Back Door Man (Closed to Ambrosia_64)

[johnnynobody]

The girl moaned as Zero's fingers gently teased her lower lips. His lips laid a trail of kisses along her neck before hovering at her ear. "Don't close your eyes, lovely," he whispered. "I want you to watch yourself come." His fingers began to move in earnest as she writhed on top of him, reflected on the ceiling's installed mirror.

She was biting her lip now, face and chest flushed crimson with the impending release. Her hands dug deep into the meat of his hip and his collar even as her firm bottom ground against his hardness.

Zero flicked his tongue against the girl's sweat-salted skin and she groaned and began to shudder.

There was a ring from an intercom unit on the far side of the room. "Zerrin, we needed you at Conference Room Five thirty minutes ago!" a gravelly voice hissed.

"Ooops," Zero said, disengaging immediately. Jumping out of bed, he gave the girl a quick peck on the cheek as he suited up. "I'll be a few minutes, lovely. Business first. Don't worry, I'll have you back in Montenegro before your photoshoot is over."

*************

General Hark's secretary rolled a cart about, handing out coffee and beignets to everyone inside. Zero accepted a cup and stirred it with his fingers, which he then cleaned off with a satisfied hum.

Hark, a dour-faced man who towered nearly a head over everyone else in the facility, tossed folders to the people gathered at the conference table.

"After the fiasco at Madagascar," he said, shooting Zero the evil eye momentarily, "We've learned that The Grossman family has stepped up security in their facilities. However, they're still set on financing that M1-D45 bomb being developed. Intel found out this morning that they're using coded drives to facilitate the transfer of a hundred million dollars as initial payment.

"Here's the good news: we know where the drives are being sent. A Grossman rep was just seen checking in at the Gottkinder Hotel in Rio de Janeiro. Gottkinder, as you know, was funded by various criminal organizations as a sort of haven... Neutral ground, so to speak, where they can meet with the assurance that they won't be harmed or disturbed. The bad news is that this neutrality is enforced by a small private army."

Hark handed his secretary his copy of the files, then took a seat. "Zerrin, your task is to get this coded drive. You can attempt to decode it, if you have the time, or destroy it if you don't but the funds must not be transferred. It's imperative that we delay the development of that damn bomb while our tech guys figure out where it's being developed and by who."

 

[johnnynobody]

Alana was pissed about Zero not being able to drop her off personally, but there was nothing they could do about it-- he was headed to the other side of the globe.

Zero rued the fact that he was just another cog in some faceless organization's mechanism now. Once upon a time --up until about a year ago, to be more accurate-- Zerrin "Zero" Mourne had been a successful thief. Famous for hitting high-profile targets while remaining incognito, he became known as the Man with the Golden Hands. The popular thought was that there was nothing he could not steal. Using the funds he "liberated" Zero established a life of luxury for himself...

Then he got caught in a sting operation by the mysterious international organization known as The Vigil. Considering he only stole from criminal organizations, Zero was faced with the threat of lifetime imprisonment or their alternative-- to steal FOR The Vigil for the next three years while enjoying the relative freedom of being a Vigil "operative."

For the past year, he'd been largely successful in that regard as well, up until a rival thief began hitting the same targets the Vigil had briefed him on. The rat was probably trying to make a name for himself, Zero figured, trying to challenge the champ. The Madagascar issue was the guy adding insult to injury-- he'd left Zero a taunting note. What an amateur!

Zero imagined he'd be facing off with the rat this once more, and now he was ready. The first few times, Zero was unprepared, incredulous. But now he had his eyes peeled.

"Thanks," he said, as Hark's secretary handed him his coat and his luggage. She'd come along to on the flight to give him his final briefing.

Stepping off the plane, Zero immediately made arrangements for the trip to Gottkinder, wanting to case the joint out for himself.

*************

Checking in as "Mr. Gull," Zero booked one of the most expensive rooms (at The Vigil's expense, of course) changed into fresher clothes --a black suit and slacks, no tie-- and took a trip to the bar. After a call for gin and tonic, he took to scanning the room-- for bit of 'fun' generally, but also surreptitiously eyeing places where hidden cameras might be located. He also kept an eye out for anyone looking odd...

 

[Ambrosia_64]

In her coke bottle glasses and cheery, grandma cat sweater and ugly pumps, Mollie Perkins was a mousy, unnoticeable young woman even as she passed out refreshments. Her curly brown hair was frizzled and poofy, her face lacking anything but the most garish of make up-all in all, just a typical, out of style office drone.

