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(PART FIVE)

It really did not take long for folks to settle into a pretty stable routine at the safe house.

Mornings started late, seeing as everybody slept in, and days were spent fairly leisurely. Dani did her own thing, Annie and Pepper usually occupied themselves watching the enormous library of movies that was held in the living room cabinet, and Roxanne alternated between cooking the next meal and settling down in front of the television.

Kyle had free reign of the house and all the time in the world. For a couple hours every night, the Thorny Roses would have to do some "business," which he assumed involved figuring out how they were going to negotiate their buyers, and he would be kicked out of the room for that period of time. It was usually during these periods of solitude that he found himself wandering around outside and taking in the picturesque view of the forest that surrounded the house.

He wasn't stupid. He was a city boy with absolutely no survival skills who had never even been to a summer camp before. There was no way that he could possibly have a successful escape attempt without getting caught or freezing to death as soon as the sun went down. His captors-turned-quasi-roommates also seemed to recognize that fact, though Roxanne would always give him a curfew of what time she wanted to see him back inside.

It had been about a week since Kyle had been abducted from his office and brought along as a bargaining chip by the ragtag group of art thieves, and now he was sitting on the porch with a fresh mug of coffee contemplating just what the hell he was going to tell his friends when he got home.

What the hell was he going to tell the police when he got home?

Kyle sighed, taking another sip of his dark roast. What had started off as a terrifying experience had now almost turned into a Twilightzone version of a vacation. Since getting off the bus he hadn't been tied up again, all the girls had acted pretty cordial, and the five of them frequently had conversations around the dinner table of their hopes for the future, the things they liked, and what they envisioned things would look like when this ordeal was over.

****************************************************************************************************

"I'm gonna go out and find Anonymous." Dani had proclaimed loudly, showing off a mouthful of potato chips. The other girls immediately rolled their eyes, though Kyle was curious enough to tear his attention away from his turkey sandwich. "Ummm...like the group?"

"No, Anonymous. The OG Anonymous. I wanna ask them where they got the idea to wear the creepy masks and shit." she clarified. "I..I'm not sure if Anonymous is just one person anymore? I mean, it seems like the name in itself just became synonymous with the whole group." Kyle said.

"Don't care, still wanna find the first guy who wore the mask."

The other girls had slightly more practical ideas of how to use the money they were planning to get from their latest heist. "We're gonna have to invest in some better equipment," Pepper started, eyeing Roxanne "Possibly some more training, too. It'll help if we all have our physical skills whipped into shape for the net job, and it'll help me not be so worried about you guys should anything go really awry." The other girls muttered in agreement, and Kyle caught a glimpse of Annie eyeing Pepper's arm muscles. He had gotten a sense pretty quick that she was the group's designated strongwoman. If she was focused on making the team better, even if it was for robberies, he wasn't inclined to argue with her about it.

Annie hoped to open a diner someday, one of the ones that purposefully looks like it's been through a time warm from the 50's. Kyle could see that, he could tell she had a real passion for cooking whenever he saw her help Roxanne out in the kitchen. And the fairly soft and happy aesthetic of a fifties diner was something he could imagine her thriving in.

When the group turned to her, Roxanne gave a little smirk and simply said "I just want the next job to go easier, so I guess you can lop me in with Pepper for more training." she laughed "I don't suppose they give training on how to not kidnap somebody on a whim?"

"If there isn't, I will gladly create a curriculum myself." Kyle deadpanned. The other girls laughed. He had been completely serious too. "Alright then Mr. Sass," Roxanne said snarkily, pausing to take another bite of her own sandwhich "what're you gonna do when we drop you off?"

"Love how you say 'when' and not 'if,' so thanks for that," Kyle started, awkwardly trying not to meet any of their gazes "I don't know...deal with whatever shitty paperwork the cops give me-"

"Where you totally will remember to tell them how nice we were!" Dani cut in, smiling so wide nearly all her teeth were showing. Kyle gulped "Um...yeah, I'll be sure to mention the lack of torture," he continued, picking at his food "After that, go back to work I guess? Not at the museum though, that was just a one time gig. Actually, I wonder how that paycheck's gonna work? Will they give me extra for the trouble or like, not pay me because I was technically pretty shitty at my job?"

