who nearly got us killed all the time. But I'll be damned if he wasn't the most honest person I knew. To dad." I toasted.
"To Nate." Eliot toasted.
We all took a sip, minus Sophie. Though Eliot tried to stop Hardison from pouring more whiskey.
"Hey, no." Eliot told Hardison, getting his hand slapped away.
"Dude. You're a lightweight, man. I'm not carrying you out of here." Eliot warned.
"And I ain't listening to your ass bitch about a hangover." I warned Hardison, grabbing the bottle from him and refilling my glass.
I went to take a sip.
"Eliot and I do most of the traveling so he can check on his meat wagons." Parker said, causing me to choke on the whiskey.
"Dammit, Parker!" I groaned as I composed myself.
She was right, I did travel for sure, but not as often as Eliot and Parker did.
"Food trucks, Park. It's food trucks. I started a chain of food trucks. Jobs for folks that get out of the military. It's good for them. It's a fresh start." Eliot explained.
"We mostly supervise the crews, which is nice in its own way cause I get to be home with the kids, so that's nice." I told Sophie.
"Speaking of which, where are the little darlings?" Sophie asked me.
"They're with our babysitter, Riley. I helped them out of an abusive household, so I gave them a safe place to stay and got them a job to get them up on their feet again, and they offered to babysit when we were outta town, or if we had a date night. Kinda nice actually." I explained.
"I can't remember the last time I was in an air vent. I miss vents." Parker said.
"Hey, we built vents in the house so you could spend time in them." Hardison pointed out, slightly offended.
"But I know those vents. There's nothing like the feeling of sliding into a hot, strange vent. To stange vents." Parker toasted.
Parker, Hardison, and I took a sip of our drinks.
"Why are you staying at home?" Sophie asked Hardison.
"You know, just working with refugee groups, uh, coordinating food drives to resettlement camps, getting medicine to aid workers. George Clooney's satellite that tracks all the war crimes? It's all software. Somebody's gotta run it. Age of the geek, baby." Hardison said, raising his glass.
"Age of the geek, baby." Eliot and I said as we drank.
"Age of the geek." Parker said, also drinking.
Sophie went to put her glass away.
"What about you, though, hm? How you doing since, uh… you know." Hardison asked.
"You know, I've just been doing this and that." Sophie told Hardison.
"Because you stopped returning our calls." Parker said.
She smacked Eliot on the shoulder.
"Eliot and Kai were very worried." Parker said.
I gave Sophie a look showing Parker was telling the truth.
"It's not… we were all… I'm gonna cut this with some food." Eliot went to leave and I followed.
"Please, babe, I'm starving!" I whined a tad.
"Hey, I'll tell you what. I'll whip up some brunch for us right now." Eliot went to the fridge as I followed.
"Eliot, my cupboards are bare." Sophie told Eliot.
She turned to us.
"And you guys, you've got a plane to catch." Sophie told us.
"Hardison and I can run to the store." I told Sophie.
"Yeah, Kai and I'll go to the store." Hardison agreed.
"What'd you want us to grab, babe?" I asked Eliot as he pointed towards us.
"Could you just stop?" Sophie got loud as she in between Parker and Hardison, emotional.
I immediately felt like shit, as we pushed too hard.
"Just stop." Sophie told us as she walked away.
She was in between two arches that separated the living room from the kitchen. Sophie just stood there, and I knew we had to fix it. Eliot, Parker and I looked at each other. Eliot and I silently nodded at Parker to talk to Sophie, and Parker nodded in agreement and walked up to Sophie.
"We should steal something." Parker whispered to Sophie.
Sophie turned around, horrified, and I got the goofiest grin on my face.
"Yes!" I exclaimed.
Hardison stood up and looked at Sophie and Parker.
"That's it." Hardison said as Eliot and I joined him in walking towards Sophie as he clapped.
"That is it. That is it. That's it." Hardison said.
"No. I haven't… It's been years." Sophie argued.
"Sophie. This might be a nice distraction for you." Eliot told her.
"And crime is fun." I added.
"Nearest art gallery?" Hardison asked Parker, a smile on his face.
"Boston Museum of Art. One point nine miles away. Just upgraded to a Glenn-Rieder Mark IV system. What!" Parker grabbed Sophie's arm as we all walked out, me grabbing Eliot's hand.
Sophie grabbed her purse as Hardison looked at Parker full of love as he laughed in amusement. I was chuckling at how amusing the whole thing was.
A bit later, we arrived at the Boston Museum of Art, fully expecting it to be quiet so we could plan a heist. But, as always, it's the opposite, as there was a protest about a man named Fletcher, with everyone yelling his art had to go.
We walked in, and everyone was yelling at us that Fletcher Maxwell was a murderer. I recognized the name from the news. Hey, we gotta find clients somehow. Fletcher Maxwell's family made millions selling opioids to people, specifically targeting veterans, which made him worse. And I would have suggested that we take him down had we not come back to Boston for different reasons.
Sophie got handed a flyer and joins the four of us, who are standing in a line, looking around for ideas of things to steal. There were a decent amount of people looking around.
"All right, I count two guards in each gallery." Eliot reported.
"See anything you like, Sophie?" Parker asked Sophie.
The look on Sophie's face told me she was still processing everything that was going on, so I nod at Eliot to go check the exits.
"I'm gonna go secure the exits." Eliot said, walking by us.
Hardison was holding his face, clearly having a hangover headache.
"Hey, man, if you happen to find some water or aspirin…" Hardison told Eliot.
"I told you, man!" Eliot exclaimed as he left.
I had my personal bag on my shoulder, and of course, I pulled out a bottle of aspirin and water. What? One, I'm a grifter, it helps to have a big bag to hold your accessories for a quick change. Two, I'm a mom, it's required I have everything in my bag. (A/N I may or may not have been inspired by my mom's own purse.)
I handed a couple to Hardison, and gave him the water bottle I got from the airport.
"Thanks." Hardison grabbed the aspirin and water from me.
"Lightweight." I reminded him.
He just groaned as he took the aspirin and drank the water.
"It's been eight years since I've done this. I need a sec." Sophie told us.
I put my hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, take your time, Soph." I told her, kinda feeling bad we pushed her into this.
I started following Sophie. Sophie told herself she couldn't do this, but kept walking. As we were about to walk to another exhibit, we walked past Fletcher Maxwell, who was more pissed that his name wasn't in the brochure for the museum. The curator told Maxwell the protesters made it clear why his name wasn't in the brochure. Maxwell threatened to pull his Rembrandt from the show. Sophie stood by and watched. Then Maxwell called for someone named Harry.
Then a man came in, walking by Maxwell. Maxwell told the curator that Harry was one of his lawyers, and told Harry to fix it. Harry said that the contract didn't allow the removal of the piece mid-show, but they could cancel the next donation.
The curator told them the museum didn't want Maxwell's money. Maxwell was upset, saying he had sponsored the museum for over a decade, and he rebuilt the gallery. Maxwell told the curator he was calling the board. Maxwell left, and the curator followed, leaving Harry alone by us, checking the time on his watch. I could see something light up in Sophie as she walked up to Harry.
"He's a treat." Sophie told Harry.
"Well, the Maxwell family has donated millions of dollars to art museums around the world. Mr. Maxwell values his reputation as a collector above all else." Harry explained.
I just hummed a bit.
"Remind me, how did the Maxwell family make their fortune? Opioids, right? Wasn't it?" Sophie questioned Harry.
He turned around to face us. I would say something, but this trip was for Sophie, so I keep quiet.
"Not one of the protestors, are you?" Harry asked us.
I nodded by head no.
"I'm just here for the art." Sophie told Harry as he left.
I turned to Sophie.
"Bit prickly, was he not?" I questioned Sophie, giving her a slight smirk.
"You've gotten quite good, my darling." Sophie complimented me.
I smiled and we made our way to Maxwell's exhibit. When we walked in, we saw Harry looking at a Rembrandt. Harry turned to us, gesturing to the painting.
"This is Mr. Maxwell's piece." Harry explained to us.
"Interesting." I commented.
