One Last Wager [IC]

[alderwitch]

Bombshell was bored. Bored, bored, bored. Which made her dangerous. After a chat with Ace Danger and a visit to the veteran's exhibit with him, she was feeling the weight of her many years even more than usual. So, she was swinging aimlessly across the city when she caught the glittering spires of Pyramid Plaza. A faint and reluctant smile curved her lips and she altered her course.

A short while later, Bombshell was dangling upside down outside of Elena's penthouse window. She tapped on it a few times to get the attention of the occupant. See, that was polite, wasn't it? Breaking in would probably have made Elena cranky. She was relatively certain that she could have gotten around that but she actually wanted to talk for a little bit. When she thought Elena had at least caught sight of her out of the corner of her eye, Bombshell slipped back up the line, heading for the roof.

[N/A]

Elena Guerrero had only just woken up within the hour, having actually slept in her apartment for once instead of her subterranean Lair. She had grabbed a quick shower, and drifted into the kitchen. She was pouring herself a glass of juice when she caught the flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye, moving up the side of the skyscraper. By the time the glass shattered against the tile floor, her morphic molecule camisole had already expanded to surround her in the crimson & gold armor of The Scarab. A press of the button on her beacon opened up the swirling azure vortex in front of her. She stepped through the hole in the universe, into the teleporter junction room of The Lair. Tapping her fingers in empty air, she telekinetically entered the coordinates, then floated through the next portal, which opened downward over the top of the tower.

Her massive cape billowing behind her, she addressed her "visitor." I don't suppose it ever occurred to you to take the elevator?

[alderwitch]

"No more than it occurs to you to talk aloud rather than telepathically. You can do it... but why would you?" Bombshell said from where she was sitting. Like a cat, she was curled up as high as she could get and still have a comfortable perch. She was in costume, mask still on and booted foot dangling over the epic drop idly, "Besides, then we would be talking inside and I know where those chats end up. As fun as that is, our rooftop conversations are more productive."

[N/A]

The Scarab snorted a tiny laugh as she floated down to the roof. Her mask melted away from her face. "Both fair points, I'll concede." Grinning mischieviously, she walked around Bombshell's left flank. In one smooth, relaxed motion, Elena sat down on the ledge behind her, dangling her leg over the edge in a mirror of Bombshell's posture. She scooped her right arm around Bombshell's waist, pressing their bodies together in a gesture of unrepentant familiarity. Bombshell's hair blew up and away from the right side of her head at Elena's mental command. "So," she whispered into Bombshell's ear, before laying her face against the nape of Bombshell's neck and inhaling deeply. "What's on your mind?"

You're not the only one who can tease, Elena mused to herself. Although I'm not sure which one of us I'm teasing here...

[alderwitch]

Bombshell leaned into the armoured side that Elena provided, her sigh puffing out into a little breathless sort of laugh. Her hand fell easily on Elena's knee in return and she didn't answer right away. Instead she laughed a little longer and teased, "This reincarnation is a little cheeky, I think. Careful, or I'll peel all of that staid and stuffy shell off entirely. Shock the entire world, and all that."

She smiled and slid her fingertips over the shining armor plates. Her voice was quiet in the evening air. "Saw Ace this week at the Allies of Freedom exhibit and it's left me a bit maudlin, I think."

[N/A]

Elena resisted the urge, as she did a hundred times a day, to just peer into Talya's mind and answer all her questions without asking them. "Feeling nostalgic? Or just old?"

"Heh. Ace Danger. He'd have a field day with...well, whatever this is, if he knew about it. Not that he'd have much of a leg to stand on. And I suppose when there are so few of us who have seen a century come and go, it's inevitable that we'd all seek solace in each other's arms sooner or later."

[alderwitch]

"See, this is why I never mention my birthday. Never call a lady old, darling, its unkind," Bombshell teased, poking Elena's armoured side. She went back to tracing her fingertips over the familiar red and gold patterns after a moment. "No, neither nostalgic or old, really. Bored. Don't laugh, but I think I might be having a mid-immortality crisis."

She said it flippantly, but there was a thread of definate emotion under her usual layers of misidirection and obfuscation. Bombshell smiled and continued on, "Some of my exploits were declassified so I had my very own corner of an exhibit. It was... hmm... strange."

