LEVERAGE AU - volume one

Chapter One

In an unfinished building stood Jackson Krushnic with a head set and a lap top in front of him. On this headset, he was speaking with his new team who happened to be on the roof of another building.

Danny Murillo, more commonly known as Boomer, but not for the obvious reason. He wasn't a bomb maker, he was only famous for the boom he sent to your head after knocking you out.

Alice Young. Known as the community's local psycho thief. Yet, nobody could complain, she was good at what she did, for earning a big ol' pay day in the end was her true goal.

Katie "Pidge" Holt, famous for her hacking skills and never leaving a digital foot-print. She was also very skeptical of the headsets provided by Jackson.

"No, no, no, no. No, hell, no. This equipment is total VH1 bro, it's best of the 80's. I got something nicer."

Jack rolled his eyes. "No surprises now."

"I've been doing this since high school, bro, I'm Captain Discipline."

~

A New York City hotel, five years ago...

"They came straight from the airport and up to their room." The manager explained to security.

"So you never actually saw any of them then?"

"No, but the credit card numbers checked out!"

The security guards nodded to each other as they ran to the room, busted the doors open only to see Pidge sitting on a couch drinking orange soda while three beautiful women dressed as Princess Leia fight with lightsabers. Pidge calmly took a drink and looked them dead in the eye.

"This is not the room you are looking for..."

~

"It's a bone-conduction earpiece mic, works off the vibrations in your jaw." She tossed one to Boomer as she put one in her own ear.

Boomer put it in and shrugged. "Not as useless as you look, then."

Pidge raised an eyebrow, "I don't even know what you do."

~

Three years ago, Belgrade, Serbia...

Danny walked in wearing glasses and calmly sipping a mug of tea, "I'm here to collect the merchandise." Most of the men pulled guns. Boomer took a long sip of his drink.

Outside, one could see the windows flash with gunfire. Groans and the sound of a body falling filled the air.

Inside, Boomer calmly took another drink. One man sat at a table surrounded by bodies that litter the ground. He placed a baseball card on the table. Danny smiled.

~

Alice dropped in between them from her professional grade rope from the building across the street. "Can I have one?"

"Take your pick," Pidge answered, holding out a small box of them from which Alice took one.

Boomer was off to figure out the surroundings of the building while Alice saw Pidge's glancing at him. "What's he gonna say when he finds out you still live with your parents."

"Wha-?! How'd you-?! Well, yknow what? Age of the geek, baby. We run the world."

Alice only blinked a few times. "You keep tellin yourself that."

Once Alice had put in the comm link, she smiled.

~

19 Years Ago in Kansas City, a ten year old Alice stood in her living room watching her foster parents fight. The foster father turned to her, holding a stuffed bunny while the foster mother stood behind him, crying.

"You thought I wouldn't find this? You don't get bunny until you do what I say. So be a good girl or, I don't know, a better thief." The foster father said as he threw the bunny to the ground. His wife followed after and Alice picked up the bunny, tilting her head at it.

About an hour later, Alice was walking away from the house with a wide grin and the bunny in her hands as it blew up behind her.

~

Alice picked up her box of equipment, almost looking at it as if it were her lover. "Last time I used this was Paris, 2003..."

Boomer shook his head as he kept examining the ear piece, "Is this thing safe?"

Pidge shrugged as she typed on her laptop. "Yeah, it's completely safe, it's just, you know, you might experience nausea, weakness in your right side, stroke, strokey...ness."

Boomer raised an eyebrow. "You are the exact reason I work alone."

Jack needed to get the gang going, no more wasting time, so he butt in. "Guys listen up, we're going to go on my count, not a second sooner. Alice, no freelancing. Okay, now, on the count of five. Five... Four... Thr-"

Then Boomer's voice could be heard. "Annnnd she's gone."

"Sonova..."