Thanks to all of my lovely reviewers! Next chapter I promise will take the time to respond to you individually, but I'm a little impatient right now so...just know that all of you guys (and gals) are the reason why I write!

Disclaimer: N O what's that spell? Yeah you can figure it out yourself.

Every good con artist knew that there was never only one option.

When a con started going sour, it could have been saved by a double-con or a coverup. When a mark started working things out, mixing truth with lies usually swayed the odds. When everything fell apart, you could have either run or repaired. But sometimes, things just went bad: way bad, unsalvageable bad. The only way to get out was to run away, maybe go back and take up the con again if you were lucky.

Shadows' first date was one of those times.

"Hang on a second, there's a cop car pullin' up," SeeMore said.

"I thought you were monitoring the frequencies!" Jenny hissed furiously.

"I was, I mean, I am! He wasn't dispatched! Oh shit, he's goin' inside! What do I do, what do I do?"

"Stall until we can get Raven out," Jenny ordered. "Who's closest to SeeMore's location?"

"Cheshire's closest, but I can get there fastest," Angel said simply.

"Go," Jenny ordered. Angel dove off of the building, plunging straight for an abandoned alley. When her bungee cord began to pull her back up, she pulled a knife and sliced it, tucking and rolling off a dumpster to land in a crouch in the alley. Jenny knew what was happening because she knew her teammate far too well.

"I'm on my way," Angel assured SeeMore. Jenny guessed she was jogging towards him.

"Wouldn't it be easier for me to shoot him?" Cheshire asked.

"No, we don't need any bodies here," Jenny reined in her trigger-happy teammate.

"I was gonna dump the body down the manhole," Cheshire mumbled.

"SeeMore, keep stalling!" Jenny growled.

"Hey, you're that one cop! I read about you in the paper! Officer..." SeeMore trailed off, pretending to forget a name.

"Grayson. Detective Grayson," the man said stiffly.

"Yeah, that's the one!" SeeMore exclaimed gleefully.

"Gizmo, dig up everything you can find on Detective Grayson," Jenny ordered, leaning against the bar as she sat on her stool.

"I'm on it!" Gizmo said, typing furiously in the back of Rancid's van.

"Angel, how soon until intercept?"

"T-minus sixty ticks," Angel replied.

"Forty-five," Jenny corrected, and Angel, Jenny assumed, sped up, catching up to the pair.

"Detective Grayson!" she wheezed. "Someone stole my purse!" Jenny rolled her eyes: Angel despised purses. The ruse, however, worked. Jenny heard him asking questions and trying to calm her.

"Cheshire, pass off your purse to a thug," Jenny ordered.

"Done," she agreed. Jenny heard the scuffle that followed.

"Got it! Whoa," Gizmo said, Jenny guessed in shock as files scrolled across his screens. He typed in a few searches: Jenny heard the keyboard. "Uh-oh."

"Giz, I don't like uh-ohs," Jenny growled.

"This Grayson guy's investigating the gang-explosion case. Our case. According to the files, he's got a partial sketch of Raven."

"Good enough to recognize her?"

"If this guy's as good as his records say, hell yeah."

"Raven, there's a cop outside. He's working our case, and he can recognize you. We need to leave, now," Jenny ordered. There was no answer. "Raven?"

"There's interference on her com," Gizmo explained.

"Gizmo, I will give you sixty seconds to get Raven's com back online, or when she gets arrested and we have to run, I'll make damn sure you get left behind," Jenny threatened. Gizmo gulped audibly.

"I can't get through to her com, but I can set off the fire alarms."

"That won't help. If Raven goes out through the front, Grayson will recognize her and we'll all go down. He comes in, he'll recognize her and we'll all go down. We're sitting ducks."

"Then let's not sit," Red X had appeared beside her. Jenny looked at him and slowly formulated a plan.

"Follow my lead," she ordered, grabbing his waist and beginning to drag him over to Rachel's table. "Act drunk," as Red X began to stumble, Jenny felt her tension mounting.

"Heeey, whazzup with theeee yellllooowww roses?" Red X asked, slurring everything except the codeword. Rachel sighed.

"I am so sorry Gar, my brother has some drinking problems. I need to get him home. It was nice talking to you!" she said, getting up and walking away, wrapping her arm around Red X. "Guys, what's going on? You wrecked my con!"

"There's a cop outside who can place you at the dealer-gang explosion. We need to get out now, unless we want to get caught," Red X hissed.

"X, can you sing?" Jenny asked suddenly.

