(A/N)Hello!
Sorry, it took so long, but here is the second chapter!
There's gonna be so many bittersweet moments in this, so I can't wait!
Third Person POV
Harry walked into his firm in New Orleans, where he said good morning to the receptionist, Lola from NOLA, saying his mail was probably in his office. Lola told him he couldn't go up there. Harry said he had to, that's where his desk was. Lola called over a security guard, and told Harry he doesn't work there.
Parker was acting as a janitor, wearing a big light blue dress and bandana. Parker lifted the key and went to the elevator.
Lola answered the phone, saying to hold. Sophie was on the other end of the line, safe by the truck, along with the rest of the team, saying she wasn't gonna hold, and asked why their people weren't at this deposition, adding she had three claimants from the Cosgrove estate case, and Mr. Safer, Harry's boss, was supposed to be there an hour ago.
Parker made it to the elevator and got on.
Lola told Sophie she didn't see it on the calendar, and to let her call Safer.
Harry told Lola to get Safer down there to talk to him as he was being held back by the security guard.
Parker made it to the elevator and went up to the 24th floor. She changed and the door opened, revealing Safer was outside. She was holding paper bags. Parker brushed it off as she was heading to the office and was looking through files for discovery. Hardison came over comms.
"Parker, Harry's files should be in his old office. Northeast corner suite." Hardison reported.
Parker found the office and walked in. Parker popped the bags and looked around, noticing the office was empty.
"Hey, so you know those files on how Harry hid a bunch of bad guys' money before he wanted to be a good guy? Harry, not the other bad guy, because Harry was a bad guy." Parker pointed out.
"Oh, he morally bankrupt." Hardison said.
"The worst." Sophie added.
"Is this gonna become a thing?" Harry asked.
Kaira was heard chuckling over comms.
"Hey, you ain't part of this team unless you get teased." Kaira added, teasing Harry a bit.
"They're not here." Parker reported.
Harry met with Safer. Harry asked Safer what the hell was going on. Safer said that Fletcher Maxwell had called, and said that Harry was a part of a criminal conspiracy against him. Harry pointed out that Maxwell and his family sold opioids designed for addiction to veterans, and questioned Safer if he believed him. Safer kinda said he did.
Harry then told Parker where to look next for the files, pointed out that he already figured Safer cleaned out his office, and moved the files into his office.
Parker started walking to Safer's office, where Harry revealed there was a safe behind a crappy horse painting. Parker wasn't pleased with removing the horse painting. Parker put her head against the safe.
Harry added that Maxwell also faking masterpieces and selling the originals, and hanging the fakes in museums. Safer told Harry that Maxwell said Hary was involved with that. Harry asked when he, a corporate lawyer with 15 years of experience with the firm suddenly become a cat burglar stealing from the rich.
Lola pointed out that would be cool. Harry said it would be cool, and thanked Lola, but said it didn't happen. Harry told Safer that what happened was that somehow, one day, he became okay with having a client that intentionally sold dangerous drugs to hundreds of thousands of people. And another client who polluted waterways near schools. Harry pointed out that Safer knew that. And kids had cancer.
The team realized just how bad Harry's clients were. Harry also mentioned a client who cut corners so his building collapsed, killing his construction crew. And the insurance executive who stole a hundred million dollars from Medicare, and they got him off scot-free. Safer revealed he remembered they were Harry's clients too, and he couldn't afford to have any more clients doubting them. Harry said he remembered when Safer wanted to change the world. Safer said the world did change, and they just went along for the ride.
Harry then left, and there was a man and a woman in construction outfits. Then a black SUV pulled up, with two goons coming out, saying Maxwell wanted to talk with Harry. Harry said Maxwell had his number, and to tell him he liked the personal touch though.
Then Eliot, dressed as a construction worker, rammed one goon into the SUV, and Kaira, also dressed as a construction worker, kicked the other goon in the knee, then Eliot used his helmet to knock the guy out, and Kaira slammed the goon Eliot rammed's head into the SUV, leaving a dent, then used her helmet to knock him out, as Eliot did the same with his guy. They walked up to Harry.
"You the cavalry?" Harry questioned the couple as they walked away.
Eliot chuckled.
"You could say that." Eliot replied, starting to run.
"Something like that." Kaira chuckled.
They left the firm.
First Person POV (Kaira)
So that kinda went as well as it was supposed to. We got the files at least. Eliot, Parker, and I walked into this old Jazz bar, which was dusty as Hell and in need of some serious TLC. Hardison was on his phone, standing in the middle of the room.
"Sophie's taking the long way around to make sure we weren't tailed." Eliot walked over to the bar as I looked around a bit, then joined him.
I saw the cameras weren't set up.
"Hey, Hardison, I thought the cameras were supposed to be set up by now?" I looked at Hardison.
He was still on the phone.
"Hardison. Hey." Eliot got his attention.
Hardison turned to face us, giving us a look. We walked over to him.
"What was that?" Eliot asked.
"Everything okay?" I asked.
"It's nothing." Hardison said, a bit snippy.
Eliot and I gave him a look to not lie.
"Just some NGOs freaking out about supplies in Venezuela. I got some Russians trying to crack a pro-democracy group I'm babysitting." Hardison revealed.
I did feel bad for the guy. I mean, between helping us run our cons, and humanitarian work, Hardison was stretched thin. And Hardison took pride in both of his gigs. But I could tell already that Hardison was stressed.
"You know why restaurants fail? Head chef can't be chopping lettuce." Eliot told Hardison.
"I know. I know." Hardison said.
"Hardison, you're the smartest guy I know. But you can't be in two places at once." I told him.
Hardison gave me a knowing smile. Parker walked over, excited.
"This place is great." Parker told Hardison.
"I bet back in its heyday it must have been something." Hardison said.
Harry was over by the bar, where a white sheet was set up for our projector.
"Mm. Well, you said you needed someplace isolated while we hit my old firm. I had a client who went bankrupt. This was in his holdings." Harry explained.
We walked over to the bar.
"Was he another bad guy?" I asked Harry.
"Yes. But I lost his case and he went to prison, so yay me." Harry revealed.
I chuckled a bit as I saw Sophie come in, a bit disgusted with the dust.
"Right. First order of business. Who tried to nab our Mr. Wilson?" Sophie asked as she placed her purse and coat on the bar.
"RIZ." Eliot handed Sophie an earbud.
"That came from one of the guys Eliot and I took out who tried to grab Harry." I explained.
"It's that private security that Maxwell uses." Eliot added.
"Maxwell still has enough money to set the dogs on you." Sophie told Harry.
"Maxwell's family, technically." Harry pointed out.
He got the projector set up and put up his slides.
"Lybris Pharmaceuticals is a family-owned business, and while we may have tricked Maxwell into giving up most of his money, they hired my firm to hide an emergency fund here in Panama. This is where he's run to." Harry pulled up a slide that had a building on it.
"This building used to be owned by the United States government." Harry explained.
Hardison walked up to the screen.
"U.S transferred ownership to Panama when we handed them the canal back in 1999. That's when Ryan Corbett - he's, uh, former military intelligence - that's when he came along." Hardison explained, pulling up Corbett's photo.
His face was familiar.
"I know this guy. Well, not personally, but he had a rep in the field." Eliot explained.
