The X-Project

Ororo and Remy manage to secure transportation. Whether or not they're happy with it is another story.

It was slightly nerve-wracking that their steps echoed on the concrete floor of the parking garage, following them as they walked down the rows of parking spaces. Ororo tried not to move too quickly, looking nonchalant despite the fact that her stomach was currently worked into many small knots. Spotting a likely vehicle - a nondescript sedan with New York plates and no visible alarm system - she veered towards it, her jaw clenched tightly.

Remy had already figured out how to disable the long term parking security grates, but cars were not his area of expertise. They needed something that wasn't going to be reported for some times. Remy knew some tricks, but it was too early to start drops hints to the police. The wretched lack of resources they had at their disposal had limited their options.

Coming to a halt next to the car, Ororo looked down at it, checking it over for possible deterrents. It looked fine, but... "Perhaps we should try something nicer," she murmured to Remy. Not that she cared what they drove, but if she had to steal a car, wasn't it slightly better to steal it from someone who could afford it?

"You ever tried to drive an expensive car down into the Southern US? Especially if you driving?" Remy shook his head. "A black woman in a BMW in South Carolina is just borrowing trouble, Stormy."

"Well, it does not seem right... what if they do not have insurance?" She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest in a gesture that clearly said 'I am not going to make this easy'.

"The kind of person dat can afford long term parking likely has insurance. If you dat worried, when we hit Savannah, we double park it, de cops run de tags and find it's stolen, and de car gets back to de owner." Remy said, getting frustrated. "You can send him a check later."

Ororo shot him a glare at this before turning back towards the car, peering in for the ticket that rested on the dashboard. "They have been here too long anyway," she said, jerking her chin towards the slip of paper. "We must look for a newer arrival."

Remy didn't respond, quashing his intention to point out they needed to just take a damn car. Ororo wasn't comfortable with this, and all of her concerns stemmed from that. But with two hundred dollars and a pack of cards between them, they didn't have a lot of options.

Remy stepped back out into the middle of the roadway to look. He wanted something new enough to suggest success, but not enough to be noticed.

And Ororo wanted nothing to do with this at all. She looked over the rows of cars, finding a flaw in each one she spotted. She should have known that agreeing to help Remy would put her in this position, but she hadn't expected it to be so immediate. Despite her past, she was certainly not happy about having to break the law, and half-dreaded, half-hoped that they'd get caught at it before anything could even happen.

Remy finally stopped in front of a 2004 Honda Civic. Common on the roads, commonly stolen, utterly unremarkable and checked in less than three days ago. He rapped on the hood.

"Dis one. We're taking this one." With the lives of three people, and the threat against people at the Centre and the school from a job he had masterminded, he didn't have the luxury of taking her feelings into account much.

"Green, really, Remy?" Ororo remarked, giving the car a once-over, her chin still lifted stubbornly. "I always thought you more a black or red man. But fine. Keep watch while I get inside."

"Remy got de love of growing t'ings and de earth inside him, you know." He scowled as he moved to the back of the car beside it, fiddling with his pockets as if he was looking for his keys while he was keeping a watch on the lot.

Ororo didn't reply, bending closer to the driver's side door and fishing out the lockpicking kit that she kept close at all times. Luckily Arcade hadn't taken that from her, or they would be in even more dire straits.

She didn't have exactly the right tools, but necessity was the mother of invention, and soon enough she was able to pull the door open and slide inside. She flicked open the passenger's side door, then began to sweep her hand around the consoles and glove compartment in case there was a key hidden there.

Remy stiffened slightly as a pair of highlights brushed past them, another traveler moving to a long term spot away from them. The attendants would be moving through the lot, and they didn't have a lot of time.

"'Ro..." Remy said, not wanting to rush her but knowing that their window of getting out of here was rapidly closing.

"I know, I know," she replied, frowning as her search revealed nothing but a few tissues and a sticky piece of gum adhered to the bottom of her seat. Pulling her hand away and wiping it on her trousers, she then leaned forward once again to begin pulling the access panel away from the dashboard. "Just another minute..."

"We don't--" Remy cut himself off. She was going as fast as she could. His harping wouldn't help. He froze as he caught sight of an attendant, still at the far end of the row, but starting to move towards them. Normally long term parking wasn't open to the general public, but there were always exceptions. But he didn't have either the money or the time to confuse one of them.

Unlike lockpicking, Ororo didn't regularly practice hotwiring cars anymore. Why would she, with a garage full of them at the Mansion and access to them any time she should need? She was rusty and she knew it, muttering under her breath as she fumbled with the wires. "One more minute," she repeated, trying first one, then another in an attempt to start the car before the attendant reached them.

Remy shifted behind the car. If he had to, he could easily take the man down, but that would put them on the radar for the police within an hour, and undo most of their headstart.

Seconds ticked by and still the car didn't start. Ororo was about at the point of throwing up her hands in frustration when suddenly the engine turned over, the dashboard lighting up and the radio coming on full blast, tuned to some heavy metal station and blaring away in their ears. "Sweet goddess!" Ororo exclaimed, trying not to look shocked and failing.

Remy jolted a bit, spinning around to get access to the car. The attendant hadn't come over to check, obviously thinking that another person had come to get the car. He got into the passenger's seat as Ororo scooted over to the driver's side. As they pulled up to the security gate, and Remy leaned out to the passcard reader. He didn't have the tools to do a proper shunt, nor time to grab one of the cards from the attendants. He jumped out of the car and ran over to the attendant booth, unoccupied. It took only a minute to jimmy the window lock and lean over, accessing the gates with a button and racing back to the car.

Barely waiting for him to get in and shut the door, Ororo pulled out of the garage and into traffic, her heart racing. She maneuvered carefully but quickly, putting as much distance between them and the garage as she could. They headed away from the airport, and it was only once they had hit the freeway that she realized the radio was still blaring. She reached over and turned it off, slumping a bit in her seat, though her hands were still wrapped tightly about the wheel.

Remy leaned back in the seat. "Nice work, chere. Dat's officially grand theft auto."

"Please, do not remind me," Ororo said tightly. "I am all too aware of the illegality of what we just did."

"Better den Nate and Doug doing ten years for conspiracy to defraud a Las Vegas casino. Just keep dat in mind." Remy said, although not glibly. He knew what she was facing doing this, but he also knew they couldn't afford to let these issues stop them from what needed to happen if they were going to beat Arcade's sick game.

"Mm." Although what he said was true, it didn't make the sick feeling in her stomach go away. It was almost worse than the thrill she had felt boosting the car, the one that was still causing her to drive just a bit too fast. She slowed gradually to a more sedate speed and glanced at the sign as it flashed past. 'South'. That was where they were headed, for better or for worse.

I only hope it is not for worse.