Hi guys, today's a bit of a short one, but I've got a lot of personal stuff going on so you'll have to forgive me. Either way, I hope you all enjoy and I'll catch you at the end. - J
Chapter 27: Working
All good things come to an end eventually, and sooner than either of them would like, their holiday was over. Of course, Sophie had left the important conversation until the very last minute, as was her habit, so here they were, speeding down the road toward the school, and she still hadn't asked. One day, she might actually manage to get her shit together.
However, now was not the time to be scowling at herself, she actually needed to voice the damn question.
"Er…" A strong start.
"Hm?" Jones glanced her way and Soph sighed, focusing on the road ahead.
"I'm moving out of St. Trinian's. I don't know where yet, but probably not far. D'you want me to take your stuff too or…?" She trailed off and swallowed hard, not particularly keen on voicing the alternative. Kelly caught her hand and squeezed gently.
"Yes, I would still like to live with you, if you'll still have me?" Her amusement was audible, but the soft edge to her tone had Soph tangling their fingers together.
"I suppose I can put up with you." She shot a smirk over to the older girl, who simply grinned.
Really, why she had to make all these conversations so difficult for herself, Soph would never know, but it was fortunate Kelly knew how to speak 'awkward'.
Soph would be the one actually buying the place, the hefty sum she'd been gifted by her dad providing the deposit, so the choosing would mostly be up to her, but she did promise to forward any listings she was considering to Kelly so the woman could pick the one she liked the best too. They'd both be living there, after all.
Looking was a pain, finding a middle ground between being really far away and too damn close was hard to navigate and half the places she looked at were shit-holes. She supposed that was the nature of looking for property around London. It helped she was looking to buy, not rent, as the rental options were straight up horrifying. Eventually though, she found something moderately acceptable. Just on the outer edges; easy enough to get the tube into town if she really felt like agitating her claustrophobia and close enough that driving would only take five or six years during rush hour. Underground carpark, security cameras, pin locks; all that jazz.
The preppy guy who showed it to her kept giving her the side eye, probably half expecting her to steal something. Not that there was anything to steal, it was being sold as unfurnished and the owner had moved out months back. It was pretty open-plan, the door opening up into the living room, which was only separated from the kitchen by about two metres of rib-high wall. Across the back was a big-ass window, allowing a nice-enough view of the streets below. The bathroom wasn't huge, but it had enough space for a bath, shower, sink and toilet, so she couldn't complain. The bedroom was sizable, with a big walk-in closet that seemed kind of excessive. However, she already had some ideas for it, so she put it as a plus. The only other room apparently used to be an office, so she had no idea what they would do with it, but it was nice to have choices. Essentially, it was big enough that she and Kelly could hang around in it without being on top of each other 24-7, not that she would object, but not so big that it would cost her a small fortune to even step in the area code. It would need painting; the whole place was 'magnolia' and that colour just reminded her painfully of her mother. Though, if she recalled correctly, properties on the market tended to be painted that colour if the previous owner had a crazy style or something that would be hard to sell. She really hoped the old colour was still under there somewhere, just to satisfy her curiosity.
She gave Kelly a video tour with very honest commentary, much to the estate agent's disdain, but when she was done, she got the thumbs up from the older woman and immediately turned to him to discuss a deposit. He was a lot more polite after that.
Dick.
Of course, she probably wouldn't have been able to get the required mortgage if she were still unemployed. A hefty deposit was nothing if you couldn't be 'trusted' to make payments on time and keep them up for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, her new job came with a lot of perks, and a decent pay check and a strong recommendation were high on the list.
It was actually kind of funny. Upon her return to St. Trinian's there had been a substantial pile of post waiting for her. Almost all of it (there was some junk mail) was job offers. Of course, she'd seen a similar stack arrive for Kelly, and hers was considerably smaller, but it was still odd to be sought after. Most of it wasn't really her scene; Military and police were definitely not for her and she was kind of morally against joining several terrorist groups, though she made a mental note to toss those letters to Kelly at some point, in case there was any usable intel in them. A lot of it was weapon design, arms or chemical, which she supposed she should have expected with her record, but one… One caught her attention. Honestly, she couldn't help but grin to herself as she read through the letter than accompanied it. Oh yeah, this would be fun.
