m a k i n g . t h e . g r a b

Making the Grab
[by victoria p.]

Rating: PG

Summary: Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly. ~MFK Fisher

Notes: Thanks to Mousapelli for looking it over. Written for the Snackfood Is Love challenge. My snackfood was French fries. It ended up being more about Linus than Danny and Rusty. I don't know how that happened.

Date: October 25, 2005

The first thing Linus really notices about Rusty is that he's always eating. You might think it'd be his looks, because Rusty looks like some kind of Hollywood superstar with his blond hair and blue eyes and chiseled jaw, but you'd have to be blind not to notice Rusty's looks, so Linus doesn't think that counts.

He doesn't know how Rusty stays slim and handsome eating all that crap -- nachos and Junior Mints and those little ice cream cups you get from the freezer case at the corner bodega -- but he finds himself mesmerized sometimes, watching long fingers approach sculpted lips in an easy, unhurried rhythm. At first, Linus thinks this is possibly the worst thing a thief could ever do -- make his hands so noticeable -- but then he realizes that it's not Rusty's hands he watches, and Rusty knows that. Grins at him when he finally realizes it, and Linus feels foolish, out of his depth, again, and squirms uncomfortably.

Linus spends his mornings helping to build the mock vault, and he watches everyone else carefully, because that's how you learn, and Linus is eager to learn, to stop being the new guy as quickly as he can. They all defer to Danny and Danny appears to defer to Saul, but doesn't really. Saul knows he's being conned and lets it happen, or maybe he really does believe it. Linus isn't sure, and he doesn't think it'd be wise to ask.

They all sit around sometimes, waiting, because a lot of being on the job is waiting. Both his dad and his mom have told him that, and he sees it now. Danny is especially good at waiting, hands in his pockets or tracing over blueprints, eyes all faraway, seeing things none of the rest of them -- not even Rusty -- can see. Linus thinks he must have learned how to wait, gotten good at it even, in prison -- nothing else to do there, after all -- because Danny is always learning things, always watching and thinking. You can see it on his face, even when his expression is blank.

The others chatter and snark, gossiping about each other, about Benedict, about guests in the hotel. Turk Malloy is especially fond of salacious rumors about various people's sexuality -- according to him, Ben Affleck is screwing Matt Damon and everyone in Hollywood is gay and sleeping with their co-stars. He says Rusty used to be involved with Topher Grace, but Linus doesn't believe it. He thinks Rusty could do way better than the dorky kid from That '70s Show. Linus has begun tuning Turk out whenever he sits down and starts talking excitedly in that quick, low voice he thinks passes for a whisper.

Some days, Rusty goes out and brings back McDonald's because the hotel's French fries are always soggy and cold by the time they're delivered. Danny occasionally steals Rusty's fries, not at all subtle about it, and Rusty ostentatiously pretends not to notice.

There's something kind of comforting about how well they know each other, Linus thinks. It's almost like watching his parents.

"Please don't touch my food," Rusty says pleasantly to Basher, who is reaching for a French fry off Rusty's plate. Rusty's wearing a grin, a false curve of lips that doesn't reach his eyes, and in response, Basher's face curls into a disbelieving grimace; he walks away, muttering.

Turk drops down onto the sofa next to Linus and cackles gleefully. "Did you see that?" he says to Linus in his not-a-whisper whisper. "Dissed and dismissed, even though they used to screw. Not when Danny's around, though."

Linus gets up and walks away, though he's sure now Turk thinks he's a homophobe or something, but he's not. He doesn't really care what Rusty does, or with whom, but it seems unprofessional to do it on a job, and doubly so for Turk to talk about it.

He's willing to bet Danny would agree.

Linus rushes back up to the suite to get his wallet, which he's forgotten. Or which Danny lifted from him. Either is possible, and at the moment, equally exasperating. He slips into the room and spots his wallet on the coffee table.

Right next to where Danny and Rusty are on the couch, making out like teenagers.

Linus has enough presence of mind to slip back out into the hallway without letting the door slam, but he's willing to bet the entire contents of his wallet that they know he saw them.

It isn't until Rusty returns his wallet with a smug grin that Linus realizes they wanted him to see.

Linus doesn't know where Tess fits into the equation, but when Rusty discovers her presence, things get very tense. Linus doesn't feel quite right shadowing Danny -- Danny's the one who brought him onto the job, gave him a chance, and this feels like a betrayal -- but after Danny leaves him alone in the van with the twins, Linus finds his loyalty has a limit.

He speaks up when Livingston tells them Danny got flagged, and though his heart his pounding and his palms are sweaty, when they ask him, he says he'll do it, he'll blow the vault.

He is surprised, and annoyed, when it turns out they were conning him, too.

When it's all sorted out in the end, Danny is with Tess and Rusty is off to buy a hotel, his French fries safe from Danny's wandering fingers, for a while at least.

They do it all again in Amsterdam, and when they put him in charge in Rome (with Basher overseeing, but still, he's the one who gets to make the grab, and he's the one who calls Tess), he knows they're finally taking him seriously, even if he did get taken in by Matsui's Lost in Translation.

When they meet again, in the back room of a casino in Monte Carlo a month later, Tess is there, looking less wan and pinched than before, but wary as always. Linus wonders if Danny really doesn't see it, or if he just doesn't want to see it.

Rusty shows up with Isabel, and everybody laughs, the slight shiver of hanging out with a former cop giving the night an air of danger it wouldn't otherwise have. There is food and alcohol and poker, and Linus thinks he may have drunk too much, because his body feels like it may just dissolve into the chair he's sitting in, and nobody would notice. He leans his elbow on the table and his head in his hand, toying with the small pile of chips in front of him.

"Fold," he says when it's his turn -- pair of sixes isn't going to win in this game and the unspoken rule is you can only cheat on your own deal, and the hearts are starting to swim anyway.

He looks up from swirling the ice around in the bottom of his glass -- must get a refill -- to see Isabel reaching for Rusty's plate. Rusty seems nonchalant about it, but he nudges the plate away, clearly not willing to share. He and Danny exchange a glance, and a few minutes later, Danny's eating Rusty's fries, not even bothering to hide it.

Linus wonders when Isabel will notice, and whether Rusty cares.

end

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