Summary: During a bank heist, Wendy's team comes across the most notorious female thief, Lady Pink, also known as Irene. Wendy suddenly decides that she doesn't want to be a criminal anymore. (Fluff)

 

(…)

 

 

"On three. One, two– I said on three!"

 

Wendy sighed as her partners in crime ran like kids inside the mansion. They were about to rob one of the most well-known mansions in the city. They had been planning this robbery for weeks. It was going to be easy. Wendy followed her teammates, walking straight into the living room where the family's safe was located. It was hidden behind an old painting. Hilarious. Even the most inexperienced thief would find it.

 

Her team consisted of four people; Seulgi, Joy, Yeri and herself, also known as Picasso, Dynamite, Meow and Blue - their codenames. They tried to keep their identity a secret in all ways possible. These codenames were created during their very first robbery.

 

"If we're going to do this, we're going to need–"

 

"A plan?"

 

"No! Codenames! Cool ones!"

 

The levels of stupidity that this team reached were astronomical, Wendy believed, including herself, because she was stupid enough to form a team with these three idiots. She was supposed to be the leader and give orders while the other three were supposed to obey, but no! Even their codenames made Wendy want to quit everything and surrender to the police. What kind of thief was named 'Meow'? Freaking 'Meow'?! Wendy would never forgive Yeri for this one. Their presence seemed to buzz around her like a fly that she could never swat. Every word, movement and breath they performed seemed to infuriate Wendy to no end.

 

Thankfully, they were not bad at their job or else Wendy would have abandoned them years ago. They never obeyed Wendy's orders yet in the end everything went as planned. Wendy had no idea how they did that, but she could admit it was very impressive! They had been stealing houses, small businesses, shops and, when they felt risky enough, mansions for years now. The closest they had been to getting caught was a year ago during a house robbery. Wendy thanked the Gods for the stamina they had blessed her with because without it she would be in jail now. She could remember running away from the cops along with Yeri and Seulgi and Joy arriving just in time with a (stolen) car. The feeling of getting caught back then made Wendy want to quit. Her poor heart couldn’t handle all that stress and fear again. Hadn't it been for her teammates, she would have stopped long time ago.

 

"We're a team, Wendy. If you stop, we stop." She could remember Seulgi saying. It was very heart warming, really. These three girls were very passionate about their job, - if one could consider this a job - making Wendy unable to end all this. They were annoying, disobedient and weird but Wendy didn't have the heart to leave them behind after all these years. She hated them with a passion when they didn’t cooperate but any other time she loved these three idiots with all her heart. They had been through so much together, they had so many stories to share, broken numerous rules.

 

Ah, yes. Rules. Wendy loved rules. They told her what boundaries need breaking next. If someone told her she couldn't walk on the grass, she'd break out a picnic. No one could make a rule she wouldn't shatter. Wendy believed there was a beauty in anarchy. Not chaos, but a life where every person marched to the beat of their own drum. That didn't mean she didn't cooperate, help others and love, it meant their rules weren't hers unless she said they were.

 

"I hope we draw attention to the FBI," Yeri suddenly hollered, as if they weren't about to steal one of the most luxurious mansions of the city.

 

"Are you insane?" Wendy whispered angrily.

 

"I've never seen anyone kick a door in before. It would be so exciting," Yeri replied with a shrug. Wendy restrained herself from punching her straight to the face. On the other side of the room she saw Seulgi appreciate a huge renaissance painting. Seulgi had always loved art.

 

"Don’t breathe on that, it's expensive," Joy joked. It looked very expensive, indeed. Wendy didn’t dare to touch it, it was too beautiful to ruin. The only painting they touched was the one 'hiding' the safe.

 

Wendy tried to be an ethical thief, people admire Robin Hood, right? She was not stealing to sell it, did not ruin other people's possessions, buy drugs or be bad. It was just that her wages didn't buy clothes and a roof and heating and pay all the taxes and bills. There were guys a block away that pulled three hundred an hour when she scraped ten. How were they worth thirty times more than her? Seriously? So she stole. Stealing was very addictive, though, like a drug. Sometimes she couldn’t stop herself from stealing more than she needed.