"No," he scoffed.

"Good. Sing," Jenny ordered. Red X rolled his eyes.

"I got a puh-ocketttfuuul of ssssunshiine..." he warbled, terribly off-pitch, slurring his words, and going in the wrong rhythm. The manager came up to them.

"Vat iz ze meaneeng oav zis?" he asked.

"I am so sorry. Our brother had a little too much wine, and we want to get out without going out front. We're minor socialites, and this is a nice headliner..." Jenny lied.

"Oh, I zee! Come, come," the manager led them to the kitchens. "You vill leef tru ze kitcheens, no?"

"Oh thank you!" Rachel exclaimed. She clearly knew the angle Jenny was playing; someone too drunk to stand would be bad press for the restaurant.

"Eet iz nozing at oul," the manager assured them, opening the back door and allowing the three to stumble out and into the alley.

"We're clear. Rancid, get us outta here!" Jenny exclaimed. A black van pulled up at the end of the alley, and the three criminals leaped in, pulling the door shut behind them. They knew the rest of the team would be okay: getting a possible liability out of the way was more important than a catching a ride to the park.

As she sat in the van, Jenny closed her eyes and remembered a few hours prior…

"Alright, Raven's going in blind," Jenny said. "X and I'll be inside. Angel, Kyd, Cheshire, SeeMore, you're running surveillance. Giz and Mammoth, stay in the van with Rancid."

"Why do you get the good job?" Angel pouted.

"'Cause I'm the boss. If something goes wrong, our code for this job is 'roses' okay? The entire last score code is 'roses'," Jenny said sternly. Everyone nodded. "Now come on, Raven. Let's get you dressed…"

"Hey man!"

"Where is she?" Dick looked around.

"Just left. Her brother was drunk beyond belief. Hard to believe they're related."

"Did you get a picture?" Gar rolled his eyes.

"Jeez, Dick, not everyone's a bad person. She's camera-shy."

"Hm," Dick frowned. Something didn't feel right to him. He made a mental note to check the security cameras.

"You look kinda stressed."

"I'm worried about Kori. She was just swindled out of seven million dollars," Dick replied. Gar leaned back in his chair.

"So? She's strong. I mean, I know she'll make it through," he said easily.

"I know, but I still worry," Dick replied with a frown. Gar laughed.

"Man, you're so into her it's not even funny anymore."

"So?" Dick frowned even more.

"Nothing. Did you hear Wally's in town?"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Kori saw him at the mall. While they were there, he picked up some chick," Dick's crime radar went off.

Gar and Wally getting two spontaneous dates with two complete strangers in one day? Too coincidental to be real.

"Who?"

"You know Wally, he didn't ask for a name. They're meeting up tomorrow night at O'Hawk's, nine o'clock. Dick, you're not planning on crashing their date, are you?" Gar asked. The detective looked at him severely.

"Gar, I have to protect my friends."

"Well yeah, but this is just some random chick Wally met!"

"Maybe so, maybe no. You know how much money Kori has…that seven million was barely a penny for her. These guys could be after her. I can't let her get hurt, dammit!" he slammed his fist onto the table.

"Dick, calm down. Just let things happen when they happen. I promise, it's all gonna turn out okay."

"I hope so, Gar. For the sake of our friends, I hope so."

The next night at O'Hawk's, Rachel was in charge.

"I want Angel, Kyd, and Cheshire inside, SeeMore, Mammoth, and X on outside surveillance, and Rancid, Giz, and myself in the van. We play it safe. First sign of a bad run, we call it off. Understood?"

"Understood!" her team repeated. Jenny just smirked.

"Game on," she slid out of the van and headed into the bar.

"How do we play the bar scene?" Cheshire asked. Rachel thought.

"Angel and Kyd, you're on a date. You've been together since high school. Kyd, you still have that ring from our last jewelry store heist?" he nodded. "You notice anything bad, get down on one knee and hold it out to Angel like you're proposing. Draw attention. Give Jinx time to get out. Cheshire, you just got dumped by your fiancé. Pretend to get drunk, but stay sober. If you notice something going wrong, do anything to attract attention. Either of you girls can say the code if the coms go down, okay?" the three of them nodded. "Good. Kyd and Angel, go in together. Chesh, you're five minutes later. Go."

"Come on, my love," Angel said dramatically. Kyd Wykkyd made a face and took her hand, walking out of the van with her. Gizmo had already hacked into any nearby cameras and filled them with static. Nobody would see anything involving Shadows leaving the same cramped quarters. Rachel knew it was time to wait patiently for Jenny's date to arrive.

