"What are you doing? Follow the car!" Catastrophe shouted, when Kloss swerved towards a street on the right.
"Trust me, we'll meet him on the other side." The biker replied calmly, twisting on the handle bar, as she watched the Vespa disappear out of view, in pursuit of the car.
"But the car isn't our mark...she is. Besides, we can't get involved with the mob." Swift moped as they sped through the street on to the other main road. Karlie spotted the black car that the puny mob man was in and the Vespa right behind them.
"I know that, but she'll lose sight of him in no time. She needs us to be able to keep tabs."
Kloss tailed the car closely, watching in her mirrors as the red head sped towards them, puzzlement showing on her face.
"She'll think we're with him." Catastrophe said, slowly seeing her point.
"Exactly. She'll come right to us. We wont get involved, don't worry." The fighter assured the blonde as she continued to watch the red head's moves.
"What did you say her name was?" Kloss asked, looking at the yellow Vespa tailing them as they sped further into New Jersey.
"She calls herself the Crimson Curse, I've heard." Karlie could hear the smug smile in Swift's voice.
"I can see that." Kloss grinned when the Vespa was neck and neck with her bike. They were riding at a dangerously fast speed but Karlie couldn't care less.
She loved high speed situations, she especially loved the feeling of Cat clutching her shoulders as if her life depended on it. You can't be serious, snap out of it, evil human.
There were many instances when the Vespa fell behind, but the girls made sure to say just in sight so that she could double back on the right track and follow them instead. Nice one, Kloss. The fighter told herself.
The car in front of them was now driving a little too wildly, probably upon noticing that there was an additional super bike after him. This was the point of a third party, the other two assumed that they were with the enemy, which wasn't good for someone who didn't want to get involved, but it was great if you wanted to know first hand how either of them handled the situation. The car swerved into an alley with the bike and the Vespa hot on its tail.
Karlie could see Crimson pluck up the courage to speed up to them, her frustration getting slightly out of hand now. "She's coming for us." Swift said slowly, she had been quiet up till now, keeping her eye on the mirror and the driver of the car simultaneously. Her fingers slightly released Karlie's shoulder in anticipation.
Yeah but what does she plan to do when she gets to the car?
"Oh shit." Karlie echoed, she could see the girl reaching to the bag fastened on the Vespa, near her legs. She squinted, trying to make out why in the dark of the night. "I think she has a gun."
"If anything I've seen is true, I don't think she's going for a gun right now." said Catastrophe, just as Karlie spotted a shiny metal piece in Crimson's hand already in position to be thrown at them. "Watch the tyres." advised the blonde, pushing an earpiece into her ear.
Aw man I just replaced them last week!
"We should leave, she's close enough now anyway." Kloss said nervously, an anxious laugh escaping her lips that had the blonde behind chuckling merrily.
Oh so now she's not scared for her life is she? She's about to be sushi, judging by those blades. Kloss veered off the road, taking to the side-walk, just as Crimson had thrust the blade right at them.
The blade missed them by an inch, puncturing itself onto the bonnet of the car instead.
"Close one, Kloss. Watch out!" Swift shouted, directing Karlie's attention back onto the pedestrian filled foot path. The fighter swerved back onto the road just in time, missing an old lady hidden by a handful of groceries.
The visibility on the street was bad already, to make it worse, the street lights weren't working. Karlie's heart was beating out of her chest after that near miss, she could feel her hands getting clammy on the throttle.
"Is she done trying to kill us yet?" The fighter yanked out of Crimson's track, keeping her distance as she matched the speed of the car.
They were on the wrong side of the road now, weaving side to side, avoiding on-coming traffic while Catastrophe put her arms around Karlie's shoulders, holding on tighter than ever.
"I think so. Maybe we should let them get to it now. We've been driving long enough." Swift said, as they made countless abrupt turns. The puny man in the car sure knew how to drive. Alright, ciao, redhead.
Kloss took the next right turn, cutting across Crimson for just a second. She could hear the swish of another blade being launched into the air but Karlie was out of line just in time. The adrenaline in her blood was giving her quite a kick, making her speed into the alley and double back onto the main road again, this time, behind the girl on the Vespa.