"You know, before he owned it, it was stolen. Back in, um…" Harry explained.
"2002. London. On a beautiful spring day. It was a bit of a rush job, really." Sophie said.
Figures she stole it. Sophie and I made our way to the other wall, and watched. Harry was anxious, checking his watch. Then people started leaving, and the place was empty mostly. I see the camera is out. I then realize what Harry is doing. I start getting excited.
"Sophie! Soph, look!" I whisper excitedly to her.
She gives me a "what?" look, and I gestured to the camera. She sees the camera and Harry's body language.
"No." Sophie gets excited, realizing what I realized.
Just then, Hardison and Parker join us, walking behind us.
"Hey. Um… sorry if we pushed you to come here. It's just, we are worried." Hardison tried talking to Sophie, but she was distracted from the heist about to happen.
I lightly hit Hardison's arm to get him to be quiet.
"Not now. You're not gonna believe what's happening here." Sophie told Parker and Hardison.
"Oh, yeah. Somebody cut the cameras. They're gonna steal that Rembrandt. Probably set off the fire alarms for cover. So anyway, my psychologist says that..." Parker said.
"Your psychologist?" Sophie questioned.
"Dr. Novik. We helped her save some abused kids, so she pays me back in services." Parker explained.
"Four." I started the countdown.
"Three." Hardison counted down.
"Two." Sophie counted.
"One." Parker said just as the fire alarms went off.
Sophie turned to Parker.
"I'm sorry, you're seeing a child psychologist?" Sophie questioned Parker.
Parker nodded her head yes.
"She like the puppets." Hardison told Sophie.
"So much anger." Parker used her hand as a puppet, growling then covering her hand.
Harry then started directing people to the exits.
"Here we go." I said quietly as we went to hide.
The exits closed, then I saw Harry get a multi-tool out and walked to the painting. When he went to move the painting to get behind it, Sophie and I hid behind it, so when Harry popped out, he saw me and Sophie. Harry was surprised, and I chuckled.
"This is not what it looks like." Harry defended himself.
"Really? Wow, that's what you came up with?" I questioned, taunting Harry.
"Cause it looks like you're stealing a Rembrandt. And you've got a two-minute window, tops. Hurry on." Sophie told Harry, who seemed confused we weren't trying to stop him.
"Are you not gonna call?" Harry questioned, pointing beside us.
Sophie and I both nodded our heads no.
"You want me to keep…" Harry questioned as we nodded for him to keep going.
"Who are you?" Harry asked us.
"Who are you?" Sophie asked Harry.
Then Parker came up from behind him with his wallet in hand.
"Harry Wilson, lawyer." Parker said.
"I hate lawyers." I added, a scowl on my face.
"That my wallet?" Harry asked Parker.
Hardison came beside me, on his phone.
"Well, I hope so. It's got all your credit cards in it." Hardison pointed out.
Hardison then looked at his phone.
"Undergrad, Tulane. Oh, he's a New Orleans boy." Hardison read off from his phone.
"Always wanted to go to NOLA." I commented, watching Parker watching Harry try to remove the sensors on the painting.
"Okay, law school, Harvard. Works at a New Orleans law firm. Your client list… Ooh. These are not good people. Harry, you work for some bad people. You shady." Hardison said.
"Shady as Hell. Stealing a Rembrandt, bad guy lawyer." I taunted Harry.
What? I can have a little fun too.
"Hardison, he cut the cameras, but we should probably wipe footage of everyone in the gallery." Sophie told Hardison.
"I'm on it. Babe, give me a hardwire tap into the gallery wi-fi." Hardison pulled out a tap and tossed it to Parker, who caught it.
I go underneath the camera and bend my knee as Parker does a flip, then used my knee to boost herself up to get to the camera. She got the tap on, and I help her down. Harry was confused, looking at Sophie as I joined her.
"She does that." Sophie told him.
Sophie and I walked behind Harry to see what he was doing behind the painting.
"Ooh. Looping the magnetic detector. I like that." Sophie told Harry as he switched to the other side.
"I don't know that technique. Where'd you learn that?" Sophie asked Harry.
"YouTube." Harry revealed.
"Oh, dear." Sophie commented as I facepalmed.
"Good lord." I muttered.
I look around, finding an exit. I decided to test Harry.
"What's your exit strategy with the gates down?" I asked Harry.
Harry nodded to the side. Sophie and I looked, and we saw the door to the employee access corridor. Sophie walked over and pushed on the door, which had information about Rembrandt himself, and it unlocked.
"Employee access corridor. Nice." Sophie complimented Harry.
Harry went to remove the painting, which caused Parker to grab Harry's arm, revealing Harry's watch on her wrist, and I was about to grab his arm.
"Parker. Kaira." Sophie got our attention.
"Is that my watch?" Harry asked Parker.
"He's not gonna learn unless he does it himself." Sophie told us.
"Not gonna learn what?" Harry asked.
I tried to stop him, but he lifted up the painting, activating the weight triggers, causing an alarm to go off.
"Oh, you stupid little lawyer!" I groaned.
"You have to check for weight triggers in the support wire." Parker told Harry, slightly offended as she walked towards Hardison in the back.
"You were doing so well." Sophie told Harry.
"He was doing so well, right?" Sophie asked us, joining us.
Harry took the painting off the wall.
"No!" I exclaimed.
"No, he wasn't. You know he's going to prison forever." Hardison told Sophie.
"Leave the painting." Sophie told Harry.
"Leave the painting?" Harry questioned.
"Leave the painting." I told Harry.
"The painting." Harry said quietly to himself as he put the painting down.
"We have to go. Right now, they're overriding the fire alarm doors, the police are on their way, and an enterprising employee's gonna come running through your escape route." Sophie told Harry.
He gave us a wave bye and walked towards the exit. He then turned back.
"Well, can I at least get my… my…" Harry realized his wallet was in his jacket pocket.
He went to leave.
"Where's Eliot?" Sophie asked.
"Whatcha think my baby daddy's doing?" I questioned Sophie, getting a "seriously" look.
"He's securing the…" Parker said as Eliot came out of the door, knocking Harry the hell out.
I had a smirk on my face.
"Securing the exits." Hardison said.
I gave Eliot a smirk.
"Well, now you're gonna have to carry him." Sophie told Eliot.
"What?" Eliot questioned Sophie.
"You wanted a distraction. He's the distraction." Sophie told Eliot.
Sophie and Parker went to leave.
"Hardison, get the left side, me and Kaira'll take the right." Eliot said as we got down.
Hardison started following Parker out.
"You hit him." Hardison told Eliot.
"Hardison!" Eliot and I exclaimed.
"Damn it, Hardison." Eliot and I groaned as we carried Harry's body to the exit.
We went back to Sophie's place, laying Harry on a couch. We were all hovered over him, filling in Eliot. Parker joined us. Harry kinda woke up.
"Yeah, we caught him trying to steal one of the Rembrandts." Hardison told Eliot.
"So he's a thief?" Eliot questioned.
"Worse, babe. Lawyer." I told Eliot.
Sophie got close to Harry's face.
"I'm not sure what he is." Sophie told us.
Harry closed his eyes again.
Third Person POV
After a bit, Harry woke up and the team sat him at the table with a bag of frozen peas on his face. Harry told the team what caused him to steal the Rembrandt, starting with how six months earlier, he tried getting Maxwell to settle the lawsuits he had so they could protect a hundred million dollars. Maxwell refused, saying he was a doctor and a patron of the arts, and not a drug dealer. (A/N Sorry, not sorry, Fletcher, but you kinda are) And his family made medication for sick people, and it wasn't their fault addicts took advantage.
Harry pointed out how Fletcher was conveniently leaving out where for eight years, Maxwell mislead thousands of patients and doctors about how addictive the opioid mixture was. Maxwell said it was an exaggeration.
Harry pointed out that Maxwell made cartoons, there were memos, and in one of them, Maxwell talked about how much money he'd make selling drugs to wounded veterans. Maxwell asked where Harry got the memo from. Harry said it didn't matter, but what did was the attorney's generals from seven states that were about to sue him had the memo.
