They all crawled through the cold metal vents. The vents were still cold to the touch although it was practically in the middle of August where the hot summer weather is at its peak. Luhan reached the end of the vent where it was split in two. Lay signaled Xiumin to go to the right while he scrambled over to the left. Xiumin signaled for Luhan to follow him while Tao just turned left to follow Lay. They were doing this to make the noise minimal as possible and it wasn't safe traveling in a group. 

"Lay." Tao whispered as he crawled faster to catch up to Lay. 

"Yes?" The other hissed and stopped to wait.

"I sense something weird with Chen. I don't know but I feel weird." Tao hissed back and stopped once he caught up.

Lay groaned and muttered something along the lines of 'stupid' or 'out of his mind'.

Tao and Lay continued on to the room where the statue was at. 

--

They finally arrived that the vent grate where the room was supposed to be underneath. The yellow light poured in through the cracks as they looked through. All Tao could see was the dark brown wooden floor and nothing else. 

Lay started unscrewing the screws. "Remember to get down then freeze. Don't move your body a single step or we are all done for. Scan the vicinity for the cameras. If none of the cameras lights are blinking then move freely since that means Chen shut them off correctly. If one is blinking, report it to me or Chen and we will fix it. Well mostly Chen will fix it. Either way, yeah." Lay whispered into Tao's ear then threw rope at him.

Tao descended from the ceiling as if he were a spider descending onto it's prey. He moved silently and carefully down the rope. While going down, he scanned the room's cameras. All of them were off. 

He tugged the rope three times letting Lay know that it was safe before moving through the room. He found the cat out in the open. It was on a podium and wasn't covered at all since it just went to a showing. The cat statue sparkled. Well mostly it was the priceless jewels on the golden feline that sparkled. 

"Pretty." Lay gazed at it. 

"It is. It is." Xiumin whispered back while he and Luhan arrived. 

"Where's Chen?" Tao questioned with curiosity because he knew Chen would always go with Xiumin.

"He said he was staying back in the van just in case anything happens."

Tao nodded and once again tried to shove off the uneasy feeling he had inside. 

"Well what are you waiting for guys? I turned off the alarm!" Chen's voice crackled through everyone's earpiece.

Reluctantly, Lay reached out and took a hold of the cat's shoulders. It was about the size of a grown up real life cat. Luhan also reached in and helped Lay carry it down. 

"Good work." Chen's voice crackled again. Tao sensed the tiny amount of worry  in Chen's voice.  They climbed back into the vents and left the museum with the cat in Lay's arms. 

--

"Now to go home!" Chen smiled as he took a hold of Xiumin's hand and shook it. Xiumin's cheeks flushed and he shifted in the passenger seat. Chen was driving the van while Xiumin sat next to him and everyone else in the back.

"Now to the helicopter, right?" Lay yawned and rested his head on Luhan's shoulders. 

The rest of the ride was spent in silence while everyone but Chen and Tao slept. Tao noticed that Chen was shifting too much in the black drivers seat. Chen's fingers kept moving on the driving wheel as if the were to sweaty to stat in one spot on the wheel for too long. 

"What's wrong?" Tao asked worriedly. 

"Nothing nothing." Chen sang in his angelic voice. "Sleep, Tao." 

Involuntarily, Tao drifted off to sleep.

The car stopped awhile ago and Tao didn't notice. He groggily raised his head and brushed his black hair out of his eyes. He looked towards the drivers seat and saw that Chen was missing. He looked at Lay and noticed that the statue that he was once hugging to his chest was also AWOL. 

"Damnit." Tao jumped out of the car and scanned his surroundings. There, a couple feet away was Chen holding the statue. The car was parked in some sort of field. Chen was on top of a plateau while Tao was at the bottom of it behind Chen.

"CHEN!" he screamed and jogged towards the boy. 

Chen didn't turn around. He just kept staring at the vast horizon.

The others, hearing Tao scream jolted awake and began to get out of the van. 

Before Tao was even at least 100 feet away from Chen, a helicopted swooped in front underneath the plateau in front of Chen.

"CHEN!" Tao screamed again. Thus time, Chen turned around and solemnly looked at Tao. 

For the third time today Tao had that weird feeling as Chen waved to the helicopter, got on and left. He left three confused boys staring at the elevating helicopter.

"He.. Left." Xiumin who was now beside Tao cried.

"He left a note also." Luhan stared at it bitterly before harshly throwing it at Tao.

 

Hey guys,

I'm sorry I have to do this. Taking this stolen piece from you guys. I'm giving it to someone else. He also.. Told me to steal it for him. He offered a lot of really good things. I'm sorry. 

Chen

 

"AUGH!!" Luhan pulled at his hair as he glanced that the note one more time. "WHAT DOES HE THINK HE IS DOING?!"

 

They later found out the meaning of his letter. Through a magazine with Chen's picture on the cover and a title that read.

'The Hero who Stole Back a Stolen Artifact.'