A/N: Hey, check it out! I actually wrote another chapter! I was feeling slightly nostalgic for this piece and for Keffy, and I was having an unproductive day on my current original piece (which I love and which I hope to share with all of you someday in the form of a published book), so I figured why not. Just a warning: the chapter is unbetad. Sorry for any mistakes, but I'm too tired right now to go look for them, and I wanted to get this chapter up.

This is also an early birthday present to the one and only FitchSwitch, who is magnificent and awesome and my brain twin. Sorry I didn't write you your own oneshot, hun, but I know you love this, so I hope you'll take it instead. I love you! :) xxx

Disclaimer: I don't own Skins or the characters.

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Crashing at Stone's mansion wasn't exactly a planned thing, but when jobs ran late, especially when they weren't that far from there, it was convenient to just go pass out there in her big, beautifully furnished room with her exquisitely comfortable bed. Besides, the neighbours had started giving her odd looks, and she was sure it was about the hours that her new job caused her to keep. Anyway, Emily was hardly home anymore, and the flat just wasn't the same without her in it.

Actually, the only time that Katie managed to tear Emily away from Naomi these days was when they had a job to do. At least when Katie crashed at the mansion, she got to have breakfast with her sister sometimes.

The smirk on Stone's face the first morning she sauntered into the kitchen was almost enough to make her never want to stay over again. She'd glared back, just daring Stone to comment. Stone seemed full of little comments since the charity dinner. They were infuriating because they were innocuous enough to anyone listening, but Katie just knew there had to be hidden meaning behind them, and the glint in Stone's eye all the time only reinforced that belief. Stone hadn't said anything, though, and Emily had given her a broad grin as she shovelled some toast into her mouth while Naomi watched her, adoration evident in her eyes, and Katie decided that it wasn't all bad. A little nauseating, maybe, but bearable.

This morning was a little different, though. When she trudged groggily out of the room, she immediately collided with someone. A very fit someone. Someone with a solid, muscular chest. Someone who wasn't wearing a shirt. Someone with a charming smile. Someone with stunning (if vaguely familiar) blue eyes.

"Hello, there," the man said with a chuckle as he put a hand on her to steady her.

"Sorry," Katie replied, fully aware that she was blushing, and hating herself for it.

"No problem. Are you all right?" he asked, running his hand through his slightly shaggy dark brown hair, only to have it fall back into his eyes.

God, those eyes. Katie found herself mesmerised by them. "What? Yeah. Fine. Just...tired still, I guess."

"Late night?" the man inquired, an undertone of...something that Katie couldn't quite place in his voice.

"Something like that," Katie admitted, barely concealing a yawn behind her hand.

He grinned back at her, then shook his head and straightened somewhat. "Sorry. I've forgotten my manners. I'm Tony." He extended a hand, which she took, then he pulled her hand up to his lips and placed a soft kiss on her fingers.

"Katie," she informed him, repressing the girlish giggle she felt bubbling up inside her at the random chivalry.

"Pleasure to meet you, Katie," Tony replied, releasing her hand. Something seemed to click in his head, then his eyes widened. "Oh! You're Katie. I see," he said, his grin growing into a smirk.

It was then that Katie really saw it, the nagging familiarity of him. The smirk clinched it. Before she had a chance to open her mouth and ask for confirmation (or find out what exactly he'd meant by his comment), Naomi and Emily emerged from a room down the hall in a flurry of giggles and kisses.

They stopped abruptly when they realised they weren't alone, and Tony's smirk grew.

"All right, Naoms?"

"Doing pretty fucking fabulous, thanks. You?"

Tony's eyes flicked back to Katie, and she could feel them grazing over her. "Not too bad. I've just met Katie. Looks like you've got her twin, then?"

Emily cleared her throat. "Emily," she introduced herself as she extended her hand, which Tony shook as he shot her a wink.

"Lovely to meet you, Emily. I'm impressed to hear that you've tamed this little tiger here," Tony replied, reaching over to attempt to ruffle Naomi's hair, which earned him a slap on the arm and a glare as Emily giggled.

Katie wouldn't have been surprised if Naomi had tried to bite his hand off.

