Lily sucked in her cheeks as she glanced around the bank's marble-laid interior. She had tucked her bright hair into a navy handkerchief from Woolworth's, making sure to cover its copper color well. She didn't need anyone recognizing her here--especially since she knew many of the patrons there. She adjusted her sunglasses and kept her head low, watching Mrs. Pembroke chatting loudly with a grumpy teller about her recent trip to Paris. Mrs. Pembroke always went to Paris in the summers--she had fallen in love with the city when she was a nurse during the Great War, and she claimed that her affair with Ernest Hemmingway had inspired his novels. Only Mr. Pembroke had ever believed her. Lily cleared her throat and stood straighter, glancing about her surroundings, carefully taking in the positions of the guards and the people surrounding them. She smirked slightly once she saw everyone was in place--Duke lounged around the security guard at the entrance, reading a newspaper and keeping a trained eye on Lily for her signal, while Lovegun somehow managed to look inconspicuous in the shadow of a nearby potted plant. A glance out the front window revealed the faint outline of Claire in the black Cadillac, hunched over the steering wheel. As the line in front of Lily shortened, she stood up straighter, but continued to keep her face lowered. Stepping up to the teller, Lily's rouged lips stretched into a small smile as she slipped a key over.

"I need you to empty out the contents of box 5302, please."

The teller nodded and took the key, examining it for a second before pausing. Apologetically, he shook his head. "Miss, I'm afraid that this key doesn't belong to any of our boxes. I think you may have gotten it mixed up with a house key." He began to slide it back over, but the barrel of a pistol met his gaze. He swallowed, too frightened to look away. Lily chuckled slightly.

"Well, I'm afraid that my friends and I will have to convince you to open it for us, then." Lily purposefully, slowly bent her right leg at the knee, lifting it up in the signal for the others to move."Oh, and if you could throw in a few hundred thousand dollars, that would be wonderful, too."

Duke flipped to the next page of his day old paper. He hoped the guard next to him didn't notice. Lily stepped forward in the line, but not some old broad was babbling about something, and he wished she would just shut the hell up. Duke took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. He glanced around to see were the guards where. 1...2...3... wait were was the fourth guard. His heart started beating faster, and panic was setting in as he quickly searched for the fourth guard. Finally he spotted him coming out of the bathroom. Duke folded his paper in half, and wiped the sweat off his brow. Was it warm in here or just him. Duke picked up the paper again and watched Lily step up to the teller. Duke watched as fear slowly washed over the mans face as Lily gave the sign. Duke let the paper fall, stood up, and grabbed the guard next to him by the throat. He swung the man in front of himself, and used him as a shield.

"Everyone get on the fucking ground now. Guards slide your guns towards me, and dont try any of that funny business."

Duke moved his hand to the guards weapon, and kicked the back of his knees to get him on the ground. Duke surveyed the scene...

LoveGun smoothed one of the leaves between her thumbed and fingers. The waxiness of it's leaves led many to believe that the plant was fake, however, she knew better. She could tell by the smell and it's intense green color. LoveGun brought her face toward the large leaf and breathed in through her nose. She could tell by it's smell as well. It brought many feelings to her and a wonderful shiver surfed it's way up her spine. Mmm, outside. With the way things were going, neither LoveGun or the plant were getting enough time outside. She sighed, there was just so many things to do these days and after the death of Mr. Barkston, LoveGun just didn't have an excuse to go walk the pup or chase the pigeons. If this job kicked off well, she made a promise to the plan that she'd come back for it. Get it out of that pot and plant it in a nice park, where it's roots could grow free.

Speaking of job....LoveGun remembered where she was. She had been ignoring everything for at least the last ten minutes. Being completely engrossed in the plant she stood next to was very important for her. LoveGun surveyed the room, took a quick look at Duke who was reading? She didn't know he could read. Well, you learn something new every day, she told herself. Her vision slipped over to Lily. The woman's petite body looked even smaller as she leaned up against the large bank counter and spoke to the teller. LoveGun watched as her mouth moved, shaping to the numbers 5302.

"Miss, I'm afraid that this key doesn't belong to any of our boxes. I think you may have gotten it mixed up with a house key."

LoveGun hissed a laugh under her breath. The tellers voice was louder and carried itself through the open bank lobby. If only the guy knew, it was her office key. Then, it happened. A simple sign of Lily lifted her leg, something they had practiced back at the headquarters earlier that morning. LoveGun noticed Duke fall into action extremely quickly, dropping the newspaper even quicker. Ha, she knew he hadn't actually been reading it. LoveGun blew the plant a kiss, a promise she'd be back for it and stepped into the lobby, upholstering the shot gun behind her back. Lots of people, short range weapon. LoveGun smiled. She didn't enjoy killing most people, but if she needed to, she was prepared.

