InsaneJournal

parker succeeds by stealing the success of others (inafivepoundbag) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2012-06-05 20:42:00

Entry tags:

parker, sherlock holmes

WHO: Sherlock Holmes and Parker
WHAT: How To Steal A Museum 101.
WHEN: After visiting hours
WHERE: The Colligo Museum of History and Art.
RATING: TBD [probably not too terribly high]
STATUS: In Progress

Parker knew that what she was about to do was possibly the dumbest thing she had ever considered doing. Taking a member of law enforcement - even if he was technically just a consultant - on a museum raid was pretty much right at the top of the list of Things You Don't Do When You're A Thief. However, Parker also knew that she had a few things going for her here that made that rule open to more interpretation than it would have been otherwise.

For starters, the police chief was her ex-husband who seemed to actually kind of like her. Then there was the fact that things ran differently in Colligo and crimes that didn't hurt anyone, when committed by non-locals, were often overlooked in lieu of keeping the peace amongst the captives. Plus, she pretty much lived for pushing her own limits in her line of work and figured if there was one thing in the entire city that would challenge even her skills, it would be to teach someone like Sherlock Holmes how to pull off a heist that only someone of her caliber could ever hope to manage. So she had offered to show him how she'd done it the first time around, without actually admitting that she had been the one to do it. And, as the museum finally locked its doors and the the employees headed home, leaving only the overnight security guard between her and everything inside, the time had come to make good on her offer.

Now, sitting on the edge of the water fountain that was located diagonally to the museum, she waited to see if the consulting detective would show up so she could, in fact, go through with one of the craziest ideas she'd ever had. Parker figured she'd give him fifteen minutes or so to make his appearance. If he wasn't there after that, she was going to break into his place and steal all of his stuff instead. Because nobody, but nobody, stood her up and got away with it.

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ifimnothungry
2012-06-06 01:57 am UTC (link)

Sherlock Holmes was not a man above asking for help when he needed it. He had an entire network of people back in London that he would rely upon for information on facts and circumstances that fell outside his understanding. For all his breadth and depth of knowledge, there were many holes in Sherlock's understanding of the world, things that John had always been oh so fond of pointing out, and as it happened, thievery was one of those things. Oh, he had a working understanding of the craft, enough to foil some of the most clever burglars in London during his times with the Yard. But it seemed that even the most clever burglars in London were no match for some of the people that ended up here. Not wholly unsurprising what with Asaph's tendency to pick only the best and brightest in all of their trades but maddening in the fact that he had been staring at a floor plan of the museum since the items had gone missing and had yet to make it past the possible points of entry.

It all seemed to fall apart when he got to trying to figure out how she could have made off with the whole museum in only a matter of hours. Not so much that she had done it, that she had done it alone, or that she had done it without getting caught. It was the time frame which left him baffled, shifting that many times over that short a time span to leave the cupboard bare the next morning. He simply could not fathom how it had been done.

It was why he had readily accepted her offer of a demonstration when it had been given. Thankful for not having to truly request the information directly or with an admission of just how confused he had been, Sherlock headed towards the museum at the hour that he had been told to arrive, spotting Parker sitting on the fountain across from the building in question as he approached. He slipped over next to her, sliding in and sitting next to her, a conspiratorial look on his features as he was well aware that something like this fell well outside of the police procedures that he had recently committed himself to following. But he had given her his word, and he intended to keep it. This was no trap. Merely an honest exchange of information.

"I suppose a local night guard doesn't make a difficult obstacle in the long run," Sherlock said as he settled on the edge of the fountain, casting Parker a brief glance.

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inafivepoundbag
2012-06-06 02:44 am UTC (link)

Although she had sensed his arrival easily enough, Parker didn't really glance in Sherlock's direction as he took a seat beside her. It wasn't because she was trying to pretend she didn't know him, or anything stupid like that. It was simply because she was busy scanning the outside of the museum to make absolutely sure that security hadn't been increased or the schedule disrupted since her last heist. Of course, that didn't prevent her from answering him when he spoke. Even if the initial response she gave was nothing more than a soft snort of amusement.

"Phil?" she replied with another snort. "No, Phil's not a problem at all. He likes his coffee black." Going silent for a second, it only belatedly occurred to her that she should probably explain a little more than that if she wanted to actually teach Sherlock how to properly pull off something of this magnitude. So she slid her hand into the bag she had slung over her shoulder, pulling out a bottle of pills and shook them slightly to indicate what she was talking about.

"Flunitrazepam," she explained with a casual glance at Sherlock as she put the bottle away. She flashed him a grin then immediately turned back to the museum. "It's pretty much tasteless anyway but black coffee covers the slightly bitter aftertaste that sometimes lingers. One of these babies and Phil will be out like a light." Suddenly, she surged to her feet and began moving toward the museum, although she paused after a few steps to look back over her shoulder at Sherlock.

