The Chemist

Here is chapter 9 of the heist AU ! I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think :)
Happy reading!

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Previously on chapter 8:

Louis rolls his eyes in the dark and turns to face Harry. "It's not that I don't trust you Harry, it's what The Chemist said. I told her you knew who I was and she decided it was best to isolate you. You were right."

"Do you though?"

"Do I what?"

"Trust me."

"Why do you even care?" Louis snorts.

"Because I don't want to... I don't know, I don't want to be locked up in the same room as the guy who tried to start a war like...a hundred times." Harry stutters. He pauses. "Also, I already figured out your name in the first day, and I never slipped once. I don't think you're a bad person. I think you're fair."

Louis closes his eyes. Smiles in the dark. "Yeah, I am. Also stop kissing my ass." He jokes, but feels the heavy sexual joke hanging in the air as soon as he says it.

But what if I want to? He said last time, or something like that.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to answer to that." Harry nervously laughs, before turning to face Louis as well.

"You're meant to shut up."

Harry nods, or at least Louis thinks he does, before he feels soft lips on his, tasting like mint and mouthwash. It's slow, and not really like it's initiating anything, but it's nice either way. It's like for a second, they're kissing, but not kissing in a bank surrounded by hundreds of policemen and reporters; just kissing.

He grabs Harry's face and pushes himself into the kiss, opening his mouth more and more. This is actually not what he expected would happen when he told Harry to sleep in the bed, but he isn't complaining either.

Harry's face is soft under his palms and his lips are so ugh and Louis feels like he wants to sleep but also like he wants to stay up all night doing this.

"I'm-" Louis says, pulling his head back and placing a hand on Harry's chest. He remembers where they are, what they're supposed and not supposed to be doing, and reality hits him like a brick.

"Sorry, I really- I really wanted to do that." Harry says, voice lower than usual.

"It's fine, I liked it. I'm just very tired and would love to get some sleep. Everything is quiet now. I can rest." Louis explains, and feels Harry's fingers curl around his hand.

"Louis, it's okay. I don't mind. Actually, I like sleeping."

Louis laughs at that, because it's just-who even says that?

"Okay, well. See you tomorrow I guess." Louis says, closing his eyes again and licking his lips.

The room is quite cold and the silence is eerie. Also, Louis has a semi and would really love to keep kissing Harry.

"Goodnight, Louis."

Louis focuses on his breathing. He feels like he's sinking into the mattress with every breath he takes, and his limbs are finally able to relax. For the first time in ages, he falls asleep quickly.

***

Day 7 – 141 hours into the heist (Tuesday, December 25th, 9:31am)

Louis wakes up before the sun, with a bit of drool on the side of his face, which is a sign of a good, comfortable sleep, something he hasn't had in months, maybe even years. He makes a sound when he stretches himself out, all the way from his fingertips to his toes, and then licks his lips before he turns on his back. When he opens his eyes, he faces the end of a Kalashnikov barrel. His body turns cold even though his chest feels like it's got a fire burning inside from the sudden rush of adrenaline.

"Now let all of us go." Harry says, hoisting it up in his arms and making a show of pressing the trigger with his finger. "I mean it."

------

Day 7 – 141 hours into the heist (Wednesday, December 26th, 9:31am)

Louis goes into a state of shock. He can't react, doesn't even know how. There's a loaded AK-47 pointed between his eyes, and Harry Styles is holding it with shaky fingers on the other end. Louis is in shock.

"You're joking, right?" he says, suddenly not remembering whether today is the first day of April or not.

Harry shakes his head and hoists the gun up to hold it better. "No, I'm not. Let us go outside."

Louis rubs his eyes and sits up, placing his palms on the couch. "Harry-"

"Shut up." Harry says, voice cracking a bit.

"What are you doing?" Louis asks as he shuffles to the edge of the couch so he can stand up and put some sense into him.

"Just...get dressed, and let's go."

"Did Cowell put you up to this?" he asks, standing up and reaching for the gun.

Harry steps back. "I'm serious, Louis."

Hearing his real name makes Louis freeze. "Fine."

