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Tires screech across the pavement and leave dark marks on the faded pavement. Lily squints, eyes straining to see in the moonlight without any headlights. She wrestles with a red curl insistent on sticking to her chapstick but stays focused. She can almost still hear Sirius chanting the plan over again and again in her head.
“Lily’s our driver,” Sirius gestured to her and went to continue his monologue before James groaned.
“Lily? Why Lily?”
“Because, even though your fragile masculinity refuses to acknowledge it, she’s the best driver of all of us. Plus you, my friend, are our gunman.” Sirius turned with a flourish and withdrew a pistol and shotgun from the open duffle bag at his feet. He threw both into James’s eager hands, one after another.
“Okay, never mind, that’s sick. You can stay in the car, Lily.”
“Thanks,” She drawled before leaning back in her seat and throwing her legs up on the table in front of her.
“Mary has our backs with the cameras and security systems,” Sirius motioned to the scrawny kid sitting on the floor, hunched over a laptop. “And I’ll be going into the prison with James to get him.”
Once they all hummed in acknowledgment, sans Mary who was entirely entranced in whatever they had going on with their laptop, Sirius slammed down a paper on the table.
“Here’s how it’s going to go.”
“Left at Route 62,” James reminds her, fiddling with the gun in his lap. His dark eyes are trained on the road ahead, face stern.
“Yeah, got it, James. I know how to do my job.” Lily huffs and turns sharply at the light.
“Just reminding you.” James flashes her one of the grins he thinks is oh-so-charming, and it only slightly works to calm her down. “You know Sirius will kill us if we don’t manage to get him this time.”
“Sirius will do no such thing,” Sirius interjects from the back of the van where he sits with Mary and their mountain of tech. “Because this is going to go perfectly. Mary, do you have the bomb ready?”
“A BOMB?” James interjected.
“Yes.” Sirius seemed unfazed by James’s outburst as he looked down at Mary.
“It’s perfectly safe.” Mary mumbled before they lifted the small clump of wiring from the bag that rested beside them. They were drowning under all of the tech pilled on their lap, dark skin blending in with the black plastic of hard drives and wrapped wires.
“Perfectly safe? A bomb?” James looked near-panting as he glanced at Lily, pushing his dark hair out of his eyes.
Lily wasn’t sure why James was so upset. Breaking an inmate out of a high-security prison? Perfectly okay and safe. Add a small explosive to the mix? Completely unreasonable, apparently.
Though, she was curious as to why Sirius found it entirely necessary for the bomb. He had boasted relentlessly about Mary’s ability to hack them through the prison as easily as walking through a park, so why the need for all the dramatics?
“Let him talk,” Lily nudged James before she looked to Sirius, waiting for him to continue.
“As I was saying.”
“Lily,” Sirius calls. She shoots her hand back to grasp the detonator from Sirius’ hand, her other hand busy holding the van straight as they speed down the barren street. “South exit and then straight back to us. I mean it, don’t stall or it ruins the meaning of a distraction.”
“Yep, heard you the first, second, sixth time.” Lily wishes Sirius and James would just shut up and let her think without having to struggle to focus over the nonstop chatter.
“Pardon me for wanting to make sure we can get Regulus out of that shithole.” Sirius glares up at the cluster of buildings growing before them. “As soon as possible.”
Ah, the shithole – Sirius is so eloquent – that is Azkaban Correctional Institution. This is where they’ve been holding Regulus Black hostage for nearly eight months now. Lily focuses on it as they get nearer and nearer to the building, remembering the blueprint Sirius shoved down their throats and trying to imagine it laying over the building in front of her. Just beyond those doors will be the front desk and, just behind that, a small break room. Down a hallway, up some stairs, take a few lefts and rights, and you’ll be facing Regulus in his small cell.
Lily takes a harsh right and slams on the brakes. James and Sirius throw their doors open and grab their gear the moment the van screeches to a stop.
