#nevernotwriting

[nevernotwriting]

You, Me, and Yancy | Chapter 15: Be Careful what you Wish For

Read me on AO3!

Previous chapter

“Z? Yous ready yet?”

Yancy shouted down the hall to you. You stood in the bathroom turning left and right in front of the mirror, still apprehensive to come out and make an appearance. It had been a long time since you’d worn anything this… extravagant. Were clothes supposed to fit this tightly? You thought to yourself, smoothing out the fabric. With a sigh, you knew there was little point in trying to adjust your outfit any further, so you stepped out of the bathroom.

At the end of the hallway, Yancy was stood in front of a mirror, wearing the suit you’d helped him pick out during the week. Your heart quickened at the sight of him, smile widening as he failed to tie his bow tie. A prominent crease settled between his eyebrows and he huffed defeatedly, draping the fabric around his neck. You couldn’t help but giggle.

The sound caught him by surprise. His eyes met yours in the mirror and he whipped round, eyes growing wide as they travelled down to your feet and back up to your face. A blush crept onto his cheeks.

“Wow. Yous look… amazing,” he said, clearing his throat and wrestling with his bow tie again.

“Thanks,” you replied, scratching the back of your neck and stepping forward. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

Yancy hummed a small laugh in response, the blush in his cheeks infinitely more obvious as you stepped closer. His hair was coiffed a little neater than usual and his bruises had completely disappeared. His neck tattoo peeked out from underneath the white collar of his shirt, a subtle reminder that he was no ordinary well-dressed gentleman.

“I can’t get this damn thing tied though,” he grumbled, turning back to the mirror.

“Here, let me.”

Yancy let his hands drop and turned to you, freezing on the spot as you inched in closer. You took the material in your hands, trying to ignore his eyes boring into you as you worked. Your fingers were on fire as you brushed his neck and tightened the bow, your gentle breaths the only sound exchanged.

“There.” The word was quiet, with a subtle warmth to it. When you finally met his eyes, your mind ground to a halt. Neither of you moved for what felt like an eternity, until Yancy’s eyes flicked to your lips and he leaned forward.

Adrenaline kicked in and you surged forward as well, pressing your lips against his for the briefest of moments. It was sweet despite its brevity, his lips soft and warm. When you opened your eyes, however, Yancy was still frozen solid.

“I-I’m sorry,” you began, heat rising to your face as your mind began to whir back into panicked action. “I hope that wasn’t too forward of me-”

“No, no, not at all,” Yancy finally burst back to life, a grin forming on his face. “It was nice.”

His words calmed you, and you dropped your shoulders with a relieved sigh. The two of you stood there for a moment longer, grinning like school kids, until he moved to your side and held out his arm.

“Shall we?”

You linked your arm through his, striding forward together.

Yancy was exceptionally quiet during car journeys; he seemed content to take in the views and watch the world whizz by. You didn’t mind, though you wondered if your quiet journey would continue now that there’d be three of you. Pulling up outside Mark’s house, you beeped the horn.

Mark climbed into the back, looking crisp and clean in his own tuxedo. Your grip on the steering wheel subconsciously tightened.

“Hey! Thanks for picking me up. You look great,” he said, fastening himself in.

“Thanks,” you replied with a slight smile.

Mark cleared his throat. “Hi, Yancy.”

Yancy didn’t tear his eyes away from the window. “Hey.”

You turned the radio on, less out of desire for music and more out of obligation to fill the awkward silence. The engine hummed as you picked up speed, merging onto the interstate for Yorba Linda. A soft pop song filled the car, but it wasn’t long before it was drowned out.

“So,” Mark finally broke the silence, leaning to one side to glance between you and Yancy. “We all know the drill for tonight, right?”

You didn’t take your eyes off the road as you replied. “Yeah. Go in, schmooze our way around all the rich people, and find out which painting is the most valuable.”

“And I assume we go back and steal it once the exhibition is over?” Yancy added.

“Exactly,” Mark said. “The exhibition finishes on Sunday. Shrike and Vakarian already mapped out the place and the guard rotations, so we’ve got all of tonight just to look around. Let’s just try and keep our hands clean.”

Yancy jerked in his seat, turning to frown at Mark. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The shock in Mark’s tone was clear as day. “What? Nothing!”

“Yous think cause I done hard time I’m gonna start throwin’ punches?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“What didyous mean then, huh?”

“Guys!”

The two of them stopped and snapped their heads towards you, faint guilt in their expressions. You took a deep breath.

“Look, I think you two got off on the wrong foot,” you sighed. Mark scoffed, muttering something under his breath, but you continued. “Why don’t you focus on what you have in common?”

Yancy grumbled. “Like what?”

“Well…” You glanced to the side and in the rear-view mirror. Two pairs of expectant eyes stared back at you. “Yancy mentioned to me that he’s from Ohio. Mark, you’re from Ohio too, right?”

Yancy seemed unimpressed, but he turned back to Mark nonetheless. “Whereabouts yous from?”

“Cinci.”

Yancy snorted. “Small city boy. You wouldn’t last two seconds in Cleveland.”

Mark stifled a laugh. “You’re from Cleveland?”

“Yous got a problem with Cleveland? I knows folk that’d chew you up and spit yous out before-”

You groaned, turning up the radio. This was going to be a long drive.

Thirty minutes and several escalating arguments later, you arrived at The Nixon Library. The steps leading up to the entrance were covered in deep red carpet, where several people stood dressed to the nines and chatting in small groups. You parked your car near the water fountain, hoping your considerably older vehicle didn’t look suspicious wedged between two Lamborghinis.

Both Mark and Yancy offered you their arm as you approached the building, shooting each other matching death glares. Before they could break into another argument, you squeezed between them, grabbing one of their arms on either side of you and walking towards the steps.

“All right. Remember guys, play it cool. Act like we belong here,” you mumbled under your breath, walking into the building as Mark flashed three tickets to the door attendant.

Once you walked through the doors, you weren’t entirely sure how you were going to manage that.

The walls were cream and carved with elegant patterns, a perfect accompaniment to the glossy wooden floor. The foyer continued on for what felt like an eternity, ending with a set of oak doors leading to the rest of the museum. The ceiling seemed to be a million miles away, and every few feet there was another crystal chandelier emitting warm, brilliant light. Chatter from groups and couples filled the air as they talked to various staff members posted near every other painting, each of whom was wearing a deep blue jacket. Each painting was cordoned off with a red velvet rope draping from two gold posts. You gulped, letting go of Mark and Yancy’s arms.

“Okay, according to the blueprints, the hallway loops round the Oval Office and the ballroom’s in the west wing.”

“What’s bettin’ this exhibition spans the whole place?” Yancy asked.

Mark surveyed the hallway, standing tall and straightening his suit. “It probably will. I say we split up, cover as much ground as we can. I’ll take the far hallway, Yancy, you take the ballroom, and Zero, you take the foyer. Sound good?”

You and Yancy glanced at each other. “We can meet up later in the ballroom,” you suggested.

Mark nodded. “Good call. All right, just remember, there’s no rush. The exhibition doesn’t finish ‘til eleven.”

“Plenty of time before our ride turns into a pumpkin, then,” Yancy joked, making you giggle. He slipped his hand into yours, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Mark managed a half-hearted laugh.

“All right, guys. See you later. Zero, just text me if there’s trouble, okay?” Mark’s voice softened at the end as he began to pace away, leaving you with one final smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Yancy went his own way not long after, winking devilishly as he waltzed away into the crowd.

Taking a deep breath, you took a moment to compose yourself.

You got this. No grappling hooks, no gunpowder, just a bunch of rich people. How hard can it be?

You made your way further into the foyer, shoes clacking on the floor with every step.

After thirty minutes of schmoozing and socialising, you came to realise two things: one, talking to these people was surprisingly easy. Second, this art was a lot more expensive than you’d anticipated.

You encountered a piece you could easily imagine hanging on your bedroom wall, only for your eyes to water when a blue-jacketed woman told you the price.

“That’s the same as one year of my college tuition,” you laughed, placing a delicate hand on your chest for effect.

The woman looked you up and down. “Ah, I take it you didn’t go to a privateuniversity, then.”

You blinked. Despite your shock, you let out a small laugh, cocking your head to one side.

“I actually rejected offers from several private universities,” you said, the lie rolling off your tongue almost too casually. “Now if you’ll excuse me…”

You hurried further down and into the hallway, leaving the woman a stuttering, blushing mess. A huff escaped as your face soured into a scowl.

How dare she, you thought, paintings passing you by as the crowd began to thin near the doors to the ballroom. I have half a mind to steal the damn thing just so I can smash it over her head-

You stopped, glancing around as if awakening from a trance. Where did that come from? You sighed, feeling the rage leave you as quickly as it appeared. Shaking off your feelings, you opened the door to the ballroom with the intention of finding one or both of your cohorts. Maybe they’d be able to calm you down.

The ballroom was just as extravagant as the rest of the building, the tall windows adorned with gold curtains that hung just above the floor. On the far end of the room, a table lined with white cloth held a plethora of food on silver platters, and a small band occupied the opposite corner. Judging by the couples applauding in the centre of the room, you guessed they’d just finished playing a song.

“Hey! There you are.”

You looked forward, realising you were face to face with a pair of brown eyes and a very happy smile.

“Yancy! I’m glad I found you, I-”

“Me too, they’re about to start the next song and I was uh… I was lookin’ for a partner,” he interrupted you, scratching the back of his neck.

“I… wait, what?”

Yancy chuckled, straightening his back and holding out a hand. “Will yous do me the honour of dancing with me?”

Looking down at his hand, your brain took several seconds to process exactly what he said. Before you could leap into his arms enthusiastically, logic stopped you in your tracks.

“Yancy, we’re meant to be on a mission. Remember?”

He didn’t falter. “Doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy ourselves a little, right?”

You smiled at last, shaking your head at him as he continued to hold his hand out. He had a point. You felt butterflies enter your stomach as you placed your hand in his.

Triumphantly, Yancy led the two of you into the heart of the room. As he stepped in closer and placed a hand on your waist, the same blush from a couple of hours prior appeared on his cheeks. You smiled, placing your free hand on his shoulder. The band soon began to play a sweet melody, and Yancy guided you through a waltz, his eyes never leaving yours.

“Where’d you learn to dance?” You asked as he spun you round effortlessly.

“Theatre school, remember?” He replied, retaking your waist and stepping with the rhythm, not missing a beat.

You grinned. “Right, of course.”

The mission, your previous anger, the other dancers, and the entire room itself seemed to disappear as the violin’s notes climbed higher and higher. Yancy pulled you in closer. Shivers ran down your spine as he spoke into your ear.

“Yous seem to be enjoyin’ yourself.”

You giggled. “I am. I’m glad I found you when I did, this place was starting to wind me up.”

Yancy pulled away slightly, looking at you with concern. “Why? What happened?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just one of the attendants got on my nerves. I scared myself a little though. I… I thought about stealing a painting just so I could smash it over her head.”

Yancy laughed, a sultry look in his eyes. “Sounds like I’m havin’ a bad influence on you.”

The butterflies intensified. “Maybe. I’m not complaining, though.”

Yancy tightened his grip on your waist. “Yous better be careful what you wish for, Zero.”

The butterflies disappeared, overtaken by a strange, thrilling jolt of lightning. You leaned over his shoulder as the song slowed down slightly, feeling Yancy intake a sharp breath. Your waltzing was replaced with a slow, steady swaying, one that made you want to close your eyes and drift off to sleep in his arms. However, as your eyes lazily scanned the crowd, what you saw awakened you immediately.

Mark was stood at the far end of the room, talking to an elderly couple in between bites of food. He gestured to the room, making the couple laugh with what was no doubt one of his corny jokes. Your heart pounded, guilt overtaking your elation. Shuffling your head slightly, you spoke softly into Yancy’s ear.

“W-we should probably get back to work. We’re still on a mission.”

Yancy kept swaying with you. Even though you couldn’t see his face, you were positive he was smirking.

“Z, relax. I’s already found a prime target.”

“Really? How much?”

“Thirty thousand.”

The song reached its climax, the violins returning tenfold. Yancy spun you around before you even had time to comprehend the change. You came face to face with him once more as he pulled you back to him, chests touching, eyes on each other.

“Besides,” he began again, sweeping the two of you around the room with even more vigour than before. “Don’t worry so much. This kinda mission is child’s play compared to summa the stuff I’s done before.”

Between catching breaths and trying not to trip on your feet, you managed to shoot him an intrigued look. “Care to elaborate?”

Yancy laughed. He slowed the two of you down again, back to a simple box step as the song reached its close. “Maybe another time.”

“I’ll hold you to that one.”

As the song finished, the room filled with applause, but you and Yancy were still in your own little world.

“Like I said, yous gotta be careful what you wish for.”

You inched forward. “I think I’ve already made my wish.”

Yancy’s eyes widened a fraction, a charming smile appearing. “Well, if you’re sure.”

He leaned forward, cupped one of your cheeks, and pressed his lips to your own. It was longer this time, filled with careful confidence as his stubble tickled your chin. Your eyes fluttered shut and your hands caressed his shoulders. Your eyelids were hooded when you pulled apart, your head so hot and your smile so wide you felt as if you could shoot up towards the ceiling and explode into a firework. Seemingly content with your reaction, Yancy gently ghosted his hand from your face and loosened his grip on your waist. His pink cheeks gave him away, however, and his smile grew to match your own.

“I… um… I’m gonna head to the restroom,” you stumbled out the sentence, still burning with too much energy and excitement to care about how out of place the words sounded.

Yancy winked at you. “I’ll be around.”

You practically bolted into the restroom and crashed into the sink, running the cold tap and dabbing your face with water. You stared at your reflection, trying to calm your whirring mind.

Yancy kissed you back. That definitely meant something was happening, right? He liked you. You liked him. What would this mean for the two of you? Or for you and Mark and whatever the hell was going on in that department? You tried to sift through your racing thoughts, looking for a scrap of logic.

You remembered Mark standing on the far end of the ballroom, and your stomach dropped. A lump formed in your throat. Had he seen you dancing? You sighed through your nostrils. Hell, why did you even care? Your stomach twisted with guilt nonetheless, until you remembered something else.

The mission.Right. I should at least ask him how it’s going.

You patted your face dry with a paper towel, then left the bathroom. It felt as if all eyes were on you as you made your way through the crowd, but you pushed forward, spotting Mark standing alone by the buffet table. He was frowning slightly and biting his lip, meaning something was on his mind. Once you were close enough, you cleared your throat. He looked up, slightly surprised to see you.

“Hey!” He said, straightening his outfit. “How’s it going? Found any winners?”

You shook your head with guilt. “All the ones near the foyer were around five to ten grand each,” you explained, looking over your shoulder. “I guess if we could get multiple it’d be fine, but there’s only three of us, and I’d bet these things are heavy.”

Mark stepped in closer. “Yeah, you’re right. We’re best just sticking to one, like we said. Speaking of…”

He trailed off as a gentleman walked up to peruse the buffet. When he walked away with a full plate and a polite smile aimed at the two of you, Mark continued.

