"Why do we have to do this?" Liz asked, fists clenched at her sides, "We have a life here! What about mom? What about our team?" She half asked, half yelled, 'What about our friends?' The question that was left unspoken.
"I'm not asking you to come with me, but Roanoke found out who I was….he saw me Lizzie, I need to disappear, but it's your choice to come with me or not," Claire stated. She didn't want to leave. She knew this would be hard on many people, especially Liz. Their dad sighed.
"I know it's a tough choice, but you need to make it and quick. We don't have a lot of time," Liz looked to them both, first her Dad, then to her sister. On one hand, her dad had saved her life. Things would have been different if it weren't for him. On the other, there was Claire, her sister. The one person she had that she had any real devotion to. She swore to protect her always, but now she was doubting the one person she would follow anywhere.
"I-"
They fell silent at the sounds of footfalls, echoing through the shadows.
Tap, Tap, Tap
Slow, steady. No rush at all. Liz's breath caught in her throat as she caught the familiar scent of C4. Hint's of gunpowder and other explosive chemicals assaulted her senses. The hair on her neck bristled. She knew that scent.
"Well, well, well, isn't this touching. I hate to break up this beautiful family moment, but i need to take back what belongs to us." She knew that voice.
A woman stepped from the darkness. Liz knew her. They both did.
"Flare" She whispered, breathless and cold. It left her lungs feeling like a vacuum
Claire growled, pushing Liz behind her. "I won't let you take her from me!"
"Oh we'll see about that," she cooed in a sickly sweet voice, "we'll see."
Liz woke up gasping. The cold air in the bedroom almost choking her. She didn't know if she had screamed, or if it was just a gasp that escaped her. Her body shook as if ice filled her veins. 'A dream….or...a memory' she held her breath for a few seconds before releasing it. It slowed her breathing, but did nothing for her heart rate. Sweat dripped down her forehead. Tears Falling. She wiped them away, realizing that she had probably been crying in her sleep. She groaned curled back up in her pile of blankets, not really wanting to get out of bed. She checked the clock. 'Six fucking thirty on the dot, same as every morning,' She thought, pulling the soft blankets around her tighter. She hated these dreams. She wanted them to go away. She sat up, deciding that maybe walking around the house would help ease her mind. She hadn't really slept at night since she gained her abilities, and wandering had always been helpful to her. Maybe she would go run some more recon before they went out. She quickly jotted down a note and left it where she knew Claire would see it, right on the coffee pot.
She quickly dressed in her tactical gear, and headed out. The early morning air was rancid smelling and made her sick, but it was better than being cooped up in her own thoughts. She reached her destination in a little less than fifteen minutes. She had been jumping from building to street and dashing through alleyways. She even swore she saw some sort of blue light sweep across the sky, but that was probably just her being paranoid. She didn't smell anything different, then again how could she smell anything in the New York air. She hopped up on the rooftop overlooking the bank and pulled out her binoculars to peer down at the security.
'No guards, minimal alarms, probably old school tech if what I'm seeing is correct, if we ever needed to hit this place again it would be easy, but would be most effective during the evening, so why would anyone hit it at high noon on a Sunday?' She thought, furrowing her brows a bit, 'and why would they let it get leaked that it was going down…..unless…..ah Jesus it's a trap,'
She smacked her forehead and rubbed her temples. 'I'd better go disable whatever weapons they have planted, and maybe even place a few of my own, hehehe…'
She came home three hours later, roughly around nine-thirty in the morning. She had already changed into her jogging gear, so if their nosey neighbors decided to peek out their window, they would just think she had been out for an early morning jog. A really early morning jog.
As she stepped in through the back door, taking her headphones out as she did, she saw Claire reading the news on her laptop. She peeked up from over the screen and smiled.
"Have a nice run?" She asked, taking a sip of her coffee and closing the lid.
"I found these scattered all over the place," she beamed, gently placing her bag down on the counter and pulling out several disabled bombs, "looks like whoever is planning this heist, well, there was a reason everyone knew about it."
"A trap?"
"Yep, but now the tables have been flipped, their traps have been removed and I may or may not have rigged up a few of my own design."
Claire laughed, hugging her sister, "Liz, have I ever told you how much of a genius you are?"
"Not nearly enough, so I savor each moment and commit it to memory, just in case you never say it again," she shrugged, pulling away, "so have you made breakfast yet? I'm starving!"
"How long have you been awake anyways?"
"Ohhh, not too long,"
"How long is not too long?"
"Just since about six thirty?"
Claire did some quick math, "wait, you've been up for three fucking hours?!"
"Yeah, yeah I know what you're gonna say, 'Liiiz, that's gonna throw off your sleep cycle you should be more careful!' Yada, yada, yada, I get it, but sometimes I just can't sleep and that's just something we both have to get used to,"
"Actually, I was gonna ask why you didn't wake me up,"
"Oh…..um…...I just…..no reason, I mean just because I can't sleep doesn't mean you shouldn't sleep, so why don't you just…..drink some coffee and relax while I go get a nice hot shower!"
"That was my plan, I mean you haven't had a bath in-"
"Three days…..I know, but you also know how i feel about them, so just be thankful i'm going by myself instead of you dragging me in,"
" I know, I'm so proud of you,"
"Don't patronize me,"
"I'm not"
"Bullshit"
"I'm serious im very proud of you,"
Liz huffed and nearly stormed up the stairs. Her mind swam with her own thoughts. She grabbed a fresh set of cloths from their room, and headed to the bathroom. She closed the door and turned the shower on. A shiver went down her spine. She ignored the feeling and began undressing. She looked at herself in the mirror. Despite having a good healing rate, she still had scars. They made her stomach turn. She knew each scar, where she got it from, and how she'd gotten it. She looked as a particularly large one carved down her chest. She swallowed thickly and turned from the mirror to step into the shower. Her breath hitched and caught in her throat. Her body jerked and a little noise escaped her. Even if the shower was warm, the memories the feeling brought to her were frigid and terrifying. She opened her mouth to try and breath, but a choked sob was all she managed. She shakily washed herself. Her fingertips ran along her scarred and battered skin. She sank to her knees and wrapped her arms around herself. Her chest felt tight. She couldn't breath. She remained like that for a long time.
