The Ocean's Job
Disclaimer: I do not own Oceans 11 or 12 or the Italian Job or any characters or plot lines relating to them.
Darkdestiney: thanks for the review
Firstly I'd like to say in advance that I'm really sorry for the first bit, I think I've written it to be extremely boring but I worked on it for ages and couldn't get it any better.
"Give it to me!"
"It's mine!"
"No it's not took it of my arm rest!"
Reuben sighed and turned up the volume trying to focus on the movie and not the twins arguing across the aisle from him. He looked down at his watch, there were only about 3 hours left before they landed in Chicago. This Reuben though warily is why we travel separately and then meet up. Livingston was sitting next to him snoring quietly, Danny, Rusty and Basher were sitting in the row in front of him.
Reuben wondered how Danny and Rusty were taking the Caldwell's deaths, unlike most the others in their team they had known them (especially Bobby) quite well, granted not as well as himself, and certainly not as well as Linus, but they had known them. They like himself were going to the funeral to say goodbye to old friends, not to be there for a newer one. It's not that Reuben didn't care about the kid, but Bobby had been a good friend to him, they had met just outside college, and started on small cons, poker games and such, like most beginners got stuck with. Eventually they got bored, or cocky, Reuben wasn't to sure which it was. Either way, they decided to rob jewellery store. It wasn't a big jewellery store by any means, but when you had two beginners together it was like the blind leading the blind. However the job had gone off without a hitch (two weeks late mind you). A guy called Jake Larkin had liked the heist and taken them on for a while, taught them simple tricks of the trade, but Jake wasn't big time so after 18 months they were on their own again. 2 years and many jobs later they met LeMarc, he helped them out, introduced them around, taught them the more complicated tricks of the trade. One of the guys they met was Tom Bishop, a pickpocket, the best. He was training John Bridger at the time. At first Reuben hadn't understood how they made it work, at pickpocket training a 'locks and bolts technician' but he later found out that Tom didn't train pickpockets. He knew little knickknacks, tricks of the trade and what have you, but they would die with him. Even Bobby hadn't been able to change that policy.
That would probably have been when they started drifting apart, not that they weren't still good friends, but they could do it on their own. So they split up, Reuben did jobs mainly by himself, sometimes he'd put a group together and pull bigger ones, it was about 4 years before they worked together again, Reuben, Bobby, John (who Bobby had been working with a lot for the last few years), and a group of beginners, Danny and Rusty. It was a good job, and the guys weren't really beginners by that stage, they had gone through the poker stage, and done a few simple cons with Bobby, but they still had a while to go. It was a good job, a few million, which was worth a lot more back then than it is now.
Thinking back Reuben realised that had also been when he first found out that Bobby was engaged to Annie. Reuben had to admit he had been surprised that Bobby would get married so soon, in the time Reuben and Bobby had spent working together they had talked about everything, and Bobby had always seemed like the type who would be a bachelor for ever. Reuben realised that he now had to admit to himself that he had been wrong on that front. As of around 3 days ago Bobby had died married, and had been approaching his 30th anniversary.
Reuben remembered the wedding, neither of them had any siblings, Bobby had been raised in a foster house- which he hated- and for some reason Annie's father had been unable to attend. So it was a small wedding, and even still majority of the guests were thieves. It was fun though, and Reuben had been looking forward to their anniversary party. Which, last month, Bobby had told him was going to be huge.
Reuben was broken from his musings as the movie system started again, pushing the depressing thoughts to the back of his head Reuben concentrated on the feature.
Linus grabbed the keys to his father's jag off the hook and was half way out the front door when a voice stopped him.
"And here I was thinking that the sneaking out would have ended when you moved." Linus turned almost guiltily to see Stella walking down the stairs into the foyer,
"Well I didn't want to wake anyone up." He answered airily.
Stella walked down the remaining steps and joined Linus at the door, "where're we going?" she asked following him outside. Linus didn't answer for a moment and Stella could tell that he hadn't really planned on telling anyone about his 2 am excursion. "You know you can't get rid of me Lenny." She stated, laying down a law known to both of them, which until today hadn't been spoken, "so you may as well tell me where we're going."
Linus didn't answer her. They walked to the car in silence, and it was only after they were out the driveway that Stella realised he wasn't going to answer her. Sighing she turned to face him and was somewhat taken back by the look on his face.
Since she had picked him up from the airport he'd had what may as well have been a mask on, this cool indifference which Stella figured must have been the shock of everything that was happening. Stella had made sure she was near him so that when the mask fell (and she knew it would) someone would be there. Stella mentally kicked herself for thinking that. Yes. She had known Linus his whole life, and because of that she should have known he wouldn't crumble. People who had only known him a few years would assume he was, naïve, quiet, and probably fragile. Not that she could blame them, he acted like that. She knew him though, he'd get through this because that's what he was like, because that's what his father and grand-father had always told him to do.
Stella saw the look of complete determination that was on his face now and knew where they were going, and she almost wished she hadn't gotten into the car. She hadn't been there since Clair's funeral, and as far as she was concerned coming tomorrow in the afternoon would be upsetting enough. But if Linus thought coming at 2 am would help then she'd go.
After reaching their destination Linus turned off the car and turned to Stella, "you don't have to come in." He told her, clarifying what she already knew. Linus got out of the car and started walking up the path, it had been years since he had last been here (never really worked up the courage to visit) but he still felt confident he could find his way without a problem.
Linus wasn't at all surprised to hear footsteps behind him as Stella caught up. Together they walked in silence taking in their surroundings and looking for anything that had changed in the past 10 years.
They both stopped walking as they came to a heavy door.