They rode the lift up in silence, Lorna remaining still for once. Fidgeting wasn't worth it. She wasn't in trouble.
The doors opened and they headed for the office. Moran knocked, then pushed the door open when Jim called.
The change was remarkable. In just a few hours Ines had been almost erased. The whole place smelled like fresh paint, and the furniture had been returned to its former style and arrangement. Jim was sitting at his desk, looking for all the world like he had never left.
Lorna whistled as they walked in, giving the place a once-over. "Christ, we should send flowers to whichever department did this. Cleanup, maybe?"
"Contractors," Jim said absently from his desk. "I do have renovation needs every once in awhile. And Harrison, if you deign to whistle like that in my office again, I will have your tongue and nose pierced and shackled together."
"Fair enough. Noted, sir," she nodded, folding her hands together in front of her.
He sighed and nodded, leaning back to look at them. "Well?"
"Sir?" Moran raised an eyebrow, uncertain of what Jim wanted. Or pretending to be, anyway. Jim rolled his eyes.
"The girl, Moran. Your sperm-cell-turned-weakness. Are you killing her or not?" He didn't bother waiting for Moran's response, waving him off. "I know you aren't. I'm disappointed, but I suppose there had to be a time you started failing. You're getting old, Moran. I get it. A few soft spots are to be expected."
Sebastian's eyes flared for a moment, and he grit his teeth, taking a slow breath to calm himself.
"If I may, sir..." Lorna cleared her throat, raising her eyebrows a little. "Keira could actually provide a significant advantage over Ines. It's obvious they care for each other. If we can get Keira to turn on Ines, however..."
Jim raised an eyebrow at that, glancing at Lorna with a hint of interest. "And how do you propose we do that?"
"We've brainwashed people before, sir. Rehabilitating isn't our M.O. but it's perhaps something we should learn."
Jim seemed to consider that, drumming his fingers on the table to a rhythm Sebastian didn't recognize. Finally he gave a short little nod. "It could be amusing. But don't try my patience. Either of you." He returned his gaze to Moran.
"We won't, sir," the sniper retorted, expression and voice monotonous.
She nodded assent, and Jim leaned back, seemingly satisfied. "We'll hold off getting our hands on Ines until we know we don't need her for your... Rehab. It will give me time to really plan what to do with her." He gave them a shark grin for a moment, then let it fall. "And Moran, I need branches mostly untouched by Ines to transfer employees to us. We're operating at minimum capacity after the purge yesterday and I want us running again, not limping. If the vetting process takes up the majority of your time Harrison can take over parts of your duties."
"Of course, sir," he said with a small nod. "Anything else?" he resisted the urge to give Harrison a smug glance.
"At this moment, no. We'll see about the next thirty," he snorted, waving them off. "Once we have all this settled, we'll all have an exorbitantly expensive drink together. Dismissed."
"I look forward to it, sir," he said with a nod, turning and heading out the door.
She followed a step behind, shutting the door behind her, and let out a bit of a lost breath. "God, I am not used to how casual that's gotten."
"Which, the drinking together or the responsibility?" he asked dryly, calling the lift.
She snorted, rolling her eyes a little. "I'm pretty used to being able to fill in for you, but being told by James Moriarty that we'll have drinks is a little stunning still."
He smirked a little. "Back when I was an only child that happened a lot more often. Then you came along and made everything complicated," he teased.
"Pfft, fuck off, 'only child,'" she rolled her eyes for real this time as the lift opened, and stepped in. "You guys only had drinks before I came along because you were small time, and young. I didn't change either of those."
"Pfft, small time," he shot back. "Jim was never small time, even when he was alone. By the time I got here, the network was well-established."
"Of course Jim was small time," she protested with a scoff. "Everyone is small time at least for a little while. I'm sure it was only like a month, but still."
He shook his head. "If he was, I never saw it. He had limited permanent resources, sure, but I never saw him conceive of something that he couldn't do, or try to do something he couldn't achieve because of resource limitations." The lift opened on their floor and he stepped out. "I need to start bringing people in. Can you go be the face of hell for an hour or so, remind people we're here, and very scary?"
"Sure," she said, following him out and heading towards the flat by his side. "Just let me grab my gun. I don't like raising my voice unless I have to."
He smirked, scanning in and pushing the door open. "Yeah. You can't really let your size speak for you."