“There’s a painting in the far hallway worth forty thousand. Most expensive I’ve seen yet. I think that might be our prime target.”

It somehow made sense that the most expensive painting would be in the heart of the building. With a deep breath, you nodded.

“Okay.”

“Unless Jailbi- sorry, Yancy has found anything more valuable?”

You shook your head again, choosing to ignore his slip. “The one he found in here was worth thirty grand. So no.”

“Right.”

Silence. Your previously glorious mood was starting to deflate, either from guilt or lingering anger. You couldn’t tell which. As your eyes scanned the room, you spotted Yancy talking to a tall gentleman with glasses. Yancy appeared to be doing most of the talking, as the man nodded and occasionally sipped his drink.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Mark turn to you again. He glanced at the floor, then back at you.

“Look, I’m sorry about the arguing in the car earlier. That was… pretty immature.”

Your heart melted ever so slightly. He was trying.

“S’alright. It wasn’t really your fault. Yancy does kinda have a short fuse,” you admitted with a reassuring smile.

For the first time in a while, Mark smiled back at you genuinely. Before you could linger on the subject any longer, he turned back to the buffet table with renewed energy.

“So how many of these canapes d’you think I can fit in my pockets?”

“Uh… what?”

“They’re really good!” He exclaimed, popping another one into his mouth. “Have you tried them yet?”

“Mark,” you scolded, but it came out with a bout of laughter. “We’re trying to blend in here. At least pretend you’re a professional.”

He shrugged with a boyish smile. “I am always professional. Besides, there’s no reason we can’t enjoy ourselves a little while we’re here.”

At that, you burst into laughter, doubling over. Mark was equally bewildered and amused by your reaction.

“What’s so funny?”

You grinned at him, shaking your head. “You know, for as much as you rag on Yancy, you two really aren’t that different.”

Your eyes travelled to Yancy yet again. The man he was talking to was considerably more animated now, making light gestures with his free hand. Although Yancy nodded along compliantly, his eyes were narrowed, and his arms were folded.

Mark laughed at your statement, but it was brief. He stared into the crowd, hands knotted together in front of him.

“I’m sure Yancy’s a much better dancer than I am.”

Everything froze as his words cut through to your core.

He saw.

Heat enveloped your body. Your mouth ran dry as you fumbled to say something, anything, to get that kicked puppy look off his face.

“Well, I mean… Yancy suggested it. That’s all.”

Mark smiled at you, but the sadness in his eyes was all too obvious. “I didn’t realise you liked dancing, or I’d have thought about asking you myself.”

Your heart plummeted. “Oh. Well… I’m not much of a dancer. Not really. I just didn’t wanna be rude.”

Mark turned back to the buffet, his eyes still lingering on you as he picked up a canape. “Uh huh.”

More silence. You sighed, eyes now pinned to the floor. You contemplated making another escape to the bathroom, collecting your thoughts, maybe letting some confused tears roll down your cheeks-

The sound of smashing glass and scared gasps pulled you back into the present. Mark whipped around immediately, laying eyes upon the same scene. In the middle of the room, Yancy was stood with a venomous look in his eyes. His fist was curled around the shirt material of the man he had been talking to, whose drink was shattered across the floor.

You glanced at Mark, eyes wide. He didn’t miss a beat. He grabbed your hand and led you through the crowd towards the commotion. As you pushed through the shell-shocked people and manoeuvred through the shards of glass and splatters of spilt whiskey, you heard Yancy hissing through gritted teeth.

“If yous eversay anything like that to me again-”

“Yancy!”

Immediately, his gaze snapped towards you, his eyes softening. Cautiously, you stepped forward and pulled his arm away from the man, who took large steps backwards as soon as he was free.

Mark stepped in, keeping his voice quiet but firm. “We need to go. Now.”

You tugged Yancy’s arm again, pleading with your eyes. He sighed, complying, and slipped his hand into yours. With newfound bravery from the increased distance, the man spoke up, though his voice wavered.

“Who do you think are, acting like a common thug in a place like this?! I’ll have you locked up!”

Yancy turned and snarled at the man. “Bite me.”

You pulled on his hand yet again as Mark urged you forward. The room was deathly silent as you exited, the crowd parting for you like the red sea.

“That was too close,” you sighed as the three of you made your way outside. Yancy gave you an apologetic look and he fiddled with his bowtie, but his lips were still pressed into a thin line.

“Definitely way too close,” Mark agreed, leaning against your car. “What happened, anyway?”

Yancy scowled and cracked his neck. “He insulted my tattoos. Said they make me look trashy. Motherfucker.”

You and Mark glanced at each other, then back at Yancy. He deflated slightly, letting his shoulders drop.

“I-well…” Mark began, his eyes darting round in search of words. “Look, just try and forget about him. We got what we came for, okay?”

Yancy’s eyes were still ablaze, but he nodded.

“And besides,” Mark continued, still determined to ease the tension. “Who’s gonna be having the last laugh on Sunday?”

To your utter amazement, Yancy turned to Mark, and for the first time ever, he smiled at him. It was tiny, barely noticeable under the night sky, but it was there.

“True enough,” he agreed. He turned to you, guilt pouring onto his face more and more by the second. “Sorry, Z.”

You smiled back at him. “Don’t sweat it too much. We’re all out, and we’re unharmed. Just… try not to let the rich assholes rile you up so much next time, yeah?”

He let out a dark chuckle. “Sure.”

He opened the car door and climbed in, leaving you and Mark to let out a collective sigh into the night air.

“Thanks, Mark. You’re a good diplomat.”

“No problem. You okay, or do you want me to drive?”

“Don’t worry, I got it.”

He sent another genuine smile your way before hopping into the back. “Sure thing.”

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[b-robin]

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[dizzybridges]

Inspiration strikes at 9pm on a Saturday? No problem. #nevernotwriting... At this rate, I'll have enough material for Dizzy 3 and 4 by the time we mix and master 2! #2020willbefun (at Hyde Park (Austin, Texas)) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4YyUAYHnan/?igshid=8u2q36wezvwo

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[nevernotwriting]

You, Me, and Yancy | Chapter 14: Black Tie Required

Read me on AO3!

Previous chapter

The next morning, you woke up early to the sound of effortful noises coming from your living room. You peeked your head around the corner, pleasantly surprised by what you saw.

Yancy was doing push-ups, his face concentrated on the rug below him with a single loose strand of hair dangling in front of his forehead. For the first time since last night, you were hit with the realisation that this was actually real. He was free, and he was here with you.

Yancy must have been thinking along the same lines; he startled when he looked up and saw you leaning against the doorway. He got to his feet and let out a small laugh.

“Sorry, force o’ habit in the mornings.”

“No need to apologise, I was enjoying the show.”

You could hardly believe the words that just came out of your mouth. Where the hell did that come from? You were mentally kicking yourself when Yancy broke out into a grin, glancing at the floor and sweeping his hair back into place with one hand.

“Nice to know I’m appreciated.”

You laughed with him, skipping back to your room to get ready for the day. You knew it was going to be a long and eventful one; hopefully, Yancy would help you get your job back, and be allowed to join the heist team. You grimaced as you imagined Mark’s reaction, but scoffed at yourself as you stepped into your jeans.

He left you in prison, who cares what he thinks?

Your heart tugged, knowing it wasn’t as simple as that, but you pushed past the feeling and grabbed a shirt and a jacket. You made a mental note to take Yancy to the store later so he could get some kit of his own.

A soft beeping noise from the kitchen made your ears perk up.

“Uh… Zero?”

You made your way down the hall. “Yeah?”

As you entered the kitchen, Yancy turned to you with a panicked look on his face.

“I think I broke youses coffee machine.”

“Nah,” you laughed, turning the machine off at the socket. “It does that all the time, don’t worry about it. It’s kinda busted. We can get some coffee at HQ instead, it’s pretty good there. And later we can go and get you some more clothes, if you want?”

Yancy didn’t seem to be listening to you. His gaze clouded over as if he were staring at something a thousand miles away.

“Yancy? You okay?”

He shook himself out of his daydream with a soft frown. “Yeah, I uh… sorry. Just… it’s been a while, since I’ve been…” He gestured to your surroundings. “Anywhere but a prison cell. I gots to admit, it’s startin’ to sink in and… I’m a little nervous.”

You put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry. You’re gonna do great. And if it makes you feel any better, you’re technically still gonna be surrounded by criminals when we get to HQ.”

Yancy laughed. “True enough.”

“Besides, I’ll protect you,” you joked.

Yancy looked you up and down with a raised eyebrow, sending a stir through your body. “Yous is a lot tougher than you look, I’ll give you that.”

“Uh… thanks, I think?”

Yancy chuckled, placing a hand over yours with a gentle squeeze. “Yous gotta learn to take a compliment.”

He moved past you. You stayed frozen in your spot, his words springing a not-so-distant memory to the forefront of your mind, one filled with rooftops and sunrises.

“Awh come on Zero, just take the compliment.”

You grumbled, stomping to the front door and grabbing some shoes. Yancy re-emerged moments later, looking slightly less nervous as he stood tall and puffed out his chest.

“Ready?”

“Yeah. Let’s go, Z.”

Yancy stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide as he realised what he’d said. You merely chuckled, unlocking the front door.

“Not heard thatone before.”

You stood at the entrance to HQ, taking a deep breath in. There was only a set of double doors and a few footsteps separating you from whatever was coming next. Yancy grabbed your hand and squeezed it.

“C’mon, yous got this.”

With one last grateful glance in his direction, you opened the door and walked inside.

All eyes were on you and Yancy as you entered the main office, making a nervous lump rise in your throat. Shrike and Gareth looked up from their desks. Jasmine almost dropped her coffee as she twizzled round in her seat, and even Vakarian looked vaguely surprised as he stopped dead in his tracks. From the far end of the room, Mark’s eyes flickered with a sliver of delight at your return, but it disappeared when they landed on Yancy.

Every inch of you filled with anxiety as the very last person you wanted to see rounded the corner; Shark. She stared at everyone in the room, then at you, her eyes briefly flicking to Yancy. She broke the silence with a simple snap of her fingers.

“Mark. Zero. My office. Now.”

Mark got to his feet with a sharp inhale. You glanced at Yancy, your anxiety lessening slightly as he gave you a confident nod. You trailed a short distance behind Shark, taking solace as you left the main office and the watchful eye of your fellow criminals. Mark caught up to you and touched your arm, speaking in a confused whisper.

“What’s hedoing here?” He pointed behind him towards Yancy, who was following behind from a short distance.

You pulled your arm away from him. “Mind your own business.”

Shortly ahead, Shark was stood by her office door with her arms folded. Her eyes were still as cold as ever as you entered. Mark followed you, but Yancy was stopped in his tracks by Shark’s firm words.

“You. Wait here for now.”

She slammed the door shut after her, and you wiped your palms on your thighs. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Mark trying to give you a reassuring look, but you fixated on Shark’s desk as she stood on the other side of it. Her expression was unreadable, but it sent a chill down your spine.

“So,” she began at last. “You’re alive. And you made it back from your little prison vacation.”

Her expression changed, and the look on her face made you want to leap across the desk and strangle her right then and there. Something in your body language must have given you away, because Mark turned his head towards you with a look of caution.

“Yeah,” you said, swallowing your anger. “I’m alive and mostly unharmed.”

“From what Mark told me, you had quite the adventure on your first heist.” She smiled faintly, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “How are you?”

The question caught you off guard; so she did care, at least a bit. You swallowed before answering. “I’m fine.”

“And the artefact?”

Mark cleared his throat. “Like I said, ma’am-”

“Quiet, Mark. I wanna hear Zero’s side of the story.”

Mark’s face turned red and he averted his eyes to the floor. You took in a deep breath.

“It’s gone. Prison Warden confiscated it.”

Shark sighed, cursing under her breath. She turned around, staring at the wall as tension continued to plague the room.

“Well, your stories match, so consider yourselves lucky.”

You dared a glance at Mark. He gave you a small nod, his face saying a thousand words he could not utter in front of your boss.

“But tell me this.” The previous brief flicker of humanity disappeared as she turned round and slammed her hands on the desk. The sound made you jump. “You got yourself shot, landed not only yourself but my best thief in prison, andyou lost the damn thing we’ve been working towards for god knows how fucking long.” More rage filled every word as spit flecked the corners of her mouth.

“Why the hell should I give you another chance?”

Heart hammering, you decided it was time to play your trump card. You crossed the room and stood next to the door.

“Because I brought someone who knows what he’s doing.”

You opened the door. Yancy turned in surprise, and you beckoned him in.

“Ma’am,” you began with a clear of your throat. “This is Yancy. He was an inmate at Happy Trails Penitentiary. He helped me escape that place, and… I think he’ll be a valuable asset to the team.”

Yancy stood in the doorway, arms folded and lips in a tight line. He stepped inside and you shut the door after him, not missing the glare Mark shot in his direction. Shark stood up straight, assessing him. Yancy didn’t falter.

Silence. Eventually, Shark hummed.

“What d’you get locked up for?” She asked.

“Does it matter?” Yancy replied.

Your stomach dropped. Shark let out a small, high-pitched laugh and raised her eyebrows. “You’ve got some nerve. I like it. How long were you locked up for?”

“Ten years.”

“Why leave now?”

Yancy stopped, glancing at you briefly. “I gots somethin’ worth fightin’ for.”

A smile started to emerge on your face, but it stopped when Mark let out a scoff.

“Please,” he muttered. You shot him a death glare.

Shark smirked. “I’m sensing some tension here. Will the two of you working together be a problem?”

Mark and Yancy turned their heads and stared at one another. You turned to Mark with pleading eyes. He looked back at you, his eyes softening as he let out a defeated sigh.

“No, ma’am,” he mumbled.

You turned to Yancy. He straightened his back.

“I guarantee Iwon’t cause no trouble, ma’am,” he responded, one eyebrow raised with a daring side glance. “Yous want somethin’ done, I get it done. No questions asked. And I ain’t afraid to get my hands dirty.”

Shark pursed her lips, eyes darting between the three of you. Just as she opened her mouth to speak again, Yancy interrupted her.

“But with all due respect, I have one condition.”

“And what would that be?”

“Let Z off the hook.”

You held your breath, not daring to take your eyes away from Shark. After what felt like an eternity, she rolled her eyes and nodded.

“All right, fine. Consider yourself lucky, Zero. But I’m warning you, all three of you are on probation until you prove yourselves. Have I made myself clear?”

A series of nods and yesses filled the room, and a weight lifted from your shoulders.

He actually pulled it off.

“Good.” Shark picked up a folder from her desk and flicked through it. “I want the three of you working together for a new assignment. We’ve got some open plans still waiting to be set in motion…”

Yancy looked at you and smiled, giving you a wink. You smiled back, heart fluttering. You really owed him for this one.

A knock sounded at the door. Shark looked up from her folder. “Come in.”

The door opened and Shrike entered, a surprising spring in her step. She presented a piece of paper to Shark.

