A/N This was kind of hard to write because it's all just setup for what I've got planned, but anyway, here it is. Also, I was dumb and forgot that Frostbyte and Lily are technically the same person, so just pretend they aren't.
"Well that can't be a good sign," Karlie said dryly.
"You think?" Taylor shifted to try to get onto her knees, her restrained arms impeding smooth movement. She moved over closer to Karlie, settling against her girlfriend's side. They sat in silence for a few minutes, looking out into the black that surrounded them.
"I hope Mom doesn't take it too hard," the blonde said after a moment. Karlie turned to her, upset.
"Oh, babe, no. You can't give up that easily," she said. "We could still get out of here." Taylor sighed sadly in response.
"I wish I could share your optimism." They lapsed into silence again, only for Karlie to break it with a chuckle.
"What?" Taylor asked.
"I'm sorry," the detective laughed, "but I don't have a cookie to give you." Taylor's eyes widened as the realization dawned on her, and let out her own little spark of laughter.
"That's okay. Seeing you alive is enough," she said.
"Well, I don't know about seeing, but..."
"Oh, just shut up and hug me." Karlie, taking her advice, reached out and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, holding her tightly.
"I wish I could hug you back," Taylor complained. "Wait." She sat up straighter, startling Karlie. "Please tell me you know how to pick a lock." Karlie rolled her eyes in response, but realized that the blonde probably couldn't see her.
"Of course I do; I'm a detective," she scoffed. "But it's not going to do us any good now. That lock isn't pickable. It's got a combination. And on top of that, we have nothing to pick locks with."
"Let's worry about that lock later, and deal with these cuffs now," Taylor said. "I hid a few bobby pins in my hair. Can you feel around for one and try to get these things off me?"
"Doing it in the dark is a bit of a tall order, but I'll give it a try." Karlie moved forward, reaching for her girlfriend's head.
"That's my eye, Karls."
"Sorry." She finally found Taylor's hair and began running her fingers through it, luckily finding a pin quickly. She scrabbled around until she found the cuffs and began to attempt picking the lock. She bent the pin and inserted it, poking around for the mechanism inside. Taylor sat patiently, and minutes later the lock clicked open and the cuffs dropped off.
"Oh thank goodness. My arms were going numb," Taylor groaned, moving her arms out of the uncomfortable position and rubbing them vigorously.
"Now what?" Karlie asked. Taylor opened her mouth to answer, but hesitated.
"I think I hear something," she said. "Footsteps in the hallway, maybe?"
"Now that you mention it, you're right," the detective answered, "and I think they're getting closer." The sound was getting louder and louder; someone was obviously approaching the door.
"Shit! Help me put these back on," Taylor said, frantically scrambling to locate the cuffs in the dark. Before she could find them, the door burst open. A figure entered the room, holding a small flashlight aloft. Neither of the girls could tell who it was.
"Cat?" the person spoke. Taylor perked up immediately.
"Frostbyte? Is that you?" Karlie let out a sigh of relief at the woman's confirmation.
"Cut Throat sent me to look for you. She's got the other girls assembled on the factory floor. We're waiting for you two." She stepped up to the door and unlocked it easily, allowing the couple to exit the cell.
"The other girls? Who's with us?" Taylor asked.
"Just about everybody. Homeslice, Domino, Dilemma, Lucky, The Trinity, Destructa X, Slay-Z, The Crimson Curse, even Welvin. He's the one who got me all the clearance codes for getting in here. Once they heard that you were alive and trying to stop Arsyn from using the weapon, they immediately wanted to help."
"Mother Chucker?" Taylor asked quietly as they quickly walked through the halls. Frostbyte looked at her sympathetically.
"We haven't seen her. She may be out with Toni and Arsyn." The blonde let out a frustrated growl and turned to slam her fist into the cinderblock wall.
"Whoa, whoa! That's not necessary. You need your hands," Karlie exclaimed, dragging her away before she could punch again.
"This is all my fault. If I'd been a better leader, she wouldn't have felt the need to follow Arsyn."
"It's not your fault, Cat. She made a choice. Focus on who's still behind you," Frostbyte suggested. "We all trusted you in the past, and we trust you now." The blonde sniffed slightly and stepped forward, embracing the other girl tightly. Frostbyte, completely unprepared for this sort of reaction from her former leader, tensed up a little and shot Karlie a confused look, but reciprocated the hug.
"Thank you," Taylor said, wiping her eyes. "It means a lot to me, really. Now let's go find the others and figure out how to take down Arsyn."
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The reunion was sweet, despite its brevity. They arrived at the factory floor, which was lit by lanterns and flashlights, and joined the group. Taylor quickly made her rounds, greeting old members of her gang. People, she realized, who had been her friends, even though she had not recognized that previously. Karlie followed behind her, introducing herself quickly and moving on. They all knew who she was anyway; after all, she and Taylor had spent years trying to decapacitate each other. The only difference was now she could introduce herself as the blonde's girlfriend.
"Cut Throat!" Taylor called, making her way over to the younger girl. "You did well. We'd be hopeless without you, and I won't forget it. What can you tell me?"
"I'd say that we need to prepare for an ambush," Cut Throat said. "They should be back before long."
"Really? I thought they had a whole night of mischief planned," Karlie said.
"That's where we have to thank Welvin again. He did some hacking into the alarm systems, and they should remain armed despite the blackout," Cut Throat said. "On top of that, I called Lily, and she set the rest of the police department on high alert. There are people stationed at every major site where we expect break-ins, and because the gang is anticipating having the run of the city, it's unlikely they'll show up in large numbers to any site. A fair amount of them could be subdued before the rest all come running back here."
"Excellent work," Taylor praised. "Any news on the hospital?"