Harry offered to have his firm help Maxwell hide his money, but he had to pay out the rest, or he was facing years of costly litigation against media-friendly victims. If Maxwell agreed, he'd help hide the hundred million, and he'd seek out each of the litigants and talk them into settling. Maxwell accepted the deal, saying he was glad Harry on was on his side. Harry pointed out he wasn't on anyone's side, and he was a lawyer.
Harry then went to seek out a man named Cole Hoskins and his sister Jenny, who had power of attorney after an IED explosion left Cole with an injury that caused him to get addicted to the opioids and many stints in rehab. He told Jenny that Lubris Pharmaceuticals wanted to settle. Jenny told Harry that her and her brother used to own a house that belonged to their grandparents, but had to sell it the second time Cole went into rehab. Harry promised she'd get enough money to buy it back, and offered to help with the paperwork. Jenny questioned how serious he was, which Harry gave her his word.
When Harry met with Maxwell to give him the codes to the bank to hide the money, and to deal with the settlement, Maxwell screwed Harry over by saying he wasn't settling and allowing a bunch of nobodies ruin the Maxwell name. Harry reminded Maxwell that he'd spend millions tied up in costly litigations for years.
Maxwells said he had the millions, and the others didn't have years. And thanks to Harry's research, Maxwell was gonna tie them up in court so they'd settle or quit, and he could lowball them, since Harry convinced most of them to settle. Maxwell added that thanks to his art donations to museums, nobody was gonna remember the settlements. And the settlements will be forgotten, and his name would live on in museums. And Maxwell thanked Harry.
First Person POV (Kaira)
Listening to Harry tell his story, I can't help but feel bad for Harry. Yeah, he was doing bad things, but he wanted to make amends. He was me before I joined this team. Me and Eliot, raising Hell wherever we went for the right price, no matter the damage. Then I took a job from a man in a bar in Chicago stealing back airplane designs. Then Nathan Ford showed me a different way and showed me we could be redeemed, and my life changed.
Harry was sitting at a table, the frozen peas to his cheek. I was sitting at the table with Parker and Sophie, Hardison at another table, and Eliot went to grab some headache tablets for Hardison, as he was still hungover, and snacks. Hardison can't drink for shit.
"So you felt guilty." Sophie realized.
Harry removed the bag from his cheek.
"My whole life, I prided myself on never picking a side. But I began to think all those years, maybe… maybe I had." Harry said.
Hardison and Eliot walked over. Hardison sat in between Harry and Sophie, grabbing the bag as he sat down.
"Better late than never, I guess." Hardison said as he put the bag to his forehead.
Eliot sat the snacks in front of me and placed the headache tablet in a glass of water in front of Hardison.
"Lightweight. See?" Eliot taunted Hardison.
"Hey, don't." Hardison warned Eliot, pointing at him.
Eliot moved a barstool and sat behind me, his hands rubbing my shoulders and neck.
"Wouldn't be a problem if you could drink worth a shit." I cocked my head.
"Do not." Hardison warned.
I chuckled. I looked at Harry.
"Why not go for his money? You had the codes." I asked Harry.
"No." Harry sighed.
"I'm the one who made it impossible to access. Bank of Malta. Voice passwords that change every 24 hours. Mm-mm. Besides…" Harry pointed out.
"You wanted to hurt him. You know the money doesn't matter to him. The art does." Sophie realized.
"He's got famous paintings hanging in galleries in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York… eight museums all around the country, all with his name on the walls. That's all he talks about." Harry explained.
"No, that's not right. It's not about the art." Eliot pointed out.
A lightbulb went off in my head.
"You're right, babe. It's not the money or the art. So what else is there?" I pointed out.
"It's about this guy's name. That's what matters." Eliot explained.
"It's his lost reputation." Sophie said, holding the pamphlet for the museum.
She stood up and started pacing away from us.
"At the museum, he wasn't just angry, he was afraid. He thought he bought legitimacy, and he can feel it slipping away. And nothing hurts like feeling you're safe and then…" Sophie trailed off, facing away from us.
And it was no secret how she knew that. Hardison stood up and was behind Sophie.
"...having that taken away from you." Sophie continued.
Parker put her glass down and stood up.
"So, are we gonna help this guy, or are we gonna bonk him on the head, Hardison wipes his I.D and credit rating and we dump him in Venezuela?" Parker asked, walking to the island and standing beside Eliot.
Harry stood up, bag on his cheek, other hand raised.
"I'd like to vote no on that." Harry said.
"You don't get a vote, sit your ass back down." Hardison told Harry, who listened.
The four of us raised our eyebrows at Sophie. I mean, this was the perfect job for Sophie to get her feet wet in.
"No." Sophie told us.
Parker and I had similar faces of "come on!"
"No. I'm retired. I haven't been on the con for years." Sophie pointed out.
"But you spotted him prepping his heist without even trying." Parker pointed out, exasperated.
"Yeah, you should have seen your face when you realized. You lit up." Hardison pointed out.
"You did, and you were almost smiling." I added.
"Sophie, you're the one that made us bring him here, all right, instead of leaving him for the guards." Eliot pointed out.
"Or having us leave him on the side of the road." I added.
"Hey, get the gang back together Star Trek style." Hardison did a little dance with the "live long and prosper" hands.
Eliot and I were both now stood up, I was standing by Parker, Eliot beside me, and Eliot was beside Hardison.
"Even numbers only, baby. I can't believe I know that." Eliot dropped the smile to act like he was grumpy as him and Hardison fist-bumped.
Harry walked in between Eliot and Hardison.
"Uh, excuse me. If I may… I think I've deduced that you are a group of thieves who were at the museum not to steal the Rembrandt." Harry told us, standing in the middle of the circle we had made.
"Who here hasn't already stolen a Rembrandt?" Sophie questioned.
Parker raised her hand and held up three fingers.
"Got three. Hat trick." Parker said.
"Stole one with Park six years ago." I shrugged my shoulders.
"But now that you've heard that the owner is vermin, you will help me ruin him?" Harry asked us.
"You want our help or not?" Eliot asked, his arm around my waist.
Harry sighed.
"I can trust you?" Harry asked us.
We all chuckled.
"Dear God, never trust thieves." I chuckled.
"Sorry. That's funny." Sophie said, chuckling.
"You can trust us on this? Probably." Hardison added.
"Hardison. We haven't even done background on the target. We don't know the mark." Sophie pointed out.
"Are you trying to tell me you don't think you can cold-read this Maxwell dude, Sophie? I once saw you predict a mark's weakness off of his driver's license photo. Come on, now." Hardison told Sophie.
"Soph, we were half-drunk at a party at the Venezuelan Consulate, and you and I were able to figure out that a deal was going down, no intel. You got this." I tried pumping Sophie up.
I saw a quick smirk appear on her face. Harry was leaning against a support beam.
"Maxwell knows his philanthropy can't outrun his scandals. You saw those protests. In theory… in theory… he's looking for the next big score. The one donation they can't take away from him that's gonna drown out all the negative press." Sophie explained.
"Yeah. Maxwell's so focused on his name, he'd do anything to fix it." I added.
"Well, any man who's insecure about his name can never turn down an opportunity to be a hero." Harry pointed out.
"Even in his own book." I added.
Hardison turned to Harry.
"That's not bad, new guy. And Kaira. A hero-level donation. Stolen painting." Hardison said.
"A stolen lost painting, one specific to him, to hook him." Sophie realized, lighting up and thinking.
She looked at the pamphlet.
"A lost Rembrandt." Sophie had a realization.
"A lost Rembrandt. Nate." Sophie walked away.
Parker left, grabbing the bag from Harry. Hardison followed, and Eliot and I made sure Harry didn't mess with anything as we followed.
We followed Sophie to a shed behind the house. Parker was holding the bag to Hardison's forehead. Eliot and I were walking hand in hand behind Harry.
"Nate worked the case. Every insurance investigator has at some point. It's the white whale." Sophie walked up to a shelf above a workbench with loads on binders on it.
She found the one she was looking for.
