The following Tuesday a lovely red and white corvette arrives at a warehouse. A handsome man steps out of the vehicle. He casually adjusts the tie of his suit, clicks his shiny heels together and moves with a purpose towards the metal staircase on the side of the building. He starts to move upwards to the door on the first floor. It's nearly 9 'o clock, and he's nearly late.
He opens the door and enters the building. It's still dark inside, as if nobody was there. He knows better. There is one office in a corner where light spills from the crack underneath the door. He knows his way blindfolded, so he confidently strides towards the office. The offices around him are pitch black, made even more scary because of the light at the end of the hall. Without light, darkness is fine. Once you spot a source of light, darkness becomes just a little more threatening. Face quickly makes his way, careful not to get spooked by his imagination.
The door opens and there he finds his friends. All of them this time. His eyes are drawn to the slim figure of their little protégé, Cassie. She's leaning against Murdock and they are clearly deep in conversation right now. Hannibal is looking at him with those sparkling eyes of his. That's never a good sign, he knows. When Hannibal looks like that, he's on the Jazz, as the team calls it. It usually means trouble will follow, first a little for them and then a whole lot for the people who annoy Hannibal. Face unconsciously pads his inside pocket, checking on the extra cigar he brought for Hannibal. It's never good for him to run out in the middle of a plan.
"Hiya Hannibal." he greets his leader. "Since when do we plan missions a week in advance?"
Without pause he just continues to greet the other members of the team. "Hiya BA. How's your mother doing this week? Feeling any better?"
BA smiles at Face, glad to see he'd remembered his old mum. "She's feeling fine Face. She says thank you for the flowers."
Face then turns to Murdock and Cassie. Murdock suddenly stops their conversation, jumps up, yells "Facemaaan!" and hugs him with the force of a small brown bear. Nearly crushed to death, Face looks at Cassie as if to ask what happened please save me I can't breathe. Cassie just looks at the two of them with a smirk on her face, not at all sad Murdock momentarily ignores her for Face.
"Murdock, release..." he manages to croak.
Murdock then releases him, looking perplexed as to why his friend looks so crumpled. Face then turns to Cassie and gives her a hug.
"Glad to have you back kid. It was getting boring without you!" As he releases her, he can see she's smiling at him. It's obvious she missed the team as well.
"Alright kids!" Hannibal interjects, clapping his hands together. "Here's the situation."
He tells them about their next client, an old oil baron. He is very rich and has no more way of spending his money, other than settling some scores. He told Mr Lee that earlier this month his son stole some of his documents. When the old man dies, the son will get a big portion of his company.
The oil baron, Miles Connelly, wants the team to secure those documents for him. He had hired a PI, who has indeed confirmed that the theft had taken place.
"So that's why I asked you guys to come here a week in advance Face." Hannibal explains, turning to his Lieutenant. "I knew Mr Connelly would call me today to give me the report of the PI. If the PI confirmed that the documents were stolen, we would take the case. And I had a hunch, so here we are. I received the document an hour ago."
Hannibal smiles at his team. "Fast service, right guys?"
Face raises his hands. "Hold on there Hannibal. Are we all going?" And he looks pointedly at Cassie.
"Yeah Faceman, we're all going." she responds. "I'm feeling fine. I'll just do less of the heavy lifting this time."
Hannibal senses Face's response, so he quickly shuts him down. "We could very well use a good thief here, Face. I haven't worked it all out yet, but I intend on taking Cassie along for an important part of the mission."
"Very well Hannibal." Face sighs. "What's the plan, Hannibal?"
Hannibal smiles and starts explaining.
-
The team awaits impatiently as Cassie changes into her outfit. They need to attend a ball tonight, with Cassie at her thieving-best. For the boys it isn't a difficult change. Face and Murdock wear a tux and BA and Hannibal wear a server's getup. They all look dashing, although BA chose to wear his feathers as well. Nobody will tell him to take them off.
Face scammed Cassie's dress as well, but he didn't show it to the rest of the team. It'll be a surprise, he had said. That's why they are all waiting in the warehouse, staring at their feet, or in Hannibal's case, reading a book. The curtain they hung up to give Cassie some privacy slightly moves.
"Ok I'm ready guys." Cassie says from behind the curtain. "I'm coming out."
The red fabric from the curtain suddenly parts. Cassie exits, wearing a gorgeous but simple white dress. It hugs her curves at all the right places and shows off her excellent figure. Her hair isn't in the usual ponytail either, she had done something with it this time. Her gentle brown curls seem to caress her face as she moves. Murdock's mouth quite literally falls open as he stares at her. She looks like a princess, that's all that goes on in his head right now.
Face smiles at her. He's very proud of how she looks, not in the least because he picked out the dress. A hand slaps him on the shoulder. "Well done Lieutenant, very well done."
Hannibal then opens his arms wide open and gives Cassie a big hug. "You look lovely my dear."
"Ok team, let's go." Hannibal says, spurring them into action.