"So Stone knows you're here, then?" Naomi inquired.

"Didn't think I'd just drop by my sister's place without her consent, did you?" Tony asked back in mock indignation.

"Been known to happen on occasion, although you seem to be missing the floozy on your arm that those times generally entail," Naomi replied, and Katie was surprised that she didn't stick out her tongue, based on her tone of voice.

She watched the back and forth, and realisation dawned on her. This was teasing like Katie teased Emily. They were acting like family. It only made Katie wonder how long, exactly, Naomi had known Stone. Sure, it was pretty obvious that she knew Stone better and had known her longer than anyone else in the organisation, and she was as close as Stone seemed to have to a best friend. The way she was behaving with Tony, though...that Tony was behaving with her...It was as if they'd known each other their whole lives.

Katie tried to envision a mini Stone and a mini Naomi running around in mini suits, and the image was strangely comical.

"Something funny, Katie?" Stone's voice asked from beside her.

Katie jumped. Seriously, the woman must have taken classes on sneaking up on people, or something.

"I see you've met my brother," Stone commented, not waiting for an answer as she nodded towards Tony.

Tony grinned at her. "I have indeed met the newest members of your family."

"Family?" Katie scoffed.

"We are a family of sorts," Stone replied coldly, and Katie swallowed hard.

Katie glanced at the other faces around her, and found Naomi and Tony both regarding her with raised eyebrows. Her eyes fell back to Stone, who was standing far too close for the challenging look in her eyes.

Katie swallowed around. "Yeah. Of course," she muttered.

Tony laughed. "You really must learn not to bully people before they've even had breakfast, Ef."

"Ef?" Emily inquired as Katie was opening her mouth to echo the nickname as well.

"Just a stupid nickname my brother has for me. It's nothing," Stone replied with a glare at her brother, who simply smirked at her.

"Sorry. I meant Stone," Tony added, though he seemed more amused than sorry, and when Katie looked his way, he shot her a wink.

She grinned at him.

"Katie, you should eat quickly. I've got a job I need you to do this morning," Stone said, ice lacing her voice.

Katie sighed heavily. "Another one? I got in late last night. Can't Ems go?"

"You're both going," Stone replied authoritatively.

Katie nodded, spared another glance for Tony, who had one eyebrow raised again as his eyes darted between Katie and Stone, then waved goodbye to everyone and headed down the hallway towards the stairs.

"We'll go too, then," Emily said, and Katie paused to wait for her sister and Naomi to catch up with her.

"How long are you staying, Tony?" Katie heard Stone's voice floating down the hallways after them as they set off again. She didn't seem overly thrilled that her brother was around, but, given that he seemed nothing but affectionate towards her, Katie couldn't see why.

"Through the holidays, of course," Tony replied. "Can't not spend Christmas with my little sister."

"Just try not to fuck too much with my business while you're here."

"Just what don't you want me fucking with, exactly, Ef?"

It was the last snippet of conversation Katie heard before they rounded a corner and were out of earshot, but she couldn't help feeling like there was something in his wording that she was missing.

"He seemed nice," she commented absently to Emily and Naomi as they started descending the stairs.

"Yeah," Emily agreed, but Naomi hesitated.

"Be careful with him. He's far too charming for his own good," Naomi replied after a moment.

Katie shot her a quizzical look, but no more information was offered.

Some family she'd landed herself with. They were all annoyingly cryptic.

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"How was your job today?"

Katie looked up to find Tony, shirt on this time, lingering in the doorway to the kitchen. He smiled at her, then made his way to the fridge and grabbed a beer, popping it open on the counter.

She and Emily had had to run all over town looking for this stupid little arsehole who hadn't even paid up, and had copped a feel of Katie's arse on top of it all. It had not been a good day, and it had been far too long. At least she could look forward to going after the loser in the near future and making sure he paid. She'd bring her brass knuckles, she'd decided. "Shit," Katie replied, managing to flash Tony a smile as he took a seat across from her at the table.