"Right. He's smart, ruthless. Definitely not a desk jockey, he's an operator." I added.
Hardison pulled up schematics.
"Now, Corbett discovered two empty bank vaults, one on each end of the basement, underneath all the offices. Rumor is the CIA, this is what they used to stash files they didn't want on U.S soil. I'm talking black bag money, Roswell aliens, all kinds of… we-we don't know what's up in there." Hardison explained.
"Corbett bought the building, and he leases out all the offices from the ground floor up to local businesses for cover. But in the basement he put high-end security, and he marketed those old CIA vaults to anyone interested in storing valuables offshore. Drug dealers, gun runners, or just your average American businessmen looking to do a little tax avoidance. Thanks to those files that Parker liberated from my firm, it would appear that the Maxwell family has contracted to store 20 million dollars in vault 2, tray 5150." Harry explained.
Hardison held up brochures for us.
"Now, what is special is that this piggy bank for the super-rich scumbags is not even a secret. I mean, they tell you what it is right here in the brochure. Right there, look." Hardison had passed out the brochures.
He wasn't kidding.
"They have concierge service, private airfield, armored transport. Ooh! Cookies in the lounge." Parker pointed out.
"What the Hell? I mean, come on. Whatever happened to the good old days of crime when people had dignity?" I questioned, disgusted.
"You know, there was a day when I'd have to beat the location of this place out of some Russian mafia guy." Eliot pointed out.
"Or I'd call my uncle to have him get information from his informers about this place. Nowadays…" I added.
"They literally advertise the corruption. This world." Sophie tossed her brochure aside.
I did the same. Then Parker did.
"Why didn't Maxwell just take his money and run?" Parker asked.
"Maxwell needs permission from the Panamanian government to move the funds. It's just minor paperwork. It'll slow him down, but not for long." Harry pointed out.
"Mr. Maxwell wants his money so he can flee." Sophie grabbed her coat, wiped it off, and grabbed her purse.
"Let us deprive him of escaping justice for turning patients into drug addicts." Sophie walked to the screen.
"Then we go… let's go… then we go… steal..." Parker tried saying the thing.
"Let's go steal 20 million dollars." Sophie said the thing, causing Parker to clap her hands and do a shimmy dance as I smiled.
Eliot lowered his head, smiling.
"That never gets old." I added as we started to leave.
"Somebody's gonna have to explain this whole phrasing terminology thing to me." Harry said, causing me to chuckle.
Third Person POV
The team arrived in Panama and got started on the con. Sophie and Hardison went to intercept a judge who was gonna take a bribe from Maxwell to get his paperwork moved along quicker.
Sophie introduced her and Hardison, wearing black, to Judge Ramos as MI6 agents Jo Grant and Alistair Lethbridge-Stuart. Sophie told Judge Ramos that they were there to stop Fletcher Maxwell from funding a terrorist attack. Sophie then asked if Maxwell touched him. Hardison said if he did, then he was exposed to polonium, anthrax, or both. Sophie said that Judge Ramos had to assist them in the investigation.
Judge Ramos argued that the law Sophie quoted gives them the right to seek the shareholder's identity, but it was a U.S account. Hardison then argued that the FCA approves in coordination with FINCEN and under the 2000 U.S Bank Secrecy Act. Hardison then added that if Judge Ramos was exposed to a toxin, he could be experiencing dizziness, Sophie added blackouts, memory loss, deja vu.
Hardison added vomiting, pain in bones, pain in bowels, then Sophie repeated the symptoms she said, making it seem like Judge Ramos was experiencing the symptoms. Hardison said it was beginning. Sophie told him to go home and shower for an hour. Hardison added he should burn his clothes. Judge Ramos left.
Sophie told Hardison that should buy them a week while he tried to contact the U.K government, taking her hair down. Hardison complimented Harry, saying it was useful having a crooked lawyer dong all the paperwork for them didn't suck, and it really sold the con.
First Person POV (Kaira)
With Sophie and Hardison clearing out the Judge, Eliot, Parker, Harry, and mine's job was to clear out the offices. We walked into the main lobby of the building. Eliot had a garbage can, and Parker had a gas can, and I had paper and matches.
"I'm the one who hides the money. I know who we're hiding it from." Harry said.
We walked to the offices.
"These law offices are right above the vault. It's a small firm, mostly offshore contracts." Eliot explained.
"Yeah, that means money laundering." Harry realized.
"We're gonna clear these guys out so we have control of the space above the vault." I explained the plan.
"We're just gonna convince them to leave?" Harry questioned us.
I chuckled.
"Oh, Mr. Wilson, no. We're gonna tell them to leave." I explained.
"Every day these people are afraid of what's gonna walk through that front door, and today, we're gonna give it to 'em." Eliot explained.
Harry and I walked in first, with Harry telling the woman upfront in Spanish to remain calm and it would be over soon. Eliot, Parker, and I walked up to the first row of desks. Eliot sat the trash can down and took the lid off. I put the papers in and threw the match in.
"¿Qué pasa? (What happened?)" The guy asked us (A/N I will be using Google Translate to translate the English to Spanish, so I apologize if I get the translation wrong! If you're a Spanish speaker, let me know if I got the translation wrong accidentally.).
"Los jefes nos enviaron. Los federales están en camino. (The bosses sent us. The federals are on their way.)" Eliot told the guy.
"¡Ellos saban todo! (They know everything!)" I exclaimed in Spanish as Parker and I burned papers.
The guy freaked out and had everyone leave. With Eliot and me giving them some encouragement. I heard Harry tell them to not answer the phone for a week, giving us a thumbs up once everyone cleared out.
"We're in." Eliot and I reported.
Third Person POV
Hardison and Sophie were still at the courthouse. Hardison commented, "Just like butter."
He then complimented Sophie on her grift with the judge, and it was like she never stopped. Sophie stopped on the steps. Sophie was solemn as she said it was quite the act. Sophie sighed and sat down to change her shoes.
Hardison was concerned for Sophie.
Sophie told Hardison it helped if she acted like she was before, and she kept borrowing a little bit of the past, making herself a little handhold, and it helped. She changed into flats and stood back up, saying she couldn't work forever.
First Person POV (Kaira)
I heard what Sophie told Hardison over comms. And I understood what Sophie was saying. But I didn't want her to stop. I know that sounds selfish of me, cause I'm 37 years old, I don't need to have my mom around. But it helped cause Sophie had something else to focus her grief on. And I didn't want to let Sophie go again. But who I was to decide what she needed? I kept silent about it for now.
Eliot and I met Hardison and Sophie outside of the courthouse at a food market. Eliot bought an orange for me and him to share. We looked at Hardison and Sophie.
"Hey. Parker's mapping out the vault grid in the conference room." Eliot reported.
I then hear this faint mechanical whine. I looked at Eliot, and he heard it too.
"You hear that?" I asked Sophie and Hardison.
Eliot walked in between them.
"That's a very distinctive sound." Eliot said.
He threw the orange, knocking a drone out of the sky. We walked up to the downed drone. Eliot picked it up.
"That's a short-range drone. He's gotta be close." Hardison said.
I swear I recognize the drone. I then notice one of Eliot's food trucks parked in an ally.
"Hey, babe, did you call a food truck down here?" I asked Eliot, pointing out the truck.