"We can't all be freaks of nature like you," she teased, heading for the gun cabinet and opening it to be pleasantly surprised that the guns hadn't been disturbed in their absence. Keira must have earned them back from Ines. She grabbed her favorite handgun, checked the safety and the chamber, then loaded it and grabbed the shoulder harness hanging up next to the guns. She used it infrequently enough to not bother storing it with her clothes, where she might lose it. She holstered the gun, then turned and sighed. "Alright. I'll go strike fear into the masses, shall I?"
"Have fun, shoot someone for me, don't be late for dinner," he said absently from where he was opening his laptop.
"Whatever you say, darling," she sang in response, and swept out the door. Things were finally starting to feel right again.
He worked steadily for the next few hours, starting the process of shoring up their security from all of the weaknesses he had built in, and putting systems into place for mass transfers from satellite groups.
Lorna shot only one person that day, and it was a leg wound - she didn't want to bring their numbers any lower, but he'd given her lip, and that wasn't going to fly either. After leaning her weight on the injury and snarling that he'd better learn some respect, plus a warning about what would have happened to him had he decided to do that in the following weeks, she straightened out things in the most important departments and then realized she was dog tired. In the lift back to the flat, she had the epiphany. The only thing that stopped her from throwing open the door in triumph was the knowledge of Sebastian's itchy trigger finger, and instead she just walked briskly in. "Moran? I've got it. I know how to solve the Keira problem."
He looked up at the odd use of his surname, setting his laptop aside. He didn't bother with greetings. "How?"
"We tell Ines the truth," she said, eyes on him as she shrugged out of her shoulder holster and set it and the gun down on the coffee table with a thunk. "Ines is obviously emotionally invested. Foolish of her. We can use that. Tell her what will happen if we can't get Keira to be on our side again. Tell her that she convinces Keira it was all a ruse or we kill her. It's so simple. I can't believe it didn't occur to me immediately."
He considered that for a moment, standing slowly. "There's risk involved if we let the two of them talk... but we could set it up to mitigate that..." He nodded slowly, a bit of life entering his eyes. "That could work..."
"If Ines is enough of an idiot to risk Keira getting shot because she blabbed, I don't know how the fuck she took the network from us, but you're right, precautions are good," she nodded, bouncing once on the balls of her feet, filled with energy now (for the moment) and walking into the kitchen to start looking for something to eat. "People are martyrs for love."
"I just don't want to be overconfident in that love. Trust it too much and she'll fuck us over if we're wrong." He followed her in, watching her look through the refrigerator for a moment before walking up and sliding his hands around her waist. "Could be problematic if we judge this wrong."
She hummed in agreement, grabbing a peach from the fridge and shifting a little in his arms to lean over to the sink and rinse it off. "We'll tell Jim, he'll help," she said, leaning back into him and taking a bite out of her peach.
He leaned down as she bit into the peach, considering her shoulder for a moment before biting down at the junction of her neck and shoulder, teeth digging in slowly. A moment later he released and let her go, heading for the living room. "Agreed."
She only didn't gasp because her mouth was occupied, but as soon as she swallowed she shot a look over her shoulder, muttering, "tease."
He smirked just a little to himself at that, picking up his phone and texting Jim a brief synopsis of Lorna's idea.
She walked back out into the living room, peach in hand, that hand and wrist coated in juice, and raised her eyebrows at him. "Is that our relationship now? You bite me once and then you're done? Oh, woe, what's become of the romance?"
"Who said I was done?" he asked, finishing his text and sending it off, setting the phone aside. "I just don't like peaches. And you're flavored, at the moment."
"You don't like peaches?" She scoffed, looking offended. "We've been together in some form for four and a half, five years and I didn't know you disliked peaches? God, who even are you?" She huffed, shaking her head at him and taking another bite of peach.
"Ate a few bad ones as a kid. Got sick as all hell, can't stand them now," he drawled, watching her eat.
"Who the fuck gets sick off fruit..." she muttered, rolling her eyes a little, then smirked, winking once. "Fine by me. Means me for me. Nectarines the same, or can you eat those?"
"Not a fan of them either," he snorted. "Whenever you decide to finish that, wash up and brush your teeth if you want me doing anything to you tonight."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to it," she waved off, walking back into the kitchen and finishing up the peach in a few bites before tossing the pit in the trash and rinsing off her arm, then walked back out and headed for the bedroom. "You coming, or what?"
