The Blue Court Diamond 9
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Chapter 9 - Moonlight Meeting
“How did it go, honey?” Elizabeth asked as Peter and Neal rejoined the group. She got a good look at them and shook her head. “That bad, huh?”
“Kid got away with the diamond and got the best of us,” Peter admitted.
“You’re lavender,” Elizabeth said as she fully took in what they looked like.
“Kid is very dangerous,” Peter said as he shook his head. “I almost prefer the bullets rather than looking like this.”
“It’s not so bad, nothing a shower couldn’t fix,” Elizabeth loyally said. She then snickered to herself.
“I told you that she would laugh,” Neal said.
“Don’t forget that you’ve got streaks in your hair,” Peter said.
“My poor hair,” Neal muttered as he fingered it once more.
“The rest of the conference is about to start,” Elizabeth said as she tugged her husband over to the doors of the auditorium.
“You haven’t really listened to any of this yet, have you?” Peter asked.
“No, not yet,” Elizabeth said. “I haven’t talked to either my sister or Ezra in so long; we have a lot to talk about.”
“During a conference.” Peter shook his head, but didn’t say anything more.
They entered the auditorium once more and took their seats in the back just in time for the next speaker to make their way onto the stage. “Welcome back, everyone. I hope you’ve enjoyed all of our lectures on teamwork,” the lecturer said. “Now, our conference is almost done, so we’ve got to get to the meat of the conference. It’s time for Team Exercises!”
“Oh, hell no,” Peter muttered to himself.
“Now, we need two volunteers,” the lecturer said as he scanned the crowd. He pointed straight at Peter and Neal. “You two, in the lavender. Come up here.”
“I’d rather not,” Neal drawled out in reply.
“I’ll tell your boss on you if you don’t,” the lecturer informed them.
“Come on, then,” Peter groaned as he stood up. He dragged Neal up to the stage and climbed the stairs. They reached the podium and came to a halt, glaring at the lecturer.
“Now, to show how much you trust your teammate, I want you to take turns catching one another,” the lecturer said, giving Peter and Neal a blinding smile.
“Seriously?” Neal asked.
“He’s more likely to drop me that catch me, if only for the entertainment,” Peter said.
“What, you don’t trust me?” Neal asked, turning to Peter.
“I do trust you, which is why I know that you won’t catch me,” Peter said.
“Probably not,” Neal said with a grin. “I don’t want to get purple on my hands.”
“You do realize that if I catch you, you’ll have purple handprints on you,” Peter pointed out.
“I don’t want that to happen,” Neal said, taking a step back from Peter.
“You have to do the exercise, gentlemen,” the lecturer said, now frowning at them.
“Well, you don’t really have to trust someone to have them catch you,” Neal mused.
Peter snorted in disbelief. “Tell me that you didn’t test out that overhanging before you jumped out of the window and I’ll believe you on that.”
“I didn’t test it out, Mozzie did,” Neal answered.
“So then you trusted Mozzie,” Peter said.
“We had to check out the strength of the overhanging, it was a second story drop and I had to be well enough to go into hiding,” Neal replied.
“Who are you?” the lecturer asked, staring at Neal in shock.
“He’s my C.I.,” Peter answered.
“Well, this is great,” the lecturer exclaimed. “It shows how anyone could become teammates and learn to trust one another.”
“Glad you see it that way,” Neal said before he swept the lecturer’s feet out from under him. The man squawked as he fell, but Peter caught him before he fell to the floor. Peter then pushed the man back up to his feet and let go, leaving purple handprints behind. “Do you want to catch me now?” Neal asked.
“Er, no, that’s okay,” the lecturer said, sounding dazed.
“Now we can go, I suppose,” Peter said as he and Neal left the stage.
“This was one of the worst conferences that I’ve ever been to,” Neal complained.
“How many conferences have you been to?” Peter asked again.
“I’m not telling,” Neal said with a wink.
-
After the conference finally ended, El dragged Peter off to join in another family dinner. Neal was also invited, but he declined in order to spend a night with his old team. What he didn’t tell anyone was that he had a plan for the evening.
Neal directed Eliot and Parker up to the rooftop of the hotel, refusing to answer any of their questions. They waited in the soft light of the full moon.
“Does this have anything to do with the Diamond?” Parker asked. “Are you getting it back?”
“Oh, I already have the Blue Court Diamond,” Neal answered. “All three of them.”
“Three of them?” Parker asked.
“There’s more than one of them?” Eliot asked.
“There’s the fake that Kid left behind,” Neal said as he held up one jewel. “There’s the one that I’m going to return to the FBI.” Another jewel was added to the mix. “And then there is the real one, which I am going to give to Kid.” A third jewel was held up along with the other two, although this one he was careful to keep out of the moonlight.
“I want to thank you for that, by the way,” a voice called out. A second later the white clad thief stepped out into the moonlight.
“Wait, go back a second,” Parker exclaimed.
