The Resistance || Money Heist

Proof of Life || .014

            The plan had worked. They were able to get the police to want proof of life. It was coming together just as the Professor expected. Sergio was an incredibly smart man. He was handsome and kind. Ava grew up close to him, but hadn't seen him in years, way long before she and Andres were sneaking off at a young age together. She always protected him alongside Andres. Sergio would get picked on and bullied and Ava or Andres would settle it. They'd take up for him instantly. Ava cared about him as if he was her brother, nothing more. She found him very much attractive, sure, but her eyes had always been on Andres and she was certain they would always be. At this point, they were waiting to hear back from the police. They sent the proof of life to the police, but hadn't heard anything directly from the Professor yet. They were buying time. The more time, the better. The longer they stayed in there the more money they'd make. Days were running by so slowly. She couldn't imagine staying even a week in this hell hole. Ava paced back in forth, her eyes running along the hostages. "Have you seen Berlin?" Ava asked as she stopped walking. She stood beside Helsinki with a gun in her hand. She hadn't saw him in a few hours. Rio was working on the hostage tapes so he wasn't dealing with that, and he Nairobi was dealing with the money. She was becoming obsessive and she was aware of that, but that also didn't clear her mind from wandering.
           "No." Helsinki answered her, glancing over at her for a moment. Ava found it hard to read Helsinki. He followed Berlin around most of the time, performing orders given to him from Berlin himself. Helsinki was loyal to the plan it seemed. He needed the money for not only him but his family as well. Ava nodded her head, a sigh leaving her lips.
          "I'll be right back." She left the room after she said this, searching in and out of Berlin's make shift offices, not finding him in most. She was just about the enter the last one when Phoenix spotted her.
           "Valencia!" He called out to her, walking over until he was in front of her. They were on good terms again, sure, but Ava's eyes were no longer set on him and it was becoming too obvious.
             "Yeah?" Ava asked, but her eyes kept wandering back to the office she assumed Berlin was in.
             "We have an hour." Phoenix said this confidently like he hadn't choked her just nights before. Ava finally looked at him, and she couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows. Of course he wanted sex. He was her partner for years and they were in the middle of a heist. It made sense that he would want something sexually, but Ava was already satisfied in that manner.
              "Oh," Ava couldn't help but giggle a little, and Phoenix's face fell. He was clearly disappointed by the laugh.
              "Oh?" He cocked an eyebrow.
              "I just am a little busy right now." Ava blurted out, her eyes going back to the door.
               "Berlin isn't in there. He's on the phone." Phoenix almost knew immediately who she was looking for. He didn't say it rudely. It came out calm and almost sad. "With the Professor. It seems that the police aren't happy with the tapes they were given. They're trying to figure something out." Phoenix filled her in. "But he's not in there which means we have an office to ourselves." He opened the door slowly and dramatically, turning to walk inside of it. Ava stared at him silently for a moment before she caved in and walked inside of the office. Phoenix shut the door. "Looks like he was just in here." Phoenix started snooping, his eyes wandering shelves and the table, hoping to find something incriminating. He needed something so bad on Berlin so that his woman wouldn't have the eyes for him anymore.
               "What are you doing?" Ava couldn't help but laugh again at Phoenix's actions.
                "I was hoping to at least get to kiss my fiancé." Phoenix said, stepping over to Ava. Ava was leaning against the wall, and her eyes widened just a little when he was in front of her. The last thing she wanted was to lead both of them on, but here she was in a difficult situation.
                "What makes you think you earned one?"
                "We almost have the tunnel completely open." When the tunnel opened they'd be able to start sending money through. The sooner they got it out, the sooner they'd be able to leave. Phoenix leaned in even closer to her, edging close to her lips. She eyed his lips for second before she gave in and gave him a small kiss. The guilt was eating at her. Guilt for not telling him about sleeping with Andres. The guilt for kissing Martin when Andres was wanting something more. Guilt was all the way around in full circles. It was just swallowing her whole. She was going to pull away, but he pushed himself against her, kissing her a bit rougher. His hand rushed down to her bum, pulling her body in close to his. She wanted to want this, but the feeling she had when she was kissing him wasn't the same she had when she kissed Andres. The door creaked open and Martin pulled off of Ava slowly. Ava's eyes snapped to the door to see Berlin in the doorway, staring at them with seemingly hurt eyes. Ava swallowed hard. It was like getting caught cheating on your husband.
               "I should get back to work." Phoenix said, completely content with himself and the situation. He leaned in close to kiss Ava's cheek and she stood there staring at Berlin. Berlin was staring at her, but he didn't speak at all. He didn't say even one word to Martin. He just eyed him hard when he walked out of the room.
               "Berlin-" Ava tried to speak but he cut her off.
               "Shh." He brought a hand up to signal that he didn't want to hear any of it. He didn't want an explanation of what happened because he didn't want to talk about it. He leaned down in the drawers, pulling out his medicine. It was sealed shut so it was hidden. "You should get back to watching the hostages. That was your job." He snapped at her, but didn't bother looking at her. Ava sighed, shifting on her feet.
            "I don't have to explain why I was kissing my fiancé." Ava couldn't help but try and make herself feel better about the situation. Berlin finally looked at her with brows furrowed.
            "Right," he started, "maybe you should just tell your fiancé that you've been fucking me?" Ava's head tilted in disbelief, but she knew she had that one coming. "Can you get out? I'm busy." His hand started to shake and he brought it up quickly to hold with his other free hand. Ava's brows furrowed. It wasn't the first time she noticed the tremors in his hand.
             "No." Ava snapped back at him. She walked close to him, her eyes glaring with anger. "You don't get to speak to me like I'm shit. We had sex. I didn't ask you to fucking marry me. If I remember correctly you actually said you didn't want anything more than sex, right? So don't act like this actually hurts you, and stay the hell out of my relationship." Ava left the office, not giving Berlin even a chance to speak on the matter anymore.