Eventually, she managed to turn the water off. She quickly grabbed a towel, wrapping it around herself. That was something she didn't have in her memories. The towel was warm. It was safe. She held it tightly to her chest and stood from her position. She didn't bother looking into the mirror. She grabbed her clothes and quickly fled from the room. She ran quietly, and eventually she was in her currently shared room. She closed the door. No mirrors. Not in their room. That had been her terms. Claire had readily agreed.
After she had dried off and gotten dressed she began to brush her fiery, orange-red hair. She missed the Ash blonde locks she had sported. Her hair had been more strawberry blonde, much like her mother, but it had lightened up significantly after she got her powers and turned more dull and ashen. She hadn't liked that very much, and had cried when she had seen her own reflection for the first time after. The one feature she shared with her mother, and it had been taken from her. Life was cruel sometimes.
She shook her head rapidly, dispelling some water in just about all directions, before brushing her hair back out. She quickly tossed it up in a pony-tail. The ends began to curl. That would come back and bite her later.
Liz walked silently down the stairs out of habit. She hadn't meant to, but she had managed to creep unnoticed into the kitchen. She watched Claire as she quietly observed the neighbors house. It was almost peaceful for a moment, but Claire's eyebrows creased worriedly. Something was wrong.
"Liz is not going to like this," Claire mumbled to herself. Liz watched her place her cup in the sink to wash it.
"Not gonna like what?" The redhead asked as she was drying her hair with a towel.
Claire jumped a mile and Liz cocked her head to the side confused.
"Jesus!" Claire cried, nearly dropping her cup, "A little warning next time? Maybe to should put a collar on you with a bell or something!"
Liz tensed, her stomach dropping and lurching dangerously. She stepped back defensively.
Claire's eyes widened, "Shit! Liz, no i'm sorry! I didn't- I wasn't thinking-"
"Just, drop it….." Liz snapped, looking out the window. Claire took the hint, but Liz could see the guilt in her eyes as she looked where Liz was looking.
"Parker just got in from a night of hero business," she offered, nodding her head towards the window.
Liz walked over to the window, groaning the entire way. She glared out the window like she had become accustomed to and groaned even louder. "Your new friends just got back as well," she stated with a bit more venom in her words than intended.
"They're not my friends," Claire mumbled as she began to watch the news feed for anything on the bank, "plus it wouldn't be so bad as to not always be alone."
"Ughh… please spare me the 'we need to make friends' lecture, I really don't wanna deal with that first thing after a shower."
Claire nodded, "so...when do we head out?"
"As soon as I tame this messy mop of hair."
Claire nodded, peeking back at the screen of her laptop. She saw nothing about the bank, which could either be a good thing, or this would be a set up. "Please tell me i'm not the only one a little worried about how this could go?" Claire asked, looking back out the window to see the neighbors leaving again.
"No, you're not…" Liz replied a bit sadly, but her mood suddenly lifted and she smiled brightly, "So that's why I was up at six-thirty setting my own traps and ruining the day of whoever set those other ones."
Claire chuckled, watching her sister's face. Liz brightened. At least that's one thing that had gone right so far. It was gonna be a good day. Liz giggled a bit, be-bopping around the kitchen to her own little tune. It was almost sing-song as she spoke, which made Claire giggle a bit more.
"Iiii'm about to whoop somebooody's aaaaass,"
"Liz stop!" Claire teased, laughing more.
She didn't want her sister to worry, so she smiled and made light of the situation. It was the least she could do. Claire sank to the floor, snorting in her mirth. This had Liz curled up on her side next to her. It was nice to laugh with Claire again.
Liz laughed for a few more seconds before she calmed herself. She hummed, taking a deep breath. She stood back up, going for a glass of orange juice. She sipped at her orange juice and rummaged through the cabinets for something to snack on. She eventually settled for a breakfast bar. She wasn't really hungry, but she ate to keep up some sort of normalcy, even if it was only a few bites of a cereal bar. She watched her sibling as she stood up from her computer to watch the window, noticing the group of teens were out of sight before there was a knock at the front door. Claire glanced over to Liz and held a scowl on her face. "There is no way that's a coincidence," she said walking over to the door and peeking through the peephole. Claire followed her, signing "who is it?" to her sister.
Liz scowled more, Signing back, "it's them….should I pretend we aren't home?"
"No that will look suspicious,"
Liz sighed, opening the door quickly and going into a fighting stance. Parker backed away quickly and the rest of them jumped a bit. Liz rolled her eyes and lowered her guard. Well, so they thought.
"Oh, it's you. Whaddya want?"
"We.. uh….we just came by to see if you guys wanted to hang out or something?" Peter offered, smiling a bit.
"No."
"Liiiz! Don't be rude!" Claire huffed, shoving her sister out of the way, "Ignore her, we'd be happy to hang out today!"
"Speak for yourself." Liz mumble, turning away from the door. She huffed, heading back up the stairs, "If you need me, i'll be unpacking….. I have a room to set up."
Liz stood at the top out of sight. She knew she was just avoiding things again, but she didn't want to have people ripped away from her again. She kept her ears trained on the voices downstairs.
"Sorry, is this a bad time?" Peter questioned. Liz rolled her eyes. 'I'm just fucking peachy Parker'
"Nah, she's just moody. She doesn't get a lot of sleep, especially during long trips, so she's still trying to catch up on it y'know?" Liz snorted a bit at her sister's lame excuse.
Liz heard them shuffle a bit, and heard one of them (presumably Peter) clear their throat. The distinct slapping noise signified that Claire had smacked her forehead.
"Right, please come in."
She heard her sister tell them to make themselves at home. She scoffed, walking back into their room again. She packed a small backpack with things she might need. Her cell phone, matches, a flashlight just in case. As an afterthought, she grabbed her boot knife and strapped it to her ankle. It was well hidden under her pants, so she wasn't worried. She could hear the conversation under the floorboards.
