Diamonds and Nicotine

Night has long since fallen, but the party showed no signs of slowing. Music echoed and resonated from the dance floor and into the stone halls, and warm chatter of the crowd filled the air.

Noir calmly walked through the halls, keeping her gaze roaming on the tapestries that decorated the walls of the castle. She kept the masquerade mask hovering over her eyes as she discretely mapped her routes and plotted out the possible maneuvers.
First she would have to locate the security base and figure out what kind of programs and systems were being utilized. Looking at LeBlanc’s paranoid and controlling nature, more than likely he got his hands on the most intricate and expensive. But that could possibly be used in her favor. Now if only she could have a moment of peace to herself…
The thief inhaled deeply and stifled a heavy sigh as she continued her passive search. But her silent troubles did not go unnoticed.

“You seem tense.”

Noir couldn’t help the twinge of annoyance she felt at the amused tone that came from the man on her left. She threw him a brief glare his way through her mask but said nothing. He chuckled.

“Come on, this is a party.” he said. “Loosen up and live a little.”

“Sorry to say I have more urgent things in mind, like how I’m being kept on a tight leash by a known career criminal.” Noir muttered under her breath, keeping her words private.

“The last I checked, I wasn't the only criminal in the pair of us." he said.

"Wrong, you have to be caught to be labeled a criminal." she noted.

"At least try to look like you’re enjoying yourself. People will start to notice.” Ace returned, matching her muted tone. “It’s not like we could use more attention, especially in that ridiculous dress of yours.”

Noir fought down the urge to punch him right there and then, instead unhappily settling with a tight smile. She was glad that she had the mask to cover the rest of her face; she didn’t quite trust that she could completely hide her true emotions at the moment.

Just ahead, she saw a clustered group of people chattering with one another and just beyond them was the crowd in the courtyard. Immediately the thief’s mind started to plot the possibility. If she could get away, it would be as simple as getting lost in the crowd. All she had to do was drop her hand from Ace’s arm…
But just as the hopeful thought started to blossom, its further development was stunted. Ace took hold of her hand at the crook of his elbow, securing her on his arm.
Noir glanced up at him by instinct and saw him smirking down at her.
“We’ll be turning left into that hall up ahead.” he told her.

Something in his cold gaze told her he seemed to be reading her mind.
Noir silently let Ace guide her through the halls, suddenly very careful with her thoughts. But as she was lead around the corner, she couldn’t help but let her mind pick apart her current status.

Something about this side-job didn’t sit right with her. Of course, the involvement of that infamous Ace of Spades didn’t exactly warm her up to the job details and neither did being blackmailed. But it was something beyond that… something tugged at her gut to turn around, just notice what was wrong.
She was missing pieces of the equation, and she couldn’t quite put a finger on what---

“It’s serious, isn’t it?” Ace suddenly asked.

Noir glanced back at the mercenary and saw that he was looking at her again. But this time there were no amusement or the dominating chill. Confusion took over and she tried to read him, but she couldn’t figure out what he was asking her.
When she didn’t reply he went on.

“When you passed out on the dance floor, you weren’t faking it.” he noted.
He seemed to study her reactions before he went on.
“I first noticed something in the gallery. You had tremors and even then you looked ready to pass out.”

Noir sighed out anxiously, and glanced around her. If he was looking for an answer, she couldn’t come up with one to give.

Cool evening air wrapped around the pair as they stepped out of the stone walls. Ace had led her to a less crowded area, distanced away from the main party. Another look around told her that they were now in an extravagant garden. Exotic-looking rose bushes pruned in precise cuts mapped out the stone walkways, taller shrubs framing the far perimeter of the luxurious garden. Organized plots in intricate patterns held varying colors of the lilies, lavender, azaleas, gardenia--- Noir could name them all. Every petal and blade of grass was perfectly and meticulously in place.

Much to the thief’s surprise, her captor let her go and went to sit on the marble bench next to the water fountain.

“Sit,” he told her, motioning to the seat next to him.

Noir hesitated, feeling cautious. What were they doing here? Why had he brought her out here?
She looked around and saw few finely dressed party guests mingling around. Most were keeping to themselves, with a champagne flute in their hand and whispering amongst themselves as they leisurely strolled through the high pruned shrubbery. Despite the seemingly peaceful atmosphere, she wasn’t fooled; the armed guards hiding on the shadows of the high rooftops kept to their perch, ready to pull the trigger to take down anything suspicious in their crosshairs.
Quite a party, the thief thought darkly.
It was clear, she had nowhere to run.

