Red Notice (2021 Thurber) Oneshots

Maybe This Time

John had forgotten how good Nolan Booth was at his job.

Since his 'betrayal' a couple of months ago, they hadn't heard anything. It was almost like he had dropped off the face of the earth, vanishing into shadows. John and Sarah had tried repeatedly to locate him, but still nothing. John knew that Sarah missed him; he did, too.

Something about Nolan's light-hearted humor that was annoying made John's heart warm. However, they had been privy to seeing him more vulnerable than anyone had ever expected. John still found him annoying as hell, but he loved Booth. They both did.

If only that could be shown to him, but it was kind of hard to confess your love and make things right when you can't locate the person you intend to tell. They had one hope: the biggest artifact party that year. It was the newest score, and the mission called for all things Nolan Booth. They knew he wouldn't be able to resist it. Yes, he'd made a good profit off of the item he'd betrayed them for, but they both knew he wasn't an art thief for the money. He loved it because of the high stakes in the game.

It made him feel alive.

So John had helped Sarah make the plans to intercept Nolan. Don't worry, all they wanted was a chance to talk, to make things right.

Maybe this time it would actually work out the way it was supposed to, and everything could once again be right in the world.

~

Nolan absolutely hated that he'd let himself get swept up into this new score. He'd made a very well-off profit that would allow him to disappear and wallow in self pity in comfort. He'd never have to see the Bishops again. That had been the plan at least until he'd gotten the news about the artifact.

It was a high stakes mission and would require an intricate plan, but still enough room for his beautiful improv. So he'd gotten sucked in and was vying for it.

That's how he'd gotten to this masquerade party. Acquiring an invitation had been nothing short of easy. It was so easy he was tempted to hack the entire security system just so he could crawl through the vents to prove a point and because it was way more thrilling.

Hell, he might as well just broadcast his entire heist if it was this easy. He convinced himself to stay with his original plan because he could always make it more entertaining in the long run.

He plucked a glass from a passing by server, downing the contents. He surveyed the crowd from his spot, perfectly selected so that he would have a bird's eye view of all activities. It was just a waiting game now of when the crowd would be the most distracted.

Finally, he found his window and took it. He maneuvered through the crowd easily, slipping away into the bathroom where he'd gotten his supplies smuggled in. Changing out of his dark blue suit, he ripped off the mask and stuffed it in the bag. God, he hated those things. They left a bitter memory in his mind. He checked the schematics of everything one final time that everything was perfectly laid out before disappearing down the path he'd chosen.

It was the less obvious one, more dangerous, and the one that nobody would expect him to take. Entering the vault was also super easy, but he was still cautious as he slinked through the room in the shadows. He was about to near the front part of the room when he heard two voices that made him stop dead in his tracks. John and Sarah's.

The voices of the two people he never wanted to see again. The voices of the two people he was in love with. He loved everything about their voices, the elegance in which they dictated letters, their accents. Just everything. The voices of the two people that didn't love him back and was the main reason he went through with his revenge in the first place.