I know it's been a while, I hit a bit of a mental block on this one, saw something the other day that gave me a little bit of inspiration and this is the result. Here's to hoping it doesn't disappoint and a massive thanks to those that review / alert / favourite. It really does make my day
Skins isn't mine...yada yada yada
Cracking an eye open she turned to the red digits on the clock next to her, groaning as they read five forty am. Closing her eyes again she silently debated her options as she listened to the soft snoring, felt the warmth from the woman next to her. Emily it seemed had wriggled her way further and further across the bed until she had more than her fair share, Naomi moving inch for inch in her sleep until she woke hanging on the edge.
She had two main options, stay in bed and try and get a few more hours or get up and do something useful. One option appealed but she didn't think it would happen, it seemed pointless in laying here listening to the soft snores and winding herself up at her lacking ability in returning to dream land. So she took the obvious option available to her and slipped out the bed stretching, hearing the loud pops and cracks as she rolled her neck from left to right and back again releasing the tension held there. She stared at the bed, at the small form nestled comfortably in the covers, barely visible but clear enough. Lying on her front, face to the side her hair splayed across the pillow. Peaceful.
Naomi smiled to herself remembering drunken and high Emily and her amusing actions before beginning her search, fumbling around the floor for her clothes. She found her jeans from the night before and slipped them up her legs not bothering to fasten them but instead resuming her search for the remaining items needed. A few more minutes and she found a hoodie, didn't know who it belonged to but decided it was good enough, held it tightly in her grasp and walked out the bedroom pulling the door shut behind her and padding softly to the bathroom.
She used the bathroom quickly before she finished dressing, pulling the hoodie over her bra clad form and fastening her jeans before she left and headed downstairs. The house was eerily quiet, dark and cold but it was oddly pleasant allowed her time to wake fully, gather her thoughts.
Reaching a hand in her pocket she pulled the items out that were stowed there. Firstly she turned the key in her hands – locker 47 – she was curious as to what exactly Cook had left her, especially what his little gift was but didn't let the thought dwell. Next she grabbed the phone and slid her finger across the screen to unlock it. She frowned as the words 'Enter Passcode' appeared. She didn't recall Cook telling her a passcode, wondered absently if the code was somewhere in the locker. Instead stowed it back safely in her pocket with the key, before pulling her socks and boots on as well as a stolen jacket from Spash and starting the cold walk to the station.
A few minutes in and she already felt the cold nipping at her exposed flesh, she pulled her hood up hoping for the additional protection it provided and also aided the benefit of hiding her blonde locks as she marched to her destination, a woman on a mission. She sparked up, inhaled deeply despite the cold biting at her lungs, stealing her breath but it was worth it for the nicotine that coursed through her system, missed and cherished as her mind focused on the task ahead, building possible plans based on what she thought Cook may have provided. All fairly pointless actions until she knew exactly what items she had at her disposal. She absently flicked the butt from her cigarette into the road before dipping her head down against the cold and pushed on forwards in the dark to her destination.
A short while later windswept and cold she found herself at the station, deserted at the early hour but grateful for the fact it was at least open. Glancing around checking for danger she steeled herself in the knowledge that no one would expect her here this early and headed for the lockers tapping her fingers against them as she counted down forty three...forty four...forty five...forty six...before finally reaching locker forty seven. She looked again subtly to her left and right as she slipped her hand into her pocket and retrieved the warm metal that had been heated by her own body heat, sliding it into the lock and wrenching the door open to find a black rucksack inside.
Reaching a hand in she received the bag lifting it gently to check the weight before she dragged it all the way out. It wasn't too heavy lighter than she was expecting, maybe even hoping. She decided to wipe her prints with her sleeve from the key and locker handle as subtly as she could before heading back out the way she had entered.
Finding a wall to rest against a few minutes walk from the station she lit another cigarette and took a quick look inside the rucksack, pushing the many items around mentally cataloguing what she found. There wasn't a great deal, some cash and a couple of discs, an envelope with Cooks handwriting on the front a simple scrawl of 'Blondie' in black on the white paper. She shouldered the bag and pushed on eager to keep moving to stay warm.
.
.
