#oh how I love watching middle aged dads pull out guns from recent robberies out the water with their silly little magnates

[cs-cabin-and-crew]

Anybody else get into really weird hobbies on YouTube?

And I’m not really talking about “oh my god. What is this?” I’m talking stuff you usually wouldn’t associate with yourself.

Recently it’s been fresh water fishing, (which I used to do when I was little. But still)

And I’ve just recently gotten back into magnet fishing, road repair, and storm chasing. At least I used to be huge into magnate fishing when I was 10, but the others are out of pocket.

[im-a-simp1]

Star Wars Companion: Part Two

Peter Parker x Y/n

Word count: 1.4k

Warnings: Cussing, angst, a little fluff , death (in a flashback)

Summary: After Peter and y/n have made plans to watch the movies, y/n stops at the convenience store to grab snacks but things turn south real fast. (This story is from y/n’s POV unlike the previous one just a heads up)

Masterlist

 Y/n POV:

“It’s 15th Street apartment 410 and does 8pm work for ya?” Peter said

“Yeah that’s sounds good”

“Alright see you tomorrow!”

“Oh and I will provide snacks since you are providing the movies. See you tomorrow :)” Blushing after sending the last text. He made my heart jump out of my chest. I have always been too shy to talk to him not because he’s intimidating but more of not knowing how to talk to him. I was never good at talking to boys in general and starting a conversation was not my specialty. After seeing the millennial falcon on his backpack in art class, finding that common ground made it easier to reach out to him. Now that I am going to his place to watch my favorite franchise, my heart is flowing with joy.

Next day couldn’t have gone any slower. It seemed like an hour had passed by but I would look at the clock and only 5 minutes had passed by. I was just wanting to go over to Peter’s to spend time with him and watch the movies. After school, I had gone home and started to gather things that I wanted to bring over. I grabbed my Star Wars blanket, I always have it with me when I watch the movies, my dad has given it to me when I was younger when we watched them together. Star Wars has always reminded her of her dad, she got her love from Star Wars from her dad. I had to think of something else before I started crying because today is not the day for crying it is a joyful day. I grabbed my phone out to text Peter, “Can’t wait time see you at 8. Don’t forget! (ps what kind of snacks do you want?” I had sent the text waiting for his response. Since we were watching the movies later, I was able to crank out some homework, it was a way for time to go by faster. Finally it was 7 and Peter still hasn’t responded to my text. I thought it was weird but I just figured he was just doing homework and not paying attention to his phone. With that being said, I got up and took my stuff to bring over and left my apartment, my mom works nights at the hospital so she was never home when I was home. As I went to the convenient store, I was searching through snacks and candies, I guess I have to choose for him I thought to myself. After some debating, I finally grabbed a few snacks and I made my way over to the clerk. As I was getting in the line, a couple of men came in with masks on with only the eyes and mouth showing. I knew we were screwed as soon as I saw them.

“EVERYONE ON THE GROUND!” One man shouted holding a gun at the people in the line

“GIVE ME ALL THE DAMN MONEY FROM THE REGISTER RIGHT NOW!” One of the men said pointing the gun at the cashier. He shouted at the clerk. As everyone was getting one the ground freaking out, my body did nothing. I dropped the snacks from where I was and was completely frozen, my body could not comprehend what was going on. The robber that was pointing the gun at the people in the store, I made eye contact with him. My heart dropped.

“Come here sweetheart” he says in a creepy voice as he was using the gun to usher for me to come over. I still was frozen and could not move.

“I said COME HERE RIGHT NOW” as he shouts and points the gun at me. His voice startled me and I felt my eyes start to water. My feet were finally able to slowly move to him.

“Hands in the air” he said and I obeyed.

“Good girl” as he uses his free arm to wrap around my waist to hold me while pointing the gun at my head. “You are my ticket out for when the cops come. Yeah you're going to be some nice leverage” he whispers into my ear. At this point my chances of living are decreasing by the second, so if I was going to have courage it had to be now.

“How about you fuck off and go die in a hole”

“Shut the fuck up bitch! Maybe I will just kill you now” he says as he presses the gun further into my head as if it wasn’t close enough. Maybe that wasn’t the best moment for courage. It didn’t matter at this point. I was thinking that this was it, I was going to die. This robber was going to shoot me like how my father was shot in the middle of a robbery just like this. I didn’t want to die, I wanted so much more with my life, I wanted to explore the world, especially Venice and take a gondola ride, I wanted to have a family, but most of all, I just wanted to say one last I love you to my mom. I wondered if that was one of my dad’s last thoughts when he died, if he just wanted to say I love you to my mom one last time. Not knowing when he was going to pull the trigger made the situation so much worse, the anticipation was killing me. I just wanted to know if he was going to do it or not.

