Bela armed her gun as she sat in the back of the limousine with Gwen, on their way to Leischterson's condo.
"Just out of curiosity, Gwen," Bela began, "how long ago did Charles contact you?"
Gwen
Gwen thought for a moment.
"Mmm, few weeks. A month at the most. You?"
Bela
"Two weeks to the day," Bela replied, slipping the gun into her handbag again.
Gwen
"Good to see he thinks we can handle the job."
Gwen tossed her hair over her shoulders.
Bela
"Indeed," Bela rolled her eyes, before turning to look Gwen over.
"So what are you?" she asked in a demanding tone, "mutant, alien or demon? Or justone of those freaky psychic kids of today?"
Gwen
"Mutant."
Gwen shrugged.
Bela
"Okay," Bela looked out the window at the city lights passing by.
"And you use your powers to get the job done? That's rather amateur of you."
Gwen
"Mostly use them for electrical circuits, obviously," Gwen said, rolling her eyes slightly.
"In LA, most people surround themselves with electricity. Makes them feel safe."
Bela
"A very good point," Bela said thoughtfully as the car pulled to a halt.
A bellman opened the door, and Bela smiled as he took her hand to help her out.
"Welcome to the Majestic Hotel madam," he smiled back.
"Why thankyou," she nodded, waiting for Gwen to join her on the red carpet.
Gwen
Gwen stepped out of the car and glanced at Bela.
"Shall we?"
Bela
"We shall," Bela smiled as the limousine drove away.
She led the way up the steps and into the hotel, heading for the elevator. Once inside she waited for Gwen, then pushed for the top floor.
Gwen
Gwen listened to the jazz music playing, glancing up at the security camera in the top corner.
A wink and the camera shorted out.
Bela
Bela didn't even notice, her focus on the floor numbers.
When they reached the top floor, she stepped out and turned left.
Gwen
Gwen followed behind Bela, cracking her knuckles as they walked.
Bela
Bela found the room she was looking for, and knocked sharply. A few moments later, the door opened.
"Hello Charles," Bela greeted with a smile, "is your Uncle in?"
"Alex," his eyes widened, "aren't you... weren't you supposed to be in LA?"
Then he saw Gwen.
"And you..."
"We really need to speak with your Uncle," Bela insisted, not willing to pull her gun in the hall.
"He's not here," the slender man was obviously telling the truth, "he left three hours ago and I haven't heard from him."
"Then I guess you'll have to accomodate us until he returns then, won't you?" Bela tilted her head.
Gwen
Gwen smiled sweetly at the man standing in the doorway.
"Be a gentleman," she suggested.
Bela
Bela raised her eyebrows, then smiled as Charles stepped aside.
"Thankyou," she said humbly, making her way into the apartment.
She found her way to a nice large couch and made herself comfortable.
Gwen
Gwen entered the apartment and took an armchair opposite Bela, crossing one leg over the other.
She tapped absently on her knee.
Bela
Charles closed the door behind them and followed.
"Charles?" Bela looked dup.
"Yes?"
"Dry martini please. We might be here a while."
Gwen
Gwen rolled her shooulders lightly.
"Make that two," she said pleasantly.
Bela
"A martini girl," Bela nodded her approval as Charles left the room submissively.
"Tell me mroe about yourself, Gwen."
Gwen
"Should we skip past the unhappy childhood stuff?" Gwen quipped.
She shrugged.
"Not much to tell. Grew up as a freak. Used it to my advantage. You?"
Bela
"Nice analogy," Bela mused.
"And I'd have to say, a mirror to my own."
Gwen
Gwen smiled slightly.
"Well, you have to be a little damaged to get into our line of work, I think."
Bela
"I guess you do," Bela considered.
"To spend a lifetime working towards being the best thief you can be."
Gwen
"Still," Gwen said, glancing out the window.
"Has its perks. The money, for one."
Bela
"I'm in agreement with you there," Bela smiled as Charles returned with their drinks.
"Thankyou Charles," Bela looked up to him as he handed her the glass.
She took a sip and ran her fingertips up and down the glass as he stepped over to Gwen with hers.