His hair was styled slightly now, but it still fell in his eyes, not that that dampened their brightness at all. He had on a simple white T-shirt and fitted dark jeans, and he leaned back in such a cool, collected manner that Katie had to admire it. She could also very clearly see the family resemblance now. Tony and his sister were very alike in attitude and just the way they held themselves.

"Sorry to hear that."

Katie shrugged, unable to keep her eyes from Tony once again. She forced herself to occasionally glance at the food on her plate from time to time as she finished up her dinner.

They sat there in silence for a little while, but unlike all of Katie's silences with Stone, this one was almost comfortable. He sipped on his beer while she ate, and they caught each other's gaze from time to time.

"So you're Stone's brother," Katie said, sitting back when she'd finished her food.

"Her whole life," Tony confirmed with a nod and a grin.

"Has she always been so..."

"Emotionless?"

"I was going to go for mysterious, but either works."

"She likes to think so," Tony replied.

Katie chuckled and Tony's eyes twinkled.

"Tell me something about yourself, Katie."

"Like?" Katie asked, aware that she was once again blushing in Tony's presence.

"Anything," Tony replied, leaning forward.

Katie couldn't help noticing that he had that uncanny ability to stare her in the eye, while seemingly looking into her mind that his sister had.

She squirmed under his gaze slightly, but she couldn't say that she didn't like the attention. "Don't you hate how as soon as someone asks you that, you suddenly can't think of a single thing about yourself to say that doesn't sound completely stupid?"

Tony chuckled softly, and Katie found herself thinking that it was a rather attractive sound.

"All right. How about this: how do you like working for my sister?"

Katie considered the question for a moment, then shrugged. "I thought I'd hate it, but it turns out I don't. I mean today was shit, but the job's never boring, and it turns out I'm pretty good at it."

"And it never bothers you? That you're working for the mob?"

"You are the mob. You're part of the Family. Like, officially," Katie countered, not sure how wise it was to admit her misgivings to Stone's brother.

Tony grinned and nodded. "True, I suppose. I haven't been part of the family business, so to speak, for years, though. I love my sister, but the business...it can be draining. I know she seems unmoved by everything, but I know sometimes the pressure gets to her. Not that she'd ever admit it."

Katie sat back, surprised at his candour. She wasn't exactly used to getting information on Stone. Nobody besides Naomi seemed to know anything, and Naomi didn't let much slip, even to Emily.

"How did she get to be in charge of all of this anyway?"

Tony shrugged. "Clearly you haven't met our mum yet."

Katie shook her head and briefly tried to imagine a woman who had produced both Stone and Tony, and somehow she just couldn't picture her. Whoever she was, she must be stunning, though, to produce two incredibly gorgeous children.

"Well...My mum used to run the business, but the pressure started getting to her...The death threats and whatnot. She needed to cool off, and the business was getting a bit...sloppy, I guess you could say, as she delved more into alcohol and drugs to deal with her stresses. It was left to Ef – err...Stone and me. She always was better at the business side of things, and she knew how to handle money and manipulate people without them feeling like they were being manipulated. It meant she ran with a firmer hand, but less people minded it. It was really only natural that she'd be the one to carry on leading the business. Besides, everyone was used to a matriarchal figure. And after...Well, I was more interested in going away to uni. I wanted to get away, and Stone let me. Dunno that she's forgiven me yet for staying gone, though."

"Why?"

Tony smiled a cryptic smile. "Families are complicated, aren't they?"

Sensing that she'd gotten as much information on that front as she was going to, Katie switched topics. "So what is Stone's real name?"

Tony's smile grew cheeky. "Sorry. I don't have a death wish, and I do respect my sister's desire for relative anonymity, even if I don't always remember to call her Stone." Tony threw back the rest of his beer, then set it down on the table hard. "You should get some sleep. You look exhausted, and you never know when my sister will have another job for you."

Katie nodded. Tony was right. She stood and carried her plate to the sink, knowing that in the morning one of the staff Stone kept around would clean it up for her. Another perk to crashing at the mansion instead of at home: no dishes. She paused in the doorway when she looked back to find Tony still sitting at the table. "You coming upstairs, too?"

"Not for a while yet," he replied.

She nodded, then turned to leave.

