Calamitous (Kaylor)

22

"That's not necessary!" Karlie shrieked, jumping away as Taylor lunged for her. "And of course it's not your fault. Your name was Catastrophe; it was clearly fated to be." She was too slow to escape the other girl this time. The blonde jumped onto her back, wrapping her legs around her waist and putting the detective in a headlock.

"What are you...ow!" Karlie tried to jerk her head away as Taylor gave her a noogie, but the smaller girl clung to her tightly like a koala. She tried to throw her off, but was unsuccessful. In desperation, Karlie tottered into the living room and collapsed onto the couch. She heard a whuff of air leaving her attacker's lungs as Taylor found herself squished under Karlie's body.

"Karlie! Get off!" She complained, her voice muffled by the taller girl's hair. She struggled weakly, and Karlie let her body go limp, pressing her full weight down on the blonde. "Karlie!"

"Are you done?" the detective asked, laughing at Taylor's futile attempts to move her.

"Are you done?" the blonde retorted grumpily.

"Don't be like that," Karlie chided. "You're the one who attacked me."

"You said I could!" Taylor continued to struggle. Karlie sat up, removing her weight from the smaller girl, who breathed in relief and relaxed.

"I said you could slap me. Noogies weren't included in the agreement." Taylor's eyes narrowed, and Karlie felt a thrill of fear run through her. A split second later, her cheek stung with the force of the blonde's hit.

"...Okay. Now that that's covered, we're going to be late if we don't head out soon." She stood and reached a hand out to help Taylor to her feet. "Let's go get them."

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"Are you sure this is the place?" someone behind her asked. Taylor whipped around and shot a glare at them before sighing and turning back to the small door. It was on the side of a small hill about 100 yards behind the building. The grassy area was part of a park, but no one ever came over to this corner. It was sheltered behind trees, and besides that, the grass always looked like it was dying. Probably from all the underground disturbance due to the headquarters.

The door blended in fairly well also, but if anyone ever did see it, they would probably assume it was some sort of maintenance hatch or even an entrance to the sewer system. No one but Taylor could open it, so it was never a security risk. Until now.

The door scanned Taylor's face and opened. She could hear gasps behind her - clearly they hadn't expected her to be of any use to them. She moved to step in before someone complained.

"Wait a minute!" a sergeant said. "Is it really a good idea to send her down there alone?"

"It will be fine," Karlie answered. "Taylor's a formidable fighter, but she's also great with stealth. She'll be in and out quickly and will get us all in safely."

"I'm not worried about her getting hurt," the man said. "I just think she should probably be supervised. What if she warns them all while she's down there? We wouldn't stand a chance!" Taylor bristled and Karlie stepped in front of her, trying to prevent an argument. Taylor, however, wasn't going to back down.

"Have you forgotten that Arsyn tried to kill me?" she spat. "Why would I help them?"

"Okay, we don't have time for this," Lily interrupted the argument. "Taylor wouldn't do anything to jeopardize this mission, but in the interest of speeding this up and everyone's safety, maybe you could go with her?" she said to Karlie.

Karlie sighed. "Fine. Taylor and I will go down there. We'll let you know when the coast is clear. Tay, lead the way."

The descent down into the headquarters wasn't exactly pleasant. It was a seemingly endless set of stone steps with very little lighting. The tunnel was damp and earthy-smelling. As they got farther underground, they could no longer hear the chatter of anyone above them. After a while, they could barely see the light of the entrance.

Just when Karlie was debating to ask "are we there yet," the end came into sight. An identical door to the one at the entrance was placed against a sleek metal wall, which stood out drastically from the soil. Taylor opened the door and stuck her head through cautiously. The detective waited with bated breath, and seconds later Taylor turned back to her, looking confused.

"It's dark," she said. Karlie blinked.

"So?"

"So, it looks like there's no one here. The cameras are off, the lights are off, and I don't hear anyone, even though we're near the training facilities."

"Okay, so what do we do?" Taylor hesitated.
"I could go in deeper. Get to the control room, turn on the cameras, and see if anyone's still hanging around."

"You're not going alone," Karlie said.

"You have to stay here," Taylor answered. "If something happens to me, you have to be able to make contact with the others and warn them. We can't both go in."

Karlie nodded, defeated. "Alright. You have your communicator?" Taylor nodded, putting it in her ear. Karlie did the same. "How long will you be?"

"It's not far," Taylor considered. "I'll talk to you if I feel like no one will hear me. Expect the lights to go on within ten minutes." She turned to go but Karlie grabbed her arm and dragged her back.

"Be careful," Karlie said. "Please." Taylor smiled and tucked her head under the taller girl's chin.

"Of course I will," she said. "Same goes for you." With these words, she vanished through the door and began to make her way to the control center, leaving Karlie alone in the darkness.