Theraputic Kidnapping

Note from Alicia: There was a suggestion made in the player community that we should share unfinished logs, either there or here - and here seemed like the best idea to me. I have too many cute unfinished logs hanging about not to share the best of them.

So... Pete and Domino, back in October 2004, just prior to the infamous *cough*field trip*cough* to Istanbul.

Posted on x_project.

The room was dark, and Pete didn't look round from the laptop screen he was staring at as Domino walked in behind him.

"Don't even think about it, Dom. How was the flight?"

He finished typing, set the laptop to one side, and turned in his chair to grin at her as she switched the lights on.

"Tedious. Boring. Insufficient alcohol. First class isn't what it used to be, I'm afraid." Domino went over and planted herself on the couch, putting her feet up on the coffee table. She gave him a quick up and down look, then made a tsking noise. "You," she said very firmly, "need to get out of this house. Possibly out of this country as well. I have an idea."

Pete stretched. "All of these things are probably true, but you'll forgive a little self-preserveration instinct if I ask what you've got in mind, before I agree to leaving the room, never mind the country. I remember some of your other bloody ideas..."

She batted her eyelashes at him. "You're going to hurt my feelings," she said mournfully. "As if you didn't have fun all those other times. I mean, okay, so the incidental bullet holes and stab wounds probably weren't strictly necessary, but it's not my fault if you're old and slow." Pete looked like he was going to say something in response to that, but she made an imperious gesture. "And I did NOT shoot you that time in Dublin! We agreed. You fell on my bullet."

Pete looked back with an amused expression. "No, you agreed, and I was too busy bleeding to argue. But yeah, I admit, that stab wounds, bullet holes and hideous beatings aside, I had fun. But I've had more than my bloody share of them for this year already, so I'd just like to know the odds of more..."

"Semantics," Domino said dismissively, waving a hand. "But anyway. You remember me mentioning that job I did, retrieving some artifacts that had been stolen?" Pete nodded, and she went. "Turns out my friend the curator in Athens passed my name to a fellow curator in Istanbul who found himself with the same problem. Frustrating thing for him is, he knows who's got this piece--it's a private collector in Istanbul, but the man's rich enough that he can pay to make the problem go away so the curator's not having any luck going through the antiquities people." Domino grinned. "So, basically, he's proposing to use the reward money - five hundred grand American, by the way - to hire me to steal it back."

Pete looked thoughtful. "Not that escorting a beautiful woman while she steals expensive artifacts doesn't sound like a good way to spend a rainy afternoon, but what's the angle here? Unless there's something about this collector, you don't need help on a job like this, and I can think of other ways to take a break that don't run the risk of getting arrested..."

"Does everything I do need an angle? No, don't answer that." She slouched a little further on the couch, yawning. The flight had really done a number on her, and she was still catching up on sleep from Kashmir. "I thought it might be fun, that's all. You, me... Amanda." She eyed him, waiting for the reaction. When it didn't come immediately, she went on. "And possibly any of the other youngsters you think could use a break. I was thinking of Sarah, actually. And yes, Wisdom, I'm proposing taking minors out of the country to commit grand larceny, I'm fully aware of that. But it's a noble cause, dammit! We'd be robbing the rich and giving to the... not quite as rich and much nicer!" She grinned cheerfully at him. "Don't you think I'd look good in a Robin Hood costume? I have the legs for it..." She waved one at him, to demonstrate.

"Yes, you do." Pete frowned distractedly. "Let me take a look at what background you've got for this, but yeah, I think you're right. Something nice and low risk and away from bloody here where she gets to feel good about herself sounds like what the doctor ordered." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Amanda, Sarah and Angie."

Domino reached into her pocket and pulled out the USB key, tossing it to him. "Blueprints, photos, timeline. I came prepared." She regarded him a little more seriously. "It was my idea to kidnap Amanda back a couple of weeks ago, but Nate called me on the weekend and told me to find something we could do and get my ass over here. I gather she's not doing well. And what's wrong with Angie?"

Pete caught the key, and plugged it into the laptop, flipping it open and copying the files as he talked. "Oh, about a hundred different things, I think. Combination of a stressful few months that forced her to grow up a bit, and a mix of feeling useless and boredom now she's back into a kid's routine, I think. She's trying very hard to be the good girl everyone's used to, but I'm not sure how much her heart's in it any more." He looked up a slight grin. "Also, she's female, teenaged and French."

"Well, I do know Nate's been fretting about her. Solidarity among precogs or whatever the hell you want to call it." Domino leaned forward, eyeing him. "Phoned your sister before I got on the plane. She said it was fine with her so long as you and Nate both okayed the job." She made a little face. "I accused her of not trusting my judgement, and she just laughed at me and told me I still owed her a certain something from Amsterdam."