Trading in Your Own Name by Gale (R)

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

Fandom: Ocean's Eleven
Pairing: Linus Caldwell/Rusty Ryan
Author on LJ: iphignia939
Author Website: Get on Board
why this must be read:

Because this is a sharp, smart look at Linus -- his intelligence, his ability to fade into the background, his keen sense of observation -- and it provides him with a really cool history -- it's all done here and done well, along with a nice look at Rusty and an understanding of the things that bring them together.

an excerpt:

Linus has always had quick hands, even when he was a kid. The one time he got caught for shoplifting, he was eight years old, and that was just because his dad saw him do it. He made Linus take the stuff back, then took him home and told his mom, then took him into the living room and spanked him within an inch of his life.

Then, after dinner, he’d gone to Linus’s room and explained that he’d done it for a reason. “So you always remember what that felt like,” he’d said, looking stern but not upset, and the sense of doing something wrong that Linus had been carrying around all day had…not vanished, but lessened. "Jail’s nowhere near that fun, kid, and they don’t let you off with just a spanking. Just so you remember."

Then he’d stayed up with Linus until his mom came in to tell him it was time for bed, showing him the best way to palm stuff and little sleight-of-hand tricks. Nothing that pros wouldn’t see coming from a mile off, but then, most people weren’t pros.

Trading in Your Own Name by Gale

If you enjoy the story, please let the author know.

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