Lily ye be lettin' me know if they be given' ya any trouble over there.

LoveGun smiled at the teller and tossed her ratted blond hair over her shoulder as if this was a casual day at the park.

The smirk on Lily's face transformed into a full grin as she listened to the sounds of all the patrons and tellers dropping to the floor as Lovegun and Duke pulled out their weapons. She leaned in closer to the teller, smelling his potent perspiration as she motioned behind him with the gun. "Go ahead, sweetheart. Box 5302, remember. No funny business." He nodded slowly, backing away with his hands in the air. She watched him carefully as he retrieved the key from a drawer, but her eyes flickered constantly, suspiciously toward the other tellers and the few patrons that were huddled next to the counter. Mrs. Pembroke was sobbing softly. Lily swallowed and called over her shoulder to LoveGun.

"I don't think they'll give us any trouble, Miss LG. Still, no point in letting our guards down." She raised her voice, much more for the benefit of the terrified patrons than for her experienced boss. "If any of them tries something stupid like being brave, we start killing hostages."

From her place at the corner of the counter, Mrs. Pembroke could barely believe her ears. The woman robbing the bank sounded impossibly like...no, it couldn't be the same Lily. Lily Evans was far too nice a girl to resort to anything like this. Maybe some shameful waitressing jobs here and there, but never criminal. She watched the young woman carefully, trying to convince herself that this was not the same Lily that had grown up in the same school uniform as her own daughters.

The guards were all laying on the floor together and were whispering back and forth. Duke had to end this and end it quickly. He fired a round ouf of his colt 1911 and it embedded into the plaster ceiling. Duke walked over to the guards, and he seperated them all by dragging them far away from each other.

If you speak one more word im going to start filling you with some white hot lead.

Duke aimed his pistol and glared at the guard who appeared to be the supervisor.

Lily are we ready to get out of here?

Ciaran walked down the street towards the bank with an envelope stuffed with cash and bank slips from his hardware store. It had been well over a week since the last time he had made the trip but bills needed to be paid. A cigarette dangled limply from the corner of his mouth and it bounced as he walked along. As he approached the bank he noticed that there was a black Cadillac parked in front and a young lady sat, huddling over the steering wheel and glancing intently into the bank. His head snapped up as he heard a gunshot come from inside the bank and saw a young man wrestle two guards away from each other. He chuckled as the man turned around and he saw Duke glaring. His unshaven face and weary eyes were from a long night at the night club but it didn't seem to slow him down. Ciaran peered back at the car and hesitantly knocked on the window to get the girl's attention.

"Claire?"

LoveGun noticed some old lady giving Lily the eye. Curious to what was going on LoveGun approached the counter herself, Duke was good by himself taking care of the guards. When narrowed in on the counter, she hopped up on one of the open teller stations and took a seat. LoveGun leaned over to this lady and smiled, the gun rested in her lap.

Wha' d' ya be thinkin' ya be doin'?

She asked the lady while eyeing up her purse.

Ya don' just get t' be lookin' at one of me girls with no consequences, hand ov'r ya purse.

LoveGun out stretched her free hand. When the old lady didn't give it over right away she opened and closed her fist a few times impatiently. Still, the old bag wasn't budging. LoveGun moved the shotgun from her lap and tapped it on the counter. Finally, the purse was passed to her. She immediately snatched it up and started to rifle through it. There were a few dollar bills in it, photographs of what looked to be grandchildren and whatever else Grandma's kept in their purses. A mirror, some blush, a tissue? LoveGun was confused, where was the rum? She rolled her eyes and tossed the lady's purse to the ground. The woman dropped to her knees and started to shuffle around on the ground collecting the objects that had fallen out of the bag.

LoveGun looked over at Duke who was getting impatient with the guards. She hopped off the counter and walked across the lobby to the glass doors. The black car was still parked outside, but she knew better then think the cops would never show up. It was the middle of the day, someone would have been bound to walk past, wanting to make a withdrawal and quickly figured out what trouble was happening inside.

She gave Duke a pat on his left shoulder once, glared at the guards and returned to the counter next to Lily.

While Duke has th' guards und'r control let us be goin' t' see wha' be in this box.

LoveGun grinned to Lily.

'nd of course that few hundred thousand t' be fillin' the pillow case ya be havin' tucked away in yer purse. We would't be wantin' the teller t' be forgettin' 'bout tha' now would we?

