Chapter Text
Why is it that I'm always about to get my shit wrecked?
Maybe I'm not as clever as I think.
…Like I'd ever admit it, though.
These were the last thoughts clinging to my stupid brain as I crashed into a stack of boxes, tumbling into the dirt with a loud groan. Footsteps were close behind. I rolled, hiding around one of boxes just as a dagger buried itself in the soil a second later.
"Maybe next time!" I yell in ragged breaths, a smile involuntarily tugging on my lips.
Another knife slammed into the top of the box I was behind. There was a sharp pain in my side, maybe a bruised rib. Grimacing, I quickly grabbed my ODM gun and began to fiddle with it.
"Come here you thieving little bitch!" growled a large man as he rounded the box with more hired goons.
I gave them a grin and held up the gun. "Sorry, but I have plans. Your money won't spend itself!” As they lunged, I pulled the trigger and shot up into the air. I veered sharply left, disappearing around a taller building, their line of sight broken as daggers and throwing stars sliced through the air, whistling past.
The shouts of furious men who’d just been screwed lunged off the walls behind me, but I tried to hold my giddiness in until I was in the clear. Racing past buildings and rooftops, I vaulted through windows, leaping out the other side, latching lines at the last moment to sharply shift direction.
Five hundred times the yearly salary in the Underground sat heavy on my waist. The mob wouldn’t be happy. As dim as they are, mess with their money, and nowhere in the Underground will your face be safe.
I finally reached the tunnels on the edge of town, dimly-lit by scattered lamps guiding the way into the maze. After a quick glance over my shoulder, I dashed into the nearest entrance, hood up. The urge to check the bag of money tied to my belt gnawed at me, but I resisted. I didn’t allow myself another thought as my silent, sure footsteps guided me deeper into the gaping maw of pitch black earth.
As I reached the darker tunnels, I felt along the wall for a string buried in the dirt. I had placed it at belly button height so only I could find the tiny lifeline.
I occasionally kept feeling the wall as I sprinted, not daring to light a lamp. From coming down this way for so many years, I placed boxes and barrels in certain positions so it would take sheer muscle memory to maneuver without light.
It was hard to be stealthy with clanky metal ODM gear attached to your body. I’d tinkered with mine, and modified it to never make a sound, packed with padding and extra straps.
Control what you can, I always silently told myself. Because everything you can't will not hesitate to take shit out of your ass and smear it all over your face.
Just as I thought my chest was going to explode from the pain, I broke through an archway into a huge open cavern. I smiled up to night sky in the large hole meters above me and let out a loud WHOOP!- I had fucking made it.
The biggest, riskiest lift of my life pulled off with *little* to no complications.
I started to unstrap the ODM gear as I made my way across the cold rock to an outcropping along the wall. I had a tent set up to where you couldn't see it looking down from the hole or from any of the entrances in the tunnels. I had blocked off every tunnel leading to the clearing besides the one I memorized. Even though people rarely made it this deep into the system, I didn't want to risk the exposure.
I needed to slow down. Savor it. So, I undressed slowly, my hands undoing the tie of my dark cloak with aching restraint. I was finally safe, and a grin began to spread across my whole face that didn’t waver while I shook my hair from the bun. I set black boots on the ground and undid my corset. My eyes didn’t leave the bag the entire time.
Nothing was more sensual than a big ass bag of cash laying on your bed just waiting to be counted.
I unstrapped the row of daggers and stars on my thighs, then set them on a rock in a layout of all my weapons. Arm and wrist knives came next, along with the ones twisted in my hair. You never know where your hands will be in a fight, so having something sharp at every angle was the easiest defense in life or death. I had to be careful as I set some of them down, since I had laced a few with homemade paralyzers.
Armed in just my underwear, I finally sat down on the bed and dumped the bag all over it. I hummed happily as I began to make stacks. This job had been months of planning, training, and hours and hours of watching these dumb blokes.
I had overheard one of the goons gabbing about a huge deal they had, supposedly with the Scouts topside over supplies for the military.
I’d been on a rooftop spying on one of the biggest merchant crime bosses in the Underground named Slaker, waiting for the type of bait this loud mouth was serving up to me on a golden platter. After that, I increased my recons, sometimes doing it for days on end to get the exact details of their plan down. Then I went to work on mine.
Of course, there were a few fuckups along the way. But honestly, with something as crazy as this, not as many as I had expected. The plan was simple. From hours of countless eavesdropping, I got the exact course the carriage of the boss would be going after the transaction.
I wanted no interaction until after the deal had been made, because not only would I have Slaker's men after me, but the military as well. And as skilled as I was with ODM gear, I also knew they were trained. They no doubt had some people with them I didn't quite have the energy to mess with.
So, my glorious plan.
As the probably ecstatic Mr. Slaker bumps his way back to his lair, he would be passing the red light part of town. I knew the men with him would be on high alert, so I couldn't take the carriage by force. Too many men. I had a very short window of time, because if his gang thinks something is wrong, half of them would swarm me before I could get my money.
Instead, I went to the streets with my face out and hood down.
I had only a corset and a skirt on underneath, and I wrapped my cloak around my shoulders as I waited on the street. The sex workers along the road waiting for travelers looked torn, scarred, and had haunted lines around their eyes. As sad and gut-wrenching as that was, I knew a fresh, young body on these streets were in high demand.