"He's here," SeeMore said.

"Jenny, get ready," Rachel said.

"I'm ready," Jenny leaned on the bar and ordered a drink.

"Hey beautiful," Wally grinned. Jenny forced a sweet smile. "I never did catch your name…"

"It's Lucky…my full name's a little embarrassing. I think my mom named me Lucky to mess with my head," she managed to muster a light blush.

"Aw come on, I won't laugh!"

"Hm, I don't think so," Jenny smirked. Wally laughed.

"I like you. You're very…mysterious."

"You really want to find out how mysterious I can be?" Jenny asked seductively, playing with his shirt. "Buy me a few drinks. Then…" she smirked. "Then we'll see what happens."

"Jinx, you are not there to have fun!" Rachel admonished over the tiny earpiece Gizmo had created. It was a skin-hued sticker that attached to the inside of the ear, and was surprisingly functional.

"I like the sound of that," Wally grinned.

Ten drinks later, Jenny had managed to stay sober by using her date's short attention span. He looked away and she dumped her drink on the floor. She had drunk only one.

"Grayson alert!" SeeMore suddenly exclaimed. "Roses, roses!"

"We got this, Cheshire," Angel said. Kyd Wykkyd stood and took Angel's hand, bringing her to the center of the room. He smiled at her and fell to one knee, presenting the ring. Angel's eyes filled with tears.

"Yes," she said softly, attacking him with a hug. Everyone stood, crowding around and clapping, some drunk out of their minds.

"Wanna blow this joint?" Jenny whispered in Wally's ear.

"I couldn't agree more," he grinned. They left without a problem. Jenny saw Detective Grayson in the crowd, as well as Cheshire, but they didn't see her. Wally led her to a sports car and opened the door for her. Trying to act tipsy, Jinx slid in. Wally sat in the driver's seat and began to pull out.

"SeeMore, we have visual on Jinx?" Rachel asked.

"I do," Red X said. "The sports car pulling out now."

"Rancid, tail him," Rachel ordered. He obeyed. Wally seemed to know he was being followed; he nearly lost Shadows multiple times.

"Jeez, that was interesting," Rancid grumbled as he parked the van a block down from the hotel Wally had pulled into.

"Gizmo, get us hotel surveillance," Rachel ordered. Moments later, the frames appeared on Gizmo's computers. "Cut the feed."

"They're seeing snow," Gizmo reported. Rachel watched as Jenny and Wally walked in. They headed straight for the elevator.

"Jinx, you had better not stay the night in that room. That detective showing up at both of our cons means that he could be onto us. If he drops by, we might be blown," she ordered.

As soon as Wally had closed the door, he grinned at Jenny.

"Guess we're alone."

"Guess so," she replied casually. Wally advanced on her and pinned her to the bed.

"Jinx…" Rachel groaned, slamming a hand to her face as heavy breathing echoed over the coms. She could venture a guess at exactly how her friend was maintaining her cover, and her guess was most likely correct. She whacked Gizmo on the back of the head. "Stop listening! That goes for the rest of you, too! She's maintaining her cover. Is everyone clear of Grayson?" affirmatives rang over her earpiece. "Good. Gizmo, I want you to call Jinx's burn phone. Put me on," he typed furiously. After a few minutes, a breathless Jenny answered.

"Hello?"

"Miss Day, this is the Jump City Hospital calling to inform you that your mother has been injured falling down a flight of stairs," Jenny gasped.

"Is she alright?"

"We're not sure. We think you should come, and bring a few roses, just in case," Rachel hung up.

"What's with the code?" Rancid asked. She pointed at where Detective Grayson was entering the hotel.

"Jinx, listen carefully to everything Gizmo says and you might make it out of that hotel without getting busted. We don't know if this Grayson guy's put the pieces together yet or not," Rachel hung up her phone.

"Wally, I have to go, my mom's been hospitalized, and…"

"Need a lift?"

"No, I don't want to put you out of your way. I'll catch a taxi," Rachel heard a door open. "Here's my number. Call if you need me…or if you want me," a door closed.

"Okay Jinx, take the stairs. I've put the cameras on loop," Gizmo said. Rachel heard the door open and close, and footsteps. "Get off on the third floor and take the elevator down to the lobby, then come across the street to the van," not five minutes later, Jenny slid in.

"What the hell, Jinx? You gave him your phone number?" Rachel snarled.

