Chapter Text
Cleo loved a challenge as much as any criminal mastermind. But even she had her limits. She had been pacing the hallways for hours, unable to figure out the answer to the question that had been dancing around her mind all week.
“That’s it, I can’t stand it any longer,” Cleo stood across Bellum, her hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised. Bellum peered up from the remote controller she was playing around with, trying different sensitivity settings for her Robo-Robber.
“Does the heating system need calibrating again?” Bellum asked.
“What?” Cleo furrowed her eyebrow. “No that’s… surprisingly fine. Where’s the extra room?”
Bellum placed her controller down on the table and looked up at Cleo, waiting for her to elaborate. It was the first time Cleo had visited her laboratory in the Himalayas, despite frequently coming with her to her other places; naturally, Cleo was fascinated in learning about every nook and cranny in this new space. Monotony wasn’t uncommon when one spent the better half of the last ten years on one island.
“Your laboratory. It’s bigger on the outside than on the inside. I’ve wandered every hallway and yet, I can’t figure out where the room is.”
“Where have you gone so far?”
“Only the metal shop, the two extra closets, which I greatly appreciate, the greenhouse, the observatory, the kitchen, the second kitchen, the Death Ray, the large hanger with failed experiments, and the one room with a lot of buttons.” Cleo frowned as she thought about all those buttons. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know why Bellum needed that many.
As Cleo spoke, recognition dawned on Bellum. Cleo hadn’t yet discovered that room. “Have you considered that the room you’re looking for might hidden for a reason?” she teased.
“Like you could hide anything from me,” Cleo smirked, looking extremely sure of herself.
“And yet, here you are asking me exactly what I’m hiding.”
“Hm,” Cleo sniffed. “I’ll figure out where it is.”
“You go do that,” Bellum said, amused. If Cleo wanted access to her hidden room, she would make her work for it.
***
It had been hours since Cleo last disappeared from her main laboratory room. Bellum assumed she finally gave in, either returning to her room to rest or rummaging around the kitchen to make another one of her elaborate meals. She did have a shipment of beluga caviar delivered a couple of days ago.
But to her surprise, Cleo strutted into the room, different papers bundled in her hands. She heaved them onto the table, grinning in satisfaction.
“I found your blueprints.”
Bellum clicked pause on the cat video that was playing in the background and leaned back in her chair, turning away from her monitors. Numerous terminal windows were open, running the scheduled scripts. Bellum cocked an eyebrow curiously. She honestly didn’t expect Cleo to become this invested.
“And you’re so sure that the room is included on the blueprints?”
“Saira, dearest, I know you. If it was something you wanted to keep hidden, then you deliberately would have left it out.” Cleo splayed out the large designs on the table, “And that’s how I’ll find it. Process of elimination.”
Cleo ran her fingers over the different inked rooms, admiring Bellum’s messy scrawl annotating her designs.
“Would you mind if I...” Cleo asked, gesturing towards the blueprints and reaching out for a pencil to mark up the sketches.
“Not at all,” Bellum said. Seeing Cleo in her element was a rare thing. And she would be remiss to pass up on this opportunity.
***
“A secret...” Cleo mumbled. It had been hours since either spoke, both focusing on the task at hand and content to work in silence.
“What’d you say?” Bellum asked, unable to hear over the sounds of her keyboard.
“You have a secret staircase,” Cleo repeated, grinning triumphantly. “I should have known. You have such a flair for drama.”
“ I’m dramatic?” Bellum spluttered, affronted. Cleo politely ignored her comment, instead grabbing her hand and dragging her out of the room.
“Come, you’ll help me unlock the room.”
***
“What is this?” Cleo felt plush carpet under her feet as she stepped into the dark room. She squinted, trying to make out what the room was supposed to be. Cleo expected to get answers but was only left with more questions.
Beside her, she felt Bellum practically radiate smug energy. Clearly, she was enjoying this.
“Here, let me get the door,” Bellum turned, accessing a small control panel on the right of the wall. The door slid close, leaving the two in complete darkness. Cleo shifted slightly closer to Bellum, reaching out for her and finding her wrist. Bellum clasped her hand between hers, squeezing it briefly and flipping a switch.
Mere moments later, the ceiling flickered to life. What looked like millions of small LEDs suddenly lit up, scattered in seemingly random orientations.
“A planetarium,” Cleo looked up in awe. Letting go of Bellum’s hand, she took a seat in the middle of the room, pulling her knees closer to her chest. Thousands of little stars glittered like diamonds in the dark room, casting a barely present light across Cleo.
Bellum walked over to the control panel, wrinkling her brow in thought as she pressed some buttons. Suddenly, the night sky changed, the stars dancing to their new positions. It looked like a waltz, each little star changing partners, spinning around the dance floor.
“Why the change?”
Bellum walked over to Cleo, tugging her down until both of them were laying on the soft carpeted floor. Bellum looked up at the stars, her face softening. “This is how the sky looked the night we met.”
“Aren’t you quite the romantic?”
“Don’t flatter me,” Bellum swatted Cleo’s arm.
Cleo laughed softly, her voice pitching low. “That was quite the day. Just the two of us against the world.”
“The two of us and nearly fifty guards.”
Cleo hummed in response, turning on her side to look at Bellum properly. “I wouldn’t want to break out of prison with anyone else.”