I'm sorry if things have gotten a little slow, but they do get complicated in the next chapter or so. Anyway, I have good news. I was going to nix the romance, but in about ten chapters (I'm writing ahead of my publishing), I just got it. I was afraid there wouldn't be any good oportunity, but it turns out there is. Sorry you have to wait so long, but it's better that way. There will be romance though.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the things I own. The things I own are the things not owned by Colfer. Colfer owns everything except the things I own. The things Colfer owns are the things I do not own. :) Try that one, all you people who think you're the next Artemis Fowl.


It was afternoon when they reached the city, and by then, both of them were exceedingly miserable. They were wet, and tired, and both in more than enough pain to enjoy the scenery.

Valerie had insisted that they take the tedious, but safe route, picking their way through the trees instead of taking their chances on the road. Zane knew it was only reasonable, but it was tired, and he really did not care about the details so long as they could stop soon. His leg was killing him.

Finally, they were to the outskirts of the city, and Valerie let him rest in the long, swaying reeds under a bridge in a park they crept through.

"What are we going to do now?" Zane gave up trying to crouch, and lay down in the dirt and weeds and mud, stretching out his leg with a sigh of relief. "It's still pretty light."

"Probably four-ish." Valerie squinted at the sun, and then leaned over to examine the cut along his leg. It had started to bleed again while they walked, and the bandage was a dirty red. The mud that had splashed up here and there from the rain hadn't helped either.

Zane jerked. "That hurts!"

She shrugged and leaned back. "Too bad. You know if we have to run, you're probably going to be really slow? Quite liable and likely to get caught. Why don't you tell me where the diamond is?"

The silence under the bridge was uncomfortably thick. At last Zane forced himself to meet her eyes. "If I tell you where the diamond is, and we have to run for some reason, you'll be obliged to save me, which I'm sure you can. If you already know where the diamond is, then there's no point in saving me. I'm not stupid. I'll keep my secret."

Valerie scowled at him, but said nothing to deny the charges. After all, he was right, and he was only working for his survival. "Very well then. I will keep you alive. I will be charging an extra fee for all the trouble it cost me though. I hope your boss won't mind."

"I'm sure he won't." Zane froze suddenly, staring over her shoulder. "There's—"

"I know. She's harmless, trust me. Blind. You can tell from the way she walks. Besides, she's on the other side of the park, and even if she could see, we're hidden, it's raining, and rather dark. Just relax. You're too jumpy, you know that?"

"I'm only being cautious," grumbled Zane.

"An admirable quality, I'm sure, but I'm already cautious enough for both of us." Valerie elbowed him over, and stretched out in the reeds with him. "Rest for a little while."

"Then what?"

With barely contained annoyance, she sat up, and looked down at him. "And then I will snitch whatever materials we might possibly need to conduct our search for allies and further equipment. Do you have any contacts here who might be useful?"

"No."

He got a punch in the stomach for this.

Valerie suddenly realized she'd just hit him for hardly any reason at all, which made her feel bad, which added to her surely mood. "Sorry. I forgot you're sore. But what kind of— professional are you? You have no contacts at all in strategic places?"

"The Tyrant kindly informed me of their elimination when I first arrived at The Fortress."

"Oh." Valerie shut her eyes tiredly. This was the worst job she'd ever taken. She'd be lucky to get out with her life and her job, let alone with the diamond and Zane. Of course, if she did, she'd be famous beyond belief in the criminal world. She probably already was. Trevor and the others had probably already tattled about Trabar, and rumors about The Fortress and her escape would be bouncing all over the criminal world.

A smile twitched the corner of her mouth. A rare smile. The whole story would become a legend. She knew it would. She— Madam Ko, would become a legend. One without certain name. She'd made sure no one knew her real name. No one in the criminal world. No one who anyone could find. It added to the mystery she was building for herself.

"Do you have an idea?"

"No." Valerie turned around, not wishing him to discover that she had been imagining herself as a criminal legend. He might laugh at her. "Not exactly. Just be quiet for a while."


Around eight, Valerie ducked out from under the bridge, tucking a gun into the shoulder holster of her jacket. The jacket was certainly welcome on a night like this. The wind had really picked up, and it was raining hard.

She wondered if it always rained this time of year in this place in Russia, or if they'd just accidentally stumbled upon a particularly long rain storm. Who knew? "I'll be back some time later tonight." She checked the area quickly, to make sure there was no one waiting to snatch Zane as soon as she left, made sure he was awake, and took off.

Because she did not know the city, it took her a while to figure out what she was going to do. The other problem was that she couldn't read or speak Russian. At the moment though, that was her definite lesser problem.

Slowly, Valerie made her way down town towards the center of things, and the technological height. And that wasn't saying much— it was considerably shorter than a stunted midget!

It took her only three hours to locate, break, and leave a small store with expensive clothing and suitcases. Then, it was back to the park to drop off the things with Zane so that she could more easily break into the next one. Hopefully some place with money and transportation papers. Both of those would be extremely welcome at the moment. And some place with a good long-distance phone…

The park was still. Quiet. Everything was exactly as she had left it, including Zane, who's eyes kept drifting shut, even as she talked to him. He managed to rouse himself slightly though, and pay minimal attention— enough to repeat in a monotone what she had said at least.

Valerie leaned over him, and shook his shoulders. "Zane? Are you alright?"