“Boss, you’re not gonna believe this,” she breathed. “Y’know that museum in Yorba Linda you wanted us to look into the other day?”

“The Nixon library?”

Shrike nodded enthusiastically. “They’re having an open artwork exhibit at the end of this week. The whole place is gonna be filled with priceless paintings, and Jazz just worked some of her magic and snagged three tickets.”

Shark nodded, still scanning the paper. “Good work. What’s the catch?”

“It’s just a small one. Black tie required.”

Shark looked up at last, locking eyes with you. You gulped, already knowing what she was going to say.

“Well, looks like we’ve found a job for you three.”

You, Mark, and Yancy glanced between each other.

“We’ll do our best, ma’am,” Mark said.

“You’d better,” Shark replied, straight back to her cold demeanour. She turned to Shrike, who had been carefully observing Yancy with interest.

“Shrike, take these three to the conference room and give ‘em the lowdown. Zero, I want you and Yancy in the gymnasium straight after. Make sure he knows how to use our gear.”

“Right, uh, yes ma’am,” you agreed, snapping out of your anxious thoughts. You couldn’t afford to screw this one up. A black-tie evening could be fun though… right?

As you followed Shrike down the corridor, she turned to Yancy, giving him the same long stare that Shark had given him.

“So you’re Yancy, I take it?” She asked.

“Yep.”

She glanced at Mark, who was trailing just shortly behind you. “Are you related to Mark?”

Yancy blinked. “What? No.”

Shrike shrugged. “You look kinda similar is all.”

Mark groaned. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

Bang.Bang.

You stared at the farthest dummy ahead of you, two new bullet holes gracing its chest. Yancy lowered his gun and frowned, sighing through his nostrils. A strange sensation ran through your stomach, a mixture of intimidation and admiration.

“My aim’s not as good as it used to be,” Yancy sighed, glancing at you and clicking the safety on. “Guess I’s a bit rusty.”

You raised your eyebrows at him. “You call that rusty? And here I thought I was meant to be teaching you,” you laughed.

Yancy grinned, a hint of pink gracing his cheeks. “Well, we’s got time. I’m sure there’s plenty more you can teach me, Z.”

His smile turned into a sultry smirk that rooted you to the spot. It was only when he broke your eye contact to put the gun down that you snapped back into reality and followed him, returning your own gun to its rightful place.

“Come on then, maybe we can try the grappling hook next?” You suggested, that strange sensation still working its way through you as you grabbed two grappling guns and turned to Yancy. The feeling intensified as Yancy approached you, waiting until he was only inches away to gently place his hands over yours and lower the grappling guns down. His eyes bore into yours, and your cheeks were on fire as he briefly looked down at your lips before clearing his throat.

“There’s just… somethin’ I wanna say first.” His eyes flickered down again.

You nodded, your throat too dry to form words.

Yancy looked to the side and frowned briefly. “You and Mark… I know yous said about that date you had planned, back when we were in prison.” His eyes grew cold as he stared into nothingness. Still you waited, patient but eager to hear what he wanted to say so badly that it required standing mere inches from you.

“It’s just… I can tell he’s still sweet on yous,” Yancy continued, looking at you at last. His eyes softened for a brief moment. “But I’s gotta be honest, Z. I don’t want no love triangles.”

You blinked as you processed his words. So that’s what was on his mind. You smiled a little and shook your head, moving one of your hands on top of his.

“If you’re trying to figure out if I’m available, there’s no need. Mark left me in prison, and… that kinda put a damper on things.” You gave a humorous smile, but Yancy still didn’t look convinced as he stared back at you, unmoving.

“There’s not gonna be a love triangle, I promise,” you tried again, squeezing his hand. “We’re all adults. We’ll handle this next heist maturely, I’m sure of it.”

After what felt like an eternity, Yancy nodded and smiled genuinely, and you let out a breath you didn’t realise you’d been holding.

“All right, Z. Thanks.”

“No problem,” you beamed back at him. “Now come on, the sooner we get you trained up, the sooner we can leave before all the stores close. We gotta make sure we fit in at this black-tie evening.” You ghosted your hands away from his, brandishing your grappling gun and striding towards the wall with cheerful steps.

Yancy scoffed behind you. “I dunno if someone like me will ever fit in at a place like that, but it’s worth a shot.”

Next chapter

#a heist with markiplier #ahwm #heist mark #heist mark x reader #heist! mark x reader #yancy x reader #ahwm yancy x reader #ahwm yancy #my writing #nevernotwriting

[nevernotwriting]

You, Me, and Yancy | Chapter 13: Breakout

Read me on AO3!

Previous chapter

It was nightfall. You were sat in your car in the same spot as earlier in the day with your stomach in knots.

This was the moment of truth.

You took a deep breath and stepped out into the cool night air, making your way to the side of the building. The sight of the iron gate brought fresh memories flooding back to you. You could almost see yourself curled up at the base of the tree nearby again, debilitating over what to do. All you could do now was hope that Yancy would be here soon.

The sound of a car stopping nearby pulled you out of your thoughts. You frowned in confusion as Vakarian and Mark climbed out, wandering over to you.

Mark scratched the back of his head and averted his eyes, offering a small smile. You folded your arms.

“What’s with the backup?” You asked as Vakarian slung a sniper rifle over one shoulder and unzipped his duffel bag. He glanced up at you and Mark, then quickly took great interest in the bag’s contents.

“I figured it might be a good idea, in case things get ugly,” Mark responded.

You nodded. “Fair enough, but it won’t. Yancy knows the place inside out, he’ll be able to slip out unseen.”

Mark frowned, contemplating his words. “Zero… how long has he been in here, exactly?”

You shrugged. “A while, I guess. He got locked up for murder-”

Mark’s eyes widened.

“But he didn’t do it!” You exclaimed. “He’s done some bad shit, but so have we. But he’s no murderer.”

Mark deflated a little, pinching the bridge of his nose. “All right. Let’s just get this over with before I have a heart attack.”

Vakarian strode towards the two of you, popping gum and acting as nonchalant as ever. He locked eyes with you and smiled, offering his hand to shake. You took it with a friendly nod, trying not to stare at the bright pink gum protruding from between his teeth.

“Good to see you in one piece, Zero.”

“Thanks, Vakarian. Mark give you the lowdown?”

He nodded. “I’m gonna get a better vantage point in that tree. Care to join me?”

You looked at Mark, feeling a pang of guilt seep into your chest. Despite still being mad at him, you didn’t want to leave him alone when he’d agreed to help you.

Mark smiled at you, more genuine than before. “Go ahead, I’ll keep an eye out on the ground level. Might wait in the car though, it’s a little chilly tonight.”

Vakarian chuckled and tossed a small two-way radio to Mark from his duffel bag. “Take this. We’ll tell you if we see anything.”

Mark nodded, his eyes darting to you one more time before he climbed back into his car. You sighed and followed Vakarian. He swung himself into the tree with little effort and held a hand out to you.

“Come on up, short stack.”

“Just cause you’re six foot seven,” you scoffed as you hoisted yourself up and got comfy.

“Exactly. When you’re as tall as me, everyone’s a short stack,” he chuckled.

You shook your head, getting yourself comfy as Vakarian positioned the radio between the two of you. He rooted through his bag and handed you a pair of binoculars. Though you hadn’t spent much time with him outside of HQ, you were grateful for his company now as you peered over the edge of the prison walls, nerves seeping into your veins. The radio buzzed.

“You guys in position?” Came Mark’s fuzzy voice.

Vakarian picked up the device. “Yep. No sign of jailbird just yet.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Jailbird?”

He shrugged as he placed the radio back down. “Mark’s idea.”

With a snort, you passed him the binoculars and decided to change the subject.

“So… how’ve things been?”

Vakarian popped his gum again as he contemplated the question. “Pretty tense. Shark’s been on a rampage ever since you got locked up, bludgeoning everyone in her path. Mark’s return barely pacified her cause he came back empty handed. Jasmine took a couple days off just to get out of her way.”

He lowered the binoculars again and looked at you. “Everyone’s been really worried about you, though. Especially Mark. He said you got shot?”

Guilt ran through you again, but you pushed it down. “Yeah, but it’s fine. Still healing, but I’m fine.”

“Good.”

Vakarian returned to looking through the binoculars. You rubbed your hands together as the wind whipped between the tree branches, the sound of bristling leaves filling the air. Anxious, you peered over his shoulder to try and catch a glimpse of anything, or anyone.

“You see anything yet?”

“Not yet. But no guards, either.”

You inhaled a shaky breath and peddled your legs back and forth, trying to distract your mind from the worst-case scenario. Vakarian placed the binoculars down and snapped his head towards you suddenly. Even underneath his curls, you could tell his eyebrows were knitted together.

“So,” he began, chewing his gum fiercely. “What’s the deal with this guy, anyway? He like a relative or something?”

Your face grew warm. “I thought you said Mark gave you the lowdown.”

“Yeah, but he didn’t elaborate much on this guy we’re breaking out. He said his name’s Yancy or something? And that was about it.”

“Yeah, Yancy,” you replied. The image of him on the other side of the gate flashed through your mind as you said his name, a metallic taste entering your mouth. “He’s… I care about him. And he doesn’t deserve to be in there.”

Vakarian let out a deep, rumbling laugh, the gum nearly falling out of his mouth. He shook his head at you. “Riiight, I see.”

“What?”

“Nothin’, just connectin’ some dots.” He blew a gigantic pink bubble, letting it pop around his mouth.

“Can you please take this seriously?” You grumbled. “Do you have to chew gum right now?”

“Helps me concentrate if I have to shoot,” he replied with a carefree smile.

You scoffed and rolled your eyes. If you weren’t so on edge, you’d have laughed.

The radio buzzed again with Mark’s voice. “It’s been ten minutes, guys.”

Your stomach dropped and you bit your lip. Sensing your nerves, Vakarian checked through the binoculars again.

“Zero, how long did it take you to get out when you escaped?” Mark asked.

You picked up the radio. “Uh… shit, I don’t know,” you sighed. There were too many clouds in your mind to remember, and your escape had been shrouded in darkness – it could have been anywhere from five to fifty minutes, for all you knew.

“Don’t worry. We’ll stick around a bit longer, yeah?” Vakarian reassured you, offering the binoculars. You snatched them up with an anxious noise of agreement as he took the radio.

“You get that, Mark?”

“Loud and clear.”

Time passed by, and the night was only getting colder. Vakarian tried to keep you distracted with small talk, but you still bit your lip to the point of bleeding. A sudden crackle from the radio startled you, making you almost fall out of the tree.

“Guys… it’s been nearly thirty minutes.”

Vakarian ceased his incessant chewing and shot you a concerned look. Before he could give any kind of reassurance, you shuffled to the edge of the branch and leapt out of the tree, hitting the ground with a thud. You cast one final glance at the gate, your eyes filling with tears, then turned to trudge back to your car.

Mark leapt out of his car when he saw you approaching.

“Zero, I-”

“Yeah, you told me so. Save it, Mark,” you snapped, folding your arms and staring at the ground.

Mark shuffled on the spot, fiddling with the radio in one hand. “I… I was just gonna say I’m sor-”

The radio crackled.

“Guys?”

Your head snapped up, and you quickly wiped your tears as Mark spoke into the radio.

“What is it?”

“There’s someone at the gate.”

You didn’t need to hear those words twice. Your feet sprinted to the gate faster than your brain could comprehend. A familiar figure in a white shirt and striped trousers was unlocking the gate.

Yancy closed the gate after him, the sound of clanging metal echoing. He stared through the bars, gently letting go of them and dusting off his hands. When you were a few feet away, you came to an abrupt halt.

“Yancy!”

He whipped round, his eyes suddenly focused. He smoothed a hand over the tattoo on his arm. A soft smile appeared.

“Hey.”

You laughed apprehensively and took a step closer, a whole new set of nerves entering your body. Your eyes flicked to the ground.

“I didn’t think you were gonna show.”

Yancy exhaled. “Yeah, I… sorry for the wait. Couldn’t leave the gang without a leader, ya know?”

You nodded and chewed your lip, mentally kicking yourself for getting so worked up. Before you could say anything more, Yancy spoke again.

“Don’t worry, Zero. I wasn’t gonna leave yous.”

His words rippled through you like a lightning bolt. Before you could stop yourself, you ran to him and wrapped your hands around his shoulders. He staggered but held you just as tightly in return, chuckling in your ear.

A loud thud sounded as Vakarian exited the tree, and the two of you pulled apart.

“You brought backup?” Yancy asked.

“Yeah. This is Vakarian.”

Vakarian stopped. “You’re Yancy?”

“The one and only,” Yancy replied, holding his hand out. Vakarian took it with a curious grin. You turned to see Mark approaching with his hands in his pockets, and silence fell over the four of you.

“And… this is Mark.”

Yancy’s gaze steeled in an instant as he looked Mark up and down. Mark offered a brief smile that quickly disappeared as Yancy folded his arms. You held your breath.

Thankfully, Vakarian broke the tension.

“Huh. You two look kinda similar.”

Mark and Yancy stared at him, both equally bewildered.

“Do we?” Mark finally spoke.

“I always thought so,” you offered.

Yancy frowned with a low grunt. “I don’t see it.”

More silence.

“Oookay, well…” Vakarian cleared his throat. “Looks like our job’s done. Zero, I assume you can take it from here?”

You nodded. “Y-yeah, thanks guys. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Mark’s eyes lit up for the first time. “You’re coming back?”

“I think so,” you replied. “Anyway. Yancy, d’you need somewhere to stay?”

Yancy blinked out of the death glare he was still directing at Mark, a hint of pink tinting his cheeks as he looked at you. He scratched the back of his neck with a nervous laugh.

“I uh… yeah. Didn’t really think ahead of the prison walls, to be honest.”

Mark snorted, but averted his gaze when you glared at him. You turned back to Yancy.

“That’s fine, you can stay with me if you like.”

Yancy smiled. “Yous sure?”

“Yeah, come on!”

With a spring in your step, you walked towards your car, Yancy following behind. You shouted goodnight to Mark and Vakarian, but their car doors slammed shut just as you turned around.

Yancy was visibly more relaxed now it was just the two of you, seeming content to quietly watch the world go by until you arrived at your apartment.

“Well, here we are.” You unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Yancy’s eyes darted everywhere, and you wrung your hands together.

“It’s not much, but it’s home.”

Yancy turned to you and smiled. “Believe me, it’s the nicest place I’ve seen in ten years.”

Your blood ran cold.

“Ten years?”

“Yeah, did I never tell yous? Well… would’ve been longer… if it weren’t for yous.” He smiled, and heat rose to your face.

“Come on, I’ll show you around.”

You led him to your spare room. He inspected all of your various decorations and picture frames, taking a particular shine to a small photo of you on your graduation day with your parents smiling proudly on either side of you.

“This is nice,” he said with a smile that quickly faded. “I was in theatre school, before… well…”

“Maybe you’ll get to go back.”

Yancy glanced up at you and placed the picture back down. “Maybe.”