"It's one of mine. I didn't call 'em here." Eliot said.
"Who's in it?" Sophie asked.
We walked up to the truck. Eliot points to me, telling me to watch the back. I watch him open the door to the truck. They just stand there, so I walk up to them. Inside the truck is a young black girl I recognize. She just waves at us.
"Hi." She says.
"Breanna?" Hardison questioned Breanna as she came out of the truck.
"What the hell are you doing here, Bre?" I asked Breanna.
She just kinda stumbled.
"Wait. This is your…?" Sophie questioned Hardison.
"Yeah. My little sister." Hardison explained.
"Oh." Sophie looked at Breanna.
Eliot tossed her the drone. Yeah, Breanna is Hardison's foster sister. A genius when it comes to hacking and mechanical engineering. I've known her since she was 11. She was kinda like a little sister to me. The kids love her.
We all go inside and meet up with Harry and Parker. Breanna and Hardison are facing each other, Parker is sitting on one of the tables, Sophie beside her, Harry beside Hardison, and me and Eliot were behind Breanna. It was silent. Hardison rubbed his chin.
"I mean, come on. You-you were spying on us?" Hardison questioned Breanna.
"I mean… I tailed you just like Parker taught me when I was 11." Breanna said.
Parker nodded her head, getting a disapproving look from Parker.
"I teach every kid I meet how to do crime. Crime is fun." Parker argued.
"Except mine and Eliot's kids. She's not allowed to teach our kids crime." I added.
Eliot just chuckled at me. Hardison just had his arms out.
"This is your sister?" Harry questioned Hardison.
"She's one of my foster sisters." Hardison told Harry.
He looked back at Breanna, and I'm trying not to smile at this whole thing.
"You… I'm telling Nana. She know you're here?" Hardison asked Breanna.
"I mean…" Breanna tried saying.
"Nana know you're here?" Hardison asked again.
"I don't think you should do that. No." Breanna told Hardison.
Hardison got out his phone.
"Do she know you…" Hardison asked again slower.
"Yeah, man, she knows I'm here." Breanna was obviously lying.
"If I call her?" Hardison pointed to his phone.
"I think she's napping." Breanna said.
"If I call her right now, she know you're here?" Hardison asked again.
"Sure." Breanna said.
Hardison was acting like he was pulling up Nana's number.
"She on speed dial." Hardison told Breanna.
"Okay." Breanna said.
"About to hit…" Hardison warned Breanna.
Hardison then started mocking Breanna, then Breanna gave it up.
"Okay, no." Breanna fessed up.
Hardison gave her a look and lowered the phone.
"Come on. I got a choice between a bunch of crappy day gigs and putting my skills to real use. I grew up hearing these stories. You and Parker kicking rich guys in the teeth. How you saved Eliot and Kaira's lives all those times." Breanna said as Eliot and I dropped how amused we were.
"How you.. What? What?!" Eliot exclaimed.
"The Hell, Hardison? We all know it was me and Eliot saving your ass." I scolded Hardison. Hardison just nodded his head.
"I'm not a good a hacker as you." Breanna admitted.
Hardison crossed his arms, cocky.
"Damn straight." Hardison told her.
"But hacking's kind of old school anyway. It's like any script kiddie and do that. I'm really better with like, the social media part. Or like, drones, physical builds, you know like… relevant skills." Breanna burned Hardison, causing Eliot and I to hide our amusement, not that well, mouthing "ooh!" when Breanna said about relevant skills (A/N Let's be real, that was probably CK trying to not break, but it's so Eliot!).
Hardison wasn't pleased with getting roasted by his little sister.
"Just give me a shot. I found you guys. I earned it." Breanna argued.
"S - I'm s - script-script…? Who-who you calling script kiddie? Bruh, script kiddie? You hear this?" Hardison was majorly offended as he looked at us.
"Hey. Head chef. Chopping lettuce." Eliot reminded Hardison.
"She's your sister." I chuckled a bit as Hardison stammered, offended.
He then turned to Parker. She got off the desk and walked over to Hardison, grabbing him by the ear as she pulled him into another room.
No secret what they were gonna talk about. And quite frankly, I wasn't surprised. Breanna was normal, and I knew Parker didn't want to corrupt her or put her in danger. And I didn't either. But she was as stubborn as me, so she wasn't leaving.
Third Person POV
Parker shut the door behind Hardison and pushed him against the wall. Hardison was way too comfortable as Paker had her hands on his shoulders (A/N This had to have happened before, and these two frisky as Hell.).
Parker told Hardison Breanna was a normal person who Ubers, and pays taxes, and has her real birth certificate, though Parker couldn't think of the words "birth certificate", so Hardison helped her.
Parker asked if this was like that time in Paris. Hardison questioned if it was with the explosion. Then Parker added about the robot. Hardison questioned about an old lady. Parker, letting go of Hardison, said the granny bot, where Parker said yes, but Hardison wanted to say no, but he didn't want to hurt Eliot and Kaira's feelings, so he secretly wanted them to agree, crossing her arms. Hardison scoffed, then sighed.
Hardison admitted he was leaning no, but he knew Breanna wasn't going home if he cut her loose right now, and he wanted time to call Nana to find out what was going on. Parker was trying to decide. Hardison said he wasn't trying to put it all on her, but he trusted her to make the right choice because he respected her judgment.
Parker sighed and took a couple steps back, tugging her crop top hoodie. Hardison had a smile on his face, saying she wasn't mad, as she did the Picard tug. Parker walked by, saying she was mad. Hardison said she did the tug, and he liked that.
First Person POV (Kaira)
While we were waiting for Parker and Hardison to come back, we were all sitting down on the desks. Breanna was a genius. But she was a kid. And this world was dangerous. But Breanna had the skills. So, if it was asked, my decision was for her to stay.
Hardison and Parker came out of the office. It was a tense few seconds as Breanna walked a bit towards Parker.
"One job. But electronics and hacking only." Parker told Breanna, who was excited.
Parker circled Breanna.
"Get into the security and electrical systems of this building. Complete control." Parker told Breanna.
Breanna went over to Hardison's setup.
"We're gonna need a walkthrough of the facility, too." Sophie pointed out.
"Well, I can do that. I'm a lawyer. I can just pretend I'm looking for a client." Harry explained.
Actually wasn't that bad of a plan. Eliot and I walked up to Harry.
"Not bad, new guy." I complimented Harry.
"That's a good idea. Uh-huh. One of us, our cover's blown, they're gonna assume we're a thief and just kill us, but Harry… he reads like a fed. I mean, they may torture you for a while, but that gives us enough time to rescue you." Eliot told Harry.
I give Eliot the stink eye.
"Babe. Really?" I questioned him.
He just smirked and walked away.
"Okay. Good pep talk." Harry said as he left.
Hardison caught Breanna on his set up.
"Hey, hey, hey. Hold up. Whoa, whoa, whoa." He just kept repeating whoa.
This was gonna get good!
Third Person POV
Harry met with Corbett and his goon Diego. They introduced themselves, with Harry saying he called about his client from Taiwan, and gold bars. Corbett then took Harry on a tour.
First Person (Kaira)
After Harry came back from the tour, he pulled up the blueprints on a large computer monitor and started filling us all in. I was sitting next to Eliot and Parker with Hardison on the table, Sophie was in a chair beside us, and Breanna was beside Harry at the screen.