She checked through the rest of the pile, but her mind was already made up, and the next day, she called the number provided.
"Hello, this is Sophie Daniels, I'm calling about the job offer." Her lips curled into a smirk as she spoke. Kelly was going to have a goddamn heart attack.
Eventually, anyway, as Sophie had refused to tell her anything about her new job, wishing to keep it a surprise. Of course, if she really wanted to, Jones could easily find out, but following an intense bout of sulking, she had conceded and allowed her to keep the secret. Sophie honestly wasn't sure how she would react when she found out, but the side of her that was still a bit of an asshole really wanted to find out.
It would take six months of training, followed by two months spent shadowing the person she would be replacing, one month being shadowed, and a whole lot of chaos if she fucked up, but for some reason, that last part didn't actually scare her. This job was more than just a hilarious co-incidence, she was actually pretty sure she could do it too.
She was in training to become Personnel Protective Security for MI7.
In her letter, Director Cavallero had explained that a thorough background check had been done into her due to hers and Kelly's relationship. She supposed she probably should have expected that part, given the situation, but it still surprised her a little. From there she'd gone on to remark that Sophie's record was 'alarming', but her various skills could actually be considered useful if put to the right task. The PPS division was responsible for the safety of the agents 'where possible'. One or two were often sent on missions to ensure no unnecessary risks were taken, and a team were set up in every base and headquarters, to look after the personnel inside. It was also their responsibility to track down missing agents, meaning she would be joining the group that had failed so catastrophically to find Kelly. As such, her 'skills' and, as Cavallero put it, tenancy were considered boons to such a job, and they would be very glad to have her on their team. Of course, Sophie had jumped at the opportunity to help keep Kelly safe, but with her years upon years of looking over her shoulder and getting into/breaking out of places, she was actually pretty suited to stopping others from doing the same. Call it a talent.
The training itself was immediately terrible.
She was in a group with seven others, and they all only knew each other by bunk number, for security reasons. It was oddly uncomfortable, for the first few days, to be known exclusively as 'Seven', but that wasn't what made it all so hard.
The others were all military pros who had been selected for the process due to their 'stellar service record', and they did not take kindly to her eighteen-year-old-delinquent self being thrown in with them. The older members of their squad, One and Three, in particular, were not fans of her, and seemed to take every opportunity they could to make her feel like shit. In some areas she could, at least, keep up; her endurance was pretty solid, her climbing was acceptable, and her weapons proficiency, while not as varied as some of the others, was actually still decent thanks to the twins. Driving was hit and miss, depending on whether she was on a bike or in a car, and her infiltration was actually at the top of the class, barring her complete inability to work as part of a team.
Where she really fell down was hand to hand combat.
She could take a punch, and quite happily throw one, however, against people who had already been training for ten years or more, she was basically completely useless. It really made her wonder how terrible those guys at AD1 had been if she even took down two of them... And how much Kelly had been letting her win whenever they were messing around. By the end of the first week, she was black and blue, the second; her bruises had bruises. By the end of the month, she was almost ready to walk. It wasn't the pain, or even the horrendous beating her ego was taking; it was the frustration. She didn't even get a chance to see what she was doing wrong, no pointers or instruction from anyone. Their teacher was some brick of a dude with a face of steel, and he did absolutely nothing to correct her or tell her what she was doing wrong. Which was weird, because he made a point of berating the shit out of any of the others for every tiny mistake they made. So, time after time she was slammed into the floor, gasping for lost breath or gritting her teeth against the pain of her arm being wrenched up her back. Safe to say, it wasn't endearing her toward her squad mates. If anything, she would say it made her a little bitter and maybe a tiny bit petty, purposefully upstaging them where she could and driving hard to beat them where she knew how to improve. It probably wasn't the best way to respond but fuck it, they hated her anyway, may as well do the crime if you're doing the time.
She told Kelly this one night via facetime and the woman had frowned back at her.
"How did that go for you last time?" She deadpanned and Soph paused, mid-rant.
Oh, goddamn it.