I really like that colour, Karlie thought, for a brief second before Crimson noticed their presence again.
Thankfully, the short girl was too invested in getting to the car first.
"She's going in. Welvin, you're recording this right?" Cat abruptly spoke into her earpiece. Karlie didn't hear the reply but she did realise that they had been spotted along every speeding camera in the area in the last 15 minutes.
The police is bound to show up at this point.
The blaring horns on the street brought her back to reality, just as the girl threw another one of her blades right at the tyres. The car swivelled wildly while the blade lodged itself deeper with every second. She's good.
"To be able to throw at high speeds like that? Unbelievable." Swift echoed, her arm tightening around the fighter's shoulders. Karlie ignored the warmth by looking on in awe as Crimson threw one more. It landed perfectly onto the next tyre. Wow.
They were causing quite a fuss on the street now that the car was completely out of control and marginally slower, he was driving with the right wheels on the side-walk. People were starting to notice a lot, some of them whipping out their cameras and phones to take a picture. At least they were wearing helmets so none of their faces were in the limelight. With the helmets blocking out most of the wind noise and some of the beeping, they missed whatever it was that Crimson was screaming at the car.
The man made a sharp U-turn at the busy intersection, just as a truck was coming his way. The truck successfully stopped right in the middle, blocking their path before they could pelt after the car. They skidded to a halt a few feet behind the Vespa, waiting to see what she would do next. Kloss could feel Swift's quick breaths on her neck coming from the slit in her visor.
"Are you kidding me." Swift said, watching Crimson give them a loathsome glare just before she doubled back. There was now a line of cars after them, the road was completely clogged. All of the traffic in complete disarray.
"Oh fuck." They heard Crimson say as she passed them, weaving through the traffic towards the alley they had seen the car turn into on the other side of the road.
"Okay then." Karlie had been holding her breath, waiting for Crimson to come after them instead. Clearly some thing had changed and she no longer wished to kill them. Throttling again, Kloss went after her, following her into the alley.
"What the hell are you trying to do!" They heard a man scream at them from a beeping car. His rear end had been rammed by a small truck. The fighter pitied him but she was losing sight of Crimson to think of any of their damage.
Where are the police...
As if on cue, Karlie heard police sirens coming in the distance, just as she turned into the alley where they were immediately blinded by the darkness. There were no lights whatsoever and the headlights on Karlie's bike could only illuminate the path dead ahead. Neither of them could spot the Vespa or the car until she had gone right till the end. The scooter was parked at the base of a fire escape, whose ladder had been pulled down.
"How did she get up there?" Karlie asked as they proceeded to follow in the path she had left behind.
They didn't have time to even park; a bang on the top floor startled them both.
"What the fuck?" Swift looked up at the building whose third floor was now on fire. A man came running down while the two women stayed still watching the person following him. The dark alleyway was suddenly filled with light, the flaming floor managed to light up all the way through.
They realised that it was the same man who had managed to get away the last time.
"This guy really doesn't wanna die." Karlie remarked, watching the red head come after him, jumping on his back and choking him to the ground right there. The fighter accelerated her bike just a little bit before his body could fall on them.
They heard a chuckle from the redhead, her face looked cold and evil with the flaming hair glowing in the light of the fire.
For a brief moment, the three women just stood still, looking at each other, one of them holding their breath, waiting for the shortest girl to either run for it or pounce upon them, the other calculating the time they had left before the police sirens entered the alleyway while also trying to read the red head's expression and the third sizing up the other two, trying to see if they were on her side or not.
Technically, they had made this chase a whole lot harder but at the same time they had made no attempt to flee or retaliate. She didn't trust them, nor did she feel like they would be a liability, not if she made a run for it before the rest came for their lives.
"You fuckers better leave if you don't want to get caught." Crimson shouted, a secondary blast rocking all of their bones to the very core.
"We have about two minutes before the police, get here." Swift replied rather calmly.
