Disclaimer: Don't own Gambit; do own Blaze
The Tokyo Job 05"Wait one second Chere." Gambit suddenly whisked the blueprint off the desk and spread it on the windowpane. The light that travelled through the thin paper made the mottled lines stand out sharper. They had been working for a few hours, and so far had made no progress. But Gambit was excited about something this time, even as Blaze tapped her pencil on the desktop impatiently.
"I'm waiting…" She pointed out when he didn't explain himself, squinting at the map of the building.
"These lines, here an' here…" He began. "They gotta be… Oui, Cherie I do believe I cracked it! That how we gonna get you in an' out without even goin' near the streets! That how the thief in jail does it!"
"So what are the lines?" Blaze asked, watching her lover's giddy expression with a warm smile on her face. That smile faded quickly though when he answered her.
"Sewers."
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"I can't believe you talked me into doing this." Blaze moaned.
"You took the job Blaze." Gambit's voice came back over the small radio she was wearing in her ear. "You gotta keep up your reputation non?" He sounded thoroughly amused. It'd like to see you stamping through raw sewage, Blaze cursed him mentally, but then again you'd probably enjoy it. Damn Swamp Rat…
She was dressed in a rather fetching all-in-one protective suit, big Wellington boots and had a hood pulled up over her hair. Her face was protected by a half-mask, but it didn't do very much to keep out the stench. The radio in her ear linked her back to Gambit, who was sat with all the plans, a few cold beers and a takeaway for one back in the room. He could see what she was doing through a small camera fastened to the night-vision goggles she sported. The only thing she couldn't communicate to him was just how rotten it smelt down here.
"Take a left at the next junction." Gambit instructed, knowing that Blaze knew where she was going but taking charge anyway. "There should be a ladder in a passage to your right."
"Will you shut up already?" Blaze griped. "If you think you can do this better than me I'd gladly swap places."
"I wont fit through the li'l gaps though Cherie." Gambit reminded her jokingly. "Why else you t'ink the lawyer hired you? You about the smallest t'ief in the business…"
"Thanks." Blaze said sarcastically. "But if I'm the smallest, you're the most irritating."
"Gambit knows you don't mean that." Remy laughed, "Jus' hurry up an' get back here so we can…" He tailed off, not needing to elaborate.
"Remy if you could smell me right now, you would not be suggesting anything like that, okay?" Blaze was grinning copiously at the thought of it, but she tried to push it from her mind. She had a job to do first. "I'm at the ladder, which side is the drain on?"
"The right." Gambit told her. "'Bout two feet out. Can you reach it?"
"Yep." Blaze grunted, leaning out from the ladder. With only one foot and one hand on the rung, her others searched for holds on the slippery wall. Gingerly she sidled her way across, getting thoroughly filthy in the process. But then she was feeling the edge of the drain with her fingertips and pulling herself up into the hole. Remy was right, it was a tight fit even for her. Lying down, she began to crawl like a commando up the tunnel on her elbows. Fortunately there wasn't far to go.
"Maintenance hatch should be right above you now." Gambit reminded her. Blaze twisted round onto her back and looked up. The hatch was indeed there; she could trace the crack around the edge with her gloved fingers. Unfortunately there was no way to open it from underneath. Blaze took a breath and closed her eyes, feeling herself begin to shake.
"Blaze." Gambit spoke softly. "There ain't nobody there to get hurt. It's the only way you gonna get that hatch open without using explosives. Jus' reach out a hand an' melt it a little."
"I can't!" Blaze sobbed suddenly, bracing her arms against the side of the tunnel. "Remy I'm scared, I can't do this!" She kept her eyes tight shut, feeling her firepower rising inside of her.
"Blaze you can do this." Remy insisted, never raising his voice. "You're safe, you can use you powers. Nobody gonna get hurt. It's gonna be okay."
"I…" Blaze stuttered, feeling herself begin to calm down again with the sound of the Cajun's voice. "Okay, I'll try. But if it all goes wrong don't say I didn't warn you."
"It won't go wrong." Gambit was sure.
Blaze said nothing in reply. She was terrified of her mutant powers and never normally used them. But Gambit was right. They didn't know how the Japanese thief broke through hatches like this one, but they couldn't risk explosives and the noise they created. Blaze removed one of her gloves, gritting her teeth and tensing all the muscles in her neck and back. Placing her hand on the metal of the hatch, she let go of all the emotions she had been carrying. Slowly the hatch started to melt, glowing orange.
