The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry

Keith was a meticulous planner, but he always tried to keep that old adage in mind. Even the most thought through plans could go down in flames.... he just needed to make sure it was someone else piloting the dirigible. That, partially, is where is dear niece came into the picture. Someone who was easy to extort, easy to control, and had the most convenient power on top of it all.

She wasn't going to be the pilot, don't get him wrong. No, she was gonna be the ignition source. The pilot he had in line was on the way to the meeting place currently, while the four of them waited. 

James and Eli were there as well, loitering a ways away from where Juniper sat with her Uncle hovering near. The last three days had been basically the same thing. Sitting and waiting. Always within arm reach of Keith so that he could put a hand on her shoulder and give it a squeeze, just as a reminder that he was there and there was nothing she could do about it. 

The first night had been the worst, really. Nursing a swelling cheek while stuffed in a cramped room just... waiting. She'd had plenty of time to reflect on what she had done; everything she had given up. Stewing over if she had made the right choice when there were two lives in the balance just made it all worse somehow, too.

Ever since the initial smack not one of the men had touched her. She often caught James, the one who liked to fiddle with his ring, looking in her direction and it did horrible things to her stomach.. but from what she could gather she was off the table from more of the generic abuse terrible people like them liked to impart on people. She got the feeling that her Uncle hovering was less to keep her safe from the unsavory glances, and more to make sure she stayed whole until the job was done.

"Should be here any minute fellas, don't over do it on the beer." Keith groused, while stubbing out the cigarette he had been smoking in the tray next to her. 

She ran a hand through her hair for the millionth time, a nervous tick from her younger days, and kept her mouth shut. According to Keith she didn't need to have a part in the conversations that were going to happen. She just needed to show proof of her power if necessary, and let the men talk.

Juniper was fine with that. She didn't have anything pleasant to say anyway.

James, who was across the medium sized room, set his beer down with a clinks and took a pull from his own cigarette. Juniper would have asked him for one if he wasn't giving her just the worst creep vibes. 

"@#$%in' guys gotta be ancient, Keith. Are you sure it's a good idea even bringing him in on this?"

Eli chuckled and swished his own bottle around. Eli was the quieter of the three men, and still gave her the feeling that he liked to, like... wear skin suits at home or something. Really psycho vibes. 

"As if we're all spring chickens? Have a little faith, Jae. I know he's worth it." 

Just like that, within a second of the suggestion tumbling from Keith's lips, James blinked, nodded, and sat up a bit straighter. "You're right, Keith. I don't know what I was thinking doubting you." 

Juniper shivered from over where she sat. 

A buzzer went off, and Keith stood to go over and press the button that would open the front door.

...Their guest had arrived. 

There were many ways in which failure could be measured. Many ways in which one could fail. The one Simon Bier disliked the most was the failure of those you were responsible for. If you were in charge of someone, and they failed, many people would sit there and tell you it wasn't your fault. But if you were in charge of several people, and they all failed? Well... How could you think of yourself as anything but a failure?

He'd decided, given a second chance, he would do what he could to amend his failures. So, when he'd been reached out to by one of his former students, three terrible moral failures, he jumped at the chance to crush them. Of course, Keith and his goons had no idea he wasn't still 97. That meant he'd had some work to do.

Some research, and even more money went into finding and funding a certain mutant who had the ability to change one'd appearance. So, when he buzzed himself into the small, likely underhandedly aquired property, he looked every bit the 90-something he'd been when he was on his death bed. Walking with a cane, he made his way to the back.

As he walked into the room, an old voice called out. "Hope you young scallawags aren't gettin into too much trouble back here!" Put on a chummy face. Smile and pretend nothing is wrong with these monsters. It's what you did before, but this time, it would be different.

"Garcia. Moore. Davis-" He froze at the presence of the last person in the room. Juniper? What... What in the world was she doing here? He felt a flare of panic, but quickly reminded himself he didn't even look close to the same. He looked back to Keith, the last of the three and the ring leader. "What's with the child?" He didn't need a direct answer. The sick young man turned equally sick 40-something would answer well enough in his mind.

Juniper wouldn't look terribly impressed as Simon shuffled into the room. She was seated and silent, watching him from the side of her eyes in quiet distaste and with simmering anger always just under the surface. Far enough down it wouldn't get her in trouble but there all the same.