First by saying there was only one way in the basement level, the access elevator. There were cameras at every intersection.
"And if the alarm went off, police come in five minutes." Harry added.
"Vents run through the whole building. I can get in if Hardison can fry their cameras." Parker said.
"Except that the cameras aren't just monitored from here." Harry pointed out.
Apparently, there was also an off-site monitoring system where the feeds were watched 24/7 in the Philippines. Only way to deal with that was to knock them both out simultaneously. Yep, this was an all-hands-on-deck situation.
And the vault doors "Are old, and they're mechanical. They're not digital." Harry pointed out.
"Mechanical's easier, but it takes up a lot of time." I had a lightbulb moment.
"Unless we got a camera in the gearbox to see the tumblers." I explained.
"All right. Then we drill through the vault." Eliot realized.
"No, because of the seismic sensors." Harry added.
This got complicated.
"I think I did pretty well. And I didn't get tortured." Harry was pleased with himself.
"Not this time." Eliot said.
I lightly smacked his arm.
"You did good, Harry." I told him.
"He showed you all that because he wants people to know it's impossible to break into that vault." Sophie explained.
"Nothing's impossible." Hardison was coming up with a plan.
"It's impossible to tickle yourself." Parker said.
"That's a good point." Hardison told Parker.
"So we gotta cover the vibrations while tapping in from above, then we gotta lead the guards away from the vault while Parker works. I'm thinking an explosion." Hardison said.
"It's impossible to dribble a football." Breanna added.
"Not one bang. We need an extended vibration. Covers the time we need to get the drill through." Eliot pointed out.
"Kind of like background noise, but it's gotta seem random." Harry said.
"Something loud, like… there's a nightclub next door." Parker pointed out.
"Looks abandoned." Sophie pointed out.
I had an idea.
"Wait, remember that job we did 10 years ago in Boston where we timed the heist to a symphony concert for that African kleptocrat? The hall shut down the sensors for the performance. Can we get away with that here?" I remembered.
I mean it was a solid plan.
"We don't have enough time to organize a concert." Sophie pointed out.
Breanna gasped, like she had an idea, but stopped herself.
"No, no, no. You're here. Go ahead." Hardison told her. "What is it?" I asked Breanna.
"Maybe a concert we don't organize, but one that just… happens. EDM." Breanna explained.
"Yeah, my daughter loves that stuff." Harry said.
So Harry has a daughter. Maybe she'd like the kids? I chuckled as the team gave him looks.
"Sorry. Thought we were all sharing." Harry said, gesturing for Breanna to go.
She stood up and faced us.
"EDM festivals happen all over Central America. A lot of them are just pop-ups. One of my gig jobs, I worked social media for a concert promoter. Yeah, you don't organize the concerts. You hype them, and then all these people show up because they're afraid to miss out on the hype. We find the right DJ, I promise we could put a thousand people in that club. Loud people listening to loud music." Breanna explained.
I gave her a proud smile.
"That'll work." I realized.
"I like it." Sophie stood up, walking to the screen.
"Yeah. I'll take Breanna and our Mr. Wilson for the concert." Sophie said.
I felt lyself getting pulled in to Parker, so I grabbed Eliot and pulled him in.
"We're the drill team." Parker said. I chuckled.
Third Person POV
Harry and Breanna filmed a little video of Sophie, using a Panamanian accent and acting like she was from the Human-Animal Alliance, talking about a DJ named DJ COM4R4T and shaming him for performing at a birthday party for someone whose mining company was destroying the habitat of the Panamanian Spider Monkey.
Parker, Hardison, Kaira, and Eliot found the space to set up the drill. Then at night, Harry and Breanna went to rent out the nightclub. Breanna assured Harry the place was perfect.
Then a bit later, DJ COM4R4T and his manager had a video call with Sophie, assuring her the social media firestorm was a misunderstanding, and COMR4AT loved animals, which was why he wore a rat mask. Sophie then told the manager that there was a powerfully spiritual young promoter who is organizing a benefit concert for the spider monkey. She then suggested that COM4R4T should appear. He agreed.
First Person POV (Kaira)
Well, that was a productive day. After getting the space figured out where we were gonna put the drill, it was kind of a waiting game for me while a drill was being tracked down. I was really missing my kids, and while I was getting text updates from Riley, I still missed them. And yes, Riley knew mostly why we were in Panama.
So I texted Riley, asking if the kids wanted to video call, and they texted me back they all but screamed yes. So, I video called Riley and sat at one of the desks. They picked up the phone. Sophie with her medium-length brown hair, smiling like crazy, Nathaniel with Eliot's smile and hair color, and his blue eyes, and Eli with his combination of the two of us.
"Mamma!" They all but yelled excitedly as they saw me on the screen.
They were sitting on a bed, so I assumed Riley had a laptop on their bed to do the call.
"Hey, my loves! You behaving?" I'm smiling like crazy.
"Yes, mama!" Sophia started laughing.
Yep, definitely got my Italian sass.
"Nathaniel, Eli, you behaving for Riley?" I asked the boys.
"Yes, mama." Nathaniel and Eli both said, smiling and nodding yes.
"Riley?" I asked them.
"They have been pretty well behaved. Though someone's got a sweet tooth and only wants sugar." Riley said as they ruffled Eli's hair.
"He gets that from his Zia Parker and Zio Alec." I chuckled.
"Is papà there?" Nathaniel asked me.
I tried to come up with an answer, but then I hear footsteps behind me. I turn to see Eliot running towards me.
"Papà!" The kids yelled as I felt Eliot's around my shoulder.
"Hey, you little monsters!" Eliot chuckled and I could see the smile on Eliot's face, which caused me to chuckle.
"They behaving?" Eliot asked me.
"Yeah. Though Eli has Hardison and Parker's sweet tooth." I chuckled.
"Figures." Eliot groaned slightly.
"Everything alright down in Panama?" Riley asked.
"Yeah. Everything's okay." I assured Riley.
"How's everything back home?" Eliot asked.
"Awesome!" Eli exclaimed, and Eliot and I chuckled.
"You having fun with Riley?" I asked the kids.
"Yeah! They took us to get ice cream yesterday." Sophia was smiling big as she told us.
Eliot and I chuckled.
"Sounds fun!" I said.
"We miss you mamma and papà." Nathaniel said.
And my break broke a bit.
"I know, my love. We miss you too. But we will be back home soon. I promise." I told them.
They all nodded.
"We love you, you little monsters." Eliot smiled.
"We love you too, mamma and papà!" The kids said.
Eliot and I smiled. I heard Hardison come in.
"Hey, we gotta go." Hardison said.
"Zio Alec!" The kids exclaimed.
"Hey!" Hardison waved at the camera, and we all chuckled.
"Well, I gotta steal your mom and dad for the time being. You behave now." Hardison told the kids.
"We will Zio Alec!" Sophia told Hardison, sass in her voice.
I mean, she is seven.
"Definitely your kid, Kai. Damn!" Hardison walked away.
I chuckled and Eliot just shook his head.
"We have to go, my loves. I love you." I blew them a kiss.
"I love you, little monsters." Eliot did the same.
"We love you too!" The kids did the same.
