Ellie bit her lip, trying to banish the dark thoughts still lingering in the corners of her mind. "I-I th-think I get i-it..." she murmured. Taking a deep breath, she let a layer of calm filter over her, sealing all the thoughts except for the mission out of her mind. "A-alright."
She tapped her earpiece. "W-wise Owl ch-checking in. I-i'm g-g-going i-in t-to e-engage th-the guards. T-t-tell F-Fox to st-stand b-by. D-do not respond, I r-repeat, d-do not r-respond. G-going d-d-dark." She winced at her stutter, but there wasn't much she could do about it. [s]She'd stuttered as a little girl and had picked up the habit again when she'd been stuck--[/s]
[i]Don't even think about it, Ellie, not now, anyway, not when you need to focus.[/i]

The slight girl sighed. "Here w-we g-go..." she allowed an expression of panic to show on her face and then, before she could lose nerve, jogged out from behind the building, into the line of sight of the guards. Instantly their weapons were trained on her, and she raised her arms up over her head and slowed to a walk. "D-d-don't sh-shoot!" She shouted it as loud as she could, which really wasn't all that loud.

She wasn't sure if they understood or not, but given that her head wasn't blown to pieces, she thought they did. Or maybe they realized that she looked like a child, even from fifty yards away.
"H-help, p-p-please... s-s-someone r-r-robbed u-us!" she spoke loudly as she approached, fear making her stutter more pronounced and her breathing rapid and panicky, good for the illusion but not so good for her own mental state.

The guards looked at her, and nervously she kept babbling about how their delivery van had been stolen along with all the goods, and how she didn't know where they were taking it, nor even what goods had been stolen. She wished Patch would hurry up and come out from around the corner as well, because her story seemed weak without the other delivery partner there to back up her statement. She finished her babbling with the line, "we don't have a vehicle to chase them down with but maybe you could..." she let it trail off as she looked pointedly at the armored Jeep and then looked at the guards with a tearful, hopeful smile. "I d-don't know w-what was i-in that c-cargo b-b-but i-it must h-have b-been i-important to b-be st-stolen fr-from us b-by those p-people... th-they s-seemed l-l-like pr-professionals. I-I'd lose my job i-if m-my boss e-ever heard about m-m-me sc-screwing up th-this b-badly..." she looked up at one of the guards, the one who seemed to be the leader batting her eyelashes a bit. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder as if to console her. She forced herself to hold still and not flinch as the guard's grimy hand touched her.
[color=ed1c24]"Is gon' be a-right. Don' you worry yer pretty li'l head, we' gon' sort this out an' yer not gon' lose yer job."[/color]

God, was it really going to be this easy? "Th-thank you, s-sir." she gave him a tearful smile. "I... I c-can st-stay and watch th-the building, wh-while y-you g-go f-find the c-cargo. S-so that y-you won't be u-understaffed."
One of the other guards hesitated, but the one she'd flirted with punched him. [color=ed1c24]"Give th' girl yer gun an' then t' two of us wi' go track down her van."[/color]
[color=0072bc]"But what if it's a trick?"[/color] the hesitating one asked.
The one she'd flirted with rolled his eyes. [color=ed1c24]"For one thing, you two"[/color] he jerked a thumb at the two silent guards [color=ed1c24] "Will be staying here to make sure that nothing funny happens. And... Little girl, this isn't a trick, is it? I'm sure you wouldn't lead me on like that. You know that if you were, I'd have to kill you in a really painful way."[/color]
"N-n-no s-sir, i-it's n-not a t-trick."

The one rolled his eyes and threw his gun to her a little harder than necessary, sending Ellie staggering. She quickly slung it over her shoulder and adjusted the strap to the right length and stood with the rifle across her chest at rest. "Th-thank you b-both so, so m-much. Y-you've s-saved m-my job." She smiled slightly and made herself blush a little bit as the guard gave her an attempt at a seductive half-smile, before he and the skeptical one hopped into the jeep and drove away in a cloud of dust.
She turned to the two remaining guards. "D-do you mind if I t-take first watch a-at the doors? I-I d-d-did j-just run here from like eight miles away and I d-don't think my l-legs w-will hold me m-much longer." Her knees were wobbling, but from fear, not exhaustion. Still, she'd use it to her advantage.

They shrugged and went out to patrol; as soon as both were around the side of the building she tapped her earset and whispered, "Owl reporting. Two guards successfully subverted, others put at ease. Patch, Fox, it's your go. should I incapacitate or allow them to remain conscious?" Her hand went to her (well, technically Birdseed's) purse and the dart gun tucked inside it.