Karlie remained quiet as the shortest woman gave her a once over before looking at the blonde.
"That shouldn't be too hard should it? You've got a sweet ride there." She said, jumping down from the fire escape, kicking some flames with her.
"But we have less than that before the other thugs from his gang get here to kick all of our asses." She pointed towards the dead man lying next to them.
Flakes of fire and ash had begun to fall towards them as they heard the structure creak. The fire was spreading fast and surprisingly, nobody acknowledged it. The alleyway looked as empty and uninhabited as a desert. Just as Karlie was making up her mind to fire up the engine of her bike again, they heard the humming of cars entering the other side of the alley.
Unfortunately for them, this alley did not have two openings and they were standing right at the dead end.
"Well, I'm gone. They'll be furious to see their guys and their operations dead. Every woman for herself." The redhead said, climbing onto the fire escape, going towards the fire and jumping onto the roof before leaping to the adjacent buildings.
Poetic. Karlie thought, feeling the adrenaline back again, police sirens were getting closer and the thugs in the car showed no signs of fleeing. The brunette looked towards Cat who was simply watching the approaching cars.
"Got any plans?" She asked the blue eyed girl, knowing she would have something thought out.
However, she simply smiled at the fighter, "Well you don't want to leave behind your precious bike do you?"
Knockout thought there was a vicious twinkle in her eyes, but it could've just been the bright flames illuminating her blue orbs just a little brighter than they were. You have really blue eyes. The fighter thought, before the sirens snapped her out of it again, making her answer the question that was actually put to her.
No I don't.
"How else are we going to get out, they're completely blocking the passage."
Kloss said, eyeing the narrow space right in between the two cars that were approaching. That's a tight squeeze...
"How about we move before they think we did this..." Swift looked at the building that was already down half a storey. "You got it." Kloss agreed, slipping on her helmet once more as she turned her ride around.
The brunette twisted the throttle as soon as she felt Cat's weight settle behind her. It was a long drag before they reached the cars, Karlie could spot two sets of arms out of the window of both cars, clearly holding a gun each.
Oh no... She kept the speed at a high, missing the bullets by mere inches. Sure she had been in this exact situation many times before, but that didn't stop her heart from hammering as her arms stiffened their grip on the handle bars. This situation was made worse by the fact that she could feel a second heartbeat mimicking her own, pressed against her back and an arm wrapped around her shoulders, keeping her steady and the warmth making her shiver at the same time.
Knockout heard the safety of a gun being taken off right next to her ear when she realised what was happening. Bullets were flying from both ends now and she was playing the role of recoil support as Catastrophe shot a few rounds bang on the tires of the SUVs. The brunette worked on avoiding the bullets coming towards them but when she was close to the cars, the bullets completely stopped. Apparently, someone had hit the shooting arms with ninja blades. Thanks? She thought, looking up to see a retreating figure on top of the building.
The night was still dark, but they were blinded by light and deafened by sound this time when they finally exited the alley, leaving behind the thugs who had quit moaning and had taken up new arms.
Karlie was sure that wouldn't hold them for long but she was focused on disappearing without the police vans on the left noticing them. The traffic jam had slightly cleared up, giving them enough space to fit through, but as the fighter predicted, before the police could do much, one of the SUVs that had turned around after them in the narrow alley had run straight into a police vehicle.
Swift let out a small victory yelp before she sighed in frustration.
"That was great and all-" the blonde tenderly squeezed Knockout's shoulder, making her smile, "But the Vespa is back and this time it's chasing us."
The fighter looked in the rear view mirror to see exactly what she meant. This time it was one of the big men in suits they'd seen at the bar earlier that hour. The girls sighed in sync, the brunette weaved through more traffic.
This is starting to get annoying.
This time was comparatively harder being chased by a Vespa since the Police were also hot on their tail.
"Hey Welv, everything is great here but maybe scramble the police scanners a bit. I really don't like a crowd." Catastrophe said into the earpiece, a smug smile forming on the fighter's face.