She of course didn't recognize him. The last time she'd seen him he'd been young and snotty faced and then she'd rocketed him right through the floor with barely any hesitation.

Simon was just one more old white guy with unknown intentions that she had to deal with.

Keith positively beamed with all the fake cheer he could muster. "Simon! You made it. C'mon in out the cold. Sit you down where ever you please. Ya want a cold one? Pepper Darlin' get my old friend here a bottle."

Juni stood, crossing the room slowly and giving all of them as wide a berth as she could manage. A small fridge tucked in a corner held all the chilled beer they had been drinking. Regardless of what Simon might say, she headed his way to deposit the bottle on a table near him and then headed back to her seat.

"This is my wonderful niece, Simon. She's out fourth member and the key to this whole operation." Simon was right in that inside Keith's mind, he rolled through a mental picture book of almost all he knew about his niece at that moment. It was not a pleasant trip down memory lane.

Juniper dropped back into her chair with a leg tucked under her and her hands in the pockets of her coat. She and James shared an uneasy look as she sat. She was the first to break eye contact.

"Don't let her age fool you either. She's been off robbing banks since she was fifteen. Can you believe that? Younger than I started, but I suppose if you've got the talent." He trailed off in a series of big, booming laughs, and reached over to slap her on the shoulder a few times.

A slew of the vilest insults she could conjure flew through her mind, but her expression remained flat, almost bored.

"If you want, she can prove it to ya. Ain't that right, Pepper?"

"Sure." She replied back evenly, not bothering to really look at any of them. Just dance for the crowd, Juniper, it's fine.

James, who was normally the second most talkative, chose that moment to throw in a quip of his own. "I wouldn't call her a child, Teach. That's a full-grown woman over there."

Juniper wasn't happy to be here. Why would anyone want to be in a room with these men? At least she didn't recognise him. As terrible a strange twist of fate this was, success wasn't ruled out by the girl's presence.

He moved closer to Keith to take a seat. Within ten feet of each of them, if he could manage. "Don't mind if I do, old friend." He Sat, resting both hands on the handle of his walking stick. In the handle of it was a worked in deringer, just in case he needed to end one of them in a hurry on the way out. Probably Eli; he'd always had the most disturbing thoughts.

He watched Juniper as she walked over to get him a beer, turning back to Keith just as he remembered some... fonder memories for him. His fist tightened around his cane. Jesus. If that wasn't motivation to find a way to put this son of a bitch in the ground, what was? He worked up a small smile "Thanks, dear." He said as the beer was deposited near him. Her mind seemed mostly blank for a lot of this... Dissociating.

He looked over to Eli... He was thinking of the right tendons to cut again. Make the limbs slide right off. It almost seemed tame in comparison at this point. Keith praised Juniper's skills. He nodded. "Oh, no need to demonstrate. I trust you, Keith. If you say she's good, she's good." That's right, you sniveling stain on the earth, I am clay in your grasp like any other moron you like to tread upon to walk this earth. Just you wait... I'll pry you from the throne you think you sit on and feed you to the @#$^king worms. He smiled.

Drink. All three of them would feel the sudden urge to take a sip. Simon smacked his lips, and reached over to grab his beer, using his walking stick to open it. James spoke up, and Simon didn't look his way.

He didn't have to be on his wavelength to know what he was thinking about when he said that. "Well, then. How about we get to business? You said you had a plan. What's the plan?"

Drink, you lousy bastards.

Everyone drank. Well, besides Juniper that is. Nobody had offered and for once in her life, she didn't feel like partaking.

"Straight to the point, that's why I like you." Keith spouted, before lifting his beer a second time for a nice long gulp. When he was done he wiped his lips and beard with his arm and sat back.

"The plan so far is this: You and Pepper here are out guys on the floor. You are gonna go in with her, pretend to be depositing some money, and while inside she snatches our prize." Keith tilted his beer bottle at Simon, "Did you know some fancy diamond company is keeping their stash in the Third National Bank? Supposed to be some jewelry show or something later in the month, so they have every single gem they want on display in some vault lockbox."

Juniper glanced over. This was the first she was hearing of the actual plan and... diamonds? That sounded expensive. Way above her usual haul. A sick feeling settled in her stomach and she sank into her chair a bit more.