“Anyway, there’s some spare clothes on the bed over there. They’re Mark’s, but they should fit you. Bathroom’s across the hall if you want to use it.”

Yancy walked over to the bed and picked up the clothes, inspecting them with a raised eyebrow.

“Are yous sure he ain’t your boyfriend?”

You sighed and rolled your eyes. “Yes, I just had to borrow them after I got out.”

“I was just teasin’ yous,” Yancy snickered with a wink.

“Right,” you laughed, leaving him to it.

Ten minutes later you were back in the kitchen, throwing together some semblance of food for the two of you. Broadway songs echoed from down the hall where Yancy was singing away to himself in the shower. You paused for a moment, relishing in the feeling of a plan finally going off without a hitch. A twinge of guilt still hit you when you thought about Mark, but your heart soared knowing that Yancy was finally out, getting another shot at life.

Yancy walked into the kitchen just as you were serving up two bowls of pasta. He was wearing the clothes you’d borrowed from Mark, running his hands through his damp hair. You stopped in your tracks and blinked.

“What?”

You shook your head. “Nothing. Here, you hungry?”

You slid a bowl of pasta across the counter top in his direction. He stared down at it as if it were a foreign object.

“Yous made that for me?”

His question caught you off guard. “Well, technically for both of us, cause I haven’t eaten much today. But… yeah.”

His voice was quiet when he spoke again. “You know I said yous sure are one of a kind?”

Your stomach flipped, but you brushed it off. “It’s just pasta, Yancy.”

“I stand by what I said.” He stepped closer to you.

Your breath hitched in your throat as he wrapped his arms around your waist, settling his head on your shoulder. You returned the gesture, one of your hands touching the edge of his hair. Either Yancy was incredibly warm, or your skin was on fire.

He withdrew and held you in his arms, your breath still caught in your throat. The clock on the wall ticked on in the everlasting silence as his eyes flicked briefly to your lips, your hand shifting to his shoulder as he tightened his grip on your waist-

Your phone buzzed on the counter top, cutting through the silence. Yancy’s hands dropped from your waist with an awkward clear of his throat. You grabbed your phone, unlocking it with a long exhale.

“Sorry. It’s Mark, he’s asking about work stuff.” You sighed, running a hand down your face. “I gotta go in tomorrow and face the music.”

Yancy hummed in understanding, his face pursed in thought.

“Yous want me to go with you? I can ruff ‘em up if yous need me to,” he chuckled, cracking his knuckles.

“I don’t think beating up my boss is gonna help me keep my job, Yancy,” you laughed. “Though it would be satisfying.”

Another pause, until Yancy’s face lit up with a new idea.

“D’yous think… yous got room on your team for one more criminal?”

You blinked. “I mean… probably, but you only just got out of prison. Are you sure you wanna go straight back to a life of crime?” You cringed at your own words. “Sorry, forget I said that. I’m the last person who should be saying that.”

Yancy laughed. “No harm done. So what d’ya say? I convince your boss lady – Shark, yous said she was called?”

You nodded, flattered he had remembered such a small detail from one of your previous conversations.

“I convince Shark that I can be part o’ the team, but only if she lets you off the hook. Then yous and I can be partners in crime.”

The boldness of his suggestion made your head spin, but you couldn’t deny it sounded pretty damn good. Sensing your train of thought, Yancy broke out into a grin.

“All right, Yancy. You got a deal.”

Next chapter

#a heist with markiplier #ahwm #heist mark #heist mark x reader #heist! mark x reader #yancy x reader #ahwm yancy x reader #ahwm yancy #my writing #nevernotwriting

[nevernotwriting]

You, Me, and Yancy | Chapter 11: The Third Sunday

Read me on AO3!

Previous chapter

You brought your car to a halt and cut off the engine, glancing out of the window. Happy Trails Penitentiary loomed in front of you. Taking a deep breath, you smoothed out your clothes, patting the skeleton key in your pocket for good measure as you made your way to the entrance.

A lone guard greeted you when you entered, asking for your name and who you were visiting.

“I’m here to see Yancy.”

Her eyebrows shot up, and she pushed her glasses back into place.

“Yancy?” She questioned. “No one’s visited him in… well, ever. Follow me.”

The words made your heart sink as she stood up and directed you into the canteen. The all-too-familiar surroundings set your nerves alight, particularly a section of wall in the far corner that looked far newer than the rest. Handfuls of people sat in small groups, laughing and joking with friends and family. Glances were cast your way, and you received knowing nods from a few of the inmates. You thanked your stars that the Warden was nowhere in sight.

“He’s over here.” The guard led you towards a lone figure.

Yancy was sat at a table, hands intertwined and shoulders hunched. He cast occasional longing glances at the others, like a lone kid on the side of the dancefloor at prom. He sighed heavily and returned to staring at his hands. Your heart started hammering, but your brain whirred with thought after fleeting thought of what to say to him, of how you could convince him that he didn’t belong here.

Just stick to the plan, you thought to yourself as the guard caught his attention.

“Yancy. Visitor for you.”

He glanced up, his eyes landing on you. The joy on his face was instantaneous as he leapt to a stand.

Neither of you could stop yourselves from smiling as you ran into his arms. He captured you in a crushing, warm hug, whispering in your ear.

“Zero, yous actually came!”

“Of course, did you doubt me?” You replied, breaking away from his grasp and sitting down. He sat next to you, still holding tightly onto one of your hands.

“Well… I mean, no, I didn’t,” Yancy stuttered, running a hand through his hair. A hint of pink appeared on his cheeks. “I just… I’m really glad yous is here, that’s all. I missed you.”

It was your turn to get flustered as he kissed the back of your hand, his eyes never leaving yours. There was a sparkle in them that you hadn’t seen before, and it spurred your conversation forward.

“I missed you too. I know it’s only been like two days, but I have.”

Yancy shuffled closer. “And how’re things treatin’ yous out there? Did you find that buddy of youses, Mark?”

Flashes of your argument with Mark ran through your mind and you sighed again, clenching your jaw. “Yeah, I found him. Things are, uh…” You drifted, glancing at the ground and scratching the back of your head. Yancy waited for you, seeming content to scan your face with adoring eyes as you gathered your thoughts.

“Let’s just say we’re not exactly on the best of terms right now.”

Yancy nodded. “You kick his ass like yous said you would?”

You laughed and shook your head. “Nah, not quite. I let him have it, in a manner of speaking, but I didn’t wanna get violent.”

Yancy chuckled again. “Lucky for him, cause yous pack one hell of a punch.”

Giggles erupted from you before you could stop them, making yet more heat rise to your face. You looked at Yancy again, noticing his fading bruises. The cut on his lip had shrunken into a barely noticeable line, and the ring around his eye was now a pale yellow.

“Speaking of,” you said, reaching a hand towards his face, “I see you’re recovering nicely.”

Your fingertips brushed the edge of his stubble and you froze, but Yancy didn’t seem to mind. He leaned his head into the gesture, spurring you to cup his cheek for a few brave seconds. Your pulse was banging in your ears as you withdrew.

“Yeah, well, I’ve had worse,” he laughed, squeezing your hand.

A comfortable silence settled between you as you placed your other hand into your pocket, clasping the key. You took a deep breath in, mustering all of your confidence to ask Yancy a very important question.

“Yancy-”

A guard shouted from the edge of the room, startling the two of you out of your shared little bubble.

“Five minutes left!”

Your pulse pounded again. No time to waste. Yancy looked at you expectantly.

“Listen,” you started again, fighting the urge to curl in on yourself as doubt pooled into your stomach. “I-you remember that box that got me in here, the one you gave me before I left?”

Yancy nodded with a soft smile. “What about it?”

“Well… I was thinking. I want you to have what was inside.” You rushed the words out before you could stop yourself and placed the key in his hand. He frowned as he turned it around, observing the delicate metalwork.

“It’s a skeleton key,” you continued. “It can unlock any lock ever made. Y-you could use it to get outta here, and-”

Yancy heaved a sigh through his nostrils as he turned back to look at you, anguish written all over his face. Your stomach dropped.

“Zero… I appreciate it, I really do. But… I can think of a million other people that deserve this more than me,” he sighed, his voice soft and deflated. He looked down at the gap on the seat where your bodies were only inches apart, knees touching under the table.

“Well… maybe they do, but I don’t care. I want you to have it.”

Yancy pressed his lips into a line, staring at the key again. You continued on.

“We can pick you up after lights out tonight. Just say the word.”

Yancy looked up at you again, conflict clear as day in his eyes. Your heart hammered as his eyebrows turned upwards and a small smile appeared.

“Yous’d really do all this for me?”

You blinked, caught off guard by his question. “Well, yeah. You helped me, the least I can do is return the favour. And look, you don’t have to leave. Not if you don’t want to. I just… I just think you deserve a shot.”

His smile grew tenfold, cheeks growing pinker. “Yous sure are one of a kind, Zero.”

You laughed, glancing at the floor. Your nerves were steadily being replaced by the feeling of butterflies filling every inch of your body. Unfortunately, a second shout from the guard interrupted your thoughts.

“Time’s up. Say your goodbyes.”

The two of you stood up. Relief washed over you as Yancy pocketed the key, but you knew the rest of the day would be long and torturous as he made his decision.

Yancy placed a hand on your shoulder with a bashful smile. “Thanks for comin’.”

You smiled back and wound your arms around him. He returned the gesture with ease, one arm across your shoulders and the other around your waist. Self-consciousness crept up on you again, and you spoke into his ear.

“Sorry. I know I’m asking a lot from you all in one day.”

Yancy chuckled, the action sending vibrations through your chest. “Don’t be sorry. Gets me usin’ the ol’ noodle.”

As you pulled apart and smiled at one another, a guard’s hand landed on Yancy’s shoulder, making both of you jump out of your skin.

“Time’s up, lover boy.”

Yancy nodded and followed the guard, shooting you one final solemn smile as he was escorted away. You managed a small wave in return, waiting until he was out of sight to make your way out of the building and back to your car.

You sat in the driver’s seat with a sigh, doubts clouding your mind once more now that things were moving. Remembering he wanted an update, you pulled out your phone and sent a brief message to Mark.

Plan’s in notion.

You chucked your phone onto the passenger seat and stared at the sky. The thought of soon seeing Yancy again, this time on the right side of the gate, sent your mind into overdrive. You’d have to make up the spare room when you got back home, in case he didn’t have anywhere to stay. And what if he didn’t show? You could hear Mark saying “I told you so” already. Running your hands down your face, you groaned, wondering if anyone had ever felt this strongly about someone they’d known for less than a week. What the hell had gotten into you?

The sound of your phone vibrating caught your attention. Mark was calling you. You sighed and picked it up.

“Hey.”

“Hey. I just got your message. So everything went okay?”

“Yeah, yeah everything’s set,” you replied, sitting up. “Yancy’s got the key, and I told him we’ll wait for him by the side gate after lights out.”

“Right, what time is that again?”

A bitter thought snuck up on you. He’d only spent one day in prison, of course he wouldn’t remember when lights out was.

“Lights go out at ten,” you said, rolling your eyes. “It might take him a few minutes to get out, so we should wait for a little bit.”

“Right, gotcha.”

Silence. You were thoroughly prepared to defend against his next question, expecting it to be about whether or not Yancy would actually show, but he surprised you.

“Hey, are… are we good?”

You frowned, but your stomach turned. “What do you mean?”

“I just… I don’t want you to be mad at me forever,” he replied, his voice quiet. “Just… remember that I’m still here for you, okay?”

You swallowed, nodding even though he couldn’t see you. “Okay.”

“All right.” The speaker rustled with a gentle sigh. “See you tonight?”

“Sure. Don’t be late.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

You hung up before he could say anything more. You gripped the steering wheel and sighed, pushing down the guilt that was threatening to bring tears to your eyes. Instead, you started up your car and drove away, leaving Happy Trails in your rear-view mirror for now.

Next chapter

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[nevernotwriting]

You, Me, and Yancy | Chapter 7: No Honour Among Thieves

Read me on AO3!

Previous chapter

Your mind was still brimming with questions about Yancy as the sun was setting over the courtyard. Where was he taking you? Why had he got such an apparent affinity for you? And, perhaps the most burning question of all, why exactly was he helping you in the first place?

You hummed to yourself. He said he knew you had something worth fighting for on the outside, but that didn’t explain why he’d been so eager to get to know you.

Right on cue, Yancy waltzed up to you with a small smile. “All right, it’s nearly time for the guards to switch out for the evenin’ shift. That means we got about ten minutes in the security room. Yous ready?”

Yancy took your hand and led you around a corner before you could answer.

“No time for questions, we gotta get yous in there. Follow me!”

Yancy peered around one last time before taking the cover off of a vent that was just above floor-level on the side of the building. He gestured for you to enter, following you shortly after.

“Just go straight forward. Make sure there’s no guards around at the end before you get out.”

Just straight forward. You smiled to yourself at the familiarity.

When you made it to the end, you tentatively stuck your head out of the vent. The hallway was clear so you shuffled out, holding out a hand for Yancy as he followed you. He took it and stood up, dusting himself off. He led you to a door that had been left ajar, poking his head in to check the coast was clear.

“All right, in here.”

You entered the room where small televisions filled the wall, all displaying a different section of the prison. There were two office chairs tucked under the desk in front of you, which housed a computer and half a dozen empty coffee cups. You turned to Yancy, who was stood with his head in the hallway.

“You said yous is good with computers, right?” He began, keeping his voice low. “Well I think theys keep all the old security footage on that computer there. Might be able to find out if youses friend got outta here.”

You stared at Yancy. You would have hugged him right then and there if you weren’t on borrowed time. Instead, you shot him a grateful smile before getting to work.

Getting into the computer was child’s play for you by now, so you were logged in within a matter of seconds. You managed to find the archive of security footage, and it didn’t take long to navigate to the footage from two days ago. You clicked on the file, and it spread across the various screens in front of you. You skipped through it until you saw the footage of Mark lecturing the much taller man with you lingering close by. This was the moment of truth.

Seconds later, you saw Mark get smashed through the wall. Your eyes darted around the screens again to find the corresponding footage. Sure enough, it was there; an outside shot of the prison walls, not too far from what looked like the main entrance. The wall gave way as Mark landed outside of it. You cringed as his body hit the grass with a painful thud. With bated breath, you clenched your fists, waiting for him to move.

And sure enough, he did.

He stumbled to his feet and rubbed his head. He stayed still for a few minutes, dazed, then walked away with a slight limp in the opposite direction of the building, out of the camera’s view.

You sighed in relief, but an icy pit formed in your stomach as a realisation crossed your mind.

He hadn’t come back for you.

The pit grew, working its way up to your heart and clenching your throat. Hot tears formed in your eyes as you rewound the footage, making sure you hadn’t imagined it.

But no, it was still there. You watched through blurry eyes as he walked away again, leaving you behind. A sob escaped your throat.

No honour among thieves, I guess.

The door creaked open further, and Yancy came in with an urgent tone to his voice.

“Zero, there’s a guard comin’ any minute now. I can hear ‘em. We gotta get outta here.”