"The Gardner Heist." Sophie explained.
Parker walked up as Sophie looked at the binder.
"Highly overrated. Strong results, but amateur technique." Parker looked through a bin.
Hardison was at the laptop, booting it up.
"Yeah, I mean, these guys had a half-ass plan that barely worked." I added.
"Nate was still on Vista. What kind of ancient historical foolishness is this?" Hardison questioned.
"1990, a bunch of thieves broke in and stole, like…" Eliot explained.
"13." Parker and I said.
"13 works of art from the Isabella Gardner Museum." Eliot explained.
"Including a Vermeer and Rembrandt's Storm on the Sea of Galilee ." Sophie explained to Harry as Hardison pulled up the painting.
It was a painting of a ship and sailers with the ship half up from the sea.
"That's it, Hardison. It's the greatest unsolved art crime in the world. Anyone, no matter their sins, who was to find and return just one of these paintings would be a hero." Sophie explained as she handed Harry the newspaper article from the heist.
Parker walked over to us.
"Well, anyone who claimed to return one of these paintings that later turned out to be a fake, their name would be ruined in the art world forever." Harry pointed out.
"Quite right." Sophie told Harry, happy.
"It seems you're already halfway to a plan there, Ms. Devereaux. Way ahead of us." Hardison told Sophie as her face dropped.
We each gave Sophie looks, wanting her to do this. I mean, the plan was simple. Fake a Rembrandt, get it in Maxwell's possession, then leak it's a fake. We've done much harder cons before.
"We'll do this one." Sophie said, causing us all to smile.
"Just one. And we're gonna need our Mr. Wilson." Sophie told us.
"Do we?" I asked.
"No, no." Eliot objected.
"We're rushed. He's already an inside man. We can use that." Sophie explained.
Eliot and I both objected, then Parker stood in front of me and Eliot.
"Yeah, and we can bonk him on the head later if we have to." Parker told us.
"I call bonking him on the head." I raised my hand quickly putting it down.
"Uh, thank you. That doesn't seem right." Harry told Parker.
"Hey, Sophie, come on. Say it." Hardison told Sophie.
We were grinning in anticipation.
"Please, you know you have to!" I kinda whined a bit.
Hardison stood up as Sophie put the binder back. Sophie looked at us. Parker, Eliot, and I were close together, waiting for the thing.
"Let's go steal a stolen Rembrandt." Sophie said the rallying cry.
"Hell yeah!" I yelled as Eliot clapped his hands.
"Yes!" Parker exclaimed, clapping her hands.
"That's my girl." Eliot pointed at Sophie.
"That gets me hyped up every damn time." I chuckled, getting excited.
"Whew. What just happened?" Harry asked us.
I chuckled.
"That's a privilege to know, Mr. Wilson." I taunted Harry.
Third Person POV
Sophie and Parker went back to the museum, dressed in nice suits. Sophie told Parker their Mr. Wilson told them that Maxwell was obsessed with Monet sculptures, and there was no need to pressure him, to ease into as she tried to fix Parker's collar. Parker reminded Sophie she'd been the roper for the last eight years. Sophie realized she was right, and assured Parker she was good. Parker told Sophie not to worry, as she hadn't stabbed anyone in a whole month as she got her comm out. Sophie told Parker a month wasn't long. Parker said it was when you're the one not doing the stabbing as she put in her comm.
Parker walked by Maxwell, who was on the phone bitching about his name not being on the placard and the brochure. Parker then walked by, acting like she was on the phone with someone about a private auction, and they still needed certification. This piqued Maxwell's interest, so he followed Parker. Parker sat down on a bench, telling the person on the other side to find another expert on Monet. Parker added that the auction was invite only, and thanks to a conveniently misplaced flyer when she got up, Maxwell had the invite for the auction.
First Person POV (Kaira)
I wasn't gonna lie, being back with Sophie doing the con felt good. While I loved having the luxury of being a stay-at-home mom, some days I missed the game. There's just something about the satisfaction you get when you take a rich asshole down, and it's addicting. That rush was why I joined the team in the first place. It felt good. While I missed not being beside my kids, this was much needed.
With Parker and Sophie out at the museum to set up Maxwell for our auction, Eliot, Hardison, and I were with our Mr. Wilson at the shed, where Hardison was getting a program set up on a computer while the rest of us got his 3-D printer set up, setting it down on the stand. Harry opened it up. If there's one good thing to come from the time was technology got much cooler. And scarier.
"Y'all better not be scratching my baby." Hardison warned us, still looking at his screen.
"So we're not painting fakes anymore? We're printing them?" Eliot questioned Hardison.
"Man, we gotta keep up with the times. Hey, so on and start that thing up. Go ahead." Hardison told us.
I turned on the printer, and on a screen, I saw Hardison's face photoshopped to an image of Bob Ross. I chuckled as Eliot gave Hardison a look.
"Are you kidding me?" Eliot asked Hardison.
"I am not, sir." Hardison had a smile on his face looking back at us.
He stood straighter.
"Yeah, see, this is my baby, all right? This is the 3-D printer I use for all my forgeries. And check it, there's this dope AI program from the Netherlands, right? I used that to teach this how to duplicate brushstrokes from great artists. I'm talking masterpieces in four hours." Hardison explained to Harry.
"Been doing this a long time?" Harry asked us as Hardison went to the machine to program it.
"Oh, yeah. Since I was a kid." Hardison said.
"Yeah, since he was an annoying, cocky kid that almost got us killed all the time." Eliot taunted, his arm wrapped around my waist.
"I was cocky because I was good. You two were just cranky." Hardison pointed out.
"Yeah, yeah, smartest man we know. Still a cocky little shit sometimes." I chuckled at Hardison, showing I was teasing.
"And then you decided to help people." Harry put two and two together.
"I didn't start out that way. I mean, I was really in it for the rep, Parker for the cash." Hardison explained.
"I had anger issues I needed to work out." Eliot said.
"And I had made a promise to watch his ass, and had some issues of my own." I added, nodded my head back towards Eliot.
"What changed? What happened." Harry asked us.
I chuckled. It's weird to think that it was 12 years ago that my life changed forever with what should've been a one-and-done team-up. Hardison stood straighter and looked at Harry, then at me and Eliot, then back again.
"Uh…" Eliot and I nodded to go ahead.
"Us. We happened." Hardison said.
"And I made a couple more promises to these two asses." I chuckled at Eliot and Hardison.
"The only thing that stays the same is he gets the easy job. So a masterpiece in four hours." Eliot let go of me and did a snap dance thing.
Hardison was really offended.
"Excuse me? Did he just say e-e-easy?" Hardison faced us.
"Bruh, I-I g-gotta fake a masterpiece from 1633. Not only does the painting have to look identical, the materials I use have to be identical. I'm talking about the canvas, the paint. You want to know where Rembrandt got his paints? Come one, come on. Excuse me, bro. Bro, watch out, watch out." Hardison made his way back to the computer and I'm just standing there, leaning against Eliot, amused.
"Get a little history on this, brother." Hardison started typing, pulling up the ingredients.
"A'ight, see, Rembrandt got his yellow from soil only found in Cyprus… his blue from a stone from one mountain in Afghanistan. He got the red from these nasty little crunchy lice off a damn cactus in Mexico." Hardison explained.
"I got a sniper in Afghanistan. He can get you the rocks." Eliot revealed.
"I got one of my uncle's mob drivers in Cyprus, owes me for some business, who can get the soil." I explained.
Harry seemed surprised.
"I got a guy in Mexico owes me a favor." Eliot revealed.
"Oh, you-you know somebody who's nasty enough to pick lice off a damn cactus with his bare hands?" Hardison questioned.
"Yeah. It's a big favor." Eliot said.
"Oh, that guy." I realized who Eliot was talking about.
"They asked him to dig his own grave, and I saved his life." Eliot revealed.
"How'd you do it?" Harry asked.
"He said the check had cleared, and the man could stop digging." I chuckled, causing the others to chuckle, though Harry thought we were lying.
Hardison gave him a look to stop, and we were serious.