"It's called keeping a cover. Try it sometime."

"And if Grayson calls and traces you?"

"Gizmo, take care of it," Jenny ordered. He saluted and began to type with a passion.

"Okay, Jinx. You're officially untraceable," he said. "The program I've created will randomize your location to somewhere within the city and send you a text with that location."

"So I can pass any pop quizzes," she said. Gizmo nodded.

"Good work, team," Rachel said. "Let's call it a night."

"Wally, where's your girl?"

"You just missed her, Dick. Family emergency," Wally replied as Dick looked around. The detective frowned.

"I doubt that."

"Hey, Lucky's a perfectly good woman!"

"Are you sure?" Dick raised an eyebrow. Wally nodded. "Positive?" another nod. "No signs of anything amiss?" hesitation.

"Well…I think we were followed," he replied. "I kept getting a feeling, and I kept seeing the same black van in the mirror."

"Listen, Wally, I want you to call this Lucky person first thing in the morning and ask her to go grab a coffee at Lucy's with you. I'll be there. If I'm right, she'll have a team to back her up…including this woman," he produced a shaky partial sketch of a young woman's face.

"Dick…"

"My mind's made up."

"Okay fine! But what happens if you're wrong?"

"I guess you get to see your girlfriend again."

"You get all that?" Red X asked.

"Yeah," Rachel replied. She and Red X were still online. He had managed to place a bug on Detective Grayson. "Tomorrow Jenny goes in with a two-man backup. You're inside, Angel's up high. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Night, X."

"Night, Raven."

Jenny awoke in the morning to a phone ringing. She groaned and looked at the screen of her burn phone.

Jump City Central Park

She sighed and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Lucky, it's Wally! From last night."

"Yeah, how could I forget?"

"Heheh. You maybe wanna meet up for some Lucy's coffee in a half hour?"

"Make it a full one. I have to go home and shower first."

"Where are you?"

"Just out for a walk," she replied vaguely. "See you at Lucy's in an hour?"

"Done deal," Jenny hung up and rose from bed to make herself presentable.

Wally said his code for success and blinked as Lucky hung up.

"What if you really are wrong, Dick? Who are you to accuse an innocent young woman of such terrible crimes?" he asked.

"I'm a detective doing my job. Now get ready for your date."

Rachel blinked open her eyes to Jenny shaking her.

"Rachel, Wally invited me to coffee," she was saying. Rachel sat up.

"I know," she grumbled.

"You…know?"

"Red X bugged Grayson last night. This date is a setup, to see if you're on a team of criminals," she pulled her communicator. "He's going to be in the shop with you and Angel will be nearby on some roof. That's what he and I decided last night. There isn't any surveillance so Gizmo won't be there, and Grayson will be expecting a large team. He'll see you and possibly Red X."

"And if he makes me?"

"Angel will have her sniper rifle and Red X will be carrying a live bomb. If things go bad, just say, 'Roses are red, violets are blue, I'll soon be dead, and you will be, too' and Angel will fire. The whole place will go up in smoke."

"Creepy rhyme," Jenny noticed.

"Came up with it myself.

"I guessed. I'd better go."

"I'll call the others. And Jenny…?"

"Yeah?"

"…Be careful."

"Hey, Lucky!" Wally bounded over. Jenny raised an eyebrow at the young man following behind.

"I thought this was supposed to be a date?" she asked.

"I met Dick here outside," Wally explained. Jenny watched Grayson's gaze pass right over Red X, whose briefcase was in clear view of the window. "He's a good friend."

"Hey, I'm Lucky," Jenny introduced herself, shaking his hand.

"She won't tell me her last name," Wally grumbled.

"It's humiliating!" Jenny replied, on edge. She was facing the one man who could take down her partner, her team, her business. She, however, would not balk.

"Hm," Grayson grunted.

"Day. Lucky Day. Isn't that the worst?" Jenny asked.

"I've gotta make a call," Grayson left, and Jenny found herself desperately hoping that Gizmo had created her alias to her specifications. Every Shadow had one major alias, created by Gizmo. The Shadow would choose details and memorize them while Gizmo created the person.

Jenny's alias was Lucky Quinn Day. Lucky's birthday was January twenty-sixth, her father had died on her twelfth birthday, she herself was twenty-six, and she had a dog named Dover. Dover was a cross between a husky and a Rottweiler. Lucky lived at seventeen thirty-three Pine Wood Lane, an abandoned house that Shadows had bought specifically for the purpose of creating a more realistic alias. Lucky's mother was fifty-three, named Georgia Rice Day, and had a heart condition that she fortunately hadn't passed to her daughter. Lucky had no medical history of allergies or conditions, and she had no disorders. She lived alone, attended Jump City Liberal Arts College for psychology, and worked as a dancer. Her favorite color was green and her only kin was her mother, who didn't have a phone. Lucky didn't own a car.