"I was just about to make breakfast, anything you guys would like?"
Peter Laughed. Liz hated it. "actually, we already ate, but Sam here is a bottomless pit, so i'm sure he'd be happy!"
"Parker! Shut up!" Sam squawked. Liz smiled a moment, "but if you're offering, uh, Claire? Right?"
Claire laughed a bit. At least one of them was happy. "Yep. That's my name!"
She had enough. She zipped her backpack, and made her way to the stair. She hopped up on the rail, and went sliding down the railing of the stairs. Claire shot her a dirty look.
"Liz, you KNOW mom and dad hate it when you do that!"
"Well, mom and dad ain't here now are they?" she quipped, adjusting her bag.
"Um, where are you going?" she asked questioning her sister.
"I never agreed to hang out today, YOU did. I'm going to go explore the area for a good jogging route. Don't wait up." she huffed.
Claire sighed and was about to argue when Sam piped up.
"Um, I could show you some of the less dangerous routes, if you'd like."
Liz groaned, "seriously? What is it with you New Yorkers and not taking no for a friggen answer! I'm going out to GET AWAY from you, ya really think i'm gonna just bring you with me?"
"Yes."
"Why's that?"
"Because, " he started, "you need my help. You're new here, and you don't know your way around. I doubt your military dad taught you how to navigate in a city…..so why don't you let me tag along. A guide of sorts i guess…"
Liz blushed a bit and ground her teeth. He had a point, but he didn't know that she could track her way anywhere and defend herself just fine. She wouldn't let him have the satisfaction..
. Liz hadn't shown this much of an interest in anyone since their Dad had died. Liz didn't go out of her way to make friends after what had happened. She couldn't stop herself from getting close to someone. She hated it.
She grunted in a non-committal way and walked out the door. Taking it as approval, Sam followed. They walked down the walk, and Liz took a right. Sam followed wordlessly. He didn't say anything for a long time. He simply walked a few feet behind Liz, turned when she turned. It grated on her every nerves. She had never met someone so infuriating.
"What?!" she yelled after what felt like an eternity. (In reality, only ten minutes had passed.)
"Nothing, just thought you'd appreciate the silence."
He shrugged, she sneered at him and continued walking, the silence resuming. She strolled along by the bay, and through somewhat rural areas. She took mental note to go back later.
"I wouldn't go that way."
Liz scoffed, "I think I know my way around idiot, i know more about these rural areas than you!"
He shrugged once more and smirked, "Fine country bumpkin, be my guest."
She puffed up a bit. She grinned at his submission and proceeded to strut forward.
"Thank you, I think I will."
It was a mistake.
Claire and the others were chatting animatedly when Liz caught sight of them through the window. This made her day much worse as she slammed the front door open causing everyone to turn and find the two hotheads storming in. Sam had laughed when Liz fell into the water. She had made it roughly three and a half steps in (she had counted) before the ground gave way and she toppled into the filthy Hudson water. Claire's hand flew to her face as she stifled a laugh. Liz was soaked to the bone and Sam was dry.
"I told you not to go that way!" he shouted as he closed the door, stopping in the doorway towards the kitchen, "But nooooooo! You obviously know better than the person who's been living here the past few months!"
Liz turned around abruptly, startling the Hispanic boy as her grey eyes burned with anger. "DO NOT tell me what to do!" she growled, grinding her teeth, "I didn't need you to go with me and would have been perfectly fine without you!"
The group in the kitchen noticed the tension, but Claire noticed the animosity in Liz's voice. "I think it's time for you guys to go," she said stepping towards her sister, placing herself between Liz and Sam, "Thanks for the help."
Peter's eyes were narrowed as he noticed the change in the two's demeanor. "Let's go guys," he said nodding to the others, "We'll see you in the morning for school."
"Yeah, see ya!" she called back.
When the door had closed, she turned to her sister with concern. Liz huffed, plucking a bit of debris from her hair.
"Stupid little runt, Woulda been just fine, but no, no, you said be nice to the neighbors. I should've taken him down with me. 'Oh! Don't go over there Liz!'" she mumbled the last part in a crude mimicry of Sam's voice.
Claire took a deep breath, taking her sister's coat from her. She patted the young girl's damp hair and chuckled a bit, "You probably should've listened."
"Shut. Up. I can't believe i have to get ANOTHER shower!" Liz shouted as she stormed up the stairs to get her clothes.
Her mind reeled. The water was cold, it reminded her of something far worse than just getting dirty. She stepped into the shower, not bothering to wait for it to heat up after turning the water on. Mud turned the water a murky brown and bits of debris floated on top. She ducked her head under the water and took deep, calming breaths. She couldn't believe she had to go through this again.
When Liz finally returned to Claire, she had calmed down significantly. Claire turned when she heard her sister approaching. She stepped away from the window and sighed. "Feel better?"
Liz grumbled something as she tossed a bag on the counter. Liz watched as Claire surveyed her outfit. It was a simple two piece design, black with gray highlights. The Gray parts were a specially made armor, made of an artificial material she had come up with in the garage with their dad. Liz was in the process of unzipping the bag, pulling out an entirely black suit, well almost. Claire could tell the differences in the colors, one was ink black, and the other was ebony highlights. She nodded to her sister as the suit was tossed to her.
Claire ran a hand through her hair and walked over towards the bathroom. "So I take it we're heading out now," she said pulling her shirt over her head.
"Yes," the redhead murmured as she began securing her belt full of gadgets and tools, "Today is going to be the best day to do this."
Claire had just shimmied out of her pants when Liz picked her head up, sniffing the air towards the upstairs. Her eyes narrowed and she went to stand near the bottom of the steps. Claire held up a hand, tossing her suit and civilian clothing to the side. She made hand gestures to signal she would go up stairs and check, earning a nod from her sister. Claire grabbed a knife from the chopping block and made her way to the stairwell. She crept up the stairs, listening intently for anything. She could hear the heartbeat of the intruder, check that intruders. She heard them begin rustling through the drawers and boxes. Liz smirked to herself as she reached the top, rounding the corner towards the room she shared with her sister.