"Take a turn here." The blonde said, looking up at the line of houses, she could see the silhouette of a person leaping across the roofs and she planned to use it to her advantage. Listening to her, Karlie made a right, coming on to a road that led them back towards the Hudson.
"We're going to take her help again." Cat confirmed, making Knockout look up at the human figure keeping up with their movement from balconies and roofs.
The fighter didn't speed too much but soon enough, she got the green signal to use a bit of nitro. "Our dear friend has found herself a ride." Swift said, pointing in the mirror at the redhead sitting in side a car. They were taking up most of the street now, all traffic kept getting hit, even if Karlie did her best to avoid it. The lights passing by kept Knockout's heart in pace, she was getting used to being chased now but the movement behind them kept her on edge.
She'd throttle if the police got close and if the Vespa was in par, but otherwise she would keep it constant, watching Crimson slowly nudge and wreck one police car after the other. Thankfully there were only two cars following them as the others were kept off thanks to the police scanners.
"We're getting dangerously close to the river now." Karlie warned the blonde behind her who seemed to be grinning.
"Back up is here." Cat said, once more pointing at the mirror.
Karlie watched Crimson match the borrowed car speed to the Vespa's and drive right beside it. Naturally, the next move was to jump from the car and that's exactly what she did. Casual evening activities. Keeping the steering wheel and the speed steady, the redhead reached out and opened the left side door.
The man on the Vespa tried to speed up but it was all the Vespa could muster. The red head apparently had enough supplies in the car to keep it going full throttle as she clambered out and leaped onto the scooter from the left side of the car.
It was a moment of bated breath as both the girls watched Crimson not hesitate even a little before making the jump. The move was smooth and it had the desired effect but not entirely. They were currently travelling right along the Hudson river embankment, feeling extremely precarious, the only plus side to any of this was the fact that the police had actually managed to disappear.
"I can't believe this is-" Swift did not have time her sentence as they both let out a small gasp, watching Crimson and the man on the Vespa struggle, losing balance and falling side ways into the black river. Oh god. The car now driverless continued on its path for a bit, hitting a nearby tree.
The fighter slammed the bikes, burning serious rubber as she skidded to a halt, immediately turning back towards the fallen scooter. The ladies decided to make it quick as they turned off the bike and saw that the man was winning the underwater struggle.
"I'm not the best in water."Swift remarked, leaning forward by sitting on the embankment, shouting at the redhead that was giving the man quite a thrashing.
"Neither am I." said Karlie, taking off her jacket so that she could lean further towards the water, being able to hold out a hand in an attempt for Crimson to grab hold of it. The water droplets falling on them just because of the splashes was enough to have her freezing, Knockout didn't want to think about just how cold it was for the redhead.
The man who still wasn't knocked out apparently, pulled on the shortest girl, almost drowning her when all of a sudden the force stopped. Knockout saw that the smoking gun was in Cat's hand again; Impressed with how good of a shot she was, Karlie held her arm out again. This time Crimson grabbed hold of her easily, drenching her arm terribly. She slowly climbed up the embankment and plopped down on dry land.
"Thanks for pulling my dead ass out of the Hudson." The red head said, a small smile occupying her face.
Oh so now you smile: after a massacre.
"We should leave." Cat said in a small voice, looking at the comparatively deserted street they were on. The shortest girl still sitting on the ground took in the scene she had caused. One damaged tree, one damaged car, one dead body and two extremely tall women whose motives she was yet to unveil. At least she got her Vespa back.
"That was fun." She breathed, laughing at herself while the other two women reluctantly agreed. The streetlights behind Catastrophe shadowed her face while highlighting her honey blonde hair. However, Karlie could still see her blue eyes and and dazzling teeth shining through.
She looks beautiful even in the dark. The fighter matched her grin, just studying her beautiful features in the dark before Crimson cleared her throat.
"I'm getting cold. You two coming with, or..." The red head left the sentence hanging as the two women broke their stance, each hiding their slight blush as they put on their helmets.
Kloss wore her leather jacket and mounted her bike, waiting for Crimson to lead the way. She felt the weight behind her settle but was disappointed when no hands held on to her shoulders. I guess they only come around when we're in trouble..