"Ah, truly adding to the romantic atmosphere," he quipped, smirking and standing up, heading after her.
"You're only making it worse," she retorted, disappearing into the bathroom and going about quickly brushing her teeth.
"I'd offer to go find a fresh victim to murder, but we're a bit low on staff," he called from where he was sitting on the bed.
She spat out the toothpaste and rinsed her mouth out before answering, stepping back out of the bathroom. "I already shot one of them in the leg. That's the price of respect these days, apparently," she rolled her eyes.
"Sorry I missed it," he said with a smirk. "Sass the day after a culling. Who the hell was that stupid?"
"I don't know his name. Somebody who thought that after a culling there would be a safety period, presumably," she chuckled, walking over in front of him and unceremoniously straddling his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. She smiled. "Hello."
He smiled back, hands finding her hips, though he was still gentle with his right hand. "Hello? That all you got, peach fuzz?" he teased, the fingers of his left hand smoothing over bare skin at her hip.
"What would you prefer I say?" She quirked her eyebrows, rubbing a thumb back and forth across his shoulder.
He raised an eyebrow right back. "How about 'where were we?'" He retorted, before leaning in to bite her shoulder again, on the same spot he had a few minutes prior.
"Yeah, that's better," she admitted, a bit breathlessly. "You kinda fry my brain, let's face it. If you didn't know any better, you would think I was a crap grifter."
He chuckled against her shoulder, where he was in the process of creating a nice bruise. He pulled away a moment later. "Luckily for you, I do know better." He reached up to probe the reddening mark experimentally.
She chuckled where she once would have winced. Things didn't really hurt like they used to. Her pain tolerance had been shot through the roof in the past few years. She slid a hand into his short-cropped hair, nails scraping lightly against his scalp and then tightening into a grip to pull his head back to look at her. "Lucky for me," she agreed, then kissed him.
He kissed her back with energy, tongue tangling with hers. He felt different than he had even in Switzerland. Older. He hated it, and was eager to burn the feeling away with her proximity.
She bit softly into his lip, fingers flexing in his hair, and was overwhelmed for a second by just how much she loved him. She loved his ice blue eyes, his sharp cheekbones, his strong jaw and nose. She loved his calloused hands and his broad shoulders and his muscled torso, and she loved his scars and his silvering hair. She kissed him harder, one of her hands slipping to his face, thumb caressing his cheek, bumping over scars.
He put a hand over hers on his face, goosebumps rising on his arms as her fingers brushed over his words. Some quiet part of him wanted to carve them open again, to chase the vitality they had provided, but he shouldered past that and focused on her gentle touch, on the taste of her tongue, on the soft pressure of her thighs against his. He slid his other hand up under her shirt, rough callouses meeting soft skin and tracing patterns.
She let out a very soft moan, mostly just a content sound, for once in that rare mood of hers where she didn't feel a burning urgency, a fierce impatience. Maybe she'd simply matured a little. It had been years since that drunken fuck in Italy, and a lot had happened along the way. Now she appreciated the occasional slow simmer instead of the instantaneous grease fire of lust.
He pulled away a moment later to meet her gaze. The contentment there reassured him of himself (though he would never admit it), and he traced fingers down her spine and under her waistband, trailing down over her tailbone.
She slowly rolled her hips over his, leaning forward to kiss him again, teeth catching his lip gently. "You're so hot," she muttered against his lips.
He smirked. "You're just saying that because I took you to Switzerland," he retorted, pulling back enough that he could pull her shirt over her head.
"Why would I wait this long to suck up to you like that?" she shot back, rolling her eyes at him and grabbing the hem of his shirt to do the same to him. Once upon a time, taking off belts had been her favorite part. Now, she couldn't imagine why. Taking off shirts was a thousand times better. The stretch and flex of muscles shifting under his skin was intoxicating just to watch.
He laughed softly, unclasping her bra and smoothing his hands over her back. "Who knows? Your mind is a rabbit warren."
She tossed his shirt to the side and shrugged off her bra, and raised her eyebrows at him. "I'm not sure if that's an insult or a compliment, so for the sake of the mood I'm going to take it as a compliment. That, or you have some making up to me to do." She smirked, and winked.
"It was meant as reality," he said, eyes amused, bending down and dragging his tongue across her nipple before biting it gently.
"You think my mind is a rabbit warren?" she asked, chuckling, voice mostly unaffected, though her back arched slightly under his hands and her fingers flexed against him before dipping down to trace the line of the waistband of his trousers.
