Chapter Nineteen: Adrenaline Rush

Blaze sat perfectly still, staring holes in the back of Red X's neck while silently contemplating the choices she had made. One blink, and she was back in reality. The dirt walls were caving in on her, and she couldn't breath. No, just another day dream. X was directly in front of her, his back turned. He had hardly spoken to her in the few, short days she had been with him.

She had also noticed that he had yet to open Robin's briefcase...

He turned to Blaze, drawing her attention by stuffing gadgets into his utility belt. "You coming?"

"You want me to steal something?" We all know that Blaze couldn't. She couldn't take Robin's briefcase earlier, X had to do that himself, and now he was asking her to do it again. She didn't want to be a thief, but she couldn't necessarily be one of the good-guys either.

"I wouldn't keep you around if I thought you wouldn't be useful." His tone was hard, cold, and uncaring; the exact opposite of Robin's.

She missed Robin. She missed Starfire, although she probably hated Blaze. She missed Raven and Beast Boy and Cyborg, but this was her life now. Blaze decided to stop wallowing in the past and face the future head on. She was going to deal with it. And she was going to do that by helping Red X steal some painting from the city's museum tonight. Blaze stood and confidently nodded, even adding a smile, "I'm in."

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It was dark, but the lights flashing outside the museum, advertizing it's many exhibits, provided more than sufficiently. Blaze, still straddling Red X's cycle, reached out to grab the grapple gun from the back of his belt. He took it from her and aimed towards the roof. Quickly placing an arm around Blaze, seeing as how her light screens were too weak, they ascended upwards.

Once their feet were firmly planted, X threw a red x at the glass dome skylight. The glass silently shattered and fell through the opening on the museum floor. "Ready?" He whispered, nodding towards the red laser beams securing the picture hanging on the wall a little way down the hall.

"Can you make it through that?"

"Kid, you don't know what I can do." Under the mask a smile spread across his face. One second X was in front of her, the next he was standing on the unguarded marble. "You coming?"

He had been asking her that a lot lately. "You coming"? It confused her. She nodded and lowered herself down, X catching her the last couple inches. He placed a finger to where his mouth would have been if the mask wasn't obstructing the view, then nudged her behind a large white column. A museum guard was making his rounds.

Red X crouching low, waiting for the guard to pass them. He noticed the broken ceiling glass, then ran his chubby self under the skylight. X was about to make his move, but Blaze beat him to it. She quickly, and accurately, kicked him in the back of the head. The force wasn't hard enough to kill him, just to make him "sleep" for a while. X was stunned, he hadn't expected that. Blaze shrugged and let out a small giggle. "I had a good teacher." she mocked.

He ignored it, waving his hand toward the room with the lasers. He was signaling her to move on. They walked carefully, so not to disturb anything or make any noise. X, being an expert at this, had more luck with that than Blaze. Her boots would squeak, or her knees would crack every now and then. She'd have to work on that.

The lasers made a small "buzzing" noise when they got close. "Stay here and keep lookout." X whispered, pulling his gloves on tighter. "Watch this." he boasted, but with good reason.

He flipped in and out between the small distances between beams. Expertly and strategically placing his hands and feet in all the right spots, he wriggled his way all the way to the other side. "An alarm should sound as soon as I pluck this thing off the wall." he warned her as he made it to the other side.

He was right.

The earsplitting wale of the alarm sent Blaze crumpling to the ground, blocking her ears. It was torture. The lasers disappeared as the siren rang on, and X was running at her full speed. "Run!" he commanded, pulling her up by her shoulders.

Too late.

The rest of the night guards had heard the commotion and came running, batons in the air. "Good thing they can't carry guns!" Blaze yelled over the alarm. While still hurting, her ears would have to get used to it.

"No doubt they alerted those friends of yours!" X yelled back, dropping the painting and getting ready to fight. "Can't wait!"

"No! Let's get out of here! We'll deal with them another time!"

Red X was in the mood for a scrap, but he didn't want to hold Blaze's end too, since she probably wouldn't want to hurt her former friends. He made a split decision and picked up the painting, grabbing Blaze's hand, and disappearing outside the museum. "Hold this." he shoved the painting in Blaze's face, a little disappointed with the wasted energy.

"How did you do that?" Blaze blinked in amazement. It felt like she had dematerialized and was formed whole again.

"You coming?" He asked grudgingly, revving his motorcycle. "Get on!"

She did, propping the painting between her leg and the side of the bike. She wrapped her arms around X's waist, then closed her eyes to enjoy the adrenaline rush.