Dirty Deeds (Gemini)

[rose]

The cigarette in her hand had caused a faint haze to cover the room. Normally Rose was at least nice enough to take her bad habit outside, but it was one of the not-so-rare days when she was the only one at the Tower and, on such days, she typically gave the finger to the house rules. She was presently lying belly-up on her bed, her single eye fixated on the ceiling as she took a hit off her cigarette. Everything was silent except for the occasional exhale of her breath that sent another puff of smoke into the air. It was a lazy evening, one where she couldn't even bring herself to hit the town for some cheap booze and cheaper entertainment. Life had been more stressful than usually lately and she was happy to simply relax, if it could even be called that. A more accurate statement was that she was happy to try to relax. Even when taking a night off, Rose was restless. Lying around was nice, but she could only handle it for so long. She had never been the sort to enjoy a lull in mayhem and forcing herself to take such a break was far from easy.

Her communicator, abandoned under her bed, started beeping. Rose let out a quiet grunt and extinguished her cigarette in the ashtray on her nightstand before she rolled over and hung her upper body over the side of the mattress in order to peer underneath. Her white hair brushed against the floor as she reached underneath to retrieve the beeping device. Rose bit the inside of her cheek as she flipped it open and perused the information flashed across the screen. The Titans' communicator had long since been synced up to the San Francisco police department, so whenever there was trouble, they knew who to call. The super soldier sighed and twisted her head from side to side to pop her neck. Looked like her relaxing evening was going to be put on hold. Big shocker there.

Ten minutes later, the armored girl was tearing through the streets on her motorcycle. The art museum was hardly the most original place to break into, nor was the security all that spectacular. Rose was pretty sure she could bust into the place in about two minutes, and B&E wasn't even her specialty. The main door to the building was wide open as she approached. Rose frowned as she parked her bike, then reached back to draw her swords. Even as she jogged up the steps to the entrance, she could smell blood. The source was revealed once she stepped inside. Several security guards were lying not far from the entrance. Rose didn't stop to check on them as she switched on her night vision and ventured further inside the museum. She could hear their heartbeats as she walked by; they were knocked out, but they would be fine.

The super soldier crouched down and inhaled through her nose. This place was filled with smells, but one stuck out as both stronger than the faded scent of tourists as well as flat-out strange. It almost smelled like... elastic? Not quite, but similar. Rose shrugged and straightened before continuing through the darkened hallways. Maybe a giant rubber band was trying to rob the place. If only that would be the weirdest thing she had ever run into.

[Gemini]

This night was proving to be most aggravating. Although she had managed to find the security system and disable it, the Museum had recently had recently re-arranged its galleries, moving the diamond that Gemini wanted to steal to who knew where. It also didn’t help that the museum was designed like a rabbit warren with rooms leading off rooms leading off rooms and already she was starting to feel distinctly lost. At least she was alone and had some time to search; the guards were no threat to her, it was almost amusing to watch them charge at her and then hammer them back with a stretched leg or arm, knocking them senseless in the process.

Turning a corner she was greeted by yet another dead end and let out a growl of frustration. Turning back on herself, she re-traced her steps towards the main staircase, not bothering to stretch herself over the distance. She wasn’t in any particular hurry after all and if any of the security systems were still working she didn’t want to get caught doing anything superhuman on camera. But there was a way she could speed things up a little: Her foot started to bulge outwards, a medium sized blob pushed itself out and detached from her foot, its shape shifting into a four legged form as blue goo warped into soft brown fur. The ‘cat’ turned and scampered off towards the main stairs, while Gemini herself headed into an elevator which headed down to the basement. Splitting herself was a trick which she had only mastered recently but had proved itself incredibly useful. True it was distracting having two parts of one body, but moving part of herself as a cat felt similar to moving her hand, albeit a hand with legs and senses of its own. This way she could search two floors simultaneously and save herself some time.

Racing up a set of stairs on four legs, while the human shaped part of her pressed the elevator button to be taken to the basement, Gemini pored over the map of the museum that she had memorised earlier. Where could had they moved that diamond to?

[rose]

Was that... a cat?

At first she had heard the pattering of four paws along the museum floor, but only as she turned a corner did Rose realize what it was. The former assassin scowled. The sight of a cat heading up the stairs wasn't what she had expected. As many ludicrous things as she had seen in her lifetime, a cat single-handedly robbing a museum and knocking out a couple of security guards seemed pretty farfetched. The only person she could think of who would have anything to do with a break-in and cats was Catwoman, but as far as Rose knew she never left Gotham. Even if she did, why would she be in San Francisco? It was on the other side of the country and there wasn't anything here that was particularly extraordinary... that Rose was aware of, at least. She had been to the art museum once when she first moved here but she wasn't very appreciative of the arts. For all she knew, there was something worth traversing the globe for here.

Rose made a mental note to stay more up-to-speed on what things were and were not worth robbing in this city. Keeping up on that sort of thing was usually Cyborg or Red Robin's deal; she just went where she was told and punched whatever came her way. For the instances like now, when she was alone, she needed to stay more informed. Much as she hated it, she could almost hear her father critiquing her. She wasn't sure if she would ever be able to get rid of that voice in her head that prevented her from ever being fully separated from his influence.