"I don't think there's a 'Kidnapped While On the Job' laborers union, so good luck with that." Roxanne said, winking at him. "UGGHHHHHH great now it's back to the library for me then," he groaned "At least over there nothing happens. I can lie low, help some little old ladies organize their books, and live out my nice, CALM life." he sighed.

Roxanne looked like she was about to say something else, when suddenly her phone chimed once. Immediately everyone at the table froze, and Kyle found himself awkwardly holding his sandwich halfway toward his face. "Uh, we get service out here?!" he squeaked out. Roxanne didn't say anything, she just started reading what he assumed was a text. "Kyle, get out." she commanded.

"What?!"

"Just-go outside or something I don't care!" she snapped, before turning to the other members of her crew "Girls. Emergency meeting. Right now."

****************************************************************************************************

And so Kyle and his sandwich had unceremoniously been kicked out of the room, and here he was sipping coffee from his designated mug and wondering if it would be bad if he said he would at least miss the view of the woods. He didn't have a watch, and since Roxanne had confiscated his phone when she took him he had no idea of knowing what time it was. Still, it seemed like the girls had been huddled inside for quite a while now. His second cup of coffee was already getting cold.

That's why when the back door finally opened behind him Kyle jumped about a foot in the air. He turned around, ready to sass whoever had decided that scaring him would be a funny idea when he stopped short. Roxanne stood there, tight-lipped and looking paler than he had ever seen her before. "Roxanne? What's wro-"

"Sweetheart you're gonna have to come inside. NOW." Her voice was shaking. Something was wrong. He followed her inside, worry increasing as he noticed the three other girls clad in the black and masked outfits they were wearing the night they had robbed the museum. "Alright Kyle, been a little change of plans." Roxanne started, and Kyle felt his heart rate immediately pick up. She must have noticed the sudden alarm, and put her hands up in a calming gesture "NOTHING bad is going to happen to you sweetheart, we just have to do things a little more quickly then we originally thought. Our buyers are on their way."

"Well, that's good isn't it? That was the whole plan; have your buyers swing by as soon as possible so we could go our separate ways as soon as possible." Kyle repeated. That had been the plan all along, right? That was the main reason why he hadn't been constantly in fear for his safety during his stay at the safe house with a couple of known criminals and goodness knows how much stolen artwork.

"Sweetheart, the whole point of this job was to make us look like a legit organization," Roxanne started, and Kyle noticed that she was holding something behind her back. He scrambled backwards, but was caught by Pepper. "H-Hey! What gives?!" he screamed. "Calm down! We told our buyers we had a hostage and...we kind of have to make you look the part?" Annie offered, there was an unsaid apology in her eyes. With Pepper's strong grip on his arms, Kyle couldn't twist away, even as he saw Roxanne pull a large coil of rope from behind her back.

Kyle shook his head back and forth so fast his vision started swimming. "Nuh-uh, no way I am DONE with that!" he shouted, thrashing as Roxanne and the other girls started wrapping coils of rope around his ankles and knees. He actually landed a kick to Roxanne's cheek, knocking her head back. Everyone stood stock still.

"Oh crap! Sorry, I didn't mean to-" he started, but choked once he saw Roxanne lift up her head to look at him once again. He would have expected a death glare, but he just saw a pair of eyes that seemed just as afraid and even more tired than he was.

Kyle's thoughts were interrupted by something painfully colliding with his head, making him see black spots. "Oh motherfu- DANI! That was unnecessary!"

"WHAT?! He landed his foot in your face! Dammit, that's gonna leave a mark!"

"Look at him, you probably almost knocked him out!"

"So what?! He needs to look a little roughed up anyway! We don't know what the hell those bastards are gonna do if they think we aren't taking this whole thing seriously!"

"Guys, can we please just get on with this?!"

Kyle groaned, but didn't fight as his arms were restrained behind his back once again. Damn that hurt, but at least after the initial shock he wasn't feeling faint or dizzy. "I hate you guys. I hate you so much what the ever-loving-hell is wrong with you people." He grumbled, glaring at the four girls as they looked at their handiwork. Roxanne sighed heavily, and Kyle flinched. Her left cheek was already turning a painful-looking mottled purple.