They followed the Vespa at a much slower speed this time, the red head seemed to be leading them to a diner in the adjacent block. Karlie might not have noticed it during the chase but now she was sorely missing the feeling of tender fingers tightening on to the folds in her leather jacket with every swerve. Focus, Karlie. What even are these thoughts? This is a job, do you not understand?
As they stopped near the diner, parking right next to the redhead's yellow Vespa, Knockout heard Cat whisper into the earpiece.
"You can turn on the speeding cameras now. This will take a while." Karlie realised that Swift had been ahead of her thoughts all along.
The brunette follows the two girls into the greasy diner that served only breakfast food.
"Mmm I really like breakfast food." Cat remarked approvingly at the smell of bacon and scrambled eggs overwhelmed them upon entry. Me too! This revelation coming from the blue eyed mysteriously dangerous woman took Knockout by surprise. She raised an eyebrow in response while Swift gave her a smug smile in return. The redhead was still leading them. She picked the corner booth and signaled for a waiter once they were seated. Karlie and Cat took one side while Crimson sat on the other.
All of Knockout's attention was focused on Crimson now. She knew that the big questions were coming and she was intrigued to see how Cat would explain it to her. "So." Crimson spoke up, putting her elbows on the table and leaning forward as if for dramatic effect.
"Are you two hear to kill me because you missed so many opportunities..." Do I detect a sense of humour?
"Clearly not." Replied Cat, leaning forward on the table herself.
"Well what is it then? A warning? Did I step on something I shouldn't have?" The redhead automatically folded her arms, now directing her gaze towards the tallest girl.
"Um. I admit you have a knack for trouble but that's not it either." Knockout offered a smile while Swift simply gave the fighter an intrigued gaze. Stop looking at me.
"Well you see, we're here for good reasons. Believe it or not." There was a reassuring gaze fixed on her face that Karlie hadn't seen before.
"Explain." Said Crimson, scoffing at the word 'good'. Clearly she didn't hear that often.
"What do you think of...betrayal?" asked the blue eyed blonde, taking the other two women by surprise.
"What is this, some kind of moral survey?" Crimson raised an eyebrow, but Cat didn't bat an eyelid; her smile stayed the same. A few moments of silence followed as Karlie kept looking between the two women. There was a thick tension building in the air between them; the waiter came just in time with the menus.
"What would you lovely ladies like to eat?" asked a teenage boy with far too many pimples on his face. He was dressed in a stained white t-shirt and dirty jeans but the red pimples made him look like he was blushing and judging by his eyes, this was the closest he'd been to girls.
Ugh. Karlie loathed the stare he gave Swift before shifting to herself. Crimson brushed him off, ordering her fill without even looking at the menu.
"Bacon and eggs." Crimson said.
"Make that two." Swift added, earning a suspicious look from the redhead.
"I'll skip on the bacon. Just eggs for me...sunny side up please." The fighter said, receiving an amused look from Crimson while Swift's mouth twitched upwards slightly as if to say 'you can't be serious'. Hey I like my breakfast food to sound happy, don't be so judgmental.
The teenage boy lingered for a little longer, simply gaping at them before Crimson offered him a glare.
"Right away." he said, taking the menus with him as he walked towards the kitchen doors. The diner they were in smelled of cooked meat but that was normal, at least it wasn't stale. While Cat and Crimson caught up on their intense staring contest, Karlie looked around the diner.
The lighting was dim and everything looked like it had a layer of grease on it, the crowd consisted of teenagers and old factory workers that had just gotten off their work shifts. The whole atmosphere was kind of low key and dingy but it reminded the fighter of the place near her old home back in St.Louis where her family lived; when her parents were alive.
Suddenly she didn't want to be in there any more, but she couldn't leave just like that.
This is important, you can do this. Don't look around; focus on the task at hand.
She always made it a point to keep her past out of her head and it worked, but something about seeing a middle aged couple enjoying their evening breakfast set her off. The fighter who was calm up until then, started fidgeting.