She took her seat towards the head of the table and began taking notes for General Hark-working hard to get his every word down-even as she secretly recorded most of it anyway. What could she say? She was a damned horrible typist, she'd need the tapes later...though as the General dropped the files in her lap, Valerie felt a bit better about that.
...........
In yet another ugly kitten sweater(this one was knit to have a grey cat batting around a ball of yarn), "Mollie" smiled a red, smeared lipstick smile as she handed off his things-settling back for the flight home, drinking a glass of wine thoughtfully. Coded drives with millions on them, hm? Gee, if that money disappeared, not only would the Vigil hard noses be out of a pretty payment-but she'd also be accidentally completing their mission for them. Heroics were not her thing, but if it got the one up on the egotistical Zero...

Three hours later she was stepping onto the tarmac, waving goodbye to the few pilots and what not-before bee lining for the beetle convertible she'd left parked in the garage. Tearing out of her sweater, whipping the glasses away, Valerie drove eighty miles an hour -topless- racing headlong for an empty field ten miles out from the city.

Out of the car, tugging on the black, clingy catsuit, ditching the pumps for comfortable sneakers-she was behind the controls and radioing in to flight control in seconds, flipping switches and preparing herself for take off.

She was about to get a whole lot richer.

 

[johnnynobody]

Zero had counted sixteen cameras for this room alone. He'd have to deal with the feeds before he made his move if he was to get out of here in one piece.

Across the room a stunning blonde wrapped in a clingy dress of shimmering black silk caught his eye, and Zero raised his glass to her. The blonde blushed, fingered the rim of her cocktail glass, then teasingly sucked that fingertip into her mouth. Zero grinned, shrugged and made his way to her.

As he walked, Zero noticed a commotion at the bar entrance and paused. Men in dark suits trailed two more who'd paused to survey the area with piercing glares.

One was a giant of a man, bald head shiny with perspiration. A bushy gray beard and mustache hid his mouth, but his eyebrows made obvious the frown.

The other, Zero knew from the latest briefing --he was the target.

Leon Kuhner was, on paper at least, the Gottkinder's proprietor. The perpetually scowling young man was the grandson of a Nazi officer who'd escaped from his post at Dachau during the tail-end of the Second World War. His father had entered illegal arms trading, establishing ties with a good number of criminal organizations all over the world. Leon had taken advantage of these connections to make a name for himself as an efficient assassin and strategist.

However, he was deemed TOO good --so much so that his former clients hesitated to hire him for fear that Leon might turn against them for the right price. Instead, the young assassin was effectively exiled to Gottkinder, where his skills and infamy served to enforce the location's neutrality.

Zero could relate --the guy was probably chafing at the bit to exercise his skills at his leisure, like he was. Which meant being caught was not an option --who knew what kinds of torture a Aryan supremacist psychopath could dream up when he simmered in boredom? Zero most definitely did NOT want to find out.

Continuing his way to the girl's table, he sidled up to her, suavely wrapping an arm around her waist as he whispered into her ear. "A lovely woman like you shouldn't be drinking alone."

The blonde giggled and was about to answer, but was interrupted. "That's true, and she isn't," Leon said, fixing Zero with an icy glare. "The lady is with me."

Zero grinned in feigned embarrassment and raised his hands. "My apologies," he said. "I wasn't aware the lady had company. I meant no offense."

Leon eyed Zero before offering his hand. "None taken, Mister..?"

"Gull. Tristan Gull," Zero replied, shaking the man's hand.

"Ah. Mr. Gull." Leon rolled the name on his tongue, smiling as he did. "Despite our inopportune introductions, I hope you might find time to join Julia," He pronounced it yooliya. "...and me for a bottle of wine or two?"

Zero considered, and decided to beg off for now.

"Some other time, then," Leon said. He turned to Julia, staring into her eyes as he took her hand in his. "I'm sure Julia," he turned back to Zero, smiling again. "...would like to enjoy your presence one more time."

"Of course," Zero said. "That would be delightful." He stood up and walked away with a smile and a wave. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mister..?"

"Kuhner. Leon Kuhner." Leon replied. "The owner of Gottkinder."

As soon as Zero had moved away, Leon turned to the bearded bald man. "Jan, I want a file on my desk in thirty minutes about this Tristan Gull," he said. As he spoke, Julia winced in pain as her hand was crushed by the pressure of Leon's grasp.

Leon smiled. "Make that an hour. Julia and I will need a bit of privacy after this drink."