"Oww!" a hushed voice called, "watch where you're throwing things."
"Well I wouldn't be hitting you if you were actually doing something!" someone hissed.
Liz narrowed her gaze and focused on the shadows, four of the five stood out to her. Two shadows were by the dresser one giant shadow and one with shoulder length hair wearing a mask that was tied back, they were carefully going through the dresser. A tall feminine figure emerged from the bathroom empty handed, approaching a medium stocky build who was searching through boxes. A short figure was hovering, yep hovering, over her bed refusing to assist in rifling through belongings. Claire paused at few feet from the door, contemplating what she should do.
She turned to head back to the top of the stairs, motioning to Liz who had her eyes locked on the stairs. She signed a few more things to her and Liz quickly changed back into her civilian gear. She swiftly made her way up the stairs and to the door.
Ready when you are. She signed.
Go ahead, I'll back you up.
Liz quickly pushed the door open and flicked the lights on.
"What the FUCK is going on?" she screeched.
She had to make this believable. Claire came running in, knife in hand. The figure hovering over the bed made a quick landing and held their hands out. The two by the dresser did the same. One wore a green outfit and the other a yellow one, the female wore a white tiger suit, and the one who had been floating wore an almost futuristic military outfit. Then there was the obvious, red and blue clad hero who was the ring leader.
"Woah, woah, woah, this is a HUGE misunderstanding!" they yelped.
The female figure also held her hands up. "Look, this isn't what you think. We must have the wrong house."
Liz bristled, "who are you?"
"We, can't actually tell you that," the red and blue clad superhero sputtered.
Liz already knew. She could smell it. Her heightened senses made for excellent detective skills. Claire stood there in silence, trying to hide the weapon she had and her half naked body. She'd let Liz handle things for now. "Jesus, I told mom and dad that we should move somewhere without the costumed freaks. I mean Jesus, now they are breaking into houses for no reason?" Liz huffed, crossing her arms, "Is going above and beyond the law not enough for you?"
"You should be ashamed. You call yourselves heroes, then break into a house when only the kids are home? Pathetic. JJJ is right, you are menaces," Claire quipped as she put her hands on her hips.
"We should call the cops."
"You just can't move anywhere without some freak thinking they can disregard the law."
"No! No..please, it's really not what you think!"
"We apologize for our indiscretion but we thought that you may be a part of an evil organization. It seems that our target framed you. You have our sincerest apologies. We won't bother you again," the one in green spoke.
Liz took a deep breath, "get out of here, before we change our mind. And if you ever come back we'll make sure you pay."
Claire watched as they went to the open window they had come through. "We're awfully sorry," the female in white spoke as she disappeared.
Claire went to the window and slammed it closed. "Check if they took anything, or bugged the room," she said turning around to check the end table by the bed.
"Way ahead of you," Liz quipped, searching through the dresser.
A few minutes of silence passed before Claire finally spoke. "You chose mercy," she hummed, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"Only because I couldn't risk blowing our cover."
Claire glanced over to her sister as she finished checking the area, "Liz. You and I both know you don't think of that in the heat of the moment."
Liz paused what she was doing, clenching her fists. "So what," she growled spinning around to face her sibling, "Don't think I didn't see you with the knife."
Claire placed the knife down on the end table, letting out a sigh. "Well at least a knife is more practical than killing someone!" she sighed.
Liz felt the anger bubbling up inside of her. She slammed her hands down on the dresser, dishevelling some of the belongings. "You don't get to criticize me about it," she half yelled, half sobbed. She honestly didn't know what to think anymore. She dipped her head low, not making eye contact with Claire.
"Liz-"
"Just- just go away, i'll meet you there…"
Claire walked to the door in silence, but said one last thing before she went down the stairs, "I'm really sorry Liz."
Liz scoffed at her sister and turned to walk into the bathroom. She took a look in the mirror, criticizing her face. Hating herself for how much she used to look like her mother, whom she'd never get to see again. She hated that they had to hide from their family and friends from their old life. She knew it was hard on Claire, but it was also hard on her. She needed to calm down before they went out tonight, or else risk blowing their cover or even hurting someone. She splashed her face with water before leaning against the sink with her hands.
She shut the water off, taking deep breaths through her nose. Maybe Claire was right. She shouldn't be this closed off, but she had to put distance between the two of them. She felt too close, and that could be their downfall. If anything happened to either of them, the other would come undone. They had to learn to function on their own, or risk losing the only people they had left. That didn't mean she couldn't make things right.
Claire was in mid thought when Liz stalked in. She was pulling her hair back so it wouldn't be in her face and Liz fought the urge to tell her it was unnecessary. She had already caused enough problems for one day. Claire looked up from where she was lacing her boot.
"Thought you said you were gonna meet me there?" the golden brunette quipped.
"Whatever,"she taunted her sister as she grabbed her suit, quickly changing back into it.
Claire hummed and secured her utility belt, something she had picked up from a past mentor. Liz only used one since she couldn't bring a backpack with her all the time. It was usually a judgement call for Liz. Depending on the assignment and the equipment she needed. She made her way to the lightswitch, turning out the lights once Liz was done. She silently opened the back door and snuck out through the backyard with Liz following close behind. They made their way over the fence and towards the inner part of the city, to the bank that Liz had scoped out earlier in the day before.
When they finally got to the building across the way, they noticed a significant lack of security than when Liz saw it before. "They knew," Liz growled as she overlooked the area.
Claire surveyed and noticed a few different unmarked vans parked near the exit. "Timber," she cautioned as she noticed movement, big burley men moving around by the windows set off internal alarms for her, "This isn't the heros. This is someone using the leaked heist to their advantage."
"Well then Jaguar," she fumed, "Let's go take care of this problem."