“Once we get Reg, we’re back on track for business as usual.” Sirius adjusted the corner of the tarp covering one of the many paintings in the warehouse they’re all gathered at. “Luckily, they only raided his personal studio, so we only lost four paintings.”
“What are the chances we get those back?” James asked, running his finger across the grain of the wood table.
“They’ve probably got them on lockdown. Or they’ve burnt them or something,” Lily sighed, tipping her chair back. “It’s not like we’re short on paintings – even without the four we’re still over twenty ready to go.”
“We don’t want to draw any more attention to ourselves either way.” James sat down next to Lily.
Lily watched, chewing on her lip and thinking. “Regulus’s going to be pissed, though.”
Sirius waved a hand across the air as if brushing the words out of existence. He didn’t answer beyond that, just sat and looked at the piles of canvas covering the warehouse.
Lily had asked when she entered the building for the first time, in awe, how long Regulus had been preparing for this. Regulus had looked pleased and admitted that he had been practicing and getting better at making the paintings for years now.
That had been nearly three years ago when she had first met Regulus and James through Mary – back when Sirius still swore up and down that he would never get involved in the family business.
“Why’re we still planning on doing the heist so soon? You know they’re going to be all over us once he’s out. Shouldn’t we wait another year or two?” James asked. Lily looked over and was shocked to find that he didn’t look anxious.
The newest of their group, Lily had her apprehensions about James. He was nice, and Mary vouched for him, but he was always stressed and poorly hiding it. But now he just looked concerned – for Sirius, she assumed. It was nice to see, in a weird way.
She knew they had bonded the past few months but she hadn’t noticed just how much. It shows now in the wrinkle on Olvier’s forehead and how he’s leaned toward Sirius, examining him carefully. If she was being completely honest with herself, they had all been worried about Sirius lately. The messy hair, lost pounds, and immovable determination to complete this heist against all odds was more than concerning.
“We’re doing this now, in two months, just like we planned. I’ve planned for too long to give up now.” That had been his answer for the past two years.
“We have everything ready, too,” Mary added. Lily jumped at their sudden comment. They didn’t tend to pipe up in conversations like this often. A glance in their direction showed hard determination set in their jaw. They were still typing on the laptop resting on their knees, dark hair a puff of chaos around their head, but they looked so sure of themself. So sure of Sirius and his plan.
If Mary was all the way on board with this, so was Lily. They had been her best friend her entire life. Where they go, she follows.
She tipped her chair forward again, letting the legs smack against the floor. “Then let’s just hope luck is on our side this time.” Lily shrugged, “I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”
“Good luck boys.” Lily manages to give them an easy smile and shoots a wink at James. No need for all of them to be anxious messes and Sirius is visibly sweating. “Don’t have too much fun in there,” she says as she lays her chin on her hand and waves them away with her fingers. She swallows down her own nerves in favor of watching James scoff despite his shaking hands.
“Yeah, okay, Lily. Sure thing. I’ll make sure we leave a few guards for ya.” James spits. Not up to par with his usual banter, but Lily lets it go given the current circumstances. At least he seems more comfortable after falling into the usual routine of bickering with her.
“James!” Sirius barks, signaling he’s ready. James falls into step quickly. “Lily, watch Mary and make sure you’re on time,”
“You’ve got it, cap’tn.” Lily mock salutes and watches them make their way to the building, trying her best to keep herself calm as she fights her worry.
Her boys will be fine, they have to be, and Regulus will be home with them soon.
She watches their backs as they slowly slink around the building to find the door Sirius marked with a yellow circle on all of their maps. Once she can no longer see Sirius’ head reflecting the moonlight, Lily puts the van in drive again and floors it.
James is calm. James is so calm, actually, that he’s not even sure that he knows the definition of panic. Anxiety? Gone, there’s no way he could have it, he’s so calm.
His hands are shaking where they clutch his gun. He watches Sirius press a small device against the frame of the door and tap a few buttons. There is sweat gathering on the top of Sirius’ neck and James focuses on how he can see the moonlight pooling there.
“Wanna take a few more minutes? Wouldn’t want them rushed when we get in there,” James whispers, poorly hiding the shake in his voice.