"Canvas we can't help you with." Eliot said.
"All right. New guy, check the storage unit." Hardison told Harry as he got back to the computer.
Harry walked over to the storage unit and opened it.
"Whew." Harry pulled out one of the canvases, which had an image of a man on it.
"Are these all stolen masterpieces in this closet?" Harry asked us.
"Don't be ridiculous, man. If they were stolen masterpieces, they'd be in that closet." Hardison said, and we all pointed to the right closet.
"Dates should be on the back. Just get something from the 1630s Hardison can strip." I told Harry.
Harry found the right canvas and handed it to Hardison. Hardison smelled the canvas, and nodded it was the right one.
"That's the one." Hardison confirmed.
After getting the forgery started, it was time to set up an auction to attract Maxwell's attention, and get his eye on us. Eliot and I played technicians, getting everyone out of the auction room. Hardison came in, acting like the collection coordinator, getting the people and art out by saying their jockey pump was failing, and if they didn't leave, people and the art would get hurt. Hardison and Eliot did their handshake, and I fistbumped Hardison.
After everything was cleared out, and getting comms in, we got the auction set up. Me and Eliot were amongst the crowd of people, Eliot dressed in a grey suit, me a smoky grey dress. It's kinda nice to get dolled up. Though, I did prefer my jeans and t-shirt and hoodie. Eliot and I went to sit down. Sophie was in the back, wearing a red dress, and Parker was gonna be the auctioneer.
"Okay, places everybody. He's coming." Sophie reported as she went to stand with the crowd.
We saw Maxwell come in as Parker acted like the last item was sold. Eliot and I were now sitting, using the paddle to fan ourselves. It was the last item up for auction, which was a plaster Minotaur by Rodin that was once owned by Claude Monet.
I saw Maxwell, acting like I was reading the crowd as Parker talked about the piece. Parker started the bidding at one million. Some bet, so Parker raised it to 1.1 million. Eliot went to go, but Maxwell raised up first. Eliot raised for 1.2 million. Parker then asked for 1.3 million. Maxwell raised his hand. Eliot raised for 1.4, then Maxwell raised to 1.8. Eliot raised for two million. Maxwell then raised it to 2.5, and Eliot and I acted like we were out. Parker sold the item to Maxwell.
Everyone started clearing out, and Eliot and I watched as Maxwell went to claim the piece. Sophie walked up to me and Eliot.
"Could have faked that minotaur and walked away with a nice painting." Eliot told Sophie.
"Nate never settled for nice." Sophie told us.
Eliot went to walk away to watch Maxwell and Parker. I held Sophie's shoulder.
"Soph, you know I'm here if you ever want to talk, okay?" I told Sophie.
She gave me a small smile.
"I know, darling." Sophie said.
I smiled and met with Eliot.
"Looks like I have a minotaur." Maxwell told Parker.
Parker got on her tablet.
"Yes, and… oh. I'm afraid I can't sell this to you." Parker told Maxwell.
"Is there a problem?" Maxwell asked.
"Your name has been flagged, Mr. Maxwell. Illiquidity." Parker revealed.
"Really? I'll just call my bank right now." Maxwell went to get out his phone, but Parker stopped him.
"I'm afraid that's not the issue. The seller doesn't want his piece seized in a future lawsuit or bankruptcy." Parker told Maxwell.
Enter me and Eliot.
"Pardon me, do you have a deadbeat bidder here, because… Oh, no. You have Fletcher Maxwell." Eliot put on a Boston accent as we walked up, arm in arm to Maxwell.
"Worse, he's a drug dealer." I taunted, putting on a Southern accent.
"Okay, this actually has nothing to do with…" Maxwell argued.
"Now, I should demand a recount, okay, but since my guy's up here throwing blanks, my wife and I'll take it for two million." Eliot offered.
Parker mouthed she was sorry to Maxwell. He turned to us, pissed.
"You're gonna pay for this." Maxwell threatened us.
He walked away.
"He can pay." I taunted.
"Yeah, my money's good here, uh sweetheart." Eliot chuckled and turned to me, getting a bit flirty.
"You know, it's pretty hot when you go all Italian sass on someone." Eliot whispered in my ear.
I chuckled.
"Unless it's directed at you, Cowboy." I quietly teased Eliot and followed Maxwell.
Eliot, Sophie, and I went into another room where Maxwell was on the phone. We faked an argument.
"This was a waste of my time." Eliot argued with Sophie.
"Mr. and Mrs. Gallagher, the Rodin is a rare one. The price that you put in for it…" Sophie argued, stopping us.
"We don't care about price! We need big ticket items!" I argued.
"Stop putting together these little penny-ante auctions or we'll send you back to that museum in Cleveland where I found you!" Eliot yelled at Sophie.
I gave Sophie an angry look for my cover, but as soon as Eliot and I went behind the wall, we felt horrible. We saw Sophie get upset and walk to the window, composing herself. And for the first time, I can't tell whether Sophie is acting or not. Maxwell tried to get Sophie's attention. We hid back behind the wall, our back against it.
"Come on. I gotta get back in there." Eliot said.
Parker and I pinned him against the wall.
"No." We both said.
"She's Sophie Devereaux." Parker whispered to Eliot.
"And you'll blow the con." I warned Eliot.
We listened to Sophie tell Maxwell she was okay as she was composing herself. Maxwell asked if her bosses were always that charming. Sophie said they had their good days. Maxwell introduced himself, and Sophie introduced herself as Katherine Clive.
Maxwell asked if Sophie was a fan of Monet, which Sophie revealed he was her specialty. Maxwell offered a business proposition, asking Sophie to come to his place at 7 and it was professional. Sophie accepted and left, meeting up with us. Eliot and I composed ourselves as Sophie used the card to fan herself.
"That was… exhilarating." Sophie exhaled, calming down.
"Yeah. I never doubted you." Eliot told Sophie.
I gave her a proud smile.
"Yes, you did." Parker said, causing me to warn her to be quiet, as Sophie didn't need to hear that.
Third Person POV
Later that night, Sophie met with Maxwell and two guards for dinner. They had finished dinner and decided to chat. Maxwell told Sophie she knew her haystacks. Sophie told Maxwell that she stayed at Monets house cause she had to see the light the way he did, selling her cover. Maxwell asked Sophie how she can stand being around her bosses. Sophie said they got her out of Cleveland. Maxwell pointed out he heard that twice, and that the Cleveland Museum of Arts is more known for Egyptian and Asian art.
Sophie changed the conversation by pointing out she'd never had dinner with personal security before. Maxwell pointed out that people blamed his family for their misfortunes. The security stood beside Sophie. Maxwell pointed out that everyone was suspect. Maxwell then revealed that he did a background check on Sophie. Sophie showed she wasn't pleased, saying she didn't like people poking in her personal affairs.
Harry then revealed himself, telling Sophie she didn't have to like him. Harry then told Maxwell that "Ms. Clive" had an excellent reputation with Impressionist collectors, but her research at Oxford was in Egyprian antiquities as as Maxwell moved to sit beside Sophie. Harry assured Maxwell she was legit.
Harry then revealed her bosses her not so much. Maxwell then read the report, revealed Will Gallagher, who was Eliot, whose father was Irish mob. Harry added he left his son a corrupt trucking business before he died. And Betty Parker, who was Kaira, was a Southern actress he married and she inherited the business and is the brains of the operation. Harry also added they've been suspected of being behind numerous high-price blind sales at numerous auctions worldwide. Sophie pointed out she couldn't confirm that.
Maxwell realized the buying was at random and didn't make sense, and asked why. Sophie tried to leave, saying it was a mistake. Maxwell told her to sit back down, and offered for Sophie to oversee his Monet collection. He said he'd give Sophie full control, and the job was hers as long as she was honest about the Gallaghers. Sophie explained that if you had never bought a piece of art in your life, and then you tried selling one for 40 million dollars, it would raise all kinds of red flags. Harry pointed out the IRS would hound you to the grave.
