"And you'll be flying out tonight from Heathrow, your plane gets in tomorrow morning in Rome and you'll be met by our contact Valentino Meritz. It's all in the booklet so you shouldn't go wrong. You'll be there for little under a week and we expect you to try and extract as much information about the gang in this time." Sam said from the front of the room as she, Gina and John briefed Emma and Will on their undercover operation.
"Umm okay…so…so these people are dangerous?" Emma asked nervously from her chair.
"Yes Emma they are. We have taken the utmost care with your safety however and we're convinced there is a low risk to you both if you act sensibly. People trafficking here is getting serious now, in the last few months we've found records of dozens of girls being smuggled illegally into the country from places such as Romania and Bulgaria but all of the evidence leads back to a gang operating out of Italy." John said calmly as he tried to reassure them both.
Still chewing her lip Emma nodded to show she understood and appreciated his concern. Will grinned at her. "So…are you in?" He asked, covering her hand with his and sending little shivers all the way up her arm making the hairs stand on end.
"I…yes of course I'm in." She softened, seeing how excited Will was to be chosen for the undercover trip and how much he wanted to go. The three superiors all breathed a sigh of relief, Will and Emma had been their first and only choice of officers given their age and competency in the job. Getting up Emma made her way to the big swing doors and Will rushed after her, catching up to squeeze her reassuringly round the waist and whisper something in her ear. All three watched from the window as Emma laughed and hugged Will tightly before they split off in separate directions to descend the staircases at opposite ends of CID.
"You don't think they…?" John began asking as he watched the exchange between his two officers.
"Na…she wouldn't…would she?" Gina butted in trying to work out in her own mind whether Emma would really fall for Will again after what had happened between them when she'd been dating Matt as well. Both of them turned to Sam who merely shrugged her shoulders and gathered up the papers on the desk. "Ah well, they're both perfectly capable officers either way." She continued as she left the room, giving a brief wave to Sam and John before she disappeared from sight.
Emma sat on the end of her bed trying to plan out in her mind what she could possibly need for a week's trip to Italy…with work. She knew what she'd have taken if it had been a holiday but this was so much more complicated now she had to be professional as well! Eventually deciding that she'd take a mix of things just in case, she got up from the bed and began rooting through her drawers. "Wrap top, jeans, shorts, skirt, flip flops, heels, trainers, t-shirts, underwear, toiletries, hair dryer, straighteners." Emma reeled off to herself as she laid everything out on the bed.
She was having another problem as well now! Had she been going away with another member of the team she wouldn't have felt under pressure to look good as well. Choosing outfits was bad at the best of times but choosing one that Will would like was even harder. Eventually deciding that as she had room for it, Emma tucked in her favourite dress as a little extra, in case there happened to be time out from work during their stay.
Will stepped out into the warm July sunshine and smiled. For the past few months work had been getting pretty monotonous and with Dan leaving for Ibiza Will had been dreaming of spreading his wings himself but now…with the prospect of taking out huge players in a worldwide criminal network and going on holiday with his best friend at the same time, well things just couldn't be looking better could they? Walking up the steps to Emma's flat he pressed his finger down hard on the doorbell and left it there until Emma opened the door laughing at his impatient nature. "Come in." She said as she left the door wide open and disappeared back off into her bedroom.
Will stood in the doorway of her room and smiled as he watched her potter about, picking up bits and pieces and chucking them into her suitcase. She looked so comfortable, at ease as she wandered barefoot back and forth across her room trying to find something she'd obviously lost. "You can't see my trainers can you?" She eventually asked exasperatedly. "I'm sure I kicked them off only an hour ago!"
Looking around a moment Will smirked at her. "What, the ones that are sitting right next to your case?" He asked and she spun round and began giggling again.
"Yeah those ones!" She said as she pulled a pair of socks out of her drawer and began to lace up her shoes. "Okay…I'm ready now." Emma added and she jumped to her feet and dragged her case down off of the bed.
"Good…because the plane takes off soon!" Will exclaimed as he looked briefly down at his watch and winked at Emma who rolled her eyes at him. "Women." He chanced and received what Emma thought was a well deserved slap on the back of the head as she passed him on the way out of the door.
"You better watch what you say Mister, you're spending the next six days with me!" Emma said as she pushed him gently out of the way as she tried to lock up her door behind her but he was standing in the way. "Mooooove." Emma said as she wriggled against him but he just stood and laughed.
"Weakling…don't worry darlin' I'm goin' I'm goin'." He patronised her as he stood firmly in the doorway, no amount of pushing and shoving getting him to budge an inch. Stepping neatly round her he smiled as he watched her struggle with the lock before finally dropping the keys into her jeans pocket and sticking her tongue out at him.
"Mature Emma…real mature." Will muttered as he dragged her suitcase down the stairs after her. Turning round she fixed him with a playful glare and continued on her way down the steps. Several hours later Emma yawned, as she looked around her at all the other excited passengers on the plane. "We're almost there." Will said squeezing her hand gently. "It's only about five minutes until we land." He added, seeing her look down at her watch in disbelief.
As they stood in the busy airport Emma turned round and round on the spot, getting dizzy as she searched the crowds for Valentino Meritz, their contact. Jumping nearly a foot in the air as she felt a hand on her shoulder Emma turned to see a tall man with curly brown hair smiling down at her. "Ahh Mr Fletcher, Ms Keane I have been expecting you. A taxi waits for us; it will take us to hotel." He said stiffly, his English sounding forced and rehearsed.
Emma and Will exchanged a small smile as they followed him through the masses of people, all still queuing to find their lost luggage, theirs luckily had made it to Rome in one piece and was clutched in their hands as they wove their way to the exit signs.
"You be fine here…safety." Valentino said as he ushered them from the reception and up the stairs to the third floor landing. "I pick you up in morning. Take you to meet Paolo he know men. He help you. Sleep well." He said before mysteriously disappearing from sight.
Looking around in confusion Will saw the keys that Valentino had pressed into his hand before they had ascended the stairs. "Um…there's only one key…one room." He muttered as he jammed the key into the lock and the door swung open. In front of them was a perfectly nice hotel room…the only problem was the bed. Or rather the lack of it being plural. Shooting a quick look at Will, Emma saw him bite his lip.
"I don't mind…you know sharing and that." She said hastily as he saw her looking at him.
"Oh okay then…I mean yeah whatever that's fine." He said, his neck flushing pink as he avoided her gaze instead looking out of the window at the beautiful sun as it set over the streets of Rome.
Flopping backwards onto the bed Emma grinned. Will was being so cute. "So do you wanna go out?" She asked sitting up a few minutes later.
"What?" Will asked as he whipped round, his mouth hanging open slightly.
"Yeah do you wanna go out for dinner or something?" Emma smirked, as she realised what he thought she'd meant. Will's face relaxed slightly and he smiled at her.
"Yeah, yeah we could go find a little restaurant or something." He replied, picking up the keys and his phone from the table.
"Hold your horses…I want to get changed first." Emma giggled, grabbing Will's arm and pulling him back. They stood close together, their breathing quickening as they realised the proximity they were in. Emma looked up as he looked down and their eyes connected for a moment before Will shook his head, remembering that they were here with work…not together.
"I uh…I'll leave you to it then…I'll erm…I'll go out onto the balcony." Will muttered as he separated himself from Emma, leaving her standing in the middle of the room, her mind blank, her heart racing.