"Forever and always." Eliot and I said.
"Forever and always." The kids responded.
"Can you put Riley on please?" I asked.
Riley came on screen and they told the kids to go play.
"How much longer are you gonna be?" Riley asked us.
"Soon. We're almost done here in Panama." Eliot told Riley.
"Okay. Hey, thanks for letting me babysit. They're good kids. Probably the best kids I've ever babysitted." Riley said.
"Thanks for babysitting. And thank you for saying that. It does mean a lot to us." I said.
"Ah, it's no problem. It's true. You guys saved my life, so if I can repay that by hanging out with the angels while you're away, I'll do it gladly." Riley told us.
"We really do appreciate it. Well, we gotta go, or Hardison's gonna get more annoying." Eliot said.
"Hey, be safe you two." Riley said.
"We will. We'll see you soon. Bye!" I finished.
"Yeah. Bye!" Riley hung up the call.
I shut the laptop and exhaled, feeling Eliot's hand rubbing my back.
"That never gets easier, does it?" I questioned Eliot.
"No it doesn't." Eliot said.
I did miss my kids, and Eliot did too. And somedays it felt like we were gone too long and missed moments. But then I'd remind myself why I do this, and it makes coming home even sweeter.
We got up and Eliot left to go to the food truck and I saw Hardison trying to get Breanna to leave. Breanna didn't, saying about Red Bull and swag bags.
I left with Hardison and met with everyone back in the food truck. We ended up leaving without Breanna. It was silent over comms. I was upfront with Hardison, Parker, and Sophie. Hardison was driving. I heard Breanna over comms.
"Look, it's almost midnight, and I still have a lot of prep, Mister…" Breanna was telling someone.
We all looked at eachother, confused.
"Corbett. Ryan Corbett. And you haven't heard my question. " Corbett told Breanna.
"Shit!" I muttered as Hardison turned the truck around.
This was not good. Grifting was not something I had seen Breanna do. But Breanna was holding her own, talking to Corbett about how it was a fundraiser for the monkeys. I heard Corbett say he did not believe it.
"All right, talk her through it, Sophie." Hardison told Sophie.
"No it'll distract her. She'll freeze. Breanna, I'm giving you a general play and trusting you, okay? People like Ryan who-who are greedy and-and use people, they have a blind spot. They can't imagine anyone who's not like them. Do you understand?" Sophie told Breanna.
I heard Breanna successfully sell a story that she was basically a hustler. We all breathed a sigh of relief that it worked. We peaked around the corner and saw Corbett and Diego leave.
"That's it. She goes home tomorrow. We can't risk someone who isn't… one of us." Parker started walking to the truck.
"If I may…" Sophie said.
"Yeah." Parker said.
"Breanna's out of her depth." Sophie said.
"Thank you." Parker said.
"Just like you and Kaira were when we went after that Serbian adoption agency." Sophie told Parker.
"Fork." Parker muttered.
"And don't get me started on your turn as "the Ice Man" and Kaira as "Fire Girl"." Sophie said to Hardison.
"That's a bit harsh, isn't it, mum?" Hardison put on that damn British accent.
"You liked it, right?" Hardison asked Parker.
Parker just exhaled.
"Hated that damn alias." I mumbled.
"And you, Kaira, following Parker into the warehouse, and staying with Hardison so you got nabbed. You were in over your head. And going in by yourself, no tools or equipment? You could have gotten both of you killed." Sophie told me.
I exhaled.
"For the record, both times I had a plan." I argued.
"I think Breanna did quite well. This may be one last job for me, but I think she's got potential. With proper instruction." Sophie told us.
She left, and Hardison followed. Parker stayed behind with me.
"Park - Sophie's right." I grabbed Parker's shoulder.
She pushed me against the truck, grabbing my shoulders.
"Parker, you know that if we cut Breanna lose, she's just gonna fight back and stay." I told Parker.
"But she's Hardison's sister. If something happened…" Parker said.
"That's what me and Eliot are here for. And Breanna's a big girl. Eliot and I can teach her self-defense. Or you could get her a taser." I got a chuckle from Parker.
"I do like tasers." Parker said.
"I know, Park." I gave her a smile.
"We just have to accept that Breanna's here for good. Even if Sophie might not be." I told Parker, a hint of sadness in my voice.
I didn't want Sophie to leave. And Parker didn't either. She let go of me and we met back inside. The next morning, Eliot, Hardison, and I were getting the drill in place. We walked through one office and were heading to the next.
"Hey. We agreed to take turns with the drill." Hardison reminded us.
"No, you agreed we'd take turns with the drill. All right? This is a diamond-tipped drill, man. This ain't a game console. A lot of things can go wrong with this bad boy." Eliot argued.
We made it to the spot and opened the case.
"Looking good." I whistled.
"Yeah, buddy." Eliot looked at Hardison.
"This thing here will cut all your fingers off. Scatter 'em all over the room. Then you gotta go pick up your fingers without any fingers, huh? Don't come crying to me if that happens to you." Eliot said.
I just turn and look at Eliot.
"What the hell, babe? Dramatic much? And I thought I was the dramatic one." I tease Eliot some, which earns me a playful smack on the ass.
So, only fitting I give him one back. Hardison walked away, mocking laughing.
"Hey, hey. Where are you going? You're not gonna help me and Kaira put this together?" Eliot asked Hardison.
"Well, you said it. I gotta keep my hands safe.
These are precious instruments." Hardison said, leaving.
I chuckled as Eliot sighed and went to pull the drill out of the case.
"You did that just so you could play with the drill, huh babe?" I questioned Eliot, giving him a look.
"Shut up." Eliot went back to the drill.
I started helping.
Third Person POV
Hardison checked to make sure Breanna got the alarm code, reminder her it changes daily. Breanna knew that, and said she had it. Hardison called her Ms. Know-It-All, and Breanna talked back.
Hardison then got to work putting the finishing touches on the fake gold bars. Harry walked over, telling Hardison the bars looked convincing. Harry picked one up and asked why it was lighter. Hardison said it was made with plastic explosives. Harry put the bar down, a little scared.
Hardison said it was cool and assured Harry it was safe. He then showed Harry the cell phone detonator and explained that the bars needed to touch. Harry told Hardison he thought they weren't gonna use an explosion to fool the sensors. Hardison explained it was for a bonus. Harry then told Hardison he was gonna be in the car with the gold, and if the cell phone got a wrong number, he had problems. Hardison said he did for a tenth of a second, then he'd have no more problems ever again, hitting Harry in the shoulder.
Later, Sophie met with COM4R4T and getting in the car with him to get to the nightclub. Harry met with Corbett and Diego to get the gold bars transferred.
First Person POV (Kaira)
It was later at night. Hardison, Eliot, and I were finishing up setting up the drill. We had on white overalls, though we just had them overtop our clothes and half covering us. Hardison was on the phone, again.
"Okay. I'll put some Ukrainian white hats on it. No, don't worry, don't worry. We'll get our people to the border, all right?" Hardison ended the phone call and sighed.
I know Hadison is under so much pressure right now.
"I'm just saying dude…" Eliot reminded Hardison.
Hardison turned to face us.
"Uh, yeah, yeah. Don't get distracted by the side gig." Hardison walked over to us.