He gets dressed and then turns around to face Harry. "Can I drink my morning coffee and smoke a cig first?" he asks.

Harry shakes his head. "No. We need to go and release everyone for now." He then tells Louis to turn around and walk out of the room, straight to the office.

Louis remembers the walkie talkie attached to his jumpsuit and thinks about calling a code red in. They've never used the codes The Chemist gave them in emergencies yet, mainly because they've always managed critical situations by just talking through the walkie talkies or sending someone to get a message over.

"There will be times when you're not going to have time to talk and explain everything to your colleagues." The Chemist says on Monday, during the third week of their stay in Brentwood.

Louis is hungover from the night before and wonders how she can be fresh every time after they've had a night of drinking.

Gigi groans into her hands from her seat in the front left of the room.

"I'm so tired."

"The word you're looking for Silver is hungover." The Chemist says, trying to crack a joke. Louis looks at her. She doesn't look older than thirty, and her dimples that appear every time she tries to crack a joke make her look younger than she is. Louis sometimes wonders what her backstory is because she doesn't look like someone who could be a criminal. She looks like someone who would help criminals, at most.

Huh.

"The codes are simple and color coded." She continues and turns around to start writing on the board. "Code black means there's a bomb, or a terrorist threat."

Louis raises his hand. "How do we define a terrorist threat?"

"For example, if a hostage tries to blow up the bank." The Chemist answers. "Code Blue means someone needs urgent medical attention or they're about to die."

"Jesus." Hailee exhales.

"Code Green means the army or the police are coming in through one of the blocked entry points and you don't have time to strategize. Code White means a hostage is acting up and trying to cause trouble. And Code White is then directly related to Code Red, because Code Red means one of you has a gun pointed at them by one of the hostages."

Gigi raises her hand. "And how are we supposed to react when someone calls in a code? When you're in a high-pressure situation it's kind of difficult to make a plan."

"When you call in a code, you have to say the color and your exact location. This applies to all of them. Then, Code Blue and Code Black have the same approach. When someone calls in one of these codes, the people who are not watching hostages or are on break will go to the said location. The rest will make sure that there is no unrest among people. In comparison to Code Blue, in Black you go to a safe location in the basement."

Louis stares at the words on the whiteboard. Terrorism, bombs, heart attacks. Everything is starting to get a bit too real for him.

"The rest of the codes also have similar approaches. When someone calls in a White or Red, everyone must immediately report to that location and help. Code White can lead to a Code Red, but it can also be more dangerous because if one hostage starts acting up, the others might also join."

"How can it be worse than having a gun pointed at you?" Zayn asks. Louis turns to look at him. Zayn doesn't speak often during "lectures" (as Louis calls them).

"Hostages might point guns but the probability of them shooting is low. Whereas a whole bunch of people starting to riot, especially if they outnumber you...no. Any questions?"

Louis looks at Liam, who also seems confused. "Wait. What about Code Green?"

"So what's your plan huh?" Louis asks fiddling with his jumpsuit as he slowly walks towards the office. The empty halls echo their footsteps as they walk, silence looming over them.

He's not going to shoot me; Louis tries to convince himself. Fuck this.

He places his finger on the walkie-talkie and presses the button.

"Code Red, the office. Now."

Harry pushes the barrel of his gun against Louis' spine. "Cut it off!" He snaps the walkie talkie from Louis' jumpsuit away and buries it in his pocket. "Now walk."

Louis shakes his head and slips his hands into his pockets as he walks, faster this time.

"What does Code Red mean?" he asks when Louis comes to a halt in front of the office door.

Louis shrugs. "I don't know. I just thought it would help, somehow."

Harry squints at him. He points the barrel of the gun towards the doorknob. "Open it."

Louis presses his palm against it, waits a beat, then opens the door. He smiles.

All his colleagues are there, including Niall and some other business partners. And the best part? They're all pointing their guns towards the door, where Louis has his arms held up in defense.

"Ohh...right." Louis says, turning his head to look at Harry. "It does mean something."

Harry looks at him shocked, before he looks back at the room.

"Put the gun down." Liam says and drops his as he takes a step forward.