"Dark twists and turns that lure people in and drive them mad..." he said with a smirk, between nips along the side of her breast and ribs.
"Flatterer," she smirked, hand leaving his waist to skate over the bulge in his trousers before landing at his thigh, squeezing gently.
"Tease," he retorted, shifting up to kiss her again, his tongue pressing a furtive exploration of her mouth. He shifted, then, rolling to the side, so that she was on the bed and he could start working on removing her trousers.
She just hummed in agreement, smirking against his lips for a moment before she kissed him back, harder, more to get a rise out of him than for her own patience, biting into his lip hard enough to sting.
He phrased his retort in the form of a tooth nicking her lip, eyes flashing for just a moment before he pulled away and pushed her backward by her shoulders. He removed her trousers, tossing them aside and smoothing his hands up her legs, rough on soft.
She looked up at him eyes dark with anticipation, just the slightest hint of copper on her tongue, her first taste of urgency this evening. It was strange, being back in this bed together after all their time away from it. They hadn't fucked here since before the maze, before the mission where they'd first put on rings as a disguise. "We haven't fucked in this building since the townhouse mission," she said, catching one of his hands in hers to pull him closer so she could hook a finger in his belt. "That's insane."
He scoffed, disbelieving. "It hasn't been that long," he muttered, lips tracing a line up over her abdomen. But then he pulled away to think about it for a moment, head cocked slightly. "Jesus ... has it been that long?"
"Yes," she chuckled, just a little disbelievingly. "It boggles my mind, too. Here's to a good couple years of uninterrupted fucking in HQ, huh?"
"Cheers," he agreed, leaning down to taste the blood at the corner of her mouth, before shifting downward, off the bed, head resting between her legs as he bit the inside of her thigh.
Her heart jumped in her chest, a shiver running up her spine at the sight of him between her legs. She bit her lip, reaching down to slide her fingers into his short hair, nails scratching lightly at his scalp.
He slid a hand up her thigh to her hip, gripping it possessively as he kissed and bit his way up the inside of her thigh. He smiled over her core, eyes flicking up to hers before he dragged his tongue- broad and hot- over her.
"Fuck," she muttered, head dropping back onto the bed, fingers tightening in his hair, although they didn't restrict his movement. He was too good to try and take control for herself. She'd just ruin it.
He smiled at that, a thrill of power crawling down his spine. He pulled her knickers down with his free hand, tossing them uncaringly and dragging his tongue over her again, her taste overwhelming his mouth and nose, hands monitoring every jump and twitch of her muscles.
He built her up ever so slowly, her breath hitching every time he did something particularly good, hips jumping under his hand whenever the sensation was just a little too much. She tried to keep her fingers from tightening too much in his hair, but there was only so much she could do.
He considered drawing her out, but found he didn't have much patience for that right now. His movements were rough but precise, eyes shifting up to watch her face when he could, eager.
She slipped over the edge with a gasp and a shiver, tensing up off the bed, her thighs clenching. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," she gasped. "Seb."
Her thighs clamped around his ears for a moment and he groaned, a hand shifting to grab her arse tightly and pull her against him as he brought her over. She shook slightly under his hands, and he laughed, pulling back eventually to smile at her.
"Jesus," she huffed, cheeks flushed, a little out of breath. She met his eyes, and couldn't help chuckling at his mussed hair and the way his eyes glittered with satisfaction. "Have I ever told you you look ravishing after you've eaten me out?"
"No," he smirked. "But I made my own assumptions." He leaned forward to bite her hip.
"Smart man," she murmured, then reached a hand out for him, beckoning him in. "C'mere."
He didn't argue, just shifted back up onto the bed, climbing over her, her body warm against his for once.
She pulled him back into a kiss, rolling her hips up against his, groaning as she got a full feel of his rock hard cock through his trousers. "Christ," she smirked against his lips. "I forget how much that gets you going..."
He laughed into her mouth, though it changed into a groan halfway through. He nipped her lip hungrily before pulling back for breath. "I'm telling you, the view is unparallelled," he shot back.
"I could say the same about any angle of you," she returned, pushing down the waistband of his trousers impatiently. "Right now, the angle of you fucking me into oblivion is doing wonders in my imagination."