Sirius ignores him and the door’s locks release open a few seconds later with a faint click. The door is heavy and metal, and it takes both James and Sirius throwing their bodies against it to push the door inward.
“It’s meant to run on that motor,” Sirius grunts, motioning with a jerk of his head to where the clicking of gears can be heard. One final shove and the door is open just enough to cast a small triangle of grey light on the floor.
“Well, you do the honors.” James nods toward the door and motions forward with his gun.
“Please don’t tell me you’re going to be a little bitch through all of this,” Sirius sighs, slipping through the open door.
Indignation flares in James’s chest but he doesn’t say anything as he follows Sirius. He knows he’s on this team to do this part – the brave, action-y part – but he would like to think any reasonable person would be a little wary of entering a high-security prison.
Once they’ve shut the door nearly all the way, they turn on their earpieces. Sirius flicks his fingers forward and James takes the lead, begrudgingly. They make their way through a small reception area first. It’s scarcely furnished and James wrinkles his nose at the faint smell of sweat. As they pass through a room full of seats facing windows for visits, James is glad that they’re getting Regulus out of here before it could come to visits through plexiglass.
He’s only known him for a little over a year but he would hate to have to see him like that, caged up like an animal.
James leads Sirius through the white halls, following a thin beam of light thrown around by his flashlight.
“Guard room to the left,” Mary’s monotone voice sounds in James’s ear and his heart jumps at the sudden sound. He forgot that Mary is monitoring their path through the prison.
“Got it,” Sirius mumbles, moving past James to the window overseeing the hallway. Sirius peeks into the room and watches for a moment. “Three,” he announces. James sighs in relief. His research on the place found that only five guards work the night shift in Kerpie Hall, so only two are crawling around in the hallways with them.
They crouch down to pass the window and James takes the lead again. The adrenaline of this situation is calming him, making him focus instead of worry. A left followed by two rights and another left. The mantra repeats in his head – left, two rights, left again – it’s like a little rhyme that he’s holding onto for dear life. He’ll never live it down if he gets them lost. He wishes, as they creep down the hallways, that he has something to do with his hands.
Sirius smacks him across the head when he begins to quietly hum without realizing it.
Mary clutches their laptop to their chest as Lily takes a sharp right. She really is their best driver, they couldn’t argue with Sirius when he said it, but they do wish that she was gentler with her turns. Their tech clicks at every bump in the road.
They bite back the dry comment about slowing down a little that rests at the tip of their tongue. They don’t want to upset her and they know, after years of claiming shotgun in her beat-up Camry, that backseat driving is a one-stop ticket to Road Rage Lily.
“Your stairwell is up ahead,” they mutter into the mic and wait for Sirius’ quiet response.
“How are the boys?” Lily asks from the driver’s seat. Mary glances up, surprised to find that they’re near the bomb site.
“Slow,” Mary mutters, refusing to let their gaze linger on Lily and her halo of hair ignited in the sunset. They have a job to do, there’s no time to focus on anything else.
“No problems yet, though?” Lily asks and Mary can hear the stress below the casual question.
“No,” Mary answers. They wish that they were more consoling, gentler, softer, but their voice comes out monotone, blank. Out of the corner of their eye, though, they can see Lily relax slightly in her seat.
“Good, those idiots better not fuck this up.”
Mary fights the beginning of a smile and instead focuses on double-checking the programming for the bomb resting on the floor next to them.
Lily parks the car after another few minutes of driving. When Mary glances up again, they see her climbing over the center console. She throws herself down next to them and her pale, freckled legs stretch out next to Mary’s dark ones. Mary raises an eyebrow at her and she knocks her knee against theirs.
“We have three minutes before we’re supposed to go,” Lily explains, “I didn’t hit any of the lights Sirius was worried about.”
Mary nods and returns their focus to their laptop screen.
“Are you guys nearly there?” Sirius asks, voice hushed but clipped.