The girls moved from their spot on the roof to the alley below. Liz darted around to the back entrance, quickly disarming the security locks and entering through the door. She hid quietly, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. She darted behind on man, knocking his legs out from under him. He yelled out, pulling the trigger on his way down. No one got hurt, but it gave Liz the perfect distraction to take out two more. The dropped to the ground quietly. She could hear the voices in their ear pieces. She took them out and quickly crushed them beneath her boot. No need for them to hear her.
She could hear a slight buzzing, kneeling down she found a silent alarm. It hadn't sent out a signal yet, but it was going to. She pulled out a small flash drive and plugged it into her wrist computer (Another design courtesy of her dad's brilliant mind). She immediately began hacking the signal before it could be broadcast to the alarm company.
"Timber?" Claire called out,"location?"
"Over here," the lighter grey clad hero called from behind a counter, "they were about to trigger the silent alarm. I'm in the process of disarming it."
Claire made her way over to the safe where Liz was tinkering with a wiring system. "So are you saying this is a bust after all?" she questioned as she leaned against the wall, keeping an eye on the doorways.
"If I don't get this shut off," Liz growled as she wiped her brow, "then yes. But I think…. Yahtzee!"
There was a slight whirring sound of the system shutting down. Claire nodded and moved from the wall as her sister turned her attention towards the large vault that had a dial with numbers on it. Claire groaned inward and pushed her sister out of the way. "You stand look out," she said placing an ear to the safe, "I'll crack this in no time."
Liz grumbled something under her breath, but she knew Claire would be able to get in faster than she would. Claire's hero name pertained to her cat like capabilities. She had heightened hearing, night vision, and better smell than the average human. The only downside was that she had poor color vision. She could tell colors, but they were very dull tones. Liz on the other hand had canine like powers. She had an unbelievable sense of smell, a powerful bite force, and she had a magnetic sensitivity. She had worse colorvision that Claire did though. The girls had their ups and downs, but they found that they work well together.
Liz was snapped out of her thoughts when a new smell came wafting through the building. She growled from instinct, causing Claire to turn her attention from the vault to the possible new threat. "Keep them busy," she whispered as she quickly turned her attention back to the safe, "I have one more number to enter. Then we're in."
Liz nodded to her sister and darted out of the room. She rounded the corner in time to see two more un-named criminals stalking through the lobby area. She had no doubt these were the men the voices in the coms belonged to. She took a deep breath, holding it as she tossed a small, marble-esk device towards the masked men. They didn't notice until the tiny device exploded in a burst of smoke. To anyone else it just smelled like smoke, but to Liz, it was like a fingerprint. She'd be able to track that scent if they somehow got away. The men coughed as the smoke irritated their airways as the young girl stuck to hiding in the shadows.
"Who threw that?" one asked through coughing fits.
"I don't know, I can't see anything!" The other replied.
Liz smirked, weighing her options. She could get a higher, better vantage point and hit them both in one swoop, or she could go directly at them and take them on that way. There was one other option though. One she was actually rather fond of. She could stall, toy with them a bit. Claire would call for her when she was done, and she always got bored waiting for her to finish up.
"Wow, you guys really suck." She called out.
"Who's there, Show yourself!"
She switched her goggles to the infrared tracking system she had installed. It would be a good test run for it.
"How about, no. No sounds good to me."
"You little punk!" one guy shouted as the other criminal tried to calm him down.
"Listen, sounds like a kid, and you gotta be more gentle with kids." She could see the man's heat signature crouch down, "C'mon out kid, we ain't gonna hurt ya, we just want what's best, so let's just get ya outta here so you don't hurt yourself."
Liz hummed in a crude mockery of thought, "Hmmm tempting, very tempting, but there's one tiny little problem with your statement."
The man laughed a bit as Liz started walking. With the smoke clearing now, the men could see parts of Liz's suit. Her plated shoulder armor, and the grayscale color of the base. And the fact that her mask looked almost menacing. It covered the lower half of her face. It protruded out, like a snout, and the grooves that cut along it almost resembled a wolf's snarl. They were frozen in place, too shocked to say anything. She got close to them, just walking as anyone would. Then stopped in front of them, standing on her tiptoes to whisper in their ears.
"I was told never to go with strangers." She held back a chuckle as the men jumped before turning to action.
The two turned on her and began to throw punches. Liz fought the urge to sigh, before dodging the throws. She threw her own hits, tossing her weight around to make the hits count. One man managed to grab her loose hair in a fist, making her wince at the tension. Claire didn't seem to stupid now that she was on this end of it. He lifted her up off the ground as she tried to writhe away from the man holding her. As she was dangled above the ground, the other man stood from where she had knocked him. He wiped his mouth and made his way to approach his partner with the little girl. "You think you're clever," he growled as he drew his hand back, he paused though when he heard a click followed by a chuckle, "What was that?"
Claire smirked as she opened the safe and turned to find her sister. When she heard nothing, she used her hearing to her advantage. She heard the fast pace of her sister's heart and that made her worry. Claire crept her way in the shadows, making sure she was unnoticed. She peered around the corner, only to find herself doing a backbend to avoid a baseball bat. "Whoa there," she chuckled as she flipped her feet up, landing a foot to the man's jaw.
Claire flipped herself rightside up and marched over towards the two men who apprehended her sister.
"Told you to cut your hair."
"Shut up Jag."
Claire clicked her tongue and grabbed the man's fist which was pulling back another hit. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to hit girls?" she giggled as she pulled, yanking the man off balance so she could land a kick to his back which sent him forwards.
The man called out in pain as Liz tried to wriggle her way free once more. Claire growled, almost in a primal way. She held down a hand as she triggered her claws. The man she had just kicked was now staggering to a standing position, turning back to her before charging. Claire saw him coming at her. She sidestepped him, swiping at him as he passed. The man screamed in pain as blood appeared through his shirt. He turned back around, charging again as Claire pulled back her fist. She landed a solid hit to his jaw with enough force to make his head snap around. He fell unconscious at her feet. She took a moment to glance back at Liz.