He laughed, but then that angle was in his imagination as well, and he joined her in the quest to remove his trousers, and his pants. A moment later they were a forgotten challenge, and he ground up against her again, skin on skin, his lips pressed to the flush of her chest, stubble scraping lightly.
She ran her fingernails across his shoulders, egging him on. The least she could do to repay him for warming her up so nicely was to stoke the fires for him.
He didn't need much prompting, his body already craving her. He gripped one of her thighs, moving it outward just a little as he pushed into her, eyes on her throat, on the jumping beat of her pulse.
She groaned as he filled her up, head pressing back into the bed, hooking a leg around his hip to give him better access. "You feel so fucking good," she breathed, fingers wrapping half around his bicep.
He grabbed her free hand with his, lacing his fingers through hers and gripping tight as he gave her a moment to adjust. Her fingers dug into his arm and he took that as his queue, hauling her up more tightly against him as he started rolling his hips.
She lifted her head so she could kiss and nip a line down his throat, her breath hitching as he started moving, her leg tightening on his hip to help keep her from moving away from him. Christ, if there was any place she could definitively say she belonged, it was here, with him, wrapped around him like a glove and feeling like she was on fire.
He smiled as she pulled himself tighter against him, his breaths sharp in his lungs as he moved with her. He was working up a fury, his usual frenzy, muscles bunching and trembling against her, but it was odd getting here halfway through rather than slamming her into a wall somewhere, but it was a nice change.
She shifted from nipping to full out clamping her teeth down on his windpipe as he went particularly deep, fingers digging sharply into him, and she released her grip to let out a whine, the impatience that had taken its time showing up finally crawling into chest and making itself incredibly present. "Fuck- Seb. Harder."
He took as much of a breath as he could manage past the pain of her teeth, stars blasting along the edges of his vision. She released her bite and he returned it with a growl, teeth sinking into the corner of her jaw. He let loose and smiled as she whined, tempted to press it a little further, but instead he shifted, hand finding the headboard of the bed for a little leverage as he let the fire in him take over.
She lifted a hand behind her to brace against the headboard as he pushed into her hard enough to slide her an inch up the bed, her arm brushing his. Her breath came out in gasps, almost shifting to sobs as his teeth sank into her, overwhelmed by sensation. Her other hand let go of bicep to drag her nails down his chest, catching on the scars and the ridges of muscle on the way down.
Her nails drew furrows into his skin, and he snarled into her skin. His body arched over hers, hips following the line of momentum and crashing against hers with nearly brutal force, enough to mix pain with pleasure. He knew where her lines were, and suddenly he wanted to push them, to walk right up to the edge, test his limits. He felt powerful, for the first time in a long time. He released his bite on her neck and pulled back to meet her gaze, left hand shifting up to get a grip on her throat, that sudden rush of control black in his eyes as they locked on hers.
She looked up into his bright blue eyes, nearly entirely blackened by his pupils, and trembled under his gaze, a shudder running up her spine at the pure energy there. And then his hand was at her throat and she moaned, and came rather suddenly, though she grabbed his wrist and kept his hand at her throat. "Keep- keep going," she pleaded, voice breaking, desperate for more, even coming down from one orgasm.
His breath caught in his chest for just a moment at how beautiful she looked, submission in her eyes as she grasped at his wrist. He gripped her throat a little tighter, eyes flashing, and didn't slow down for a moment after her initial encouragement, and lifted her just a bit by her neck, throwing her a bit off-kilter, taking more control.
He hadn't purposefully thrown her off balance like that just to take control of her in years, and she was loving it. She could feel pins and needles in her hands and fire in her belly, her toes curling in the sheets, her fingernails digging into his wrist and his chest. God, she loved seeing how far he could go. She loved his strong grip and his scarred skin, loved the shine of sweat on his muscles, loved the feral, savage side of him which came out when he was truly worked up.
He shifted slightly, pausing for a moment until he could lift her and shove her against the headboard, hot skin against cool wood, his grip on her throat holding her there as he shifted her partly into his lap, rolling and rutting his hips under her, regaining momentum.
She cried out as the angle changed, trying for a second to meet his thrusts and then realizing that she couldn't match his power, her hand slapping against the headboard and grabbing the edge, her other hand grabbing his shoulder. If she could have breathed in consistently she would have been swearing, but as it was she just let out ragged breaths and whines, completely at his mercy, except for the one power left for her; she squeezed purposefully around him, as hard as she could.
