(Con Artists AU)
9:52 AM
Zelena reviewed her plan over breakfast brought via room service, keeping a careful eye on the door. Hades claimed he was going off to retrieve the rest of the money, then bring it back. She had a case of handmade counterfeit to give him.
She decided to leave it behind when she took off, as a final joke between them.
She'd been doing this ever since she was seventeen and had conned her own father into trusting his entire life savings to her. Granted, he had been in a drunken stupor at the time, but considering he normally wouldn't have even lent her a dime, it was an achievement.
Really, he hadn't even been her real father. She was biding her time with the man who had sired her. She kept tabs on him.
One of four people responsible for her mother leaving her to die as a baby, said mother included.
She'd crossed off that woman on her list already. The best time to strike was when your victim had something to lose. In her mother's case, that had been the title of state senator.
Long story short, she'd robbed her of a fortune and had wrecked her mother's chance at holding such office.
Damn, revenge felt good.
Cora Mills. Check.
Jonathan Gardner. Her biological father, a man who had attempted to blackmail her mother so he would keep silent about her pregnancy, who at the time was trying to marry some high-class social elite:
Leopold Kings, the reason her mother was trying to keep her pregnancy secret, and who had turned her mother away after the secret got out because of:
Ava Kings neé White, the woman who had discovered Cora's pregnancy and had gone to Leopold.
It had all ended with Zelena ending up in the system, before living in hell with her adoptive father.
Time had passed, and Zelena had changed immensely. She was willing to whatever she had to do in order to achieve a happy ending.
Yes, she'd tried living a normal life. It wasn't enough.
She liked doing this, conning people. If it meant she was destined for hell, so be it.
Bring on the fire and brimstone.
11:43 AM
Hades came back to the room in time to see her rifling through a large metal suitcase lying on the bed. She looked up at him and smiled.
"Hey. I was just making sure I had it all," she said in lieu of a greeting, shutting the silver lid. He nodded, trying not to seem too interested in the case, before wrapping an arm around her waist and trailing his lips in a path that ran from her collarbone to behind her ear, smiling in spite of himself at her sigh.
"Forget about that," he murmured, his hands moving to her hips. "We'll worry about it later."
Neither of them said much more after her back hit the mattress.
7:36 PM
Hades hadn't known Zelena long, but he had noticed that there was a certain elegance to her. The way she held herself, the elaborate ways she did her hair, even the cool, calm tone to her voice suggested that she had been a queen in a previous life.
Hell, maybe she was a queen in this life
He still was a little guilty about tricking her, but maybe it would teach her a valuable life lesson.
Such as, don't trust anyone who has a case full of money.
She handed him a glass of wine she'd poured from some vintage bottle they'd ordered earlier, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Here's to getting rich," she said, smiling, raising her glass, a gesture he echoed, their cups clinking against each other.
Both of them taking long drinks, he started a conversation in an attempt to learn the bare minimum about her. Not because he felt any interest, just to know who exactly he was dealing with.
"Where are you from, Zelena?"
She smiled. "It's funny, that never did come up, did it?" she mused. He shook his head, and she answered his question. "Boston. You?"
"Olympia. In Washington, you know?"
She nodded. "Strange that the two of is should meet in a Las Vegas casino, isn't it?"
"I suppose so."
"Maybe we were meant to." She took a sip from her glass.
"You think?" he asked curiously.
"Well, what are the odds?" she replied. "We're from opposite sides of the country, we just happen to meet in Las Vegas, and we both have enough money for that investment."
"Point taken."
"I'm sorry, by the way," she said lightly.
The wine was fogging his mind. He couldn't quite think straight. "For what?" he asked.
"For the massive headache you'll have in the morning," she replied, standing up.
Some form of understanding managed to penetrate through the haze in his brain. She'd drugged him.
"You-" He struggled to get up, but she placed her palm against his chest, pushing him back down.
"If it makes you feel any better, I really liked you," she said. "You were good in bed, too, I can't deny that."
She pressed a kiss to his forehead. "See you around, Hades. I've had a wicked time."
He tried to say something, but his eyelids grew heavy and slid shut, banishing her emerald eyes and crimson hair to a world of black.
What the hell...?
7:45 PM
Zelena scoured the room top to bottom to make sure he hadn't figured her out and double-crossed her, even cracked the lid to his case and checked a few random stacks of money to confirm it wasn't fake.
She left just enough to pay for checkout and a plane ticket back to Olympia.
Never let it be said she wasn't generous.
Besides, she liked him. He was charming, and yes, pretty cute.
She wondered how many cons those bright blue eyes had gotten him through.
As an extra tease, she even left a note.
Locking the door behind her, she walked out of the room with a case full of cash and her head held high.
Damn, this was fun.
Review, please! I really appreciate them.
And, yeah, I thought building Zelena's backstory in a way similar to the show would be cool. If you don't like it, oh well.