She saw that Liz had managed to pull herself up, move her mask down and, with little shame, bit the arm that was holding her hair. With her increased bite force, she easily snapped the man's arm and her teeth tore savagely through his flesh. He let go of her hair and she dislodged from the man's arm. She was free from his grip and on her feet in seconds. He glared angrily at her as she replaced her mask.
"You little brat, you're gonna pay for that!" He screamed as he held his arm, blood dripping from the new wound.
"What is it with people thinking I'm little? Like yeah I'm short, we get it, but little?! That's just insulting," she complained loudly, crossing her arms, "And yet, here I am, as a 'little girl' kicking your ass. That's gotta hurt your pride!"
She faked a yawn as he charged her. They always did that. She sidestepped easily, doing a small little dance and twirl when she did. She continued to dance around him, dodging and weaving. She was just faster than him. He tried swinging at her, only to have her duck down and trip him. Claire held back a laugh as she watched. Her sister sure liked to toy with the criminals still. A trait she had picked up with their old team.
"Oh come on big fella, you're not even trying!"
He tried to grab her, but she jumped up at the last second. "Wow! Almost had me that time!" She quickly flipped, kicking him in the jaw and landing on her feet.
"And she sticks the landing!" she cheered, punching him in the bridge of the nose.
He wobbled for a moment groaning, before falling backwards.
"For your own good, just stay down, ok?" she chastised as she turned to her sister.
"Think you overdid it there?" Claire asked as she walked back to unload the safe.
"Nah, he grabbed me by the hair, I had no choice but to bite him."
"I wasn't talking about the biting."
"Oh." She responded. She was silent for a moment before shrugging and bending down to load up the duffle bag.
"I had some spare time, I figured why not have fun with it."
Claire sighed, "you know you can't let yourself get carried away. I know this time you were in control but-"
"Enough Claire!" Liz exclaimed, feeling a rage boiling up inside of her, "I get it. You don't trust me to be in control. It's hard enough knowing everyone else is afraid of me, I don't need to know that you are too."
Claire looked away and finished emptying the safe. "Let's get this over with," she said in a low growl, "We'll talk about this at home."
"Tch," she clicked her tongue as she looked at the meager amount of money in the safe, effectively changing the subject, "This wasn't even worth hitting. Did they move it all before hand? Or what?"
"The plot thickens" Claire mused, "But we don't have time for that now, we gotta go."
They zipped up their bags and were out the door in less than a minute. When they thought they were clear they stopped to catch their breath. They fist bumped each other and shared a small laugh, but it was quickly cut off by an all too familiar voice.
"Thanks for taking those guys out for us, why don't you hand over the money and we'll call this a big misunderstanding?" a blue and red clad hero called out as they stepped into the alley.
Claire rolled her eyes and looked at her sister who looked none too enthused.
"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it Arachno-pest!" Liz yelled, bristling a bit.
Man this guy was annoying. How were they supposed to get through this job with him on their asses. Claire watched intently as her sister taunted him.
"Hey that's- actually that was a pretty good one," he conceded, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well this has been lovely," Claire interrupted the two before conflict could arise, "but, we need to be going now."
Claire turned and huffed. Liz glanced back and found that the clever banter was a rouse. Behind the two girls were three more heros. The same ones that had been in their house earlier that day, though one was missing.
"One, two, three, four," Claire counted playfully, putting one claw up to where her mouth should have been on her mask, "One of your friends is missing."
"I tawt I taw a putty tat," Liz called out in a jeer, sniffing the air and looking up.
"She won't be able to get a good drop on us from that angle. Might as well come down kitty cat."
She smirked when she saw the fifth one. The girl's shoulders sagged as made her way down from her perch on the fire escape.
She climbed down the fire escape, "how did you-"
"I don't have to tell you anything," Liz quipped, grabbing something from her utility belt, "You see this? I have the tunnels under the bank set to detonate. Let us go, or the bank, the buildings, and civilians around it end up as a sub-terra installation."
Claire side glanced her sister, knowing that with how the day was going that her sister was unpredictable. "Timber," she scolded as she surveyed the area, "we don't harm civilians. You know that. Now why don't we all settle down."
Liz glared at her sister, still holding the detonator. The group of young heroes looked at them before exchanging worried glances. "Look, how bout you give me that" a white sticky strand struck out from the red and blue hero's wrist and stuck to the detonator, "thank you very much. Now, how bout the money?"
Claire tightened her grip on the bag she held. A scowl landing its way on her face, "how bout you get out of here before we have to hurt you."
The one boy floating in the black and gold outfit chuckled, "As if you could hurt us. You're just a bunch of girls."
Liz growled and Claire became increasingly more anxious by the second. Her sister was already on edge, and these guys were not helping the situation.
"Yeah, well, guess what lightbulb, I've taken down harder hitters than you," she addressed the floating one before rounding the the blue and red guy, "And do you really think I'd have the real switch out in plain view like that? Ever heard of a decoy?"
And just like that the device the boy had taken from her started to spray a thick smoke, shrouding the area in a blanket of it. It made them cough and sputter, but when the smoke cleared the girls were long gone. "Where did they go?" the red and blue hero called out once his coughing fit ceased.
"Well Spider-man," the one in yellow bellowed, "Judging by the fact that the nearest sewer cover is 20 feet away, I'd say check the roofs."
"Thanks Powerman," Spider-man groaned sarcastically as he shot a web out from his webslinger and shooting up to the rooftops.
The others shrugged and followed him up. "Nova," Spiderman called once his floating companion was by his side, "circle a perimeter. They can't be too far. White Tiger and Iron Fist, pick a direction and start looking. They have to be sticking to close by roofs that they can jump to."
The two nodded and took off in opposite directions in search of the two girls. Spider-man turned to Powerman and groaned. "Fury is going to be so mad if we lose them," he said pacing back and forth, "Where did they go?! I mean come on!"
Powerman surveyed the area, narrowing his gaze as movement caught his eye. "Uh, Spidey," he tried as his partner was droning on and on.