“We’re here, just waiting for the clock,” Mary’s fingers still on their keyboard as they listen to the huffs of James’s breathing. Are they running?
“Go now,” Sirius snaps.
Mary whips his head around to look at Lily.
“Now.” Mary shoves the bomb into her hands. Lily swallows thickly, frozen for a moment before she springs into action. They watch as Lily scrambles to stand, cradling the bomb gently between her hands as if it will go off any second. Mary pushes down the urge to scoff. They built the bomb, and it’s not going off before they want it to.
“Fuck, shit, fucking shit,” Sirius groans, pushing himself up by his elbows. James offers him a hand, and Sirius takes it, allowing himself to be heaved up.
“Come on,” James demands, tugging Sirius forward by his arm and shoving them both through a door. His gun is pushed back into his hands. Sirius takes care to not look at the man laying on the floor. The man he shot. “Come on, Lily,” James mutters.
“It should have gone off by now,” Sirius tells James, jogging behind him, “Mary?” he asks his headset.
“Mary, don’t be a dick, answer –” James is cut off by the bomb exploding. It’s defining and Sirius feels the vibration in his feet. Both he and James jump to cover their ears. James stumbles, the ground shaking from the blast from the other side of the building, and Sirius flips his hand so that he’s the one yanking James forward by the arm.
Sirius’ ears are ringing and he thinks his nose is bleeding from where the stout guard punched him earlier.
“Right!” James screams.
Sirius barely makes it out over the ringing in his ears. Sirius yanks them both down the hall James signaled to, feet sliding but not stopping, never stopping. His brother is waiting and, as he’s proving right now, nothing is going to stop him from getting to him.
Sirius lifts a hand to his ear while they run. “Bomb was effective!” he shouts, pressing into the small device he hopes is still working. When he moves his hand away, blood coats his fingers, dripping down on his palm. He ignores it, clutching his gun to his chest instead. He and James are so close now that Sirius can nearly taste it.
Months of meticulous planning, months of late-night pacing, months of not eating have all cumulated to this moment. He’s not going to let this slip through his fingers again.
James, despite being the one dragged along, mostly leads them through the maze of white hallways through faint yelling and sloppy hand signals. They’ve chosen their path to specifically avoid all emergency evacuation routes so, while it takes a little bit longer to find the back stairways, they only cross paths with one other guard. James had done his routing job well. Pride for his friend flashes in his chest for a moment before it’s replaced with the knowledge that he is going to have to kill this guard too.
Sirius shoots him with a grimace. He doesn’t think he’s ever going to sleep peacefully again after tonight.
He’s watched his father kill men before without blinking. But this? Holding the gun and pulling the trigger himself?
Sirius has been thrust into a whole new world without half a second to process it. He can feel the inner parts of himself changing, shifting, never to be the same again with every bullet that leaves the gun clutched between his hands.
And, right now, all he knows is go, run, faster, get to Regulus. Whatever it takes, get to Regulus and get life back to where it’s supposed to be.
Regulus waits patiently. He can hear the commotion outside and he smiles when the two guards outside of his door end their argument by deciding to evacuate with the others rather than maintain their posts.
“He’s so little, dude. Honestly, what can he do?” Had been the guard’s final argument to get his friend to abandon their stations.
What, indeed.
He weighs his options as he waits, sitting cross-legged on his bed. A part of him is sure that this is his stupid brother’s work – Sirius’ name is written all over this chaos – but he knows it would be foolish of him to pin all of his hopes on that.
Regulus begins to think, tapping his fingers on his knees while he waits. Does he want to break out of here? It’s not really a case of wrongful indication. He’s proud to admit that every stroke on the forged painting came from his own brush, and he truly is content serving his seven years in peace. No taxes, free meals, and a pretty alright bed with no cellmate (his last three roommates were all sent to solitary – and he doesn’t think another one is coming anytime soon), Regulus isn’t all too worried about passing his time here. He’ll still be in her twenties when he’s released – basically his entire life set in front of her, waiting to be lived. Actually, if they give him any sort of painting materials, he doesn’t think she would consider a breakout plan himself. But, the officers refuse to, and his palms have been itching to paint for all eight months he’s been locked in this all-white room.