"No," he mumbled. "Do I look alright? I hurt all over. But go on. I don't matter." His eyes opened, and he smiled slightly. "Just really tired. I'll be alright. Go ahead."

After a moment more of studying him, Valerie ducked out from under the bridge, and glided off.

The city streets were dark, except for the occasional car. And by occasional— it was meant very occasional. Not everyone had cars, and most of those that did were in their beds. A few bars were open here and there, but there weren't many people out.

Valerie finally located a bank. Breaking into it wasn't nearly as hard as breaking into an American bank. The security was a few years old. In a few minutes she was inside sorting out money as fast as she could. It wouldn't do to have huge bills, but they'd want quite a bit for expenses. They might not have another chance to stop.

There weren't any papers to be found, and she doubted she would be able to find anything more and get back before morning.

Reluctantly, she put the money into her pockets, and slipped out of the bank, hurrying back in the direction she'd come. The boots she was wearing were starting to bother her, and she had to stop once or twice to rub her bleeding ankles. They were dressy shoes. She wished she'd worn tennis shoes now— sandals— anything but these.

Finally, she kicked them off, and shoved them down a drain. The pavement and night air was cool, but it was more of a relief than a discomfort.

A noise behind her. Valerie spun.

No one there.

Something had made the noise though, and Valerie decided to take a short detour to throw anyone following her off track. She turned the corner, going slowly enough that they could keep up, and then stopped in front of a large jewelry store.

This had much more sophisticated security than the bank, but Valerie didn't worry about that. After a moment of looking around, she found a large rock, and heaved it into the front window.

There was a loud crash, and the glass tinkled as it sprayed across the street and the display cases inside.

Ignoring the alarms going off inside, Valerie hauled herself through the window, noting with satisfaction the confusion of her stalker out of the corner of her eye. No doubt he'd been told that she was dangerous and skilled. Right now, she looked like a juvenile delinquent.

She took her time looking around, and at last snatched a big blue diamond. Big for a regular diamond, that was. It wasn't the biggest diamond that had ever been, but if they ever had to have a substitute, this would do. The Tyrant would be so disappointed to find this.

Sirens. Perfect. Valerie hurriedly took off her jacket, with it's gun and the bank money, and hid it in a bush around the corner. Then, she went back into the store, grinning as she saw whoever had been following her leave. They weren't going to be around when the police came, and apparently it wasn't her anyway.

When the police found her, she was trying to fit as many pearl necklaces as possible around her neck, and almost choking herself. No one thought to search her for a diamond, and Valerie solved the language problem by refusing to talk, and haughtily ignoring everything that was said to her.

After about twenty minutes of frustration on the part of the police, Valerie was shoved into the back seat of a police car, neatly cuffed.

Imagine the surprise of these illustrious law enforcers when they drew up in the station, and opened the back door. To be bluntly honest, there was no one there. The seat was empty, except for a pair of open handcuffs, and these, unfortunately, had been wiped free of fingerprints. It did not take long to find that there were no fingerprints at all.

In the mean time, Valerie had gone back for her jacket, and was already halfway to the park. The trick in itself had been very simple, and she got no end of amusement out of imagining the bafflement of the police. She'd simply picked the cuffs open, and hopped out of the car at a stop— with a few precautions, of course.

They'd get none of her fingerprints.

Soon, she was there. Zane looked up as she pushed her way through the grass. "Are you sure that old woman was blind?"

"Positive. Why? Did she come back?" Valerie gently lifted his leg to the side, and sat down beside him, pulling out the money, and cutting him half of the pile. "I broke a bank."

"What took you so long?"

Valerie shrugged and grinned slightly. "Someone was following me, so I lobbed at brick into a jewelry store, and let the police catch me. They decided it couldn't have been me, and left. I dropped out of the car when the cops weren't looking, and came back here."

Zane stared at her in horror. "You did what?" Ignoring his knee, he sat up sharply, looking around as if he were expecting so one to come bursting out at them at any moment.

"I took precautions," murmured Valerie demurely.

Slowly, slowly, Zane leaned back. "You're a fool, you know that? The police is full of the Mafia. By the end of the hour at latest this place'll be crawling with them!"

Valerie waved a hand impatiently. "We'll be fine. We're going to play the rich tourists, remember? If you, ah— don't mind posing as my husband. Either that, or I was adopted, and we're siblings of sorts. I find marriage much more plausible however."

Zane grunted and shrugged. "Truthfully, I don't care. But you must have papers?"

Valerie squirmed slightly. "Not exactly. No. We're going to pretend that they were stolen, and I'll have a breakdown if someone asks for them. It'll be less likely, this deep in Russia though. We'll buy tickets at the train station tomorrow, alright?"

Zane nodded, and got to his feet, picking up his packs. "I suppose we'd better start packing then?"

"I'll pack." Valerie took his packs, and laid them out neatly between the layers of clothes in his suitcase. Just in case someone happened to look. Just in case. "If you'll feel better, you can watch for the police, the Mafia, or stray assassins that happen to be hanging around."

He scowled at her, but said nothing while she packed. When she was done, he took the change of clothes she'd left out, stepped into a close bunch of trees, and changed, while she changed under the bridge.

In silence, they began to walk along the path out of the park, suitcases and baggage trailing along behind them. They looked surprisingly good for people who were falling apart, reflected Valerie.

Quite suddenly, Zane thrust her to the side, and practically crushed her as a shot rang out.

Then, it was still again.


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