~Natalie~

Waiting is about the hardest thing to do in moments like this.

I see the cop that caught Neal, Peter Burke, talking to the man they've caught in custody.

It's a shame that if they want to find the real culprits behind the counterfeit books they can't count on this guy. He is just the carrier.

But, I guess, they don't know that yet.

Neal is leaning against the doorframe across the room, looking rather bored and yet interested at the same time. Just looking at him makes me smile. After looking up to the guy almost my whole life, having to just sit here when he's right there is like being a hungry fish with bait hanging in front of you.

Personally, I'm upside down inside the air vent. Long brown hair is tied to the back of my shirt with ponytails and safety pins, then, of course, I have rubber lined gloves and boots on to keep me from crashing down into the room below.

Despite what my brother thinks, I'm not a complete and total idiot.

Long sleeved black shirt and pants lower the chance of me being seen here, a matching bandana is tied around my neck and raised to cover the lower half of my face. The boots thankfully muffle the noise of a colorful anklet with little bells on it, the only accessory that I've allowed myself to wear out in the field.

Which is probably why it became known as my mark.

I mentally growl before there is a light creaking sound, the door to the room is swinging open.

In walks yet another man, only this one resembles a lawyer. I'm too far away to hear their conversation, but Peter throws his hands up in his frustration as he and Neal leave.

Almost as soon as the door shuts, the lawyer-man locks it. Even though the AC has now turned on, I can hear the chair that the carrier is sitting in vibrating.

"I- I didn't tell them anything!" He stammers. The man shakes his head as he puts his briefcase on the table, clicking it open. He removes a vial full of some sort of blurry liquid splashing in it before turning not only to grin at the guy, but also towards me. I manage to catch a glimpse of his face.

It takes me a moment to process what I'm looking at, but luckily his image clicks.

It's the guy I'm here for.

Tucking my limbs in, I allow myself to fall forwards a bit, making sure I stop right before I hit the vent cover. I had the foresight to make sure the nails were loose before I climbed up here. A satisfying pop echoes up the vent as I push it out, tossing the vent at the fake lawyer.

Thankfully, he's caught off guard and is easily knocked to the floor. Time seems to slow as I watch the vial begin to fall. Thinking fast, I manage a quick bounce to break my fall and reach for it. My fingertips knock it the rest of the way into my hand as I take a second to catch my breath.

The door slamming open does put an end to my little break, though. Ignoring the shouts to 'freeze', I jump swiftly back into the vent and climb out of sight.

The only thing they might have been able to recognize was the jingling noise my anklet made while I hopped up. My pant leg had slid up from my boot and moved the anklet from the muffled safety of the shoe.

But, you know, that might not be a bad thing. Surely they didn't focus on that as I made my escape?

... yeah, that's a big 'might'.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Shoving the black clothes into my school bag, I straighten the tie to my school uniform while tossing it over my shoulder. The uniform consists of navy blue flats, black tights, dark blue skirt, a white dress shirt covered with a long sleeve dark blue blazer, and a red tie underneath it. I have the anklet tucked into my pocket in my blazer.

In my school, students are allowed one item from home to wear with them. Seeing as how the anklet would've been a dead give away, I chose to not have any item with me. Luckily, instead of being suspicious they were proud one of their students was so "focused on work."

While I merge with the crowd, I hear sirens echoing off the old, crumbling bricks. I glance over my shoulder to watch the lights, maybe guess how much time I have by their distance. Peter is at the entrance of the building, speaking into a walkie talkie. Nick is beside him, scanning the crowd. For a second, I think his eyes lock onto me. I'm quick to duck into the people.

There's no way... I'm imagining things.

I convince myself it's just my brain seeing things as policemen begin to push their way around the crowd.

A blockade. I need to be out of here by the time they go up.

I barely make it past before they start stopping people. Turning around, I do my best to look confused and act like the others around me. This way I won't stand out in the policemen's memory, a classic little truck I've picked up. I watch the lady to my left until they start moving forwards, then I head home.

Bad idea to be here when all this goes down.

I walk into the house part of the shop, making sure to close and lock the door behind me as I enter. In this part of town, you're going to regret leaving anything unlocked.

Our "house" consists of a small back area, three cramped rooms, and a large bookstore out front. Not exactly the most comfortable of places, but it's home.

        "What took you?" I look up to see my brother, Jake, sitting at the small wooden table with the map laid out and our multicolored tokens on it. My heart sinks into my stomach as I notice the paper he's holding.

The bill.

        "Are we behind again?" I ask, trying to change the subject. He looks up from it, sending a glance my way.

        "Natalie," He doesn't use the nickname, showing he's actually being serious, as he lowers the bill, "Don't avoid the question, what took you."

        "Just some schoolwork." I mutter as I slide the bag off my shoulder and onto the small couch in front of the TV. Jake gives me a stern look.

        "Do I need to get Kyle?" He threatens while he begins to close distance between us. I back up a tad bit and put the table between us again while I shake my head.

"Please don't." I initiate another tactic: Begging. Deciding to try my luck, I fix my brother with the most pleading look I've mustered up, "Please?"

"Fine. But only if you tell me what actually happened." He gives as he leans against the table, "Because last I checked, schoolwork doesn't get lint in your hair." He motions to the side of his head and I run my hand through my hair.

The vent. Damn it.

       "Okay, okay." I look down and nervously run my finger around a poker chip, "I failed my Math test, he was giving my a chance to redo it before it was put into the grade book." The lie came out much smoother than I'd hoped for, but this is Jake I'm talking to. He's the only one that manages to see through everything.

"Right." He chuckles as he pushes himself off the table, "Natalie, I really don't want to have to win another fight." He fixes me in a look while he shakes his head, "Now, what really happened."