 

In fact, Wendy never even regarded what she did as stealing; to her it was the only sensible way to survive. In this life she refused to be a consumer, piece of data, reduced to her purchasing preferences and her internet history. She wasn't going to it up and go work for a corporation that was only interested in amassing more digits in its bank account and inflating its stock price.

 

"Drumroll, please!" Joy requested as she unlocked the safe in seconds. She was a pro when it came to technology and hacking. Give her a phone with the strongest password and she'll unlock it in a jiffy.

 

Wendy face palmed, "This is a robbery."

 

"I don’t care, I need a drumroll!"

 

Yeri moved her hands, holding imaginary drum sticks. With no shame, she started making weird sounds with . Was that supposed to be a drumroll or a broken machine? Wendy didn’t question it.

 

Out of all three of them, Yeri was the most unmanageable one because of her young age. She just couldn’t realize that they had to be extremely subtle and quiet in order to not get caught. She also couldn’t realize that if they got caught, they would spend the rest of their lives in jail. Thankfully, the owners of the mansion were on a trip to the Bahamas, according to their estimations.

 

Joy opened the safe and Yeri's loathsome sounds came to an end. Now it was Wendy's turn to do her magic. The robbery was surgery, or at least that was the way Wendy thought of it. She extracted the diamonds without leaving a trace of evidence. The original plan was to take only a few of the diamonds but Wendy couldn’t stop herself. They were gorgeous. The other three girls watched closely as Wendy put them in her bag, waiting patiently for her to finish. Then Joy locked the safe with much elegance, making it look like no one had ever touched it.

 

And with that, they were done. Quickly but carefully, they placed the painting back on the wall and exited the mansion the exact way they had entered.

 

Success.

 

The robbery had been executed exactly to plan. With luck it would be days, weeks even, before someone found out what had happened. Wendy usually only took a portion of what she found and left no mess behind to prevent from tipping off that someone had been there. But this time she took the entire contents of the safe, how could she not? It would set her up for life on some sweet Caribbean island. Then she made sure everything was exactly as it was when they came in and rearmed the security system using the fob she'd lifted from the lady of the mansion when she had 'accidentally' bumped into her last week.

 

The thieves slunk under the moonless sky, thankful for the dark clouds that brought a more complete blackness. This was not a night to be seen, not at all. After so much careful planning it was a night to celebrate their win. Once again they'd made it. They didn’t cheer until they had reached the safety of Joy's house. That was where they usually met before and after robberies. The house's walls were filled with post-it notes, newspapers, maps and everything they needed for each robbery. It looked more like a warehouse than a house but Joy told them she didn’t mind. In a few years all this would be beautiful memories.

 

In no time they opened a bottle of wine to celebrate, like they always did after every successful robbery.

 

"To us!" They clinked their glasses. There wasn’t a better feeling than returning home after stealing without getting caught. Wendy was pleased.

 

"We should do this more often," Joy suggested after chugging down a whole glass of wine and Yeri agreed.

 

"Don't drink too much. Tomorrow is a big day." Seulgi reminded them all.

 

Right. The day Wendy dreaded the most had finally come. After months of planning, analyzing each and every detail, spying people, getting information from every book and website that existed, it was time. They were going to attack the Royal Bank. Their riskiest robbery yet. Would they succeed? No one knew.

 

Wendy was very close to backing away. She didn’t want to do this, it was too risky for her. However if she backed away now, all the effort her friends had put in this plan would go to waste. The huge plan they had come up with was made for four people only. Wendy didn’t want to be the disappointment of the team. She was the leader, she had to be bold and fearless.

 

The robbery was planned in just the same way as Wendy planned her shopping trips - detailed and ambitious. Chances of failure were extremely low. Looking at the plan again and again made Wendy calm down. It was perfect.

 

"We can do this, Wendy. Stop worrying so much," Seulgi reassured her. Seulgi was the most normal out of her three friends. She gave Wendy hope and will to continue. She always knew what to say to make her feel better when times got hard. Wendy was grateful.

 

"Let me explain the plan one last time," Wendy wanted to make sure everyone was ready. Seulgi rolled her eyes with a smile, "Okay, one last time."

 

Wendy straightened a map on top of the table, the others surrounding it. She explained everything, starting from plan A up to D once more. All of them had memorized each plan by heart. Even Yeri knew each step from start to end, which was a first.