"Let's go," she announced, the grin returning as she hiked her bag further up her shoulder and shoved her hands into her pockets. "Time to have some fun!" And with that, she took off at a light jog toward the museum before cutting sharply into the scattering of trees that ran along the side of the building so as to make her way toward the back without anyone who might be passing by taking notice. Her gear was already stashed in a spot she'd picked out during the last heist so, once they were in position, it really was as simple as putting on the equipment.

And then, well, it was time to head to the roof and really get the party started.

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ifimnothungry
2012-06-06 03:14 am UTC (link)

Flunitrazepam, commonly known as Rohypnol. 6-(2-fluorophenyl)-2-methyl-9-nitro-2,5-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undeca-5,8,10,12-tetraen-3-one. C₁₆H₁₂FN₃O₃. His mind flickered through his extensive index of information on the drug that she had presented to him, his mind thankfully able to fill in all of the details that she was expecting him to know. Whatever thoughts that he might have voiced about her use of such a drug upon an unsuspecting individual, with no thoughts to his own utter willingness to drug unsuspecting people (In the name of science!), was luckily cut off by her enthusiastic declaration that they were going to have some fun and left Sherlock blinking in the face of it for a moment before he collected himself enough to follow.

Stealth was something that he had more than enough experience with. Staying out of sight was executed with almost as much skill at Parker displayed, her own build much more suited for the action than his and her sheer natural grace showing as she was able to secure herself invisibly behind the trees for the briefest of moments in Sherlock's vision even though he had watched her enter them barely a handful of seconds before, as he moved in behind her, his eyes sweeping an inspection over her movements, the gear that she had already stored (or kept there permanently?), the utter delight on her features and quietly stored away each instance of data that he was gaining.

They might have reached this point because of a conflict, but Sherlock was hoping that they might come out of it with a mutual understanding. But it was looking to him as though there would be so much more to understanding this woman than he had first thought.

Even as he was itching to ask questions, he was trying to restrain himself lest talking would disrupt things, but his mouth would not follow the directions of his mind, and as they approached the gear, the words tumbled out without his permission, "What entry point are you intending to use? You mentioned grappling equipment before. Is it the roof? Skylight or service shaft?"

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inafivepoundbag
2012-06-06 03:29 am UTC (link)

Dropping the bag she was carrying to the ground, Parker hauled a much larger bag containing her gear out of its spot and crouched down, pulling out the various things they would need to get to the roof in the first place. She didn't glance up at he spoke, although it didn't really bother her that he was talking either. She wasn't easily distracted, especially by questions that most people tended to want to know. Not that she made a habit of taking people on heists with her, but they tended to act all the same. At first, at least.

Finally pulling out two harnesses, she replied, "If it was just me, I'd come down the side of the building and in through one of the windows on the top floor where they store old displays." Glancing up at him finally, she held out a harness for him to take and grinned. "But that means we'd be dangling off the side of the roof from our fingertips for a couple of minutes and most people lack the upper body strength to really pull that off." Standing up, she pulled on her own harness while adding, "So, in an effort to keep you from plunging to your death tonight, we're going in through the service shaft."

Hauling a grappling hook gun out of the bag, she aimed for the roof and fired, easily hitting her mark. With a snort, she shook her head. "Skylight. Ha. You watch too many movies. Skylights leading into museums are always rigged," she stated. Tugging on the rope that was attached to the hook now embedded in the bricks that made up the roof's edge, Parker slid the gun back into the bag and tossed it back into its hiding spot. Then she glanced over at Sherlock once more.

"You're following me up so I can help get you over the edge once we're up top. Just attach like this," she showed him where to properly secure the line to his harness, "then pull slightly and lean back, like this," once again, she demonstrated the move, "and then all you have to do is walk up the wall." She paused then added merrily, "And if you're afraid of heights, don't look down. Otherwise you're liable to get dizzy, lose your footing, fall out of your harness, and plummet to your death. They tell me that's bad."

Another pause as she picked up her smaller bag and slid it back over her shoulders. "Try to keep up!" she exclaimed before taking a running leap at the building, twisting her body so she was aimed feet first, and quickly beginning the climb upward.

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ifimnothungry
2012-06-06 04:15 am UTC (link)

Sherlock had hefted himself up into buildings before. He'd scaled drainpipes and leapt between ledges and fire escapes. He counted himself as incredibly athletic for a bookish, ex-addict with a tendency to let himself languish for weeks on end without someone there to poke at him and tell him that food and sleep were necessities of life. But even he couldn't imagine suspending yourself in the air for several full minutes with only your own hands to hold you in place. Making note of this capability along with the rest, Sherlock quietly added a thought only to find himself uttering the words a second after they passed his mind, "Remind me never to tick you off in a way that will make you want to hurt me," He said, blinking for a moment before clearing his throat and taking the harness.