Lily smiled and nodded to LoveGun, motioning toward the door that led behind the counters. She pulled it open, letting LoveGun in first before following behind her. Her eyes continued to sweep through the lobby, watching out for any unusual activity. She only saw a sea of frightened faces staying just where they were. Beautiful. Following her boss behind the counter, Lily pulled out the pillowcase and motioned to one of the other crouching tellers with her gun.

"Be a dear and fill this up with at least two hundred thou in cash." The teller sobbed, but reached out her hand to take the pillowcase. Lily smiled. "Good choice." The teller scurried away to the safe. Lily quickly followed LoveGun and the male teller to the safety deposit boxes. The man was opening the proper box and pulling out its contents. As he set them down on a table in front of the two, Lily broke into a wild grin. Beneath some carefully-laid jewelry, the corner of a small notebook peered out. She roughly grabbed the jewels and stuffed them in her purse, but handed LoveGun the notebook. "That's it, Miss LG. Should have all the right numbers in there."

Duke shuffled around the lobby making sure fearful faces remained that way. He would occasionaly point his weapon at anyone looking in his direction.

"Just a few more minutes and this will all be over with. No reason for any one to get brave and do something stupid."

Duke's stomach dropped when he heard the distant screech of sirens.

"Hey Boss! I hear sirens i think its time to leave!!!"

Duke walked to the front door, and opened it. He stuck his head outside to see if he could hear better. The sirens were getting louder. He ran back into the lobby to make sure everyone was still complying. He checked the guards 1, 2, 3... Duke saw something out of the corner of his eye which made him dodge. He moved his head just in time. He felt and heard the wind of an object missing his head. Sharp pains sparked up his shoulder and through his neck. Duke fell to the ground. He rolled to face his attacker, who was about to strike again. Duke reacted by pulling the trigger. He kept pulling the trigger even after the gun clicked empty. The forth guard fell to the floor dead. Blood instantly started to pool around his body. Duke got up to his feet. His left shoulder sagged from the weight of his useless arm. The pain was intense it pulsated with every heart beat. Duke dropped to a knee. He release the empty magazine, and tried to load a new one. He was unsuccesful. Duke holstered his 1911, and pulled the guards revolver. The sirens were getting louder.

"LoveGun, Lily LETS GO!!!

The distant scream of sirens pierced the air and Ciaran looked back towards the bank. Something must have gone wrong, a bank job never took this long even if there were heavy guards or brave "heroes" who tried to slow them down. Within the bank the sharp rapport of gunfire told him that he needed to act. He leapt over the hood of the car and ran to the doors pulling them open with one hand while he drew his browning 9mm with the other. Duke's eyes were wild with fright and pain but he held his shot when he saw it was only Ciaran. His arm hung limply as a deep crimson stain blossomed from the bullet hole in his shoulder. Ciaran ran over to him, jumping over the body of a fallen guard. He pointed his gun at the remaining patrons and reminded them to stay down.

"what the hell is going on?" He hissed through gritted teeth.

Duke was relieved when he saw the Ciarans face.

"Well one of these guards got brave, and hit me with something really hard. I think he broke my collar bone."

Duke pulled his shirt aside, which was stained red.

Jesus i was shot!

Duke sat on the ground and kept pointing his weapon at the patrons.

"See if you can find LoveGun and Lily. I haven't seen them in a bit and want to make sure they are okay. Tell them its time to go to plan B."

As Duke shouted back to Lily and LoveGun, the younger woman turned, her usually imperturable face scrunched into worry. The gunshots only deepened the lines on her face. Fuck. Fuck fuckfuckfuck. She rushed to the female teller, who had dropped to the ground once Duke fired his gun. Wrapped stacks of money skidded across the floor, spilling out of the bag that she had dropped. The teller cringed as Lily approached her, but quickly breathed a sigh of relief once Lily swept up the pillowcase and continued on, grabbing LoveGun's hand and pulling her toward the lobby. As she opened the door, she almost ran straight into an unexpected face--Ciaran.

"Ciaran? What's going on? Why are you here?" She tried to look around the man, slightly panicked, and gasped upon seeing Duke huddled, bloodstained, on the floor. "Jesus Christ! What happened? Are the cops here already?"

Ciaran twisted his head to look out the door and saw that the street was still clear but he knew time short.

"To tell the truth, I came here to make a deposit but then I saw Claire and heard the gunshots and thought that since I had already seen Duke in the bank that he might need help. I didn't know who else was involved but I thought I could help in some way."

He holstered his gun and walked behind Duke to help him up off the floor. He could see that Duke was pale and sweating and his breathing was coming in short pants to help him focus on something other than the pain. Duke stood with Ciaran holding him up by his armpits. He looked back at Lily to see what she wanted to do.