"Kyle, I know this isn't fun for you. But it sure as shit ain't a picnic for us either." she spat, bringing a hand up to her face to caress her new bruise "Look. We need this job. So by extension, we need you. Specifically, we need you to look the part of a roughed-up hostage. Just be quiet, look scared, and don't cause any unnecessary attention to yourself. You're a bargaining chip meant to keep the cops from storming this place." she finished, looking down at him with worry still in her eyes.

Kyle opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off as a loud and ominous chime sounded through the house. Immediately every one of the girls froze, sending quick glances to the front door.

"Wait a sec, is tha- mmph!?"

Pepper slapped her hand on top of his mouth, muffling his cries of indignation as he watched Roxanne pull a familiar looking scarf out of her pocket. Working quickly, she made a large knot in the middle and forced it behind his teeth before he could yell again. "Grmmph! Mhmmmrrr!" Kyle grumbled as Pepper laid him down gingerly on the floor. He watched as the girls slipped on the same black masks they had been wearing the night they had robbed the museum, before Roxanne took in a deep breath and made her way towards the front door.

Kyle heard a few soft voices, but they were too hushed and too low for him to make out any details of the conversation. In front of him, the other members of the Thorny Roses stood stock still, waiting. Finally, Roxanne emerged from the front entrance, followed by three incredibly menacing-looking men in dark suits. Kyle felt himself curl up, trying to make himself as small as possible. He realized that the other girls might have been standing in front of him in an effort to keep him at least slightly concealed.

His hopes of going unnoticed were destroyed, however, when one of the men made eye contact. With a sadistic smile, a pair of icy blue eyes narrowed as the man separated from the other two members of his group and slinked toward Kyle. Dani, Pepper, and Annie all tensed, but said nothing when he bent down to Kyle's bound form and ran his fingers through the boy's hair, eliciting a muffled groan.

"Well now, who's this sweet little thing?"

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

(PART FIVE)

It really did not take long for folks to settle into a pretty stable routine at the safe house.

Mornings started late, seeing as everybody slept in, and days were spent fairly leisurely. Dani did her own thing, Annie and Pepper usually occupied themselves watching the enormous library of movies that was held in the living room cabinet, and Roxanne alternated between cooking the next meal and settling down in front of the television.

Kyle had free reign of the house and all the time in the world. For a couple hours every night, the Thorny Roses would have to do some "business," which he assumed involved figuring out how they were going to negotiate their buyers, and he would be kicked out of the room for that period of time. It was usually during these periods of solitude that he found himself wandering around outside and taking in the picturesque view of the forest that surrounded the house.

He wasn't stupid. He was a city boy with absolutely no survival skills who had never even been to a summer camp before. There was no way that he could possibly have a successful escape attempt without getting caught or freezing to death as soon as the sun went down. His captors-turned-quasi-roommates also seemed to recognize that fact, though Roxanne would always give him a curfew of what time she wanted to see him back inside.

It had been about a week since Kyle had been abducted from his office and brought along as a bargaining chip by the ragtag group of art thieves, and now he was sitting on the porch with a fresh mug of coffee contemplating just what the hell he was going to tell his friends when he got home.

What the hell was he going to tell the police when he got home?

Kyle sighed, taking another sip of his dark roast. What had started off as a terrifying experience had now almost turned into a Twilightzone version of a vacation. Since getting off the bus he hadn't been tied up again, all the girls had acted pretty cordial, and the five of them frequently had conversations around the dinner table of their hopes for the future, the things they liked, and what they envisioned things would look like when this ordeal was over.

****************************************************************************************************

"I'm gonna go out and find Anonymous." Dani had proclaimed loudly, showing off a mouthful of potato chips. The other girls immediately rolled their eyes, though Kyle was curious enough to tear his attention away from his turkey sandwich. "Ummm...like the group?"