"So, Lucky," Wally said. "Did you miss me last night?"

"Every second," she replied.

"Is your mom okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine, going home today," she replied casually.

"Shall I order you a drink?"

"You very well may. Surprise me."

"Allergies?"

"None," she said easily.

"Back in a flash!" Grayson reentered as Wally left. Jenny bit the inside of her lip at the way he was looking at her.

It was time to bluff.

After answering several trivial questions about her alias, Jenny was on edge. Grayson was suspicious of her. He narrowed his eyes at her. Jenny's resisted the urge to shift in her seat, remaining calm and relaxed on the outside. Grayson was glaring. Wally was grinning. Jenny was smiling calmly. Red X, she saw, was ordering another coffee. Angel, she knew, was on a rooftop, sniper rifle ready.

"Duty calls," Grayson said as he checked his beeping phone. "Vic's got a new lead."

"On the explosion case?" Wally asked. Grayson glared. "Oh relax. Lucky can keep her mouth shut, can't you, Lucky?" she nodded. Grayson gritted his teeth.

"Fine, Wally. Fine. But when your little girlfriend here turns on you, don't come to me for help."

"Hey man," Vic said as Dick walked into the station. "I caught a break. Had every place in the city check their security cameras. Check this out," he pulled up a few frames of static.

"Where?" Dick asked harshly.

"Chez Remonzelle, O'Hawk's, and Kangaroo Hotel," Dick stiffened.

"Night before last and last night?"

"How'd you know?" Vic asked in shock. Dick ran a hand down his face and slammed a fist down.

"Gar and Wally's dates. They're part of this gang. They're targeting Kori. I know it, Vic, I know!"

"Okay, let me run the names."

"Lucky Day and Sarah Crowe. No photos," Dick said. "I know what Day looks like, though. I'll get Gar in here to confirm Crowe."

"Done," Vic pulled up two photos and two files. "They're clean, man. Not squeaky, but they're solid. They're real."

"No. They can't be! Call. Not Day. Call Crowe and trace her," Dick said. "She's the woman I have a sketch of."

Rachel was lounging in her favorite bookstore when her alias' cellphone rang. She answered.

"Hello?"

"Ms. Crowe," said a firm male's voice.

"Who is this?" she asked sharply, sandwiching the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she used her communicator to contact Gizmo.

Trace my alias' caller. NOW.

"We know who you are and we know what you've done."

"What are you talking about?" she made her voice puzzled and frightened.

"Sarah Crowe isn't your real name."

"Who is this?" she repeated.

"What is your real name? Maybe we can work out a deal."

Detective Richard Grayson.

Rachel read Gizmo's message and knew she was being traced.

"Please don't call me again," she said in a terrified and befuddled tone before hanging up and leaving the store. She proceeded to call Gizmo. "I need you to scramble my cell signal. Grayson's caught on."

"On it!" he signed off. Rachel slid into her car, buckled her seatbelt, and drove away at a reasonable pace. When she reached the park, she called her team.

"Raven? Is everything okay?" Angel asked.

"Is Jinx clear of her stepping stone?"

"Yeah, as of twenty-three minutes ago."

"Good. Grayson's onto us. I don't know how he figured it out, but he knows. He called my alias and tried to negotiate a deal. I hung up. Gizmo, I want you to set up what you set up for Jinx and me with all of our alias' cells."

"Consider it done!"

"Cheshire, I want you tailing Grayson. He does not leave your sight. Bug him, approach him, tail him, I don't care, just don't lose him."

"You got it."

"Angel, I need you and Kyd on the mark. Stake her out. She and Grayson are connected somehow. I need you to connect those dots."

"Yes ma'am!"

Okay.

"Everyone else, be careful. Stay low. Go underground, even."

"Is this permanent?" Red X asked.

"No," Rachel said, hoping they could hear her smirk. "Definitely not. We stay off of Grayson's radar for a week or so, but as soon as he's unaware, it'll be our turn to go on the offensive. We'll hit so hard he'll never see it coming. We'll hit right where it hurts. We'll formulate a foolproof plan and, when we're through, none of us will ever have to worry again."