Tango 2.3

Saturday morning found me back at the Undersiders' base, at least for a short while.

"I thought we went shopping Tuesday? Why are we going shopping again?" I still hadn't even gotten around to taking the clothes she'd bought me home, for Pete's sake.

"I already told you, the Market and Weymouth are completely different shopping experiences," Lisa replied from the head of the group.

"I never thought I'd see a girl who hated shopping," Alec whispered behind us.

"I heard that!" I said indignantly. "I don't hate shopping. I just don't obsess over it, unlike some people." I shot Lisa a look, and she shrugged in response, despite not being able to see thanks to her being out in front.

"Shopping is therapy, and god knows we all need some of that," she said in justification. "I'm just providing a service."

"Shopping is therapy to you, maybe," I replied. I was pouting a bit about the jab at my mental health, and she must have realized, because she let it drop.

I mean, the Market was awesome, assuming you kept a close eye on your wallet or purse. Seedy, but in a good way, like a potluck of goods and wares for sale. You could find just about anything there, from hand-crafted jewelry, art, and furniture, through unique clothing and accessories, and on to the widest variety of street foods available for twenty miles.

I used to go there every Saturday with Mom and Dad, back... before.

"So," Brian said, breaking the silence of our walk, "let's split up, I guess? Alec and I will meet you two in what, an hour thirty?"

"Let's call it two hours, and lunch," Lisa said before I had quite acknowledged the question.

I sighed and accepted my fate. Nothing short of Mastering her would get Lisa to do what I wanted, it seemed. Best to let her have her fun.

I'd forgotten how much fun this could be, I thought as I ate my last spoonful of frozen lemonade.

Lisa had started with clothing, but, seeing how unenthusiastic I was about the items on sale, we'd moved on rather quickly. Soon, we were surrounded by booths of crafts, food trucks, street performers playing for tips, and more. Every tent was a little adventure, and I'd eventually caved and started to enjoy myself.

I did wish I didn't have to carry everything, but, well, I had two arms, Lisa had one functional one.

"Hey, Taylor, check this stall out," she called from a stall or two down, barely audible with all the other people around me. I flowed through the crowd, using my ability to sense the people to avoid bumping into anyone with either body or bags. A few more rats, flies, and other assorted nuisances entered the edge of my range, and I sent them to join my swarm in the sewers, once I had them under control. No use leaving pests around, right?

The stall in question was a 'polished rocks and glass' seller, one of the more common things to sell both here and at the Boardwalk. Tourists would buy them up, but even locals liked a good, nice-looking paperweight or conversation piece.

"What did you find?" I asked as I slid up next to her.

She smirked as she turned to me, lifting up a necklace with her good arm. As she held it, the pendant swung down from her hand, dangling by the cord. I held back a laugh as I realized what it was: a little skull carved out of a chunk of smoky quartz. Which would have been a perfect gift for Brian, except it was wearing a sombrero made of rose quartz.

"You think he'd wear it?" she asked with a grin.

"Not a chance," I said with a genuine smile, "But you should get it for him anyway."

"Yeah, I thought so." She made her way to the stall owner, and I studied some of the other items while I waited. Lisa was haggling, from what I overheard. I turned over a rainbow-shimmering stone, humming along to the complex polyrhythms of the song on the radio, practicing some dances using the troupe I kept belowground, and other things, to keep myself from boredom. Finally, Lisa tapped my shoulder, handed me the bagged item, and we headed on down the street.

"So, you enjoying yourself?" she asked as she fell into step behind me.

"A little," I conceded. "It's better since we stopped looking at fashion."

She laughed. "Fair. I can understand that." She paused, then said, "On an unrelated note, you should probably take out an earbud, you know? It feels weird talking to you when you've got both in."

"I can hear you fine," I said, turning to walk backward. I used my powers to make sure I didn't crash into anyone. "I'd really prefer to keep them both in. Stereo sound and all that." I spun back around.

"I know you can hear me, but it looks like you can't and it's setting off my – one sec."

I felt Lisa pull out her phone, check the number as it started jingling, and freeze for a moment. A moment later, everything was normal, but that momentary twitch felt off, set me on edge. We both stopped, and she motioned me to the side.

"Hey, boss, give me a second." I relaxed a bit. It was just our boss. She mouthed at me; 'Let's find an alleyway.' "Yeah, I'm back…"

I led her to what my bugs had determined was the greatest place ever, AKA your average dumpster in an alleyway. Lisa ducked into it, while I kept my eye out for trouble. I did my best to pretend I was just looking out for a friend, as opposed to a new supervillain who was trying to get details about her mysterious boss through casual eavesdropping.

"Well, I had an idea for a job… yeah, that one. We'd need incentives, though, they'd never go for it… Really? Okay, sure. You got it, boss-man. I'll pass it along."

Not much to go on, besides the male voice and pronouns. The cynic in me said that could be voice changing, so I probably had nothing. Mysterious indeed.

Lisa gave me a look as she walked up to me. "Stop," she said flatly.

"What?" I said innocently.

"Stop trying to figure out our boss, and please stop eavesdropping on my conversations, especially with said boss." She said it like she was talking about the weather, but I was somewhat familiar with the tone she was using; her cavalier attitude was a transparent mask for a serious admonishment. "It's not a good idea."

"Okay, sorry," I said, somewhat miffed that her power saw straight through me so easily. "So, what was that about?"

"Oh, just a job offer," she said with a small smile. "I'll tell you later. For now, let's meet up with the boys." She glanced my way again, frowning as she locked eyes on my earbuds. "And, please, just take one out. It's bugging me, if you know what I mean."