Plus, there’s his family to think of. Sirius, the idiot, won’t just sit there and wait for Regulus to get out patiently. Lily and Mary would probably be on board with it too and James. Well, Regulus won’t think of James here, not now.
He can’t, he can’t ruin whatever they’ve started by thinking it over and over, sitting alone in his cell. There’s too much time for him to ruin it like he ruins everything, so he pushes James out of his mind and keeps tapping on his knee, thinking.
“I hate when you do that,” Sirius groaned, pushing the door open and dropping his bag on the floor next to the bed.
“Do what?” Regulus asked, blinking slowly at him.
“You sit and sort of just stare off into the distance. And your eyes get all wide like an owl, it’s freaky.”
“I was just trying to decide if it’s done or not.” Regulus returned his attention to the canvas propped up against the wall across from him.
Sirius sighed and kicked off his boots before throwing himself on the bed beside Regulus. He didn’t move to make room for him so he was left with the corner of the bed to perch on.
He joined in on his staring.
In front of them sat a nearly-perfect replica of The Return of the Prodigal Son . Nearly perfect. Nearly, but not quite. Regulus tipped his head to the side and continued his staring.
Sirius groaned, mumbling a drawn-out, “Freaky” before heaving himself up onto his feet. “Come on, time to go meet the others.”
“Ah, yes, that’s today. I’m beyond excited, this will be just so interesting to sit through.”
Sirius rolled his eyes at him while he stood and began to roll the canvas up gently, “It’s a multi-stage, extremely controlled operation, Reg, not grocery shopping. Your head needs to be in the game.”
“It’s an art heist, Sirius, not rocket science,” Regulus threw Sirius a cold stare and situated the canvas bag on his shoulder, “I mean, if Dad could manage to do it three times, how hard can it really be?”
Regulus is just deciding he might as well make an attempt at the window when he hears boots pounding on the ground outside of his door.
His cell is completely enclosed. It’s more like a miniature apartment than a cage. The door has one of those smaller windows with bars running vertically along it and a small flap that can only be opened from the outside. Because he is fully enclosed by stark white walls, he can’t see who’s approaching.
Keen on patience, Regulus maintains his perch on his bed, legs tucked underneath him, and watches with wide eyes.
He can’t make out the quiet words, but he can tell it’s definitely men on the other side of the door. There’s no handle on the door, just a small computer that engages the motor to open the cell for daily yard time.
Curiously, Regulus watches as the small light at the top of the door blinks green, then yellow, red, then back to green. After a second, there’s a snap, a small cheer, and the door slides open.
“Hello, welcome in,” Regulus greets his brother, eyes scanning him. He’s rather filthy, covered in blood and dirt. It doesn’t really suit him. Next to him is James. He’s also covered in blood and dust but less so, and Regulus can just make out how his olive skin has paled since he last saw him. He sends him a smile and Regulus returns itm heart aching for a moment before he can get it under better control.
Against his better wishes, he really hoped they were on the way for her, and he’s beyond pleased to see them. “Come, have a seat.”
“No time, we have to go.” Sirius steps forward toward his twin-sized bed and offers a hand.
Regulus wrinkles his nose and ignores it. No way he’s touching his hand when it clearly is caked in blood. Probably his if the drips on his shoulder are anything to go by. Slowly, he stands and brushes off his pants.
“Yes, alright, if you insist.”
Regulus takes a step forward only to be stopped by Sirius grabbing his shoulder. He lifts his finger and he and James both adopt distant expressions for a moment. He can hear the faint chatter coming from the radios in their ears.
He waits impatiently as they listen to whoever is on the other side – probably Mary if he were to take a guess. He watches James fidget with his gun as Sirius has a hushed, clipped conversation with his headset about alternate routes and guard paths. He tries to focus, determine if it really is Mary on the other side, before he gets distracted watching James’ hands fiddle with the gun. His palms are itching to reach out and stop him, to make him still and calm, when there is a loud bang from the hallway followed by several quick pop pop pop s.