Naomi sat at the kitchen table as she scanned her eyes across the note left by Cook.
'This is all you need sweet cheeks.
Address is in a note on Gay-Jay's gadget.
Knock em dead.'
Even in written form Cook made her smile, his blunt and to the point note however held no hints as to the passcode for the phone. She pushed the note aside and started to pull the other items from the bag. A stack of cash - about seven thousand - in neat bundles, a couple of knives and a glock with 3 mags already loaded lying in the bag as well as the discs and a bag of white powder which had caused Naomi to laughed aloud.
She picked up the knives and turned them in her hands, one a standard hand dagger ideal for throwing at assailants as well as hand to hand combat and the second a butterfly knife which she flipped open and closed a couple of times before settling it back down on the table. She next moved to the glock, picking up one of the mags sliding it in before pulling the slide. She released the safety on and off just to make sure it was fully operational having no doubt but checking regardless just going through the motions.
She turned her attention back to the letter, key and phone, the three most important items and yet the ones that her mind still hadn't quite made the connection on. She read the note again not gaining any more information than she had the first time and instead focused on the phone.
She needed a passcode something that Cook would have picked that should seemingly be obvious to her. Knowing she had at least 9 attempts before the phone wiped itself she slid her finger across and unlocked the screen. Attempts one through five were failures, it wasn't the year they were born or Cook's name, nor was it seven thousand in relation to the cash or 4747 related to the locker key she had even tried the word 'fuck' and 'tits' thinking in the warped version of Cooks mind may think she would make that sort of filthy connection but all were useless.
Huffing she slammed the phone on the table and moved to sit on counter top as she flicked the switch on the kettle. She threw her eyes out aimlessly into the garden, not focusing on anything just purely lost in thought until she heard the sound of someone descending the stairs and kept half an eye on the doorway watching as Emily staggered in looking a little worse for wear.
The room was silent except for the rumble of the kettle and a loud click signalling its completion. "Tea?" She asked as she turned to face the rather dishevelled woman receiving a grunted reply from Emily who had already settled herself at the kitchen table in the very same seat she had been in.
Placing the cup down in front of Emily she took the seat opposite, pulling the phone towards her and sipping on her tea as she stared at the locked screen.
"Thanks" Emily muttered before pulling her drink close "Where'd all this come from?" She asked before taking a sip.
"A friend." Naomi replied distantly her focus still on the item before her as she tried another four digit combination chewing her lip in concentration.
"Quite the friend" Emily noted as she rifled through the items finally settling on the white powder. Naomi lifted her eyes as Emily opened the bag "Is this what I think it is?" she asked.
Naomi cocked an eyebrow, she watched mesmerised as Emily licked a finger and collected some powder on the tip before sucking on the digit, humming around it before removing it with a pop. "Coke?" She asked somewhat amused and a little confused. Naomi nodded and laughed until a light bulb went off in her brain, she slid the unlock bar across and punched in 2653 representing the 4 digits and grinned as the phone transitioned into the familiar iPhone screen. She moved into the notes folder and found the address noting it wasn't too far and smiled to herself before raising her gaze to that of inquisitive brown eyes. "Up for a little excursion today?" She asked as she reached for the items and started to place them back in the backpack whilst Emily nodded in agreement.
"Good stuff, half hour?" Another nod in reply as she rose from the table taking her drink and phone with her. "Oh, and Ems...shower 'cause you smell of something and it sure as hell ain't roses."
.
.
Showered refreshed and eager to make some headway into their investigations of finding Nox Naomi and Emily found themselves outside a storage locker on the outskirts of Bristol. A bus and a short walk was all it had taken to get there with little effort and Naomi found herself excited at what lay behind the door. She slid the key into the lock and turned the key listening to the mechanism click before pushing the door open and stepping inside apprehensively, comforted by the glock safely hidden in Emily's jacket pocket, her finger primed and ready on the trigger, safety off just encase.
She reached her hand out flicking the light switch on and her eyes sparkled in appreciation. All around the walls carefully organised were weapon upon weapon awaiting their opportunity for combat.
"Jesus..." she heard Emily voice behind her as she moved further in, a whistle sounded "Quite the arsenal in here. Who did you say set this up?" Emily asked.