I just needed to look good enough for them to stop.
My plan in the beginning had worked a little too good. The carriage did stop, and the sneering grins of grubby men could be seen from the drivers and the guards outside. A curtain moved at the window and I heard a loud bellow come from it.
"Send that little minx to me.”
Men swarmed me and weren't shy to put their hands all over as they pushed me towards the steps. "What's a pretty thing like you doing out here baby?" one of them growled sickeningly in my ear.
I kept a cheeky smile on my face, looking up at all of them with sultry eyes. I licked my rouge-painted lips then gave them a wink.
"Easy gentlemen, you'll get your turn." Leers and whistles came back as a response while one kept his hand on my ass until the door swung open.
A huge, red-faced man with dark, slicked back hair and a mustache stood at the entrance. How this troll of a man was one of the most feared bosses in the Undercity, I'd never know.
He had a bottle in one hand and a wad of cash in the other as his bloodshot eyes looked me up in down. His many jeweled rings shone, my eyes flitting to the reflection. Slaker let out a loud burp and gave me a crooked grin.
"Well get your fine ass in here, woman! You're a lucky one- you're looking at the richest man in the Undercity."
For now, I thought as I gave him a sly smile and grabbed his meaty hand.
As soon as the door was shut, Slaker's wet lips were all over me. I just let out a lilting laugh, loud enough for the boys to think we were having a good time. As the carriage lurched off to a start, he grabbed me by the waist and threw me on his lap with a rough yank.
"Mmmm," he grunted as his paws raked all over my body. I just straddled him and internally reminded myself of how great the reward would be. This brute would learn soon enough, I wasn't just a pretty face.
"If you're a good slut and listen, I may buy you for the whole night."
I started kissing his neck and running my fingers through his greasy hair. "Oh, I'll be good." I whisper into his ear as one of my hands slides up to my bun. Slaker is too preoccupied groping my breasts to realize what I'm doing, and before he knows it, there's a nick on his neck. His lips pop open in surprise. I give him a wicked smile.
"You b-" before he could finish, his eyes are rolled up into the back of his head and he slumped onto the seat.
"Oh baby," I clucked as I got up off of fat fucking pig. "You wouldn't be able to afford one night, trust me."
I didn't waste any time. The longer I took, the more risk I had of someone checking on their boss.
I bent down on the ground and felt along the floor for a certain crooked nail. When I found it, I ripped it out of the board and lifted a section of the floor out of the carriage. I gave a soft smile to my lovelies laid below me.
The night before, I broke into this carriage at his base. It was difficult, but I managed to set all my weapons and ODM gear safely under the floor.
The carriage rumbled along, and when it hit a huge bump, I let out a loud squeal as I loaded all my gear onto me. That way they still thought we were fooling around. After I was completely loaded, I grabbed the set of keys attached to poor Mr. Slaker and used them to unlock a box sitting on the other seat.
"Hello gorgeous," I gasped at the big bag of cash. Once it was on me, I faced the door and took a deep breath.
As I was about to kick the door open, I paused. I looked back at the feared crime boss sleeping like a baby.. then, an evil grin spread. Moments later, I was packing the man’s clothes under the floorboard and put the nail back in. I turned and chuckled at my handiwork. The burly gangster was in just his knickers, head lolled to the side as snores erupted from his sausage of a nose.
Resuming after my little detour, I squared myself at the door and kicked it open. I didn't give the men time to react as I attached a line to the nearest building, leaned back and let it shoot me straight up to the roof.
Even though I had practiced this move many times for this exact day, I still screwed the landing. A weird whirring came out of the gear that sounded off- maybe it’d been jostled in the carriage?? Either way, the hook didn't bed in all the way, so I was slammed against the wall of the building instead of the roof.
I let out a groan, all the air knocked out of me and fell about ten feet to the ground. The carriage screeched to a stop fifteen yards away as men grabbed their weapons and pointed at me shouting.
"God fucking damnit," I muttered, picking myself up, cursing my mistake. When the men barreled towards me, I took off down one of the alleys at a dead sprint. I threw boxes and barrels behind me as I ran, and narrowly dodging sharp objects thrown at my head.
"You stole from the wrong people, you filthy rat!" one of them yelled down the alley to me. Without looking, I turned and threw a dagger at the voice. My footsteps didn’t slow, but the sound of a body falling soon followed the blade.
I heard multiple bodies running at me from different alleys, so I chose one at random as I tried to grapple to another rooftop. That's when I flew through the air and fell into the stack of boxes, just as I realized I had jammed the fucking gear even worse from my fall off the carriage.
If I hadn't had fixed it right in time earlier, I would've been a goner. Tonight had been too close for comfort, but at least it was the last lift I would ever have to do again.
I relived the night in my head as I sat counting the bills under the moons’ watchful stars. The silver beauty seemed to make the money glow to match my fervor. I finally finished and took a scoot back to gaze at my stacks. Then I recounted it. And again. My hands began to shake.
"Holy shit- I fucking did it. I'm leaving here for good," I whispered to myself. Alone in that cave, my voice bounced back and gripped me on collision.
I was fucking rich.