This is what Xana's Lair does to me. I was talking to SeemeintheShadows and we ended up on the topic of bank robbery. This idea ensued. I based the plot a lot off of an episode of White Collar because great writers steal and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. My first Crime story, so please let me know what you think!
Dedicated to SeemeintheShadows, for general awesomness and for making me have ideas and such.
Xanadu was what they called themselves, the name taken from the city of old. The poem depicting the ancient city was an old one too, written long ago by a writer who Jeremy described as "of romanticism." Ulrich wasn't sure what that meant—the poem had never seemed very romantic to him—but the man's work had become the mantra of their group, a lyrical sound-off as they executed their heists.
"In Xanadu, did Kubla Khan, A stately pleasure-dome decree," Jeremy recited as he typed away from the back seat of a car that could have easily belonged to one of the many bigwigs moving in and out of the bank in front of them. On his laptop screen he could see multiple images of the the building, all feeds from the bank's own security cameras.
"Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea," Aelita responded, and a moment later her face appeared on Jeremy's screen. "It's dark in here," she added pointedly.
"I know, but you've practiced for this," Jeremy said, smiling at the girl.
"Yeah, yeah," Aelita said. She was lying on her stomach, wedged into the crawl space between rooftop and ceiling usually reserved for maintenance workers and rats. Her eyes scanned the area, looking for the ventilation shaft whose location she'd studied on the bank blueprints.
"Any luck?" Jeremy asked. Aelita shook her head.
"Not yet, but I'm sure it's around here somewhere. Theo's blueprints haven't let us down yet."
"Yet," Jeremy repeated. The pink haired girl hid a smile.
"Don't worry Jeremy," she said, and as she spoke her gaze landed on the slotted expanse of metal and her smile grew. "Found it." Army-crawling through the dust, Aelita reached the opening to the vents easily enough, scanning it quickly before pulling a small screwdriver from the tool belt at her waist. She made quick work of the latches holding the vent in place.
"How's it looking?" Jeremy asked, tone tense.
"Easy," Aelita whispered, winking. "Initiating radio silence."
Taking a deep breath, Aelita executed a neat swivel and roll, repositioning so her feet her hanging through the now open vent. Sliding forward, she poured gracefully out of the opening, pooling in a neat crouch in the maintenance hallway below.
Green eyes scanned the room quickly, locking onto a small grouping of vacuum tubes a dozen feet to her left. Soundlessly Aelita moved to them. After glancing around once, to verify she was alone, she pulled a length of wire from her belt and, with a quick sawing motion, sliced one of the tubes in half.
The two pieces hung loose in their fixtures, a light airflow pouring from the break. Aelita tucked away her wire and pulled something from the pouch at her hip—a standard issue bank tube, specifically designed for the tube system Aelita was infiltrating. She eyed the papers tucked inside it briefly and then tossed it down the open tube.
Quickly she pushed the plastic tubing pieces back together, securing them with a strip of clear tape from her belt, and then she was back at the open vent and pulling herself into the crawlspace once more.
"Package is sent," she said, once the vent cover had been re-secured.
"Copy," Jeremy said, switching his camera views from Aelita and the maintenance hallway to the bank's elegantly decorated lobby. Zooming in on the front desk, Jeremy grinned when the bank tube popped up in the secretary's receptacle. "Package has arrived," he announced. "How are things looking on the street, Odd?"
"So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round," quoted Odd, from where he sat in the car's front seat as he looked up at the bank's high, ornate walls. His neatly groomed driver's outfit combined with his impossibly bored expression would have had anyone in the bank who saw him assuming he was nothing more than a rich man's driver awaiting his boss's return from bank business.
Which is exactly what Odd wanted them to think.
"All clear," Odd said, glancing at the car's side mirror. "Ulrich, you're up."
"And here were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree," Ulrich recited, walking into view a moment later. He merged into the busy bustle of the sidewalk easily with his tailored suit and leather briefcase. He marched towards the bank with purpose but not haste, allowing himself a smug kind of smirk as he looked up at the building before slipping inside.
"They won't know what hit them," Odd said, reading the meaning in Ulrich's smirk easily. In the back Jeremy nodded, although he looked tense. Odd, noticing the look, laughed. "And that expression," he said, "is the reason you're our behind the scenes guy. You'd give us away in a heartbeat with that look."
"It's a good think looking solemn isn't my job then," Jeremy agreed.
"I'm in," Ulrich whispered, distracting them both.
"How's it look?" Jeremy asked. Ulrich looked around the bank, taking in the ornate wall decorations, the beautiful tellers hidden behind sheets of bulletproof glass, the marble floors, and the single security guard by the door.
"Looks easy," Ulrich said.
"Don't get too cocky," Jeremy said, although Ulrich could hear the pleasure in the boy's voice. "Don't forget about the plain clothes guards at teller booths three and seven. And the one behind the secretary's desk."
"And this is why we keep you," Odd said fondly.
"Thanks Einstein," Ulrich said.
"Good luck."
Ulrich squared his shoulders, shifting his expression into one of friendly and fresh-faced excitement as he approached the bank's front desk.
"Hello," the secretary said, smiling up at him. She was cute, obviously a few years Ulrich's younger, with a smattering of freckles across her nose and short read hair pulled into pigtails. Her name tag read 'Milly.' "How can I help you today?"
"Hi, my name's Jean-Pierre Delmas," Ulrich said, using one of his favorite aliases, "I was recently hired and I'm here for my first day of training."
He watched Milly's expression go from friendly and welcoming to instantly suspicious.
"I don't believe we have any new employees scheduled to start today," she said politely. Behind her the man reading a newspaper shifting in his seat, his head tilting to listen in on the pair's conversation. One of Jeremy's plain clothes security guards, Ulrich assumed. Not that he was worried.