Gwen
"Thanks," Gwen drawled.
She took a delicate sip and nodded in appreciation.
Bela
"Why don't you go and call your Uncle for us?" Bela suggested as Charles stood at the end of the couch.
"Tell him we're waiting."
"I don't think he'd appreciate being disturbed tonight," Charles tried to reason.
"Oh believe me, we're not worried," Bela assured.
Gwen
"We'd actually love to disturb him."
Gwen nodded, a fake smile on her lips.
Bela
"If you know what we mean," Bela chuckled.
Charles sighed, then nodded.
"I will return."
Bela watched after him, then sipped her martini again.
"How slowly can you electrocute people?" Bela asked Gwen curiously once he was out of earshot.
Gwen
"As slowly as I feel like," Gwen said, pleasantly. "At first it was just a shock and they were gone, but I've learned how to control it."
She paused.
"So, if you feel we need it to last for a long time, then I can accommodate that."
Bela
"Great," Bela smiled coyly, "we'll see how things pan out this evening, shall we?"
She raised her glass in a toast.
Gwen
Gwen grinned.
"To an eventful night."
Bela
"To an eventful night," Bela grinned.
Many hours of drinks and laughs and crime stories later, Bela looked up as the front door opened and an elderly man walked in in a white fur coat.
"Charles," the man nodded in greeting as the younger man took off his coat and top hat.
Bela stood from her chair, placing her current drink on the nearby table, gun behind her back at the ready.
"Mr. Leischterson?" she called.
"Alexis," the man stepped forward into the room, "and Gwendoline. My, this is a pleasure."
"For one of us at least," Bela smiled, "do I need to fill in the blanks as to what happened last night in Los Angeles?"
Gwen
"We'll give you a hint," Gwen said pleasantly. "It doesn't have a happy ending for you."
She raised an eyebrow.
Bela
"Well, this is unfortunate," Leischterson sighed.
"You're telling us?" Bela's eyebrow rose as she caught movement out the corner of her eye.
She raised her gun and fired, Charles collapsing behind Leischterson, small silver pistol in his hand.
"Sorry to see you didn't come more well prepared, especially when you knew it was us waiting for you," Bela mused, lowering the gun.
"Girls, I can explain," Leischterson steepled his fingers thoughtfully, uncaring of the corpse staining the carpet behind him.
"This should be good," Bela glanced at Gwen.
Gwen
"Yes, I'm eager to hear this," Gwen said, arching an eyebrow.
She gestured for him to go on.
"Weave us a tangled little web of lies, friend."
Bela
"Cloister informed me that the two of you were working to bring down Dempsey," Leischterson began steadily.
"The two of us didn't meet until last night. We could have killed each other," Bela said calmly.
"Which was a test," Leischterson confirmed, "the car was tapped, and Tobias was an agent."
"You were spying on us," Bela's eyes narrowed.
"Only to find out the truth."
"Who was the brains of the operation?" Bela demanded.
"Dempsey himself."
Bela gave Gwen a glance.
Gwen
"Oh, I'm sorry," Gwen said, blasting him with a volt of electricity.
"See, I don't like being tested. I just... don't. Never have."
Bela
Bela stepped toward the older man, who was barely able to breath.
"Tell Dempsey, if you have the time once you transition, that we'll be paying him a visit in the near future, ok?" Bela smiled warmly.
Gwen
"Mmm, smarts doesn't it baby?" Gwen said, mock sympathy in her tone.
She blasted him again, the older man twitching on the ground.
Bela
Bela waited a while longer as the electricity coursed through him, before shooting him in the forehead.
She turned to Gwen, spinning the gun around her fingers.
"Should we pay Dempsey a visit then?" she suggested.
Gwen
"Why not?" Gwen smiled.
"The night is young and so are we, after all."
Bela
Bela chuckled to herself.
"Hardly. I don't know about you, but I'm certainly jetlagged. Dempsey resides in Seattle. I'll organise flights for tomorrow and we'll see how we go from there."
Bela replaced her gun in her handbag and pulled out her phone to make arrangements.