"Is it a side gig?" Eliot asked Hardison.
I just kind of shrugged my shoulders to show I agreed with Eliot.
"In our line of work, you're one of the best. But in that line of work… you're the only one, man." Eliot said, and I can't help but smile a bit.
"It's okay to grow up, realize you're not the person you used to be." Eliot told Hardison.
"You and Kaira never grew up." Hardison said.
"Yeah. We achieved perfection pretty early, huh, sweetheart?" Eliot looked at me with a soft smile.
"Yeah." I chuckled.
I then looked at Hardison, showing I was serious.
"You can't be in two different places. You're the smartest guy we know, Alec. That's why you've done both jobs. And while I - we need you here, you're more needed out there." I can't help but smile.
"So go change the world, Alec. Make a legacy that's more than just taking rich assholes down. Be the guy you want to be proud of. Cause I'm proud of you, Alec. Going from the cocky ass I wanted to strangle half the time, to the guy who became my best friend who knows his worth." I told Hardison.
Eliot started up the drill, then stopped it. Hardison tried grabbing it, but Eliot slapped his hand away. Hardison stepped away.
"Hey, Bre. We're ready to start drilling as soon as Sophie starts the sound check, a'ight? You ready to go?" Hardison asked Breanna over comms.
"Okay, all set." Breanna reported over comms.
Eliot, Hardison, and I got the suits zipped up and eye and ear protection on.
"You know I suck at, like, saying thank you and stuff." Breanna said.
I chuckled abit.
"Oh, for real? You just gonna, just leave that hanging out there like that? Okay. You're welcome, baby sis." Hardison told Breanna.
I just smile and finish up.
Third Person POV
Harry was in the passenger seat of Corbett's SUV, and a couple goons in the back. They went over a pothole, rattling the gold bars, scaring Harry. Harry passed it off as he was nervous cause he wasn't used to driving in a car full of gold.
Corbett went into his evil speech of evil and said they've stored gold, diamonds, drugs, a file cabinet, and a single address book filled with important private phone numbers, and assured Harry that no matter the sin, once it's in the vault, it was beyond the reach of common decency. He also added that the way he saw it, if a politician or dictator thinks that their wealth is dependant on staying in power, they will fight, and thousands may die, so it was better for him to give them a way to live out their last days in the south of France.
Harry told Corbett he provided a valuable service to the world. Corbett then got a phone call, scaring Harry for a second.
Sophie was at the sound check, telling COM4R4T to start the sound check and made it how he wanted it. Sophie called go. Hardison was holding a sound meter as Eliot was about ready to start the drill. He told Sophie he needed 120 Htz. Sophie got the music louder.
And eventually, she got the right level, so Hardison told Eliot to go. Eliot started up the drill. Parker made her way through the vents, which pleased her. Harry oversaw the gold being put in the vault and walked out with Corbett. Corbett left to go get tickets for him and Diego. Then Harry saw that Maxwell came in.
First Person POV (Kaira)
For a bit now, Eliot and I had been drilling through to get the camera in.
"Maxwell's here. Maxwell is here." I barely heard Harry over comms as the drill was really loud.
"Maxwell is here. He's here." Harry reported, getting more worried.
"Hardison, Eliot, Kaira, can you guys copy that?" Breana reported.
I see Hardison signal for Eliot to stop the drill as Breanna repeated if we heard her.
"Hey!" I hear off in the distance, and we all look to see it was Corbett outside the room.
"Son of a bitch!" I exclaimed as I took off my hearing and eye protection.
I saw Corbett talk on his walkie, so doubt he was telling his goon to check the vault. Eliot and I undid our suits halfway.
"Just keep drilling. We got this." Eliot told Hardison.
We reached Corbett just as Eliot got his suit half off, getting nailed in the face. I move to the side as Eliot kicked him in the face. I kicked Corbett in the knee, then punched him, sending him back.
"Really, bro?" Hardison questioned Eliot.
I groaned.
"What are you looking at, man? Keep going." Eliot told Hardison.
I use the doorway as a lever, holding the side to swing my legs, nailing Corbett in the chest. After making sure Eliot was okay, I overheard Breanna over comms say she slowed the guards down, but not for long.
Eliot used Corbett's arm to swing Corbett, then I kicked the back of his knee, allowing Eliot to swing him into a desk. Eliot blocked a punch, then got punched, then I went in, but Corbett blocked me, and I was on the ground, groaning from getting kneed as the same thing happened to Eliot.
Though Corbett tried to pull out his gun, Eliot shoved him back first into a cabinet, causing Corbett to drop the gun. I came over and kicked the gun away as Eliot kneed his stomach, then I did the same, Eliot bashed his head into the cabinet. Eliot did his finishing move, punching Corbett in the stomach multiple times, then I kicked him into the door.
Then I kicked him in the nads, just to make sure he stayed down. Eliot was holding the walkie, and someone came across, saying he couldn't reach Diego, asking what to do. Harry then ran up to us.
"Hey, Maxwell's here." Harry told us.
"Well, then, now it's a party." Eliot said.
"Sure is." I muttered sarcastically.
Hardison came over.
"Hey, Parker's already down there. Security's coming." Hardison said.
"Breanna jammed the elevator. We can't access the vault level." Harry said.
I had an idea.
"All right, how do we get down there?" Eliot asked.
"You're gonna hate me, but I don't give shit. We're taking the vents." I told Eliot.
"No, that's not… mmm." Eliot whined.
"Babe, I don't care, come on." I tried dragging Eliot, though he was resisting well.
"You gotta." Hardison told Eliot.
"Don't… Damn it, Hardison!" Eliot groaned at Hardison.
"Let's go!" I started dragging Eliot's ass.
I grabbed the walkie and gave it to Harry.
"Dammit, Kaira!" Eliot groaned.
I smacked him upside the head.
"Eliot." I groaned.
Third Person POV
Sophie asked Breanna if she was ready with the Manila phone tap, reminding Breanna about the code word. Breanna assured Sophie she had it, and was also gonna blank local CCTV to buy Parker as much time as she could. She told Sophie she wasn't gonna let the team down.
Hardison inserted the camera into the hole that was drilled and got the camera facing the tumblers. Parker made it out of the vents and stood still. Breanna told Parker the guards couldn't see her. Parker asked about the remote monitoring system. Breanna said it was good, and that Manila was calling as she counted down from three.
Parker ran to the vault. Breanna answered the phone with a Panamanian accent. She fumbled a bit, but she got the code word and made it through.
Hardison told Parker he was in position, telling Parker there were four tumblers. Parker made it to the vault door, and removed her hat to get her cheek close to the door. Hardison guided Parker through the tumblers, telling her when to turn. Security was close by.
First Person POV (Kaira)
See, this isn't the first time I've been in a vent. Though, Eliot was learning. And scrambling through the vents to get to Parker made Eliot look like a damn baby giraffe. After Eliot composed himself, he wiped his hands on his pants.
"Don't they ever clean these things?" Eliot asked out loud.
I groaned.
"Babe!" I scolded him.
Eliot dropped down first, then me. There were three guards ahead of us.
"Hey. What's up boys?" Eliot got the attention of the guards.
They came after us. Eliot and I started running to get them to chase us so they'd get away from Parker.
"I hate stupid vents." Eliot whined again.