 

[Ambrosia_64]

Outside the grand hotel, a shadowy figure exited her hotel room, her petite form concealed(or rather accentuated, thank goodness for pilates) in a clingy catsuit, a greyish black bag on her shoulders. She wore a domino eye mask, the black cloth tied in a knot at the back of her head beneath her relaxed, bouyant curls. She was small but shapely, her toned figure easily a nine or a ten, firm buttom and shapely hips, a small but prideful bust. A simple belt hung off one curved hip, a black jack and what appeared to be an electric baton stocked and ready to go. On the other, lighter side-she carried a pouch of fingerprint dust and some glow sticks, for some reason.

Humming to herself under her breath, she climbed onto the balcony's edge and-! Made the leap to the next one, her gloved hands grabbing hold of the railing before she climbed up, repeating the action six or seven times until finally, -finally- she was rolling to a stop just outside the room of one Leon Kuhner.

Pressed flat to one side of the glass double doors, Valerie took the time to catch her breath as she continued quietly humming to herself, cheerfully slipping her bag from her back as she stole a peek inside.

Dark, empty-her kind of room.

Unzipping her bag while still keeping a watchful eye one what she could see of the empty bedspread, Valerie fished around for her burgelar's kit, a bit of lock lubricant and some thin metal tools to pick the lock.

She was talented with a method known as 'scrubbing', and she had popped it in twelve seconds. Awesome.

Checking again for some sort of motion sensor or magnetic door alarm, Valerie slid the glass panel open, waited a beat, listening hard-before she slipped inside, sliding the door closed behind her. From her belt she withdrew a glowstick, cracking the greenish neon hue into life, careful to keep the satin black pouch on one end in case she needed to hide it in a hurry.

And with that-Valerie began to snoop.

 

[johnnynobody]

Zero nonchalantly walked along the hotel's ground floor, carefully making sure he wasn't being followed. He checked his wristwatch for the time-- almost the tail-end of supper. Perfect.

It was just ill luck that he managed to piss off Kuhner the first time they met. He was probably on some kind of watchlist now. Of course, Zero was more than satisfied with The Vigil's capability to create soild covers-- it had come to save him a few times in the past. Once or twice he had to tweak their stories to be more believable, but for the most part, they were perfect. He was safe as 'Tristan Gull'-- for the meantime, at least.

Zero took off his jacket, flipping it over to reveal the white, inner layer that was a copy of the hotel's service staff. In the disguise, he took a momentary trip into the kitchen and took a cart filled with food.

Unobserved, Zero stepped into the service corridor and wheeled the cart, checking each door. Finally arriving at the one labelled 'Security,' Zero gave a few quick raps on the door. "Dinner's in."

The door opened up a crack as one of the security staff peeked. "Well, finally," the man said after Zero took the cover off a serving tray to reveal a medium-sized roast chicken on a bed of greens and lemon wedges.

Zero rolled the cart into the room and saw two other men manning computer stations. A mess of monitors lined the wall, displaying camera feeds from all over the hotel as well as the grounds.

As soon as he hear the door click shut, Zero cracked the gas cartridge hidden in his heel with a hard stomp. "Night-night," the master thief said, grinning, before he put on the small gas mask he had in his pocket. The room filled with thick smoke and the security men began to choke. In a few seconds they fell down, unconscious-- by the time they woke up, they'd be in for a day's worth of a sledgehammer headache and 24 hours worth of memory loss.

Zero made his way to the consoles and fished another device in his pocket, a small cylindrical device he attached to the main feed wires of the monitoring systems. The gadget released a code that would corrupt all the recorded files within the time span programmed into it --which in this case was four days starting from today. They would only seem to be recording, but the data, when brought up or copied, would be indecipherable gibberish.

Knowing all traces of his appearances in Gottkinder would cease to exist soon, Zero allowed himself to feel a moment's ease. He took a quick survey of the monitors and saw something that piqued his interest.

"Well, that's a fine sight," he quipped as he watched a young woman sneak inside a room, barely noticable in the dim light. He took particular notice of the way she deliciously filled the tight catsuit, the sway of her hips as she softly padded up to the antique office table and riffled through the drawers looking for something.

Tsk, tsk, Zero thought, grinning. Not too smart about this, aren't you? You realize there are cameras in the room...

Zero typed in a few commands and was surprised-- the room being burgled was Kuhner's own. There was a glimmer of an idea-- that this tasty morsel was the one who'd been challenging him for the past few jobs. But no --the lack of finesse, the cliche eyemask... it was probably just some amateur who lucked into hitting something big.