She couldn't decide if she should fold her arms or not, her fingers clutched around the edge of her sleeves, she wanted to drown inside the leather jacket but she couldn't do that either.
Just sit still, distract yourself, don't think about it, don't let it show, you're going to screw this up for everyone.
Crimson was still giving Cat an unreadable expression but the blonde broke off eye contact and turned her attention to Karlie's hand in a fist around her cuffs by her side, doing its best to stay still. Cat's gaze moved up to the green eyed girl's face which bore no sign of discomfort but she must have sensed something because before Karlie could wonder what she was thinking, the blue eyed girl had gently reached out and warmly held her clasped hand, giving her a reassuring slow blink and a light squeeze as if to say 'Its okay '.
What the- The little jolt that she felt when her skin came in contact with the blonde's was unmistakable but as always, Knockout was good at hiding that. Her fist released just a little bit, only a little.
She doesn't even know what's wrong. Kloss thought; but the sweet gesture and the warmth of her hand gave her some form of distraction, for Catastrophe kept it like that for the entirety of the conversation that followed. Your hand is so warm.
"Betrayal?" Crimson finally asked, looking in between the other two but since she couldn't see their hands, she didn't really know that there was anything wrong. \
"Yes...betrayal."
"I hate betrayal; everyone does." The redhead answered, intrigued.
"True. But you and I have had...first hand experience with betrayal...it's not very pretty." continued Catastrophe, gauging the shortest girl's reaction.
Wait, what do you mean? The redhead wholeheartedly agreed to this.
"Yeah, a little...gory if you ask me." There's a story behind that sentence, I can feel it.
Catastrophe nodded solemnly although Karlie sensed a little wince of disgust.
"So who betrayed you?" It seemed like Crimson was now genuinely interested in hearing what Cat had to say.
"Let's just say, someone I almost considered to be...family."
This is not at all how you spoke to me, thought Karlie, now realising that it was the first time Cat had brought up the subject of Arsyn on her own.
There was a bitterness in the blonde's voice and Karlie knew that the shortest girl could sense it. The fighter saw something she'd never seen on Crimson's face before: empathy.
"Oh I've had that...but you already know that, don't you?" Just like that, the defensiveness was back in her voice. Swift simply sighed, giving her a sad smile.
What are you playing at, Cat? "I do. A lot of people do, and I think you of all people can understand that one can't sit still after someone has hurt them or, stolen from them."
"I killed them, you ought to do the same." replied Crimson, trying hard to be nonchalant but Karlie could sense a tinge of pain in there somewhere. So there is a story!
"I don't think this person is afraid of death. That would do no harm to them." replied the Blonde. The conversation was taking quite a dark turn and Knockout was so immersed in it, that she barely remembered that she had been dying to get out of the diner just a few moments ago. After a few seconds of silence, the red head leaned in again.
"So. This person has stolen something from you?" Catastrophe nodded. "And you want to get it back obviously, before you kill them."
"That's the gist of it, yeah." Catastrophe confirmed, surprising the brunette next to her once more. Again, none of this showed on Knockout's face when Crimson looked at her for confirmation. Kill her? I'd never thought of that. Does she really want to kill her?
"Of course, I don't know about the killing, not unless it's absolutely necessary." Absolutely necessary?
"So you're more worried about your possession than the revenge." Crimson concluded, skeptically.
"No, both in equal parts, but what they stole doesn't belong to them, and they stand to gain a lot from someone else's property. Taking it away would crush them beyond death. I plan to let them live with that." The cold fury that had seeped into Cat's voice brought immediate chills to both the women.
She had her poker face on and a somewhat pleasant smile but there was no denying that Catastrophe was pretty set on doing exactly what she said.
It almost seemed like Cat had momentarily lost control of her emotions. Karlie knew this was she was trying hard not to show just how angry she still was.
Then she remembered that Cat's hand was still resting on top of her now loose fist. The fighter lightly stroked her thumb across the side of Catastrophe's soft fingers, immediately diverting the blonde's attention while the redhead thought over what she had said. The blue eyed girl let out the faintest breath, gazing at Karlie's face.