I didn't really, but I complied for her sake. Better than listening to her complaining.

"So," Alec said after swallowing a bite of burger, "you two find anything good?"

I munched on a fry while Lisa answered. "Just a few things."

Right. Like I hadn't been lugging around a bunch of clothing and knickknacks all day.

"That reminds me, we bought Brian something," she added.

"Oh crap, it's a gag gift, isn't it," he said with a sigh. I didn't trust myself to say no, and Lisa didn't bother responding. Instead, she tried digging into the bag, winced a little as the motion pulled at her burns, and looked to me plaintively. I reached down to get it for her, passing it to her under the table. She cupped it in her fingers and placed it on the table, then revealed it.

Alec burst out laughing, the sound laced with a bit of pain as his still-healing ribs protested. Brian groaned as he eyed the pink sombrero. "Why?" he said with a tone of disbelief. "Why did anyone think it was a good idea to put that on there?"

"It sold, didn't it?" Alec said while trying to stop laughing. "I mean, it can't be a bad idea if it made money, right?" He glanced at the skull pendant, said, "Fuck, that thing looks stupid as all hell," and started laughing again.

Brian took the thing off the table, tossing it in one of their bags, and went back to eating. Alec wiped a tear from his eye, and sighed. "I haven't laughed like that in a while," he said. "It fucking hurts like hell, but thanks."

"Don't mention it," Lisa replied offhandedly. I nodded, not really sure I had any reason to be thanked. Silence fell for a minute as we all went back to eating.

Brian finished his burger first, and after a few fries, asked, "So, what are we doing after this? Any ideas?"

"Acshually," Lisa said before swallowing, "we need to head back. Got a job to discuss."

"Really? Couldn't have mentioned that sooner, Lise?"

"I could have, but I figured we could enjoy lunch first," she replied. "No worries, we've got time."

"Fine, then. I'll go call Rachel, make sure she heads that way. You guys finish up." With that, he left.

"And that is exactly why I didn't say anything," she muttered to herself. Alec and I both nodded in agreement, and we all tucked into our food.

"A bank robbery?" Brian asked.

"Yeah, a bank robbery," Lisa confirmed.

"I don't like it. Too risky, for too little payout."

I piped up. "I'm kind of new to all this? What's wrong with a bank robbery? I thought that was, like, the bread and butter of small-timers?"

Lisa, ever the fount of information, explained. "That's an illusion at best, a bad movie cliché at worst. Normally, bank robberies are too public, and they keep surprisingly little in the way of cash and valuables at each branch." She went on. "I say normally, because this is a special one. We've got a window where we can hit it big, with low risk, and the boss is making the deal even sweeter."

"How much sweeter?" Alec asked.

"Triple the take," Lisa said dramatically.

Alec whistled.

Brian's brow furrowed. "Why? He can't be making money like that."

"Oh, but he can, if we get the right stuff for him. He wants account info, personal information, and passwords. He'll pay us a minimum 25k, with tripled funds if the total would be higher than that, as long as I get him some info off their systems. All I need is a few minutes at a computer, and we get a decent payday even if we pocket nothing from the safe.

"But that's not all," she said, heading off the response from Brian. "We've got a very lucky window of time on this. You see, the banks move cash on Thursday nights. By hitting the bank on Thursday, we get a higher amount of cash in the vault, assuming nobody makes a huge cash withdrawal within the next five days from our target. Plus, on Thursday, the Protectorate will be out of town for an event. New Wave will step up patrols to compensate, but they're going to leave the area near Arcadia to the Wards. Which means, if we hit during school hours..."

"...Then we only have a few members of the Wards to worry about," I finished. "That's not ideal, but I can probably do well against one or two, if I have a swarm ready."

"I still don't like it. What if the whole Wards team shows up? You and Alec are injured, and I don't think your bones are going to be healed by then."

He had a point. If it came to a full-on fight, we would only have three members to work with, maybe four if Alec got out of his sling by then. Of those, only Rachel and I could really do anything about the worst members, and I would need time to take them over.

"I wasn't going to do much against them anyway," Lisa said with a hand wave. "Alec should be okay as long as he stays on the sidelines. Besides, the Wards won't all turn up for a bank robbery, because it's a low-priority crime."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Bank robberies are low-priority. The money is insured, and unless we do something stupid like hurt hostages, it's a victimless crime. They get a lot of press coverage, though, which means a good heist will boost our rep, even though it wouldn't be much of a challenge. It's a win-win in terms of risk and reward, if we strike at the right time."

I looked around the room, taking in everyone's expressions. Lisa and Alec were obviously interested in the idea; Brian was against it; but I couldn't make sense of Rachel's expression. "Rachel?" I asked, "What do you think?"

She grunted. "Don't really care. Money would be nice." She sounded disinterested. I could understand that.

"Let's take a vote," Lisa said. "I am obvious saying yes." She pointed with her good hand. "Alec?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, let's do it."

"Brian?"

"I'm against. It seems too convenient."

"Taylor?"

I gave it some thought. "If we can come up with a good plan, I'm in. Otherwise, it does sound a bit off."

"Fair enough. Rachel?"

"Sure," she said gruffly.

"Okay, that's three for, one maybe, and one no. We're going for it, then." She turned to me. "Taylor, would you mind picking some good planning music? I'd like to get started on this right away, so we can let the boss know."

"That, I can do," I said with a smile as I dug out my MP3 player. Time for some montage music.