"I suppose you could be useful," Zero mused. Grinning, he pressed the alert button, then dashed off before reinforcements could come in and check what had tripped the alarm.

Recalling the blueprints provided by The Vigil, Zero hurried on his way to where the girl would most likely pass as she attempted to escape. Zero intended to catch the thief and bring it to Kuhner in an attempt to get into the man's good graces. As he walked he flipped his jacket back to the matching black of his suit, whistling to himself as he waited in ambush...

 

[Ambrosia_64]

Boring personel file, personel file, personel file, wiring directions to a Swiss bank, pearl handled gun- Valerie tipped her head at the small "Weapon", briefly taken by it's antique oddity. It had a liquid inside, she heard it when she tipped it-and pulling the trigger revealed it to be a lighter. Huh.

Holding on to that, she was starting to think what she wanted wasn't here when she heard pounding footsteps coming down the hall.

That was a quicker response time than she had expected. All motion now, Valerie sheathed the glow stick and headed back for the bedroom, snatching up her bag before she slid open the glass doors-slipping out and hopping onto the balcony railing JUST as she heard the door slam open-and with that she dropped to the balcony below, catching hold of it's railing before she repeated the drop a second time, rolling into it's surface and listening for a mom- "The door's open!"

Valerie blinked. Messy messy.

....

Minutes later she was racing down the hall, intent on getting to the bar or the busy ballroom and on a man's arm before she ran into anyone...unsavory.

Her sneakers were missing, leaving her racing down the hall in the stockings of the catsuit, a flouncy dress half way on-the bodice of which not yet zipped along her spine, a strange combination of catsuit and elegant evening wear on her petite, toned frame as she pinned her hair up with a sparkly clip. Zero was not the only quick change artist in attendance, currently, and all in all-Valerie was pretty impressive at it.

Hurry, hurry, hurry-she planned to ditch her bag someone safe on another floor, tug on the strappy heels-and with a simple shoulder sweater to conceal her long sleeves, she'd be Valerie the socialite.

Hair finally up in an elegant updo, she ripped off her mask, shoving that, along with her weapon belt, into her bag as she turned the corner, shoving open the door for the utility stairs and-

 

[johnnynobody]

Zero grabbed the girl's wrist as she pushed the door open, and spun her around so that her firm derriere pressed against his crotch. Zero locked his arm around her neck to prevent her from moving away. "Nice dress," he said. "Although I prefer the catsuit better."

He took a whiff of her scent, then looked at her face and tried to place it-- and failed.

"You really should be more careful snooping in other people's things," Zero teased, struggling to keep her pull her off to a wall and pin her there. "There's cameras everywhere, even in a place like this. Look, there's even one..." he turned her to one of the sentry cams mounted on a far corner the corridoor. "...there. Smile for the camera."

Zero knew that by now, someone was in the monitor room again, and would probably see him scuffling with this woman. All that was left to do was prevent her from leaving before Kuhner's men arrived.

"Now, if you would be kind enough to tell me what you were doing in that room before you were so rudely interrupted?"

 

[Ambrosia_64]

Valerie squeaked, a very unthief like sound as she was so -rudely- spun, the recognition-and the horrified surprise that went with it-obvious as he then held in a headlock. "Hey-" Shoved into a wall, she screamed-a shrill, loud sound, but unfortunately there were no would be heroes anywhere NEAR them, the ploy failing spectacularly.

Aaaaand it didn't look like she could convince him he was mistaken, given her dress was only half on and her catsuit was plainly visible. His captured thief smelled faintly of vanilla, perhaps some orchids in her shampoo-the pleasant, feminine scents clinging to her hair, her skin.

She scraped her knee trying to find space between him and the wall-and then, just like that, he gave it to her. her-free hand doing him one better with the high heeled shoe in hand-her small hand wrapped around the long part of it, she smacked/stabbed the heel into his thigh. No, it wouldn't actually do any stabbing, but it was awfully close to something important and it might give her the room she needs to drop away.

(Ignore this last bit if it doesn't~)

His lock loosened and Valerie wiggled, forced herself down, ripping her arm from his grasp at the same time. If he moved to tighten the lock again on her face, she bit him-suddenly becoming the cutest little hell fire you'd ever seen.

Whirling, the shoe abandoned for a quick shove into her backpack, Valerie now weilded an electric baton. "Now, now-we can look, but we mustn't touch." She teased in a breathless, wary tone, her updo slightly ruffled in the struggle. "And don't ask questions if you don't want lies."