"I didn't..." Naomi replied somewhat defensively. "Should certainly give us an upper hand though." She walked around looking at the items resting securely on the walls from sniper and combat assault rifles to handguns, close combat weapons and even a katana.
She placed her rucksack on the table in the centre of the room and shut the door locking it from the inside whilst Emily picked up a netbook that rested on top of a cupboard, she settled at the table powering it up.
"So where do we start?" Emily asked as she waited for Naomi to join her. "We start here" Naomi informed her as she removed a disc from the backpack. Cook had left another note on the phone which Naomi had read whilst Emily showered, contained on the discs had been the footage from the hotel, edited by JJ so neither Cook nor Anthea were present, but all other data was left untouched essentially. Naomi had left a copy with Spash to begin searching and tracking down identities, addresses and any information she could find. It was what she done best, what Naomi was paying her for, what she had gone to her for as well as a place to crash.
Naomi watched over Emily's shoulder as the smaller woman attacked the keyboard with determination freezing the footage on clear pictures and running them through a facial recognition database she had hacked into. Spash would be doing the same but they had nothing better to do, Naomi's original plan of hitting the home of the dead Nox member had been trashed as they had watched the apartment ablaze on the morning news.
They were back to square one, but with JJ's and Cooks help they were securely back on track and beginning to make real progress as Emily matched a couple of identities and scribbled their names down. Naomi decided to make herself useful, instead grabbed a duffle bag and stowed a wide range of weapons and ammunition inside as well as retrieving a sniper rifle and disassembling it before stowing it in the specially designed case.
She grabbed a vest and slipped it on under her own jacket before placing one on the table for Emily and then began her search through the cupboard to see what else was present. She found a couple of radio's, nothing of the calibre that they had at Vendetta, but they would certainly achieve the same results and a couple of earpieces and mikes that clipped to your sleeve similar to that worn by bouncers on club doors were certainly a further improvement. She found some surveillance gear, a couple of wireless cameras and microphones as well as a pair of binoculars, some GPRS trackers as well throwing them all in the bag.
Finally she found a box mounted on the wall with four keys hanging inside. She pulled them out one at a time reading the tag which related to the model of the vehicle, selecting the keys for an Audi before she shut the box the car key held firm in her grasp.
"How you doing there Em's, got anything yet?" She asked having finished her preparation and now just eager to get some concrete results.
"Almost, just a few seconds longer and..." Emily trailed off for a moment as her fingers flew across the keyboard before her... "Got it." She grinned as she held the paper up to Naomi apparently more than chuffed with her handiwork.
"Shall we?" She held her arm out towards the door as she grinned back at Emily finally satisfied to be doing something other than just waiting around. She watched as Emily slipped the vest on under her jacket and tucked the netbook in the rucksack Naomi had left on the table as well as the power cable before leading the way out the lock up.
They found the car with little effort, parked inconspicuously near the entrance about thirty foot away. "So...Where to m'lady?" Naomi asked as she slipped in the driver's seat after stowing her weapons in the boot, taking a handgun out for good measure.
"To Slough we go" Emily smirked as she slipped in next to Naomi the rucksack between her feet as she buckled her seat belt and pulled the laptop out, opening up and setting to work. Naomi watched her log onto her dating site as she turned the engine over, made a mental note to check it out at some point but instead focused her attention on the wheel and set out.
They travelled in silence except for the voice of the latest radio presenter babbling on about crap in between the few songs played. Every now and again Emily fiddled with the radio, changing the station but in her opinion they were all as bad as one another, she made a mental note to load some tunes on her phone so she could plug it into the aux cable next time rather than listen to this rubbish.
Shortly after passing a sign which informed them they had approximately 30 miles until they reached their destination Emily piped up. "I think I found us a good place to surveil from..." Naomi looked over as Emily trailed off not pushing her to continue but rather waiting patiently. "There's a block of flats opposite...one here for let..." She pointed to the screen, not that Naomi could really see it. "It looks like a good location."
"Lets check it out then" Naomi replied with a grin as she pressed her foot down a little harder on the accelerator.