"Worth millions." Keith continued. "Once you two get out we all reconvene here and split up the goods."

Simon was probably the only one who could actually see how slimy Keith was on the inside. While his mouth was saying 'split it evenly' his mind was saying 'You all die and I escape with the diamonds and a forever bodyguard.'

"So what do you think? Sound like a solid plan to you, or do you see any ways of improving it?"

While Keith had been talking, the three men had been chugging through their drinks at an accelerated rate. Juniper hadn't noticed since she was trying to figure out where exactly she fit into the after plan. After they got the diamonds... was that it? Could she go? Was it really that easy? Her Uncle hadn't exactly been chatting with her about the details.

"Pepper, why don't you run out and grab us all something to eat, hmm? You know what I like, and just get the same as yesterday for everyone else. Simon, you want anything? There's a little sub place on the corner."

Everyone hashed out the food requests, she grabbed the money, and with the collar still on and her coat all the way zipped up over it, she headed out. It only took ten minutes to get the food and bring it back, and in that time the subject had shifted to stories of old times that all of them could share.

She passed out subs to everyone; Eli first, James next- and had to focus really really hard on not reacting when he grabbed the sub and her hand and refused to let it go for a second, thoroughly enjoying her discomfort- and then onto Keith, and whatever Simon had ordered. Once she was back in her seat she was able to relax a tiny bit.

"- Man, she was a pretty one too. All the right curves in all the right places. I think she got married to Vince at some point. remember him? Poor fella. That maniac dropped him off a roof a few years back. Broke his spine in three places and left him crippled."

Eli jumped in excitedly, "I heard he came back for him in the middle of the night, too. Cops found him smashed to bits in his bed. Amazing what the 'Heroes' are able to get away with, isn't it?"

Juni couldn't help just stew over that. Yeah, it sure was. She just wished it was more of a universal truth instead of a once in a blue moon truth.

"...Anyway, any more questions about the plan?"

Almost gone. Might as well finish it.

He nodded along as Keith talked. He knew the plan moments before as he rehearsed it in his head, along with the details he left out while explaining it to him. Juniper hadn't been aware of the plan. Interesting.

"And, what will you three be doing while we are in there?" The old man asked, hands still resting on the cane's head. He hadn't opened his beer yet.

Drink.

"It sounds like quite a haul. The sort that sets you for life. I'm assuming you have a buyer lined up already?" Find out the buyer, so you can sell it to them after you doublecross them. His mind would tell him.

He glanced over to Juniper. Oh... Poor thing. She thought she was free after this? No, men like Keith didn't let tools go. They only let go when they died, and you pried what that coveted from their locked in grasps. Still, once he killed him, he could feel comfortable with the nice consolation prize of letting an innocent girl free, even if she had dropped him through a ceiling somehow.

"It's less suspect if we create the account beforehand, and make an appearance before the diamonds go missing, to deposit. Then, we can be on our second visit when the diamonds go missing, oh, no thanks, I ate beforehand." He couldn't eat around these men. Their thoughts made him sick to his stomach.

They started talking about girls, and the subject shifted to Vince. He'd almost cried with joy when he'd heard about his former student's passing. Some vigilante had crippled and killed him. He likely deserved worse, but you took what you could get these days. drink

"What are we looking at when it comes to cuts. Five way split?"

"Eli over there is your getaway driver."

Eli was absolutely thinking about how he was going to murder Simon, and what the most enjoyable fashion would be.

"James here is going to be with me. We're going to be focused on diverting the armored truck that's due to pick up our prize on that day." There was a plan formed in his mind that seemed solid. Cause a minor accident, keep the drivers busy by chatting their ears off and filling their heads with his suggestions.

James was busy envisioning his soon to be lavish lifestyle, complete with a fine house, fine jewelry, and fine women.

Keith nodded along with the advice Simon was handing out. "Good idea. We'll get you set up with that account quickly. Juniper here can acquire some cash for us to have a decent about to put in. Maybe a, ahh... doting Granddaughter helping her Grandfather get his banking set up. How about that?"

Simon asked about how it was gonna be split, and Keith laughed loudly on the inside. Simmering quietly in greed. "Oh, of course, 50/50. We've all got our own jobs to do, and each is just as important as the next. Right, guys?" They all shared a chuckle together.