(I figured one of ze bad guy's grabs her or something, I dunno. If she slipped his grip at all~)

 

[johnnynobody]

Zero yelped as the shoe dug into his thigh. The woman took the momentary distraction to escape his grasp and managed to draw a weapon in the same breath. The baton's tip sparked as she brandished it.

"Ah, but it's the touching that makes it so much fun," Zero replied. He was tempted to use his knife, but decided it was too risky. Plus, he didn't really want to spoil someone as pretty-looking as her. Zero picked up the discarded shoe, used it to parry one of the girl's blows, and came to the conclusion that he wasn't used to fighting.

Zero heard heavy footsteps running in closer, and decided to play for a little sympathy. He lunged, deliberately awkwardly, leaving his left side open. Zero grit his teeth in anticipation of the blow he knew would come. If he'd timed it right, he'd delayed this thief enough for Kuhner's men to arrive and catch her.

 

[Ambrosia_64]

A stray curl framed the side of her face, those hazel eyes narrowing a fraction, a smile on her parted lips. "You know, I never liked you."

She moved to strike and he deflected with her own -shoe-, her fleet feet dancing back, eyes shifting to the stairwell as she too heard the footsteps-before her eyes widened slightly in alarm as he lunged, driving the baton into his exposed left side.

BZZZ!

Ouch.

She turned and bolted, getting only a few steps down before she was seized violently by her -hair-, the imposing man in question having reached over the bannister of the stairs above them. She swiped with the baton, missed-and was shoved backwards onto the landing, damn near tripping over Zero before the imposing man's buddy grabbed hold of her slender right wrist, snapping handcuffs in place before snagging the other one.

"Take her to upstairs." Said the hair pulling one as he helped Zero up, looking the man over suspiciously.

Valerie's heart skipped, the thief's backpack temporarily forgotten where she had dropped it the landing below. "Who?" Time to play dumb, definately time to play dumb. She was lifted, hauled over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes despite her protests. This, was bad.

"Wait, wait! Okay, I was looking for diamonds!" She "fessed" as he moved up the stairs, her cuffed hands behind her back, her shoeless feet kicking. "There's no need to involve the feds!" She sounded like a bubbly, empty headed brunette, but...she looked awfully afraid for a woman supposedly fooled into believing they were cops.
-------
"Good work, mister...?"

 

[johnnynobody]

Zero winced on the girl's behalf as he saw one of Kuhner's thugs pull at her by the hair. He coughed to clear his chest-- that zap took a bit out of him, he had to admit.

The other guy helped him up, with a begrudged congratulation offhand. "Gull," Zero replied.

"Well, Mister Gull, or boss will probably be thankful for your help catching the thief," the man said grimly. "Unbelievable as it may seem, she'd taken down three of our men before trying to steal from one of our more... upscale suites." With a nod, the man exited the stairwell.

*************

Jan wiped the sweat of his brow while Leon studied the files he'd been provided with. The Gottkinder's boss was lounging on a couch wrapped in a thick white fur coat.

"Small-scale antiques smuggling to bolster profits from a private business," he said with a cocked eyebrow. "The woman had taken that antique lighter from the room. Do you suppose they were together?"

"We don't believe so," Jan growled back. "Gull helped us catch the woman before she could escape the grounds. Took a blow or two doing it too-- he was gasping on his knees when we caught up to them."

Leon tossed the file folder to the table. "Extend Mr. Gull an offer to join me for breakfast in the morning. Make it one he can NOT refuse."

"And the woman, the thief?"

"I assume your men have ways to make her talk," Leon said. "I want to know if she really is working alone... And if it was Julia's jewelry she was really after. Tell me when you get results. Do not let them enjoy themselves too much."

Jan nodded and left.

Leon was feeling a bit wary now. This close to the transaction, he could not afford to be complacent. He felt the beginnings of a tension headache, he massaged the bridge of his nose to ease it a bit.

He knew just the way to relax.

Shrugging of the robe, Leon's athletic build was bared to the moonlight. He picked up an ironwood staff that lay where he'd earlier discarded it for the brief conversation with Jan. Returning to the private section of his suite, Leon asked, with a cold glint in his eye and a wicked grin, "I trust you're recovered enough, my dear Julia? You have a few more minutes of screaming to do."

The door clicked shut behind him.

 

[Ambrosia_64]

Jan entered the suite next door, giving a nod to his partner standing guard just outside the bedroom. "Anything?"
"She says her name's Marion Faulks, but when I ran it-ghost. Figure fingerprints will pull up a record, if you want to ink 'em."