"So what's the plan then?" Emily asked as she shut the netbooks lid.
"Plan? Who said anything about having a plan..."
"Oh..." Emily replied her shock evident. "I assumed you had a plan..I mean...you-"
Naomi interrupted her "Well I have a half plan, figured we would roll with this one a bit...it's the only lead we have right now. We surveil. Find out what we can, what we're up against and then we plan. That's the plan, the half plan that is..."
"Okay" Emily replied her gaze set forward.
"Okay?" Naomi asked a little unsure.
"Yeah, okay. We'll go with the half plan. It's better than no plan." She replied as she settled back resting her feet on the dash and turned the volume up on the radio. "Better than sitting still twiddling my thumbs."
She grinned "I like the way you think Fitch."
.
.
Naomi stared out the window at the building across from her, counting the windows four floors down...third window from the left...their target. Successful in their endeavour they had indeed let the property in the building opposite, paying for 2 months upfront in cash under false names of course, not that they questioned anything when they had offered cash payments. It was a seedy place, rough around the edges and not the sort of place she would ever consider living but that's just what made it more perfect, unsuspected.
"Cameras set up in the hall" Emily voiced as she joined Naomi by the window. A precaution they had decided upon, a camera on their own hallway to give them at least the ability to prepare themselves should things go pear shaped, not that they were expecting it.
"Anything?" Emily asked as she followed Naomi's visual path, four down, three across...
"No, nothing I've seen the lights come on and off so he's home. Lets settle in we can follow him tomorrow, see where he goes."
"Sounds like a plan, a real plan not a half plan some idiot bumbled together at short notice." Emily finished with a light shove to Naomi's shoulder a devilish glint in her brown pools. "So food?" She clapped her hands together "I'm starved all we had was that crappy sandwich from the petrol station and this girl, she needs to eat!"
"Well I suggest you go shop, or get take out because this girl, she's tired...because someone hogged the bed all night, someone who was high as a kite I might add" Naomi turned her blue eyes on Emily and noticed that she at least had the decency to shrug guiltily.
"Right shopping gotcha, anything you fancy?" Naomi shook her head and pulled up a chair to the window taking a seat resting her feet on the sill as she placed the netbook on her lap.
"Right well I'll be back with supplies then."
Naomi waved over her shoulder and heard the rustle of keys on the kitchen counter followed by the slam of the door. She pulled the internet up logging into the wireless dongle that Cook or more likely JJ had left in the laptop. First off she logged into her msn account the one she reserved purely for her double life as it were, that being the life Emily didn't know about. She spotted no one online and minimised the screen, leaving it logged in still though.
Next she moved her attention to the Emily's dating site, pulling her profile up noting the changes she had made. Smiling at the comment which read 'Moving to a new city for a job, glad to be back in the employment game' she saw a second update more recent 'The stars are looking amazing here, gazing shall be done' her smile grew wider as she laughed at the ingenious code the twins had developed.
Naomi scrolled looking at the other updates and public messages left, some from people who said Emily looked gorgeous and would she like to meet up for a drink, she rolled her eyes and laughed at the situation, they would certainly have a shock if Emily had replied agreeing and someone entirely different to her photo arrived. Though undoubtedly in Naomi's opinion they would certainly be trading up.
She moved on to Katie's profile noticing all the comments about buying a new pair of shoes and shook her head, so Katie like, that had to be her safe code. Naomi didn't find Katie's profile anywhere near as interesting though it certainly was amusing to see the offers Katie received and her rather harsh and blunt not to mention public rejections. She certainly didn't beat around the bush when it came to letting them down.
She closed the page and opened the files from the disc, watching the whole attack all the way though, it was odd seeing it again especially from a different vantage point. She watched Emily's fight having caught very little of it thanks to being pre-occupied with her own. She was a curious creature, a small threat to look at but she certainly held her own, had certainly been fighting for some time before Naomi had turned up as it was. Pushing on forward she watched what happened after she had been knocked unconscious, mentally scalding herself in the process for forgetting about that last attacker, watching as they dragged her body with little care or regard into the boot before rather forcefully shoving Emily into the mix. When they slammed the boot shut she paused taking note of the car registration before closing the file down.