"Well, 'cept Pepper over there. She's, uh... volunteering her time. Ain't that right, BabyGirl?"

She glanced over at her Uncle, caught his eye, and they shared a short look in which he flashed just the nastiest smile her way. She broke eye contact first. Both ended up thinking about her parents but in entirely different flavors.

"Yep." She replied, monotone.

Keith rubbed his hands on his jeans, suddenly feeling the last four beers, and carried on. "I've got a gaggle of buyers ready all over the states. Figure if we spread them out it'll be harder to track later."

He splayed out all of the plans for the players to react to. Simon carefully picked through their reactions to see how everyone saw themselves fitting in versus reality. It gave him a good idea when he would need to act.

Glancing over to Juniper, he smiled a bit.

You have to pee. Really badly. He presented the command to the three men, who had each defeated several beers, while his lay opened, and sipped from once. It wasn't a bad beer, but he'd wanted to keep a firm grasp on his mental faculties, especially around Keith.

"How nice of her."

The three men got up to go to the bathroom at the same time, and as they forced themselves down the hallway arguing over who would go first, Simon looked over to Juniper.

There was a pause as he waited for the men to be out of earshot. "He doesn't plan to let you go, Juniper."

He'd kept track of her thoughts on the manner. "Though you are right. He would kill them in a heartbeat, without remorse if you crossed him. So... I think it's time we started talking about alternatives, don't you?"

Watching all three men get up in a hurry and try to beat each other to the bathroom was the first wake up. She shifted in her seat a little straighter and on reflex glanced over to see if Keith had left the remote to her collar out.

No dice. @#$%.

She was still stuck with Simon, who-.. Why was that name familiar? -Anyway... Simon, who was still an unknown. Just an old man from what she could see, though thankfully not nearly as creepy as everyone else involved.

"He doesn't plan to let you go, Juniper."

Oh, well there went the not creepy part.

She turned and looked at him, calculating what exactly he was trying to do. Spook her? Rub it in her face. It was weird how he had said something that was eerily similar to what she had just been think-

"Though you are right. He would kill them in a heartbeat, without remorse if you crossed him. So... I think it's time we started talking about alternatives, don't you?"

"What the actual fu-" She slapped a hand over her own mouth, feeling a mix of emotions and fear and surprise and- and-

She didn't make any sort of connection between the old man before her and the young man she had met before. They were two separate entities in her mind.

She did mull over what he had said, briefly fight against it, and then ultimately accept it as a harsh reality.

Oh well, at least it kinda reaffirmed her decision to do this in the first place.

"I'm not exactly in a position to be thinking of anything, currently." She pulled down the neck of her coat, showing a section of the lit-up metal collar, before hiding it again. "...Not like I'm not open to whatever it is you have to say at this point. I dunno why you're talking to me though, aren't you here for... wealth or whatever?"

Then again he looked old as dirt, so maybe money wasn't so important after all.

...Oh, @#$%, that was mean. Sorry grandpa.

She looked for the remote. He kept it close. Little pings throughout the night had him checking on the damned thing constantly, reaching to touch it through the fabric of his left pocket to make sure it was still there. For someone who so constantly lorded over how secure and in charge he was in his mind, he sure felt pretty insecure checking that zap button all of the time.

Then again, how could he not? He saw her as a treasure mine. His way to paradise.

He remained calm and stoic as he gave her time to react to what was going on. Not that they had too much of it to talk right now. He wasn't trying to hash out details just yet; he just needed to plant a seed.

"Maybe not just now, but the idea would be to put you into that position." He didn't at all seem surprised she had the collar on. He'd felt her discomfort with it several times already, after all.

"Weath is nice, I will admit... But what I would like... just a little more. Is seeing those men to their grave. I have a feeling you wouldn't mind it much either."

"Oh, and... No need to apologize. I just ask that you don't let them know that I can read minds."

He smiled, and lifted a finger to his lips, before looking back as Keith made his way down the hall, the obvious pick for getting his way and being able to use the restroom first.

He read her like an open book and that brought instantaneous discomfort, but... compared to everything else it was just a sting. She eyed him quietly, absorbing the information, and eventually nodded.

She could do that.