Jan gave a nod, walking through the open door, ignoring the girl bound to the wooden chair for the various items laid out across the bed, including the evening dress they had stripped her out of, the thin catsuit. Burglar tools, fingerprint dust, various weapons-tools of a thief. He picked up the domino mask, raised his brow. "Cliche, don't you think?"

Valerie could barely see what he was talking about, trussed up and tied to the chair as she was. Her ankles were bound together and then fixed to the wooden support of the chair, her handcuffed arms over the back of it, a length of rope around her middle. She was in nothing but her underwear, the racy red set matching, in the least, but not exactly how she would have choosen to spend her evening. The gag was the biggest insult. Tired of her jokes and ditzy statements, they had finally shut her up forcefully.

Good. She had been running out of jokes and witty banter.

She had popped the locks the the cuffs during a lone minute, and now they rested loosely on her wrists, closed to a larger setting so she could slip out of them at the right moment.

Which, honestly, didn't look like it was coming. SHe couldn't let them print her-she had parents, a sister-people she couldn't endanger, people who didn't know her desk job wasn't really her calling. She heard a crackle of electricity and broke into a cold sweat-but hey, no big right? Right?

"My associate tells me you haven't changed your story...or given your name. Is that so?"

She had -no- tolerance for pain. Some people were badasses. Valerie was not one of them, and as he came closer with her own weapon, she seriously hoped she didn't embarrass herself by wetting the chair. But no, he grabbed the back of it, tipped her back so that she was balanced on two legs, glaring down into her eyes. "We want to know who you're working with." He growled, turning as he dragged her into the bathroom-not good, definitely not good-and into the fanciful shower stall, cranking on the icy water as he removed his jacket, rolled up his shirt sleeves.

He fired up the baton. "You should have talked earlier, sweetheart-and you will, in a while, I'm sure." He stalked closer, eying the water that ran in rivets down her bare skin, relishing the very real fear in her eyes.

But hell, just because she was afraid didn't mean she was going to sit and take his abuse. Valerie slipped her cuffs, bringing her hands forward to grab hold of wrist, and the crook of his elbow-squeezing one so she could shove the other firmly into his chest where he screamed-and fell -into- her, his thumb thankfully releasing the button. Caught with him practically in her lap, however, beneath a stream of icy water-was not ideal, specially not with his buddy in the next room.

Valerie drew Jan's gun from his holster with one hand, her other-crashing down hard with her elbow to his head. He'd wake with one hell of a headache, later.

 

[johnnynobody]

The area calm finally, Zero returned to his suite and hurried to change. He imagined Kuhner's men would be busy with the thief they just caught and would not be expecting another. That wouldn't be a lot of time of course, but it would be enough for him to take a peek at Kuhner's suite.

He zipped the Vigil-issue sneaking suit up. A matching balaclava followed, along with selectable-spectrum goggles and grip-enhancing gloves. Zero followed up with a small kevlar sling bag and his tool belt before deciding he was all geared up. Stepping out into his balcony, Zero was near-invisible in the sharp shadows of the moonlit night.

Thankfully, Kuhner's rooms were nearby --one of the reasons Zero had picked this particular area of the hotel to stay in. Climbing up onto the balcony rail, Zero cracked his neck as he limbered up, then burst into a run and leapt diagonally out to the balcony next door. He rolled to a stop, checked that he had not been seen, then repeated the acrobatics a few more times.

Reaching the first of Kuhner's rooms, Zero gingerly crept at a crouch. He peeked in through the glass doors and found that the place had been tossed. One of Kuhner's men stood with his back turned to the doors-- which was stupid, Zero thought.

Zero slowly rolled the glass door open, eyes on the thug, who hadn't noticed. Moving quickly, he sprang up and grabbed the man in a rear naked choke hold and put the guy out of commission.

Before he realized what had happened, Zero found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

 

[Ambrosia_64]

"Not a step closer Zerrin!" The gun was heavy in her hand, but Val looked as if she knew how to use it-she should, her father was a cop, took her shooting.

Free hand struggling to shove the unconscious Jan off her nearly nude, shivering form, Valerie was an interesting, if miserable sight-gag loose around her throat, lips smeared slightly with lipstick, her hair was darkened in the water, curls having tightened into ringlets, toned muscles and pale skin slick with the icy water, hazel eyes wide with fear, anger, and more than a little surprise to be facing him down -again-.

For a moment in their stand off, the only sound was the running water and her chattering teeth. Given she was tied to a chair and her baton was lying on the floor of the shower, it'd be easy to surmise she had NOT been having a swell time. This bastard had used -her- as a decoy, what a jerk!