With a bitter frown on your face, you closed the footage and locked the computer. Yancy jumped back in surprise at how quickly you stalked out of the room, ducking into the vent without waiting for him. He clambered in after you, managing to get your attention with a gentle tap on your leg.

“Go right this time. That’ll go right next to youses cell.”

You crawled along, eventually reaching the end. Yancy was right; the vent was directly opposite your cell. You could hear several other prisoners coming back from the showers, so the cells were still unlocked for the time being. You slipped out and ran into your cell, quickly wiping your eyes before Yancy noticed.

Not fast enough. A gentle hand on your shoulder turned you around on the spot. Anger and sadness were still boiling inside you and you tried to avoid his gaze, but he gently lifted your chin with one hand.

“What happened?”

You swallowed past the giant lump in your throat, managing to croak out an answer. “He left me.”

You took a step back from him, turning away to slump on the edge of your bed. Yancy stayed frozen on the spot with a frown on his face, until the realisation hit him. Letting out a deep sigh, he sat next to you and pried one of your hands out of its tightly clenched fist and held it. His touch was surprisingly gentle, and warm.

“Zero… I’m so sorry.”

You bit your lip, trying to suppress further tears. A high-pitched whimper escaped you. Yancy held your hand tighter. You stayed like that for a few minutes, Yancy silently comforting you, until you felt calm enough to look at him again. You inhaled shakily and wiped your eyes, turning to see that Yancy was watching you intently with a worried expression. He offered a small smile.

“If you want, I’ll leave yous alone.”

His offer caught you off guard. Amidst the pain in your chest, you found it grew worse at the thought of losing his gentle grip on your hand or his weight next to you on the bed. You replied with two meek words.

“No, stay.”

Yancy nodded, his smile widening a little. You returned it, regretting it when more tears spilled from your eyes. You were about to wipe them away when Yancy did it for you, gliding his free hand across your cheekbones. Your heart jumped again at his gentle demeanour.

“Listen…” Yancy began, swallowing. “For what it’s… shit, I dunno what to say to yous. I’m sorry for takin’ yous in there. I was tryin’ to help, but I just…” he trailed off, ending his sentence with a sigh.

“No, it’s okay.” You shook your head, squeezing his hand. “At… at least now I know.”

Yancy pried his hand out of yours, moving it across your shoulders. He watched for any sign of resistance, pleasantly surprised when you leant your head against his shoulder with a small sniffle.

“I was wondering, though,” you spoke after several seconds of silence. “Why exactly did you help me, Yancy?”

More silence. You were about to ask again, thinking he hadn’t heard you, when he answered in a quiet voice.

“You don’t deserve to be here. I know yous stole somethin’, but this place… it’s for real bad people. Real, real bad. And… I know what it’s like to not be in the right place.”

You frowned, sitting up to face him. He was fixated on the floor as if he could see all the way to the centre of the Earth.

“What do you mean?”

Yancy hesitated, taking his arm from around you and clasping his hands together. He took a deep breath.

“I… I didn’t actually… I didn’t kill my parents.”

Everything you had learned about Yancy ran through your mind like a film. “But what about-”

“It’s a lie,” Yancy interrupted. “Truth is, my sister did it. She was always the family favourite anyway. No one would’ve suspected her. And they didn’t. That psychopath pinned everything on me, little ol’ Yancy the college dropout, Yancy the lost cause, Yancy the renegade, and they believed her. I didn’t stand a chance.”

His expression grew darker with every passing second, but he immediately softened when he turned back to you. He looked exhausted from years of carrying such a burden, and you returned his earlier gesture, reaching out and taking his hand. He jumped at first, staring at your hand as if it were a foreign object, but he let you wind your fingers through his.

“Does anyone else know?”

Yancy shook his head. “Gotta keep my reputation up with the gang in here. Don’t get me wrong, I still done bad things, but they think I’m a lot worse than I am,” he explained with a cynical smile.

“So that’s why you said family bonds aren’t worth it.”

Yancy nodded. “Don’t get me wrong though. It’s not all bad.”

He looked at you again. Your breath ceased as you observed his features; there was kindness there, buried underneath years of hardship. You sighed, your heart stirring.

“You know, Mark and I were supposed to go on a date this weekend.”

Yancy raised an expectant eyebrow at you, a hint of amusement in his eyes. “And now?”

“I think I might just kick his ass instead.”

Yancy let out a deep chuckle. “I wouldn’t put it past yous. Sure I can’t persuade yous to stay?”

Your heart wrenched, your expression faltering.

“Yancy, I… I can’t,” you sighed. “My family…”

You trailed off as Yancy pressed his lips together in a tight line with a single, solitary nod. “S’alright. I get it.”

He stood up from your bed, combing a hand through his hair. You followed him, grabbing his hand.

“Hey, it’s not personal. I just-”

“I know,” Yancy turned to face you, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. “Like I said, yous got somethin’ worth fightin’ for. Wouldn’t be fair for you to stay.”

He patted your cheek gently. “Tomorrow. Warden’ll be back, then we can get yous outta here. Okay?”

You swallowed, heart aching in a whole new way you never expected. “Okay.”

With a simple goodnight and a sly wink, Yancy left your cell. You stood there for a few minutes, clasping your hands together and frowning at the floor. You felt crazy for wanting to stay, but part of you felt even crazier for wanting to leave.

Next chapter

#a heist with markiplier #ahwm #heist mark #heist mark x reader #heist! mark x reader #yancy x reader #ahwm yancy x reader #ahwm yancy #my writing #nevernotwriting

[nevernotwriting]

You, Me, and Yancy | Masterlist

Pairings: Heist Mark x reader, Yancy x reader

Read me on AO3!

Summary:  After graduating from a master’s in cyber security, Zero leapt into the first job they were offered. The pay was decent, the people seemed nice, and they even got access to first-class heist gear! The only catch? Zero wasn't entirely sure of the legality of what their gang got up to. When Zero's boss insisted it was time for them to head out into the field, they knew a whole new world of trouble was about to be coming their way.

Main tags: Love triangle with eventual resolution, friends to lovers, romance & drama

Chapters:

Chapter 1: A Proposition

Chapter 2: Time for a Heist

Chapter 3: Night at the Museum

Chapter 4: Behind Bars

Chapter 5: The Wrench in the Works

Chapter 6: A New Partner?

Chapter 7: No Honour Among Thieves

Chapter 8: Rooftop Relations

Chapter 9: Escape

Chapter 10: Of Prisoners and Men

Chapter 11: The Third Sunday

Chapter 12: The Ropes

Chapter 13: Breakout

Chapter 14: Black Tie Required

Chapter 15: Be Careful what you Wish For

#a heist with markiplier #ahwm #heist mark #heist mark x reader #heist! mark x reader #yancy x reader #ahwm yancy x reader #my writing #nevernotwriting #ahwm yancy

[nevernotwriting]

You, Me, and Yancy | Chapter 9: Escape

Read me on AO3!

Previous chapter

You woke up with the very firm knowledge that today was your last day in prison. This was the day Yancy was going to help you escape. You felt nervous with excitement and anticipation, but a small part of your heart wrenched when you met with Yancy and his gang after lunch.

Yancy was hunched over staring at the table when you joined him, lost in thought. It took Hank nudging him to bring his attention to your arrival. He blinked and sat up, barely shooting you a smile before launching into the plan.

The plan was simple. When you were getting dinner, Tiny was going to push you into Yancy. Yancy would take a swing at you, and the rest of the gang would declare a fight to alert The Warden.

“And what happens after that?” You asked.

“Ah don’t worry, I got a few tricks up my sleeve,” Yancy replied. He smiled at you with a wink, but his smile still didn’t reach his eyes.

You wanted to spend some more time with Yancy before your departure, but he whisked himself away from the table shortly after, claiming he had some business to take care of before your escape could commence. You sighed as the rest of the gang departed, leaving you alone.

 The evening rolled round all too quickly, and you were back in the canteen once more. You joined the queue for food, Tiny slipping in front of you. She nodded to you, and you nodded back. Yancy was stood behind you, the first time you had seen him in many hours. His hands were clasped in front of him, a tight smile on his face before he cast his eyes back down to the floor once again. You looked around at the other prisoners, all of whom were eating their food and shooting occasional glances your way. The guards milled around the edges of the room, utterly clueless to what was brewing in front of them.

A couple of minutes passed as you shuffled forward in the queue. You were about to turn to Yancy and ask him when this would be happening when Tiny stopped in her tracks. You bumped into her with a huff. She didn’t miss a beat, whipping round and shoving you backwards into Yancy.

“Hey!” Yancy snapped, pushing you away from him. A look of venom was plastered onto his face, but you saw it crack for a split second before chaos ensued.

Despite her nickname, Tiny had one hell of a pair of lungs on her.

“Fight!”

Every prisoner scrambled to their feet and surrounded you, holding back the guards like a human barricade as Yancy raised his fists. He took a purposefully slow swing in your direction and you ducked, keeping your eyes trained on him as shouts and screams rang in your ears. You were anxious at the prospect of having to hit him again when the lights turned red and alarms blared once more, indicating that The Warden was on his way. You gulped and glanced at Yancy, who gave you a reassuring wink. You didn’t miss his hands clenching into fists as he curled in on himself.

The circle parted to reveal The Warden, who marched forward and grabbed Yancy’s arm. You winced, scowling as he pointed a finger at Yancy’s face.

“Yancy!” He barked, flecks of spit flying out of his mouth in every direction. “What did I tell you about startin’ fights?”

Yancy gulped, shaking his head from side to side. “B-b-but-”

“You have given me no other choice!”

A guard stepped forward and The Warden tossed Yancy towards him.

“Put him in solitary!”

Your heart started pounding in your chest. Either the plan hadn’t worked, or it was one hell of a strange plan. By the time the lights returned to normal and the alarm died out, you were a quivering mess. The Warden rounded in on you.

“And you,” he spat. “Get back to your cell.”

A harsh grip landed on your shoulder and escorted you out of the canteen. You were pushed down the hallway and into your cell, the guard closing the bars behind you with a loud clang.

You sighed and scratched the back of your neck, unsure of what to do next. You looked towards your bed; maybe this plan of Yancy’s wouldn’t occur for a few more hours, so getting some rest didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Not like you had anything else to do.

You climbed under your covers, looking up at the bottom of the bed above you. What you saw made you shoot out from under the sheets faster than a bullet from a gun.

“Hey buddy. How ya doin’?”

“Yancy!” You hissed, trying not to yell. “What are you doing here? How did you get out of solitary?”

“Told ya, I got a few tricks up my sleeve,” he replied with a smirk, pulling a piece of black material from his pocket. “Looks like, uh… looks like it might be time to break outta here, but before we do, I need ya to put this on.”

Yancy held the material out to you. You frowned at him in confusion.

“Awh listen, it ain’t nothin’ personal. I just don’t want word gettin’ out about my escape routes, ya hear? Cause if you know, then yous gonna tell others, and then theys gonna tell others, and then suddenly, everyone’s breakin’ out, when no one-”

You put a finger to his lips, shocking him out of his irritated spiel. He went cross-eyed looking at your finger, but he didn’t seem to mind. You smiled and rolled your eyes at him, taking the material and tying it around your eyes.

“Yeah. I get it.”

“Good move. Now let’s get goin’. But, uh, watch ya head.”

With your makeshift blindfold securely in place, Yancy took your hand and led you to your escape.

 A few hop, skips, and jumps later, you were on solid ground once more, and a light breeze indicated that you were outside. Yancy’s hand let go of yours, and you took off your blindfold.

“And there you have it!” He declared.

You looked around, taking in your surroundings. You relished in the sky above you, having only seen a concrete ceiling for most of the last few days. The grass you were standing on was slightly overgrown, and it tickled your ankles. You didn’t want to take these small details for granted ever again.

“Oh and, uh…” Yancy caught your attention again, producing two items.

“I think these are youses?” He asked, holding them out to you. It was your cell phone – unmistakably yours by its unique casing – and the artefact.

You gasped, taking the objects from him. “Yancy, thank you! How did you-”

Yancy shrugged his shoulders and scratched the back of his neck, looking down at the ground. “It’s no big deal. I just… I slipped by the Warden’s office to have a little chat on the way over here. I saw that thing,” he pointed to the box, “that yous walked in with, so uh… I dunno. I thought you’d want it.”

A smile broke out onto your face, your heart melting. It soon froze again as Yancy casually grasped two of the bars on the gate.

He was still on the other side.

“Yancy…” You cleared your throat. “Do you… why don’t you…”

You couldn’t get the words out, too afraid of rejection. You gestured instead, beckoning him to come with you.

Yancy blinked in surprise. “Me? Out there? With you?”

He smiled, but you could see the torment in his eyes. He glanced at the ground again, shuffling his hands on the bars.

“Nah, I uh… I done a lot of bad things, and uh… this is home! For now, anyway.” He gestured to the prison behind him.

The breeze seemed to pick up and chill you to your very core as his words sunk in. You took a step closer.

“Yancy, you told me yourself that you didn’t kill your parents. Why do time for something you didn’t do?”

Yancy shuffled his hands again and hung his head with a sigh.

“Look, Zero… I appreciate what yous sayin’, but I still done a few bad things. I ain’t perfect.” He attempted a smile, but it fell flat when he looked at your sombre expression.

“Neither am I, but you still helped me. Is what you did really bad enough to stay in here for… for what, forever?”

Your voice was growing hoarse with emotion, not wanting to let go of his kindness and charm so soon. You had only known each other for a few days, but the pounding of your heart told you more than your brain could ever rationalise. You placed a hand over his. His gaze fixed on your hand, and he flexed his fingers. You hoped he would intertwine his hand with yours, but he merely drew his hand back and returned it to rub the side of his neck. He let out another deep sigh, meeting your eyes once more.

“Maybe next time parole comes up, I’ll… give it a shot.” The last four words were barely above a whisper, and you felt your heart clench yet again. You wanted to pull him towards you, hug him tight and never let go, but you couldn’t.

“Anyway,” Yancy snapped himself out of his guilt-ridden expression. “I better get back to it. You take care now, ya hear?”

You swallowed, barely managing a smile. “You too.”

Yancy returned his hand to yours, giving it one final squeeze before he began to pace away from the gate.

“Visitation, every third Sunday!” He shouted.

The two of you kept your eyes locked for as long as possible. When you finally did look away to turn on your phone, Yancy was gone.

A lump formed in your throat. You paced away from the gate, turning around to see only the side of the prison building and a desolate road.

You were alone again.

You leaned against a nearby tree, taking a deep breath in and out. You were out of prison, you were liberated, yet somehow you felt emptier than you had in the past couple of days you’d spent behind bars.

Your phone vibrated, startling you out of your worried mind. It was fully operational, with half the battery still left. A stream of missed calls and messages from friends and family trickled in, many of them asking where the hell you were and why you weren’t replying. Guilt flooded your body, and you made a mental note to reply to them as soon as you were safe and apologise for leaving them hanging. You tapped through your contacts, looking for a getaway, though in the back of your mind you already knew the best person to call.