"What did you expect?" Louis asks Harry, shaking his head in disappointment. He takes a step away from him and closer to his partners. "I know this wasn't your idea, but I'll talk to you later." He knows he must call The Chemist because she must have seen them on the cameras. "Now drop your gun."

Harry looks him dead in the eye, like he sort of regrets doing it but at the same time kind of liked it anyway. He doesn't look like he's about to apologize, and Louis can see Niall's shocked face, which lets him know that Harry would have never done this. He was also not forced, either.

Maybe Louis is angry because he feels betrayed. And yet, at the same time, he was the one stupid enough to fool around with a hostage. Several times even.

He composes himself because he feels a hundred eyes on him, so he turns to face Hailee. "Take him into a room and watch him. Not the same one Simon is in, please. Silver, you go and watch Cowell, we can't leave him alone for too long. The rest of you, go back to what you were doing. Good job...thanks."

A low murmur settles into the room and it's the first the that it seems too small for everyone inside it.

He waits for everyone to clear out before he stares at the door. He cringes when he remembers the conversations he's had with Harry, especially last night, and how he let himself believe that he could trust him.

The phone rings.

He expected it.

"Hello?"

"What happened?"

"What I knew would happen. I told you putting him in the same room with Cowell was a bad idea."

"And it led to a Code Red?" she asks, disbelief in her voice.

"Yes, it did. Because Cowell got into his head, probably convinced him that he could play a hero if he got my gun and threatened my life."

"How would he even get access to your gun if he didn't leave the room?"

Louis expected the question and yet didn't even prepare an answer. "He asked to see me because he didn't understand why he was put into a room with Simon, after being my right hand man since we became partners."

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth."

The Chemist sighs and Louis stares out the window.

"What are you going to do with him now?"

"Wha-me? I thought you'd tell me."

"It is very clear to me now that you know the situation inside the bank better than I do. I made decisions based on objective facts, but I guess in high stress situations it's not enough for a leader to only be objective. So that's why I'm asking you. What are you going to do with him now?"

"I mean..." Louis doesn't even know. Objectively, he knows he needs to keep Harry isolated until they leave and then let him go at the same time as Simon for the police to find them. Subjectively, he feels like Harry regrets pointing the gun at him and knows he's way too smart to even think about pulling something like that in the first place. "I know I can isolate him. On the other hand, he is smart and helpful. And never gave me a reason to doubt me until now."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I know." Louis sighs and turns around to lean against the table.

"What are the rules we talked about during the first week?"

"What?"

The Chemist doesn't answer, so Louis starts to list out the rules. "Do not kill any hostages. Do not use violence unless necessary. Do not get emotionally involved with your colleagues and keep it professional. Do not mess around with hostages, in any meaning of the way."

"Yes."

"Well...theoretically, he's not a hostage anymore." He tries.

"That's not the rule I tried to remind you of. I know he's not a hostage anymore, but the third rule was do not get emotionally involved with your colleagues."

"I'm not-"

"Iron and Zinc broke it, I know. Not when they first had sex, but when they started making decisions based on their feelings, and not their head."

"I'm not emotionally involved with Harry. I just feel betrayed."

"Do you think you can still trust him to operate as a partner?"

"I don't know."

"If the answer is no, you have to go back to him being a hostage. Which means putting him in a room where he can't get out of until we leave the city."

Louis shakes his head. "Can I decide by tonight? I need to think about it. I need to talk to him, to Simon..."

"Sure. I'll call back at 7pm."

Louis checks his watch. It's a few minutes past ten.

"Okay."

Louis goes to the closet, opens the door, and looks down at Nick, who looks tired. He grabs the walkie talkie from his jumpsuit and presses the button.

"Where are you Oxygen?"

"Across the hall in the secretary's office."

He closes the closet door before grabbing a gun that was laying on the table and heads out towards the secretary's office.

Harry is sitting down on a chair while Hailee points a gun at him.

"I need to-" Louis starts, but gets interrupted by Gigi jogging up to them, looking serious.

"Cowell's gone." She says.

Hailee and Louis look at each other.