 

[johnnynobody]

Jesus! And you use my REAL name! Zero thought, annoyed. He wondered if there were any microphones around to catch that, but as far as he knew there were no audio feeds in the security room.

Without taking off his mask, Zero slowly raised his hands as if surrendering. "Look, lady, " he hissed, trying to be quiet. "You do NOT want to be hasty with that gun..."

Zero took a careful step forward testing the girl's resolve, trying to close the gap between them... He didn't count on her to shoot, but wanted to be near enough to stop her if she decided to.

In his head, Zero scolded himself for wearing the goggles outright. Damn things might have been handy for low light conditions and other special visual problems, but right now, they were messing with his peripheral vision. As it was, he couldn't even see the guy he'd dropped. He didn't want to risk tripping over the thug if he needed to make a quick getaway...

 

[Ambrosia_64]

Val was likewise suffering from shitty vision-water was cascading over one of her eyes, her lips.

Jesus she was so cold. "The hell I don't-you handed me off to be interrogated and tortured, you, you jerkface!" She was trying to get Jan off her, the dead weight a serious hassle-he was slumped over her in the most inappropriate of ways-it reminded Valerie of the time her college boyfriend blacked out at a party.

She lowered the gun, firing a shot inches from where he had stepped foward. The sound was blaringly loud even over the running water.

The noise would bring more men, and something told Valerie she wouldn't be underestimated a second time. She had to move. Against her better judgement she took the gun off of Zero, using both arms to shove Jan aside with a feminine sound of exertion. The moment Zero would need to take it from her-though he'd be stepping into the freezing water of the shower himself.

So, so, so cold-she was shivering in those red, lacy undergarments, poor thing.

 

[johnnynobody]

Under his mask, Zero rolled his eyes as the girl fired. Juust great. Call Kuhner himself while you're at it, he thought. He decided against disarming her by force... Tried to get to her through common sense, instead.

"Look, miss, someone heard you fire that shot," he hissed. "Now, I'd like to keep breathing a little while longer, so I figure we better skip this scene before the backup arrives...

"Now, I'm going to go lock the doors up," Zero continued. "I don't expect that to hold them back for long, so I am going to head back to my room and wait this fiasco out. You can come with me if you want," he said as he stepped away from the shivering girl. As Zero walked over to the doors and clicked them shut, he added, "Or, you know, you could stay right here and take another cold shower with the new guys who come in."

He before he stepped through the glass doors, Zero turned to the girl one last time. "Are you coming, or not?" he asked. With a hint of irritation in his voice, he quickly added. "Also, you might want to wipe the gun if you decide to leave. Fingerprints."

Zero walked out to the balcony and jumped over to the neighboring one, heading back to his room. He paused after that first leap and turned, somewhat expectantly, to look at the direction of Kuhner's suite. He wondered if the girl would follow-- and even more, if she could.

 

[Ambrosia_64]

Who said she was leaving it?

Valerie went to work at once untying the rope around her middle, her ankles-hurrying into the bedroom to scoop a good portion of her things -back- into her backpack-tugging on the dress as she walked into the living room, clicking the safety of the gun before she dropped it in her bag.

Zipping the strapless dress snugly up-Valerie stepped out onto the balcony. Like Zero, she was very acrobatic-pilates AND gymnastics, thank you very much-and she easily cleared the space between them. "Which one is yours?" Said the soaked but prettily dressed thief.

Thank you red panties-she was half thinking to herself.

 

[johnnynobody]

Zero was impressed. Despite her discomfiture, the girl was managing herself well.

"It's just about four rooms away," Zero said, not hiding his amusement. He lead the way, pausing after each jump to see if she needed assistance. He also kept an eye out for any patrols that might be moving around the area.

As soon as Zero reached his own balcony, he waved the girl in. Zero took the time to appreciate the girl's derriere as she walked over. "I've got towels and robes in the usual place if you need to dry off," he said, nodding at the cabinet that held the hotel's supplies.

Allowing the girl a modicum of modesty, Zero turned his back to her-- he could deal with any funny business she might toss at him, he thought-- and padded over to his own dresser.

Zero carefully stashed his gear in his biometrically-secured luggage. Stripping out of the sneaking suit's top, he dusted it off and meticulously folded it to follow his tools into the case. Even in the dimly-lit room, Zero's toned, athletic frame was obvious.

