1947/A Matter of Secrecy

A Matter of Secrecy
Date of Scene:	02 June 2020
Location:	Central Business District
Synopsis:	Lyle and Speedy team up to steal documents and finaces from a sinister religious group. Lyle also puts the charm on her.
Cast of Characters:	Lyle Marston, Thea Queen

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Lyle Marston has posed:
The Friends of the Sun was a "religious group" based in sunny San Francisco, California. They claimed to be centered around a set of "virtues" established they claimed to have discovered in the steppes of Asia. While they cliam to be a "brotherhood" free of vice and sin. However, various accounts of members being exploited, robbed, and sometimes mistreated have been trickiling out over the past few years, and the Friends have been under the worse PR nightmare they have had in 3 decades. Yet, despite all of this, they are still standing tall.

Lyle Marston, AKA La Raton had been in Starling City for a book signing when The Mole, his ever-loyal information broker, contacted him with news that a rather genrous donation from one of their "elite members" had just been wired to their regional temple in the Business District. La Raton has decided to "liberate" the money donated to this sinister group and "relocate" it to a local charity after it has been throughly cleaned. Currently, he is has finally scaled the building and made it to the roof of the temple, Sir Percy, his ever loyal raccoon clinging tightly to his shoulders. On thegentleman theif's hands were two suction cups, a new gadget Mole provided him. He walks up to the roof access door and, after some effort, unscrews the vent, and gently hauls up the raccoon into the vent and says in fluent French,

"Alright my little friend, open the door and let me in"

As the Raccoon made it's way through the vent, Lyle waited outside, not expecting company on the roof of the temple, which seemed to unashamedly borrow it's design from Chinese and Cambodian temples.

Thea Queen has posed:
Starling City is the home to many different... organizations. Some on the up and up, some, not so much.

The Friends of the Sun, honestly, hadn't been on Thea's radar at all, but after hearing about it in her clubbing nights, the trust fund girl had paid at least one visit during working hours. And why wouldn't they want to court her? She's a Queen, from, well, Queen Consolidated. One of two heirs of a large corporation with its fingers in quite a few pots in the city, and it's always looking for more, right?

So, Thea had put on her best vacuous, rich girl act (not too hard, there!) by day, and now, in the evening?

Thea Queen is 'Speedy', the red hood donned, eyes darkened, and in her hand, a bow with arrows both on her back and on her sleeve. She is actually in the building, padding lightly, her com set in her ear as she progresses, directed by an unseen ally elsewhere.

"Okay, I'm in corridor A.. not seeing anything," is whispered. She pauses before she lightly steps down the hall, blue eyes watching for any hint of a step. Nodding in a silent reply to a voice that possibly only she hears, Speedy reaches for a door that should lead her to a stairwell up.

"Security.. right. 15 minutes."

Lyle Marston has posed:
As you made your way up the stairs, you luckily didn't run into any security guards. Hell, there wasn't even survailence cameras. As you walk up towards the top floor of the temple, you start to hear scratching noises echoing from the ceiling. Perhaps a vermin of some kind got into the air vent. Suddenly, the scratching stops at the air vent right next to you. Suddenly, the vent pops open on it's own, and the head of a raccoon pops out. It looks up at you curiously.

Thea Queen has posed:
Up the stairs, one by one, the only sound is a softly snorted laugh, followed by a whispered, "You tell and he'll have me on the stairmaster for hours."

Finally, at the top of the stairs, she nods to that invisible voice and gently opens the door, searching for any presence. No security, no cameras. Just a gentle,

*scritch*scritch*

The red-hooded Thea closes the door behind her and starts to head towards the noise, alert for anything else that might... and with a quiet *clang* of metal on floor, out pops,

"Oh my god..."

There must be some noise on the other side of the com before a quiet response is made, complete with an unseen handgesture, "No, no.. it's a .. raccoon, and it's adorable." No shooting the trash panda!

"Hey, buddy.. what're you.."

Lyle Marston has posed:
The raccoon chatters briefly, as if trying to respond, then makes it's way to the door at the very top of the stairs. After two or three rather athletic leaps from the trash panda, it finally manages to open the door, which opens with a small creak. A voice with a thick, French accent harshly whispers out as he tosses the Raccoon an animal cracker,

"Excellent work Sir Percy."
% A gloved hand suddenly reaches out from the door and gently grabs the raccoon and pulls him into the roof. A few moments later, the roof access door opens all the way, revealing waht appeared to be a man dressed up as a 18th century aristrocat. His face was clad with a black domino mask, a neatly trimmed brown mustache was on his lips and his long, brown hair was tied into a pony tale. His lips were curved into a sly, cunning smile as he closed the door quietly. Perched on his shoulders was the same raccoon who opened the door, who seemed to rub his head affectionatley on the man's face. The second he turns around and sees you, his face turns from confident and slick, to confused and slightly surprsied. After staring at you for a moment, he suddenly grins again and bows, taking off his hat as he says in his French accent,

Well, good evening mademosille."