He let out an undignified groan as she tightened suddenly around him, lightening his grip on her throat just a little so that he didn't strangle her accidentally as he lost the concentration he needed to properly monitor her airflow. His eyes roved over her body as he moved, and he was so close...
He came with a yell, shuddering and surging against her, his whole body burning, light behind his eyes like the headlights of a truck.
The grinding thrusts pushed her over the edge again and she lost her vision for a second as she came, muscles fluttering of their own accord, a back arching and thighs tensing, and the feeling of a hot wet rush, and then she practically slumped against him, struggling for breath. What was..?
"Seb," she got out, with difficulty, and some slurring, "I.. I um... Pretty sure I squirted? Does that.. seem accurate?"
"Mmm..." he said in lazy agreement, releasing his grip on her throat now and rolling off to the side, enjoying the warm, useless state of his muscles and the complete lack of discomfort, at least for a minute. "Sounds right."
"That's new," she mumbled, leaning back against the headboard, spots still in her eyes. "Guess what they say 'bout your thirties is true... Mm."
"God, you're such a baby," he chuckled, rubbing at his face. "What do they say about your thirties?"
"Women in their thirties have better sex than women in their twenties," she chuckled, shifting over to flop carefully into his lap, pillowing her head on his leg. She felt boneless.
He reached out to run his fingers through her hair aimlessly. "That might have something to do with everyone knowing what the fuck they're doing more..." he retorted lazily.
"Could be," she hummed, drawing patterns on his knee. "Hmmm... We should rinse off."
"Sorry? I must've misheard you, did you just suggest moving?" he asked with a giddy sort of smirk, eyes still closed.
She shifted just a little to nip his leg lazily. "I'm soaked. You're not dry either."
He let out a tired groan. "Give me half a minute, sporty. I'm enjoying myself here. When was the last time you saw me relax?"
"Not rushing you, just sayin'," she hummed, nuzzling into him slightly with a content sigh.
He sighed, taking another moment before grumbling and sitting up. "C'mon, before we get itchy," he said with a smirk, ruffling her hair.
"Mmkay," she yawned, sitting up and sluggishly sliding out of bed, reaching out to catch his hand in hers.
He stood and followed her into the bathroom, reaching out to turn on the shower. He glanced over at her and smiled just lightly at the bruises blossoming across her neck.
She caught his look, and turned to check herself in the mirror. She chuckled at what she saw. "Everyone's going to know this is from you, you know."
"Is that a bad thing?" he asked, stepping up behind her to look over her shoulder, meeting her gaze in the mirror and sliding his hand around her neck, barely touching.
"No," she murmured, already getting turned on again, and she had to close her eyes and swallow to regain her composure. "But it should be amusing to see their faces."
He felt her neck shift as she swallowed, watched the hint of a flush creep over her face. He smirked, but stepped back and let his hand drop, going over to test the temperature of the shower before stepping in.
She took a second to reset before she followed him into the shower, shooting him a mock dirty look. He knew exactly what he was doing.
He gave her an innocent smile (or as near to the expression as he was capable of making) rinsing off a bit before stepping out of the water. "I was thinking I might remodel in here. Try and make it better suited for both of us, since you're apparently not leaving anytime soon." He shot her a playfully exasperated glance.
"Pff," she responded, sticking her tongue out at him, in the midst of shampooing her hair. "But more seriously, what are you thinking about doing?"
"Making the shower bigger, for one thing. Adding an extra head so we don't have to share water. Thought about asking Jim if I could take out the wall between this flat and the next-door one, since we're sharing, and make it all a bit bigger. Better kitchen. One of those jacuzzis you're so fond of..." he shrugged.
She nodded, then leaned her head back under the water to rinse the soap out of her hair. "I could finally completely move out of my old flat and give it up to Jim for any new officer, to sweeten the pot for taking over the flat next door. Hell, though, it's a good idea. We could use a couple few more square feet."
He hummed in agreement, grabbing the soap and starting to wash down. "I don't think Jim will give a shit. We could live in your flat or my offsite place until it's done."
"More of a commute from your place, but also not sharing a wall with construction tools and possessing a much nicer decor," she chuckled, stepping out of the water and grabbing a towel.
"True," he agreed, rinsing off again before securing the water and following. "I'll probably bounce back and forth as Jim needs me, but either way."