“Kid never stole the Blue Court Diamond, did he?” Eliot asked as he connected everything together.
“He stole the good copy that I’m going to give back to the FBI, but he switched jewels with me while he handcuffed me to Peter.” Neal turned over to Kid. “Which reminds me, did you have to do that? I’ve already been handcuffed to him enough already. Not to mention what you did to my hair.”
“It will wash off,” Kid reassured.
“The FBI never saw the original, did they?” Parker asked.
“Peter’s taught me many things, and one of those things is that Justice is a good thing. Giving Kid the Pandora will lead to justice,” Neal said. “You should understand that.”
“Sometimes bad guys are the only good guys you get,” Parker murmured to herself.
Eliot shrugged. “I have nothing against it. But then, I’ve never been attracted to the shiny things like you two were.”
“Knives?” Neal reminded, raising his eyebrow.
“That’s a different kind of shiny,” Eliot defended.
“Could I have my shiny?” Kid asked, holding out his hand.
“Here.” Neal lightly tossed the original gem over to Kid.
Kid easily caught it and held it up to the moonlight. Pandora started to glow, the light coming from within the jewel rather than being a reflection. Kid allowed it to shine for a moment before closing his hand around it. “Thank you. Give this to the FBI along with the Blue Court Diamond, will you?” Kid asked as he tossed a Kaitou Kid plushie at Neal.
“I still say that you should leave it for Peter,” Neal grumbled as he caught the plushie. “He’ll think I had a part in all of this.”
“You did have a part in all of this,” Eliot said. “In fact, as far as I can tell, you organized the whole thing.”
“There was a reason why I was the leader in our team,” Neal shot back with a grin.
“I’m afraid that we don’t have the time for another stop,” Kid interrupted. “We’ve got to get to a safe place to destroy the Pandora as soon as we can.”
“Thanks for the plushie, then,” Neal said. He nodded goodbye to Kid, who faded away like the phantom thief he was.
“So, what do you have planned for the rest of the night?” Parker asked.
“Nothing, really. Why, do you have any suggestions?” Neal asked.
“Tag, I’m it,” Parker called out as she snatched the good fake from Neal’s hand. She then took off, bounding onto the roof of the next building.
“That’s not how you’re supposed to start the game,” Neal called out. He tucked the obvious fake away in one of his seals before chasing after Parker.
Eliot sighed at the two of them, but grinned as he raced after them. It was time for some fun.
-
The Blue Court Diamond Master Post
Chapter 9 - Moonlight Meeting
“How did it go, honey?” Elizabeth asked as Peter and Neal rejoined the group. She got a good look at them and shook her head. “That bad, huh?”
“Kid got away with the diamond and got the best of us,” Peter admitted.
“You’re lavender,” Elizabeth said as she fully took in what they looked like.
“Kid is very dangerous,” Peter said as he shook his head. “I almost prefer the bullets rather than looking like this.”
“It’s not so bad, nothing a shower couldn’t fix,” Elizabeth loyally said. She then snickered to herself.
“I told you that she would laugh,” Neal said.
“Don’t forget that you’ve got streaks in your hair,” Peter said.
“My poor hair,” Neal muttered as he fingered it once more.
“The rest of the conference is about to start,” Elizabeth said as she tugged her husband over to the doors of the auditorium.
“You haven’t really listened to any of this yet, have you?” Peter asked.
“No, not yet,” Elizabeth said. “I haven’t talked to either my sister or Ezra in so long; we have a lot to talk about.”
“During a conference.” Peter shook his head, but didn’t say anything more.
They entered the auditorium once more and took their seats in the back just in time for the next speaker to make their way onto the stage. “Welcome back, everyone. I hope you’ve enjoyed all of our lectures on teamwork,” the lecturer said. “Now, our conference is almost done, so we’ve got to get to the meat of the conference. It’s time for Team Exercises!”
“Oh, hell no,” Peter muttered to himself.
“Now, we need two volunteers,” the lecturer said as he scanned the crowd. He pointed straight at Peter and Neal. “You two, in the lavender. Come up here.”
“I’d rather not,” Neal drawled out in reply.
“I’ll tell your boss on you if you don’t,” the lecturer informed them.
“Come on, then,” Peter groaned as he stood up. He dragged Neal up to the stage and climbed the stairs. They reached the podium and came to a halt, glaring at the lecturer.
“Now, to show how much you trust your teammate, I want you to take turns catching one another,” the lecturer said, giving Peter and Neal a blinding smile.
“Seriously?” Neal asked.
“He’s more likely to drop me that catch me, if only for the entertainment,” Peter said.
“What, you don’t trust me?” Neal asked, turning to Peter.
“I do trust you, which is why I know that you won’t catch me,” Peter said.
“Probably not,” Neal said with a grin. “I don’t want to get purple on my hands.”
“You do realize that if I catch you, you’ll have purple handprints on you,” Peter pointed out.