"Alright! I got called into the office and-" I don't waste my time finishing the lie, the look he's fixed me with is enough to let me know.

Let the fight begin then.

I barely duck fast enough, his foot brushing my hair that was still falling above me. Moving my hands up into guard position, a fist comes sailing at me from off to the left, but I'm able to push it off course with a quick blow to his wrist.

However, he was prepared for that. The fist was only a distraction. He rolled himself to the right and slid his foot from above me, into my ribs. I fall over gasping, but that's not the end of me.

Since I'm curled up on the floor, his guard is let down. Positioning myself in a new way, I push up off the floor with my hands to get my feet level with his head. My elbows lock in place while my feet hook around his shoulders. In an instant, I'm on his shoulders and turning him.

"Time's up." I snicker while I lean back, making him fall backwards and slam into a chair. The air leaves him with a whoosh while I bounce to my feet again. "You're the brains, remember? I'm the fighter here."

"What-" He starts coughing and needs a second to catch his breath, "What did you do?"

"Uh, no. Jake, that's not the rules." I shake my finger while I move back to the table again, "I won. You don't get an answer." He sits up and holds his stomach for a moment, eyes closed while he bends over.

I might've been a little too rough. Sorry, J, I didn't mean to hurt you.

I make my way over to him and run a hand down his spine, he tenses up.

"Don't." He breathes out, eyeing me the best he can.

"Don't hold your breath." I instruct while I find the rib, or ribs, out of place. "It'll make this much worse than it has to be." He falls silent after that, trying to sit up and let me fix him. He knew how this worked, we used to partner together in the field. I wait for his muscles to relax before pressing against the two ribs and turning a bit. A quick popping noise later, and he can breath again.

Kyle, our adopted father, peeks behind the curtain and gives us... well, as much of a look as he can.

Why's that? Because the owner of this bookstore is blind as a bat.

     "You're scaring away customers." He grumbles, "You two had better not be fighting again."

     "No sir, not at all. One of the shelves fell over." He lies quite easily now that he can stand, and scrapes the chair against the floor - mimicking the metal bookshelf against the wall.

     "Alright. Just keep it down." He shuffles back out and we wait before moving over to the table.

      "Okay, so, Gypsy should be able to slip in here." He points to the corner of the map.

Ah, that's right.

Gypsy.

A vigilante that's been public for about a year and a half now, of course, we've been working for longer than that, but that was under the radar. The public isn't aware she still has a partner either.

The signature anklet was a gift. One of the only things our mother left with us whenever we were abandoned in front of the orphanage. I forget what Jake got, it's been such a long time since he's brought it out.

I wonder if she'd be proud of me...

      "But, in order for this to work, they have to be distracted." He brings his finger to his lips, gently biting the edge of his pointer finger. This is something he does whenever he's thinking about something, or sometimes whenever he's nervous.

Not quite sure how that developed though.

"Don't worry." I keep my eyes on the map, "They've got other things on their mind right now."

"Nate, what did you do, exactly?" His eyes are on me, I can feel it. My mouth goes dry while I finger the grey chip that represents me.

        "I interfered with their delivery system. Sent the police on their trail, and then kept them from finishing their man off." I swallow and glance up to him, "I can't stand by and ignore it, J. Kyle has to pay rent for being here, just because they think they're stronger-."

"- And they are." He interrupts, looking both pale and... proud, maybe? The thought gains confidence as I finally look at him.

"Yeah, I know." I agree, "But this way they might get caught, and we can easily grab the information."

"Natalie..." He sighs as he rubs his temples, "Even if you did manage to save him, you know he won't testify. The gang has people on everyone's family. And nobody would risk that."

My eyes trail back to the map as I feel my breath leave me, we both know he's right. Even some of the cops have been paid off.

"We knew this would be hard." I remind him, still running my finger around the edge of the chip. "That's why we're planning so hard." Jake smiles and nods, putting his hands down on the table as he looks over the map again.

"Alright, so if we-" He starts, but Kyle shuffles back in again and he straightens up. "Kyle, what is it?"

"Jake. Thank goodness, I need some help with helping this customer." He puts a hand over his chest upon hearing my brother speak. I stay silent so that he won't know his favorite isn't alone.

"Sure thing, I'll be right behind you." He looks at me and mouths 'sorry' before following Kyle to the main store again. I watch them and then look back to the table.

There are four red markers, signaling where the gang's "police" are stationed. There are nine black markers, the security cameras. Two blue markers, under cover "cops". And one green marker, where the central unit of information is. All on the layout of the Black Stripes' hideout.

I have to somehow place a virus there to keep up with the company, once we have enough information about them we can destroy them from the inside.

Jake pokes his head in, disturbing my attempted focus.

     "You have a visitor." His voice is a bit worried, "One that you know quite well too."

      "What? Who?" I push off the table to walk over to the curtain, Jake moving so that I can pass.

Somebody that I know well? Like, a contact?

       "Perhaps you should come see for yourself." He holds the curtain open for me, "Just, don't flip out." As soon as I can I breath in the smell of old books, closing my eyes for a second to steel myself.

The smell of such old paper always does have a calming effect.

My eyes open while I come into view of the store, just in case this contact is violent. But I find myself stopping as soon as I see the store.

There's no f***ing way.

"Don't flip out." Jake mumbles again from behind me, "Kyle will press the panic button if he hears you. He won't know you're fangirling." I can practically feel the grin on his face.

"Oh shut up!" I hiss and whack him, making him stumble back with a snicker.

Neal Caffrey puts a book back on the shelf as he sees me, doing a little half wave as he smiles.

"Hello, Natalie, long time no see."