The penthouse of the London Five was awash with the dim lighting of the ever constant London city lights, street lights, head lamps and the bright lights of the still open offices. At 3:30am, you'd expect a place to be quiet, with people sleeping in their warm beds, tucked up safe, but London is different, and the people of London never seem to sleep. Michael Stone was one of those people.
Michael Stone, Mickey Bricks to his friends and other members of the grifting world, was sitting on the balcony of the penthouse, scotch in hand. He was lent forward on his chair, his elbows resting on his knees as he contemplated the list of marks they had gathered. Four highly wealthy men and one woman all perfect for a con, but he was having trouble with which one he could choose. He would have to sleep on it, if he could get to sleep that is. Mickey sighed heavily; sleep was evading him recently, ever since the tango with DCI Lucy Britford, he constantly looked for holes and places where they could end up being caught. He bought the scotch glass to his lips and took a large sip of the burning drink, before placing the tumble down onto the low table beside him.
"Can't sleep?" the quiet voice of Emma Kennedy drew Mickey from his thoughts. She was perched against the doorframe, wearing pyjama trousers and a spaghetti strap vest, the puppy slipper boots on her feet caused Mickey to smile slightly. He shook his head to answer her question.
"Sleep seems to think she doesn't need to visit me at the moment." Mickey deduced.
"And the force of sleep just so happens to be female does it?" Emma asked with a smirk on her face.
"Oh but of course. Any force with that much power over a man has to be considered a female, like cars and ships." Mickey looked up as Emma took the seat next to him. "Women are a force to be reckoned with."
"Too right we are." Emma stated with a bright smile on her face, her face then fell as a serious tone took over her. "You've been out here for the last 3 nights Mickey, you need to do something. An hour here and there when you finally go to your room as dawn breaks isn't enough, for anyone, let alone you." Emma was worried. She had never seen Mickey this thoughtful before, and it wasn't necessarily a good thing.
"I know. It's just, after the whole thing with Britford, I can't help but think every mark out there could be a copper."
"Hey, Bitchface is long behind us Mickey, thankfully, you saw through all of her plans, even with that MI6 woman." She placed her hand on his forearm. "You're the best there is Mickey Bricks. Don't ever question that."
They exchanged smiles, and then Emma stood up and titled her head towards the kitchenette.
"Come on, a mug of camomile tea will do wonders." She picked up his scotch tumbler and walked inside. Mickey followed behind her, closing the balcony door as he went. Once he reached her, she had already put the kettle on and had placed a tea bag each in two mugs. Mickey took this chance to look at Emma, really look at her, there stood a woman with a mask of confidence, thrill seeking and risk taking, and yet, at 3:50am all he saw was a young woman who took care of her friends, who worried about them and a woman who looked very cute in her PJs.
"Emma, do you ever think that maybe our decision that 'kissing for pleasure was not a good idea' was actually a good idea?" Mickey looked up at her as she poured the boiling water into the two mugs.
"All the time Michael Stone. All the time."