“And mister have you ever learned that stealing is wrong, even I was taught that at a young age” a person in a red and blue tight suit just said leading against the door. Speaking so casually like the robbers was no real threat. The robber that was holding me had shifted us to be facing the mysterious person instead of looking sideways. Then after getting a better look at the person, I realized it’s Spider-Man, my chances of getting out of this alive just increased just a little bit, making me hopeful. As we turned Spiderman had shot his webs which ended up tying the robber who was pointing the gun at the clerk.

“And for you know it's rude to hold someone hostage...” Spider-Man started to fade out when he looked at me.

“Y/n?”

Both the robber and I were a little shocked that he had said my name.

“Oh so you know this girl. Is that so? Huh, well know I am most definitely taking her with me”

Even though the robber was speaking, I wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying. Even though he just threatened to kidnap me, I knew that Spider-Man was going to get me out of this. I was just thinking about how Spiderman knows my name. Did I know him personally? Or did he just know my name? Have I come into contact with Spiderman real identity?

“How do you…” but before I could finish my question, Spiderman shot a web from his wrists and took the robber’s gun out of his hand. With a little bit of courage that I had left, I had elbowed the robber in the gut. As he was grabbing his now hurt stomach, I took this opportunity to run away from the robber. Maybe telling the robber to fuck off helped after all. Once I was out of reach, I had turned around and Spider-Man had already tied him up in his webs. After tying him up, Spiderman made his way toward me.

“Are you okay?” He asked. My adrenaline was still pumping throughout my entire body.

“Um, yeah I think so. Thank you for saving my life.”

“Anytime”

“I am forever grateful”

“It’s nothing really, I'm just doing my job” as he itches the back of his head.

“Hey um how do you know my name?” Almost forgetting to ask him.

“Oh um I ah um sorry, um I-I got to go maybe next time” he states as he starts to run away, he turns back around and sees that you are picking up tour snacks that you dropped on the ground. He quickly comes back to your side and helps you pick up your snacks.

“You know what is a good snack miss?”

“What?”

“Sour Patch Watermelons” he says and quickly runs away and swings his way out of the convenience store right before the police show up.

-

-

-

Thank you so much for reading my story! There are few things I need to mention

I’m sorry if you have been waiting for this part 2 to release, I have been busy with college work and a good family friends of mine are moving and my family and I have been helping them so it’s been chaotic with that as well.

There will be a part 3 (I obliviously can’t let the story end there)

And I have been on tumbler for awhile now but I have only read fanfics and never really wrote till now. But I have recently been struggling with replies to my posts. I turned on my replies so that everyone can reply but it seems to not be working. If you know your way around this app or know how to help me, please message me! I would like to hear people’s comments on my stories!

Thank you 😊

[suitofvibraniumarmor]

Boston Boys [Part Two]

Summary: Chris and his crew hit a prominent Boston bank, but not everything goes to plan.   Pairing: Chris Evans x OFC, John Krasinski x OFC Word Count: 2215 Chapter Warnings: language, bank robbery, kidnapping, guns.  Square Filled: The entire series (bits and pieces of it) will fill my Crossover square for @marvelfluffbingo​​. A/N: This story contains a character who lost her hearing as she got older. I do work closely and regularly with the D/deaf community (I’m a sign language interpreter), but my own hearing problems do not involve significant hearing loss. It is not my intention to offend anyone, only to bring in a character with a quality I don’t see often in other fics. If you have questions about her, feel free to ask :)

Boston Boys Masterlist

Monday morning, bright and early, Chris walked the short distance from his apartment to the barber shop his father owned. He got out his key to unlock the door, but when he saw the door slightly ajar and the lights already on, he stuffed his key back into his pocket and reached for the gun at the back of his waistband instead.

Carefully surveying every inch of the place as he walked through the main lobby, with the chairs and mirrors and other supplies, Chris kept his gun trained in the direction of the back room. That light was on too, and he could hear someone fiddling around in the office.

Going through the doorway to the backroom, Chris immediately spotted a body, sitting at the table, eating a bowl of cereal. He groaned in frustration and hit the safety back on his gun before tucking it away again.

