Gems and Trickery (Blackbird)

It had been a few months since Varric had been released from the box by Kat. Getting used to the future was tricky to say the least. Kat had been walking him through how to use different 'technologies." At first it took him a while but after a while he quickly began to get the hang of things. The shop had been doing well also, primarily the book side of it. And his and Kat's 'extra' job was helping to rake in money as well. Although as much as he liked pulling off heist with Kat today he was out on his own. It was the middle of the day and someone had to stay at the shop and since Varric could slip in and out easily he asked Kat to stay behind. Although the couple did go through the plan.

Their target today was a wealthy CEO's personal safe that was held up in his office on the top floor. Getting in and out would be the easy part. The hard part would be the safe. Varric had been practicing on modern safes and so far had the hang of it. But this wasn't going to be like any safe he was used to. Either way Varric made his way into the building through the back. Which according to Kat should lack a device called 'Metal Detectors' which can make out the metal of the various knifes and daggers he had hidden across his body. His invisibility made it easy, he moved silently and no normal camera could detect him. He made his way to the staircase and begun to climb up the stairs. Kat told him to wait for an elevator but Varric was still getting used to being out of the box, he wasn't so eager to climb into another one. Besides he was going to wait until the coast was clear, which could take several hours. After a long climb he made it to the end of the stair. He snuck out of the staircase and found a good corner to wait in. Now it was just a matter of time until the coast was clear and he could sneak in, grab the money and gems and be on his way. His hand did hover down to his pocket. He had his hand on the phone Kat gave him. If he needed her she was only a phone call away. The whole idea to him was strange. He would of never guess this sort of thing would exist in the future.

As she passed through the streets towards her destination, Sadie took a moment to be annoyed that she was in the country on business. Her client had flown her in on a private jet and wanted her out of the country as soon as the job was done, apparently he didn't trust her. Or he just wanted his accomplice as far away as possible. That still seemed like distrust though. As if Sadie was going to run to the cops. The job wasn't even one of the worst ones she'd been given. She was supposed to steal a flash drive from business partner of her client's. He hadn't gone into detail, besides describing the flash drive, but it wasn't hard for Sadie to figure out that the CEO had dirt on her client and he wanted it back. Now, some people might be curious about what kind of dirt he had but Sadie couldn't care less. She was getting paid handsomely and that was all that mattered to her.

Her client had been adamant that she pose as an employee, giving her a fake ID badge and promising to stash her tools and a change of clothes (there was a reason she preferred skintight pants and leather jackets to skirts and blouses) in the fifth floor staff lounge. She would have argued but she learned early on not to argue with her clients. She needed money so she would just have to suffer through this little inconvenience. Though when she got to the building, the guards didn't even bother to look up as she swiped her card, making Sadie think she might not have even needed the card (or the outfit). Regardless, she continued the charade, making her way to the elevator and from there to the fifth floor to pick up her things. After stepping aside briefly to make sure everything was there, she continued up to the top floor.

It was just before 3pm which meant the target would be leaving the office very soon. So Sadie made her way to the wall outside the CEO's office, just outside his secretary's range of vision, and phased through it, ending up in a bathroom within the office. Once she heard the lights switch off, Sadie slowly phased through the bathroom's door and after confirming that the coast was clear, quickly moved to the wall safe that held the flash drive. As if this whole situation needed to be even more cliché, the safe was hidden behind a painting.

To say Varric was surprised would be an understatement. He saw someone, a girl, sneak up and walk right through the office wall. It was interesting. Although this could mean bad news, the girl could be after the same target as himself. Varric waited painfully for the CEO to leave his office. Varric slid between the CEO and the door as he walked out. He slowly walked deeper into the room, staying near the walls. He heard the door close and the lights flick off. It was only a matter of time under the girl poked her head out and headed towards the painting that hide the safe. Varric snuck up around her, pulling out a dagger. Once she stood behind her he held his dagger out, fading back into visibility.

"Well then, I wasn't excepting anyone else at my target. I gotta admit that whole phasing thing, rather cool. But how about you step away from the safe."

Just as Sadie took the painting off the wall, she realized that she wasn't alone in the room. She silently cursed herself, but knowing that she never would have missed a person, Sadie figured he must also be a metahuman. Still, of all the things Sadie had planned for after agreeing to take the job, getting a dagger pressed into her back hadn't even been on the list. Though in retrospect it would have been a good idea.