The fighter offered a smile in return, hoping that her weird little move wouldn't make the blonde want to pull away; she didn't, instead her mouth twitched upwards into the smallest of smiles. A smile that said 'I'm okay, thank you' in the nicest way possible.
Still, Karlie held onto Swift's little finger for the rest of their conversation. The fighter was certain that she saw a slight blush on the blonde's cheeks after that and that in turn made her blush too. Neither of them acknowledged it.
Crimson was watching this interaction with only a faint idea of what was going on, she had serious questions in her head.
"Okay. Who are you? And what did they steal that could be this bad?" Finally. I asked that right at the beginning!
Catastrophe explained just as she had done to Karlie but the fighter noticed that there was no flirtatious undertones or suggestive sentences or playful banter and this further intrigued the taller girl.
She had always thought that the blonde was naturally very mysterious and that she almost always had a mischievous glint in her eyes. There were only professional words exchanged and by the tone of her voice, a slight bitterness conveyed and nothing more. The mystery still loomed over Catastrophe but it was rather straightforward from both ends and the green eyed girl found it marvelous to see how well Cat had read the shortest girl. Different angles work with different people, Kloss.
Then why was our first meeting so....tense?
This one is tense too...
You know what I mean.
Maybe that was her way of appealing to you.
Then why did it work?
She didn't have much more time to think about it because the conversation had ended and the waiter was walking back towards them with their food in hand.
"This is supposed to be a fast food diner." Crimson remarked as the lanky teenage boy set down the plates, his hands shaking ridiculously. He had almost dropped the eggs onto Karlie's jacket had it not been for the fighter's reflexes.
She caught the plate with her left hand before it tipped from and set it down with a thank you to the clearly excited creep of a boy. Her right hand was no longer occupied though, because Cat had slowly retracted her hand to pick up her spoon and fork. They exchanged a brief glance and looked away at their food a little two quickly, making Crimson raise an eyebrow in question. Shrugging it off, the redhead enjoyed her bacon and eggs in silence, thinking over everything that had been said.
Only when she had finished her evening breakfast did the redhead speak up.
"So let me sum this up. Nuclear codes originally stolen by the russians, retrieved for the US government. Operation goes south because your beloved friend betrays you on the biggest job of your life and now she wants to hold an auction to sell those codes that could potentially cause world war three."
Catastrophe and Knockout both nodded in sync, making the redhead smile for the second time that day.
"That's bloody brilliant. And you say you are THE Catastrophe that stole a 100 million from the rich guy who owned my cheating 1st boyfriend's business and donated it to someone else?"
"Well, some of it, at least." Cat shrugged, while Karlie laughed inwardly at her nonchalance. Another part of Kloss' brain only thought of how her hand wasn't receiving the warmth that it had gotten previously.
"Okay if everything you say is true... What do I get out of this catastrophic job?" There was that hint of humour again that surprised the fighter.
This might actually work. The figure given to the redhead made her eyebrow shoot up for a split second. She was in. Cat had done it again. They received the third grin of the night from the shortest girl.
However, the feeling that Crimson was still skeptically lasted right up until Swift emphasised how much she loved the song Vicious love by New found glory when it was playing on the radio. "You have good choices. I'll see you two later then." Crimson nodded, leaving after Cat had handed her a pen drive that had the word 'Spiteful' printed on it.
"That was way too obvious." Karlie said, referring to how easily Catastrophe had handed her the password. They were walking out of the diner a few minutes after Crimson had left. "Sometimes, obvious is the best choice. She's not exactly you, is she." Cat smirked, her eyes twinkling.
"But that was so different, from our meeting." Karlie blushed slightly, adamant to know why she had done these two so differently. "Yeah, it was." For a moment, Cat's eyes pierced into Kloss' but Karlie looked away soon enough. "Besides, spiteful humans respond better when they can sympathise."
"And thats exactly what you did." You're some insane sociopath is what you are.