"How could you hate the vents? The vents are the best part." Parker argued over comms.
"Vents are useful. You're just complaining cause you looked like a baby giraffe." I looked at Eliot.
Eliot groaned as we rounded a corner. Eliot and I both kicked the first guard that came around the corner. I went after Diego while Eliot hit the other guard in the nads.
As we were fighting Diego, I overheard from Hardison and Breanna that Parker was about to get in the vault, and there were no problems.
"I smell lasers." Parker reported.
I stopped asking a long time ago. Turns out, the lasers were invisible. Hardison told Parker to bail, but Parker wanted Hardison to help her, citing she told him to practice his burglary skills. Hardison argued, asking if Parker was seriously comparing him to Eliot.
"Hey! Eliot spent time in the vents, thank you!" I exclaimed over comms.
"Hey, don't bring me into this. Do not…" Eliot got shoved by Diego.
I shoved Diego into the wall, kneed his stomach, and punched him.
Third Person POV
Hardison told Parker he got it. He then stood up and readied himself. Hardison made sure Parker was ready. He then gave her directions to where the lasers were so Parker could avoid them. Parker did a front flip, making it to the center of the room.
Eliot and Kaira were still fighting Diego, buying Parker time.
Hardison then asked Parker if she remembered a split she did on vacation, and given the smirk on Parker's face, she did (A/N I said it once, and I'll say it again. THESE TWO FRISKY AS HELL!). Parker did a split, then put her legs together, then rolled to the right. Parker made it to the wall. Hardison said there was no way back, and got ready to do a backbend. They did it together. Parker, being much for flexible than her boyfriend, did the backbend. Hardison ended up cracking his back. Parker asked if he was good, and Hardison tried passing it off as he was, when in fact he wasn't.
Eliot and Kaira knocked out Diego. They heard the elevator ding.
Parker had her hands behind her back as Hardison guided her to the box so she could turn off the lasers. Parker did, and opened the box, getting the bonds. Parker shut the box, saying it wasn't so hard, about to put the bonds in the bag.
Then when Parker turned around, she came face to face with Maxwell, who points a gun at her, saying it was supposed to be impossible. Parker then had a smile on her face. Maxwell then turned around to see two very pissed off hitters. Eliot snatched the gun from Maxwell and disarmed it. Maxwell remembered Eliot and Kaira. Parker then karate-chopped Maxwell's neck, knocking him out. Parker was shocked as Kaira smiled at her.
"See? You don't always need a taser." Eliot told Parker as they started running.
"But I like the tasers." Parker argued.
"Nice job, Park!" Kaira shot Parker a smile.
Eliot, Parker, and Kaira met with Hardison and Harry, who were all being chased by goons. Parker realized Hardison forgot to stretch. They ran outside and went into the club. They all met back up in the truck.
First Person POV (Kaira)
Well, it all worked out. I was sitting next to Breanna on the desk. Hardison and Parker were on the other side, and Harry was standing beside them. Eliot was at the back of the truck. We were just talking. Sophie walked in, moaning slightly, rubbing her temples.
"Oh, my head." Sophie groaned.
"I got aspirin at the hotel." I told Sophie.
"Thanks. How'd we do?" Sophie asked.
"Another 20 million for the opiate victims fund." Parker said, grabbing the last of the bonds from Harry.
Hardison told Breanna there was one more thing to do. So Breanna got up and left with Hardison. I stood by Sophie.
"One thing I still don't get. Why go through all that trouble planting it if we weren't gonna use that bomb?" Harry asked us.
We all smiled a bit. We got Harry a phone. He was now sitting at the desk, me on Eliot's lap on a chair, Parker and Sophie on chairs behind us.
"Hey, Fletcher, just a heads-up. U.S Marshals are on the way. You are a fugitive, remember?" Harry said in the phone.
I couldn't hear the other end of the call.
"Oh, no, of course not, course not. You got the best lawyers, plus you got your own private security force, RIZ. I mean, as long as you can write those checks. You are still paying the bills, right? You might want to give them a call." Harry taunted Maxwell.
Harry hung up the phone and started laughing.
See, now Maxwell was gonna call RIZ, which was the number programmed into the bomb we put in vault one. Now everything in the vault was destroyed. And since a lot of pretty powerful people were gonna be pretty pissed off. So now Maxwell was gonna be on the run forever.
Harry stood up and looked at Sophie and me, since we were now standing up.
"In his way, Corbett was just as bad as Maxwell." Sophie explained.
"Corbett was an enabler. Corbett provided the place where Maxwell stored his blood money. And as you know, Harry, the enabler is just as guilty as the sinner." I told Harry.
"And we don't leave loose ends. Ever." Sophie told Harry.
Sophie and I went up front as Hardison walked in.
So we went back to New Orleans, and enjoyed a bit of gumbo, and enjoyed the scenery. Okay, a lot of gumbo, and it was really good. We went back to the jazz bar.
Breanna walked in first, then Harry, then Sophie, then Parker, then me and Eliot.
"New Orleans gumbo, man. I think it deserves its own food group." Breanna said.
I then noticed that the jazz bar was done up really nicely.
"Whoa." Breanna stopped.
Eliot and I walked up to the rest of the group, admiring the bar. I saw Hardison on the stage, where a long desk was set up with six seats. We then rounded the bar.
"Wait, are those Eames chairs?" Sophie asked out loud.
"Hardison, what did you do now?" I asked with a smile on my face.
Then around the corner of the desk, I saw my kids.
"Mamma! Papà! Zia Parker!" They screamed.
I pushed my way past everyone and Eliot did the same. I got down on my knees and absorbed the impact of Sophia. Nathaniel went to Eliot, and Eliot was in the middle.
"My loves! Ah, I missed you!" I hugged the kids and Eliot.
"I missed you, my little monsters." Eliot held us.
Then he let go and ticked Nathaniel and Eli, causing them both to let out the loudest laugh. I can't help but smile and admire the smile Eliot had.
"We missed you." Sophia said.
I hold her head, fingering her hair.
"I missed you too, my loves." I kiss her cheek, then Nathaniels and Eli's.
Eliot picked up Nathaniel, I picked up Sophia, and Parker picked up Eli. The three of us stood in a line. Harry looked at the sight and I see him smiling.
"Who are these three?" Harry asked us, not sure if he should keep his distance or not probably.
I nod to Sophia.
"This is Eliot and I's daughter Sophia, Eliot's holding Nathaniel. Parker's holding Eli." I introduce Harry to them.
"My loves, this is our friend, Harry." I introduce the kids to Harry.
"Hi." Sophia is the first to say hi.
"It's wonderful to meet you, Sophia." Harry went to shake her hand.
"And you, Nathaniel. And Eli." Harry was smiling as he went to shake Eli's hand.
Nathaniel buried his head in Eliot's shoulder. I let out an awe and Eliot rubbed his back.
"Hey, my man, it's okay. There's no need to be scared, okay? Daddy's got you." Eliot whispered to Nathaniel.
I chuckled, and I swear I fall more in love with Eliot. Harry looked worried like he did something wrong.
"It's okay, Harry. Nathaniel's anti-social like his father." I looked at Eliot, getting a look from him.
"Don't give me that look, babe, you know I'm right." I chuckled.
