"Stop right where you are." Her voice fills the room, echoing across the shadowy walls. It's only the two of them inside. Had Cerebella not arrived, Nadia probably would have had a field day with the jewels.
Nadia just turns her head and smiles. She's still wearing that tacky suit, the leather one that looks so tight it could choke her with matching ears. Back when they had first fought, she had seemed almost intimidating in it, able to move at lightning speeds and rip out her claws any time she liked.
Now, things are different. She's not just the Cat Lady any longer (why she chose the name, Cerebella doubted that she would ever understand), but Nadia Fortune. Her name is public record, found everywhere from legal files to the newspapers and the internet. She's got no identity to hide behind any longer.
"All right," comes the reply. Nadia's voice rises and falls easily, the words rolling off her tongue. Her eyes are sharp, locked in front of her, and her body impossibly still. The only movement is the grin that slowly spreads across her face.
"They told me that you were going to be rehabilitated." Cerebella's voice drops. "Play it straight."
The other woman giggles. "I was going to play it straight, you know." Finally, she moves again, her arms dropping to her side. With one quick motion of her hand, the jewels are buried deep into a pocket. "But the museum must have been trying to tempt me, making this new exhibit."
Cerebella merely glares. She steps forward. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. You know what you should do."
Nadia raises an eyebrow. "I don't think it would be something that you would agree with."
"If you would just-"
Nadia steps forward. "Just what?" She moves with a quick, cat like grace. Within moments, she's looking at a white, sharp toothed smile and bright eyes.
Her stare is hard, sharper than any of the fake claws that she uses. It's moments like these that make Cerebella's skin crawl, a sweat forming that no amount of running in heavy fabrics could. Moments like these make her mask seem unexistent.
Maybe today's the day she'll finally pull it off, she thinks.
It would be just her kind of thing to do. Cat Lady took whatever she pleased - jewelry, money, cars. Surely a mask would be just as an interesting of a souvenir for her.
Cerebella straightens her back. Even with Nadia inches away from her, close enough to where she can hear the other woman breathing, she must remain calm. She is The Jumper first and Cerebella second. Until the mask is off the only thing that matters is what Nadia can already see.
Despite herself, she flinches at Nadia's touch. Yet soft fingers touch her chest and only seem to be moving further down, but more and more away from her mask. Even with layers of fabric and armor, Nadia's very touch is warm and yet somehow able to form goosebumps on Cerebella's skin.
"What if we paused this game," Nadia says, her voice just barely above a whisper, "just for a little while? We've played this before and we know how it will end. Can't we take a break, do things a little differently from now on?"
Cerebella reaches a hand up. It merely hangs in the air, never forming a fist or meeting the other's skin.
With her free hand, Nadia takes it. "Please, won't you at least do this for me?" Her lips lean closer, just barely grazing Cerebella's skin. Before she can respond, her lips are again free. "I've heard you aren't as clean of a hero as the city thinks you are. Rumor is, you're based in mob money. Do you really think that Princess Parasoul would make fancy speeches about you if she knew you were the Medici's girl? Would the public still worship you if they knew you worked for the very people they want you to stop?"
Cerebella freezes.
"But hey," Nadia replies, "rumors are just that - rumors. For all I know, you're secretly a billionaire."
She leans forward, their lips meeting again. Cerebella can only now respond, pressing her own lips forward. It's deep for a moment, coated in adrenaline.
She'll probably regret this later.
No, she definitely will. It's one thing to fight an enemy and another to make out with them, especially on the scene of the crime.
But just as she began the kiss, Nadia too ends it. She pulls away and turns, her legs racing towards the broken window she entered in earlier.
"Thanks for the fun night!" Nadia calls. Her white hair seems to fly as she moves, her fake tail bobbing with every hurried step she takes. Then she's out the window, a dark shape vanishing into the black night.
The room is quiet. No alarm went off when she entered. Had Cerebella not already been sure to keep an eye on her, then perhaps she would have slipped in and out without anyone noticing at all.
Cerebella steps forward, yet just as quickly pulls her foot back.
Reaching her hand up, she adjusts her orange mask, the tops of it shaped like rabbit ears. Somehow, it still managed to save time.
Turning away, Cerebella sighs. Nadia can take the jewels tonight if that will keep her lips shut.
There's only one other way to keep them still, and Cerebella's had enough of touching the other woman's lips for that night.