[ don't be fooled by the rocks that i got / i'm still jenny from the block ]
(requested by my mootie @localpanicattack <3) - 2.1k words, no warnings
it is much cooler to be a master criminal by yourself than in a crew for many reasons. number one, you don't have to split the money eleven ways (you had some words for daniel ocean regarding this). number two, you don't have to listen to anyone trying to tell you what to do. number three, you can get away with pretty much anything, by playing the dumb bimbo card whenever you get caught. you had no doubt that rusty ryan had pulled this card before - and it probably worked - but your success rate was much higher.
out of the men in your boyfriends crew, there were only two you actually liked. your boyfriend linus, and saul bloom.
there were many things that you thought could be simplified in danny's plan of the heist, but you stayed silent drinking whatever you chose from the drink cart. you were standing next to linus, leaning slightly into him as his arm wrapped around the back of and your shoulders. he was intently listening to every word both danny and rusty said, whilst you were bored out of your mind at their dull words.
linus agreed to show to the original meet that danny set on the condition that he could bring his girlfriend. naturally, danny was hesitant to include another person that he'd never met before. however, when linus had said your name, his interested piqued.
your previous jobs had essentially been myths in the crime world, since it seemed so impossible for a single person to pull it off. most of your older and more famous jobs were just you, but more of your recent, smaller jobs had been with linus. it felt nice to be a somewhat criminal power couple.
that day when danny had found linus on the train, you'd been sitting on the seat just near linus, 'reading' the days latest newspaper. mostly just trying to make sure that nobody saw linus, you did notice him when he refused to look away from linus as he subtly grabbed the mans wallet. ditching the newspaper, you moved to stand between danny's view of linus, tilting your head at him gently. the train began to slow, and being fully aware that danny was watching, you moved to follow linus off and grabbed his hand on the way down. he didn't even flinch when danny bumped into him, much more concerned with where you were walking.
when he showed you the card with emmits on it, you decided to wait outside and see if there was anyone else suspicious that you should be aware of. on his way out, linus looked somewhat confused, but nonetheless held up the two plane tickets on offer.
as danny was explaining some more of the logistics of the heist, your face couldn't help but betray you. making lots of faces at some of the diagram, internally screaming "are you kidding me?" raised eyebrows, the whole lot. not much of it made sense in your head, not because it was complicated, just because some of it felt unnecessary. whilst you did have your doubts, you did appreciate the fact that both rusty and danny asked if you would help with some of the recon of the initial casinos.
most of the time in the two weeks leading up to the heist, you did as much as the boys would let you. sometimes you sat in casinos simply observing with linus, sitting together in a booth discussing the paths of the carts, schedules and the like. other days you sat with livingston, working out lots of the code and hacking side of things. a lot of the time you did have to tell him repeatedly that you know what you were doing. one time, you grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes;
"livingston, just because i'm a woman doesn't mean i can't code, okay?"
he still doubled checked all your work.
for the first - and last - time you decided to help virgil rig one of the vans for the end of the heist. popping your gum once, you leant back from inside the car yelling out
"can you chuck me some pliers virgil?!"
he slowly walked around and passed you the pliers you asked for, side eyeing you as you walked away. when he came back and asked for a socket you had, you immediately passed it to him without even looking away from under the dash. he muttered something along the lines of 'how?' which made you roll your eyes and continue.
however, the silver lining in your experience was the couple hours you spent with saul. he was getting fitted for one of his fancy suits, which finally gave you a chance to relax. the only people in the room were you, saul and the tailor. sitting in a chair in the corner, the magazine in your lap sat abandoned, you gently called out;
"that fabric doesn't really match the rest of your outfit saul"
he didn't even blink, just telling the tailor to
"take you with him to pick out some better stuff, she's got good fashion sense." looking down, you smiled gently and followed the tailor into some of the rooms where he kept his fabrics. at least someone had faith.
closer to the fight night, you were sitting in a very expensive - and comfy - chair in the corner of the room, looking at some more floorplans. you found out ages ago that danny had been red-flagged, and livingston only found out about half an hour ago.
"you've been red-flagged. it means the moment you step on the casino floor, they'll be watching you. like hawks. hawks with video cameras."
"this is a problem," danny stated. nobody said anything, except for you.
"you'll probably be cornered by benedict the second you walk in there danny." both danny and linus nodded in agreeance. one of the malloy brothers spoke at you
"he's way too busy for that, have you ever met the guy?" ignoring him, you went back to the maps across your folded legs.