Sophie explained that if you already owned a collection worth 20 million, then made it look like you flipped it for 40 in blind sales, you would look like a savvy collector. Harry asked why they would do that, and what painting was worth 40 million dollars. Sophie said it was one that Will's gangster father stole 30 years prior.
Maxwell realized Will's father was Boston mob, and it was the Gardner Heist. Sophie confirmed that it was the lost Rembrandt. Maxwell asked Sophie if she would like to help screw over Will and Betty.
First Person POV (Kaira)
It was the next day, and we were getting ready for the next part of our con. Get Maxwell to buy the fake painting. I was in jeans and a nice top for this one, and Eliot was in khakis, a red flannel, and an orange construction vest. We were at a warehouse, which was "owned" by me and Eliot. I was walking with Sophie and I saw Eliot riding on a forklift. He climbed off onto the ramp and walked towards us, smiling at me.
"You're having way too much fun babe." I told him.
Eliot just chuckled and grabbed my waist.
"I gotta get my trucking company up and running before Maxwell gets here." Eliot said.
We walked into the warehouse.
"I told him the banks are about to seize your property. You're broke and you have to sell." Sophie told us.
I nodded okay.
"All right." Eliot told Sophie.
Harry came up to us.
"Do I even want to ask to whom this building actually belongs?" Harry asked us.
"Don't ask stupid questions, Mr. Wilson." I scoffed at him.
"No? Didn't think so." Harry said, leaving.
"You know, these characters you got me and Kai playing, the son of a Boston gangster." Eliot said.
"Married to an actress." I pointed out.
"It's… no secret who you wrote these ones for." Eliot said.
Sophie lowered her head, and Eliot and I knew we were right.
"You know, we never… we never really got to talk. If you ever want to… discuss…" Eliot offered. Sophie was taken back.
"I think this is my way of talking about it. Through this." Sophie told us, giving us a soft smile.
"That's okay, Soph. We all react differently to grief. When I lost my sister and parents, it was mostly anger. But losing… it was a lot of sadness. But I had my family to work through it. I guess what I'm saying, Soph, is you're not alone. You have your family here." I put my hand on Sophie's shoulder, comforting her.
She gave us a smile and a nod and walked away. Eliot and I went to get ready for our meet with Maxwell.
Third Person POV
Sophie met with Harry, who questioned Sophie about Nathan Ford. Sophie sighed and warned Harry to chose his next words carefully. Harry said he saw Nate's name on a document and made some calls. And the stories he heard were incredible.
Sophie said Nate was a very brilliant, very angry man. Harry asked what happened. Sophie explained that for a while, Nate's family contained his anger, and then his son died, and he turned the anger on himself. And the anger drove Nate when they worked together, and he was relentless.
Then Nate stopped being angry, but the damage was done. His heart had burned too hot for too long. Harry said he was sorry. Sophie said for him not to be, and at least Nate burned.
First Person POV (Kaira)
Later that day, Eliot and I were talking to workers, acting like we were getting paperwork in order.
"Will and Betty Gallagher." Maxwell called out to us.
We turned to face him. I pulled a face.
"Remember me?" Maxwell asked us.
We walked up to him as Eliot tossed the clipboard on the stack of bags.
"Oh, right, you were the guy shooting blanks. The drug dealer." I taunted, putting back on my southern accent.
"Yeah, I remember you. You here looking for customers for your pain pills? Lot of bad backs in here." Eliot taunted Maxwell.
"Actually, you're the one selling. And I very much want to buy. I'm talking about the Storm on the Sea of Galilee ." Maxwell said.
Eliot had a pissed look on his face, so I reacted.
"Billy, baby, don't." I warned Eliot.
"Mm-hm. Your curator works for me now. I guess I outbid you on her too." Maxwell taunted us.
"I… I got a lot of other buyers lined up." Eliot told Maxwell.
Maxwell chuckled.
"You don't. My lawyer, Harry Wilson, he's already drawn up the evidence for the IRS. If you try to sell to anybody else, you're never gonna be able to save your shoddy little legacy." Maxwell said.
Eliot had the same look on his face, and once again I tried to stop him.
"Billy!" I scolded Eliot as he pinned Maxwell to the stack of bags.
"Billy, if you wanna beat him up, I don't give a shit, but take it outside. Don't need you getting blood on the floors." I told Eliot.
"Relax." Maxwell was laughing.
"Relax." Maxwell started laughing nervously.
"Painting's worth 40 million and I'm gonna give you twenty-five." Maxwell offered.
"You're gonna give us 25 million." Eliot questioned Maxwell.
"Yes. You get to cover your very ill-advised art purchases, and you walk away with a nice profit. I'd take the win." Maxwell offered.
I looked at Eliot. "Billy, babe, we have to do this." I told Eliot, who still had Maxwell pinned.
"No, we don't." Eliot argued.
"Yes, we do! I'm not gonna have the IRS up my ass cause of your stupid mistakes. Take the deal." I told Eliot.
Eliot let Maxwell go, and composed himself.
"What are you gonna do with it?" Eliot asked Maxwell.
"Oh, well, as a noted patron of the arts, I'm gonna give the painting back to the Isabella Garnder Museum as a public service to the lovely people of Boston. I'll be authenticating the painting at 7:00 pm this evening. You get paid in full." Maxwell told us as he left.
Eliot and I smiled and left to finish for the day. It's always fun when I get to do a grift with Eliot.
Third Person POV
Later that night, one of Eliot's food trucks was parked outside the warehouse. Hardison was showing Parker the painting he had printed and aged. Parker was impressed how detailed it was, even adding in the cracks. Hardison said he cooked it low and slow in the pizza oven, and made the cracks with a ballpoint pen. Parker got flirty, asking Hardison if it was weird she found that attractive, grabbing his tie. Hardison said he thanked God everyday she did.
Just when they were about to kiss, Eliot and Kaira revealed themselves, with Eliot telling them to get a room, and he was taking the painting. Kaira reminded him of all the times they got caught. Hardison then yelled for Eliot to wrap the painting first. Eliot yelled back that he knew.
Sophie came in the food truck, liking the look of the inside, and it make an excellent cover. Hardison said it was more than cover. Him and Parker opened up two doors, revealing a whole setup, reminiscent of the setup in his beloved Lucille. There were clear boards and markers, and computers and laptops.
Hardison said it used to take a van, and now they had set-ups all over the world with Eliot's food trucks. Sophie went to touch a laptop, but Hardison told her not to.
Harry then came in, saying Maxwell asked him to find an expert, impressed with the set-up, and he'd buy it if they were with him.
Hardison nominated himself as the expert, putting on a French accent, his cover as Professor Michele Baptiste of the Sorbonne Art History Department. Sophie was impressed at how much better Hardison's accents had gotten. Hardison argued they'd alwayd been good, and tried to get Parker to back him up. Parker didn't and left.
First Person POV (Kaira)
Eliot and I were walking through the aisles of the warehouse, holding up the painting. Then the lights started flickering, and we both winced at the feedback in our comms. Eliot and I shared a glace and upped our pace as we got out of the aisle. I heard Harry reveal that Maxwell had canceled. Eliot and I got out of the aisle, revealing two goons spread far apart. Eliot leaned the painting against the stack.
"Eliot, Kai, Maxwell canceled. We're coming in." Hardison told us over comms.
"Don't." I whispered the order over comms.
"Do not. Your cover ain't blown, and we ain't down." Eliot whispered.
"You stay in the truck." I whispered.
Eliot and I then heard, hearing two sets of footprints, revealing two more goons.
"Four guys, huh?" I called out, knowing neither of these guys were the boss.
"As I live and breathe." We turned around, hearing a female voice.
An older dark blonde woman was walking toward us, high black dress, black blazer, silver thin necklace, black heels. She was the boss.
"It is you." The woman had an accent.
"As much as I love women in power, we don't know you." I pointed out.
"We know you?" Eliot asked.
"Not personally. My company RIZ, we provide VIP security, cutting-edge data collection, threat analysis, blah, blah. I'll leave you a brochure. Your faces didn't ping a single alarm. But I happened to glance at the files, and, well… I work in the field of violence. Not knowing Eliot and Kaira Spencer in our line of business, it's a bit like not knowing Rembrandt." The woman told us.