Thea Queen has posed:
Okay, the waddling of a raccoon is really the cutest thing Thea has witnessed in a very long time, and as it's not making any threatening gestures to her, and doesn't appear to be packing explosives with which to blow her up, she's allowed to take that moment. She does, however, resist the urge to take a picture.

She probably should have, though, because no one would believe what comes next. The athletic leaps at the door, one, two.. and the door is opened, revealing,

Bow up, Speedy is on guard immediately after seeing a form in the doorway. She's cowled, that is, the dark green leather and fabric hood sets a good portion of her face in shadow, her eyes darkened. She's got a lean, lithe frame, the leather and fabric offering both protection and movement when and where needed.

The second he turns around, he'll be seeing an arrow nocked on string, and a Speedy looking so very ready for a reason.

"Who're you?" Definitely a feminine voice.

Okay, not what she was expecting... at all.

Lyle Marston has posed:
La Raton looked at the female archer, some concern on his face as the arrow was pointed at his chest. He then gave her a dissarming smile and said rather smootly,

"Mademosille, I assure you that I mean no harm. My name is La Raton, and I have come to teach this "religious group" a lesson." The term religious group is said with a brief scoff as the raccoon continues to stare at you, tiliting it's head rather adoribly. As this is happening, a door behind Thea opens up, and a Friends security guard emerges, clad in a yellow long-sleeved shirt, brown pants, and a red tie. He notices Thea and takes out a baton and begins to charge at her. Lyle audibly gasps and says,

"Mademosille! Behind you!"

Thea Queen has posed:
//Don't look at the raccoon, don't look at the raccoon..//

Speedy is keeping her shadowed gaze off the cute scavenger and on the man who wields it pretty effectively. They narrow beneath the cowl and her head cants slightly, that pause perhaps giving consideration to his words. It's only a heartbeat more before she nods, the gesture almost undetectable before that warning is given.

Immediately, with a feline's grace and speed, the archer twists around and shoots the arrow, hitting the radio squarely, which erupts into static, rendering it useless. She moves out to the side, the bow sweeping at the guard's knees, ready to take him down.

"Speedy.. a pleasure." Beat. "Cute raccoon." Talking while fighting?

Lyle Marston has posed:
The guard eyes widen in surprise as his radio is made useless with an arrow. He then swepped off his feet niselessly by the bow, and crashes down to the ground hard, getting knocked out in the process. Lyle immediately begins to clap softly as he approaches the now unconcious guard,

"Excellent fighting mademosille", he says as he grabs the man's metal baton from his limp hands and places it in his waistband. If you were attentive, you would see two holsters, holding two Colr Pearl Grip 1911s. He nods appreciatvley at the compliment towards Sir Percy as he grips the unconcious man and begins to drag him to a janitor's closet. He then looks up at her, a sly smile on his face as he says,

"What brings a belle femme like you to this den of sin tonight?"

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea didn't need the baton anyway, though it was probably smart to disarm the guy. Instead, Speedy goes for the keys and any identification he may have. Passcards and the like. Stepping back to make some distance between her and La Raton, she keeps her head slightly down so as not to give too much of her features away.

"Thanks," though there is a smile that can be heard in the word.

'Belle femme'.. and she has to search her brain for all that information she never got by skipping class when she was at school. Still, sounds nice! "I.. just looking around, really. They got my attention, and I wanted to be sure they were what I thought they were." Uh huh. Nice and neutral, even though she's got that smiling lilt to her tones.

Now that she's got that distance, her head cants and she's probably studying him, "You?" Charmed? Well, she hasn't shot him yet, and hasn't run!

Lyle Marston has posed:
Lyle grinned as he heard the tone of Speedy's voice. It seemed like the mademosille was warming up to him. As he stuffed the KOed security officer into his closet, he turned to her and said,

"As I said before, I am here to teach these con-men a lesson. I attend on "liberating" some of their funds and distributing them to more deserving individuals."

He then closes the door softly and turns to her again and says," Perhaps we could team up. With your skills we shall be able to get in and out before we are detected. What do you say Mademosille?"

Thea Queen has posed:
"I usually work alone," Speedy begins softly. Not completely true, but at the moment more true than not! "But," and she seems to truly consider it before she nods once again and gestures in the direction she'd been headed. It might speak volumes, but she's not negotiating for //any// of the cash that he seems intent upon liberating.