"Lily said she'd let them know," Cut Throat said. "They've prepped and repaired all of their emergency generators. Hopefully they're doing just fine right now."
"Great. So we're expecting them back any minute, really?" Cut Throat nodded.
"Okay. Everyone scatter and find a hiding place in here. Karlie and I will act as the bait and lure them into this room. When they get in, you know what to do. Try not to kill any of them, but secure the weapon and keep them occupied so we can deal with Arsyn and Toni."
"Are you sure we can handle them alone?" Karlie asked nervously.
"I believe in you," Taylor said, turning her gaze to her girlfriend, "and I hope you believe in me. We can't pull anyone else from the group; Toni's gang outnumbers us. We can do it." Karlie looked into her serious blue eyes, which shone even brighter against the dark backdrop as light reflected in them.
"Okay," she said finally. "I trust you. Let's do this."
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"How did this happen?!" Arsyn yelled as the car screeched to a stop in front of the headquarters. They'd ended up in a high-speed chase, but luckily had lost the other vehicle and managed to get back undetected. Other cars, each full of gang members, pulled in behind them, returning from their own harrowing experiences.
"Someone gave us away," Toni said, climbing from the driver's seat. "And it sure as hell wasn't one of mine. I hope your crew all have good alibis."
"They weren't made aware of our plans," Arsyn snarled, leading the way into the building. The rest of the gang filed in after her.
"Then there must have been someone else. Someone who could still be loyal to Catastrophe, but was in on our plans."
Toni and Arsyn looked at each other for a moment, both thinking the same thing, before Arsyn whipped around and yelled, "Chucker!" The girl appeared from the middle of the group, making her way up to where the leaders were.
"Yes?" she said cockily.
"You traitor!" the leader hissed, pushing her aggressively. "What do you think you're playing at?"
"What?" Chucker staggered back from the blow, bewildered. "I didn't do anything!"
"You're the only member of Catastrophe's old crew that was in on this," Toni accused. "Only you could have alerted the authorities."
"I was with you because I have proven my loyalty to Arsyn!" Chucker shouted back at her. "Of all the members of our old gang, I'm the only one that could be trusted!"
"You will be imprisoned and interrogated," Arsyn interrupted angrily. "I recommend you do not resist."
"Good luck catching me!" Chucker shouted back, taking off before either leader could register what she said.
"Two of you, after her!" Arsyn demanded. The women all looked at each other, and the short leader stomped her foot in frustration. "Toni, make them go after her!"
"We'll find her eventually," Toni said. "She can't escape. There are guards stationed around the building. Let's just go figure out what the plan is from here." Arsyn reluctantly nodded, and the group started off again. Suddenly, in the dim hallway ahead, they saw a figure. Two figures, actually.
"What are you two doing out of the barracks?" Arsyn yelled. "We've got enough problems on our hands without you idiots complicating things by not being where you're supposed to be!"
The figures didn't answer, and Arsyn huffed with annoyance. Who is that? Toni turned to her and said, "You know, things would be easier if we could just turn the lights back on again." Arsyn sighed, nodding.
"I guess we don't need them off any longer." She pulled out the weapon, which was a little black electronic device, and pushed a button, before handing it to Toni. Instantly the lights turned back on, temporarily blinding everyone who'd been used to the darkness.
"Alright, who are those two?" Arsyn grumbled, rubbing her eyes and looking up the hallway. What she saw made her freeze in shock. Taylor and Karlie were standing in the hallway, grinning at them. They didn't look scared at all. As Arsyn watched, Taylor waved and blew her a kiss, while Karlie flipped her the middle finger. The criminal felt anger bubbling under her skin, desperate to erupt. It had been a long, awful night, and she wasn't in the mood for any more of this. Screaming in rage, Arsyn ran at the couple, Toni and the gang following behind her.
Oh shit, Karlie thought. She watched the sea of angry women move toward her, her mouth hanging open. "Come on, idiot!" Taylor yelled, grabbing her by the arm and taking off running. Luckily they were both fairly fast, because by the sounds of that crowd, they did not want to be caught.
"Almost...there..." Taylor panted a few minutes later as they rounded yet another corner. "Thank goodness there was more lipstick lying around, because I'd be lost without it." The corridors of the factory were like a maze, even worse than the ducts, honestly. Luckily the crazy mob after them didn't seem to have noticed the little red dots on the doorways.
"I'll never bad-talk your lipstick again," Karlie promised as they took the last turn and could see the opening to the factory floor ahead of them. They raced into the room, both screaming bloody murder as a signal (not that it was needed, honestly), and headed for the stairs on the other side of the room. The gang poured into the large open area and were immediately set upon by their previous allies, turning the chase into a mess of confusion.
The couple made it to the stairs on the other side of the room, which led to the next room over. More accurately, they led to a walkway high above the next room that wrapped around its perimeter, meant for maintenance and observation. The room was older than the other parts of the building, and was largely wooden. Karlie and Taylor hoped to make use of the wooden rafters and beams that crisscrossed over the drop, knowing that it would slow the criminals down and give them a chance to talk.
Pausing at the top of the stairs, they looked back over the fight below. "Where's Toni?" Karlie asked, searching the crowd.
"I don't know. She had the weapon; maybe she's gone to hide it." Taylor scanned the group of people as well, and found her gaze locking with familiar dark brown eyes. "Arsyn's looking at us," she said.
"Good. Do something that will make her mad." Taylor grabbed Karlie's face and kissed her hard.
"...Or kiss me. That works too."
"Hey, cut the sass. It worked. Here she comes." Sure enough, Arsyn was on her way, looking like she wanted to see them both dead. Although that wasn't unusual, to be fair.
"Great. Hey, Taylor?"
"Yeah?"
"Just in case we don't make it out of here, I just wanted to say -"
"Yeah, Karls, I know. Me too."