A/N: As promised, a little peek at my next AC fic.

"When We're Not Looking" takes place in the same version of the world as "A Sly Little Bird," but it's not a direct sequel. It starts about 200 years later in a Prohibition-era US. And while it doesn't pick up where I left off here, Mags's fate will be explained over the course of the new story.

And for those of you who aren't excited about OCs you can't see, I've borrowed an idea from some fellow writers and started a tumblr to post inspiration pictures. All the important characters will have faces there (wwnl dot tumblr).

This is just a snippet of the first chapter. Check my profile for the full story.

July 23, 1924

When they stepped off the street car at Broadway and 5th, they headed south towards the diner on Market Street.

"So, the plan…" Dutch started. Even though the plan was almost always the same, it had become habit to repeat it all out loud just before splitting up.

"You two meet our new friends, take their money, and give them the directions to the boat and the booze," Kate said, dropping her voice to sound more like the boy she was dressed as.

"And you," Peter nodded at her, "stay on the corner and keep an eye out for coppers."

"And," Dutch smirked at her, "stay away from the bell bottoms and flyboys."

Kate rolled her eyes. "You know I don't flirt on the job."

"And," Peter interrupted, "if all goes well…"

"Back to the streetcar," Kate recited.

"If anything goes wrong…" Dutch started.

"Split up and regroup at the theater," Peter answered. When no one else spoke, he added with a grin, "And if anyone is gonna get distracted by a pretty face, it's gonna be you, Dutch. It's always you."

Dutch sniffed, "Well, we can't all carry a torch for Sally Macauley."

Kate swallowed back a laugh at seeing the glare Peter shot at Dutch. Maybe it was time to stop teasing him about the girl. She shook her head.

Just before they reached the corner of 5th and Market, they split up. Kate nodded solemnly to Peter and Dutch and whispered, "Be careful." Both men nodded in return before jogging across the street. She settled into her spot under the streetlamp kitty-corner to the diner where Dutch and Peter were meeting their new customers and pulled the cigarette from behind her ear. She didn't actually smoke, but she always borrowed one from Dutch and lit it to give her something to do while keeping watch on the street corner.

Kate watched Peter and Dutch disappear into the diner. She sighed and leaned up against the lamppost, crossing one foot over the other and surveying the intersection. She spotted the two men they were meeting not two minutes later. Average height, dark suits, bowler hats. Compared to those two, Peter and Dutch were an intimidating pair. Dutch was easily six feet tall and built like a boxer. Peter, despite his baby face, was stocky and solid. She smiled to herself. Her boys would be just fine.

She continued scanning the intersection, making note of a couple of cars parked along the street, including a 4-door Ford like the one Peter had been talking about buying just the other day. There was also a small group of sailors ambling towards the harbor. Nothing out of the ordinary. She flicked some ash from her cigarette. And stiffened when she noticed another figure across the street from her. She hadn't seen him there when she first settled into her spot. She cocked her head to one side and watched him for a minute. Like her, he seemed to be waiting for something, leaning against the wall. It wouldn't be all that unusual in this part of town, but he was wearing a strange coat with a hood. Not exactly the height of fashion these days.

Kate glanced back at the diner, looking for signs of her friends wrapping up their conversation. Seeing nothing, she turned back to the strange man only to find him watching her. She couldn't see his face under the hood, but she could feel him looking at her. She frowned and stubbed out her cigarette on the bottom of her boot, stepping back from the lamppost and into the shadow of the building. He didn't budge.

"Come on, boys," she muttered under her breath. "I got a creep out here with me."