A wave of fear crashed over her, as she was unfortunately quite familiar with the feeling of a blade on her skin. "I can't believe that paranoid jackass hired you too," Sadie huffed, raising her hands as if to surrender before moving to disarm the man, relying on use the element of surprise as she figured he would probably beat her if they were to fight. Because of that, she really didn't want a fight, but the knife had caused her to react on instinct.

Hmm... so this girl had been hired to do this job interesting. He honestly had no idea who she was talking about but he would play along. It could pay out for him in the end. If someone is paying her to get what was in the safe, maybe the contents would be more valuable then either him or Kat thought. The girl began to raise her hands in surrender, although it didn't convince Varric. He expected the attempt to disarm him. He moved his hand holding the knife with the girl, preventing her from gaining a grasp on his arm. Seamlessly his open hand reached around and grabbed another one of his many hidden knifes and he brought the new knife up to her throat. Varric let out a small grunt of laughter.

"You really expected our client to trust you? You being here is just as much of a surprise to me as it is you. I was not expecting anyone here. I was told there wouldn't be anyone." said Varric. "I do applaud you attempt to disarm me but you are to slow and give away your movements. Right now you are probably considering using that phasing ability of yours to your advantage. I would advise against it. I know what you can do, but you have no idea what I can do."

This girl interested him slightly. Although it did make him wonder what exactly she was after.

Unfortunately, Sadie had been pretty sure the guy would find a way to get back at her for disarming him. He was clearly a fighter, whereas she definitely wasn't. Some people were made for fighting, but everything about Sadie was defensive. It was why she stuck with thieving. Fighting hiked up too much adrenaline and with that, it also hiked up a decent amount of fear and worry. She didn't like getting hurt, physically or... otherwise. Regardless, even though she'd expected a counterattack, the knife to her throat made her gulp. Never had her throat ever been that close to the business end of a blade, other parts of her had - after all she was a street kid - but the throat was definitely new. She glared vehemently at the guy. "What makes you think phasing is the only thing I can do?" Then she smirked, "Or that you would even be able to get your hands on me if I did?" The smirk was really just for show. He was right, she didn't know what he could do and Sadie had enough of a self-preservation instinct that she refused to tempt fate like that.

What was interesting about this whole situation was that he hadn't killed her yet. Hadn't even injured her. A guy with that many blades probably wouldn't be overly adverse to killing, especially one who seemed to believe a knife to the back was a good introduction. "I assume you can probably go invisible?" The smirk disappeared, leaving her expression calculating. "I'm not an idiot, there's no way I would've missed you. So you have to be able to shield yourself from the naked eye. Invisibility is my best guess, am I wrong?" She raised an eyebrow, daring him to prove her wrong.

"Anyway, could you put that dagger away?" Her glare returned, "As much as I really hate to admit this, you can plainly see that I'm not a threat." Taking a better look at him, Sadie's eyes narrowed. "You know... you really don't seem like the kind of guy who takes petty jobs from probably philanderers." Sadie was starting to think that he actually wasn't hired by her client, so she tested out her theory. "A measly memory card is probably way below your paygrade."

Varric smirked, he couldn't help it. This girl was smart. Although he wasn't going to give her too much credit. She was still an enemy the way he sees it. And until proven trust worthy he would keep his hands exactly where they were.

"Because if you could do anything else you would of already. We both know that I'm not holding you here, you want to be here. You could just phase past me at any moment. So even if I did mean to kill you, you are in no danger. Right now the only reason we are talking is because I have a knife to your throat and you want information." said Varric. And yet again the girl proved how smart she was by pegging down his power. However his face didn't change expression. One thing he knew how to do well was lie.

"You are partially correct, I'll give you that. But I myself can do so much more." He was partially lying, he could pull off other stunts but he needed Kat to preform them. Other then that the only thing she missed was his ability to make other things he is touching invisible. But she didn't need to know that.

"You are right about that, if it was just the memory card it would be below my pay-grade. But on top of my payment I get to keep the entire contents of the safe, as long as our pathetic client get that memory card. And you best get comfortable to that knife. I'm not moving it. Besides, like I said before. Right now the only person keeping you in this position is yourself."