“We need to move!” James grabs his arm and yanks him to his side.
“Fuck it, go the original way! And, run , Regulus!” Sirius is already throwing himself out of the door as he makes his demands.
“I won’t run,” Regulus sigs, disgruntled at the distraction from his painting. “I just want to set my things down.”
“Sir, if you don’t follow our orders we will have no choice other than to use force to restrain you.”
“Alright, alright, just a moment.” Regulus put his hands in the air, slowly turning around and sending a placating smile to the officer in front of him. He noticed how her gun shook in her clasped hands and clicked his tongue. Regulus hated that he could see the woman’s nerves – she was doing such a good job at being intimidating until now.
Once his hands were securely put into the air, the second male officer behind the first moved forward and grabbed his wrist.
“Regulus Black, you are under arrest for uttering a false instrument that aided in the completion of felony-level theft. You have the right to remain silent, everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” The officer locked the cuffs behind Regulus’s back as he listened to him drone on about lawyers.
“Reg?” Regulus’s head snapped to the right at Sirius’ voice.
He watched as he pushed his way forward. A third officer appeared and pressed his hand to Sirius’ chest. He fought for a moment before searching the room and locking eyes with Regulus.
He met his eyes, watching as he searched his face. He looked like a mess, long hair sticking up in all different directions. He hadn’t been quite right since the studio was raided two days ago. He’d been going on rants about never living up to the legacy their Dad left for them every few hours or so and, with every long, drawn-out speech, Regulus watched him dive deeper and deeper into a sort of madness.
Sirius thrived best with a plan. He always had, their entire childhood was chock-full of grand adventures marked out to a T. And – with the last bit of his original idea to clean out the Hogwarts Museum of Art fading away with Regulus’s current situation – he looked even worse than he had when he left the apartment hours before. His grey eyes frantically jumped between Regulus, the handcuffs binding his wrists, and the officer slowly holstering her gun.
He could see the cogs turning in his head. Calculating, formulating, grinding.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
“Your boyfriend is under arrest, man. He gets a phone call, wait for then, but you can’t go in there.” The officer continued to pull Sirius back.
Seeming to realize he had no other choice, Sirius let the guard push him back another step, finally looking over to the shorter man.
“He’s my brother, dickwad,” Sirius sneered.
“It’s alright, Sirius,” Regulus called, rolling his wrists in his cuffs. He wasn’t initially planning on calling Sirius when he got to the station, his first thought had been Lily, but he supposed Sirius worked just as well. Anything to keep him planning and not breaking down.
“I’ll call you soon, we’ll have a nice chat then!” Regulus promised, cooperating as the female guard pushed him forward and down the stairs of his apartment complex.
Lily fights the urge to chew her nails while they wait for everyone to appear at the pick-up sight.
“Stop tapping. It’s making me nervous,” Mary drones from beside her.
“Sorry, your majesty, wouldn’t want the Princex feeling worried on a day like today, that would be just awful.”
“No need to be rude just because I know how to keep my composure.”
“Oh, this is keeping your composure, is it?” Lily scoffs, “I would call it being a dick.”
“Better a dick than a pussy.”
“Oh, really , you’re going to make that argument?” Lily snarls, whipping around to face Mary.
Mary opens their mouth to answer but their eyes widen as they look up at the figures approaching over her shoulder.
“Open the doors,” Mary demands, shoving their laptop to the side and standing.
Lily doesn’t hesitate, launching herself over the console to throw the van doors open as Mary rummages through their bag. She doesn’t look behind her to assess the damage. Anxiety in the form of hot bubbling lava settles in the bottom of her stomach.
It doesn’t take long for James to breach her line of sight once she’s thrown the back doors of the van open. He’s a mess, bleeding and stumbling all over the place. Lily yanks him inside the van by his arm, leaning out to search for Sirius and Regulus. It takes a few more seconds, but finally, they show – and Lily sees why Mary is taking everything out of the small medical bag. Sirius is carrying an unconscious Regulus over his shoulder.