“I don’t want that to happen,” Neal said, taking a step back from Peter.
“You have to do the exercise, gentlemen,” the lecturer said, now frowning at them.
“Well, you don’t really have to trust someone to have them catch you,” Neal mused.
Peter snorted in disbelief. “Tell me that you didn’t test out that overhanging before you jumped out of the window and I’ll believe you on that.”
“I didn’t test it out, Mozzie did,” Neal answered.
“So then you trusted Mozzie,” Peter said.
“We had to check out the strength of the overhanging, it was a second story drop and I had to be well enough to go into hiding,” Neal replied.
“Who are you?” the lecturer asked, staring at Neal in shock.
“He’s my C.I.,” Peter answered.
“Well, this is great,” the lecturer exclaimed. “It shows how anyone could become teammates and learn to trust one another.”
“Glad you see it that way,” Neal said before he swept the lecturer’s feet out from under him. The man squawked as he fell, but Peter caught him before he fell to the floor. Peter then pushed the man back up to his feet and let go, leaving purple handprints behind. “Do you want to catch me now?” Neal asked.
“Er, no, that’s okay,” the lecturer said, sounding dazed.
“Now we can go, I suppose,” Peter said as he and Neal left the stage.
“This was one of the worst conferences that I’ve ever been to,” Neal complained.
“How many conferences have you been to?” Peter asked again.
“I’m not telling,” Neal said with a wink.
-
After the conference finally ended, El dragged Peter off to join in another family dinner. Neal was also invited, but he declined in order to spend a night with his old team. What he didn’t tell anyone was that he had a plan for the evening.
Neal directed Eliot and Parker up to the rooftop of the hotel, refusing to answer any of their questions. They waited in the soft light of the full moon.
“Does this have anything to do with the Diamond?” Parker asked. “Are you getting it back?”
“Oh, I already have the Blue Court Diamond,” Neal answered. “All three of them.”
“Three of them?” Parker asked.
“There’s more than one of them?” Eliot asked.
“There’s the fake that Kid left behind,” Neal said as he held up one jewel. “There’s the one that I’m going to return to the FBI.” Another jewel was added to the mix. “And then there is the real one, which I am going to give to Kid.” A third jewel was held up along with the other two, although this one he was careful to keep out of the moonlight.
“I want to thank you for that, by the way,” a voice called out. A second later the white clad thief stepped out into the moonlight.
“Wait, go back a second,” Parker exclaimed.
“Kid never stole the Blue Court Diamond, did he?” Eliot asked as he connected everything together.
“He stole the good copy that I’m going to give back to the FBI, but he switched jewels with me while he handcuffed me to Peter.” Neal turned over to Kid. “Which reminds me, did you have to do that? I’ve already been handcuffed to him enough already. Not to mention what you did to my hair.”
“It will wash off,” Kid reassured.
“The FBI never saw the original, did they?” Parker asked.
“Peter’s taught me many things, and one of those things is that Justice is a good thing. Giving Kid the Pandora will lead to justice,” Neal said. “You should understand that.”
“Sometimes bad guys are the only good guys you get,” Parker murmured to herself.
Eliot shrugged. “I have nothing against it. But then, I’ve never been attracted to the shiny things like you two were.”
“Knives?” Neal reminded, raising his eyebrow.
“That’s a different kind of shiny,” Eliot defended.
“Could I have my shiny?” Kid asked, holding out his hand.
“Here.” Neal lightly tossed the original gem over to Kid.
Kid easily caught it and held it up to the moonlight. Pandora started to glow, the light coming from within the jewel rather than being a reflection. Kid allowed it to shine for a moment before closing his hand around it. “Thank you. Give this to the FBI along with the Blue Court Diamond, will you?” Kid asked as he tossed a Kaitou Kid plushie at Neal.
“I still say that you should leave it for Peter,” Neal grumbled as he caught the plushie. “He’ll think I had a part in all of this.”
“You did have a part in all of this,” Eliot said. “In fact, as far as I can tell, you organized the whole thing.”
“There was a reason why I was the leader in our team,” Neal shot back with a grin.
“I’m afraid that we don’t have the time for another stop,” Kid interrupted. “We’ve got to get to a safe place to destroy the Pandora as soon as we can.”
“Thanks for the plushie, then,” Neal said. He nodded goodbye to Kid, who faded away like the phantom thief he was.
“So, what do you have planned for the rest of the night?” Parker asked.
“Nothing, really. Why, do you have any suggestions?” Neal asked.
“Tag, I’m it,” Parker called out as she snatched the good fake from Neal’s hand. She then took off, bounding onto the roof of the next building.
“That’s not how you’re supposed to start the game,” Neal called out. He tucked the obvious fake away in one of his seals before chasing after Parker.
Eliot sighed at the two of them, but grinned as he raced after them. It was time for some fun.
-
The Blue Court Diamond Master Post