 

They were ready.

 

"Now, we must sleep. We need lots of energy for tomorrow." Seulgi said and everyone agreed. They were all going to sleep at Joy's place like they always did before any robbery. This way everyone was always on time. Last time they didn’t sleep together before a robbery was two years ago, which had ended to a complete failure. Seulgi had slept the whole day, leaving the other three to fight for their lives alone. Every single member was important for the team. If someone was absent they couldn’t work.

 

"Stop thinking about it, Wendy. Go to sleep." Seulgi whispered before turning off the lights and lying next to her. Seulgi and Wendy slept on an old mattress on the floor while Yeri and Joy slept on a king sized bed. 'My house, my rules!' Joy always said.

 

She lay down and watched as her friends went to sleep. She tried to do so too but her thoughts were eating her brain up. The blackness blanketed her still form. She lay as if asleep until her side was painful and she had to shift to her back or other side. The long minutes dragged into even longer hours but she refused to look at the clock. To see that it was long after midnight would be enough to send her heart racing and undo the calming effect of being so restful. Though she remained willfully blind she suspected it was closer to the dawn than she would like.

 

She buzzed all night. The heist would be first thing in the morning at the Royal Bank. She'd been over the check-list a thousand times. She'd tried on her mask and organized all her weapons. Then she'd been out to the all night drug store for women's stockings. She would feel safer with the stocking over her face too just in case the mask came off. This time tomorrow she'd be on a plane to a life of luxury in the sun. One heist and she'd retire before thirty, what could possibly go wrong?

 

(…)

 

The alarm next to Wendy went off. Great, she had barely gotten any sleep. There was no way her brain could work properly with less than two hours of sleep but there was no turning back now. She stood up from the mattress and got ready. Her friends woke up easier, with much more energy and excitement. Too much excitement in Wendy’s opinion.

 

“This is going to be fun!” Yeri was the first thing she heard after the buzzing alarm. Not the best way to start a day.

 

It was very early. Around six in the morning, yet the sun shone brighter than any other star. Wendy stood up and her eyes fell on the scintillating sun, its marvelous beauty compelled her to forget her distressed state. This could be the last time she saw the beautiful sun like this. Next time might be behind the prison walls.

 

Wendy shook her head. Nonsense. She shouldn’t think like that. They were a hundred percent ready for this robbery. Right?

 

The four thieves packed all the essentials, changed into presentable and non-suspicious clothes yet comfortable enough to escape from the cops in case they got caught. The Royal Bank was located half an hour away therefore a car ride was essential. They got in their stolen car, Joy offering to drive first.

 

This was already a mess. Joy's clumsy driving could be the actual reason they went in jail today. Plus, attempting a robbery with a stolen car? Not so clever.

 

Half an hour later Joy parked the car in an isolated alley. The four thieves got out of the car and nodded to each other. It was show time.

 

"Act natural." Wendy mumbled.

 

"For this kind of situation, the most natural thing would be to panic, so technically I can panic." Yeri mumbled back.

 

"No, that’s not what I meant! Act like it's a normal day!"

 

"My normal days of late, consist of a lot of panic."

 

Wendy sighed, "Will you just cooperate?"

 

"When a person is panicking, they are not apt to cooperate very well!" They were speaking ten volumes louder than they should. Wendy was about to slap Yeri. "Yeri, shut up and follow the plan. We're going in." She gestured towards the entrance, ignoring Yeri's mutters. Joy and Seulgi nodded, going in first, just like they had planned. Then it was Yeri and Wendy's turn.

 

They walked into the bank like any normal customer would. The only suspicious thing about them was their total black outfits and large backpacks. Other than that they looked completely normal. Or at least Wendy hoped so.

 

They had no time to waste. Wendy locked eyes with Joy and nodded towards the security cameras. Joy knew what to do. She took out a small device, which looked like a harmless iPhone. If one took a closer look, though, they would realize that this was no phone, but a hacking device. The queen of technology turned the cameras off successfully. Perks of having a technogeek father.