"Are you sure?" he asked, his expression slipping into one of uncertainty. "They told me I'd be able to pick up my welcome packet at the front desk."
Milly continued to look uncertain, but she turned to the bank of vacuum tube receptacles behind her desk. Surprise colored her features when she noticed a tube of paperwork waiting patiently for her. Glancing back at Ulrich, she picked up the tube and popped it open, riffling through the contents. Finding the ID badge inside she lifted it, examining the picture on it against the young man standing at her desk.
Ulrich smiled, all charm and handsome good looks.
"Sorry about the confusion," Milly said, smiling in return as she handed Ulrich the ID badge and welcome paperwork.
Good job, Odd, Ulrich thought, knowing Jeremy was likely giving their resident forger the same praise.
"Right this way, Mr. Delmas," Milly said, smiling brightly as she moved towards the door keeping the lobby separate from the actual bank floor. She motioned to a small card reader set into the side of the door and Ulrich, after showing her his new ID card for verification, slid it through. The card reader beeped red, just like Ulrich knew it would. Odd's forgeries could only be so good, after all.
"Am I fired already?" Ulrich asked playfully, easily assuming a lightly concerned expression.
"First day glitches," Milly assured him, smiling brightly as she used her own card, clipped to her waist pocket, to let him through.
"Thank you," Ulrich said, turning on the charm as he smiled. He could see the way Milly's eyes widened, the slight blush in her cheeks as she took in the flattery, and Ulrich pushed his opportunity. "Oh, you have a little something…" he trailed off as he leaned in, reaching up with one hand to brush imaginary lint from Milly's shoulder. Her cheeks darkened as she stuttered out a thank you and Ulrich smiled wider.
She never noticed his free hand slipping her ID badge from her pocket.
"If you head down that way, the girl there can help you get started on your paperwork," Milly said, still blushing furiously.
"Thank you, Milly," Ulrich said, and the use of her name did it. Ducking her head, still grinning, Milly simply nodded. Ulrich knew she would be such a mix of enamored and embarrassed that she wouldn't likely be watching to make sure he made it to the right desk okay.
Which was just what Ulrich wanted.
With a friendly nod to the security guard who, judging by his body language, was no longer concerned by Ulrich's presence, the brunet started out across the bank floor. Like before he walked with purpose but not haste—looking like someone with something to do and no worries to get it done was the best way to be left alone, especially in a crowded place of business.
Avoiding the urge to check if anyone was watching him, Ulrich reached a door that, according to Theo's blueprints, lead right to the bank's vaults. Using the his stolen ID card Ulrich slipped easily inside, again never once looking over his shoulder to check if he was being watched. Inside he made an abrupt left, following the hall to a single, steel door, guarded by a keypad.
Jeremy had easily figured out the algorithm the bank's computer's used to generate their "random" security codes, and with complete confidence in his friend Ulrich punched in the series of numbers the blonde had given him.
With a tiny flash of green light the door unlocked, heavy bolts sliding back with a clang. Smile tugging at the corner of his lips, Ulrich opened the door and stepped into the vault.
Rows and rows of locked safe deposit boxes stared back at him, alongside shelves of stacked banknotes. Grinning, Ulrich opened his briefcase on the room's small examining table and reached for the stacks of hundred euro bills.
"Did you get in okay?" Jeremy asked.
"And here were forests ancient as the hills," Ulrich quoted in response.
"Great. You have twenty seconds—move fast."
Ulrich did, easily pilling the money into his case. A few felt heavier than the rest—Ulrich easily spotted the dye packs hidden within in them and tossed them aside.
As soon as the case was full Ulrich was snapping it shut, shutting doors neatly behind him as he emerged onto the bank floor once more. Again he walked with purpose and ease and again no one bothered to look at him twice, even as he passed the sectary's desk—she was on the phone, likely gossiping about the cute new hire—and right out the bank's front door.
As he approached the black limo waiting for him at the curb a young blonde in a driver's uniform stepped out and opened the car door. Without saying anything the blonde Ulrich stepped into the car, the door shutting stiffly behind him.
On the curb Odd nodded politely when he noticed one of the other waiting drivers watching him and the man, thinking he was looking at a fellow blue-collar worker, nodded back. Then Odd was climbing into the driver's seat and pulling away, merging easily into the oncoming flow of traffic.
He waited until he'd put some distance between himself and the bank before pressing the button on the dash that would lower the glass divider between himself and those in the back of the car.
"So?" he asked, looking at the trio through his rearview mirror, "How'd we do?"
"Better than expected," Jeremy admitted as he counted the stacks of bills in Ulrich's case. Beside him Aelita grinned up at Odd and Ulrich, sitting across from the pair, gave Odd a nod.
"Those papers of yours were good," he said. "Fooled the girl completely."
"Of course they did," Odd said. "Of course, I'm sure they didn't need to. I bet she was staring at your brilliant smile so closely she wouldn't have noticed if the card I'd made you had been done in crayon."
"Probably," Aelita agreed, the pair fixing Ulrich with teasing grins. Rolling his eyes, Ulrich turned to Jeremy, the blonde eyeing their haul with a calculated gaze.
"So," Ulrich said, "How do you think we did?"
"Enfolding sunny spots of greenery," Jeremy quotes, finishing the line Ulrich had started in the vault. "I think," he added, eyeing all those in the car closely, "that someone needs to call Yumi."
"Really?" Aelita gasped, while Odd whooped from the front.
"You really think so?" Ulrich asked, leaning forward in his seat. A grin broke across Jeremy's face and he nodded. "I do. We have enough here to fund what we need. So when you call Yumi let her know, we're ready—ready for that last big heist."