I look at Sophie, and I see Harry looking at Sophie, and I think he realized who Sophia's named after. I have the three of us turn so they could see Sophie and Breanna.
"Remember Zia B and Nonna?" I questioned the kids.
"Hello, you darlings!" Sophie gently rubbed their cheek.
They were all smiles, and Nathaniel was less shy. I then refocus my attention on Hardison, who opened up a red curtain, revealing a stage and multiple screens.
"Whoo." Harry breathed.
"Oh my god." I start chuckling.
"Come on." Sophie chuckled, and I see her smiling.
Parker passed Eli to Breanna, who happily put him on her lap.
"Harry's client's still in jail, so I bought the place." Hardison said.
It then clicks that this was now home.
"Son of a bitch. Y-you bought the place, you bring the kids here." I can't finish the thought because I realize Hardison's leaving, and I held Sophia a little close, and she hugs me a bit harder.
"You know about this?" Eliot asked Parker.
Parker shook her head no.
"Well, I like it. Place looks great, man." Eliot complimented Hardison.
"I figured it was the least I could do." Hardison said.
Parker is emotional and I realize she's about to cry. And I'm about to cry.
"Least you could do." Parker told Hardison.
I swallowed hard to center myself.
"It's the right call for now." I said.
Parker walked past Hardison, and he followed her to a separate room.
"Did I miss something?" Harry whispered to Sophie.
"Family business." Sophie told Harry.
Eliot and I sat the twins on the floor, and I picked up Eli from Breanna. Eliot held Sophia's hand while I held Nathaniel's, and we looked around together.
Third Person POV
Parker was facing away from the door as Hardson walked up to her. Parker was sad.
"Where you going?" Parker asked Hardison.
"Sri Lanka. Currency is under attack. If I don't do something, it could trigger a total economic collapse." Hardison told Parker. Parker sniffled.
"Oh, great, so if I want you here with me, I'm pro-famine." Parker tried chuckling through the tears.
"Cool." Parker tried to calm herself.
"You should go. I..." Parker turned around to look at Hardison.
"I… want you to do this." Parker told Hardison.
"You know I wouldn't do it without your blessing, right, babe?" Hardison walked up to Parker slowly.
"But take Breanna with you. Don't leave her with me." Parker begged Hardison.
"So I finally got Nana on the phone. About a week ago, FBI came knocking on her door. No worries. I mean, she's used to it. But they weren't knocking for me." Hardison explained.
"What's she into?" Parker asked, quickly putting two and two together.
"Stolen credit cards. Ransomware attacks. DoD incursions." Hardison explained.
"All the same stuff you were into at that age." Parker gave Hardison a soft smile.
"Yeah." Hardison chuckled, so Parker did too.
"And you know where I was headed. Until I met you." Hardison told Parker.
Parker hugged Hardison close, closing her eyes.
"Don't leave her with me." Parker begged Hardison.
Hardison let go and looked at Parker.
"Babe, she idolizes you" Hardison told Parker.
He wrapped his arm around Parker's shoulders.
"Well, yeah, I mean, I'm awesome. But I'm not a parent." Parker said.
First Person POV (Kaira)
I saw Hardison and Parker walking in, his arm wrapped around her shoulder. I can't help but smile.
"I know about a dozen crews around the world and three little monsters that would happily disagree." Hardison told Parker.
Eliot was holding Sophia, Hardison picked up Eli, and I held Nathaniel. Harry was behind the bar, getting us drinks, and we were in a very wide circle.
"The New Orleans base. I'm almost sorry my little reunion concert's come to an end." Sophie said.
"Yeah, well… it could be a reunion tour." Eliot suggested.
"No. I'm retired." Sophie said.
"But it's so much more fun with you here. And what's the first rule?" Parker turned to Breanna.
"Crime is fun." Breanna said.
I chuckled. I mean, she is learning form the best.
"And I know the kids would love it if you stayed, right?" I looked at the kids, who all smiled huge.
"Yes!" They all yelled.
"We want you to stay Nonna!" Nathaniel exclaimed.
Everyone started laughing, and Sophie was holding back a smile. The kids may have been doing puppy dog eyes. Sophie pointed an accusatory finger at me and Eliot.
"That is not fair." Sophie was chuckling.
"May not be my place to say it - I barely know you - but you do seem to be a lot happier when you have someone dancing on the string." Harry told Sophie.
"Sophie. It's gotten worse out there since you hung it up. We could use the help." Eliot told Sophie.
Sophie paced to the table, moving the chair to face us, then sat down. Sophie seemed to like the seat.
"Well… let's not call it a tour. A few intimate shows to start off with." Sophie said.
Harry came up to us, carrying a tray of whiskey.
"I have a proposition." Harry started passing around glasses, first to Hardison.
Hardison put Eli down, and he ended up hiding between me and Eliot's legs.
"Oh. Sounds like someone's been bitten by the bug." Sophie teased Harry slightly.
"Well, no, it's not just the rush. Although that was a big part of it. What you did for Maxwell's victims, that was incredible." Harry finished passing out drinks to Hardison, Parker, Sophie, me, then Breanna, then made his way back to the bar.
"But, no, I've been thinking about something that he said." Harry pointed to Hardison.
"Redemption is a process." Sophie said.
"Hear me out. These, uh… these people you pursue, they don't just cheat anymore. They rewrote the rules. So now if they get caught, they never really get punished. I know how they think, I know the laws they bend, and I know who they pay off to do it. Let me be your inside man." Harry said.
I mean, Harry was useful in taking down Maxwell. And he seemed like a genuine guy who wanted to change. Sophie hummed and say her drink on the table and stood up.
"I'll give him this: He crafts a compelling argument." Sophie said.
I can't help but smile and nod.
"Maybe I should get a disguise closet. Some windbreakers. DEA, FBI. Maybe a mustache." Harry said.
Eliot had his head lowered as Breanna was excited, Parker and Hardison were not liking it as I tried to not laugh my ass off. Sophie grabbed Harry's shoulder.
"Baby steps, our Mr. Wilson." Sophie told Harry, who chuckled.
Sophie walked to the bar. "Maybe a beard." Harry suggested.
I just chuckled.
"Hey." Eliot grabbed the drink from Breanna.
"Work on my accents a little bit?" Harry questioned.
We all started walking around.
Later, I found out that Riley had moved to New Orleans. While I was gonna be sad that Hardison was leaving, I knew it was the right move. And I couldn't be more proud of Hardison.
(A/N)Thank you so much for reading this! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know I enjoyed writing it!
Before I get into what's next, here's the chapterly song, and it's an emotional one.
watch?v=-nmqQlW-sMo&ab_channel=Lin-ManuelMiranda-Topic ("History Has it's Eyes On You" from "Hamilton")
So, with this, I imagined Washington is Hardison singing to Breanna. That's it, that's the scenario.
This chapter was so much fun and bittersweet cause as much as I love the story of Hardison going leaving to do humanitarian work, I missed him. So, I hope I did him a proper sendoff. And writing the reunion scene and the video call was so awesome!
The next chapter is based on "The Rollin on the River Job", which will be interesting! I can't wait to show you what I have in mind for that!
Thank you so much for reading! Remember to favorite this story and share! Stay tuned for more! Much love to you all! Stay safe!
Kaylee