"How?" Louis asks.

"Shit, I don't think I locked the door when I heard Code Red."

Louis closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Then he turns to Harry.

"So. This was your plan."

***

Day 7 – 146 hours into the heist (Wednesday, December 26th, 2:23pm)

"Where the fuck is he?" Louis yells into the lobby, standing at the top of the stares with a view of his colleagues. "We searched the entire place for the past five hours. One person cannot just go unnoticed, damnit!"

Liam steps forward towards the stairs. "Hydrogen, we've looked in every single room of the building. He's hiding somewhere."

"Did you check the vaults?" Louis asks.

Liam shakes his head and Louis pinches the space between his eyes. "Then go check them, for fuck's sake!"

"Neon is finishing up the tunnel-"

"NOW!" Louis says, and hates himself for being so demanding, but his nerves are stretched to the maximum.

Zayn and Gigi follow Liam, but Hailee stays behind.

"Maybe Harry knows where he is. Did you even talk to him after the whole stunt he pulled?"

"I didn't get the chance. Who's even watching him?"

"Niall."

For a second, Louis wants to ask why in the world she would ask Niall to watch Harry, especially after he tried to pull a gun on him, but then he understands. She trusts Niall and sees the situation in a more subjective way than Louis does.

"Are you breaking any rules with Niall?" Louis teases.

She makes a "psh" sound and shakes her head. "He's not a hostage anymore."

Louis looks at her, surprised. Then he smiles. "So, yes."

He looks at her expectantly. She doesn't look like she wants to kiss and tell.

"Oh come on, at least give me something." Louis pleads, stopping in front of the door.

"Fine." She says, lowering her voice. "We might've kissed here and there...occasionally. But I don't think this is a place for...you know."

Louis cocks his head. "You know, they say people fall in love during scary situations. Because the adrenaline is high...or something."

"I'm not sure that's scientifically proven." She says.

"Either way. I...broke some rules with Harry before, as you've probably figured. But then he pulled a gun at me this morning."

Hailee makes a face. "I know you're-there's no reason to trust him now, I know. But I was watching him and Simon for a while, and I'm 100% sure he got into his head. He can be very...exhausting."

"I know he didn't think of it by himself. But that doesn't mean I didn't wake up to a fucking AK-47 staring me in the face."

Louis opens the door on that note and walks inside.

Niall is sitting by the desk, chatting to Harry, who's sitting across from him on one of the chairs.

"Why did you pull that stunt this morning?" Louis asks, not even wasting a breath.

"I...don't know." Harry answers, fidgeting with his fingers.

"You know, if Simon put you up to this and you don't tell us, then it means you're still on his side."

Harry sighs. "Fine. He kept going on and on about how I can get my hands on a gun while he escapes and goes to a phone. I didn't think he'd actually...do it. I thought the door would be locked."

"SO?" Louis exclaims. "That doesn't make sense. What would you have proven?"

"He made a point about how we're in a situation where..."

He doesn't even know how to finish the sentence.

"Where what?" Hailee pushes on.

"Where you guys are criminals and you won't hurt me if I try to be a distraction while he finds a phone."

"Do you think we're criminals?" Louis asks.

Harry looks at Niall. "Well...a criminal is a person who committed a crime. And a crime is an action which constitutes an offence which is punishable by law."

Louis rolls his eyes. "So, you're telling me you never broke the law."

"No, I have not."

"You study law, right?"

Harry nods.

"What would you call threatening someone with a Kalashnikov? Would that be...illegal?" Louis asks as Harry leans back in his seat, sighing.

"I guess, yes."

"So by that logic, you're also a criminal now-"

"That's not the point." Harry interjects. "I don't-look. I'm sorry about what I did, I woke up that morning and I saw you sleeping there and suddenly the whole situation became too much and I thought it would end sooner if I just did what Simon suggested."

"It will end soon." Hailee says. "We're getting out tomorrow."

"So where did you find him?" Niall asks her.

They look at each other in silence.

"You haven't found him?" Harry asks, surprised. "He was going to use the phone in the basement behind the vaults."

