Nothing But Thieves {Fransykes}

26: Josh

Elissa sets her backpack down on Oliver's table and opens it, to which Josh can only stare at the contents in shock.

Her purple backpack, decorated with sketches of strawberries and blueberries, contains a small arsenal inside of it. Josh manages to spot a bundle of razor-sharp throwing knives, multiple grenades, a smoke bomb, everything needed to assemble Molotov cocktails, something that looks suspiciously like a Claymore mine, and a bottle of Adderal. He is sure that there must be more than that in the bag, given how full it is, but he figures that in this case, innocence is most likely bliss.

"The Adderal is for me." Elissa declares cheerily, as though that is the item in her bag that has left Josh and Oliver speechless and staring.

"The pills are not what I was worried about." Oliver mumbles, staring down at the contents of the bag incredulously "Why the hell do you have a mine from the fucking 1950s?" He is referring to the Claymore mine, an American designed mine that is over sixty years out of date.

"It's a classic!" Elissa defends herself, "I've been waiting for a chance to use it."

"I can't believe you just threw all this shit in a backpack." Josh breathes incredulously, picking up one of the grenades and gingerly setting it down on the table. He is coming to the conclusion that Elissa must have some sort of collection of vintage weaponry, which terrifies just about as much as the thought of Elissa having access to anything deadly.

"Give me some credit, I made sure all the pins were still in the grenades."

"Oh, that's a relief." Josh replies sarcastically, still trying to work through his shock. "I thought you weren't a gun person."

"Do you see any guns?" Elissa retorts, "I like explosives. Guns are for cowards. And Jordan."

"So, cowards." Oliver quips, breaking the shocked tension and making both Josh and Elissa laugh aloud. It is not enough to make anyone forget about Elissa's armoury, but it is enough to relieve some of the stress that makes the air seem all heavy like it might feel on a humid summer day.

"Speaking of Jordan, is he meeting us here?" Josh questions, because Elissa is the one who is in charge without a shadow of a doubt, and only she knows all the details of her plan.

Elissa shakes her head, "He's part of phase two of my plan."

"There's a phase two?"

"The less you two know, the better."

Josh actually believes her, because chances are that phase two of Elissa's plan is even more dangerous and unhinged than phase one. He has never known her to have a sane and rational plan, including when they were children and she trapped in the bathroom with a feral cat until he gave up the location of his secret candy stash. That day had ended with a rabies shot and Elissa being grounded for weeks, and Josh has been terrified by her ever since.

"Alright!" Elissa claps her hands cheerfully, then reaches into the backpack and picks up the smoke bomb, tossing it up in the air and catching it, only grinning as Josh and Oliver flinch away from her in unison. "Let's get started, shall we?"

She proceeds to lead Josh and Oliver through setting up increasingly lethal and complex traps. By the time they have finished setting up the apartment, it has become a veritable death trap, for lack of a better phrase.

The front door is rigged to the Claymore mine, set up to detonate when the door is opened. Should that fail, there is also a remote detonator, either of which will cause it to explode outwards, shooting steel balls into the corridor and killing anyone unlucky enough to be in its path. Each other door in the apartment is rigged to a grenade, except for the bathroom, which is where the three of them are to be hiding crouched in the old-fashioned bathtub. Several floorboads have been ripped up and replaced with a small rugs or pieces of cloth, stretched overtop of a series of knives jutting upwards in what is essentially a series of miniature spike pits.

Oliver is armed with the smoke bomb, given that he has no experience handling any kind of weapon. Josh and Elissa each have their knives, and there is a stash of Molotov cocktails in the bathtub. Strapping his knives to his arms and belt again is an emotional task for Josh. He cannot stop the memories of the man he killed from flooding his mind, making him bite his lip to keep it from trembling with fear and unshed tears.

"I really hope we don't die in a bloody bath tub." Oli whispers to Josh as Elissa's strides around the apartment, double-checking the traps. The statement brings Josh back to the present, freeing him from the flashbacks that have been crowding his thoughts and grounding him once again.

Josh studies his boyfriend's face, recognizing all the clenched muscles and slight tremors that mean his anxiety is verging on overwhelming him. Josh forgets about his own worries the moment he sees that his boyfriend is in crisis, the memories no longer anywhere near the forefront of his thoughts. He puts an arm around Oliver's shoulders, pulling him closer. "We're gonna make it through this." He murmurs.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I just found the love of my life, and I haven't spent nearly enough time with you yet." Josh replies honestly, holding Oli's gaze so that the other man knows that he means every word that he is saying to him.

Oliver's face flushes a pretty shade of pink, "You're so sweet." He breathes quietly, as though speaking any louder will interrupt the moment that they are sharing.

Josh smiles instinctively, using one hand to stroke Oli's hair lovingly, "I'm just being honest. I'm not dying now, not when I get to exist by your side at last."

Oli laughs in a flustered sort of way, hiding his face in Josh's shoulder. "You're a hopeless romantic."

"Can you guys stop being all mushy and cute for a second?" Josh looks up at Elissa to find her staring at them with her hands planted on her hips in an authoritative manner. "We have places to go, people to kill, things to steal."

Josh raises his eyebrows, but goes along with it. After all, they have places to go, people to kill, and things to steal, as Elissa so eloquently put it. "Are the traps all good?" He asks, trying to return to the task at hand and not get all caught up in his gay thoughts about Oliver.

Elissa grins, "They are. Who wants to climb out the window and be bait?"

Josh and Oliver look at each other, and then simultaneously look back at Elissa. "You're the one who rock climbs." Josh replies. He has no intention of climbing out the window, nor does he want Oliver to risk it. Truthfully, Elissa is the most strong and resilient of the group. If anyone can survive climbing out a window to be live bait for hired killers, it is her.

Elissa rolls her eyes, but she doesn't seem to bothered by the task at hand, "Fine, I'll do it. But only because you idiots are too weak to do it yourselves. Wish me luck in not getting murdered or whatever."

"Good luck in not getting murdered or whatever."

~

um. I wish I could explain how I know so much about claymore mines but I honestly don't remember which hyperfixation led me to it

im bopping to the song i attached btw

five star hotel I don't feel well and remember to create and destroy as you see fit

-Samira