"Just let me know what you need me to do I guess when you need me to do it. I won't mention anything." She was telling the truth, too. Not bothering with trying to panic!conceal any of her thoughts.

Juniper clammed back up, resuming the slouch she had been in before, as her Uncle returned and eyed the both of them with silent suspicion.

"I hope my niece here hasn't been regaling you with any fanciful stories? She can be quite a jabber jaw when she wants to."

Juniper stayed silent, looking off at a wall on the other side of the room. Keith wasn't asking her anyway and she was focused on other things.

Like planning. Plotting. Various scenarios. Battling back shame that sprouted because someone knew and trying to stoke the angry flames to cover the shame up.

Eventually, Eli and James came back as well and both men gathered around the pool table for a new game while talks went on.

"Now... where were we. Right, the bank. I'll take care of getting that set for you Monday. Should be real easy to sway a few tellers at the bank for me." He winked.

"You got time for a game or two? We can all just relax and get to know each other a bit more, hmm?" Keith was testing the waters.

Both Eli and James agreed to the game, unaware of the mutation meddling around with their strings behind them. Juniper was not invited, for which she was glad. She didn't really wanna be near any of them.

She paid special care in not looking at Simon more than any of the others because while her Uncle wasn't well educated in some things he was quick to notice things and overly paranoid.

The smile on his face was genuine as Keith arrived again, and things went back to the same oppressive atmosphere they'd been in before. When he'd first walked into the room he'd felt like seeing the young woman here might be a stroke of terrible luck, but she just might be his best bet at making this all come up roses. 

He was snapped from his thoughts when Keith asked him if he wanted to play pool. Ah, one of those insecure tests he did to make sure his powers were still working. He really didn't want to play pool. If anything, he felt as though he was very much done here. Still, he couldn't exactly leave without making Keith feel as though he was in control of the situation. 

"Oh, it's been a long time since I've played a game of pool. You know. That sounds like a splendid idea." He started to stand, but paused mid way, wincing. "Oh! Damn it all, I've thrown out my back again..." He looked up with a pained expression. 

Pain often pulled people out of suggestions. It was a win-win if he got out of this, and still made the king of creeps warm and fuzzies. "Oh, lord above, I'll have to sit this one out... A nice bath ought to get me back in to shape. You youngsters have your fun. I'll- Ah, ouch, I'll take my leave." 

He waved and started toward the door, eager to stop walking like this and get home for... well, a bath did sound pretty good, didn't it?

The ploy worked. Keith was satisfied that his power had worked well enough, even if it had been undone by the physical restraints of his old teacher.

"Ah shucks, Simon. Another time then. I understand. Go ahead and go get you some rest. I'll contact you when we're ready to move into the first phase of the plane.

They all watched him go to some degree, Eli more so than the other two men. Juniper watched with a horrible mix of detached calmness and a sudden flare of panic. She didn't want him to go. He was the only normal one so far and seemed willing to help her out. If he left she has stuck with the terrible trip again, alone, and helpless.

There wasn't much she could do other than silently gnaw on the inside of her mouth and just... sit. Wait.

Once Simon was gone, a tension settled over the room that hadn't been there before.

Keith chuckled, leaning on his pool stick, and a nasty smirk slithered onto his lips.

"See? I told ya. Old Simon there is the perfect pawn. Completely flies under the radar, and too old for anyone to care when he's gone. I Heard his wife up and died on him a while back. Got no kids that I know of."

Juniper went still in her chair, trying her best to keep her eyes from widening despite herself.

"Eli, you're still up for it right man? I'm counting on you and your... eh... expertise, and then it's one less cut to have to share."

....What the @#$% did that mean?

"Hehehe, of course, Keith. I've been dreaming up how to do it all day." He had, and Simon had certainly seen it. No real big change there as he had always been one to dream things like that ever since he had been in Simon's class all those years ago. Juniper had no way of knowing that Eli was an actual serial killer with a string of cold cases to his name all across the southern edge of the US and back.

Just like she had no way of knowing that James had previously been a boxer who used his mutation to secretly give himself a physical edge in the ring until he was arrested on 2nd-degree murder charges after killing his girlfriend at the time and banned from the sport during his prison sentence. He had only been out for a month tops.