Louis looks at him, exasperated. "Why didn't you say that?!" he presses the button on his receiver. "Look for a phone behind the vaults. Look in the vaults. Just sweep the whole entire basement!" he takes his finger off the button and looks at Hailee. "Oxygen, stay here with them. I'll be right back."

He finds Liam, Zayn and Gigi by the phone on the wall behind the vaults. It was easily missed because it was in a dark corner right before the vault corridor.

"It was disconnected when we got here, hanging." Liam says.

"So he was here. Did you check everywhere?"

Liam nods.

"What about the armory?"

Zayn and Liam look at each other.

"Did you check the fucking armory?" Louis repeats, and already starts walking towards the end of the hall.

The armory was the initial deposit room they came through, where they took the first workers hostage. Now that entryway has been barricaded with bags of sand and melted iron. It was the best plan, since one of the scenarios involved them just setting off a bomb in the armory and create a distraction while they flee.

He goes to try the door, but it barricaded from the inside.

"FUCK!" he yells, banging his fist against the door. "COWELL!"

They wait a moment, before they hear a laugh echoing through the giant room on the other side of the door.

"Youuu idiots!" Simon yells from the other side. "I called the police on you! And they're going to come in and bulldoze you to death."

Louis presses his forehead against the door, feeling like every shred of patience just left his body.

"Simon, open the door. Let's talk like adults."

"I'm NOT leaving this room until the army comes in and takes you all out."

Louis sighs and pushes himself off the door. He turns to the rest of his group. "Okay. We're going to have to cut through the door. Zinc, you go to Neon down the hall, tell her what's happened. Get one of those things...or whatever is used to cut through this door. Iron, you stay here until we're back."

Gigi follows him back upstairs. "We have everything in there. Guns, grenades...fucking machine guns, Hydrogen."

"I know. But panicking right now is not going to solve anything. We're going to cut through the door, restrain him, and then get out of this place by tomorrow night. Let's just stay calm. Get Oxygen."

"Where are you going? Are you going to call her?"

Louis shakes his head. "We have a call scheduled in four hours. I hope we're going to have Cowell restrained by then. I'm going to get Mercury."

***

Day 7 – 149 hours into the heist (Wednesday, December 26th, 5:37pm)

Eleanor and her crew took an hour off from finishing off the tunnel in order to cut a hole into the door of the armory.

"Guess whoooo." Nick sings, sticking his head through the hole.

When Louis took the rag out of his mouth and told him that he needs to get Simon out of the fucking armory, Nick didn't even ask questions. He got dressed into his jumpsuit, grabbed a gun from the office and screamed from the top of his lungs, happy to be included again.

"Do you see him?" Louis asks.

"No."

"What do you see?"

"All our weapons. The machine guns have their tarps off. If I see him, can I shoot him?" he asks.

"No." Louis, Liam, Zayn, and Gigi all answer at the same time.

Nick takes his head out of the hole. "Why not? Can we at least call a Code Black?"

"How's that going to help?" Louis asks.

"Fuck." Nick says, looking through the hole. "Machine guuuun! Get back!" he yells and makes a run for it.

Before Louis even realizes what happened, non-stop machine gun shots start to echo through the hallways and bullets start flying, making dents in the door. Some even slip through the hole in the door, getting stuck in the wall at the other end of the hall.

"Fuck!" Louis yells and gets on his stomach, trying to crawl out of range.

The shots eventually stop, and they can hear Simon laughing from the other side of the door. "That's what I thought, you fools! Now just wait there until the army comes in. Or I'll try other toys you've got in here."

Louis looks over at Liam who's also on his stomach, then shakes his head and crawls further away from the door, searching his brain for a plan.

"We need to barricade the door first." He tells Eleanor, who is peeking out from the vault she's working in, looking worried. "Work on the tunnel and barricading the door. Silver, go and start wrapping up the printing and the melting, let's get ready to leave tomorrow. The rest of you lot stay here and help barricade the door."

He stands up right after he's taken cover and runs for his life up the stairs towards the office. Things are going way worse than expected at this point, but as long as they can at least keep Simon in the armory while they all get out the vault a bit sooner than planned then it's still okay.