 

The plan went on with Yeri making a scene to distract all employees and Seulgi running towards the basement. That was where the bank vault was located. Seulgi moved like a snake through the shadows. She became invisible, tricking every single employee on her way there. Joy followed with equally devious moves. Wendy watched proudly from afar as they followed every part of the plan. Then it was Yeri's turn. After ending the scene like an Oscar worthy actress, Yeri took a few deep breaths before walking casually down the stairs. Wendy face palmed, that was not part of the plan! She was supposed to be sneaky! Thankfully, no one paid attention to her.

 

While Wendy waited for the girls to reach the basement her eyes fell on a wallet on the floor. She looked over at the wallet without turning her head. It was fat, new looking and best of all - unattended. She made as if to yawn, looking around whilst stretching. It probably belonged to some rich fool, she thought to herself, granting permission for what she was about to do. She had already mentally spent the money on the kinds of food her mother used to buy her when she was young. Once level with the wallet she bent to tie her newly undone lace. Then she rose and walked away, outwardly nonchalant but internally impatient to discover what she had won. Again, this was not part of the plan. She let out a slow controlled breath and attempted to loosen her body movements. She was walking like a clockwork soldier and that was no way to be in this place. She gave her shoulders a wiggle and lolled her head in a circle, let her stride slacken to a more casual pace. It was a decent effort, enough to fool the casual observer, but for the onlooker with a keen eye she was a walking advert for tension. Her eyes moved with the alertness that came from heavy stress and her hands remained clenched by subconscious demand. She had to leave this room immediately, she was being too obvious. Placing the wallet in her pocket, she threw one last look on her surroundings before following the three girls at the basement.

 

On her way there she didn't come across any employee or bodyguard which was very weird. She wondered what the girls had done for the corridors to be this empty. Once she reached the basement all her questions were answered. She saw four unconscious men on the floor, the three girls around them. Her eyes widened, "Are they dead?"

 

"No, I think they are alive." Seulgi spoke.

 

"You think?"

 

"I gave them a simple punch on the head, they are definitely alive." Joy waved a lazy hand.

 

"This was not part of the plan!" Wendy whispered angrily, "Ugh, forget this. Set the bomb."

 

"Okay. Hold this," Joy handed her the hacking device she had used to turn the security cameras off and Wendy placed it in her own backpack. Setting the bomb was the easiest part for Joy. She worked with calculated precision, the right wires to the right place in a color coding only she understood, using a trigger she had designed herself. She sat back and pulled her phone out to take a picture, it was art and she wanted to remember it whole and pretty. Then she slid the phone back into the zipper pocket of her black jumpsuit and armed it to explode in half a minute.

 

The four thieves ran hastily behind the closest wall, eyes closed and ears covered, waiting for the bomb to explode. This was the most crucial part of the plan. Once the bomb exploded they had to act faster than Usain Bolt. Sure, the bomb was small but it would alert everyone close to the basement.

 

Out of curiosity, Wendy threw one last look at the small bomb, and saw red digits going down. Ten seconds left. Her focus was scattered, so filled with nervous anticipation was she, so excited, even giddy. The anticipation was a nervous kind of energy. It tingled through her like electrical sparks on the way to the ground, gathering in her toes.

 

Just as she was about to hide her head behind the wall, she noticed something colorful next to the bomb.

 

"What the hell…" she squinted her eyes, "Are those…fireworks?"

 

"Yes." Yeri replied seriously, pretending to be a professional. No professional ever put fireworks next to a freaking bomb!

 

"Why did you put fireworks next to the bomb?!"

 

"I wanted it to look pretty."

 

"It was supposed to be subtle!" Wendy practically yelled now. Of course Yeri had to mess this up. Everything was going a bit too perfect, Wendy should have known. She wanted to ran back and remove them but there was no time. The bomb exploded with a loud bang along with numerous fireworks, filling the room with smoke and fire sparks. They had to get out of that room immediately or else they would die from asphyxiation.

 

"We must move!" Wendy yelled through coughs, pointing towards the exit of the room. The girls obeyed for once and ran out of the room. Alarms all around the bank went off, signaling police officers.

 

"They're coming for us!" Yeri informed them while panicking.

 

"This is all your fault!" Joy yelled at the youngest, fuming.

 

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

 

"Girls, this is not the right time to fight, we must go!" Seulgi told them right when two cops entered the room.

