The Scarlett Storm Thief

The naughty painting.

Percy's P.O.V: ( the next morning)

I ran a hand over my face in exhaustion as I headed into the FBI building. I knew that I was in so much trouble. I sat down at the desk in my office and looked at all of the paperwork I had to complete. I heard a knock at the door followed by Jason poking his head in. 

"Long night?" he asked curiously. 

I just nodded. 

"Well it's about to get even more exhausting because you have to get your butt into Grey's office now." he stated. 

I groaned but nodded. I planned on sleeping in here when I was done with Grey. It took a few moments but I managed to drag my feet to Grey's office and knock 3 times. I heard a grouchy "Come in." before I turned the handle and entered. He looked up from the papers he was holding and motioned for me to sit. I sat into a nice, cozy and warm chair. I instantly felt like sleeping. It was so hard to resist the temptation. 

"So, Percy" he started. 

"Let me see if i've got this correctly," I nodded for him to continue. 

"You set up a trap for the Scarlet thief of where they would strike next. Your assumption was correct and they got inside. And when you got inside to arrest him you found that the painting was already stolen and that 10 officers were tied up and gagged. And you chased him up the roof where he got away... with the million dollar painting. Does that sound about right?" 

"Well sir, there's actually a couple of things you should know." 

He motioned for me to continue. 

"The Scarlet Storm Thief is actually a woman." I said cautiously. 

I was about to continue but he held a hand up to keep me quiet. 

"So your telling me that a thief we have been chasing for 3 years that a he is actually she!?!?" he yelled rubbing his temples. 

"Were you able to ID her?" 

"No sir. It was too dark." I said disappointedly. 

Grey seemed disappointed also. 

"And she got away with the painting?" he said angrily seeming to hate every second I was sitting in front of him. 

"Well actually that's the other thing I wanted to tell you. The painting she stole was a fake. We had the owner hide away the real one and we placed the fake there to use as bait." 

Some of the worry lines seemed to go away on his face. 

"Well that's probably the best news I've heard all day."

I breathed a small sigh of relief and fell asleep in his chair. I heard a faint chuckle coming from Grey as I did so.

Annabeth's P.O.V:

I rolled out of bed and fell on the ground. I groaned and pulled myself up throwing a white fluffy robe around myself in the process. I turned on the coffee machine and grabbed the morning's newspaper from the front porch. I sat on the couch upstairs and flipped through it wondering if there was any headlines saying 

'Scarlet Storm Thief Strikes Again.' or 'Another Painting Gone!' 

Disappointingly I put it down and grabbed my coffee. A few hours later I was trying not to check my watch constantly as I waited for her to show up. After a couple of minutes I heard the doorbell ring and I flew down the stairs opening the door, gesturing for her to come in. She came in and took off her jacket hanging it up on the hook. 

"Finally!!" I exclaimed. 

"I know, I know. I'm late." 

I closed the door and followed her down to the basement. I punched in the code for the basement and headed over to the painting I had stolen last night. 

"So how'd it go last night?" Piper asked. Piper was the one who I called into have the paintings and jewels verified. I would then pay her 20% of the money that I got off the black market. It also pays for her silence. If she was dumb enough to go to the authorities I would be able to make it seem like the only guilty person is her. 

"Same as usual." I replied obviously. 

"Actually, now that I think about it the FBI has a new person on my case." 

"Well, I'm not surprised there. The last one was a dimwitted idiot." she said inspecting the painting with a confused expression. 

"But... apparently... this one... isn't." 

This piqued my interest. 

"Why not, Pipes?" 

"This is a forgery." I grabbed the magnifying glass from her hand as she pointed to a specific spot on the painting. There was a crack there which had been painted over. It wouldn't have been there in the original. 

"Damn it!" I cursed. 

"No wonder there wasn't an article in the newspaper."

"So, the FBI already knew you were planning on stealing this one. The new guy has definitely got me impressed, Annabeth." 

Piper was one of the 2 that knew about my past and my real name. I threw her a dirty look. She held up her hands defensively saying  

"What? Anyone who can ruffle your feathers must be good." she said shrugging her shoulders. 

"Well I guess there's only one thing left for me to do." I said making up my mind. 

"What's that?" 

"Go find and steal the real one." I said without hesitation walking down to my room to pack my things. 

"And how are you going to do that?" she asked inquisitively. 

"Watch and learn." was my simple answer.

A.N: I used 'Irises' by Vincent Van Gogh for the painting.