Dropping her head into her hand, she reflected on how right the woman was. This was the exact line of thinking that made her go school hopping back in the day. Ah, fuck. Apparently reading the realisation on her face, Kelly's frown softened.
"Try not to fall back on old habits. What would you do if you needed my help with something?" She smiled gently and Soph rolled her eyes.
"I'd ask." She grumbled with a half-hearted pout and Jones grinned.
"Try that?" She encouraged, only half teasing. Soph heaved a sigh, why was the woman always right?
Of course, Kelly knew she was in training. For what, she still had no idea, but she'd find out in a few months, so she was being admirably patient. Sophie was allowed home for a weekend once a month so Jones had applied to Cavallero to let her have that weekend off every month (subject to world ending emergencies, apparently) so that they could still see each other. They spent these weekends buying and assembling furniture, painting walls, and generally settling in to their flat, which stood empty most of the time, but it was nice to know it was there, waiting for them.
It took another three days for Soph to work up to actually asking someone for help. They were doing a long-distance cross-country run, and Soph had been paired with 'Six', the woman who slept on the bunk below hers. She was one of the younger members of their group, roughly mid-twenties, long dark hair and sharp brown eyes that vaguely reminded her of Kelly. Ultimately, she seemed the most laid back of the others, so Soph figured she was her best bet.
"Hey er... Six?" She spoke as they jogged, facing forward. The other woman didn't so much as blink.
"Hm?" She hummed to indicate she was listening but otherwise said nothing.
"Do you think-" She paused to dodge a rabbit hole.
"-you could you give me some pointers on my hand to hand?" She was glad she was already out of breath, so the blood rushing to her face wouldn't be particularly noticeable. Six said nothing for a long moment, her expression unreadable in the corner of Sophie's eye as they continued to run together.
"If you help me with lock picking." She spoke so suddenly Sophie nearly tripped over a log. With a yelp and a very elegant stagger, she managed to keep her feet, scowling at the other woman's smirk.
"Deal." She huffed, somewhat belatedly, and Six's smirk only grew.
Begrudgingly, she kind of liked Six.
The woman was actually smart as all hell, maybe even Polly's level, and at the same time kicked Sophie's ass from after dinner to lights out for the next two weeks. Now, though, she told Soph what she'd done wrong, how she'd been beaten, and how to avoid losing that way again. Apparently her problem, as with most things in life, was that she was trying to solve the situation with brute force. She needed to take her time, choose her moment, and move fast when she found it. Of course, knowing that and doing it were very different, which is why it took weeks for her to show any improvement at all.
Six took to lock picking better than Sophie did to fighting. With a bit of extra direction and a few tips, she was quickly catching up to her. Apparently, the others noticed, and Six was bad at keeping secrets.
Four offered to show her how to break out of a headlock in exchange for climbing tips.
Eight gave her a few hints in exchange for helping her out on a poisons test (she'd proven pretty good at poison detection and cures, who knew?).
By the end of the fifth month, everyone bar One and Three had stopped giving her the side eye and she'd actually managed to hold her own in a fight. Only then did her teacher start barking criticisms at her, like he'd been waiting for her to get to grips with the others before bothering to work on her at all. Dick.
The weeks drew to a close, and six of them were declared fit to progress, with One and Three being refused. Apparently team work was essential to their profession, and if they couldn't see past their differences to work together, they would be no use to anyone. Soph couldn't help but feel like she'd been dropped into this specific group as a plant to force that kind of encounter, but she'd managed to pass, so she wasn't going to grumble too loudly. Brilliantly, everyone else was headed back to London HQ with her for the next stage of training, so as they all left the gates of the camp for the last time, they swapped phone numbers, and finally gave each other their names.
Of course, they'd probably all still call each other by their numbers because six months of habit was hard to break, but it was nice to finally know each other properly. What was even nicer, was sitting in the back of the car that was taking her home.
The place had been coming along slowly, with them not wanting to spend their whole weekend every month decorating and fixing the place up, but now she would be back every evening, at least for a little while, she had time to assemble the rest of the furniture and actually finish painting the living room (that had been half done for three months now). Jones wouldn't be home for a couple of weeks, very busy with some big assignment over in America that she wasn't allowed to know the details of, so that gave her plenty of time to kick the place into order.
