AU. When Flynn Rider jumps through a palace window, he expects to find valuable items worth robbing, not a girl with seventy feet of hair. But when Rapunzel strikes up a deal with Flynn, he realizes that he may have just stumbled upon an opportunity that's too good to refuse. Soon Flynn finds himself sneaking into the princess's bedroom on a daily basis.

It was a plot bunny, what can I say? Based heavily off of the "darker" Rapunzel concept art from 2008.

My first fanfiction. I hope you enjoy.

*~o~*~o~*

Chapter 1

*~Sunday~*

The thing about Flynn Rider is that he's familiar with nerves. That giddy feeling that seems to turn around his stomach, moisten his brow with sweat, make his hands tremble. The anticipation is almost unbearable. But the result is always exquisite. The victory, the pride, the bragging rights...

The fourtune.

It's with dollar signs in his eyes that Flynn looks out over the view of Corona. The sun is just beginning to rise, bathing the horizon in buttery golds and casting beams of light over the tips of trees in the woodlands. The village was always a sight to behold, but nothing compared to the view from the rooftops of the palace.

"Enough sightseeing," a voice grumbles behind him. "We're on a job here, Rider."

Right. The money. He needs the money. He turns back to his view, this time with the utmost professionalism as he examines the lay out of the castle and prepares his next move. The jump from the ledge to the next balcony is only six feet or so; he can make it if he positions his heel just so.

For a quick moment the wind is rushing through his hair, and then his boots are landing silently against the next roof. He turns around and smirks at his partners, pleased with his acrobatics. "Not bad, huh?" He stretches out a hand and pretends to measure the distance he'd just jumped with a thumb and pointer finger.

The brother with the eyepatch―the one Flynn likes better because he hardly ever talks―rolls his one revealed eye. The other ignores Flynn completely, taking two steps back in preparation to jump.

Two loud thumps shake the roof as the Stabbingtons forcefully land beside Flynn. Then they turn to him, ready for further instruction. "Well?" one asks.

Flynn waves a hand toward the palace tower, only a few yards away now. "That's it. The window's always open. And as far as I can tell, no one ever goes in there."

"Sounds kinda fishy," Stabbington says, narrowing his eyes. "You're not thinking of setting us up, are you, Rider?" One of his hands curl into a meaty fist.

Flynn raises both of his hands in surrender. "Oh come on, guys, after all we've been through together, are you saying you don't trust me?"

The two glares he receives are answer enough.

Flynn quickly changes topics. "This is gonna be a piece of cake. You know what to do. Just make a diversion; get the guards to follow you into the woods."

"And how do we know you're gonna follow through and split the booty?"

"Because I'm a man of my word?" Flynn grins debonairly.

The brothers stand tall, reminding him of their physical advantage. One of the Stabbingtons alone is twice his size, and he best not annoy them. "How about," one brother says, "if you don't follow through, we're going to track you down and make sure we get our money's worth in your skin and bones?"

Flynn tries to shake the threat off as no big deal. After all, it isn't a normal day in the life of Flynn Rider unless someone is threatening to skin him alive. "Agreed. Now get going. You remember the signal?"

But the Stabbingtons are already sliding down the end of the roof. They hop onto the top of a high stone wall, then climb down, disappearing from Flynn's sight.

He waits until he can hear the familiar sounds of hooves stomping in the dirt. The guards have caught sight of the brothers quickly enough, and a chase is sure to follow. Which means the palace will be without most of it's security for at least an hour.

Flynn creeps across the roof until he can see the window, open as usual. It's a little high, which means he'll have to hoist himself up and throw himself over the sill. He grabs onto the trim and pulls himself up, preparing to make a leap for it.

He pushes off of his feet and throws he body through the opening, perhaps with a bit too much force because he crashes onto the floor of the room in a heap. "Shit!"

He brushes himself off and gets onto his feet. He'll have to be quick about this; the guards will only leave the palace undefended for so long.

He takes a step forward when suddenly he sees something gleaming silver in the corner of his eye. He barely has time to duck before a jewelry box is smashing against the wall behind his head. "What the hell?" he gasps, covering his head with his hands and looking around wildly.

The room is bigger than he expected. He raises his eyebrows in confusion. It's like a little home, with a table to eat at and bed in the opposite corner of the room. But what really takes him by surprise is the paintings. All over the walls there are paintings in various pastel colors. Paintings of animals and flowers and all sorts of things. He follows the art up to the top of the wall. The ceiling has been graffitied too. There are stars, suns, moons, clouds... an entire solar system above his head.

Without warning, a plate soars through the air and crashes against the floor in front of his feet.

Flynn jumps back, his eyes scanning the room hurriedly. "Hello?" Obviously, he's not alone. It must be a maid or something, some girl who's scared out of her wits. He can handle that. He's charmed his way out of similar situations before.

But he's not prepared for the sudden thump against his skull. Perhaps it's the concussion, but as Flynn finds himself crumbled against the floor for the second time, he realizes that something life changing is about to happen, and his whole world is about to be turned upside down...

But he doubts he'll remember thinking any of this when he wakes up.

*~o~*~o~*

We are in for quite a wild ride.

Hmm... what kind of deal will Rapunzel make? Let me know what you think.

Concept art that inspired this chapter on my profile if you care to see.

Thank you for reading!