"Goodnight, Katie. It was lovely getting to know you a little."

Katie felt her cheeks flush. "Thanks. You too," she muttered without turning around.

"Sweet dreams," he called after her.

She grinned to herself as she headed up the back stairway.

She was almost to the top when she ran into Stone, donned in a straight black suit for the day, though her hair was down and wavy and no fedora was perched atop her head.

"You look surprisingly cheerful. Naomi said that Emily said the little bastard was a pain in the arse," Stone commented, sounding suspicious.

"He was," Katie agreed.

Stone opened her mouth as if to say something else, but then her focus shifted past Katie down the stairs and she closed her mouth again.

When Katie glanced over her shoulder she caught sight of Tony lingering at the bottom of the stairs. He gave her a little wave and she smiled down at him.

Stone's jaw set and her expression hardened. "I'd like you to head back tomorrow. Jeremy owes me a lot of money. I don't take kindly to him trying to weasel out of it. Also Emily told Naomi he got a little fresh with you?"

Katie shrugged. "Wankers are apt to do that."

"Then you should go teach him a lesson."

"Don't I get a day off?" Katie suggested, suddenly feeling rather weary from the past two days.

"You could send that girl...the suck up. What's her name? Mandy. She could do it, maybe. Give Katie a day to relax?" Tony suggested casually from the bottom of the stairs.

Katie glanced appreciatively his way, but when she looked back at Stone, she caught a glare that was icy enough to freeze flame.

"Mandy can't handle it, Tony," Stone replied, her voice laced with the same ice in her stare.

"How do you know if you don't test her?" Tony challenged, apparently unperturbed by his sister's attitude towards him as he leaned casually against the wall and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Do you really think she's capable?" Stone asked, though it was clear the question was rhetorical from her tone.

"No," Tony replied, "but maybe I was hoping to spend a little time with Katie tomorrow."

Katie willed herself not to blush, but she could feel her cheeks growing hot anyway.

Stone took a step closer to her, and Katie could feel her eyes boring into her for a moment, though Katie refused to meet her gaze.

"I need someone I can rely on, Tony. I need Katie. You'll have to settle for someone else's company. Now fuck off. I have another matter I need to discuss with Katie without you around," Stone said, her voice leaving no room for argument.

Katie risked another glance at Tony, who sighed and shrugged, but didn't seem overly upset. Maybe he'd only been trying to rile his sister up. He moved back into the kitchen, and Katie turned back to Stone.

Stone stepped even closer so that their bodies were mere millimetres apart, and Katie had to resist the urge to step down to the stair beneath the one she was on.

"Don't, Katie," Stone warned, her voice hard.

Katie swallowed. "Don't what?" she asked innocently, though she could probably hazard a guess as to what Stone meant.

"Save yourself the trouble and don't go down that road. My brother is many things, but a faithful boyfriend isn't one of them. He doesn't do relationships and he does break hearts."

"I wasn't –" Katie started to say, but Stone cut her off.

"Do yourself a favour and don't mix business with pleasure." Stone was so close that Katie could feel her breath hitting her ear as she spoke, and she had to repress a shiver.

"Emily does it all the time," Katie pointed out before she could think better of it.

Stone pulled back and pursed her lips, and Katie found herself staring into her incredibly blue eyes and thinking how much like Tony's they really were. They were dazzling, really. So blue.

Stone's face softened minutely, and she reached up and pushed a strand of hair behind Katie's ear, letting her fingers linger to stroke Katie's cheek.

Katie shivered slightly and had to look away. Something about the touch shook her more than any warning could have.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Stone said, dropping her hand to her side, then marching past Katie without another word.

Katie's hand moved to her cheek and she lingered on the stairs for a moment before she pulled herself together.

She proceeded up the stairs and down the hallway towards her bedroom with questions about the siblings and Stone in particular bouncing around her brain. She couldn't decide if having Tony here, much as she liked him and found him charming, was a good thing or not.

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A/N: What'd you think? Click the little button and let me know. :)

Sorry I can't promise when there will be another chapter, but hopefully this was enough to tide you over for a while.

Also, another Happy Birthday to FitchSwitch! You rock!

xx