"That sounds accusatory." Swift rolled her eyes as they approached Karlie's bike. "I'm not being accusatory. Everything you said in there was the truth." Knockout assured, putting on her helmet as she mounted her bike. "Exactly."
"Well done." Karlie said rather proudly, while she fired up her engine and felt Swift settle in behind, feeling disappointed once again when Swift's hands didn't come up to hold on to her.
They made it back to the Arsenal within an hour.
It was only 9pm when Knockout stopped in front of the Arsenal building. The street was dark and deserted and although the building looked dark, she knew that there was plenty of light and activity going on in those hidden ten floors. She still couldn't believe that she was working with someone so skilled and connected to make these things happen.
After she had seen Cat at work tonight, doing what she did best, Karlie had a newfound admiration for her beautiful colleague. Just "colleague" will do fine, Karl.
The blonde got off, taking off her helmet while Kloss did the same. "I don't think I've ever caused such a fuss in New Jersey before." Knockout joked, making Swift giggle slightly while looking at her boot clad feet. "Me neither, but it wasn't entirely our fault."
"Oh thank God for that." Karlie exaggerated, a nervous chuckle escaping her while Cat twiddled her thumbs. There are still so many questions I need you to answer...
"Thanks to your bike, we made it out alive." Cat looked at the machine Karlie was seated on. The brunette had turned off the engine and the bike was taking a well needed cooling break. Knockout nodded, proudly.
"My trusty steed." she said, patting the fuel tank in front of her.
"Can you say goodbye and get in here already?" said a voice in Swift's ear. Karlie laughed when the blonde took it out and slipped it into her pocket.
Everything about her looked windswept and ruffled, and rightly so, considering all that they had done that night. However, the blue-eyed girl still had the same sparkle she had seen on the bank of the Hudson, and the same toothy grin plastered on her face that Karlie couldn't help but match.
"Next time, you don't have to come along." Catastrophe reached out, giving Karlie's gloved hand a light squeeze, her smile sincere and concerned?
The fighter remembered her little almost panic at the diner, and was still taken aback by how easily she had known to comfort her even when she didn't know what caused it.
"Is there really going to be a next time?" Karlie deflected, deciding that her past wasn't something to be shared easily, especially on a deserted street in the dark of the night. "Probably not."
Cat countered, "I think my team is ready."
This gave the taller girl a sense of excitement. Her team was ready, which meant they would get to the real work soon enough. For some reason, after hearing first hand the bitterness Arsyn had made the blonde feel, Karlie had been more motivated than usual about a job.
"So we get to finally catch her and get those codes back, huh?"
"And you get your money? Yeah." Cat joked, but Kloss heard the faintest hint of a defense wall building back up. She hadn't realised that it had opened up in the first place, even the slightest bit. Nevertheless, she laughed, her green eyes conveying that that was definitely the last of her worries and somehow it seemed to work.
"You should get going."
"I should." Karlie nodded, putting on her helmet again. "So is it safe to say...you live here?" she added.
Cat nodded reluctantly. "Where else am I going to be?" Kloss nodded too, refraining from asking more even though curiousity about Swift's living seemed to be building up. That's a professional rule, Karlie. You never visit a client's personal space. And they don't visit yours.
I know.
Good.
"See you tomorrow?" Cat asked, her smug smile had returned, she was slowly walking back towards the secret gate.
"Maybe." Knockout countered, waving to the blonde reluctantly as she throttled away. Only then did she release the breath she didn't realise she was holding since that morning when she had seen the blonde. So much happened today.
"So much happened today." Karlie repeated to herself later that night in bed. She couldn't sleep; her mind kept rewinding back to the moments spent on that bike ride, to that morning when Swift had interrogated that man, to the raid she and Cara had gone, in search of Justin, and most of all to those glances and touches in the diner. Kloss felt extremely unprofessional at that moment. You can't get close to your colleagues like that. Not in this business.
You're right. You need a distraction, someone else you can be close to.
Hm... maybe so. Karlie thought, before forcing herself to sleep. She needed to wake up early for a slightly different training session in the morning.