Sadie huffed in annoyance, she hated when people were able to figure her out. She did want information from him, and she wasn't moving until she got it. Though it would really be nice to have this conversation sans-knife, but it didn't look like that would be happening anytime soon, as the man continued to talk. "Well obviously none of your other powers are dangerous ones," she interrupted. "Or maybe you just can't use them at the moment." She didn't feel like letting him in on her reasoning this time around, but it was clear with the amount of weapons he had (not to mention the knife at her throat) that he had no trouble hurting people. And since he had that many weapons he probably needed them, which meant that it was unlikely he had powers that would do the same thing.

As he addressed the subject of the memory card, Sadie smirked once more, "Actually, I'm here for a flash drive," she said, phasing through him now that she had the information she needed. "Since you didn't correct me, I'll go ahead and assume that you weren't hired by my client." Turning back to face him, she became tangible again, "So here's how this is going to work. I'm going to take what I came here for, you can have whatever you came here for, and we won't ever have to see each other again." Truthfully, she actually would have preferred to get to know him better, he seemed like he could be a valuable ally, but Sadie tended to take things like being held at knifepoint personally. No matter how safe she had been. Though if he wanted to extend an olive branch, she would probably agree to forgive it.

Varric smirked, well so much for that ruse. At least this girl had proven to be somewhat competent, being about to think of a convincing lie under duress and actually have a courage to go with it. So it seemed Kat may of underestimated more modern thieves. He distinctly remember her calling them incompetent when he asked about them. Or maybe there where just a small handful of good ones and he just got a stroke of bad luck. Although he couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter.

"This is the only the second time someone has gotten the better then me. And the first one ended up as my fiance..." said Varric off handed with a soft laugh. He spun his his blade around in his hand and in one swift moment hid it for sight, placing it back in it's sheath.

"I like you. You're quick on your feet. Most people wouldn't lie with a knife at their throat. What's your name Darling?" asked Varric, scanning the girl over again. He motioned to the safe, as a sign to work while talking. He was going to let her open the safe, he didn't exactly trust her yet. But if she did end up to prove trustworthy he might try a convince Kat to hire an employee. But that in itself was a long shot.

The man laughed, causing Sadie to raise an eyebrow. But he explained himself before she could comment and she couldn't help the smug smirk that appeared on her lips. She really did enjoy getting the best of people. "Well I don't think you'll have to worry about that with me," she told him with a roll of her eyes. Her arms crossed in front of her as her eyes returned to his, where she stood watching him carefully.

Sadie watched him as he spoke. "In my experience, that's the best time to lie," she shrugged as she moved to to the safe and took out her tools. If a safe wasn't big enough for at least half her body, she preferred to open it the old-fashioned way. Otherwise there would be a lot of blind groping around to try to find the right item, and that wasted valuable time. Sadie answered his question as she got to work opening the safe, "I'm Blackbird." She never gave out her real name when she was on a job. In fact, she rarely gave it out at all.

It was fairly easy for Sadie to open the safe, but that wasn't too surprising. The CEO obviously didn't think his partner would go to such extreme lengths just to screw him over. Sadie smirked at the thought, "Guess some people aren't as smart as they should be, she muttered. With that, she quickly reached in and pulled out the flash drive before stepping aside. "All yours." She punctuated the statement with the kind of flourish usually seen by a magician's assistant, though it was far more subtle.

"In mine people tend to want to tell the truth. Most tend to keep their blood on the inside of their bodies." said Varric. He walked over the safe and pulled out a cloth bag in which he pretty much emptied the rest of the safe into. He kept a close eye on Blackbird out of the corner of his eye.

"Blackbird huh? You mean like crows and ravens? Are you going to start cawing at me." laughed Varric to himself. It was obviously wasn't her real name.

"Alright then Birdy, It seems our business together has concluded. I wish you a good day. I would say I would hope to see you again but most likely you wouldn't see me. Now-" There was a click, like all the doors locked. But before Varric could asked what happened there was the sound of gas escaping. With in the matter of moments the room was full of gas. Varric coughed, trying to breath but couldn't. His vision swam and he lost his balance and he fell over, knocked out.