 

"Split up!" Now, this was part of the plan. They wanted to confuse the cops. It was the only part of the plan that Wendy didn't want to end up executing. It was the part of the plan they had to follow in case something went wrong. And apparently lots of things were going wrong right now.

 

Policemen appeared from all directions; Wendy didn't even have time to count how many they were. She watched as Joy ran towards the exit, while Yeri and Seulgi took completely different ways. Then it was her turn to run. There was only one way that she could take, and that was towards the stairs. It was the only way free of cops.

 

She ran and ran, climbing countless pairs of stairs until she could see an elevator straight ahead. That was when she noticed a narrow corridor on her left. Without a second thought, she made a sharp turn and hid behind the wall not before pressing the elevator button to confuse the cops. She held her breath as she heard heavy boots coming towards her.

 

"Where did they go?" One policeman spoke.

 

"They obviously took the elevator, stupid. Take the stairs!"

 

And with that they left. Wendy thanked God for letting her live and let a long sigh escape her lips. That was close. Now she had to figure out how she was going to get out of the building without getting caught again.

 

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her shoulder and dragged her inside a room behind her. Wendy was about to punch whoever had attacked her but halted when she saw a person clad in black, mask on their face.

 

Another thief? Wendy tried to guess who it was, but the mask covered their features perfectly. It definitely wasn't one of her teammates, because they all wore a specific kind of mask and this mask was nothing close to that.

 

"So, what are we going to do?" a female voice was heard behind the mask.

 

"Who said there was a we in this?" Wendy frowned. Who the heck was this?

 

The woman took off her mask. Long dark locks fell over her shoulders, slightly ruffled from the mask.

 

Lady Pink.

 

Wendy could scarcely breathe as she watched the woman run a hand through her silky hair. Her skin was soft and pale, flawless. Her eyes were bright, brilliant. They sparkled like a pair of luminescent diamonds, radiant and beautiful. Her cheeks were slightly pink. Wendy assumed it was because of the mask. She brushed a stray of hair behind her ear, gently brushing her high cheekbones as she did so. Her perfectly-shaped lips were a beautiful rose bud pink.

 

Wendy couldn’t believe it was her. The most notorious thief of the town. The whole country, actually. She was known as Irene Bae among the criminal community. Everyone knew her, but few got to see her face. She was an expert at keeping her identity a secret. Wendy had seen some photos of her that criminals shared amongst themselves therefore she recognized her immediately.

 

All criminals around the country knew about each other; some were popular some were not. That probably meant that Irene knew about Wendy and her team. This thought made Wendy giddy. Irene was everyone's idol. They all tried to reach her level of professionalism but it was impossible. And the fact that she worked solo made her even more impressive.

 

"Are you willing to stay with these idiots over there?" Irene asked, her voice low and stable as she pointed at a small monitor in the room. That was when Wendy realized they were in the control room. She could see every room of the bank through that tiny screen. "Aw, look at them. So young and willing to get themselves killed."

 

Wendy looked at her teammates. Seulgi ran around the building like a madwoman, Yeri hid behind a glass door and Joy…she was nowhere to be seen. She was always the first one to escape when they got in trouble, leaving the others behind. They had agreed to be selfish in situations like this and put themselves above everyone else but damn, Joy took this a bit too seriously. In the far left she could see the vault through the screen. Thanks to Yeri's amazing idea to place fireworks next to the bomb, the vault doors were still firmly locked.

 

Right at that moment she realized that Joy, Yeri and Seulgi were great friends, but awful teammates. She'd had enough. She turned back at Irene who was already looking at her intensely.

 

"What do you have to offer?"

 

"Anything and everything you want." Irene replied with a smirk and wow did someone turn the air-conditioner off? It was suddenly getting hot in there. Wendy had to lower her turtle neck in order to breathe properly. This was not the right time for but damn this woman…

 

"So?" Irene raised an eyebrow.

 

Wendy's saliva was thick like wallpaper paste. felt parched as if the skin had been extracted and laid out in the scorching sun to dry. It gnawed at her and all she could think of nothing other than finding something cool to quench it. She her lips, trying to wet and noticed Irene's eyes darting there immediately. She had to clear twice before she was able to speak.

 

"I'm in."