Mark’s face and number appeared on your screen. He had a big cheesy grin on his face, hair splaying around. It must have been windy when he took that picture. Your stomach lurched as your thumb hovered over the call button, taking one final look around you for any passing cars you could hitch a ride from, but the road was empty.

“Son of a bitch,” you cursed to yourself, locking your phone. Seeing his face again sent your blood boiling after what you’d witnessed the night before on the security cameras, but your stomach still fluttered with all the fond memories you’d had with him. You curled up at the base of the tree, tears springing to your eyes as you hugged your knees.

Just when you were about to give in, you thought of one other solution.

You looked at the artefact, still clutched in your other hand. Shark said it contained something, right?

“Please, please be something good,” you prayed, prying off the lid and tipping the contents into your lap.

Whatever fell out wasn’t heavy. You picked it up. It was a key, and around it was a small piece of rolled-up paper. You unravelled it, revealing a message.

 This universal skeleton key can unlock ANY lock ever made.

 You read the message again, huffing a breath of disbelief. The key looked old but mostly unimposing. To think it held such power took your breath away.

You glanced at the prison gate. Your heart started racing again, thinking of Yancy on the other side, alone in his cell. You glanced to the road. You thought of Mark getting an earful from Shark for failing the heist. Maybe he even missed you.

“Why can’t everything be easy?” You questioned, looking down at the phone and the key in your hands. One of them led to a life you wanted, but figuring out exactly which was which was a whole other puzzle. Your heart was being pulled in two directions, one by a man you barely knew, and the other by a man you weren’t sure you could trust anymore.

Finally, your brain kicked into action.

What was that Yancy said earlier?

You heard his words in your mind, clear as day in his accent.

“Visitation, every third Sunday.”

Everything clicked into place as you hatched a plan. You stood up with a new sense of purpose, key tightly in your grasp.

You unlocked your phone and called Mark.

Next chapter

#a heist with markiplier #ahwm #heist mark #heist mark x reader #heist! mark x reader #yancy x reader #ahwm yancy x reader #ahwm yancy #my writing #nevernotwriting

[nevernotwriting]

You, Me, and Yancy | Chapter 4: Behind Bars

Read me on AO3!

Previous chapter

A chill fell over your arms as you opened your eyes. You were greeted by white brick walls in a large room filled with empty beds. You sat up, groaning as a dull pain filled your side.

This was unlike any hospital you’d ever been in before.

You lifted up the thin, scratchy blanket covering your body and pulled up the striped shirt you definitely weren’t wearing last you could remember. There was a padded dressing on your side, partially covering a huge dark bruise. The whole thing was held in place by several wrappings of bandage around your torso.

Your memory came flooding back to you as you surveyed your injury. You and Mark running for your lives. You lifting up your bloodied shirt. The panic in Mark’s eyes as you fell to the ground, sirens drowning out your hearing as the world faded to black.

You sighed, tossing the blanket aside and sitting on the side of the bed. Maybe there’d be someone around here who could give you some answers.

The door to the infirmary burst open before you could stand. A man in a tweed suit and glasses strode in, accompanied by two others resembling a doctor and a guard.

“Mornin’ sunshine,” the man in the suit drawled. “Welcome to Happy Trails Penitentiary.”

Everything clicked into place. This didn’t look like an ordinary hospital, because it wasn’t a hospital at all; it was a prison. You and Mark must have been arrested after you passed out.

“Shit,” you whispered to yourself, feeling tears spring to your eyes. How the hell were you going to get out of this?

“Now, no need to be nervous,” the man spoke again. “We here believe in rehabilitation over punishment.”

The way he spoke that last word struck fear into your very core. He clenched his fists as he eyed you, as if he were daring you to step a toe out of line. His demeanour changed in the blink of an eye, and he switched back to a cheery tone.

“The ol’ doc here’s just gonna give you another once over, then we’ll escort you to the yard and you can mingle!”

You looked up at the guard, who you assumed would be the one to escort you. He gave you a cold, threatening look. You gulped.

The doctor, who you prayed was actually qualified, changed your dressing, looking pleased that the wound was healing well and no longer bleeding. She gave you a pack of spare dressings and bandages, trusting you to change them yourself after showers. Before you could offer your thanks, you were hauled out and down the hallway by the guard’s firm hand on your shoulder.

“No fightin’,” he threatened, shoving you into the yard.

You looked around, shielding your eyes from the harsh sunlight. Three people were playing basketball on the concrete, and a handful of others stood in groups, talking and casting suspicious glances towards you. Guards were dotted everywhere. You folded your arms as you continued walking, feeling entirely out of place.

You scoffed at yourself. You were technically a criminal; you belonged here as much as everyone else, maybe even more so. No use feeling sorry for yourself now.

You kept wandering until you came across the only other person who was also alone and looking noticeably uncomfortable.

Mark was sat on a bench, hands knotted together as he stared at the ground. You could tell from here that he was frowning and biting his lip, a habit you’d come to recognise as his “thinking” face. He was also picking the skin around his fingernails, meaning there was a level of fear and stress clouding his mind.

“Mark?” You got his attention once you were close enough. He looked up with a startle, his eyes lighting up when he realised it was you.

“Oh, Zero, thank God,” he breathed, jumping up and wrapping his arms around you. You winced at the accidental pressure on your injury.

“Sorry,” Mark withdrew his grasp, still keeping his hands on your shoulders. He studied you for a moment, pressing his lips into a tight line and blinking to hold back tears. “I’m just so happy to see you. How’re you feeling?”

“Not bad, actually. Still a little shaken, but I’m fine.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.

“Good, I’m glad,” Mark sighed. “They wouldn’t let me see you in the infirmary. Think they thought I might try and break us out with you slung over my shoulders.”

You scoffed and shook your head at the thought. “Yeah, cause that’d definitely work.”

Mark laughed with you, tension easing from his stance. “You never know. I’d do it if I had to,” he cast you a softened glance. You smiled and looked away. His casually sweet comments were always appreciated, but the intense glares the two of you kept getting from the other inmates brought you back to reality.

“I think I’ve got an escape plan figured out, though. We don’t belong here,” Mark continued, stepping closer to you as a particularly tall, muscular man lurched past the two of you.

“Don’t belong here? Mark, we are technically criminals.”

Mark blinked at you with a scoff of denial. “Well, yeah, but trust me, we got nothin’ on these guys.”

He pointed behind you to a man with a white beard, who was sat talking to younger man with fuzzy ginger hair and glasses.

“See Hank over there? He used to be a meth kingpin. He can make wine in his toilet tank.”

You whipped back round to face Mark with a raised eyebrow and a grin. “Making friends already then?”

“Well you know me, life of the party an’ all that,” he joked, hands on his hips. You rolled your eyes at him.

“For real though, I think these guys are gonna be our best way outta here. Guards are gonna call us in pretty soon, so I’ll lay the plan out for you later.”

 The rest of the day felt incredibly short, which you attributed to the prison lifestyle sinking in already. You were relieved that you and Mark had been placed in a cell together, so you could at least take comfort in a familiar, friendly face. The two of you were in there now, having showered and eaten a few morsels of dinner a couple of hours prior.

You were carefully replacing your dressing, taking deep breaths as you unveiled the gnarly wound.

That’ll probably scar, you thought to yourself.

Mark gave you some privacy by looking away. You winced as you pressed the new dressing into place, tears stinging in your eyes. Next came the bandage, which you had to wrap around you without letting your dressing unstick. You looked behind you to where Mark was sat staring into his lap. You cleared your throat.

“Um… Mark? Could you give me a hand please?”

Mark looked up, jumping up with a helpful smile as he took the bandage from you. You hoped he didn’t notice your breath hitching when his hand brushed your torso as he passed the material round, delicate hands taking care to not press on too hard. He tucked it in on one side and secured it.

“There.” He smiled at his handiwork, but the crease between his eyebrows told you he was more worried than he was letting on.

You felt your throat clench, tears springing to your eyes. A sniffle escaped you before you could stop it. Mark snapped his gaze up to your face.

“I’m so sorry,” you whimpered, covering your face with your hands. “I shouldn’t have told you to go out guns blazing. It’s my fault we’re in this mess.” A sob escaped your chest.

Mark gently took your wrists in his hands, prying them away from your face. His expression was one of sorrow and gentle concern as he slipped his hands into yours.

“Hey, listen. It is not your fault at all,” he said, shaking his head along with his words. He swallowed, briefly flitting his eyes to the floor before he looked at you again.

“If anything, it’s my fault. I was so excited that you were with me, a-and that your first heist was going so well, I let myself get carried away. I’m so sorry. I will get us out of here.” He sighed, trailing one of his hands out of yours and to your face, where he wiped away a stray tear with his thumb. He stared at the spot where his hand stayed, warming your face.

Your heart wrenched at seeing him so distraught, blaming himself for your circumstances. You mustered every ounce of courage you had to mirror him, placing one of your hands on his cheek. His eyes snapped back to yours immediately, and you realised how little distance remained between the two of you.

“If it makes you feel any better, it was still a lot of fun. Minus the getting shot part,” you smiled.

Mark exhaled a laugh through his nose, his eyebrows raising slightly. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Mark scanned your eyes for any traces of doubt, then let a smile emerge onto his face. You smiled back at him, rubbing your thumb on his cheek.

His smile died down, a look of serenity and curiosity overtaking him. Your breath hitched in your throat as his eyes flicked down to your lips. He leaned in ever so slightly, and you did the same. His eyes became hooded when only mere inches separated your lips from his, your breath tickling his cheeks as they flooded with a pink hue-

A loud metallic banging noise filled the hall next to your cell, startling the two of you out of your trance. A guard shouted down the hallway.

“Lights out!”

You were submerged in darkness seconds later, left with a yearning heart and a head swimming with emotions.

Next chapter

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[nevernotwriting]

You, Me, and Yancy | Chapter 6: A New Partner?

Read me on AO3!

Previous chapter

“Psst, hey, Zero. Stand back!”

A tiny voice that sounded like Mark came out of nowhere, forcing you to open your eyes. It was the middle of the night, so it was pitch black in your cell.

Not for long.

A gigantic crash filled your ears as something impacted the wall. You shielded your eyes from the chunks of brick flying out, coughing as dust filled your mouth. A loud rumbling sound replaced the crash, and when you opened your eyes you were met by a huge red jeep, with none other than Mark, your partner in crime, in the driver’s seat.

You couldn’t believe what you were seeing. Mark was alive, and he came back for you.

Mark shouted to you over his shoulder. “C’mon, we gotta get outta here quickly!”

You vaulted into the open trunk, just managing to grab onto the side before you were tossed around as Mark skidded away from the prison. Alarm bells rang in the distance as you drove away from the place, getting more and more quiet until you were on the open road with only each other and a clear night sky as your company.

“Mark, you came back for me!”

“Of course I did! Why wouldn’t I?” He dared a glance away from the road to shoot you a killer smile.

You managed to climb into the front seat and fasten yourself in. “I dunno, I guess I just… thanks.” You reached out and placed one of your hands over his on the gearstick. He cast you another smile, this one softer but full of adoration.

“Don’t mention it. How’s the wound, by the way?” He asked, turning the car onto an uphill path.

You lifted up your shirt, gasping at what you saw. “It’s… gone.”

Mark whooped in delight. “All right, that must’ve healed real quick!”

After a few seconds Mark stopped the car, and you looked up at your destination.

You were parked up next to the cliffside at the Griffith Observatory. Even in the darkness, the pure white building seemed to shine like a beacon, overlooking the Hollywood hills and countless streetlights and car headlights that shone like pinpricks in the distance. You and Mark hopped out of the car and walked towards the building in silence, stopping at the edge of the balcony overlooking the city.

Mark broke the silence. “Nice view.”

“Yeah.”

“Thought you might say you prefer the one back home,” he laughed.

You turned to him, realising he was already looking at you.

“This feels like home now.” You took one of his hands, heartbeat erratic. “Thanks again, Mark.”

He shook his head modestly, stepping closer to you. “You don’t need to thank me, Zero. I wouldn’t leave you behind.”

“Still using my codename?” You quipped. “And here I thought this might be a date.”

“It can be, if you want it to be,” he shrugged, but his eyes were sparkling brighter than all of the stars above as he broke into an unstoppable grin.

You placed a hand on his cheek, and he looked like he stopped breathing. You leaned in even closer, until your faces were mere inches apart.

“I’d like that,” you whispered, your eyelids fluttering shut as you closed the distance between-

 A metallic clatter forced you to open your eyes and sit up. A guard was banging on the bars of your cell, making his way down the corridor.

“Wake up, sleeping beauties!”

You groaned as you sat up, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. You glanced at the wall next to you; it was intact.

It was just a dream. You were still in prison, alone, but hopefully not for much longer.

You couldn’t stomach breakfast so you made your way into the yard early, hunching yourself into as small a position as possible on a bench. The last few days felt more like five minutes, and your mind was finally catching up with all of the crazy things that had happened. Your eyes filled with tears and you couldn’t stop the sniffle that escaped as you thought about Mark. Neither of you had any idea that those sweet looks he was giving you over breakfast would soon be followed by complete and utter chaos. Even if Yancy did help break you out, what would you do if you couldn’t find Mark? You still had no idea if he even survived that sucker punch. How could you go back to HQ after this, empty-handed and one man down? Shark would surely eat you alive on the spot.

You covered your eyes with your hands, letting tears fill your palms. You heard footsteps approaching you, and felt the weight of another person sitting by your side. You were about to ask them to leave you alone when you heard that very distinct accent.

“Hey, there you are! Listen, the gang an’ I think we got a plan to get yous outta- hey, what’sa matter? What yous cryin’ for?”

You lifted your head up and wiped your eyes, turning to face Yancy. He was looking at you with great concern, one hand poised to reach out and give extra comfort.

“It’s just…” you swallowed the lump in your throat. “It’s been a lot. The past few days I mean.”

Yancy nodded, shuffling closer and rubbing your shoulder. He stayed silent, letting you continue your vent.

“I appreciate you helping me get out of here, but… I don’t even know what I’m gonna do after,” you sighed, biting your lip to stop it trembling. “The Warden has that stupid artefact we worked so hard for, and I don’t even know if Mark’s alive or dead.”

Yancy kept his hold on you, letting you know he was still there. He cleared his throat, hoping to say something to make you feel better.

“Look… you said yous got a family out there, right? Just… try an’ think about them. Figure the rest out along the way.”

You looked up at him again, seeing only sincerity in his eyes. You smiled a little, wiping your eyes once more. Maybe your mind was just projecting your grief, but you couldn’t help but notice that he looked an awful lot like Mark up this close. You also noticed the bruises still littering his face.

“Also… sorry for beating you up.”

Yancy blinked at you and scoffed, shaking his head. “You got nothin’ to be sorry for. I’m the one who should be sorry for misjudgin’ yous. So… I’m sorry.”

You smiled at him again. “Thanks.”