Murdock snaps out of his light daze, closes his mouth, and holds out his hand. "Shall I accompany you to your vehicle milady?" Cassie smiles shyly at him and takes his hand. The team then watches the two walk towards Face's Corvette.
"I was just about to do that Colonel." Face says with a smile on his face.
BA laughs loudly. "Yeah man, crazy fool beat you to it."
Grinning they follow Murdock and Cassie to the car. They arrive just in time to see him open the door for her.
Face gets into his car next to Cassie and the team gets in the van. The two cars leave together.
-
A little while later, a shiny corvette arrives at an upscale party in the middle of town. Face throws his keys to the valet and goes "Be gentle with her yeah?"
He runs to the other door and opens it for Cassie. "Shall we, my dear?"
She takes his hand and they enter the party. It's a room filled to the brim with wealthy people. You can tell, it's in the way they walk and talk and glide across the dance floor. The host is mister Miles Connelly and he's rather old fashioned. If you want to dance at one of his parties, you'll have to be able to do some ballroom dancing. It's all very dignified. Face leads Cassie to the bar.
"I'll have a martini and the lady will have..." He looks at Cassie intendedly. "...an aged captain Morgan on the rocks please."
The barman smiles at them and goes to work. The two then turn to face the dance floor. "You see him kid?"
"Right corner, darling. He's standing at that little table under the chandelier."
Cassie slightly nods her head in the right direction, and Face follows her gaze. She's right, the oil baron's son stands there looking unamused. He doesn't look as if he wants to be there at all, as the beautiful woman on his arm looks like she'll never get tired of talking.
"Hannibal, target located." He whispers into his cufflink. He then turns to the barman and takes the 2 drinks from him. "Cheers my good man. It looks delicious. Let's go dear."
He hands Cassie her drink and they go out into the open. Cassie can feel the butterflies in her stomach. This part of the mission all depends on her, so it's quite a special moment. The tension starts building, so she takes a sip. Face notices.
"Don't worry kid. We've got you."
She looks at him, feeling slightly unsure. He smiles at her and points with his martini to one of the waiters. "Take a good look at him kid."
She studied the man in the tailcoat standing a little further, offering a couple a drink. "It's Hannibal!" she realizes with a surprise.
Peck laughs next to her. "And Murdock is up there, watching your every move." He squeezes her shoulder reassuringly. "If something goes wring, he'll notice it immediately."
Cassie downs her drink in one go. The ice clanks against the glass as she hands it to her friend. "I'm going in."
He watches her go with a smile on his lips. "Copy that Murdock?"
"I see her and I copy." comes from his earpiece. Murdock will keep an eye on Cassie.
-
As she darts between the chatting and slightly drunk people, she approaches her target. The young man seems to have a thundercloud above his head. He's in a foul mood, absolutely not enjoying the party. Cassie observes him for a moment. She can only conclude it's his partner for the night. Their seems to be no feelings involved there. Cassie suspects he only took her along because of her looks, something that he's regretting right now. That gives her an opportunity.
In a bold move, she approaches him head on, giving him plenty of time to notice her. She stands in front of him with a half smile on her lips, making a point to completely ignore the girl. She just looks at the young man and look is all she has to do. In a territorial gesture, the girl opposite of her takes the guy's arm. He shakes her arm off and turns to Cassie.
"And who might you be?" he asks.
"Someone who wants to dance. It's a party, is it not?" she replies. She extends her hand to him. She can almost feel the team hold their collective breath in anticipation. If she has overplayed her hand now, it will be difficult to repair the damage.
Call it a woman's intuition, but the son smiles at her and takes her hand. "Why don't you go and powder your nose, Janice?"
They head onto the dance floor together, and the unfortunate Janice slinks away to the bathroom.
"Now before we dance, won't you tell me your name miss?" asks the son. He looks into Cassie's eyes and takes her by the hand. They await the end of this dance.
"That would spoil the fun sir." she says, smiling coyly at him. A new dance starts and off they go. They slowly twirl alongside the other couples on the dance floor.
She notices he's rather good at it. "I must say sir, I'm rather impressed. You haven't stepped on my toes once."
He smiles and twirls her around unexpectedly. Her skirt flies up in in a maelstrom of white fabric. He catches her in time, holding her just a little longer than necessary. "I have had lessons ever since I was 8 years old." he tells her smiling.
Cassie smiles deviously at him. "Did you learn how to dance like this as well?" she asks, as she turns her back to him and he they sway in small circles. They break apart for a second for a twirl and she rejoins him. Their bodies touch, it's all very sensual. Cassie has an other motive off course. She is just getting him comfortable.
As he's thoroughly distracted by her neck being frustratingly close, she runs her fingers up and down his sides. She knows he always carries the key to his safe at his person and it's her job tonight to find it. Right side, negative. She turns around so she's facing him. As she does that her hands ever so lightly glide over his inside pocket. The key's in there, she's certain of it. Now all she has to do is get it out. Easy peasy.
"I think I've got a good idea sir. Would you mind waiting here for a second? You'll want to take your jacket off for this one."