Eliot and I cocked a smile. Like this woman worried me.
"You'll not be hustling Mr. Maxwell today." The woman told us.
"So you've only read about us on paper." Eliot pointed out.
"If this is a warning, then you need to do better. Cause I don't take too kindly to warnings." I gave a threatening glare to the woman.
"Oh, no. It's an audition… for them." The woman revealed.
Eliot and I moved a bit forward.
"Can we not do this." Eliot asked.
"Ooh. Giving up already?" The woman questioned us.
"No. I just don't really feel like embarrassing these two-bit assholes you brought. I mean, you think four guys was enough? Come on." I scoffed at the woman.
I nodded to Eliot.
"You got your boys two by two. I'm gonna start with the guy on the left, while my wife starts on the guy on the right. I'm gonna send him into the big fella here and disrupt his attack line." Eliot said.
"That'll leave me open to take on the guy on my husband's right, so he's not getting on top of him, cause nobody but me gets on top of my husband, and dislocate his elbow, allowing him to get closer to taser boy." I continued.
"At that point Goldilocks should be coming around, but I'm gonna be too close to the beans so he can't flank me, and my wife will locate his knee. We'll move into the center and take them down one by one. The fight's already over. I'd just as soon skip the bruises." Eliot said.
"And the embarrassment of getting their asses kicked by a woman." I added, taunting the goons.
Hey, if there's one thing I learned, it's getting someone pissed before you confront them makes it easier for them to make mistakes. The woman started clapping her hands.
"And now they're going to second guess every move they make, a fraction of a second hesitation negating their numbers." The woman said.
Eliot and I realized these guys weren't leaving, so we backed up and got ready for a fight. The woman snapped her fingers, and her goons went for it.
And the fight happened just as we predicted. One guy went after Eliot, one guy went after me, and a punch of the solar plexus, and a kick to the knee got my guy down. Eliot tossed his guy to another goon, and Eliot took care of another goon to get closer to taser boy. Eliot rolled, knocking his guy into the stacks as I delt with my guy again, punching his face.
Eliot dodged a punch, and I got on top of the big guy, using myself to anchor so Eliot could punch his face.
Then we made it to the center, and with some punches, we quickly got everyone to the center. Eliot being a dumbass let himself get punched in the face. While I dealt with one last goon, Eliot grabbed big guys fist, then stunned him, a board was thrown, knocking the other guy out, and I grabbed the board, moved it aside, kneed the goon in the chest, broke the board, and hit him over the head with it.
With all the goons down now, Eliot and I looked at the woman. It happened just as we said it would. Eliot and I checked each other over, seeing we were good.
"Big guy's got potential." Eliot said, adjusting his jaw.
I groaned, knowing I was gonna have to ice his jaw.
"You can get rid of the rest." I told the woman.
Eliot and I walked up to the woman.
"It's a lot faster in person, huh?" Eliot told the woman, a cocky smile on his face.
I was pissed, and got in her face.
"You come near me, or my family, this I'm not gonna be so nice" I left with a warning as I met with Eliot.
"Be seeing you." The woman said.
"No you won't, bitch!" I called out as I walked with Eliot.
Over comms, I heard Harry suggest we get another painting, but Sophie declined, saying if Eliot and I were blown, then she was blown too, and the con was dead. And I overheard Hardison saying how RIZ was a new scary breed of ex-spy-for-hire firms that came up in the last ten years.
They had offices in London, Geneva, D.C, and defense contracts. Sophie said we'd handled private security before. Hardison had pointed out these guys were the ones who you hired if you're a dictator. And they'd hire someone like me and Eliot. Harry said they were way past security, and it was more like having a private army. Which, wasn't exactly wrong. Hardison said we needed to run, but this was Sophie's home, and Nate's things were here. And there was no way in Hell I was running. Cause they could track Eliot and me back home, where our children were. And no way in Hell was I doing that. Plus the job wasn't done.
Eliot and I made it to the truck, and while I was pissed, Eliot was really pissed. Eliot slammed the truck door shut, and shot open the doors to the back. Sophie and Hardison were sitting down, and Harry was standing.
"Babe!" I tried grabbing Eliot to stop him, but Eliot had Harry up against the wall of the truck.
"I didn't know! I didn't know!" Harry yelled, scared.
"Eliot!" I tried getting him off.
"Why should we trust anything coming out of your mouth?! How do we know this wasn't a setup?" Eliot yelled at Harry.
"You think this was my first choice? It's insane! Obviously it's insane! Working with you people is insane." Harry brushed Eliot's hand off.
I backed Eliot up so he could cool down. Harry exhaled, and I could tell he was genuine.
"I tried. I tried to do the right thing, the right way. I wanted to make amends. I tried to track down everybody that Maxwell had… that I had hurt." Harry explained to us.
Harry then revealed that when he tracked down Cole, he had died from an OD and Jenny was homeless.
"I gotta take something from him. If I-If I can't give them anything, and I can't be forgiven… I need to take something. I need to take something!" Harry got angry, but in a sad way.
I felt bad. But I knew what he was feeling. The wanting to take something from someone who hurt you. Like I did with Ian Blackpoole, who let my sister die and led to my parent's deaths, taking IYS away from him.
Like I did with Damien Moreau, who turned me into a monster and ordered the worst day of my life, when we took his power and money and threw his psychotic, narcissistic ass in a San Lorenzo prison.
Like we did with Jack Latimer, who caused me to leave my home in Boston and used us, and Victor Dubenich, who not only ordered the death of Jimmy Ford, but tried to kill us, taking their money, business, and names.
Taking their most valuable assets away is much more satisfying than killing them. Well, except maybe Moreau. But I wasn't that person anymore. Now I had my family, and a new purpose. Help as many people as I could. And maybe, someday, I would be redeemed.
Third Person POV
Harry went back to the museum late at night. The alarm was blaring. Harry found the prized Rembrandt, soaked it in gas, and set it on fire, his shoulders vibrating.
The next day, Harry met with Maxwell, who was on the phone. Harry then got sucker-punched in the gut, staying hunched over. And Maxwell revealed the funds would clear later that day, and gave his bank account information.
Maxwell ended the call, and Harry stood back up. Maxwell then revealed he was talking to his insurance company, who were gonna direct deposit a comfortable payoff for the Rembrandt Harry burned, holding a red folder. Harry denied it, which got him sucker-punched in the gut again, collapsing to the ground. Maxwell revealed someone wiped the security footage, so he couldn't prove it, but the Gallagher were a fraud, and Clive had disappeared, so he was left with Harry in the middle.
A goon cocked a gun and pointed it at Harry's head. Maxwell pointed out it was easy to say that Harry broke in there, deranged, saying he had to pay for all the deaths. But Maxwell was mocking Harry. Maxwell then said that the guy holding a gun to Harry's head would get time and a half if he shot Harry and lie to the police.
Maxwell's phone then went off, and Maxwell said it was the museum, wanting to apologize for the Rembrandt. He said he was gonna sue them, of course, but it'd be fun to listen to them beg. And Maxwell told Harry he called his firm, and he was done, pushing Harry down with his foot.
First Person POV (Kaira)
There was no doubt that the surprise Maxwell was about to get was satisfying. We set it up so the masterpiece that Harry burned was a fake, which would be framed as Maxwell hired someone to do it.
Flashback
Back at the shed, Hardison, Eliot, and I were coming up with a plan. As the 3-D printer was printing the Storm on the Sea of Galilee , Eliot and I leaned on the printer with Hardison.
"We're gonna need to come up with a Plan M." Eliot told Hardison. I had groaned.
"Why we gotta call it Plan M? You know my feelings about Plan M." Hardison argued, not happy.
"Okay, that's fair." I added.
"You say this machine can duplicate any masterwork in four hours?" Harry questioned Hardison.
"Pretty much." Hardison said.
Harry pulled out a pamphlet from the museum and showed us a painting that was on the pamphlet.
"Can you do that one?" Harry asked.
