By heidi
The house was dark, tucked away behind a row of trees, hidden from the street and any prying eyes. Joey, dressed in black, held out his hands before him, cupped, ready for Justin to use him as a spring to toss him over the wall without setting off any alarms.
From the information they were given, and the plans Lance had found indicated that what they were looking for would be found at the back of the mansion in a safe behind a Degas painting in the den. Not real imaginative for a blackmailer, but who was he to judge.
Justin crept around the building, expecting to hear the bark of dogs, or the footfall of security at any moment, but none came. As he reached the back doors, he pulled out the plans from his hip pack and shined the mini light on them. Verifying that this was the best way to enter, he approached the box hidden behind the bushes to the side of the door. Pulling out the necessary tools, he opened the box, and began to work on the wires, deactivating the security system. When the light blinked from red to green, he closed up the box again, and tucked his tools away.
"System's down. I'm heading in now, give me 10 minutes to get the tapes."
"Be careful Jup. Something about this doesn't feel right."
"I hear that. Just make sure no one comes in and catches me by surprise."
"Get going. I got your back."
Opening the door, waiting to see if any alarms went off, Justin crept in, working his way through the halls heading for the den. Spotting the painting of a ballerina girl hanging on the way, Justin started working. Pulling out a can from his pack, he sprayed the area. The aerosol showed that there were a beams shining around the painting.
"Joe? This is going to take a little longer than I thought."
"What's up?"
"The painting's got lasers around it."
"Shit. That wasn't in the information given to us."
"No shit, Sherlock." Another sigh, "Man, I wish Chris was here. He's a natural at fixing these things."
"You can do it kid. Get to work. We have to get those tapes before the Senator goes and makes some ass backwards testimonial."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, I'll let you know what happens. I don't want to have to come back later."
"You don't? Geeze, imagine that. The others are busy putting up a front for us. If we can get this finished soon, we can join them at the party."
"You know, Joey, I already know all this. Now shut up."
His friend muttered something that Justin simply chose to ignore, and began pulling out mirrors. Spraying the area again, he found where the lasers were beaming from. He was relieved to see that the system wasn't as complicated as he thought it was, and got the mirrors easily into place, blocking out the lasers from his work.
Next, he checked the painting for any trip wires that would trigger off if he moved it. Finding none, he swung the painting to the side, and set to work on the safe.
"Tell me something, Joey. This guy is so rich that he lives in digs like this. He's blackmailing the Chairman the Ways and Means Committee, and yet he keeps tapes he's blackmailing with in a safe that beginning safecracker could crack?"
"Don't ask me. I'm just a pop star."
Justin snorted, and finished cracking the safe. Opening it up, he was stunned to see that the steal box was empty.
"Fuck. We're screwed man."
"What?"
"The tapes aren't here, man."
"Shit. Get out of their Justin. I told you this didn't feel right."
Justin quickly closed the safe, and set the painting back in place, not wanting to leave any trace of their visit. He removed the mirrors, and reactivated the security system, giving himself a five minute break before it turned itself back on.
Making it back to the side of the property, he jumped back over the wall, and into the car that Joey had waiting. As they pulled onto the main street, heading back to towards the party, they passed several police cars with all their lights flashing.
Joey looked at him, "That was too close." Seeing that Justin had started shaking, he laid his hand over the younger man's. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Give me a few."
After a few moments, Justin began to change his clothes, putting back on the outfit he had when they left the arena earlier in the evening. "You know, it sucks to have to do these type of jobs after a concert."
"You noticed that too?" Joey's voice hinted at the humor he saw in the statement.
"I mean, what do they think? That we're Supermen?"
"Speak for yourself."
Justin looked up at Joey, thinking back on his statement. Realizing what he said made him laugh. "Hey, I'm just a pop star." Winking at his friend, making them both smile.
"You don't think they had camera's at the estate, do you?"
"Doesn't matter if they did - we both wore hoods, and the plates they would see don't exist. Don't sweat it."
"Remind me again how we got into this?"
"Don't look at me. You can dump that into Lance's lap."
"That boy has a lot of 'splaining to do." Doing his best Lucy impersonation.
Joey ruffled Justin's hair, then pulled into an alley. Jumping out, he quickly changed the plates, throwing the bad one's into the trash, before stripping off his clothes, and putting on the outfit Justin was holding for him.
Sliding back in, he grinned at his partner. "Let's get ourselves to a party. We'll only be," checking his watch, "45 minutes late. Not bad."
"We still didn't get the job done."
"No. But that's not because we didn't do what the Agency asked us to do. They gave us faulty information. I suspect Lance will be having some words with them tomorrow."
Grimacing, Justin slid further into his seat. "That's not going to be a pretty scene."
"Yeah, well, at least we don't have to deal with them."
Nodding, Justin started tapping his foot. Smiling, he looked back to Joey. "The rush is starting to hit. Tonight should be fun."
"Damn straight. Time to get laid, my man."
With that, they pulled into the VIP parking lot at the club, turning
back into the pop stars they were by day.