<em>Remain calm. She is a professional. As are you.</em>If Alan's mantras were ever uttered out loud, they stood a good chance of losing him a measure of his cultivated respect. He had worked long and hard on his stony-faced exterior, though, when the occasion called for it. As it did now. If extended conversation was difficult, then much could be still accomplished through simple actions and phrases. At least, it had worked in the past.<br/><br/>He nodded slowly to the thief as she entered. Laurell Bennett at least to first appearances lived up to her reputation. A standout beauty, a quality seemingly endemic to his chosen profession. It was hard to fault the advantage provided by having a sexually attractive woman as part of your grift. Some men--other men--were very easily swayed by such things, abandoning their better judgment. Which was quite often the desired result. She wasn't merely a pretty face, though. He'd done some research since Aden had made the suggestion, and all of it was complimentary.<br/><br/>Alan gestured toward the empty seat opposite his, then rose to coax another cup of espresso from the machine. At the least, it bought him a few minutes. His lightning brain operated as quickly as ever in the presence of women. It was merely all of the parts hooked up to it that had occasional... difficulties.<br/><br/>He returned to the table, setting the cup on a small saucer in front of her, then regaining his seat. "I'm Alan Blackwood. Do I need to use the ten minutes all at once now, or can I save pieces of it for later? I have a feeling I might need them later. I'm aware of most of Aden's skills, and some of yours. Why don't you fill me in on the rest?"<br/><br/>Mercifully, the conversation did not have very much time in which to grow more awkward before it was interrupted by a familiar face. Reese. Also quite an attractive woman, but one which, like Ashe, had been filed in a separate folder in Alan's brain. He had never been happier to see her trademark smirk. Well, except for that one time in Geneva.<br/><br/>It took a fraction of a second for Alan to realize that, once again, he was the least well dressed person in the room by a wide margin.<br/><br/>"Reese," he called. "Let me introduce you to Laurell Bennett, our thief. Laurell, Reese Clancy will be the fixer on this job. Reese, there are the rudiments of a communications network in those boxes. Laurell, the pair of servers in the closet there will anchor us, unless Kat has decided to fry them on a whim." The trick, Alan thought, was to get them talking to each other.