Lily stumbles out of the van to help him, ignoring Mary’s yelling. Yes, she’s well aware that she should be getting behind the wheel and preparing to beat feet, but Sirius is stumbling under Regulus’ weight and a massive amount of blood is soaking his sweater. If she hadn’t seen James seconds ago, weak on his feet and bleeding from his face, she would have been pissed that he wasn’t helping too.
“I’ve got him!” Sirius barks and then stumbles seconds later.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you do,” Lily mutters. Sometimes she thinks that Sirius assembled their team based on the most stubborn people he could find, rather than the best team for an art heist.
It doesn’t take any coaxing to get Sirius to accept her help though, and soon Lily is running back to the van with Regulus in her arms. He’s bleeding from a cut on his neck. Lily assumes it’s a graze wound but isn’t sure.
Mary is there to take Regulus from Lily’s arms. “Get us out of here,” they snarl, turning and setting Regulus in James’s lap.
“Route A or C?” Lily asks Sirius over her shoulder. He grunts as he tugs the van doors closed.
“C.”
Lily sends him a nod and crawls back into the driver’s seat. The van is still running. She switches gears and punches the gas.
Being involved in a police car chase is nowhere near as fun as James thought it would be. It mainly involves a lot of cursing from Lily and snarky remarks from Mary.
“Jesus Christ, if you think I’m doing such a shit job come do it yourself!” Lily snaps.
Mary closes their mouth after that – James knows that they don’t have their license.
James ignores the sound of gunfire from outside, used to it after the past ten minutes of driving. He thought that the police would have better aim but they still haven’t managed to hit a single tire. He watches Regulus’s face instead, holding his head on his lap while Mary does their best to patch Sirius up. Regulus had woken up a few minutes ago and Mary had already bandaged his wounds. He’s now resting with her eyes closed, mouth twitching into small, nearly unnoticeable smiles at Lily and Mary’s bickering.
“I’ve missed you,” he had mumbled quietly to James before shutting his eyes a few moments ago. James decides he can’t linger on that now but tucks the three words into the back of his mind to obsess over later.
Lily throws the van into a sudden turn and James looks up to watch her concentrate. She’s chewing at her lip intently, glaring at the moonlit road ahead of her.
James’s gaze turns to Sirius after a moment. He had been shot in the side and then arm on their path back to the van. James knows he made it out lucky with his minor scrapes and bruises compared to the bloody mess Sirius is. Looking at Sirius makes him feel light-headed from all of the blood.
“That’s the best I can do,” Mary mutters, taping off a piece of gauze.
Sirius has always been pale but he’s looking sort of gray now. Blood is dribbling out of the corner of his mouth. James grimaces and looks back at Regulus, searching his face to make sure he hasn’t fallen asleep again. He opened her eyes at Mary’s voice, now watching Sirius with wide, slate-grey eyes.
He feels quite queasy, it’s obvious Sirius isn’t doing well. James fights a gag as he lifts his blood-dampened shirt away from his chest and settles more comfortably with Regulus in his lap. He definitely made the right choice in not going to med school if how he’s reacting now is any indication.
“Then that’ll have to be okay for now,” Sirius pants, pulling his undershirt down with a wince. “When we get back to the house I can pull some strings to get a doctor over.”
Maybe James should have at least tried med school, now that he’s thinking about it and resolutely not looking over at Mary cleaning up from where he crudely stitched Sirius’ arm and side up.
If he had given med school a shot he might have been in a different math class two years ago and would have never met Mary. Never meeting Mary would have never turned into meeting Lily and then Sirius. Without him, none of them would be here.
“Sirius?” Regulus asks softly. For the first time since they’d left his cell, he sounds affected by all of this.
“I’m alright, Reg,” Sirius reassures him. Though, James can hear in his voice that even he doesn’t believe himself.