 

“Great," Irene smiled, "We need to get back to the bank vault. I believe you have a hacking device?”

 

Joy had handed her the device a few minutes ago, Wendy had almost forgotten that she had it in her backpack, “How do you—?”

 

“I am Irene Bae. It’s not like I don’t keep my eye on those worthy of competence. Now, do you think you can hack the vault’s doors to open?”

 

“Yes. I just need the control panel.”

 

“Then good for you that we are in the control room.” Irene said, switching on a flickering light. She gestured to the back of the room. There was a chair and behind it was a larger, much more complex desk with file cabinets, drawers, two computer monitors, some control panels, and plenty of other things that held no importance to her. All she was focused on were the computers and the panels lying before her. If it weren't for Joy embedding instructions into her mind, she wouldn't have a single idea what to do.

 

Wendy wordlessly walked to it, prying it open and looking at the controls. She reached into her backpack and took out the little hacking device.

 

“Stole it last week,” she informed Irene, plugging a cable into it. Wendy wasn’t good with technology. Everything she knew she had learned it from Joy. “I think I can hack this.”

 

“Go ahead.” Irene said, “The guard is probably on his way here to turn the cameras back on, so I will keep an eye outside.” Wendy nodded without taking her eyes off the device. It wasn't as complicated as she had thought it was; some buttons pressed, some programming rearranged, some codes recited from memory and typed into a passcode was all she needed to do. The bank wasn't that well off to begin with, especially if its security meant only a few security guards and easily accessible information.

 

“Bingo,” Wendy said as she managed to program the vault doors to open in exactly two minutes.

 

“Good. Let’s get moving,” Irene told her, stepping outside. Wendy quickly pocketed the device and ran after her.

 

“Hey! Thieves!”

 

Wendy turned her head to see a guard running towards them.

 

“We have company!” She said, pulling up her face mask to hide the lower half of her face.

 

“This way,” Irene said, turning a corner and dashing into the elevator. Wendy jumped in just as the doors shut close, Irene slamming her finger on the first-floor button. It began to sink down. Wendy's heart was racing. That had been dangerously close. Now the guard was going to call for back-up. The elevator doors opened again and the two women dashed out. Suddenly, the alarm went off again, piercing through their ears.

 

“You didn’t hack the alarm?” Irene shouted, not because she was angry but because the alarm was too loud.

 

“Sorry, I forgot!” Wendy yelled back. She felt so stupid. How does someone forget to hack the alarms during a robbery?

 

“Grab the money and let’s get moving!” Irene shouted. Wendy did as she was told. She picked up as many rolls of money as she could and threw them in her backpack.

 

“Come on!” Irene shouted and leaded the way into the elevator, slapping the button to the highest floor just as shouts reached their ears. They waited on edge as the elevator pinged, the doors sliding open. They ran out, Irene leading the way to the control room once again. She kicked the door to the roof open and jumped out, Wendy filling out after her. It was boiling outside, the hot wind whooshing around them and the morning sun burning their skin. The ledge was as wide as a single foot. It went right around the building, some sort of architect's decoration, smooth dark granite against the dyed beige concrete walls. Most certainly it was never designed to be walked on, never to take even the weight of a child, and Wendy was no child. She glanced back around the room, her eyes searching for somewhere, anywhere that might hide them. James Bond would have some clever wheeze, hang from the ceiling or in the canopy of a four poster bed. No such luck.

 

“Uh, how are we going to get down?” Wendy asked, peering over the edge. Jumping down wouldn’t be pleasant. She looked back at Irene.

 

“Unfortunately, there's no way we can do this."

 

"Fortunately, you are wrong," Irene gave her a cunning smile, "We're jumping off,” she said calmly, easily stepping onto the edge. She looked down at the ground, calculating the fall in her mind.

 

“Are you crazy?" Wendy panicked.

 

“Of course not. The other roofs are too far, and there are guards on their way here. Do you have any better ideas? No? Good.” She stepped of the ledge and plummeted down. Wendy’s mouth dropped open, gripping the ledge tightly. Before she could shout out, Irene had disappeared into a massive bush. She emerged moments later, brushing leaves off her clothes and hair as if she hadn’t just been about to plummet to her death. She looked back up at her, waving a gloved hand.