"I'm super smart! They can't be that hard to find," he exasperated as he threw his hands in the air.
"Peter!" the taller man belted, finally earning his friends attention.
"What?!" he asked, walking to his friends side, "Luke, what is it?"
"Figured that you'd like to know they went that way," the tall african american said as he pointed in the direction of the subdivision they live in, "y'know. Seeing as Fury would be 'so mad' and all."
"Your amazing!" Peter called as he pulled up his wrist that held his communicator, "Everyone head south. They're heading towards Queens!"
Peter and Luke began rushing towards the last known location of the girls. Whether they would still be in the same place, or still running off would be a surprise.
Liz took a deep breath, looking back towards the direction they came from. "We've got company." she huffed, digging around in her belt for something useful.
She pulled out a marble sized metallic ball, her sister side glanced her before jumping to the next building. "That better be a smoke pellet Timberwolf," Claire jeered as she peered over her shoulder to check the distance between the people chasing them, "They're gaining on us."
"No shit Jaguar," she cursed her sister as she threw the pellet, "why would I throw something else?! You won't let me!"
"Now's not the time!" the older girl said as she looked forward once more to see a big gap in the buildings, "big jump coming up!"
The pellet landed just at the foot of the two pursuants. Spiderman stopped just shy of the object as Powerman kept running, the rest of their group stopping just shy of Peter. "Powerman!" Spidey hollered for his friend as the object was nearly crushed under his heavy foot. The pellet exploded, leaving puddle of oil-like fluid in it's place.
"W-woah!" he yelled, slipping and falling on his back.
Peter sighed, "Fury is going to be so ticked when he finds out about this."
"Don't worry webs, i'll give you some credit when i catch them!" Nova yelled, zooming past both of them, "Since oil-slick doesn't work on me!"
Liz paused on the roof of a building to survey their surroundings. "That won't slow them down for long, especially the sparkplug, we have to think fast."
"So what do you suppose we should do?"
"I'll distract them, you take the cash and run! There's no way they'll catch you. You're faster than me after all!"
Claire sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in thought, "Fine, but be careful. You know I hate splitting up."
"Yeah yeah," Liz huffed, tossing her bag at Claire, "Just get a move on will you? They'll be here any second."
Claire nodded as she jumped down and continued to run in a different direction. Liz grabbed the knife she kept hidden in her holster. She usually only used it to climb flat surfaces, but she'd need to use it to cut through Spider-man's webs if she had to. It was dull though. Very dull, and she wasn't even sure it would actually cut through anything. She had her back to the ledge as she crouched down to search through her belt for anything useful. She normally wouldn't leave her back open like that, but in this case it was to her advantage.
"Looks like your partner abandoned you. Some friend huh? Why don't you stand and put those hands up," Nova called, dropping down to hover roughly ten feet from the girl. Liz smirked and she did as she was told. She lifted her hands into the air.
"Oh. um, ok...I expected you to fight me on this…..just...turn around and walk toward me nice and slow."
Liz complied, turning and walking forward slowly. She had to time this right. The black and gold clad hero puffed up, aiming what she assumed to be a plasma cannon of some kind at her. His aim was steady. He wouldn't hesitate. She could appreciate that in a way. It was something she was used to. Something she could predict, and it calmed her. She was used to people trying to kill her. This was something she could handle. The others showed up shortly afterwards.
"Wow buckethead, you actually managed to subdue her. Good job" Spider-man laughed, "Wait, where's the other one?"
"Dunno, found this one crouched down, the other one was nowhere to be found. I assumed that she abandoned her partner."
Liz scoffed a bit, "Don't assume, it makes an ass out of you and me."
Spider-man chuckled a bit, "She has a point, we need to find the other one."
"You won't be able to. She's even better on her own. You'll never find her, and if you do, you'll never catch her. It's pointless. In fact, " Liz stopped a mere foot from Nova's cannon, "You won't even be able to catch me!"
It one swift move she grabbed Nova's arm and whipped it to the side. As she moved, Nova had fired the cannon, but with how quickly Liz had moved his arm, he ended up hitting White Tiger instead, causing her to fall off the edge. Spiderman went after her quickly, leaving Nova, Iron Fist, and Powerman to deal with Liz themselves. She quickly jumped onto the boy's shoulders, yanking his helmet off. This caused them both to fall to the ground.
"Hey! Give that back!" he yelled as she rolled away. He was beyond livid.
"Wow, I had a hunch, but I even doubted it for a moment. Oh well, I have no use for this thing anyways."
She tossed the helmet away, "Now, let's see how good you are without your magic helmet thingy."
Liz launched at him, hitting him easily. She kept throwing punches until eventually he collapsed to his knees. She was behind him in a second with the knife to his throat. She knew how dull it was, and it was good for nothing more than climbing brick walls, but they didn't know that. The heroes in front of her froze.
"Alright, so here's the plan. I'm going to let your buddies get your helmet, and you're gonna come with me. When i'm satisfied that they won't attempt to follow, then i'll let you go and you can call for them to come get you. Got it?"
The others watched helplessly as she dragged him up and began to pull him away with her. Spider-man grit his teeth behind his mask. He had rescued White Tiger, but she was out cold from the force of the blast. He addressed Liz with malice in his voice.
"Who the hell are you?"
Liz grinned behind her mask. She could at least give them an answer to that.
"Timberwolf. That's all you get on a first date sweet heart, so until next time spiderbabe, see ya!"
She pulled Sam over the edge of the building with her and they were gone.
Liz ended up carrying the boy over her shoulder for a few miles till she was sure that she wasn't followed. She only started carrying him because he was slow compared to her. It was like he was trying to stall. Eventually they were far enough away that she wasn't worried about them following. She set her captive down, stretching a bit.
"Jeez sparky, you need to lay off the junk food." she huffed, popping her neck.
"What the hell?! Were you really going to kill me?" he yelled, backing away from her a bit.
"Nope, the knife was way too dull to ever do any damage. It couldn't cut you, even if I had wanted it to. It's my climbing knife." she chuckled.