She dried off her body and then worked on her long hair, wandering back out into the bedroom, towel around her shoulders. "I feel like that goes without saying, really," she commented, going over to the dresser to pull out a pair of pants. "We should also tell Jim our plan."
"About Keira? I texted it to him before we fucked," he said, drying off as he walked over to his dresser and digging around for trousers.
"Did he respond? Not that I really want to deal with it today - I've had a long day of intimidating people much bigger than me - but I'm proud of it and I want to know what he thinks." She pulled on her pants and then walked over to collapse into the bed, still mostly naked, and sighed tiredly.
He shrugged as he pulled on boxers. "Haven't checked yet." He sighed, pushing a hand through his damp hair and heading into the living room where he'd left his phone.
Jim's response was there, two words. Do it.
He headed back into their room, tossing the phone to Lorna for her to see and flopping down on the bed.
"Sweet," she said, setting the phone down on the bed between them. "It's been awhile since I've come up with my own plan. Feels good."
"We'll make a mastermind of you, yet," he said tonelessly, smirking just a little.
"We better not," she muttered, rolling over to cuddle up to his side. "Jim will have me killed."
He laughed, but didn't say anything further, just wrapped his arm around her, relaxing.
She eventually fell into a doze, tucked up against his hard side.
He woke hours later without remembering exactly when he had drifted off. Harrison was still beside him, but his attention was what had woken him- the chirp of his phone receiving a text. He reached out to grab it from where it still sat in the middle of the bed, and glanced at the new message from Jim.
Meeting with you and H at 0700.
He glanced at the clock, groaned, set an alarm, and drifted back to sleep.
She woke when his alarm went off, groaning and rolling into his neck. "Why th' fuck is that on..."
He reached out to shut it off, then sat up with a determined sigh, rubbing his eyes. "Jim wants a meeting."
"Good, I can go back to sleep," she muttered, rolling over and pulling up the covers.
"Nope," he smirked, standing up and yanking the covers off, tossing them on the floor as he headed for the bathroom. "He wants us both."
"Motherfucker," she groaned, rolling over and running a hand over her face, begrudgingly getting up. "How fast can we get coffee?"
"Give me five minutes," he chuckled, heading for the kitchen.
She mumbled assent, stumbling into the bathroom and taking a piss, brushing her teeth, then walking back out into the bedroom and changing into a blouse and dark jeans.
He got the coffee going and then headed back to their room to start getting cleaned up and dressed. "I wonder if this about Ines, or something else."
She buttoned up the last button on her blouse, shrugging slightly. "I don't know. I can't imagine that he's off the Ines warpath. It's barely been a couple of days."
"True, but he's also looking to cement the network again." He poured some shaving gel into his hands, spreading it across his face and grabbing his razor. "Ines will keep a few days."
"Looking to cement the network doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't have anything to do with Ines," she said, then turned and walked out, going into the kitchen to pour herself a mug of coffee, then walking back. "Things to do with her still need doing to protect ourselves."
"I'm not saying that it doesn't, I'm saying it might not." He fell silent as he started shaving, eyes on his work. "Go get coffee," he said as he paused to rinse his razor.
She raised her mug, raising her eyebrows at him. "You think I'd forget?"
He glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Drink it then. You're all snippy."
She gave him an offended look. "I'm not being snippy! At least I didn't think I was," she muttered, taking a sip of her coffee and heading back out, a little sullenly.
He rolled his eyes but didn't respond, finishing shaving before wiping his face off and heading out to get dressed in his uniform.
She finished her cup and was pulling on her shoulder holster as he came out, a movement that was still just a tad unpracticed. She'd never needed to walk around with more than a knife in the past, but these days there was a much bigger bullseye on her back, and she wouldn't be caught unprepared without a ranged weapon.
He was adjusting his own holster under his jacket, and nodded to her, glancing at his watch. "Ready to go?"
"Yup," she nodded, buckling the gun in place and heading for the door. "Let's go see what Jim needs from us at the ass crack of dawn."
"Seven isn't exactly the ass-crack of dawn, to be fair," he retorted, heading into the hall and calling the lift.
"To you, maybe," she smirked, leaning against the wall until the doors opened, and then stepping inside. "You know me. I hiss at the morning light."
"Bloody vampire," he snorted, rolling his eyes as he stepped in behind her and hit the button for Jim's floor, before scanning his prints and retina. The lift started up.
"I'd look damn good in a corset," she mused. "Shame we never get to have a proper Halloween."
