To answer that question, yes, the boys would be meeting Ocean ... in the chapters Summer in Vegas - I love Ocean's 11, 12 and 13!
Thieves War
By Jolly
Teen's Training
BRRIIIIINNNNGGGG!
Joe Hardy groaned and snuggled deeper into his covers in hopes of drowning out that unholy noise. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he was instantly awake.
It was his birthday today! He remembered. And not just any birthday! Today was his thirteenth birthday! He had been waiting forever for this day, for today marked a new chapter in his life. From today onwards, he was no longer a child. From today onwards, he was a teenager.
A teenager!
That meant that he would no longer be barred from The Room. He could now join his big brother in The Room, officially and professionally learning the tricks of trade from their dad. And today, he would receive his very own Profession's Official Lock-pick Kit – at breakfast. His dad promised.
How exciting!
He threw off his cover and leapt out of bed. In his eagerness, he slipped. He threw out his arms and fought a desperate battle to regain his balance. For an instant, perched precariously on his right toes, he thought he might have succeeded. He was slowing bringing his other foot down when to his consternation, he felt his right foot sliding forward. Strange, he thought, he did not ever remember his bedroom floor being that slippery. A fraction of a second later, his arms were swinging wildly in the air again, and next he knew, he was on his back on the floor starring up at his bedroom ceiling. A moment later, the pain registered.
He groaned.
What a start to his first day as a teen! Joe grouched. Luckily Frank was not here to witness his ignominious awakening as a teenager, he thought.
Joe pushed himself up from the parquet floor and walked over to bathroom he shared with his brother. He reached for the door knob and started to turn it. His eyes narrowed. It occurred to him that the knob seemed just a teeny wee bit harder to turn. It could be just a matter of oiling, but, something started to click at the back of his mind.
He gave the door a quick push and jumped back away from it. Sure enough, a bag of flour landed on the bathroom tiles just before him. Soon, the room became misty white with floating flour. Joe quickly reached for the door and slammed it shut to minimize flour-damage to his own room.
"Frank!" Joe muttered under his breath.
He bet his brother oiled his bedroom floor too, that was why he slipped earlier one. Joe turned to storm out of his bedroom, fully prepared to have it out with Frank. Next he knew he felt something soft, cool, and squishy between his right toes. He took a deep breath, slowly counted from one to ten, and then looked down. He stepped into a small pool of … goo. Whatever that was, it was slimy and gooey. Goo. Yucks! He reached out with his hand, grabbed a towel, and gave his foot a quick wipe. Then with an expert flick of his wrist, he threw that soiled towel into his little laundry basket located at the other end of his room.
"OK big bro, wait till your birthday!" Joe growled.
He reached for his door knob when he felt the hair on the back f his neck stiffened. He dropped his hands and stared suspiciously at his door. And when he opened his bedroom door, he also hid behind the safety afforded by that sturdy block of wood. Sure enough, two blobs of paint splatters appeared on his glass window.
Joe heaved a sigh of relief. He just survived another trap. But he's starting to get a real bad feeling about his coming of age birthday…
Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth and slowly peeked around from the safety of his bedroom door. It seemed to him that the coast was clear. He slowly stepped around his door and into the corridor.
That was no simple or flippant decision that he made. He may be only thirteen today, but he had spent years learning to notice and remember little details about his surroundings. His father had drilled that lesson into him and Frank ever since the day his big brother made that ill-fated attempt to pilfer two cookies from the kitchen whilst mom was cooking. He smiled at the memory of that evening, when his dad sat them down and showed them a recording of the Great Cookie Robbery. Frank failed to spot the little hidden video camera recording his every move! Joe remembered how proud he was of his brother when dad praised Frank for his initiative using the phone books and for rearranging those cookies to disguise the fact of two missing cookies.