"Come on. I've looked at the map of this place. Should be good. All I want is information." She's not willing to move until he does, however, and it's obvious the way she stands, even as she shifts her weight. Finally, however, she does head in the proffered direction; listening intently for any chance that she might have made a big ol' mistake.

"Percy?" Beat. "Really?"

Lyle Marston has posed:
Lyle nods and begins to walk to where Thea was going. As he walked, he kept a weary ear out for a sound of a arrow being slid into the bow. This belle may be on his side know, but what is keeping her from suddenly betraying him. When they got to the door to the room she was going to, Raton suddenly held his hand out, asking her to stop. He then peeked into the door, and let out a small swear in French. He then turned to Thea and said,

"There is a guard in the next room, i will take care of him."

Before he left however, he looked at Sir Percy and whsiphered something in French. As Lyle crpet into the room, Percy turned towards Thea and leapt from Raton's shoulders and onto Thea's.

Thea Queen has posed:
Wariness makes great bed-- nope, makes good partners. Oof.

Stalking through the halls, Speedy pauses at the door and flattens herself alongside the wall, back against where she figures a stud would be. She's alert, ready.. reacting to hand-signals. Cowled eyes narrow as she glances towards the door, her own words muttered, "Security." There's that pause before she nods in acknowledgment to something beyond this gathering of 2. "We have 10 minutes before check in," is given as information. "Just in case, you know, you go slow."

There's a soft squeak as she feels the weight of the raccoon on her shoulder. Thea tries really hard not to soak in all the cuteness, but ends up bringing up a gloved hand to pet the fur. "Oh my god, you're adorable," is whispered.

Whatever might be received via her earpiece is met simply with a grin...

Lyle Marston has posed:
As Lyle slunk into the room, the raccoon chatters lightly to itself as it suddenly rubs it's head against Thea's head, obviously enjoying the pet. If you were to peer into the room, you would see Lyle stalking over to the guard, who seemed oblivious to Raton's presense. Suddenly, La Raton pulls out one of his pistols and whacks the security guard upside the head with it, knocking him out in the process. He then beckons Thea over. As he looks at Thea, he sees Percy rubbing his head against her and smiles warmly while saying,

"Ahh, you must be a good person Mademosille. Sir Percy really likes you, and he is usually a good judge of character. Either that, or he thinks you are very attractive, and i don't blame him, he isn't wrong."

Thea Queen has posed:
Heart. Melting. Puddling at her feet.

Thea is watching her partner's technique and nods subtly in approval. Non-lethal.

Waved in, Thea's got her hand still scritching at Percy's head, shoulders as she enters, only to drop it as she kneels to check the guard's pockets for said keycards, key fobs, and the like. She looks up from her work and smiles, "He's adorable. I like him... Sir Percy?" Is there a blush in those tones? Perhaps a little reddening where her skin can be seen from the cowl's shadow.

Rising again, Speedy checks the computer system, via the access card slot, and glances towards La Raton. "I'm downloading the information here, then it's all yours. There'll be time."

Lyle Marston has posed:
Lyle nods as he watches Thea at work. He suddenly snaps his fingers, and Percy leaps back to his master's shoulder's as he said,

"Yes, his name is Sir Percy. He is the best sidekick a man can ask for."

The second Thea was done, Lyle got onto the computer, and logges into the building's financial account and, with a sly grin, the number on the screen depleted quite suddenly until they lost about $50,000, which was dranned into what looked like a dummy bank account overseas, genrously provided by the Mole of course. Lyle then turns to Thea and says, with a biggrin on his face,

"I must bid you adieu now. It has been a pleasure working with a belle femme like you Mademosille Speedy. I truly do hope we meet again soon".

He then quite suddenly grips Thea's hand gently, and, no doubt much to her surprise, kisses it for about 5 secounds. He then pulls away, bows one more time, and dashes out of the office, and into the darkness of the buildng. Quite a dramatic escape.

Thea Queen has posed:
There isn't a lot of bulk to Speedy, so when the raccoon jumps, it pushes her back a little with the force of those hind-paws. How can that be anything BUT cute? "He really is," is returned wistfully. Ah well..

Back to work, Thea!

Perhaps the reminder is her own, or maybe the voice in her ear, but she's back to getting the information onto a USB drive arrowhead. It's not long before she hits a key triumphantly and pulls the arrow from the connection.

"Your turn."

She does watch the finances as they're drained, and a soft chuckle sounds before, "Now I know who to go to for a business investment," is murmured. Did she say that out loud?

Once he's done, and they're done, he's grasping her hand, gently but firmly... and kisses the back of her hand.

Once again, Speedy comes to a crashing halt, and manages to stammer out something that probably sounded better in her ears, "I.. me too."

He's gone... and now it's time for Thea to get back home and go through lots of information.