 

[Ambrosia_64]

"What I need are new undergarments-" Valerie mumbled, heading to the cabinet to retrieve a towel-drying off her hair, her neck, her shoulders-her free hand slipping out of the red and black lace panties, stepping out of them just like that so that she was smokeless beneath the dress.

She unhooked the bra and dispensed with that too, small enough to go without within the dress. "Maybe a sweater." Another shiver, casting him a glance as he changed. "That was pretty messed up, turning me in like that. Sucking up to rich people."

If he looked to her, it'd be obvious she was watching him undress.

She felt...kind of daring. Sure, knocking him over the head might be the better option-but what was the fun in that? She wanted to teach -him- a lesson. Just...maybe...

 

[johnnynobody]

"Well, I've got an extra boxer brief or two in here, if you really need one," Zero snickered.

The girl complained about him helping Kuhner's thugs catch her, and he took offense at her jab at him sucking up to people. "Hey, I didn't raise the alarm," Zero replied, lying through his teeth. "Besides, it serves you right, not being smart enough to check for surveill--"

Zero paused as a he stared at the girl. Caught in the moonlight, she looked absolutely amazing, and the sky's soft glow traced her silhouette through the dress' fabric. Zero had familiarized himself enough with it, watching her before in the catsuit, but now she looked different. In the night's blue and her moment of deshabille, the girl looked softer, more vulnerable.

"What are you staring at?" Zero smirked, trying to deny the attraction he felt then-- this was COMPETITION, he had to remember. "Never seen a shirtless man before?"

 

[Ambrosia_64]

"So I hit a patch of bad luck." Valerie said with a tip of her head, a shrug, "But still-I would have gotten away were it not for your little -Judas- act back there-no honor among thieves, eh? What are you trying to steal anyway?"

Towel held to her neck as she watched him, a coy little smile playing about the edges of her lips. "Sure I have-just not yours. Girl can shop, can't she?" And -now- Valerie played the part of a lecherous minx, strolling closer in her bare feet, walking around him in a semi circle, looking at the muscles of his back before her eyes snapped up to his. She still smelled like vanilla, orchids-even after the icy shower. "Looking, but not touching-that's no crime...is it?"

She was a small woman, but pretty-and the way she spoke and flirted was playful, harmless-cute. Hardly a seductress, but flattering all the same.

 

[johnnynobody]

Zero grinned as he eyed girl while she moved around him. He stood up, not bothering to hide his hard-on, which was all the more evident in his sneaking suit. It's a fool rooster that doesn't peck when the corn comes rolling in, Sister Maria used to say. Zero was filling quite peckish.

He caught her waist and pulled her close, took in another whiff of her scent-- and she still did smell wonderful, despite everything she'd been through in the past few hours. "Ah, but it's the touching that makes it so much fun," Zero said, recalling their earlier conversation. This close he wanted nothing more than to toss her onto the bed and out of her dress... To have his lips and tongue and fingers trace every inch of her... But he held back, still wary.

"And, there's honor among thieves, sure," he replied, "But it doesn't count when they're vying for the same job... And right now, I can only assume we're on the same job... The Kuhner girl's jewels, right?" Zero said, lying.

 

[Ambrosia_64]

Pulled in close, Valerie appreciated his warmth-and okay, the guy being cut like a Greek god didn't hurt her either. She had worked hard today. It was important to play just as hard, after all.

Her dexterious, oft sticky fingers traced the muscles of his back, her tongue caught between her lips at one corner. She didn't miss a beat as he lied, her eyes flicking up to his, a sheepish little smile. "Diamonds -are- a girl's best friend." Her heart rate picked up a fraction, his lie making this all very thrilling. He did it so smoothly-hell, she could have easily believed him, even having read the mission briefing!.

She wanted him. Arrogant mister golden hands, beaten not by a mysterious figure-but by a slinky seductress he -could- have beaten, if he weren't so busy looking down his nose at her. As a thief anyway-as a woman, he sure seemed happy to, ahem, hold her.

Flattering-and also exciting! She'd give him a tumble he'd remember, love 'em and leave him before collecting her prize. She'd be back in the states before he ever knew what hit him.

Valerie smiled that impish, mischievous little grin that curved her lips so perfectly, made her seem like a dangerous little cat. "Maybe there's plenty to share." She suggested, those fingers trailing lower, her right index finger slipping beneath the hem of his pants, sliding around his hip and resting, just a moment, between them, her hazel eyes upon it.

She was less impish and more smouldering when she glanced up at him next because, for all intents and purposes-she had never blatantly conned a man into bed before.