A/N - Just a heads up that some of this is quite gory! Life of a Son and all...! So if you have a weak stomach or generally delicate constitution, you might want to not read this while you're having a lunch!
It's just short one, something more sexy to come so Chibs fans better prepare yourselves...! ;-)
"So is this some sort of date?" Swift mused as she dragged her feet along behind Chibs. He was armed with a couple of axes as he jumped down from the van, a big roll of sheet plastic balanced on one shoulder as he pointed to the warehouse.
"Depends whether you fancy Chinese or not." He unlocked the door and swung it open to reveal three bodies, all Asian guys, dead and face down on the concrete. Swift laughed at his little joke, she appreciated that one.
"Wet work?" She sighed as he chucked a boiler suit at her. She pulled it on, zipping it up over her own clothes. It was way too big, hanging baggily on her frame, and she tried to tie it tighter to her but to no avail. "And why'd you think I know how to do this?"
Chibs watched as she picked up one of the axes to test the weight as he rolled the first corpse onto some of the plastic. "Dunno. Just seemed like you'd be up for giving it a try." He'd barely moved out the way before she brought the axe down with a crunch against the shoulder. The arm fell away easily and Chibs smiled. Of course she knew what she was doing.
"You want steaks or stir fry?" she asked as she moved around and started on the other side. He chuckled.
"Got to fit them all in there," he said, pointing to a whisky barrel on the side. "Irish idea of humour." She went straight to cut the elbow too, and then remove the hands.
"You drain them?" she asked, motioning to the blood already splashing about. Chibs wrinkled his nose, realising that maybe Tig would have been a better supervisor for this trip. He never really enjoyed the butchery as much as he and Happy did, but this had been Tig's idea for a way for them to spend some time together.
"Warts and all please, darlin'."
She smiled as she wiped her hair out of her eyes with her forearm and nodded towards the other axe. "Don't expect me to do all of the work, darlin'," she replied teasingly. "I'll do my share but I'm not your slave."
Chibs laughed. "Believe me, if you were, we wouldn't be doing this, that's for sure."
There it was, that little nervous flirtation that it took all of his courage to manage to get out. Swift didn't answer and grunted as she swung the blade down into the waist. That was always the worst bit, it was never a clean cut, always gristly with fat. She pulled a face as a bit of white bile ebbed out of it with the most sickening smell. Chibs put his hand over his mouth.
"Christ. What did that bastard eat?"
"What would we be doing?" Swift glanced up at him, still focused on the task at hand but curious to his conversation. She paused for a moment and unzipped the top half of the boiler suit, too hot, and tied the arms around her waist. Chibs looked at her in confusion and she waved her hand. "If we weren't doing this?"
Chibs flexed his fingers as he pulled the ankles of another body and dropped it onto the sheet. "I don't know. Might have asked you for dinner or something."
"I don't really eat," she shrugged. With this cut a bit of blood spattered up onto her face and she scowled, spitting it off her lips down onto the ground. "Not all that hungry right now either."
He wasn't that surprised. She gave one of the detached feet a kick as she prowled around the second corpse, wondering where to start. "Where'd you learn all this shite?" She didn't answer and he tried again. "I mean, the guns and the general little Catwoman trickster stuff is good, but this?" He motioned around him. "You didn't even flinch."
"You learn not to," she said with a coy smile. "I much prefer to keep my cool, you know?" She'd never tell him about the years of training. It would only get his back up and she needed him as amenable as possible. If he had any idea that she had once been a fed, he'd probably kill her and add her to the goddamn barrel.
"Still so secretive," he teased gently. "You know, you can let your guard down. You bared pretty much everything to the club last night."
She grimaced. "Yeah, I don't remember that so it didn't happen." Another swing, another cut, she was like a damn little factory on her own.
"You looked like you were having fun," Chibs shrugged. "We all loved it, if it helps."
Of course they had. A woman dancing like that was a treat they'd occasionally watch at Cara Cara, but when she was in the club, willing to play, the sweat on her body so tantalisingly close they could taste it, and she was responding to their baying and hollering? It was something else entirely. The fact that he had nearly got her home took it to a different level.
"You loved it."
If she hadn't been covered in blood, he probably would have jumped her as she said it. Her tone was so teasing, Chibs bit down on his lip to stop himself blurting out something inappropriate. Swift leaned down to start moving some of the body parts into the case and looked at Chibs expectantly to help. He flapped for a moment before realising she needed assistance and moved awkwardly around her to try to get involved.
"Excuse me."
He miscalculated how close she was to him and accidentally smeared bright red blood all across her top as he scraped the end of a leg against her. Swift groaned as she felt the wetness seeping through her shirt and against her skin.
"Jesus, Chubs, what the hell?" She gave him a thump in annoyance and, sticking her hand in some of the mess, smeared it across his face to prove a point. "Idiot."
Chibs tried to wipe it off quickly with his sleeve but only proceeded to spread it all over his own clothing. "Fuck, I'm sorry, I..." He didn't even know what to say, she made him so damn nervous he kept fucking up. "You can come back to mine, shower."
She scowled as she crushed the body parts down with her hand to pack them in, completely nonplussed. "Seriously? What, so you can try and see me naked?"
Chibs turned red as he hurried to help her. "No, not at all."
"Don't you want to see me naked, Chubs?" She paused and stood up. The boiler suit hung loose around her hips but her little white vest, now dirty and blood-stained, hung tight around her torso. Chibs gulped as she wiped her hands down on the pants, staring up at him with those challenging eyes. Even covered in that mess, she looked bloody gorgeous.
"How do you do that?" he growled, abandoning what he was doing and marching over to her. "Little imp." He ran his hands over her waist as he pushed his lips to hers. Swift laughed.
"What are you, some sort of necrophiliac?" She batted him away. "We have a job to finish."
"Aye, we do," he insisted, not letting go of her. "From the woods."
"You really are a freak for the dead," she teased. "Let's finish what we have here, and then take that shower." She pressed her hand to his chest and pushed him away gently. "If you're lucky I might let you scrub me down."
She pushed a little peck onto his cheek and got back to work. Chibs stood staring at her dreamily before she cleared her throat, demanding he start helping again. He smiled and bounded over, inspired by her promise and eagerly getting to work so he could get her out of there.