“Fuckin’ A, Scotty! You gotta tell me when you’re coming in early!” Chris admonished, slapping his brother upside the head. “I coulda killed ya!”

Scott only laughed. “You shoulda seen your face, big brother. That was priceless.”

Chris shook his head and got the coffee pot started. After that scare, he was going to need double his daily dosage. “The hell are you here so early for, anyway?”

“Late night, got home, didn’t have milk.”

“New boy toy?”

Scotty smirked as he walked his bowl to the sink to rinse it out. “Couple of ‘em.”

Chris rolled his eyes. Leave it to his brother to share more than what was necessary.

As the time moved on towards opening the shop for the day, the brothers worked to get everything set up and ready, then enjoyed a cup of coffee to themselves. Slowly but surely, the rest of the crew -- Scarlett, Seb, and Shanna -- came rolling in.

“Shan, you talked to Carly this morning?” Chris asked, fastening a cape around his first customer of the day.

“Yeah, she’ll be here in about thirty. Her typical Monday morning routine.”

Chris smirked. He and Scott shared a special connection, being the only brothers in the Evans family, but he was just as close with his sisters. When Aurelie had come along, Chris wasted no time in pulling her under his wing the same he had done with Shanna and Carly. He loved his siblings, and especially after their father had been put away, Chris had stepped up to make sure they were all taken care of. At any rate, knowing Carly was happy to live her life with little to no worries made Chris feel like he was doing his job.

The day wore on. Mondays were usually busy, seeing as how a lot of men liked to start their week with a fresh cut and/or shave. Between busy Mondays and Fridays, and the steady flow of customers on the in-between, the shop did all right for itself. Of course, the family side business didn’t hurt anything.

As they were wrapping up for the day, Robert Downey, Jr., Chris’s father’s best friend, came into the shop and sat down in Chris’s chair. He was well-known throughout town as a do-gooder, a philanthropist. The man was very private about where his money came from, and that boded well for all of them. Although, in this part of Boston, no one much cared where the man got his money, since so much of it was channeled back into the community. For that, everyone was willing to turn the other way at the potentially suspicious way the money came through.

“Went and saw your dad today,” Robert began, setting his glasses on the counter in front of Chris’s chair before taking a seat. “The old man’s not looking so bad. Staying out of trouble.”

“That’s new,” Chris snorted. “Did you get the money on his book?”

Robert nodded. “Of course. Just a touch up today, yeah?”

Chris nodded and got to work. He focused on what he was doing, half-listening to the sounds of the shop: Scarlett and Seb bantering back and forth, Carly’s nails tapping away at the keyboard, Shanna and Scott sighing as they watched and waited for closing time to approach.

“Hey, Shan, Scotty. Why don’t you get out early? You’ve got no more appointments, right?”

They both confirmed they were done for the day, so Chris gave them the go ahead. After finishing with her current customer, Scarlett scooted out as well. Carly was the next to go, until only Seb and Chris were left behind.

Robert paid with his credit card but left a cash tip; paper-clipped to the bill was a set of coordinates. Chris and Seb exchanged a glance. This would be their next job.

“Call me when you finish with that referral,” Robert instructed. “This is a big one, boys. Don’t screw it up.”

With that, the man was gone. Chris locked up behind him and turned the sign on the door to Closed. He turned back to Seb, who was already checking out the coordinates.

“Shit,” Seb muttered, “Boston Private? They’re no joke. The kind of cash flow that goes through there …”

Chris didn’t like the idea of a big hit, but he did like the idea of maybe being set up for a while. He was proud to take care of his siblings in his father’s absence, to live up to the responsibilities his father had raised him to, but he was also ready for a break. He was ready to settle down.

“We gotta give it at least a week for us to scout that one out,” Chris decided out loud. “Then we’ll get Scar and Scotty in on it. We don’t say a word to Shanna or Carly.”

“As usual,” Seb sighed. “How have they gone their whole life not knowing this was a thing?”

Chris shrugged. “My parents had Carly early on in life -- this didn’t start till after she was born. Me and Scotty were always expected to go in Pop’s place once we were old enough, and Shanna’s the baby. She gets protected.”

“And what about Aurelie?”

“Aurelie’s a different story. So listen, we good on that plan then?”

Seb pursed his lips. “Can’t we do this with a three-man team? Scar doesn’t need to be in on this.”