"You mean….I was never in any real danger….oh what the hell!"
Liz laughed more, "No hard feelings sparky, you have your job and I have mine. And for the record, there weren't any explosives, I had traps rigged up, but nothing that would hurt anyone."
She eyed the bruise forming on his cheek. It hadn't been her plan, but she had to improvise. She actually did feel kinda bad about it. She didn't understand why.
"Anyways, I'm outta here, don't bother trying to follow me. I'll know and i'll kick your ass three ways to next week."
And then she was gone.
Liz arrived home and found her sister sitting in the living room, the top half of her costume tied around her waist as she counted the money. "You sure took your time," she teased as she finished counting the last of the first bag.
Liz huffed and plopped herself down onto the couch next to her sister, careful of the stacks of money. She unzipped the bag and handed her sister a stack of hundreds before taking her mask off and tossing it on the coffee table. "You have no idea," she panted, running a hand through her hair, "I ran. A LOT! And had to carry the human lightbulb for a majority of it! He's heavy!"
Claire chuckled as she started a new pile for the money. She looked at Liz, who had her head leaned back against the couch. Her eyes were closed, and if she didn't know any better, she would have mistaken her for being asleep. But she knew better. Liz's eyes opened and she glanced over at Claire.
"What?" She asked, scowling when she found she was being watched.
"Nothing, you just seemed really at peace is all," Claire mumbled as she looked away and continued counting the money.
"Yeah, and?"
"And I haven't seen you this peaceful in a long time. Not since….well, you know…"
Liz nodded, "Just relishing in a job well done. They underestimated us, so it worked to our advantage, but I doubt it'll work a second time."
Claire nodded along. She knew her sister was going over statistics in her head. Their strengths, their weaknesses. She was right though. The same trick wouldn't work a second time.
"I hate to admit it, but Parker is a good fighter. He knows his team. And worse yet he knows how to lead them. This just got a hell of a lot more tougher."
"Yeah, but we have something they don't."
"Oh really? And what's that?" Claire asked, rolling her eyes.
"The element of surprise. They don't know the full extent of our abilities. They only saw a fraction of it, plus I've already managed to catch them off guard and unmask one of them. We can use that to our advantage. Besides, it's not like we have to keep this up for long. Just until Fury says enough. They don't know that we're on the same side. Well, mostly on the same side."
Claire chuckled a bit, counting the last stack of cash and setting it aside.
"I'm gonna miss this life, it's kinda fun being a loaded gun."
Liz sighed and stood up. She'd already discarded her mask and goggles, and she had noticed a few glitches with the system.
"Did you notice the lag in the infrared system, or was it just me being nit picky?"
"Lizzie, when aren't you nit picky?" Liz raised a brow at her sister, "Ok ok, point taken. Yes i did notice a tiny bit of an image delay, but it didn't interfere with my abilities at all."
"I'm gonna go get my computer and some tools. I think i need to adjust my plates again. They seem too loose for some reason."
Claire nodded, watching her sister leave. She had a feeling she was just avoiding the topic she knew Claire was going to bring up. Liz had made that a habit of hers. Claire never bothered her while she worked. It was something of an unspoken rule.
Liz left Claire to work on hiding the cash and changing out of her suit. Liz came back into the room after what seemed like almost forever. She had forgone putting actual pants on, but thankfully had at least a tank top on. Claire took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"What if we end up having unexpected guests?"
"Then they can get the fuck out of our house."
Claire huffed, ignoring her sister's remarks, "So, we got just a little over twenty grand…."
"I knew it wasn't going to be much, but jeez. It really wasn't worth hitting."
Liz sat down on the floor and Claire had noticed the laptop in her arms. She frowned. Apparently they weren't going to talk. Liz opened her laptop and started tapping at the keys. She worked in silence, pretty much ignoring everything around her. It's what she always did, and it bugged Claire more than anything. Before the accident, Claire thought it was amazing what Liz did. She admired her diligence and focus, but now it was a curse. It was an avoidance tactic and Claire hated it.
"You can't ignore this forever Liz, we have to talk."
"No. We don't." Liz furrowed her brows, basically giving Claire the cold shoulder.
Claire stood up and kneeled before her sister, "Please Liz, talk to me! I'm scared, and if you keep ignoring me, I- I don't think I could take it!"
Liz took a long deep breath, still not looking up from her computer. Claire looked down, defeated. She knew it was a losing battle with her. She wasn't the same anymore. She knew that, but she was just kidding herself. Liz wouldn't go back to 'normal', whatever normal was for them. After a few seconds the soft clicking of keys stopped, and she heard the computer shut with a soft clunk.
Claire smiled to herself as her sister put the computer on the chair next to her. "Look," she said running a hand through her loose curls, "I just don't want to go through it again. I don't like the memories. So I don't want to talk about it."
The older of the two girls nodded, her smile falling from her face. "I understand Liz," she said placing her hands on the much smaller girl's shoulders, "the memories hurt, but they're there to remind us of what needs done. If we hadn't of lost dad-"
"I said I don't want to talk about it," Liz shouted as she stood up off the chair, shoving Claire back into a sitting position on the floor, "I don't want to even think about things like that. They're what keep me up at night. They are the constant reminder of what will be taken away in an instant if I don't keep my guard up. I can't afford to lose any more people that I care about. I'm cutting ties to protect you and myself. So there is no further discussion. Get over it."
When she finished, the small girl grabbed her computer and stormed into the garage, leaving Claire on the floor. She hung her head, knowing that she wouldn't get the old Liz back. Claire decided with Liz shut away, she could let her guard down finally. She broke down, tears streaming down her face. The arguing was never something that she was good with, it always froze her up. She sobbed on the floor for a bit before she pulled herself together. She walked up the stairs to the room she shared with her sister and climbed into bed. She glanced at the clock, feeling the exhaustion setting in, 1:30 AM blinked back at her. 'Not much sleep,' she thought to herself as her eyes drifted shut, 'but at least it's something.'