Noir turned her attention back to Ace, who was still looking back at her expectantly. A casual smile of ease pulled at the corner of his lips, but the steeled expression and his ever-cold gaze left a contradicting mask.
“Sit,” he repeated, this time a hidden daring edge in his tone.
It seemed to say Go ahead, try and run. You should know better. And indeed, she did know better: this was not her play. So with a slow exhaling breath, she approached the marble bench and lowered herself to the seat next to him. The mercenary smiled wider but didn’t speak.

Noir watched cautiously as Ace reached into his coat’s inner pocket and produced a pack of cigarette and a zippo lighter. He lit a stick and took one deep drag before sighing out a plume of grey smoke into the air. He saw her staring and raised an eyebrow.

“Want one?” he asked her, motioning with the pack.

“I don’t smoke,” Noir replied, to which she got a shrug and another long drag in return.
Ace exhaled another cloud of smoke before taking in a deep clear breath of air.
“Not your addiction, hmm?” he questioned lightly. “Tell me, what is your choice of habit?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” she answered, to which he scoffed.

“People like us, ‘career criminals’ as you put it , we all have one thing we keep close and keep coming back to.” Ace said. “Mine just happen to come in a portable stick-form.”

“Don’t I have a place I need to be somewhere, doing something?” Noir questioned back. “So much to do, so little time…”

“You said things while you were out cold.”

Noir’s eyes snapped back to him, immediately alarmed.

“While I carried you up to the infirmary and during your little power nap, you kept on muttering things. Some nonsense about having only a few hours left.” he told her. “Tremors, syncope, high fever and delirium... that’s a list of symptoms I’ve seen before on a number of occasions where poison was involved.”

“What the hell do you want, Ace?” Noir muttered lowly, a renewed edge in her voice.

“I’m just trying to figure you out. ‘Mademoiselle Noir’ is not a name you see on the listings of people that take jobs in our industry. I didn’t think you to be one to take jobs from anyone that’s willing to pay but here you are being used by Valerio as her personal bitch.” he mused on. "If I didn't know better, I would say that Valerio has something on you that has you dancing on her strings."

Noir let out a humorless short laugh, shaking her head.
“Oh believe me, I’m no bitch to be used by anyone. You know nothing.” she snarled. “But what about you and your owner LeBlanc? Should you really be straying this far off of your leash?”

LeBlanc…LeBlanc.

Noir stopped short, realization dawned on her.
“Speaking of which, why haven’t I seen LeBlanc at his own party?” she asked.

Ace glanced at her and only offered her a smirk before he flicked away the cigarette butt onto the ground. He didn’t answer as he stood up, stepped on the lit stick and ground it under the sole of his shoes to kill the flame. He picked up the spent and squashed cigarette butt and pocketed it before glancing at his wristwatch.

“Better watch the time, Noir.” he said turning his arm so she could see the clock face.
To her dismay, the clock read 11:39.

“Dammit,” Noir growled, getting up from the bench.

Ace was quick to move, stepping forward and closing into her personal space.
“This was all a distraction,” Noir accused.

“Now why would I do that? I need you to do your part for my own plans. Hindering you will cause me problems too.” he spoke quietly. He reached over to the flowerbed across from the bench and plucked a single stem of flower. He turned back and handed it to her.

Noir raised an eyebrow, still perturbed.
“An iris,” she noted, twisting the flower in between her fingers. “Ironically meaning ‘glad tidings,’ this helps me greatly.”

“I believe it also means ‘good news’ and ‘loyalty’. It’s a personal favorite of one Tristan LeBlanc, one he finds symbolic.” Ace muttered back. “But right now, it’s just a seemingly romantic gesture for any outside eyes that could be on us at the moment.”

Noir gave him a look of distrust but said nothing, momentarily accepting his words.
He then leaned in, wrapping his arms around Noir’s shoulders in a loose embrace, bringing his lips close to her ear.
“In roughly five minutes, you will see that the guards on the roof will be trading shifts. Half of the guards will be relocated elsewhere and you will have a three-minute window to infiltrate.” he whispered. “The servant quarters in the South Wing is where the security tech center is stationed.”

He pulled away and took Noir’s left hand, lifting it to his lips. He gave a courteous bow as he planted a kiss on her knuckles.
“Good luck to you, Mademoiselle,” he murmured. “I truly hope this is the last time I see you.”

And then he was gone, leaving her in the garden.

Noir inhaled deeply, not giving her mind a second to wander. Quickly she prioritized, gathering her thoughts and setting up a quick plan.
And then, she calmly walked back into the castle, finally moving into action.