---

Varric's eyes shot open. He tried to get up but  didn't get far. Handcuffs locked him against a metal support beam. He was able to stand up but not go anywhere. His eyes immediately scanned the room. It was a large empty room. Concrete floors, four very high windows that have no way to climb to and a two fairly large ceiling fan. And in the corner was Birdy. She was locked down worse them him, her hands handcuffed to a very low metal pipe. A needle stuck out of her upper arm, held in by a lot of tape. It was connected to some sort of IV drip.  She was just out of his reach about 6 feet away.

"Hey, Birdy wake up!" said Varric.

"Sometimes the truth will get you into more trouble," she said quietly, yet there was still a strength to her words that hid their true meaning. Even so, she continued on to keep the man from learning said meaning, "Not to mention that I clearly don't have a need to sorry about that." Developing the ability to become intangible was the greatest thing to ever happen to her.

Sadie rolled her eyes at him, "Wow, never heard that one before." Her voice practically dripped with sarcasm. Despite the jokes, she quite liked her pseudonym, and didn't really appreciate people mocking it. Which they did quite frequently, all with the exact same jokes. To be honest, she probably wouldn't mind if they could at least be more creative.

While they did work together fairly well, Sadie couldn't exactly say that she would be disappointed when they parted ways. Though it was more out of a self-preservation instinct than a dislike of him; he seemed like the kind of person she could get attached to. And that was not an option. Unfortunately, Sadie didn't have much of a choice, it seemed, as suddenly the doors locked and the room filled with gas. Sadie had just enough time to go into a fighting stance before the gas filled her lungs. Coughing, she tried to look around for an escape but the gas made her disoriented too and she passed out quite quickly.

---

When she came to, Sadie felt like she was floating. Distantly she could hear someone talking to her, the words sounding muffled and distorted. "Huh?" she asked, her voice slurring even over that one syllable. Trying to drag herself to full consciousness was a huge struggle, but after a few moments she was able to see the IV in her arm. Like any sane person would, Sadie began to freak out. Though whatever was in the IV made her sluggish and confused, rendering her essentially helpless. "Waz gon' on?" A wave of dizziness crashed down on her so she stopped struggling, relaxing into the floating feeling once more.

Varric sighed, well it looked liked Birdy wasn't going to be much help. He wondered if the IV drip was making act this way. She was acting like how Kat did if Varric woke her up at 3 am. Varric tested the strength of the cuffs. They seemed pretty durable. Varric could probably use them to climb the support beam. Not like there would be any reason too. Even if he climbed to top he would be stuck. The closest thing he would be able to grab onto was still a good 3 feet away. Which wouldn't be a problem if he wasn't cuffed. While he was trying to figure away of his little predicament there was a loud sound of feedback then a voice appeared over a PA system.

"Oh look you're both awake. Well our little friend over in the corner isn't going to get anymore awake then she already is. That IV drip is pumping her with enough drugs to keep her woozy for hours after the IV would be removed. Oh it was such a challenge to figure out away to keep her caught. But once I figured it out I felt so proud of myself." said A female voice over the PA system.

"You where expecting us? How did you know we where in the office?" questioned Varric. While he was here he might as well get whatever info he could.

"You? No, not at all, I was actually surprised when I saw you. Her on the other hand I was. Oh why not, it's not like either of you are going anywhere anytime soon. My old partner who hired her isn't the most careful man. It was easy to implant one of my employees to spy on him. I believe she even became his secretary. I originally implanted her so I could take over whatever pathetic company he was working on. Either way as soon as he hired the infamous Blackbird I knew about it. I even installed hidden cameras and knock out gas through out my office." said the Female voice in a sing song voice.

"I even got a bit curious on who and your friend were. So I pulled a few strings and ran some fingerprints. And wouldn't you know your little friend in the corner has such a beautiful name. Sadie Lynn Collins, ah such a pretty name for a pretty bird. Turns out she got caught as a child." sung the CEO. To be completely honest this woman's sing-song voice was getting on Varric's nerve.

"But enough of pretty little Sadie. You confuse me. Your fingerprints came up with nothing. I did some digging and it's like you don't even exist. No pictures, no record, no nothing." said The CEO, her voice becoming a bit more serious. "So how about we introduce ourselves to each other. Oh! I'll even start! I am Victoria Caine. And who might you be."

"A Relic." snorted Varric bluntly. He was trying to see if she had missed anything on him, it was possible considering how much he kept on him. But since he was knocked out all that was hidden had probably become visible. Some how Victoria knew what he was doing because she was laughing over the PA system. Probably more hidden cameras.