"No, Anonymous. The OG Anonymous. I wanna ask them where they got the idea to wear the creepy masks and shit." she clarified. "I..I'm not sure if Anonymous is just one person anymore? I mean, it seems like the name in itself just became synonymous with the whole group." Kyle said.

"Don't care, still wanna find the first guy who wore the mask."

The other girls had slightly more practical ideas of how to use the money they were planning to get from their latest heist. "We're gonna have to invest in some better equipment," Pepper started, eyeing Roxanne "Possibly some more training, too. It'll help if we all have our physical skills whipped into shape for the net job, and it'll help me not be so worried about you guys should anything go really awry." The other girls muttered in agreement, and Kyle caught a glimpse of Annie eyeing Pepper's arm muscles. He had gotten a sense pretty quick that she was the group's designated strongwoman. If she was focused on making the team better, even if it was for robberies, he wasn't inclined to argue with her about it.

Annie hoped to open a diner someday, one of the ones that purposefully looks like it's been through a time warm from the 50's. Kyle could see that, he could tell she had a real passion for cooking whenever he saw her help Roxanne out in the kitchen. And the fairly soft and happy aesthetic of a fifties diner was something he could imagine her thriving in.

When the group turned to her, Roxanne gave a little smirk and simply said "I just want the next job to go easier, so I guess you can lop me in with Pepper for more training." she laughed "I don't suppose they give training on how to not kidnap somebody on a whim?"

"If there isn't, I will gladly create a curriculum myself." Kyle deadpanned. The other girls laughed. He had been completely serious too. "Alright then Mr. Sass," Roxanne said snarkily, pausing to take another bite of her own sandwhich "what're you gonna do when we drop you off?"

"Love how you say 'when' and not 'if,' so thanks for that," Kyle started, awkwardly trying not to meet any of their gazes "I don't know...deal with whatever shitty paperwork the cops give me-"

"Where you totally will remember to tell them how nice we were!" Dani cut in, smiling so wide nearly all her teeth were showing. Kyle gulped "Um...yeah, I'll be sure to mention the lack of torture," he continued, picking at his food "After that, go back to work I guess? Not at the museum though, that was just a one time gig. Actually, I wonder how that paycheck's gonna work? Will they give me extra for the trouble or like, not pay me because I was technically pretty shitty at my job?"

"I don't think there's a 'Kidnapped While On the Job' laborers union, so good luck with that." Roxanne said, winking at him. "UGGHHHHHH great now it's back to the library for me then," he groaned "At least over there nothing happens. I can lie low, help some little old ladies organize their books, and live out my nice, CALM life." he sighed.

Roxanne looked like she was about to say something else, when suddenly her phone chimed once. Immediately everyone at the table froze, and Kyle found himself awkwardly holding his sandwich halfway toward his face. "Uh, we get service out here?!" he squeaked out. Roxanne didn't say anything, she just started reading what he assumed was a text. "Kyle, get out." she commanded.

"What?!"

"Just-go outside or something I don't care!" she snapped, before turning to the other members of her crew "Girls. Emergency meeting. Right now."

****************************************************************************************************

And so Kyle and his sandwich had unceremoniously been kicked out of the room, and here he was sipping coffee from his designated mug and wondering if it would be bad if he said he would at least miss the view of the woods. He didn't have a watch, and since Roxanne had confiscated his phone when she took him he had no idea of knowing what time it was. Still, it seemed like the girls had been huddled inside for quite a while now. His second cup of coffee was already getting cold.

That's why when the back door finally opened behind him Kyle jumped about a foot in the air. He turned around, ready to sass whoever had decided that scaring him would be a funny idea when he stopped short. Roxanne stood there, tight-lipped and looking paler than he had ever seen her before. "Roxanne? What's wro-"

"Sweetheart you're gonna have to come inside. NOW." Her voice was shaking. Something was wrong. He followed her inside, worry increasing as he noticed the three other girls clad in the black and masked outfits they were wearing the night they had robbed the museum. "Alright Kyle, been a little change of plans." Roxanne started, and Kyle felt his heart rate immediately pick up. She must have noticed the sudden alarm, and put her hands up in a calming gesture "NOTHING bad is going to happen to you sweetheart, we just have to do things a little more quickly then we originally thought. Our buyers are on their way."