James, against his better judgment, risks another glance in Sirius’ direction and immediately feels bad that he was just thinking so bitterly about his friend. Sirius is his best friend, if he’s being honest, and he’s thinking about how he could’ve avoided meeting him while he bleeds out on the floor.
Lily lets out a frustrated scream from the driver’s seat. James fights a snort at the sudden intrusion and turns to watch Lily drive instead of Sirius’ struggling breathing.
He’ll have plenty of time later to consider (and reconsider and re-reconsider) if agreeing to this shit-storm was worth it in the first place.
They all fall silent, save for Lily’s quiet ranting as she struggles to lose their tail and Sirius’ wheezing breaths. James looks around at their small group, watching their determined faces and wondering how the rest of them have justified being here.
He’s aware, of course, that Sirius and Regulus have been a part of this entire scene their whole lives.
The family business , Sirius had called it when the topic first came up. Only then, he sounded so jaded. So angry at the idea. A stark contrast to the loving way he’s talked about it heist while they planned it.
But he can’t help but wonder how Mary and Lily have justified the crime in their minds. Was it the promise of the money? Two and a half years ago, Mary was in the same Microbiology class as James, and Lily wasn’t even living in Florida. He knows that Mary and Lily have known Sirius and Regulus for years now, but his head is spinning as the reality of the entire situation is really catching up to him.
He thought he was making cool, new friends in college. Now, they’re all part of the final step of phase one of a large-scale art heist.
Well, stage one of Plan B.
No matter how you cut it, life is weird now and, as James stares numbly through the windshield, he can’t stop thinking about it. A hysterical laugh is stuck in the bottom of his chest.
His parents think he’s in his dorm right now, preparing to graduate with his Doctorate next month. Instead, he’s running from the police as they fail to blow out their tires.
He knew this would be dangerous, but damn, knowing it is an entirely different beast than living it.
It’s while James is lost in his thoughts that Sirius faints. Mary manages to catch him as Lily hits a bump in the road. They meet James’s eyes over Sirius’ limp body, looking more panicked than James has ever seen them.
“FUCK YEAH!” Lily shouts but even that intrusion can’t break James’s stupor. “I think we’ve lost them!” Lily celebrates.
“Does he have a pulse?” James asks, snapping out of it. Mary checks and then rolls Sirius off their lap, frantically shaking their head.
James’s world stops spinning.
“Guys, what’s happening?” Lily asks, obviously overhearing them.
Regulus sits up. He and James watch as Mary presses into Sirius’ chest. They’re keeping a steady rhythm, counting under their breath.
James winces as he hears Sirius’ chest crack under Mary’s hands.
Regulus jumps forward at the sound of Sirius’ ribs snapping. James rushes to catch him as he sways. He collects him in his arms quickly, holding him tightly and preventing him from getting in the way.
He’s sobbing.
James grips her harder in his arms. She shakes and cries while they watch Mary work over Sirius.
The only thing keeping James from lunging forward and holding Sirius, yelling at him to just breathe is Regulus in his arms. He’s holding the stars while watching the Earth fade away in front of him and he’s only able to keep himself together by brute force.
It only takes a few more presses against Sirius’ chest for him to begin coughing. Blood splatters on Mary’s cheek.
Regulus sags against James, falling limp in his lap. He’s crying still, silently now.
James lets out a startled noise, something between a laugh and a sob, and turns Regulus in his lap so they’re sitting in some sort of an awkward hug.
Lily is still driving, now bringing them to their safe house, no doubt. She went silent somewhere in the struggle, whipping her head to look back and forth between the road and the group behind her.
Sirius is breathing again, Regulus is scooting forward to cradle his head, Mary is wiping their face with the corner of their sleeve, and James is slumping back, cradling Regulus to his chest.
They’re all safe, right now, in this moment. And, yeah, everyone in this cramped van is a pain in James’s ass, but fuck , he loves them. He loves them, and they’re safe.
Exhausted, James closes his eyes for what feels like the first time in the past two hours and lets out a crazed laugh. The easy part is over. Now it’s time to start the real challenge: the art heist is just beginning.