Chris smirked. “Still going after that tail, huh?”

Seb rolled his eyes. “She’s not just tail and you know it. Besides, she’s never been off your nuts long enough to notice anyone else.”

“Please,” Chris said, reaching for his keys and shutting the lights off. “Scarlett and I were a thing in high school, and it wasn’t even a serious thing. You gotta have more confidence in yourself -- and by the way, you’re not gettin’ anywhere with that girl by suggesting she doesn’t need to go on jobs. That’ll piss her right off.”

Seb agreed that was true. Once the shop was locked up, they hit the sidewalk, heading over to Stan’s Pub for a drink or few before heading home for the night.

After their last day casing the bank, Seb headed back for the barber shop to try and catch some afternoon appointments. Chris was headed in that direction, too, but first he stopped at the corner store for a pack of cigarettes and maybe a fountain drink.

Next to him at the drink counter, a familiar face was filling a to-go cup with coffee. Chris smirked at the timing of it.

“Johnny, haven’t seen you around this area in a while,” Chris commented, not even bothering to make eye contact with the other man.

“Chris, hey. It has been a while. Don’t worry, I won’t be sticking around for long. Came by to see a friend.”

Chris nodded. “I’m not worried about you, man.”

John snorted; Chris didn’t need to look at the other man to know that tensions were high. Oh, there weren’t exactly boundaries in this part of town, but they knew enough to stay away from each other. Chris put the lid on his drink and stuck a straw through the hole. John capped his coffee cup, then nodded to Chris.

“Hey man, you haven’t seen my sister recently, have you?”

John frowned. “Carly or Shanna?”

Chris studied John carefully. Had he really forgotten about Chris’s stepsister, or was he playing dumb? In the interest of not creating a scene so close to a job, Chris decided to give John the benefit of the doubt.

“Shanna.”

“No, I haven’t seen either of them recently, actually.”

“Hmm. Been to MassGen in the last couple of weeks?”

John shook his head. “Nah, man, I’m great. Listen, I’ve got to get going, but I’m sure we’ll cross paths again.”

“I’m sure we will.”

John paid for his coffee and left the shop. Chris got his cigarettes, paid for the pack and his drink, then walked down to the barber shop. Whatever reason Aurelie had asked about John, Chris had bigger things to worry about for the time being.

The morning of the job, the four of them -- Chris, Seb, Scott, and Scarlett -- donned their usual attire: hoodies, masks, gloves, dark jeans, steel-toed boots. They approached the bank in a van, parked in the alley to the south of the bank, and made their way to the front door.

Inevitably, screaming, running, and tears took over. It was chaos, but they all had to keep it managed if they were going to get their payoff. Seb had already overpowered the aging security guard, and Scarlett was in the tech room working on cutting off the cameras and frying the footage. Scott was backing Chris up. They knew that a different teller got the code to unlock the safe every morning, and by their calculations, it should have been the middle-aged man on the end who had the code.

“It’s not me!” he pleaded, hands in the air. “Elsa! Elsa has the code!”

Chris looked in the direction the man was pointing. A young, blonde woman, eyes wide and her whole body trembling, fought against his gaze. Chris marched down to her window and climbed over the counter.

“Are you Elsa?”

She closed her eyes and nodded. “Yes.”

He pointed with his gun towards the safe. “Open it, Elsa.”

Tears were running down her cheeks. Chris felt horrible; scaring people came with the territory of this sort of work, but this girl seemed especially terrified. Her fingers shook over the keypad, and she struggled to remember the numbers in the correct order under this kind of pressure.

“C’mon! Open it!” Scott yelled from behind her.

She jumped, and the tears rolled harder. Chris glared at his brother, then put a hand over Elsa’s.

“You know the code,” he told her quietly. “We aren’t gonna hurt you, okay? We’re here for the money, not for any of you. Take a deep breath, try it again.”

Elsa closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath through her nose, then let it out through her mouth. Chris was momentarily distracted by the minty scent that wafted his way with her exhale. By the time he was focused again, she had the safe open.

“Good girl,” he said, gently moving her aside. He and Scott went straight into the safe to collect their bounty. It was all done in less than two minutes. They returned to the main part of the bank to gather their colleagues and get the hell outta Dodge.

But Elsa wasn’t there when they went to leave, and neither was Scarlett. Chris and Scott exchanged a look of concern.

“She’s already out,” Seb informed them, pounding on the counter. “Five-oh is on the radar. Let’s go.”