"Oh ok Mr. Relic. Be that way. I would give up if you are trying to escape, I personally searched both yours and Sadie's pockets. I wanted to make sure both of you would stay right where you guys are. I don't know what I am going to do with you, but I know what I am going to do with little Miss Collins over there. You see she has stolen from lots of people. Some of them with lots and lots of money you see." sung Victoria.

"So I am going to collect a list of everyone she has stolen from and sell her off to the highest bidder. What they do with her will be completely up to them. But this is a much better idea then my first one. I was just going to hire her to steal everything from my old partner but this is such a better idea." Victoria practically squealed with excitement with this news. Varric wondered why she bothered telling them this.

"Either way I have business to attend to. If I think of what to do with you Mr. Relic I'll be sure to let you know. Ta for now!" said Victoria before cutting off the sound. Varric simply sighed. He was going to need to find away out of this. And he would make sure this Victoria lady would pay for what she did.

The drugs being pumped into Sadie made her mostly incoherent but she was still able to hear and get a basic grasp on what was happening. As the woman gleefully boasted about being able to contain her, she started trying to think of a way out. She discovered by simply pulling that her arms were secured quite well, and her mind was far too hazy to come up with anything else. So instead she just tried to focus on what was being said.

Sadie shook her head slightly, in a futile attempt to clear her mind. Then Victoria mentioned her full name and she froze. Fear flooded through her; there was a reason she hid her name. It was the same reason she stashed the things she stole in clever locations, and only sold them off when she needed money. It was the reason she hid under the title Blackbird, a title that made her feel empowered; like she was more than just a little girl running from her abusive father. "Ho-" she struggled (and failed) to voice the questions swimming around her head: How? Those records should have been sealed. She had been fourteen. Those records were supposed to be sealed. But Sadie knew better than that. If she had learned anything in her life it's that money will get you anything.

When Victoria turned her attention from Sadie to the man (she still didn't know his name, but at least Victoria didn't either) sitting across from her, she got to work trying to phase the needle through her arm. It was almost as if she were fourteen again, trying to figure out how to control her powers. Except when she was fourteen she was just inexperienced, not under the influence of some seriously strong sedatives. That didn't matter. Or rather, it couldn't matter. Even with her head swimming from the sedatives, Sadie knew she had to get free. Either she did, or she would be sold... possibly not to someone she stole from. At least with the people she stole from she could strike a deal. But there was one person who – Sadie cut off her train of thought. It wouldn't help anything to think about hypotheticals, especially when her brain was already not functioning as well as it usually did.

Her lips curled almost imperceptibly as the needle and IV finally phase completely through her arm, just moments after Victoria cut off the sound. The expression could easily have been mistaken for a mere facial tick, or just a side effect of the drugs, so there was no way Victoria noticed it. Not knowing if they were still being listened to, Sadie decided to call attention away from it just in case. She turned her head towards Varric to speak, "Got any ideas?" Her voice was slurred still and labored from the effort it took to phase the needle, but she needed Varric to help her clear her head while she waited for the sedatives to make their way out of her system.

So it seemed Sadie was able to get the IV out of her arm. Varric guessed it must of took a lot of focus, which is impressive considering she was drugged up. But even then Varric wondered how out of it she would be and for how long.

"Sadly kid, the current plan is that I have no plan." said Varric out loud. Even though the sound was cut off he doubted someone wasn't listening in. He positioned himself to face Birdy, hopefully his back to the camera. Although he smiled and tested the cuffs again.

"Sadie, when you become a shadow, what's the first thing you learn how to do?" asked Varric. He didn't expect an answer, she was so out of it he was surprised she could talk. In a matter of moment his cuffs were undone and he spun them around on his figure.

"How to pick a lock." said Varric with a snarky grin on his face. He casually walked over to Sadie. He pulled out the pin he used to pick the lock. And with in a matter of moments he unlocked Sadie.

"The second is to sew a bunch of tiny little pockets in your clothes to hide stuff. Anyway lets get out of her." Varric helped Sadie up and began walking to the exist but he doubt he would get far without this Victoria lady noticing. And Birdy's condition didn't help.

"Varric by the way." Whispered Varric into Birdy's ear.