Her fingers flew across the keys in a frenzy as she tracked down the owner of the vehicle and everything she could find out about them until a flash in the bottom left hand corner caught her eyes.
What's all this fuckery says: Thought I trained you better than that?
Blonde bitch is back says: You did, things didn't quite go to plan
What's all this fuckery says: No I could see that, saw the footage, you alone?
Blonde bitch is back says: Indeed
Naomi heard a ringing on the countertop and walked across to retrieve her phone. She smirked picking it up and hitting accept.
"To what do I owe the pleasure" Naomi spoke as she walked back across to the window settling back in her seat.
"Oh you know thought I'd check in make sure you weren't replying to me at gun point"
"On a phone Cook gave me only yesterday?"
"Yes well you've already demonstrated your adept skill at getting caught, didn't think I should risk it"
"Har-Fucking-Har"
"Couldn't help myself darling, you know how it is. So what are you doing in Slough?"
Naomi paused "I thought this phone was untraceable?"
"It is, to everyone that doesn't have that wonderful boy's encryption key. Strange one that JJ but he certainly has a talent for all that technology shit. So...Slough?"
"We tracked one of the Nox team down" Naomi replied absently as she picked the netbook up and started shutting down the pages she had been on, wiping the history as well as logging out of messenger, still leaving the computer on, the image showing that of the hall outside the flat.
"Good luck with that, it seems they take a lot of persuasion to talk."
"Sounds as though you've had some more experience."
"A little, I have your gift back by the way, try not to be so careless with it next time."
Naomi rolled her eyes at the bored tone Anthea had used. "Certainly, and the interim owner, how are they fairing? Provide you with anything useful?"
"Very little, especially considering I can't speak to the dead despite my many skills."
"I see, shame. I take it you have kept an eye on Effy?"
"I may have, she and that Katie girl are staying together they have their own Vendetta guard it's quite amusing considering that they are about as useful as a chocolate tea pot. I assume you are still with the other twin?"
"Yeah"
"And you have a plan?"
"A half plan, I'm working on it"
"Good, I have some information you might find useful, I'll drop it by, inconspicuously of course"
"Great." Naomi watched the screen before her, saw Emily on her way "Listen I've got to go."
"Stay safe Naomi, I don't want to have to take time of my busy schedule to save your ass."
"Will do my best, wouldn't want to interrupt that."
She didn't say goodbye, didn't even acknowledge the end of the call just hung up and hastily shoved the phone in her pocket as she heard the key enter the door lock, followed by the rustle of carrier bags being placed on the floor.
"I hate shopping, next time it's your turn." Emily grumbled as she slammed the door in frustration.
"Someone's a little tetchy, do I detect shopper rage?" Naomi tried to hide the smugness in her voice, failed miserably.
"Yeah well you'd be tetchy too if you had some obnoxious bitch shout at you because her son rammed his trolley into my heels! Like it was all my fault. Fucking cow."
Naomi laughed aloud at the look of fury on Emily's face all over a little shopping. Decided to help put the items away in the cupboards before Emily started throwing them at her in temper.
"I thought you were getting supplies?" She asked as she rummaged in the bags.
"I did get supplies."
Naomi held up a bottle of vodka, raised her eyebrow in question.
"What? Vodka's a supply...You'll be thanking me later, mark my words Campbell."
Naomi laughed that was until she saw Emily pull two boxes of hair dye from the last bag. "What exactly are they for?"
"Figured if we're going to be following them, it might be better to change something about ourselves, a little bit of a disguise" She held one out to Naomi "I got you this one" Naomi wrinkled her nose at the red on the box and spied the peroxide blonde still placed in front of Emily. She reached across and swiped the blonde box. "Tell you what, I'll take this one and you knock yourself out with the red...Think I'll be having the vodka now too."
Naomi walked back over to her chair, cracking the seal on the vodka as she went taking a swig once seated. She rested the bottle in her lap staring at the building across from her as another chair appeared at her side before the bottle was snatched from her hands, she heard the liquid swish around as Emily took her own swig.
"So...now we wait?" Emily asked passing the bottle back.
"Now we wait."