Chapter 5: The Break In
Remy LeBeau started up the drainpipe, trying to focus on the situation at hand, he had a limited amount of time to get inside the building from the roof, and down the staircase before the Security Guard, Michael, would go for his break to make coffee. Even as he got to the roof and yanked his lock picking kit out of his pocket, he felt apprehensive. Timing was essential, and the usually confident Remy LeBeau was a nervous wreck. It had been a while since he'd had to use these kinds of skills and planning, and he was afraid he might have become rusty in the absence of Thievery in his life.
He carefully picked the lock, and after getting the roof hatch open and slipping in, he checked his Indiglow watch for the time, he was right on schedule.
Stop worryin' about it, Remy, he told himself sternly. You could do this blindfolded, he added smirking a little, he descended down the stairs quietly, there were small overhead lights to cast just a tiny amount of light, he avoided stepping into them, and moved in shadow slowly, once he'd reached the bottom of the staircase, he checked his watch again, two minutes until the Security Guard was due to leave for his break.
He tried to focus, but his mind kept drifting to Rogue, there was something going on that he just couldn't place. Even he could see she wasn't acting like herself, he could see there were things on her mind, and he wasn't sure what they could be.
Ever since he'd left, things had been different, and although it was clear there was still an attraction, it certainly felt as if it had died considerably. He didn't see the same love in her eyes he'd always seen before. It concerned him.
Shit, he thought, realised his thoughts had carried him two minutes further than he it had meant to, he heard the door of the opposite stairway creak and realised the Security Guard was on his way. Remy opened the door of the stairway corridor he was in, and he glanced back and fourth, no one around. A security camera in the corner caught his eye. It moved slowly, back and fourth.
This was something he hadn't accounted for.
This is gonna cut my time in half, he thought desperately. He waited until the security camera had swivelled to the door of the Security room, he pressed his back against the wall, and he began to walk along it, he kept his eyes on the camera, it was swivelling towards him, he ducked and rushed over to the other side of the wall where the camera wasn't facing, he began to walk along the wall again, he kept his eyes on the camera, it swivelled again, he ducked, dashing to the other side, and repeated the process, hoping to god he hadn't been picked up.
He made it into the security room, he glanced at his watch quickly, he had eight minutes to get the videos switched and get into the passage.
He headed over to the cabinet where he new the recorded videos from the security monitors were, he reached for the handle and realised that the doors were locked.
"FUCK!" he hissed loudly, "what is wrong with me?" he whispered, "I should have expected this," he took his lock picking kit out, selected a tool and began to pick the lock hastily, he could feel nervous sweat pouring down his face, "c'mon, c'mon," he whispered.
A soft click and the cabinet unlocked, he sighed in relief. He chose three, marked off for which camera, he headed over to the control panel for the centre's security, and began to hurriedly change the tapes over. He glanced to the clock on the wall, he had two minutes to get into the vents.
His heart began thudding, he dropped to his knees, sliding under the desk, the large air vent grate on the wall directly under the desk, he began to unwind the screws off of the grate quickly with one of his lock picking tools, luckily the small screws didn't go too deep into their sockets. He yanked the grate off, pushed it to an area of the wall it wouldn't be seen – knowing that while the vent opening was under the desk, it was unlikely to be noticed as lying open. He glanced at his watch, thirty seconds left. He pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket and held it between his teeth, then climbed in, a tight fit, he began to shuffle along the passage, he heard the footsteps of the security guard entering back into the security room. Remy felt a flow of relief he'd made it through without being caught.
The metal sides of the passage were cold through the thin material of his black clothes, he shuffled silently along, his heart still thudding. It became harder to manoeuvre, the passage was starting to move upwards, almost like a slide. He forced himself up using the rubber soles of his sneakers to push himself up, the leather of his gloves barely able to hold onto the slippery metal. Upwards and upwards he began to go, finally beginning to see some light coming through from another grating nearby.
Rogue stepped into the living room quietly, she was dressed in her pyjamas. She'd tried sleeping again, but couldn't. So much was on her mind, and only one thing would set her mind at rest, and that was speaking to Kitty Pryde.
There was no one in the living room, but the lights were still on, Rogue reached for the phone and began to dial the long number to reach through to the Mansion in Bayville. She sat down on the edge of the couch, and waited silently, hoping to god Kitty would pick up.