The three men scrambled out of the bank and back to the van. Before they even made it all the way, they could hear pounding noises coming from the back. Scott took his place in the driver’s seat, Seb in the front, and Chris climbed into the back where Scarlett was giving Elsa a proper what-for.

“Hold up!” Chris said, pushing himself between the two women. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Scarlett pointed at Elsa. “She pushed the alarm! That’s why the cops were coming!”

“So you dragged her along for the ride?”

Scarlett groaned. “We need leverage if they catch up to us. Now can we please just get the fuck out of here!”

The van squealed down the alley. Reaching for a zip-tie, Chris secured Elsa’s hands behind her back. Scarlett used two bandanas -- too readily available -- to blindfold and gag her. It at least allowed them to shed the suffocating masks.

Once they were away from the police and on a quiet street completely north of where they lived, they let Elsa out of the van. Scarlett swore they knew her address and where her family was from, and there would be hell to pay if Elsa helped in any sort of investigation. Chris waited for Scarlett to be back in the van before instructing Elsa to sing her favorite song to herself before taking off her blindfold. He took one last look at her, trembling and crying quietly to herself there on the curb, before climbing in the back of the van and instructing Scott to get them the hell out of there.

AllOfTheThings: @captain-s-rogers​ @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan​ @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked​ @hurricanerin​ @horsesandbandsforlife​ @im-not-an-armrest-im-short​ @captain-rogers-beard​ @shynara51​ @sea040561​ @anxiouskore​ @pinknerdpanda​ @xtina2191​ @jackryanplz​ @beakami​ @heartsaved​ @fullprunerebelstatesman​ @blackwidowismyhomegirl​

Boston Boys: @atc74​ @the-murder-strut-murdered-me​ @becs-bunker​ @shield-agent78​ @patzammit​ @crazyandanonymous4u​ @ntlmundy​

[lullabieswrappedinlies]

Boston Boys [Part Two]

Summary: Chris and his crew hit a prominent Boston bank, but not everything goes to plan.   Pairing: Chris Evans x OFC, John Krasinski x OFC Word Count: 2215 Chapter Warnings: language, bank robbery, kidnapping, guns. Square Filled: The entire series (bits and pieces of it) will fill my Crossover square for @marvelfluffbingo​​. A/N: This story contains a character who lost her hearing as she got older. I do work closely and regularly with the D/deaf community (I’m a sign language interpreter), but my own hearing problems do not involve significant hearing loss. It is not my intention to offend anyone, only to bring in a character with a quality I don’t see often in other fics. If you have questions about her, feel free to ask :)

Boston Boys Masterlist

Monday morning, bright and early, Chris walked the short distance from his apartment to the barber shop his father owned. He got out his key to unlock the door, but when he saw the door slightly ajar and the lights already on, he stuffed his key back into his pocket and reached for the gun at the back of his waistband instead.

Carefully surveying every inch of the place as he walked through the main lobby, with the chairs and mirrors and other supplies, Chris kept his gun trained in the direction of the back room. That light was on too, and he could hear someone fiddling around in the office.

Going through the doorway to the backroom, Chris immediately spotted a body, sitting at the table, eating a bowl of cereal. He groaned in frustration and hit the safety back on his gun before tucking it away again.

“Fuckin’ A, Scotty! You gotta tell me when you’re coming in early!” Chris admonished, slapping his brother upside the head. “I coulda killed ya!”

Scott only laughed. “You shoulda seen your face, big brother. That was priceless.”

Chris shook his head and got the coffee pot started. After that scare, he was going to need double his daily dosage. “The hell are you here so early for, anyway?”

“Late night, got home, didn’t have milk.”

“New boy toy?”

Scotty smirked as he walked his bowl to the sink to rinse it out. “Couple of ‘em.”

Chris rolled his eyes. Leave it to his brother to share more than what was necessary.

As the time moved on towards opening the shop for the day, the brothers worked to get everything set up and ready, then enjoyed a cup of coffee to themselves. Slowly but surely, the rest of the crew -- Scarlett, Seb, and Shanna -- came rolling in.

“Shan, you talked to Carly this morning?” Chris asked, fastening a cape around his first customer of the day.

“Yeah, she’ll be here in about thirty. Her typical Monday morning routine.”