He looks a little confused. "Jacket? Why my jacket?" he asks her.
She bends forward to whisper in his ear. "You don't want to ruin that lovely jacket, now do you? Take it off dear, and let's dance for real." Her voice was low and seductive and her breath against his skin made him shiver.
"This jacket is gone." He takes a step back and kisses her hand. "I'll be right back."
Cassie walks to the band. "Face, the key is in his front pocket. I'll keep him busy for now, go and get it." she whispers under her breath.
On the radio, Face responds. "Copy. On my way."
Cassie starts talking to the conductor of the little band. He's a little confused, but eventually he nods his head.
She rejoins her date on the dace floor. He looks a little confused, but very keen to find out what she has in store for him. After a few seconds of waiting, the music starts. Cassie starts to swing dance, and her partner actually manages to stay with her. Their feet glide across the dance floor with ease, as everyone looks on, clapping along with the rhythm.
Murdock stands on one of the balconies. He watches the pair dance below him, but it brings him no joy. He didn't know watching two people dance could make him feel so bad. He almost wished the guy tried to do something funny, just so he could come in and rescue Cassie. These feelings make him feel ashamed on top of everything else. Cassie's just playing a part after all. She's just doing what Hannibal told her, getting the keys and distracting him whilst the team takes a look in his safe. Murdock sighs. Why do women have to make everything more complicated, he wonders. He keeps a firm lookout and he wishes the night was over already.
-
Hannibal, Face and BA have just finished making copies of everything in the safe. Hannibal gives the keys back to Face.
"Quickly now, get them back before he knows they were gone. We'll clean up the room."
Face nods and quickly walks back to the party. He notices the song is coming an end. As the last note sounds across the dance floor, the guy holds Cassie until she's hanging seductively in his arms. Peck meets her eyes across a room filled with people and she nods slightly. The guys puts her back on her own two feet and whispers something in her ear.
Face can hear her response through the radio.
"Could you get me a drink please? I'm parched."
The guy kisses her hand and heads to the bar. Face smiles to himself. The kid is a natural at this. He makes his way to the son's table, where he sneaks the keys back right where he found them. He then makes his way to the bar for a refill. You never say no to an open bar.
He's interested in what happens now, because Hannibal was rather vague. He stands at the bar, leaning on one elbow, sipping on his martini.
"Mister Peck sir, fancy finding you here." Hannibal softly tells him as he joins his Lieutenant.
"Hiya mister Smith. Our girl did good, didn't she?"
Hannibal smiles broadly, "She did excellent." as he sips his drink.
BA joins them. "What now Colonel?"
"Stand down Sergeant."
Face and BA look at each other confused. Hannibal didn't clue them in for this part of the evening.
"What is going to happen, Hannibal?" Face ask him.
"Just watch the table."
BA grunts. "Where's that fool Murdock?"
Face looks up quickly. Murdock has left his post. Before he could ask about it, Hannibal motioned. In the corner where Cassie sat with the son, something has happened. Someone leans over the son like people do in gangster movies and whispers something in his ear. He apparently makes his excuses to Cassie and leaves quickly. Cassie sits there a little confused for a moment but not for long. Murdock appears behind her and offers her a hand.
The team looks at the small and seemingly unimportant scene in the background of a party. Cassie, who has just blatantly seduced the son of an oil baron, now seems to become very self conscious. From across the room they can see her blush and smile. She takes Murdock's hand and lets him lead her to the dance floor. It's a sort of jive, so there's a lovely rhythm going on. To everyone's surprise, Murdock is quite the dancer. They can clearly see the two laughing together and just enjoying the moment.
"Radio's off guys." Hannibal says, pulling the small device out of his ear. "Won't be needing those tonight."
Peck looks at his commandant with admiration. "Did you have something to do with this Colonel?"
Hannibal smiles above his glass. "I may have left a small clue after the break in. The son will suspect somebody else from this party, which come in handy later." he explains. "I knew he'd take off immediately after that, so I made sure to tell Murdock. Didn't you guys notice how his mouth nearly dropped to the floor when she came out in that dress?"
BA and Face laughed and clicked their glasses.
"You a regular matchmaker Hannibal." says BA, "Fool looked like he wanted to kill that kid the entire time he was up there." he says as he points to Murdock's venture point.
"You noticed that to?" asks Hannibal.
Face puts down his drink. "So Hannibal, are we staying for the party? 'Cos if that's the case, I'll go and find that lovely blonde."
Hannibal nods at Face, who promptly turns on his heals and disappears. He looks at BA and smiles. "We deserve to let off some steam sometimes, don't we?"
"You damn right we do!" BA agrees.
They both turn away to go for a drink in a quiet place where BA can drink some milk without being stared at, but not before Hannibal turns back and looks at the couple on the dance floor one last time. It is a slow song now, meant for people close together who shuffle slowly across the dance floor. Hannibal doesn't believe he has ever seen Murdock looks so content in his life. There he is now, holding Cassie in his arms, softly swaying the beat together. They look like they never want to let each other go.