Yancy took his hand from your shoulder, holding it out for you to shake. You couldn’t help but laugh a little. “We already did this yesterday, Yancy.”

Yancy shrugged with a smile. “I’m old-fashioned.”

He nodded towards his hand, so you shook it firmly once more.

“So listen,” Yancy began again, reclining against the back of the bench. You tried not to stare as he flexed his arms behind his head. “The Warden’s not around today, so this plan of ours is gonna have to wait. Think you can stick around another night? Maybe we could… I dunno, get to know each other?”

He raised an eyebrow at you, catching you off guard and making you lose words for a moment. A smirk creeped onto the corner of his lips and you forced yourself to sit up straight.

“All right, sure.”

Yancy turned to face you again. “This artefact you mentioned… that what got yous in here?”

You nodded. “Mark and I... we…” You hesitated, struggling to admit your crimes even to a fellow criminal. “… we stole it. From a museum.”

Yancy burst into laughter, doubling over and eventually regaining his composure. “Jeez, is that it? They lock you up for anythin’ these days.”

You frowned at him. “What d’you mean?”

Yancy pointed to your left. You followed his gesture, seeing a man with floppy hair and silver wristbands walking towards the basketball court.

“See Sparkles McGee over there? Money launderer, credit card fraudster, anythin’ illegal to do with money, you name it, he’s done it.”

Yancy turned your attention to a dark-haired woman sat on her own. “And Tiny? Hoo boy, yous don’t even wanna know what she’s done.”

“Is this supposed to make me feel better?” You asked flatly.

Yancy faltered. “Well… yous gettin’ outta here, ain’t ya? So don’t worry about it!” He laughed, clapping you on the shoulder. You rolled your eyes.

“All right all right, enough of the criminal talk. That guy yous came in with… Mark yous said he was called? He youses boyfriend?”

“No,” you replied a little too defensively. “We… we just work together. He’s the heist expert, I’m the tech monkey. This was my first heist.”

“Huh, so yous like… good with computers and stuff?”

You couldn’t help but smile at the effort he was making. “That’s a simple way of putting it, yeah.”

Yancy seemed intrigued by you, much to your surprise. You figured he’d rather get you gone from here sooner rather than later so he could get back to his gang, but he only grew more interested as you carried on talking, answering all manner of his questions about your work and personal life. You were taken aback, but it was nice to be treated so kindly. You grew very fond of the kind smiles he cast your way as you talked, his gaze never faltering. The only thing that pulled you two out of your shared little world was a guard’s whistle, indicating it was time to head indoors for lunch. You and Yancy stood up from the bench. He cast a glance at the floor, then back at you.

“Listen, I got an idea. It won’t get yous out early, but it might give you some answers. Tonight, meet me out here before the guards call us in for lights out.”

You eyed him, intrigued. “All right. I’ll bite. What’s the catch?”

Yancy looked mildly offended. “No catch. Just another favour… for a friend.”

He walked away and you followed him shortly after, head full of questions once more.

Next chapter

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[nevernotwriting]

You, Me, and Yancy | Chapter 8: Rooftop Relations

Read me on AO3!

Previous chapter

Several weeks earlier…

“All right, here we are.”

Mark stopped the car and the two of you got out, grabbing your duffel bags from the backseat. The slam of the car doors echoed in the empty parking garage as the two of you made your way to a door reading “EMPLOYEES ONLY”.

This was your third rooftop night shift, but your stomach was filled with more butterflies than ever before, because this was your first one with Mark. You’d been eager to spend more time with him after how warmly he welcomed you to the group, and now your wish had finally come true.

“After you,” Mark said, opening the door for you. He tipped his beanie towards you as if it were a fedora.

“Cheesy,” you snorted, walking through the door. Mark followed you.

“Cheesy is my middle name!”

You ascended an endless staircase, eventually reaching one final door. Opening it, you stepped out onto the rooftop of the Glendale Galleria.

The glass sections of the roof revealed that the inside was lit up in a brilliant white. This was your first indicator that this place definitely had a night shift. You sighed internally, your last flicker of hope for an early night dying.

Mark finally appeared in the doorway, laying down his bag and walking to the edge of the rooftop. You joined his side as he stared out at the grid of lights that stretched in every direction as far as you could see.

“Nice view,” he commented.

“I prefer the one back home.”

“Oh yeah?” Mark turned to you with a curious expression.

“Yeah. You can actually see the stars at my parents’ house. And the Milky Way, if you turn the porch lights off.”

“That’s pretty awesome,” Mark smiled. “But who needs the Milky Way when you’ve got LA’s light pollution, right?”

You rolled your eyes with a loving smile. “Funny.”

“Funny is my middle name.”

“I thought cheesy was your middle name.”

“I have two.”

The two of you descended into laughter before picking up your bags once more and surveying your surroundings.

“All right, so what’s the plan here?”

Mark produced a rolled-up piece of paper from his bag; it was the map that Shrike and Gareth had compiled between them a few days prior. Mark scanned it and flitted his eyes up to the roof every few seconds. “Shark wants us to keep an eye on the guard rotation around the Swarovski store, which, according to this map, should be right… there.” He pointed to the largest glass dome in the middle of the roof.

“How about we get a quick scope of the whole place first, then settle in on the Swarovski store?” You suggested. “Might come in handy to know how many guards there’re gonna be overall.”

Mark nodded. “Good call.”

The two of you began to walk together from one edge of the roof to the next, sharing the map and marking out each guard you saw in light pencil. You caught Mark watching you out of the corner of your eye and you glanced at him, surprised to see an impressed smile on his face.

“You’re really good at this. And this is only, what, your third night shift?” His eyebrows raised along with his question.

You smiled, looking back down at the map. “Not like it’s hard.”

“Awh come on Zero, just take the compliment.”

“And if I don’t?” You teased.

“Well then this is gonna be a long night.”

You snorted, throwing your head back in laughter and continuing to walk. “That’s what I said to myself five minutes into what was possibly the worst date I’ve ever been on.”

Mark laughed, following you. “Oh no. What happened?”

You groaned. “I had to do like, ninety-nine percent of the talking. No joke. Me. Doing all the talking. You’ve seen how quiet I can be at work. God it was a nightmare, like why would you agree to a date with me if you don’t even really wanna be there?”

Mark shot you a sympathetic look as he scribbled on the map. “Maybe they were just super shy? But either way, that’s pretty rough. I’m sorry.”

You shrugged your shoulders. “No harm done. What about you, what’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?”

Mark paused, pursing his lips and looking up at the sky. “There was this one time I was asked to fill out my birth chart and do some online personality test before the date even started. That was… weird.”

You laughed, gasping in disbelief. “And how did that go?”

“Oh, the date?” Mark looked back down at you. “Technically, it didn’t even happen. My date decided we weren’t compatible cause I’m a Cancer and an extrovert, or some shit.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” Mark grinned at you.

 After about ninety minutes of slowly working your way up and down the roof and sharing stories, you and Mark finished up at the largest glass dome overlooking the Swarovski store. You were about to settle onto the cold concrete of the roof when Mark pulled out two foldable camping chairs from his duffel bag.

“Did you really think I was gonna let you sit on a roof all night without a bit of comfort?”

“Shrike did,” you replied, standing back up.

“That’s cause she’s an alien. I’m a human being.”

“That’s exactly what an alien would say if they were trying to pass as a human.”

“You got me,” Mark laughed, holding his hands up. “Got binoculars?”

You fished them out of your bag, throwing a pair to him. “Catch!”

Panic crossed his face, but he caught them just in time. “See that? Cat-like reflexes.”

“Sure thing, Catwoman.” You rolled your eyes, looking through your own pair of binoculars.

“Ten-fifteen, no guards,” you mumbled under your breath. Mark jotted down your observations on the sides of the map.

“What time d’you think they turn the lights off here?” You asked.

Mark shrugged. “Hopefully soon. It’s a little blinding.”

“Yeah,” you agreed. “Must be weird walking through a dark empty mall at night though. I dunno why, but it makes me think of this video game my friend made me play in college. You played as a security guard in a haunted pizzeria.”

“Not that animatronics one.” Mark’s voice was flat with dread.

You removed the binoculars from your eyes, shooting him a surprised look. “Yeah! You know it?”

“Man, don’t even talk to me about that game.”

You laughed. “It had me sleepless for days as well.”

There was silence between you two for several minutes as you went back to the task at hand, until Mark broke the silence once more.

“How’d you get into video games?”

You leaned back in your chair, surprised again at the inquisitive look Mark was giving you. You played with the binoculars in your hands.

“My dad got me into them, actually. He was always really into them as a kid, all the retro stuff. We used to spend a few nights each week completing a video game together whenever I was home.”

“That’s cute,” Mark smiled. “Do you miss Pennsylvania?”

Your stomach flipped. You normally hated that question, but something about the sincere, gentle look Mark was giving you made you want to open up to him even more.

“A little,” you replied, sitting forward and glancing down. “But LA is starting to feel like home. It took a while, but I’m getting there.”

You looked at Mark again. Your stomach continued flipping as a sweet smile spread across his face.

“Good.” His answer was so quiet you almost missed it.

“Y’know, I don’t think I’ve ever actually asked where you’re from, Mark.”

Amidst the darkness, you could’ve sworn a hint of pink spread across his cheeks. “Oh, it’s fine. I’m from Ohio originally.”

“Shut up! We were state neighbours this whole time and you never told me?”

Mark’s eyebrows raised as he let out a hearty laugh. “Yeah, I guess we were! But hey, look at us both now, living it up in the big city.”

“Damn right we are!” You held out your hand for a high five. Mark accepted it, the singular clap reverberating into the night.

 You settled into another comfortable silence, only breaking it to make the occasional remark about the guard patterns. When the lights finally dimmed inside the mall, you and Mark let out a quiet cheer of relief. You dug your phone out of your bag to check the time, surprised to see that it was 12:30 am.

“Wow. Time flies, huh?” You flashed your phone screen at Mark.

“Sure does when you’re having fun,” he smiled back, jotting down another note on the side of the map. “Lights out, twelve-thirty.”

You stuffed your phone back into your bag, turning away to hide the huge grin that appeared on your face.

“By the way, what was that on your lock screen?”

Heat flushed to your face as you retrieved your phone once more. Damn this guy, he doesn’t miss a beat.

You passed your phone to him. “It’s the view of the city from the Griffith Observatory. I’ve not actually been up there yet, but I found that picture online and I liked it, so…”

Mark raised his eyebrows at you in disbelief as he gave you back your phone. “You’ve never been there? You should totally go!”

“I know, I know. I just didn’t have time what with school. It just fell to the back of my to do list.”

Mark hummed in response, but he was staring at the sky as if he were lost in space. He bit his lip.

“I could take you there some time. If you wanted,” he offered. His voice was uncharacteristically quiet once again.

“That’d be fun.” You smiled, trying to keep your cool despite the butterflies filling your stomach.

Out of nowhere, a chilling breeze picked up. You shivered violently with a groan of protest, rubbing up and down your arms.

“Son of a bitch, where did that come from?”

Mark reached for something in his bag. “LA weather can still surprise you sometimes. Here, put this on.”

He threw something black onto your lap. You picked it up, realising it was one of his sweatshirts. You cast him a bashful smile. The hit of warmth was immediate when you snuggled into the garment, and a faint smell of cologne enveloped you. You sighed happily to yourself.

“You’re not getting this back.”

“I figured you’d say that.”

 After another hour and yet more watching and waiting, you heard Mark’s stomach rumble faintly. An idea popped into your head. You reached into your bag, pulling out a large flask and holding it out to him.

“Here.”

Mark took the flask, unscrewing the lid and sniffing with a curious frown. “What is this?”

“Chicken soup.”

“You brought soup?”

“Well we’re gonna be out here for a while, what did you bring?”

“… Cookies.”

You shook your head. “Good thing you have me to keep you in check. Go on, it’s homemade.”

Mark took a sip. His eyes lit up in delight.

“Damn Zero, that’s good. You made that?”

“Mhmm,” you nodded. “Family recipe. Warms you right through to your bones.”

“In which case,” Mark began, a hint of mischief in his voice as he handed the flask back to you. “If you have this, can I have my sweatshirt back?”

“Nope!”

Mark leant back in laughter, picking up his binoculars again. “So, you’re stubborn and a good chef. I’m learning a lot tonight.”

You scoffed back at him, retreating further into his sweatshirt.

“Chicken soup’s my favourite kind actually.”

“Yeah?”

Mark hummed, binoculars still glued to his eyes. “My mom used to make it for me when I was sick. You’d think I’d hate it cause of that reminder of feeling crappy, but the opposite happened.” He lowered the binoculars, gazing at you for a few seconds in silence. “I guess it just reminds me of… I dunno, that I have people lookin’ out for me.”

Your heart felt like it had been lit on fire. You swallowed, trying to summon the right words, but your mind was blank. You managed a shy, wordless nod, pulling down the sleeves of Mark’s sweatshirt to cover your hands.

 The next few hours seemed to fly by in a matter of minutes. By the time you were satisfied with the guard rotations you’d mapped out, it was nearly six in the morning. Your eyes felt like they had papercuts, and your brain ached for a dark room and warm blankets. You and Mark packed away your equipment into your bags. Just as you were about to make your way to the door, Mark unexpectedly grabbed your hand.

“Wait, this is the best part.”

“Whaaaat?” You groaned, desperate for sleep.

Mark led you to the edge of the rooftop once more. “Trust me, it’ll only take a couple of minutes, and it’s more than worth it.”

You looked across the landscape ahead of you. You were about to ask what the fuss was about when bright orange hues bled into the sky from the horizon, and everything stopped.

The sun was slowly rising over the city, bathing all of the buildings in a brilliant orange light. Wispy clouds drifted along, interfering with the sunbeams and creating dancing patterns in the sky. Your eyes widened, a small gasp escaping your mouth.

“You know, I’ve never really stopped to notice this before,” you admitted.

Mark turned to you. “Are you glad you did?”

You nodded at him. “Yeah.”

It dawned on you in that moment, after having looked at him through hours of darkness, just how incredible his eyes were. The early morning light blazed in them, highlighting all the brilliant brown tones that intertwined and danced with one another.

You cleared your throat, taking in a deep breath of the crisp air. Mark looked away, adjusting his bag on his shoulder.

“We, uh…” he shifted on the spot, smiling at the rising sun and scratching the back of his head. “We make a pretty good team, don’t we?”

You grinned back at him harder than ever before. “We sure do.”

Next chapter

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[nevernotwriting]

You, Me, and Yancy | Chapter 2: Time for a Heist

Read me on AO3!

Previous chapter

You finished your story, turning to look at Jasmine. She had curled up in her chair, staring at you with her mouth hanging open. You shrugged at her, waiting for some kind of reaction.

“Dude,” she spoke at last. “That is so. Fucking. Cute.”

“What’s cute?” Came a voice from behind. You swivelled in your chair, seeing Vakarian towering over you. He tousled his curls away from his face, revealing heavy bags under his eyes.

“Yeesh. What happened to you?” Jasmine asked.