He recalled one of his dad's many lectures:
A Thief must always be cognizant of his surroundings; he must know the instant something was out of place. He must have good peripheral vision, so that he knew what was happening around him even if he was not looking directly at the action. The slightest failure at it was the key reason why many a Thief fell and brought disgrace to The Profession.
Joe's stomach rumbled. He's definitely getting hungry.
Slowly, he made his way down the corridor, keeping a sharp eye for anything new or different along the way. This was his home and darn if he did not know every single inch of it like the back of his hand! He had to pass Frank's door to get to the stairs. The stairs would lead straight into the kitchen where the food was. Where his breakfast was, he amended. And today, that one minute journey felt very long indeed.
Because… there's something on the floor, and there's something perched precariously from the hanging lights just above his head, and there's two almost invisible piece of string strung across the corridor…
He cleared them all! Joe thought, proud of his achievement. He'll definitely tell Frank what he think of big bro's coming of age present later. Now all he wanted was to eat.
He took his next step down the stairs. He could feel something right under his heel. It was a tripwire! His mind registered. Swiftly, he scanned his surroundings with panicky eyes.
He held his breath. Nothing happened. Slowly, he let out his breath. Still, nothing happened.
Joe lifted his foot and went down one more step. Next he knew, he saw this flash of white coming at him. Darn! That trap must have been rigged to go off when the pressure's off! His quick reflects saved him from whatever that white mass was. He leapt to his left and towards the wall, only to feel water poured over him.
That flying whiteness was a decoy! He realized just a fraction too late.
And there was a slightly greasy feel about that water too! To ensure that he won't slip down the stairs, he reached over to grab on to the railing, only to realize that there was something really sticky now on his palms. It was honey.
Joe cursed using words he shouldn't know, but he heard it from his dad and mom when they thought he and Frank wasn't listening. Too late he recalled another of his dad's lectures:
Do not compound your initial mistake by adding on a second by reacting instead of acting.
Joe sighed and gritted his teeth. He still needed his breakfast, and he wanted his Professional Lock-pick Kit. After scanning his environment, he continued his fateful journey down the stairs, making sure he was now twice as alert.
Alas, he walked into the next trap, and was now flour-coated.
For a moment, he was stumped as to what happened. Then he spotted it. Darn, that last trap was triggered by an infra-red detector.
That was also the moment when Joe realized that Frank could not possibly have done it, or, he could not possibly have done it alone. There was high tech gadgets involved, so dad must be in it somehow. And an old lecture chose that moment to surface in his mind:
Be alert to possibilities of sudden changes in the security's MO (Modus Operandi), for that was how many a Thief fell also. They were caught by surprise because they were not adaptable to change.
It was a long while later before Joe reached the kitchen. He was extra, extra cautious after that. And to some extend, it paid off. He spotted eight more traps after that. All of them were high tech in nature.
It gotta be dad! Joe now acknowledged.
Finally, totally tensed and wet and white, he reached the dining table. There, Frank, mom and dad sat, just finishing up their breakfast. From his big brother's rather rigid stance, Joe realized Frank had nothing to do with what he just went through. That was good. He would hate to find out that his brother was the one who tortured him on this important birthday! Then, it hit him, when his big brother threw him a sympathetic smile. Frank must have gone through the something similar on his own thirteenth birthday! So he turned to face his dad, a mutinous and accusing expression on his face.
"Ah, that was very well done, Joe!" Laura commented, the pride clear in her voice. "You spotted and cleared fourteen out of twenty. Very, very good, son! I'm so proud of you!"
Joe turned to his mom, his mouth wide opened. His mom set those traps?!
Laura smiled and handed him a plate of pancakes, "caught you out several times, didn't I?"
Joe stared numbly at his pancakes. Mom?!
"Welcome to The Profession, son," Fenton said with a smile as he handed Joe a huge and nicely wrapped package. "As you realize, your training already started…"
Joe paled and looked downright horrified. Frank laughed out loud.
OMG! Does that mean that he's not gonna have anymore peaceful awakening from today onwards??
please review!