The ringing continued for moments, while Rogue waited, she found herself wondering how far Remy had made it through the heist. She expected he'd probably already made it to the Lab already.
"Hello?"
Rogue felt her heart jump when the voice at the other end of the phone caught her by surprise, it wasn't Kitty's voice.
"Hey, is Kitty there?" Rogue asked, she absently ran her fingers through her hair.
"I know that voice," Rogue recognised the voice on the other end also, it was Jared, "No, Kitty's not here, Rogue," Jared said, "But I am."
"I want to talk to Kitty, where is she?"
"She and Kurt went to a late movie," Jared responded.
"Look, when she gets back will you tell her to call me at the research centre? I'll be waiting right at the phone…" Rogue stated.
"So did you tell Remy?" Jared sounded rather smug.
Rogue chewed the inside of her cheek, "did I tell Remy about what?"
"Us."
"Us?" Rogue asked, "I already told you—" she was about to remind him that there was no 'us', but she didn't get a chance, he interrupted.
"Oh come on, Rogue, if there wasn't, you would have told him by now already. But you're stalling."
"He's going through a lot, I can't just tell him…" Rogue responded.
"If you don't, I will…" Jared responded, there was a click, and Rogue realised Jared had hung up on her.
She frowned, "damn," she whispered.
Remy leaned close to the grating that led directly in the living room, he'd only heard Rogue's half of the conversation, but it was enough to tell him that there was definitely something Rogue was keeping from him. He sighed, deciding not to let it distract him, he began his way down the passage again. He had it memorised. There was a fork in the passages coming up, he took the left passage, ending up going down a slope, sliding downwards, coming to a u shaped bend in the passage. This was the one Rogue had doubted he'd get through. Still clenching the flashlight between his teeth, he hauled his upper body through the u in the passage, pulling himself around, finding himself momentarily stuck. He reminded himself when he bragged to Rogue about having succeeded getting through the U bend, he'd leave out getting stuck. He finally got himself free by shifting his weight and pushing himself with his legs. Finally, one last long dark passage to drag himself through, and he was at the end – he'd passed all the main security doors except from two.
Picking the lock on the first was easy, and he was through it in minutes, the second door was a less conventional lock. He told himself to focus, to ignore what he'd overheard of Rogue's conversation. He stepped over to the electronic security panel on the wall near the door, using one of his tools, he pried it open, and pulled out a tiny pair of clippers and began to clip and twist wires together, trying to remember everything his father had ever taught him about electronic security wiring. After fifteen minutes of messing with the wires – and without having been caught, he succeeded in getting through. The door swung open.
Remy peered in through the darkness. He'd been in the lab so many times he could remember where all the motion detectors were located, but just to be sure he brought out a tiny bottle of aerosol and sprayed it towards the floor, the beams showing up bright vivid red against the spray. "Bingo," he mumbled, he began to move around and over the beams, spraying occasionally just to keep them in sight. He'd made it to where earlier that day, he'd left several glass bottles of water on a counter, he pulled the thin nylon fold away bag he'd brought out of his pocket, and he unfolded it, putting the bottles inside of it. He made his way to leave, glancing around the place. Everything was in order, everything was fine.
Now getting back was his only problem.
He stepped out of the Lab, and closed the doors silently, rewired the doors back, checked them to make sure they were locked, then locked the other door again with his lock picking tools.
Now the challenging part was to begin. On the wall a small box, 'break glass in case of emergency'. He slammed his gloved hand against it, and alarms began to sound. He then made a break for it. He made his way back up into the vent, holding the grate cover, he pulled it on and instead of screwing it on, stuck it in place with a tiny hook, he promised himself he'd come fix it tomorrow. He began to pull himself quickly through the passages, noting which way he was meant to be going.
He made it back to the security room, no one was in there, his distraction had worked. He rushed to the video players, pulled out the tapes and swapped them with the original ones that had been in there, he pushed the record buttons, and put the old tapes back in the cabinet. He made it out of there, into the stairwell, running. He climbed the stairs to the top floor, pulling himself up into the hatch, and he locked it, he slid down the drainpipe, which was near the open window of his room. He climbed into his room, and changed clothes quickly, he noticed the alarms had stopped now.
He'd succeeded, he looked at the bag of water bottles, impressed with his own success. Now it was time to tell Rogue he'd succeeded.