Vakarian leant against your desk. “Late night. Scoping out a heist spot in Yorba Linda,” he replied as if it were an every day occurrence. Then again, it practically was for him. “Anyway, you didn’t answer my question.”

“Mark asked Zero out on a date last week.”

Vakarian looked down at you with an amused smile, then let out a huff of laughter. “About time. He’s been whining about doing it for weeks during target practice. I was two seconds away from punching him to be honest. What did you say?”

You stared at him for a second, mouth opening and closing against your will. He’s been planning this? Man, you really needed to get better at picking up on romantic hints.

“I said yes, but we haven’t gone yet cause I was busy this last weekend with family. So… maybe we’ll go this weekend?”

“Well make it sooner rather than later or he’ll be walking round with that lovesick puppy look on his face all the time.” Vakarian stood up with a roll of his eyes. “Then I will have to punch him.”

He walked away, leaving you and Jasmine giggling to one another. You couldn’t imagine Mark with such an expression, let alone regarding you, and the thought filled your stomach with butterflies.

“So where d’you think he’ll be taking you?” Jasmine regained your attention from where Vakarian had wandered away.

Before you had chance to answer, the main door opened once more. Everyone jolted to sit or stand up straight as Shark walked in, surveying the room with her icy blue eyes.

“I want you all in the conference room in five minutes.”

And with that simple command, she walked away to her office, hips swaying with confidence. Everyone around you began to scramble their belongings together, logging out of their computers and saving sensitive data. Jasmine winked at you, a silent confirmation that this conversation regarding your future date with Mark was far from over.

The two of you downed your drinks and made your way to the conference room. Jasmine grabbed Gareth by the arm as he waltzed in with only a minute to spare. You paced along behind them, looking sideways when a friendly hand clapped your shoulder.

“Mornin’ you.” Mark’s voice was very chipper for this time of morning. “Had a good time with your family?”

“Morning,” you replied, flattered that he’d remembered your weekend plans. “Yeah, thanks. I took them to Disneyland, kept them from asking too many questions about work.”

Mark laughed. “Good idea. I’m glad you had fun.” You felt his eyes on you again as he spoke, and you turned to smile at him, your heart skipping a beat again.

“You still free this weekend?”

You nodded. Mark’s smile grew wider.

“Awesome. How about we go out for dinner?”

“I’d love to! Just don’t take me anywhere too fancy, okay?”

“Aye aye, captain.”

The two of you entered the conference room along with the others. Shark was stood at the head of the table, which was littered with a variety of blueprints, some of which you had sketched up the week before. Shrike was already in the room, standing attentively next to Shark with her hands behind her back. You blinked in surprise, having not seen her enter the building this morning. She smirked, casting a millisecond glance towards Mark, then back to you. She nodded knowingly.

Once everyone was stood around the table, the idle chatter died down and Shark clapped her hands together.

“All right everyone, first thing’s first - I owe it to all of you to give credit where credit’s due.”

Shark’s gaze fell across the group. “Gareth, Jasmine. Great job on scoping out the museum last night. Thanks to you, we have the full guard rotation and know all the weak spots.”

Gareth and Jasmine nodded and smiled. “Ma’am.”

“And Zero, they couldn’t have done it without your blueprints in the first place. Nicely done.”

You folded your arms self-consciously as everyone’s eyes fell upon you. You nodded, managing a tiny smile. You felt Mark’s warm gaze on you from your side, making you fill with a mixture of pride and even more self-consciousness.

“And Vakarian,” Shark continued, casting her eyes away from you and up to the tall man. “Good job on scoping out the library in Yorba Linda. Might not be useful just yet, but it’s good for future reference. I’ve got a good feeling about that place.”

Vakarian remained expressionless as all eyes fell upon him. He still looked half asleep, but he managed a small nod of acknowledgement.

“But don’t think I called you all in here just to kiss your asses. You do the job, you finish the job, you get out, onto the next,” Shark continued, her usual coldness returning to her tone. “And now, we’re on to the next.”

She gestured to the blueprints laid out on the table. “This is what Zero, Gareth, and Jasmine were leading up to. The California Science Museum has just gotten their mitts on this.” She tossed another piece of paper onto the table. Everyone leaned in to get a closer look. It was some kind of box engraved with an intricate pattern, with a blue jewel at the top. You’d never seen anything like it before.

“What is it?” Gareth asked, reading your mind.

“This box is said to contain a very ancient, very valuable object. I don’t have any more details than that, but it’s gonna be ours by tomorrow morning,” Shark replied, folding her arms and eyeing everyone individually. You gulped when her eyes fell upon you.

“Mark.” Shark’s gaze fell to the man next to you, and you let out a small breath you hadn’t realised you were holding. “You’re the best we’ve got. Think you can handle it?”

Mark nodded with a mischievous smile. “You got it, boss.”

“Good. And take Zero with you.”

Your eyes bulged out of their sockets, and your stomach flooded with a feeling of dread.

“Oh- boss, no, I-I can’t,” you stumbled, too desperate to care that you were drawing attention to yourself. “I’m just a rookie!”

“You’ve been here for a few months now. You can’t stay a rookie forever,” Shark retorted. Her eyes told you this wasn’t an argument you could win. You sighed, wishing you would deflate on the spot and fall through the floor.

“Besides, Mark’s been teaching you the ropes. He’ll keep an eye out for you.”

“And then some,” Vakarian muttered under his breath with a snicker. Shrike jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow, making him double over with a wheeze.

“All right everyone, you know what you need to do. Move out and let these two get to work,” Shark declared. She slid the papers towards you and Mark as everyone filtered out of the room. You cast a distressed glance to Jasmine as she left. She just grinned at you with an eager thumbs up as the door shut behind her.

Now it was just you and Mark. You felt your heartbeat quicken with every passing second, your breath shortening. You kept your eyes fixed on the door, debating whether or not to bolt out and make a run for it. Your car was only across the lot, maybe you could speed home and hide there-

“Hey,” Mark snapped you out of your trance with a concerned look, placing a hand on your shoulder. “You okay?”

Your eyes focused on him. Your breathing steadied slightly, but your heart was still hammering.

“Mark, I don’t think I can do this.” Your voice was barely above a whisper as you felt your throat tighten.

Mark yanked two chairs out from under the table and took your hand. He guided you to sit down, not letting go of you or moving his gaze from your face for even a second.

“Hey, hey, Zero. There’s no need to panic,” his voice was soft as he moved his thumb up and down the back of your hand. “I’ve seen you with the gear, you’re a lot better than you think you are. Trust me, you’re ready for this!”

You wanted to believe him, but your mind was still clouded with doubt. You shook your head. Mark shuffled closer to you, taking your other hand. You would’ve appreciated the sweetness of the gesture were it not for your scrambled mind. What if you set off an alarm, alerted one of the guards, or worse, got one or both of you killed?

“Look, Shark wouldn’t have suggested it if she thought you weren’t ready,” Mark reasoned with you, still keeping his voice delicate. You could see the sincerity in his eyes, and the gentle concern knitted into his eyebrows at seeing you so distressed made your heart swell with more than anxiety.

“It’ll be a lot of fun, trust me. And I promise,” he took one of his hands back and placed it over his heart, “I will keep an eye out for you. I care about you.”

You felt blood rush to your face again, and you couldn’t stop the smile that broke out. Once he saw you were feeling a little calmer, he took his hands back, and stood up in front of you.

“So what d’ya say?” He held out a hand towards you. “Partners?”

You looked up at him, admiring the finer details of his face from this close distance. Maybe some more alone time with Mark would be nice.

With a surge of confidence, you stood up, took a deep breath, and placed your hand in Mark’s with a firm shake.

“Partners.”

Next chapter

#a heist with markiplier #ahwm #heist mark #heist mark x reader #heist! mark x reader #yancy x reader #ahwm yancy x reader #ahwm yancy #my writing #nevernotwriting

[nevernotwriting]

You, Me, and Yancy | Chapter 3: Night at the Museum

Read me on AO3!

Previous chapter

You and Mark spent the rest of the day planning your heist. You combed over every inch of the blueprints you created, right from the air vent entrance on the roof to the sewers underneath. Jasmine even took the liberty of fetching takeout for you just before she left, though you weren’t sure you’d be able to stomach it.

Before you knew it, it was 8:45PM; time to go. You and Mark agreed to make your own ways there and meet up inside the museum, leaving you to your own devices to get into the building. This panicked you at first, but Mark squeezed your hand reassuringly before departing.

You made it to the museum just after 9PM, hoping you didn’t look too suspicious riding the metro dressed in all black with a satchel full of clanging heist equipment. Not the most stylish way of arriving, you thought, but it was better than a security camera catching your car’s license plate.

You crouched outside the museum in the bushes, gently pushing aside the leaves and peeking forward. Right on schedule, a guard walked past the entrance, idly whistling a tune to himself as he went. With eyes trained on him like a hawk, you waited until he was out of sight before taking a confident leap out of the bushes and running towards the building with light footsteps.

You looked up, readying your grappling gun you’d already taken out of your bag. The vent was on the roof, many, many feet directly above you.

Your stomach lurched. You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath as you launched the hook. Before you could even talk yourself out of it, you were shooting through the air, stone and metal whizzing past your eyes as the breeze picked up and chilled your bones.

You made it onto the roof with a slight stumble, but you were unscathed. Your heart was hammering and your legs felt like jelly, but Jasmine was right; you’d never felt more alive. Maybe this was going to be fun.

Sure enough, the vent you needed was right in front of you. You took the cover off and crawled in, pausing for a moment to remember which way you needed to go.

Forward. Just straight forward. That’s right.

You shimmied onward, trying to stay quiet as you passed a few grates. At the end, you found the grate you needed. You pried it open, landing on your feet when you exited.

Not bad for a rookie, you thought to yourself.

You scoped out your surroundings. You were right where you were supposed to be, so you took a second to catch your breath. The only thing missing now was Mark, but he’d be here any minute now.

A distant Tarzan wail caught your attention. You turned to your left, only just managing to shield your eyes as Mark leapt through the roof and sent shards of glass flying everywhere. He stumbled the landing but barely flinched. You didn’t even have time to freak out about the noise he made before he launched into a speech.

“All right, you know the plan, right? Pfft, what am I saying, you practically wrote it!” He grinned at you. Your ears still twitched, listening for guards running to investigate the broken roof, but so far, nothing and no one had stirred. Either Mark was extremely lucky, or overconfident in his entrance.

The two of you ran things over one more time before he got ready to leap off once more, casting you an uncharacteristically dark look.

“Now, stick to the plan, and you’ll be just fine. But if you deviate from it for even a single moment, I won’t come back for you. Okay? Good luck!”

He shot you a devilish wink just before he grappled away, letting you know he was just messing with you. You appreciated the humour on your first heist, and you felt your nerves dissipate as you moved to the next phase of the plan. You could tell Mark was showing off for you at times, performing unnecessary cartwheels and somersaults to evade the guards. He grinned at you from behind his cover as you threw a baseball to distract a guard, and pointed friendly finger guns as he swung away yet again to get the key needed for the vault.

It took all your strength not to squeal in delight as you fed the guard dog the gigantic steak you’d packed in your bag. You snuck the keys from her jacket as she closed her mouth round the meat, a trail of drool following her as she happily walked away.

Okay, there was no denying it; this was a lot of fun. Sure, it was a little nerve-wracking at times, but nothing had gone wrong so far. Mark was keeping an eye out for you, just as he promised.

 The heist seemed disappointingly short by the time you and Mark finally reached the artefact, but neither of you could contain the excitement on your faces as Mark shoved the box into his bag. Glory would soon be yours. You imagined Mark picking you up and swinging you round in a tight hug after you got back to HQ, high on adrenaline and filled with shared excitement for your first successful heist. Maybe he’d sweep you off your feet right then and there, take you out for dinner early to celebrate, and end the evening with a magical-

Unfortunately, your imaginary bubble was soon popped. It couldn’t all be sunshine and rainbows. The room turned red with flashing lights, alarms blaring in your ears. A look of panic streaked across Mark’s face for a split second, making your stomach tie in knots again, but it was quickly replaced by a look of deviousness. He pulled out an antique gun and… a bomb? From his bag. He gestured to the manhole to his right, then to the door you had crept in through.

“Sewer would probably work, all quiet-like, but, y’know,” he wiggled the gun and the bomb in his hands, “I like a little action.”

You couldn’t resist the look on his face, and any rational thoughts were drowned out by the adrenaline still coursing through your veins.

“Let’s give ‘em hell.”

Mark let out a deep laugh from the depths of his throat. “I was hoping you’d say that. Fire in the hole!”

Before you had time to react, he launched the bomb towards the door, clouding your vision with bright flames followed by white smoke. Your ears were ringing from the noise and you nearly lost your balance, but Mark grabbed your hand and led the two of you through the plumes, both of your footsteps losing all traces of stealth as you ran together through the gunpowder exhibit. The guards soon caught up with you, sending a wave of bullets your way. The two of you dodged around wildly, picking up your pace as the exit came into view. You kept running, not looking back until the museum was out of sight. Mark held your hand until the very last second, letting go when the two of you made it onto a wide, grassy field with two convenient escape options; a helicopter, and a car.

You panted and whooped in delight. Going out guns blazing definitely hadn’t been a wise decision, but it would sure make for a good story back at HQ. Who else could say they escaped a room full of explosives on their first heist, all while being shot at?

Mark gave you the honour of choosing your escape route. Your mind was still a little scrambled from all the action, so you merely nodded towards the helicopter.

Mark sprinted towards it, eagerly motioning for you to follow as sirens sounded in the distance. However, as you came down from your adrenaline high, your lower side filled with a hot, searing pain.

Something was very wrong.

You stopped in your tracks, breath halting with dread. You looked down, unzipping your jacket. Your hand immediately dampened as you lifted your shirt, your eyes landing upon something you’d hoped wouldn’t be there.

Maybe you weren’t so lucky dodging those bullets after all. On your side was a small, round wound. Hot blood oozed out of it, sticking to your side and trailing down to your belt.

“Mark…” your mouth was dry as you croaked his name.

Mark whipped round to face you. All the previous excitement drained from his face as he took in your injury, eyes filling with horror.

“I think we might have another problem on our hands,” you quipped. You managed a weak smile before your vision blurred and your legs gave out. You hit the ground with a thud.

Mark dashed over to you, cradling your face in his hands. Your focus came and went in waves that matched the thuds emanating from your side, where your hand was still stuck in a desperate attempt to stem the bleeding. Mark’s eyes filled with tears as he tried to keep you awake.

“Oh, shit, no! Zero, come on, you gotta get up! We-we’ll get you back to HQ and get you patched up! You’ll be fine! Zero, please…”

His desperate plea was drowned out by the blaring of police sirens. The last thing you saw was Mark kneeling beside you, raising both hands above his head as the night sky filled with blue and red flashes.

Next chapter

#a heist with markiplier #ahwm #heist mark #heist mark x reader #heist! mark x reader #yancy x reader #ahwm yancy x reader #ahwm yancy #my writing #nevernotwriting