The news that they were planning on callously taking Simon out the whole time was chilling and reminded her once more that she was out of her depths. This was... not casually stealing a few thousand dollars at a time from smaller banks. This was so much worse.

--

Four days later they were ready to kick off phase one by having Simon and Juniper head into the target bank to finalize the rest of the details for the account. Keith had fiddled with enough online to get the ball rolling, but this wasn't your average run of the mill bank, so large transactions needed to be set up in person and with ID.

Keith was sitting on a bench outside, about a half a block down from the bank and just outside of the bubble of security cameras it had. Juniper was sitting beside him with her hands clenched in her lap, freshly trimmed hair, and in pretty generic clothed (a little on the expensive side) for that time of the year.

Keith had deemed the haircut needed as her Mother's hack job had left sharp angles of Blonde poking up in random directions and he had decided to do it himself to limit awareness of her whereabouts in the city. The whole time he had filled the silence with his thoughts about how he liked the shorter style on her, just like her mother, and why. Reminded him of her younger days. Gave her a more youthful appearance. All the things he knew would make her want to bite off her own tongue and die, just to stop him.

She reconsidered that option a few times as they sat and waiting, while she fiddled with the dinky throwaway phone in her hands. Keith had his arm thrown around the back of the bench, and her, and was content with people watching and finishing off the rolled cigarette he had lit a few minutes prior.

Simon took to pretending to walk with tons of effort quite well. After all, it hadn't been so long since that was just how he walked. Plucking along at an agonizingly slow pace, he came into view of the two sittin on the park bench much before he actually arrived there. "Ah, I see I am... right on time." He took a breath mid sentence, displaying the effort it took to walk and talk. If they were to underestimate him, he would have to be convincingly fragile.

He tipped his fedora to the two, his brown suit matching it perfectly. Both seemed to have a little bit of wear to them; they were old, after all. "I take it all of the preperations are complete. Do you have the fake IDs?"

With a grunt he situated himself on the bench a space away from Keith, looking about to their surroundings with a serene look on his old features.It was a decent enough day for this time of year.

"We'll want to head in as quickly as possible. I have a doctor's appointment in a few hours, and I'm not a very fast walker." He gave the slightest glance to Juniper to note her thoughts and condition. She was thinking about an uncomfortable haircut. Keith was thinking about how it had reminded him of the good old days.

He wanted to wretch. Your nose is itchy. The idiot was all about appearances. Would he pick his nose in public? Maybe, but he liked the thought of him just being irritated for a moment

Keith started rubbing at the side of his nose as what he thought was an uncontrollable itch popped up.

"Yeah, Pepper. Go ahead and give him his things."

Juniper shifted the purse around her shoulders into her lap and withdrew a zippered cloth envelope. Inside it was Simon's fake ID as well as the largish sum of cash they would be deposited, as well as a 'family heirloom' for safekeeping. The expensive vintage watch sitting in the bag looked the part, thanks to a friend of a friend Keith had who was very easy to get favors out of.

"Pepper here knows her part in the plan up, down, and sideways. Always been a fan of tall tales." His hand fell on her shoulder, slid to the crook of her neck, and gave a gentle squeeze. She tunnel-visioned on the envelope in her hands before stiffly handing it to Simon.

"Did you have time to get comfortable with your new name, Stephon?"

Stephon Cargill, a wealthy widower with a few kids to his name and a spattering of grandchildren. Beside him would be Mia Cargill, daughter of his youngest son and his doting, favorite grandchild.

She was there exclusively to open the door, help him count money if needed, hold the bag for him, and answer a few questions in case he forgot or stumbled in character.

Juniper had her fake ID in her purse, along with her fake phone, a few phony bank cards, and some assorted 'normal' things like gum, a pen, and some receipts.

"Alright, if you think you two are ready, I'll be waiting here for when you're done."

Juniper stood, thankful for an excuse to get out from under her Uncle's hand, and stepped toward Simon to help him stand. Dutiful granddaughter mode already activated.

"Juniper." Keith calling her by her actual name instead of one of the pet names he loved making her uncomfortable with, cause her to freeze.

"I'll be watching, Darlin'. Don't let me down." He was all smiles and cheer, but his blue-blue eyes were empty and calculating.

She didn't have the guts to turn and look at him. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Tucking an arm gently through Simons, she let him lead the pace on the way to the bank.