He'd been paying attention to her instructions and pulled the harness on without too much difficulty, hooking it together and making sure that it was all secured before turning his attention back to Parker with a quirk of a smile as she called at him to keep up before flinging herself at the building. All his life, Sherlock had been used to being the one in the lead, the one telling everyone else to keep up with him, that he wasn't going to slow down and unless they could claw themselves up to his speed, they weren't worth it. It was odd how nice that it was to be the one playing keep up for a change.

It was a bit of a chore to get the hang of the action without getting tangled up, and after two false starts, Sherlock did manage to get himself up onto the wall and moved to try and make up the pace behind Parker, thankful that he wasn't entirely a slouch in these departments and could make up the distance without too much of a sweat. But even as he fell in pace next to her, Sherlock knew better than to try and get ahead. He honestly had no clue what he was doing right now. He didn't want to end up stumbling headfirst into a situation that he couldn't get himself back out of.

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inafivepoundbag
2012-06-06 04:31 am UTC (link)

Parker had to admit, she was almost impressed. There weren't that many who could keep up with her when it came to scaling a building but Sherlock definitely seemed to be holding his own. Of course, this was far easier than a lot of the other things they were going to be doing before the show-and-tell was over, but still. So far, things were looking promising.

Reaching the roof, the blond quickly reached above her and grabbed hold of the ledge. With a thrust of her hips to give herself the proper momentum, she pulled herself up until her chest was parallel with the edge of the roof. Then sliding her palms flat against the bricked ledge, she continued to raise herself up until she was doing a headstand. A heartbeat later she kicked her feet and continued onward, landing smoothly on the rooftop. Unhooking herself from her harness so her line didn't get tangled with his, Parker then bellied up to the ledge and held a hand out for Sherlock to take.

"Once you have hold of my hand, let go of the rope," she instructed, waiting until he'd listened before she gave a heave and hauled him the few remaining feet over the ledge and onto the rooftop beside her. Not pausing because time really was of the essence, Parker immediately shimmied out of her harness and set it beside the grappling hook, then made her way silently toward the panel leading to the service shaft.

"Okay," she said, turning to Sherlock to make sure she had his full attention. "Here's where it gets tricky. About ten feet in, the shaft turns at an angle and the corner of the turn is rusted out. Don't put too much weight on it or you're going to fall through it. Considering the drop is about forty feet, it wouldn't be pretty, so just don't do it." Pulling out a paperclip, she unfolded it then slid it into the lock that was meant to keep the panel sealed off from anyone with a key. With an expert twist of her wrist, the lock popped open and Parker yanked the panel open then immediately climbed inside.

Only to pop her head back out of the opening almost as soon as she'd gone in. "Oh!" she tacked on, "And try to be quiet while we're in here. Sound carries and we don't want to set off the alarms by causing too big of a vibration." Then she disappeared again, naturally assuming he'd climb in after her without much hesitation. He'd come this far, already. She highly doubted he was going to turn back now.

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ifimnothungry
2012-06-07 01:55 am UTC (link)

Sherlock had been more than ready to heave himself up over the edge of the building. Perhaps, without the fancy, yet still amazingly impressive, gymnastics that Parker had done so with, but when she offered out her hand to him, he decided that dangling from the side of a building while attached solely to equipment of her own was not the best time to stubbornly refuse assistance. And as he was hauled up and over the wall, he was surprisingly thankful that he hadn't. He was not a small man. Sure, his insistence upon starving himself whenever there was a case to work or a problem to solve left him rather a lot lighter than other guys his height and age, but he was still well over six feet tall and weighed 10 stone, at the very least. Yet, she had flung him upwards as though he were little more than a child's rag doll.

"That was," Sherlock started, following her lead to discard the harness, "impressive. At what point do you start struggling? 220, 225?" The questions once more were brief glances across the forefront of his mind, not things that he had intended to utter in the midst of her explanation, even as he had caught the majority of it. Careful at the turn or you'll die was about what it amounted to, and he couldn't help but be a little relieved that she hadn't left it at just that. "Understood," He said with a nod as he moved to follow her, leaning forward just enough to get a good look down the shaft.

Sherlock Holmes was not a man who was easily unnerved. Fearless was a word that he had heard used occasionally, but it was not quite accurate. Reckless would be more to the point. But as he peered down after her, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd gotten himself in over his head. Still, there was no sense in backing out now. All he had to do was hope that he made it down without accidentally knocking out the rusty bit and falling to his death.

Mycroft would never forgive him for that.

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