"It's okay." He whispers to himself as he reaches the phone.

"I thought we had a meeting at 7pm."

"Yes, but we're in trouble. Cowell locked himself in the armory and already fired a machine gun at us. He said he called the police and the army is coming in."

"You sound calm."

"Should I not be?"

"I have the detective on the other line. Hold on."

Louis looks down at his feet while he waits, going through all the possible scenarios this could play out. They could kill Simon, for one. But that would be no good. They could keep Simon occupied long enough until they're all gone and let the police find him in the armory. That's a good idea. But what happens if the army comes in?

"What about Code Green?" Louis asks.

"Oh, right." She says and places the marker back on the board. "This is worst case scenario. The army should not have to come in, unless they have probable cause to enter the bank by blowing up stuff."

"Probable cause such as?"

"Such as, they think someone's life might be in danger. Which is why we have our first two rules."

"What if a hostage shoots at us?" Nick asks. "Are we supposed to just sit there and take it or what?"

"If a hostage shoots at you, you can shoot at their legs, or arms. Immobilize them. But do NOT kill them." She warns, pointing her marker at Nick.

"So let's say the army comes in, and we find this out before they actually do. What do we do?"

"Depends on how far along we are with the tunnel. If they come in during the first few days, then you have to surrender."

"What?" Nick exclaims and unrest settles in the classroom.

"Calm down, calm down." The Chemist says, waving her arms around. "It won't come to that. You know the plan. If they however decide to come in when we're about to leave, you have to efficiently keep them away from you long enough so you can escape. Whatever you do, do not shoot first."

Louis snaps back to reality when he hears the other line beep.

"Louis?"

"Yes?"

"They're threatening to come in. They heard the shots from outside. They said they talked to Simon, but I don't know what he told them."

"Can't you find out? He used the phone in the basement."

"It's an emergency phone. I couldn't even listen to it if it were happening right now. If they won't hear any more shots, they're not going to come in. I'm still trying to negotiate as if you're not planning on leaving by tomorrow night, but I'm serious. If they hear any more shots or explosions, then they're going to come in."

"I think it's time we put out headsets in." Louis says.

Their headsets were a tool they came in with just in case a war-like scenario broke out where they would need both hands to defend themselves, talk to each other out in the field as well as with The Chemist, all at the same time.

"Okay. Get the message across to everyone. I'll change channels."

Louis goes over to the closet in the office and takes out the boxes containing the headsets in order to bring one to his colleagues.

***

Day 7 – 151 hours into the heist (Wednesday, December 26th, 7:57pm)

"How far along are we?" he asks Eleanor an hour later, after they've finished barricading the door to the armory. Everyone has headsets now, which means that The Chemist can officially hear everything they're saying if they microphones are on.

"I think we should be a few minutes away from connecting to her." She says.

"Are you hearing this?" Louis asks into his earpiece.

"Yes. I can hear the power drills." The Chemist answers, and Louis can hear her smiling. "Also, I am very pleased to know that Mercury is back to being himself."

Louis looks out of the vault at Nick, who is guarding the door to the armory with Liam.

"Yeah."

"Talking shit behind my back?" comes Nick's voice through the earpiece.

"Where's Styles?" she asks, ignoring him.

"He's with Niall in the secretary's office."

There's a silence after that and Louis stares at the giant hole in the floor. The distance from the tunnel to the place where The Chemist is at is exactly 900 meters, and they're about to dig through the last few of them to get to the sewers and then climb up to the basement of the Italian Restaurant where The Chemist is located.

"I'm going to go check." Eleanor says and turns off her mic before climbing down the hole with a little help from one of her workers, then disappearing into the darkness.

Louis checks his watch. 8:01pm.

Nobody speaks for a few minutes, until he hears excited yelling and women laughing.

"I'm here. I'm with her." Says Eleanor.

Louis can hear some of his colleagues celebrating from outside the vault and then smiles, checking his watch. 8:05pm

It takes four minutes to get through from the vault.

"I think it's time to start rolling the cash and the gold through the tunnel. Delete the hard drives, passport serial numbers, everything" he says into his mic, to no one in particular.