[N/A]

"Although renowned for my skills of diplomacy on the battlefield, I lost any desire or tolerance for walking on eggshells in my personal life millenia ago." Elena wrapped her other arm around Talya, holding her tightly, but in a relaxed way. "I have a suspicion that, no matter how many trips you take around the sun, you will never be old. Call it intuition. Besides, look who you're talking to?" She chuckled into Talya's ear.

"Sometimes I forget that most people aren't used to watching their lives transformed into mythology. I found it rather jarring myself the first few times, but these days I barely blink when I pass by another monument or hear a grossly-distorted dramatization." She leaned forward slightly, turning her head so she could look Talya in the eye. "Did seeing your exploits through someone else's eyes open yours a bit? Are your self-indulgent escapes starting to feel a little empty?" Elena cocked her head to one side. "Don't tell me you're finally ready to start using your amazing gifts to bolster the side of the angels again?! I might fall off this ledge." Her sarcastic grin and skeptical demeanor did little to conceal the eager look in her eye. Talya had seen that look before, and not just on this face. It was obvious that Elena was trying not to get her hopes up, and failing.

[alderwitch]

For once, Bombshell had no ready quip or dismissive smirk at the ready. Instead she sighed softly and reached out to touch Elena's cheek with gloved fingertips, "Darling, I was a thief and a spy and a soldier. You've lived long enough to know that doing those actions for Queen and Country make them no less ignoble in the end. It was a very bloody war and any edge we could exploit, we did. I prefer petty to blood soaked any day of the week."

It was as serious and somber as any version of the Scarab had ever seen. After a moment, that glimpse vanished and Bombshell's wicked smile replaced it, "So, perhaps. How about a wager, then? One last toss of the dice? You win and I'll go clean, dust off the halo and all that."

[N/A]

Elena closed her eyes and leaned her cheek into Talya's hand for a moment. Then she stopped trying to suppress her smile, and it threatened to consume her face. "I accept!" After all, what sort of self-respecting hero would turn down the chance to battle for a fair maiden's soul and still dare lay claim to the title?"

"I've heard the stakes. Now what are the terms?"

[alderwitch]

"Now those will take a great deal more thought. You have all your standard rules, I assume, no innocents involved, nothing that results in any major damage to any objects - which I might point out, I have never crossed - and nothing that ties up any sort of emergency services." Bombshell smiled and feathered her thumb over the other woman's cheek bone as she added teasingly, "Did I forget any of the commandments this time?"

[N/A]

"Did I forget any of the commandments this time?"

Elena grinned. "Just one." She slipped her fingers between Talya's and closed them around her hand. "Be careful." She slipped her other hand under Talya's hair and pulled her into a kiss.

"It's been a lifetime since I've felt as alive as I have since you flipped and tumbled and smirked and quipped your way back into my life." she whispered. The whisper faded into telepathy as Elena kissed her. Even though you're never there when I wake up, it still makes me smile just to remember that you're out there in the world somewhere. I've seen what that world looks like without you in it, and it's not a world I'm interested in seeing again, no matter how many headaches you've caused me over the years.

And I promise you, sneaking into a S.H.A.D.O.W. stronghold to steal the plans for their latest doomsday device offers the same excitement as slipping a Fabergè egg out from under museum cameras.

[alderwitch]

Bombshell slipped her arms around the other woman's shoulders and returned her kiss, nibbling along the corner of her lips almost playfully. 'Well, Darling, you know what they say. Always leave them wanting more? With all those years under that red and gold belt of yours, I have to find some way of staying mysterious.'

"Besides," she said huskily, her lips charmingly pink from the minor make-out session, "You're the one with semi-mortality to worry about. Don't worry about me, I'll be just fine. I promise. I'll always turn up like your very own bad penny."

Bombshell leaned in to share another deep kiss before asking with raised brows, "Sneaking into strongholds? Just how many strongholds can one organization have?"

[N/A]

Almost too many to count. OverShadow has agents all over the world. And then there's The Foundry, The Labyrinth, wherever the Crime League decides to hide out this week...Trust me, you won't have time to be bored. Elena's face darkened for a moment. Yes...my mortality...Let's just cross that bridge when we come to it. She smiled again. So, is this the part where we leave each other wanting more, as the games begin again? Or will tonight's match be called on account of... She started kissing Talya again. ...rain?