Chris smirked. He and Scott shared a special connection, being the only brothers in the Evans family, but he was just as close with his sisters. When Aurelie had come along, Chris wasted no time in pulling her under his wing the same he had done with Shanna and Carly. He loved his siblings, and especially after their father had been put away, Chris had stepped up to make sure they were all taken care of. At any rate, knowing Carly was happy to live her life with little to no worries made Chris feel like he was doing his job.

The day wore on. Mondays were usually busy, seeing as how a lot of men liked to start their week with a fresh cut and/or shave. Between busy Mondays and Fridays, and the steady flow of customers on the in-between, the shop did all right for itself. Of course, the family side business didn’t hurt anything.

As they were wrapping up for the day, Robert Downey, Jr., Chris’s father’s best friend, came into the shop and sat down in Chris’s chair. He was well-known throughout town as a do-gooder, a philanthropist. The man was very private about where his money came from, and that boded well for all of them. Although, in this part of Boston, no one much cared where the man got his money, since so much of it was channeled back into the community. For that, everyone was willing to turn the other way at the potentially suspicious way the money came through.

“Went and saw your dad today,” Robert began, setting his glasses on the counter in front of Chris’s chair before taking a seat. “The old man’s not looking so bad. Staying out of trouble.”

“That’s new,” Chris snorted. “Did you get the money on his book?”

Robert nodded. “Of course. Just a touch up today, yeah?”

Chris nodded and got to work. He focused on what he was doing, half-listening to the sounds of the shop: Scarlett and Seb bantering back and forth, Carly’s nails tapping away at the keyboard, Shanna and Scott sighing as they watched and waited for closing time to approach.

“Hey, Shan, Scotty. Why don’t you get out early? You’ve got no more appointments, right?”

They both confirmed they were done for the day, so Chris gave them the go ahead. After finishing with her current customer, Scarlett scooted out as well. Carly was the next to go, until only Seb and Chris were left behind.

Robert paid with his credit card but left a cash tip; paper-clipped to the bill was a set of coordinates. Chris and Seb exchanged a glance. This would be their next job.

“Call me when you finish with that referral,” Robert instructed. “This is a big one, boys. Don’t screw it up.”

With that, the man was gone. Chris locked up behind him and turned the sign on the door to Closed. He turned back to Seb, who was already checking out the coordinates.

“Shit,” Seb muttered, “Boston Private? They’re no joke. The kind of cash flow that goes through there …”

Chris didn’t like the idea of a big hit, but he did like the idea of maybe being set up for a while. He was proud to take care of his siblings in his father’s absence, to live up to the responsibilities his father had raised him to, but he was also ready for a break. He was ready to settle down.

“We gotta give it at least a week for us to scout that one out,” Chris decided out loud. “Then we’ll get Scar and Scotty in on it. We don’t say a word to Shanna or Carly.”

“As usual,” Seb sighed. “How have they gone their whole life not knowing this was a thing?”

Chris shrugged. “My parents had Carly early on in life -- this didn’t start till after she was born. Me and Scotty were always expected to go in Pop’s place once we were old enough, and Shanna’s the baby. She gets protected.”

“And what about Aurelie?”

“Aurelie’s a different story. So listen, we good on that plan then?”

Seb pursed his lips. “Can’t we do this with a three-man team? Scar doesn’t need to be in on this.”

Chris smirked. “Still going after that tail, huh?”

Seb rolled his eyes. “She’s not just tail and you know it. Besides, she’s never been off your nuts long enough to notice anyone else.”

“Please,” Chris said, reaching for his keys and shutting the lights off. “Scarlett and I were a thing in high school, and it wasn’t even a serious thing. You gotta have more confidence in yourself -- and by the way, you’re not gettin’ anywhere with that girl by suggesting she doesn’t need to go on jobs. That’ll piss her right off.”

Seb agreed that was true. Once the shop was locked up, they hit the sidewalk, heading over to Stan’s Pub for a drink or few before heading home for the night.

After their last day casing the bank, Seb headed back for the barber shop to try and catch some afternoon appointments. Chris was headed in that direction, too, but first he stopped at the corner store for a pack of cigarettes and maybe a fountain drink.

Next to him at the drink counter, a familiar face was filling a to-go cup with coffee. Chris smirked at the timing of it.

“Johnny, haven’t seen you around this area in a while,” Chris commented, not even bothering to make eye contact with the other man.

“Chris, hey. It has been a while. Don’t worry, I won’t be sticking around for long. Came by to see a friend.”

Chris nodded. “I’m not worried about you, man.”

