The Thief and the Globetrotter

Chapter Twelve: The Admission

He had. It felt like years since it happened, but the bruises hadn't even faded yet. Baz nodded.

Diego turned back to the stove, silent and distracted as he tossed seasoning into the pan.

"You didn't kidnap anybody, did you?" Diego asked.

"No! I don't know if anyone did, but there's supposedly a ransom demand and I think I need to go figure out who's demanding it," Baz said. "Can I crash here while I try to lay low?"

"You kind of already invited yourself in, didn't you?" Diego replied.

A silence fell in the kitchen, processing replacing conversation. Baz had a whole bike ride to think about what he was asking. It was too risky to stay somewhere as predictable as home. Who knew enough about Baz to consider Diego's place?

"Another thing, do you think you could swing by my apartment and feed Cali? Just, keep an eye on the place?" Baz asked, as if he wasn't already asking too much. Asking too much of Diego was a common thread.

It seemed very much like Diego was ignoring him, continuing on like he wasn't there at all. Baz watched him go through the motions. Diego had always been hard to read. It was easier to gauge his mood based off the pressure of his massage therapy than by looking at his face.

"When you lent me that money to pay off my loans..." Diego began.

"Gave. I don't need a dime back," Baz said, "and yeah... I was paid to take a re-creation of the Nebra sky disk from this guy's collection. To be honest, it was kind of useless as a collector's item anyway since anyone who knows anything about the Nebra sky disk knows there's only one and it's on permanent display in Germany... if that's what you were asking."

Sitting still was difficult. Baz resisted the urge to pace through Diego's apartment just for the sake of moving. He tugged at the ring around his neck.

"That just means I owe you something that isn't money," Diego said.

Diego didn't entirely grasp what he'd given Baz. In the slump of withdrawal and the listlessness of losing school and his career as a gymnast, Diego stood between Baz and relapse too many times to count. Diego didn't accept excuses when Baz wanted nothing more than to lay in bed for days at a time. Diego kept dragging him out of his misery until life wasn't quite so miserable. There was no dollar value on that.

"No. It means you re-assembled me back into a human being and it was the least I could do," Baz replied. "I live in a warehouse, ride a bike, and don't know I'm supposed to wear black socks with a suit. What do I need that kind of money for anyway?"

The last week had been very eye-opening. Wealth wasn't without its problems. Money wanted company. It couldn't be satisfied. It bought big houses to fill with things. It threw parties where other people with money came and judged all the things money bought. Paintings and pottery and bottles of wine. Gwen and Rei both seemed so alone.

Their trust funds and inheritances didn't save them from that.

"Then why do it?" Diego asked.

Blackmail was the short answer. The very first time it sounded so straightforward, an obvious choice. In retrospect, Jasper had offered him a shovel, asked if he'd dig a hole, and Baz only realized too late that it was his own grave. The evidence against him just piled up. How many houses had he crept through?

"Because I haven't figured out how to get out of it yet," Baz said, "but I'm working on it. Right after I sort this kidnapping mess out."

It wasn't a very satisfying answer, but Diego didn't press further. He took his frying pan off the burner and plated the stir fry. He slid a plate across the counter to Baz.

"'Cause you're a PI, too?" Diego asked. He leaned against the counter, cradling his own plate.

"Nope. I am invisible and all I'm going to do is follow Cheng Collingwood when he goes to pay the ransom." It would be easy. It would solve all his problems.

Baz really hoped it would solve all his problems.

"When?" Diego asked.

"Well, tonight, I guess. I don't know when he's supposed to make the exchange or anything. The best I can do is tail him to it," Baz shrugged.

Okay, it wasn't a rock-solid plan. Baz chose to ignore the tiny details in the hopes that he could improvise his way through them. If he got hung up on how he was going to pull it off, the impossibility of it all would creep up on him. Hadn't he outrun guard dogs and parkoured his way onto second-story balconies? How hard could it be to stalk the face of a security company who was already likely on edge because he was supposed to be meeting his sister's possible kidnapper?

How hard?

"How can I help?" Diego asked.

"You're going to feed my cat, remember?" Baz said, "and hopefully notice if I mysteriously go missing."

Like most of the answers Baz supplied, Diego didn't look particularly satisfied by that one. Maybe Baz shouldn't have mentioned any chance of disappearing.

Baz dutifully washed the dishes afterward, if just to prove that he was more than a useless houseguest. There was something so painfully normal and mundane about washing the dishes right before he planned to head out and follow Cheng Collingwood. Mild-mannered Baz Barret by day, benign stalker by night.

Diego's attempt at apathy faded the more Baz milled around, organizing what he needed for his mission. For every black article of clothing Baz pulled out of his bag, the deeper Diego's brow furrowed.

Baz changed to layer it all on, emerging in head-to-toe black.

"Why don't you just get a catsuit?" Diego's jab didn't faze Baz. He also didn't believe the cavalier attitude for a second. Diego's raised eyebrows were too impressed, or shocked, to not take Baz at least a little seriously.

"Ha ha. Very funny," Baz took the mocking lightly. "Pleather's too constricting or I'd consider it."

Diego's face turned serious and it made Baz's stomach churn a little. He preferred his friend poking fun at him. It helped Baz believe the lie of normalcy.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Diego said. "I kinda got used to having your punk ass around."

Baz forced a smile, trying to be cocky. "What's the worst that can happen?"

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A/N: Okay, this might be one of my favorite exchanges between Baz and Diego. How do you feel about their bromance?