When Gigi responds with "roger that, we've stopped everything, wrapping up and bringing it to you", everyone exclaims, thrilled, and starts putting the last part of the plan in motion.

"As soon as we're about to reach the end of the tunnel, the last part of the plan is going to be set in motion." The Chemist says, writing "last part" on the whiteboard. It's their last week in Brentwood, before they go out and print a shitload of money, so Louis feels a bit uneasy. In less than 10 days, they're going to be inside the Bank of England, pointing guns and trying to look like they have an idea about what they're doing.

"The first loose knot we have to take care of is the passports. Whatever you do, you must delete the serial numbers and hard drives from the computers in the printing room. If they find out your fake names, they won't hesitate to find you after everything is done. Second step is getting all the money and gold through the tunnel. Neon will already be with me by then, making sure we have all the money bags and the gold. Third, you let out all the hostages through the front door to create a distraction while you escape through the tunnel. By the time the army is inside, you'll be on your way out of London. Hostages out, heist men out, money out, and the plan was a success."

Day 7 – 153 hours into the heist (Wednesday, December 26th, 9:40pm)

Eleanor's men and the rest of their associates were asked to go and wait inside the same room as Harry and Niall, supervised by Hailee, so they couldn't see where the end of the tunnel lead to. Nick and Liam were assigned to stand by the armory and make sure Simon doesn't try to blow something up, while Eleanor was with the Chemist, counting all the money that was coming through. The rest of them have been transferring money bags and gold for the past two hours through the tunnel. They're nearly done, when they hear an explosion above, coming from the basement. Then, persisting shots.

"What was that?!" Louis asks, arms already numb from carrying the money.

"This bitch Cowell tried to blow up the door and is using another machine gun now!" Nick yells.

"Fuck!" Louis screams, and hurries to pass along what's left of the money bags dropped down in the tunnel. "We have some bags left Mercury! What did you do?"

"He didn't do anything. Simon got tired of tantalizing us and us not responding so he threw a grenade he found to open the door. I think he's wondering why the army hasn't come in yet." Liam chips in.

Louis stands still for a moment, trying to listen to any sounds he can hear so he can assess the situation. The shooting has stopped, but the silence is eerie, not helpful at all.

"What's happening?" Louis asks.

"He stopped. I removed the brick from the hole so I can see inside." Liam replies. "It's very smokey, I can't see anything."

"Take your head out before you get shot, Iron."

"Hydrogen, I just heard something through the device we planted on the detective. They're going to send the army in."

Louis freezes on the spot and sees Zayn do the same from about twenty meters away where he is also carrying money bags towards the drop off.

"Are you sure?"

"They heard an explosion."

"How long until they come in? How would they even come in?"

Stupid question.

"If we seal off all entries into the bank, how would the army even come in?" Gigi asks during the last week in Brentwood.

The Chemist points at her. "Yes."

She projects the blueprint of the bank on the wall. "First is entry 1, which is the roof. Even though the door is bolted shut, they can drop down on the roof and blow up the door. If they do so, you have about fifteen minutes until they're inside the bank. From there, about an hour until they're down in the vault, based on how well you sealed off all access to the roof. Entry 2 is through the windows in the courtyard, but that would take way more time since they're bullet proof and can only be cut through with angle grinders. Entry 3 is through the basement. The room which will be converted into the armory is the easiest entry for them because they can cut through the door from outside and then try to blow up the door inside. If they come in through the basement, you have about ten minutes until they're inside. But that's where the armory comes in. Your machine guns and weapons will be ready to use, and I cannot stress this enough: do NOT shoot at them, shoot to delay, not to kill."

Louis realizes that every single weapon that could potentially help them if the army manages to come in is in the armory. He looks at Zayn for a moment, who's looking back at him as if he was expecting an answer.

For a moment, there's no sound. No drilling, no shooting, no complaining, nothing. Just silence.

Then, he runs to Zayn, drops the bags by his feet, then speaks into the mic.

"Code Green. We have to leave NOW!"

-----

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Ronnie