She did inform Cavallero that she hadn't told Kelly about her new job at the very start, and the woman, surprisingly, had found it all very funny. To her further surprise, she also worked out a hilarious way to reveal it to her. So that was how Soph came to be stood leaning against her receptionist's desk, listening to the woman beside her stifling her giggles (she was in on the plan too and they all found it hilarious), as she tried to repress a grin, waiting for her cue to enter the office in which Kelly was currently giving a report.
"Jenny, can you send her in please?" Cavallero's bored tone came through the intercom and the receptionist managed to stop giggling long enough to sober her expression and reply with something vaguely resembling her usual cheery tone.
"Right away." She chirped and Soph flashed her a grin, straightening up and moving toward the door with purpose.
She opened it slowly, taking her time to listen in as she did.
"As you know, Jones, we've been refreshing our PPS department, so for the next month, one of our new recruits will be shadowing Harrison… Try to play nice." Cavallero was having far too much fun as she smirked over the desk at her and Soph bit her lip as she caught sight of the familiar profile of Kelly Jones, not quite turned toward her enough to see her. She repressed a laugh as she dropped into the chair beside her.
"Kelly doesn't play nice." She couldn't stop the full blown grin that spread across her face if you paid her, particularly as Jones' head whipped around, shock and bewilderment warring in her eyes but quickly resolving into the realisation of what exactly had just happened. Which resulted in scowl expression that was only half for dramatic effect as she threw her hands up.
"You dick, this is the job you wouldn't tell me about?" She batted at her arm but Sophie wasn't even going to pretend it hurt, she simply laughed.
"Well, someone has to keep an eye on you." She shrugged, still chuckling as she caught the woman's hands.
"You're such an ass." Kelly shook her head with a grumpy pout but the edges of her lips were pulling up and that soft look was back in her gaze. Soph squeezed her hands gently before letting them go with a smirk.
"Very true." She winked before they both turned back to Cavallero, who looked thoroughly amused and well pleased with herself. Sophie had gained a bad impression of her, from their first conversations, but having actually spoken to her a few times now, Isabella Cavallero was actually a pretty decent woman, with a terrible sense of humour.
Soph still didn't have her own transport, having gifted her bike to the twins, so she met Kelly on the parking level for a ride home.
"You sneaky little shit." Jones elbowed her as they walked to the car, but her grin belied her amusement. Soph smirked.
"You'd have argued." She stuck her tongue out as they reached the car and when Kelly made it into the driver's seat, she gestured aimlessly.
"Maybe a little…" She paused while she started the car and pulled out of the space.
"Tell me you didn't just take it to keep an eye on me?" The woman shot her a wary look and Soph chuckled.
"I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't a consideration, but no… I'm actually weirdly good at it." She stared out at the passing buildings as she considered this. She was, actually, pretty well suited for the job… and she kind of enjoyed it. Kelly reached over and caught her hand, squeezing gently.
"That, I can believe." Her tone was full of genuine care and Soph bit her lip, repressing a sheepish smile as she squeezed back.
Of course, all her hard work setting the flat up was completely ignored as the moment they made it through the door, Soph for herself pinned between Kelly and the wall. However, she did not give a single fuck and grinned against the other woman's lips, bending slightly to wrap her arms tight about her waist before straightening up. Jones broke their kiss to yelp in surprise but her legs quickly wrapped around her, holding herself up as Sophie smirked with well-earned smugness.
"New tricks, Daniels?" Jones arched a brow, her arms coming to rest about her shoulders as Soph moved away from the wall with a shrug.
"Complaining, Jones?" She smirked up at her as Kelly shook her head, her gaze dark in a way that sent a shiver rolling down her spine.
"Definitely not." She swept down then, reclaiming her lips in a bruising kiss while Soph attempted to blindly steer them through the flat to their, newly assembled, bed. It took longer than it should have, but navigation as hard when Kelly Jones was turning your brain to a pile of mush.
Short and just a weird explanation of Sophie's job. I honestly don't know about this chapter, it's been a weird week, but I hope you've all enjoyed it, and I look forward to seeing you all again next Tuesday. -J