"Well, that's good isn't it? That was the whole plan; have your buyers swing by as soon as possible so we could go our separate ways as soon as possible." Kyle repeated. That had been the plan all along, right? That was the main reason why he hadn't been constantly in fear for his safety during his stay at the safe house with a couple of known criminals and goodness knows how much stolen artwork.

"Sweetheart, the whole point of this job was to make us look like a legit organization," Roxanne started, and Kyle noticed that she was holding something behind her back. He scrambled backwards, but was caught by Pepper. "H-Hey! What gives?!" he screamed. "Calm down! We told our buyers we had a hostage and...we kind of have to make you look the part?" Annie offered, there was an unsaid apology in her eyes. With Pepper's strong grip on his arms, Kyle couldn't twist away, even as he saw Roxanne pull a large coil of rope from behind her back.

Kyle shook his head back and forth so fast his vision started swimming. "Nuh-uh, no way I am DONE with that!" he shouted, thrashing as Roxanne and the other girls started wrapping coils of rope around his ankles and knees. He actually landed a kick to Roxanne's cheek, knocking her head back. Everyone stood stock still.

"Oh crap! Sorry, I didn't mean to-" he started, but choked once he saw Roxanne lift up her head to look at him once again. He would have expected a death glare, but he just saw a pair of eyes that seemed just as afraid and even more tired than he was.

Kyle's thoughts were interrupted by something painfully colliding with his head, making him see black spots. "Oh motherfu- DANI! That was unnecessary!"

"WHAT?! He landed his foot in your face! Dammit, that's gonna leave a mark!"

"Look at him, you probably almost knocked him out!"

"So what?! He needs to look a little roughed up anyway! We don't know what the hell those bastards are gonna do if they think we aren't taking this whole thing seriously!"

"Guys, can we please just get on with this?!"

Kyle groaned, but didn't fight as his arms were restrained behind his back once again. Damn that hurt, but at least after the initial shock he wasn't feeling faint or dizzy. "I hate you guys. I hate you so much what the ever-loving-hell is wrong with you people." He grumbled, glaring at the four girls as they looked at their handiwork. Roxanne sighed heavily, and Kyle flinched. Her left cheek was already turning a painful-looking mottled purple.

"Kyle, I know this isn't fun for you. But it sure as shit ain't a picnic for us either." she spat, bringing a hand up to her face to caress her new bruise "Look. We need this job. So by extension, we need you. Specifically, we need you to look the part of a roughed-up hostage. Just be quiet, look scared, and don't cause any unnecessary attention to yourself. You're a bargaining chip meant to keep the cops from storming this place." she finished, looking down at him with worry still in her eyes.

Kyle opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off as a loud and ominous chime sounded through the house. Immediately every one of the girls froze, sending quick glances to the front door.

"Wait a sec, is tha- mmph!?"

Pepper slapped her hand on top of his mouth, muffling his cries of indignation as he watched Roxanne pull a familiar looking scarf out of her pocket. Working quickly, she made a large knot in the middle and forced it behind his teeth before he could yell again. "Grmmph! Mhmmmrrr!" Kyle grumbled as Pepper laid him down gingerly on the floor. He watched as the girls slipped on the same black masks they had been wearing the night they had robbed the museum, before Roxanne took in a deep breath and made her way towards the front door.

Kyle heard a few soft voices, but they were too hushed and too low for him to make out any details of the conversation. In front of him, the other members of the Thorny Roses stood stock still, waiting. Finally, Roxanne emerged from the front entrance, followed by three incredibly menacing-looking men in dark suits. Kyle felt himself curl up, trying to make himself as small as possible. He realized that the other girls might have been standing in front of him in an effort to keep him at least slightly concealed.

His hopes of going unnoticed were destroyed, however, when one of the men made eye contact. With a sadistic smile, a pair of icy blue eyes narrowed as the man separated from the other two members of his group and slinked toward Kyle. Dani, Pepper, and Annie all tensed, but said nothing when he bent down to Kyle's bound form and ran his fingers through the boy's hair, eliciting a muffled groan.

"Well now, who's this sweet little thing?"