I nodded at Hardison aprovingly. It actually wasn't that bad of an idea.
"I like your style, new guy." Hardison complimented Harry.
"Eliot, Plan S. For Hardison survive, damn it." Hardison argued at Eliot.
Eliot and I just shook our heads.
Back to Present
So when Harry went to the museum to burn his prized Rembrandt, Parker did the change, with her getting the real painting, while I put in the fake. Yeah, the alarm was set off, but Harry burned the painting, and he was laughing, which is why his shoulders were vibrating. I told him it would feel better. And, the other thing, Maxwell had other paintings all over the world.
Flashback
We met up with everyone, and Harry had a plan.
"What do you think about Harry's idea?" Eliot asked Sophie.
"I think why stop at one? You make eight. One for each of his paintings in the other museums." Sophie told Hardison.
"Well, sure, if I cut the print time in half, but they won't fool anybody." Hardison explained.
"They don't need to, Hardison. Just long enough so they look legit before they get check." I explained.
"Wait a second, that's impossible. You're talking about breaking into eight of the highest-security museums in the country, swapping out eight masterpieces in 24 hours, that's… that's… is she all right?" Harry noticed Parker was vibrating, stimming with excitement.
I nodded to Harry she was okay. Hardison walked over and held Parker's shoulders.
"Go ahead babe." Hardison told Parker.
"So… many… vents!" Parker all but was vibrating out of Hardison's grip as she ran. I chuckled and followed her out.
End of Flashback
So Parker and I double-teamed up and swapped out eight of Maxwell's paintings to make it look like he sold fakes to museums. And one last thing to really screw this guy. Since Maxwell was looking for the payout, he never considered that I was on the other end of the phone, getting his bank information so Hardison could clean him out.
We were all in Harry's car, Harry driving, Parker and Hardison upfront, Eliot, Sophie, and I in the back. I was leaned against Eliot. Maxwell was pissed, probably discovering Hardison emptied out his bank accounts.
"Hey! Thanks for letting me into your house! I just had to pick something up." Harry revealed the red folder he grabbed.
Maxwell was shocked.
"Look on the bright side, Mr. Maxwell. You'll no longer be famous for being a drug dealer. You'll be far more famous for being the biggest fraud in the art world." Sophie put on her sunglasses, smiling.
"I believe that's the first time I've seen you smile." Eliot gave Sophie a soft smile as Harry drove off.
"Damn, that feels so good every time!" I started chuckling, laying on Eliot's chest.
He started playing with my hair, and I had my hand on his thigh. The drive was actually pretty nice.
We went back to Sophie's place and Sophie got the wine out, getting a glass for her and Harry. Sophie and Harry were at the island, drinking. Hardison and I were at the table, looking at the list of names and getting some things set up, and the laptop in front of Hardison. Eliot and Parker were at the tv, playing with the remote.
"You know, I wasn't really too sure about the whole gloating thing, but you were right. Seeing his face was very cathartic." Harry told Sophie.
"It's an acquired taste. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it myself." Sophie told Harry.
Hardison had his hands up.
"Hey, so, look, we found all the money that you hid for Maxwell, plus Kai sold the paintings to some, um… some of the homies." Hardison revealed.
"And we divvy that up between the families that Maxwell hurt, it won't make up everything, but it'll put a nice dent in it." I explained as Hardison and I stood up with the file and walked to Harry.
"You didn't pay out to everyone?" Harry questioned us, standing up.
"We couldn't find everyone." Hardison revealed.
Harry seemed to be surprised, and I realized he thought this was over.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you think you were done? Oh, if only you could find all the names then you could just move on. Harry, Harry. You didn't just do one thing wrong. You've been working on the wrong side for a long time, right?" Hardison told Harry.
"Yes, yes, I would have to say that." Harry admitted.
"Yeah, so you don't get to just do one thing and claimed you repented. You see, in the Jewish faith…" Hardison explained.
"Jewish faith?" Harry questioned.
"My Nana leads a multi-denominational household, so… In the Jewish faith, repentance, redemption, is a process. You can't make restitution and then promise to change. You have to change first. Do the work, Harry. Then and only then can you begin to ask for forgiveness." Hardison explained to Harry.
Harry seemed to understand what Hardison was saying.
"You see that cowboy back there? And this cowgirl?" Hardison turned to face Eliot.
Eliot punched a remote, causing Parker to grab it from him. Then Hardison faced me.
"Man, for the last 12 years I've seen them risk their lives to save hundreds of innocent people who will never know their names, all that, and every morning they still get up, and you know what they say? I still got more to do. So this… this isn't the win. This is the start, Harry." Hardison handed Harry the file and left.
I gave Hardison a proud smile.
"You know, part of the reason I fell in love with Eliot was because once I got past that gruff cowboy exterior that I love, I realized that Eliot is one of the most sensitive people I know. He feels things more acutely than people think. His entire being is about being of service. Actually, when Eliot and I first met 15 years ago, it used to piss me off. But once we could be vulnerable around each other, I realized it was Eliot's way of caring and protecting. Then we fell in love, and I realized I had to learn to accept it. And we worked it out. And for a long time, I hated seeing myself in the mirror. But after I learned to help people, and Eliot and I changed, I started accepting the person looking back at me. Hardison's right, Harry. You got to put in the work, but you also have to mean it. This isn't something you can just half-ass. Eliot and I changed for each other. Now we've been married for the last 10 years, and have three kids. It wasn't entirely what I envisioned, but I like it. And most importantly, I'm good with myself. While I don't think Eliot and I could ever be redeemed, well this was a Hell of a start." I told Harry.
I went to join Hardison, Eliot, and Parker.
Third Person POV
Harry turned to Sophie.
"They're not wrong." Harry told Sophie.
"He's his father's son. She's her father's daughter." Sophie told Harry.
Then the news program said that Maxwell was on the run. Parker walked back into the dining room.
"Maxwell pulled a runner." Parker told Harry and Sophie.
They walked into the living room to watch the news report, saying Maxwell was arrested and ran after posting bail.
"The Hell's he gonna go? Hardison wiped out everything in his accounts." Kaira pointed out.
"The banks froze all his other assets. We have his secret money. He's done, right?" Eliot questioned.
Harry had a look saying he knew more.
"We got almost everything. His family had one more emergency fund. It's not much, but it's enough to disappear on. That's where he's going." Harry revealed.
"Well, looks like we got more to do." Hardison turned to Harry.
"The money's in Panama. He's going to Panama. We gonna go after him?" Harry asked the team.
"Sophie?" Parker questioned Sophie.
The team looked at Sophie.
"Your call." Kaira added.
Sophie thought about it.
"I said one job. But the job's not done. Grab your kit. We're going to Panama." Sophie said.
Harry got excited and the team started to leave.
"I'm gonna call the babysitter, tell them business is gonna take longer than expected." Kaira told Eliot.
Eliot just smiled and grabbed Kaira's waist.
"I got a tamale truck in Panama." Eliot said.
Sophie stayed and looked at her ring, thinking of Nate. This is the most fun she's had in a while. So she was gonna follow the team to Panama.
Thank you so much for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! I honestly can't wait to show you the storylines and scenes I had planned!
So, for Redemption, I thought instead of doing the chapterly Leverage fanvids, I am gonna a song that I feel goes with each chapter. And, well, here's the chapterly song!
watch?v=M6ZZKNPrSPw&ab_channel=VibeMusic ("I Wanna Be Your Slave" by Måneskin)
Okay, I know, but you can't tell me "I'm the devil who's searching for redemption, And I'm a Lawyer who's searching for Redemption, and I'm a killer who's searching for redemption, I'm a mother f- monster who's searching for redemption. And I'm a bad guy who's searching for Redemption. And I'm a blonde girl who's searching for Redemption, and I'm a freak that is searching for redemption" Isn't the team?
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter will be based on "The Panamanian Monkey Job", which will be exciting! So stay tuned!
Thank you so much for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! I had so much fun writing this, and I got more crazy scenes in mind! Remember to favorite this story! Much love to you all! Stay safe!
Kaylee