          Ava stood in front of the doors, her gun in her hands. The mask was covering her face, protecting her identity. The Professor was able to convince the inspector to enter the building, and that's exactly why they were opening the doors for. She eyed the Berlin as he started speaking when Raquel was in view. She was hoping he wouldn't pull any tricks and try anything that the Professor warned him not to do. She knew Berlin's temper was off the charts. She would have to keep him in check to make sure the plan went just like they wanted. Rio, Tokyo, and Berlin were all without masks because the police always knew their identity. Raquel was checked thoroughly, and then was hurried onto a chair nearby.
           "Can I grab you some coffee?" Ava asked Raquel, staring at her hard. It was a good thing that the mask hid her expressions.
          "I'll take a coffee." Raquel agreed, taking note that Ava was a woman. There seemed to be only three women in the group that she knew of so far. Ava nodded, walking to the closest office. She poured Raquel a cup of coffee, taking her time with it. The biggest thing of this heist was time. The longer they stayed in there the more money they made. This was already the biggest heist in history. She wanted it to be fucking huge. Ava handed the coffee over to Raquel when she walked back out, taking a seat directly beside of Berlin in the chair. Berlin's eyes went straight to Ava. He was still upset about earlier but wouldn't comment on it in front of Raquel or the others.
       "Tokyo and Rio," Berlin directed, "bring the first hostage." They were showing proof of life. One person at a time. She knew very well that this would drive the police office mad after she realized she waisted all of her time on seeing alive hostages. Berlin was having too much fun with this. He kept teasing Raquel over and over, and she seemed to have snarky replies. Phoenix walked into sight, and Berlin's eyes snapped straight at him in anger. He told him to stay working and he was distracted again. Berlin placed a hand on both Raquel and then Ava's thigh, causing both of them to look at him angrily. The mask was saving Ava's expressions at this point. "Excuse me ladies." Berlin said, standing up from the seat. Ava followed him as he walked straight over to Phoenix, anger in his eyes. Ava stood up before Berlin said anything to him.
         "Berlin," Ava snapped a bit too loudly and Berlin turned to look at Ava. Raquel was watching all of this a bit too closely. "Seriously, leave him alone. Phoenix, get back to work please." She snapped at both of them, done with dealing with jealously even though she knew very well that she caused it. She went to sit back down in the seat, but stood straight back up when she felt Berlin's hand on her arm a bit tight.
         "Go with him. I have this handled. Don't need you to distract me."
         "No." Ava huffed, pulling her arm out of his grip.
         "Valencia," Berlin glared at her. He knew no matter what he said that she would do what she wanted. She wasn't afraid of him like the others were. She was truly his weakness and she seemed to know that. "Go be with your fiancé." He said this purposely, wishing she'd still make the decision to stay there with him. She just kept her eyes on him and then shook her head.
          "I'm staying here." She took a seat again and looked over at Raquel, noticing her watching the two of them. "You're nosy, aren't you?"
          "Just observant." Raquel said, shrugging her shoulders. She looked towards Ava and then at the stairs as their first hostage started walking down.