What would he say now? She should remain aware of her surroundings; she had found a cat, which she could presume was a stray but would be a poor idea to do so. Whoever had actually broken in was still here, and nothing around her could be assumed to be a mere coincidence. She had to pay attention. Focus on the details. Analyze everything. Nothing was mere happenstance. Everything there could tell her something if she let it. Rose's eye narrowed as she began to quietly follow behind the cat. This cat wasn't just a random animal wandering through a museum. It was on a determined path. It was looking for something or someone, and if Rose kept on its trail, she bet she would find out exactly who was behind this.

[Gemini]

The basement lift doors had only just opened with a loud ‘ding’ when Gemini’s cat’s eyes spotted the sign she had been looking for- ‘Diamonds- Stars & Sparkle’. At last, the jackpot. Pressing the button again the doors closed and this time the elevator went upwards, the doors opening out onto a marble floored landing. Now that she had found the right floor it was just a matter of finding the gallery she wanted, and she had a feeling she wasn’t far away.

She could now see the dimly lit hallway from two sets of eyes, as the cat part of her scampered in to join her. She didn’t bother acknowledging the ‘animal’ it was just a part of her substance after all. The hallway opened off onto numerous rooms and Gemini took a doorway on the left, her steps nearly silent as she walked down a gallery full of Asian armour and weaponry. She also took a door on the right, her four paws trotting briskly along a different gallery full of stuffed animals and other exhibits. For a brief moment she paused, the sharp feline ears certain they’d heard something, or was it her human ears? Listening intently for a moment for any sound, she grimaced in annoyance at the total silence; having two sets of ears was confusing, she had probably just picked up the sound of her own footsteps.

Resuming her stride down the gallery, ignoring the impressive collection of sharp objects, something still nagged at Gemini, a feeling like she was being watched and she again stopped, this time casting a lazy glance over her shoulder.

[rose]

Her boots curled against the floor soundlessly as Rose trailed after the cat. Her efforts to remain silent were mostly so that whomever was robbing the bank would be unaware of her presence, but she was surprised that the cat didn't seem to notice her, either. Though Rose was trained in the art of stealth, she knew she wasn't good enough to sneak past an animal's senses. Her blue eye remained fixed on the cat, the thoughtful scowl still upon her face. Something strange was going on, something far beyond the usual robbery. That cat should have heard or smelled her. Instead, it kept going on its way, occasionally stopping and looking everything over. It almost looked like it was searching for something... but that would be silly, wouldn't it?

Don't discount anything, said her father as he leaned against the display case featuring Native American artwork. As soon as you start thinking inside the box, you've lost. Rose ignored him; he wasn't the first hallucination she had had since beginning her epinephrine use, and she doubted he would be the last. The hiss of an elevator opening caused Rose to duck behind the display case, and a moment later she carefully peered around the side. A young woman had stepped out of the elevator, with the cat racing to catch up with her. Rose didn't recognize her, but she didn't look like the sort who could take out a bunch of security guards on her own. Of course, appearances could be and generally were deceiving.

The cat ran off again, but this time Rose didn't follow it. Instead, she darted back out from behind the display case and began to silently race after the girl. She had no idea if she was alone - save for the cat - but if she had a partner in this, it would be best to take her out quietly. This stealth thing wasn't really Rose's preferred style, though since she was alone and didn't have any idea of how many people were in the museum, she would need the advantage it gave her. She crept closer to the dark-haired woman, each step almost completely void of sound, before hiding behind another display when the woman paused. She was getting suspicious. Most people didn't realize that they really did have something of a sixth sense that alerted them to potential danger (such as someone stalking her in the way Rose was now) and it was only a matter of time before the woman's senses gave Rose away. It was time to act.

Her swords still out, the super soldier strode swiftly toward the woman's back, her thick boots still moving without a sound over the smooth floor. This time when the woman stopped, Rose didn't hide; instead a sneer spread across the revealed portion of her face, and she spoke only one word before she lunged.

"Boo."

[Gemini]

Of all the things Gemini had been expecting, a girl dressed in a costume similar to Deathstroke’s, wielding a pair of swords and shouting ‘boo!’ was not something that topped her mind. Mouth falling open in surprise, she barely had time to dodge the lunge, her body becoming paper thin and twisting out of the way as she stretched into an elastic backflip to put some distance between her and this 'ninja girl'. Whoever she was she’s soon learn that nobody interfered with Gemini.

“Who the hell are you, some kind of Deathstroke wannabe?” she growled, taking in the costume details. Gemini had of course heard of Deathstroke the Terminator, who hadn’t and recognised the costume, but the identity of the person across from her was a complete mystery. She really didn’t have time to fight someone this evening; the cat portion of her had frozen up as a result of the distraction and for the moment she didn’t think she could spare much concentration to get it moving again. “Why don’t you take those cheese cutters of yours and get out of my way? You're no match for me.” she remarked sneeringly, her expression full of haughty disdain.