"do you have any idea how this happened?" across the room, you made direct eye contact with your boyfriend, and you began to rub your temples in anticipation of the argument that'll arise from this.
you were sat on the counter in your and linus' hotel room. he was standing between your legs as you both ate from a bag of chips.
you'd just gotten back from a couple hours around the casino tailing danny. you both ended up in the upstairs museum just walking around in silence. passing tess and benedict a couple times, you looked at him and there was a mutual understanding. she was way too tall for him. which made you both laugh quietly.
after your trip around the gallery, rusty was waiting downstairs for the both of you. together, you walked down the stairs hand in hand. as per usual, he was eating what appeared to be a shrimp cocktail. you went over and stood by the both of them, and linus wrapped his arm around your back, hand resting just above your hip. they began discussing some stuff about the heist, which - in your opinion - was incredibly boring. after rusty's reply of 'only in the morning' to linus' question, you laughed, covering your mouth quickly. they both looked at you and smiled, as you looked up the staircase trying to hide your grin. when you saw tess round the corner, you elbowed linus and he began explaining who she was to rusty. what you were more focused on however, was rusty's reaction to her. he looked like he harshly exhaled in disappointment which linus did not pick up.
back in your hotel room, you were still thinking about his reaction to tess.
"do you think rusty knows tess from somewhere?"
linus looked at you and began chewing slower as he thought. being the man he is though, he replied,
"he probably slept with her once or something, i dunno." this was very much not the answer you wanted from him. you did decide to leave it alone though.
linus looked at the ground before replying,
"i know. he's been chasing benedicts girl. got into a real argument with him a couple nights ago, i was there with her," he gestured at you but got no response. you decided to pick your battles this one time.
danny looked between both you and linus incredulously. he did remain somewhat calm though, so you gave him props for that.
"and who told you to do that?" from your spot in the corner you felt all eyes in the room on both you and linus.
"rusty did. he said he didn't think you could leave tess alone," without looking up, you continued. "and honestly, that makes sense. because just from what linus and i have seen, he was right." a variety of 'who's tess' and 'what the' echoes filled the room. you felt as though you had to explain everything around here. "tess is danny's ex-wife. if any of you guys bothered to pay attention." finally looking up from your work, "none of you thought it was weird that we are robbing three casinos owned by the same guy? tess moved on and she's with benedict now. danny's not here for the money, he's here for tess." rusty decided to interject then, saying;
"you're out danny, what she said what right guys." more exclaims came from the rest of the room were yelled out, but being one of the only ones in the room with some sense, reuben yelled out;
"but who's gonna trigger the vault?" rusty turned to linus;
"you up for it kid?" he looked half excited to finally have some proper role, and half scared as shit. he nodded, trying to seem unbothered by it.
the day of rolled around and you were standing in front of linus in a somewhat-fancy dress of your choice. you tying the tie around his neck and him trying not to panic as the realization of this situation set it. if he messes up, it's over. as you finish up, you smoothed your hands over his shoulders and stepped back from him, checking over your work. you offered a sympathetic smile to him, which he matched whilst trying not to freak out.
stepping back toward him, you let him wrap his arms around your shoulders and chest as you return the hug, sliding your arms around him to connect at his back. in perfect timing, you pulled away as rusty walked in to help prepare linus. you took a seat at one of the barstools at the counter and began to double check your handbag.
"where are you gonna put your hands?" your boyfriend mistakenly clasped them both around the handle of his empty briefcase.
"no," he tried again, attempting his pockets. "not your pockets either," linus was beginning to get frustrated with rusty and reached for the tie that you absolutely perfected earlier. "and don't touch your tie either. is that how you're gonna stand?" linus suddenly became self conscious and adjusted his stance.
"wrong again. if i ask you a question and you have to think of an answer, where are you gonna look?" linus quickly looked at you and then down to the floor. silently facepalming, you said;
"if you look down they know you're lying," he looked at you, silently saying 'who's side are you on?' and you shrugged back at him. looking over his shoulder at you, rusty sidestepped to block your view of him, hoping linus will actually focus. he tried again and looked up this time - big mistake.
"and up they know you don't know the truth. don't use three words when one will do, don't shift your eyes, look at your mark but don't stare, be specific but not memorable, be funny but don't make him laugh," you leant around rusty's body and interjected quickly;
"he's gotta like you and then forget you instantly, the second you walk away you're gone." rusty snapped his fingers and points at you in agreement before continuing
"and for god's sake, whatever you do don't, under any circumstances-"
"hey rust!" livingston called out from the room over, cutting rusty off before telling linus the final piece of advice. rusty walked over to where he was called from. you laugh at your beloved boyfriends bewildered face, and he walked over to you and took a seat next to you. letting your head fall to his shoulder, you let out a sigh.
a/n: HIIII first longer fic i've written for my man linus caldwell. crossposted to ao3 - chinoisthatbitch. this one was requested but please let me know if anyone would like another part/any of the other movies!! as per usual, don't feed my work to ai and no beta readers