He didn't respond to the comment about Halloween, preoccupied with the image of her in a corset. Then the lift was opening, and he walked out, glanced at his watch, and, giving Lorna a moment to catch up, knocked crisply.
Jim was sitting at his desk, a file open on his desk and a map open on his computer, marked with dozens of little flags across Europe. "Come in," he called at Moran's signature 'nothing is wrong at the moment' knock.
He stepped in, holding the door open for Harrison before closing it behind them both. "Good morning, sir. You wanted to speak with us?"
"Yes. Have a seat. Or don't, if you're going to fidget. I much prefer looming to fidgeting." He beckoned them over idly.
Lorna sank into one of the chairs across from his desk with ease, looking entirely comfortable. "How can we help you, sir?"
Moran stood behind the other chair, accepting the invitation to remain more comfortable. Jim didn't comment. "I'm sending the two of you out to have a little fun. Blow off some steam and tie up some loose ends."
She made a pleased noise, raising her eyebrows. "Sounds delightful, sir. I assume there's blood in the wind?"
"Mm... A local contractor was all too eager to take Ines's raise. They're holed up in their flat, not the brightest of morons. Go burn off some steam, both of you." He waved them off.
Lorna hopped to her feet, whirling around to grin brightly at Moran. "Let's go ruin this dude's day."
He hid a laugh at her enthusiasm, and nodded. "Text me the details, sir. We're on our way."
She smirked, turning for the door as Jim waved his hand, returning to his things, barely paying attention as he texted the address one-handed.
He closed the door behind him, and gave a relieved sigh. "Christ it has been so long since I have had a nice, simple hit."
"Jim's being uncharacteristically nice, sending the both of us like this," she hummed, a spring in her step. "I wonder if he's trying to butter us up for something."
"Who knows? But I'll take it and deal with the cost later. I need some simplicity." He called the lift.
"Yeah, I have to agree, I need some too," she sighed, stepping into the elevator as it opened. "Even I, the grifter am tired of complicated plots and intricate missions. I miss decent old assassinations."
He nodded in agreement, keying into the flat and heading for their room to change. "Okay. How do you want to play this?"
She raised her eyebrows a little, considering. "What are the details? Man, woman, gay, straight? Do they know us by sight? What kind of contractor are they? Do we need to hide weapons particularly carefully or will they not notice?" She rattled off, following him and changing her shirt to look more casual.
"If I could get a word in edgewise," he snorted, shooting her a glance. "Female. Pansexual. Liaison with the Chinese mafia. There's a good chance she knows us, I'm sure Ines put out APBs with the Chinese. No idea on the weapons, but again, liaison with the mafia so not likely ditzy."
"Woman in the mafia? No, not ditzy, she wouldn't have made it this far. Man? Mm," she shook a hand in a so-so motion, smirking after a mock wince. "But alright, shall we do a standard break-in, then? Depending on the place we can probably get in relatively unnoticed. Fast job from there."
He nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Don't want to risk trying to talk through the door. I don't pass very well for a plumber."
She snorted, shaking her head. "And I don't pass very well for a door-to-door salesman. Should we wait for dark, put on blackouts?"
"Sounds like a plan. If we're going to go classic, may as well go all the way." He glanced at the clock. "That gives us... just over twelve hours."
"Alright," she nodded, pulling out her phone and checking her emails. "That gives me time to go hand out assignments and give the typical pep talk that grifters seem to need so badly. Want to do dinner later and then head on over?"
He nodded in agreement, heading into the kitchen for another cup of coffee. "Sure. Thai?"
"I was going to suggest sushi, but now I'm torn," she sighed, sliding her phone back into her pocket.
"Could do both," he said with a shrug. "Why the fuck not?" He sipped his coffee.
"Oooh, that's a good idea," she hummed, a pleased and excited noise. "I didn't live dangerously enough in my twenties. I need to stuff myself more. Eat more spicy food."
"Didn't live dangerously enough," he scoffed under his breath, heading for the door, coffee in hand. "Alright. I'll see you tonight."
"Bye," she chuckled, waving, and returned to her phone. Time to answer some emails.
Sometimes it feels like I've got a war in my mind
I want to get off, but I keep ridin' the ride
I never really noticed that I had to decide
To play someone's game or live my own life
And now I do
I wanna move
Out of the black
Into the blue
- Lana Del Rey - Get Free -