John snorted; Chris didn’t need to look at the other man to know that tensions were high. Oh, there weren’t exactly boundaries in this part of town, but they knew enough to stay away from each other. Chris put the lid on his drink and stuck a straw through the hole. John capped his coffee cup, then nodded to Chris.

“Hey man, you haven’t seen my sister recently, have you?”

John frowned. “Carly or Shanna?”

Chris studied John carefully. Had he really forgotten about Chris’s stepsister, or was he playing dumb? In the interest of not creating a scene so close to a job, Chris decided to give John the benefit of the doubt.

“Shanna.”

“No, I haven’t seen either of them recently, actually.”

“Hmm. Been to MassGen in the last couple of weeks?”

John shook his head. “Nah, man, I’m great. Listen, I’ve got to get going, but I’m sure we’ll cross paths again.”

“I’m sure we will.”

John paid for his coffee and left the shop. Chris got his cigarettes, paid for the pack and his drink, then walked down to the barber shop. Whatever reason Aurelie had asked about John, Chris had bigger things to worry about for the time being.

The morning of the job, the four of them -- Chris, Seb, Scott, and Scarlett -- donned their usual attire: hoodies, masks, gloves, dark jeans, steel-toed boots. They approached the bank in a van, parked in the alley to the south of the bank, and made their way to the front door.

Inevitably, screaming, running, and tears took over. It was chaos, but they all had to keep it managed if they were going to get their payoff. Seb had already overpowered the aging security guard, and Scarlett was in the tech room working on cutting off the cameras and frying the footage. Scott was backing Chris up. They knew that a different teller got the code to unlock the safe every morning, and by their calculations, it should have been the middle-aged man on the end who had the code.

“It’s not me!” he pleaded, hands in the air. “Elsa! Elsa has the code!”

Chris looked in the direction the man was pointing. A young, blonde woman, eyes wide and her whole body trembling, fought against his gaze. Chris marched down to her window and climbed over the counter.

“Are you Elsa?”

She closed her eyes and nodded. “Yes.”

He pointed with his gun towards the safe. “Open it, Elsa.”

Tears were running down her cheeks. Chris felt horrible; scaring people came with the territory of this sort of work, but this girl seemed especially terrified. Her fingers shook over the keypad, and she struggled to remember the numbers in the correct order under this kind of pressure.

“C’mon! Open it!” Scott yelled from behind her.

She jumped, and the tears rolled harder. Chris glared at his brother, then put a hand over Elsa’s.

“You know the code,” he told her quietly. “We aren’t gonna hurt you, okay? We’re here for the money, not for any of you. Take a deep breath, try it again.”

Elsa closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath through her nose, then let it out through her mouth. Chris was momentarily distracted by the minty scent that wafted his way with her exhale. By the time he was focused again, she had the safe open.

“Good girl,” he said, gently moving her aside. He and Scott went straight into the safe to collect their bounty. It was all done in less than two minutes. They returned to the main part of the bank to gather their colleagues and get the hell outta Dodge.

But Elsa wasn’t there when they went to leave, and neither was Scarlett. Chris and Scott exchanged a look of concern.

“She’s already out,” Seb informed them, pounding on the counter. “Five-oh is on the radar. Let’s go.”

The three men scrambled out of the bank and back to the van. Before they even made it all the way, they could hear pounding noises coming from the back. Scott took his place in the driver’s seat, Seb in the front, and Chris climbed into the back where Scarlett was giving Elsa a proper what-for.

“Hold up!” Chris said, pushing himself between the two women. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Scarlett pointed at Elsa. “She pushed the alarm! That’s why the cops were coming!”

“So you dragged her along for the ride?”

Scarlett groaned. “We need leverage if they catch up to us. Now can we please just get the fuck out of here!”

The van squealed down the alley. Reaching for a zip-tie, Chris secured Elsa’s hands behind her back. Scarlett used two bandanas -- too readily available -- to blindfold and gag her. It at least allowed them to shed the suffocating masks.

Once they were away from the police and on a quiet street completely north of where they lived, they let Elsa out of the van. Scarlett swore they knew her address and where her family was from, and there would be hell to pay if Elsa helped in any sort of investigation. Chris waited for Scarlett to be back in the van before instructing Elsa to sing her favorite song to herself before taking off her blindfold. He took one last look at her, trembling and crying quietly to herself there on the curb, before climbing in the back of the van and instructing Scott to get them the hell out of there.

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