3. Into the breach

On the edge.

The rubber soles of her boots pounded against the tarmac as she sprinted away, the second surge of adrenaline that night giving fuelling her muscles while her heart pumped blood at a frantic speed. She inhaled through her nose only to let the air out of her mouth a moment later while the distance between her and the men she had left Ricky with grew.

Nori groaned in frustration without breaking her speed. Ricky, the bloody idiot, stupid stupid, stubborn fool of a thief with moral standards and herself more stupid than him for agreeing on this job. A stitch in her side painfully reminded her of how little running she had done lately and she was scowling as she pressed on through the deserted street, her spleen be damned. She had long ran past Ricky's parked car – and another car which no doubt belonged to Ken and his men - and the crude walls of the rows of warehouses filled the periphery of her vision while she kept her eyes trained ahead.

She knew she wasn't so far away from the more trafficked part of the area and the faint rumble of cars passing drifted through the slightly chilly summer air. Turning a corner she exited the alley. Veering left, Nori slowed down to a stride, trying to steady her breathing to make herself less conspicuous. She fumbled through her pockets until she found her package of cigarettes and deftly lit one. Nori nearly coughed as her still heaving lungs were filled with smoke, but the motion of bringing the cigarette to her lips managed to steady her adrenaline-fuelled motions somewhat and Nori began considering her predicament.

How had everything managed to get so utterly cocked-up? They had been executing their task smoothly, like a well practised dance, matching the challenge of the job with years of practice – and loving every minute of it.

It was the one thing which Ricky and her had in common, their inability to stop before a challenge. In the eleven years since a sixteen years old Nori had approached to a barely twenty years old former juvenile delinquent with nimble fingers and a keen eye for hidden stashes, telling him she could pick a lock faster than him and that starting a joint venture in their branch would most profitable for the both of them, Ricky and her had walked on the razor's edge very often, their dedication to the job increasing as the danger of it did. But that didn't account for troubles born out owning a set of breasts in this particular life.

Nori inhaled a lungful of smoke, flicking the ash from the cigarette with sheer irritation. That idiot. That despicable specimen of male idiocy. Not that it had anything to do with gender. Nori had been very much male herself in her past life and she had never presumed to impose her – his – interest on anyone. Not that it would have been wise to do so – the average dwarrowdam possessed axe-wielding skills enough to make anyone pay for dear life, she mused while a low chuckle escaped her lips. Nori imagined the treatment a man like Ken would have been given back in Thorin's Halls or even Erebor...

Times bygone, she thought morosely, taking another drag of smoke before she flicked the cigarette butt on the floor and squashed it under her boot, never breaking her stride. This was a different world and instead of angry dwarves and dwarrowdams she only had Ricky. Ricky whom she had left to fend on his own against Ken and his two thugs.

"Shit." she mouthed under her breath, stopping in the middle of the pavement and throwing a glance at the general area she had left some minutes prior.

Nori knew her business associate was quite capable of holding his own, even against three thugs, but Nori was nonetheless unable help the clench of worry – and guilt – from squeezing the pit of her stomach. She grimaced, suddenly torn between the pragmatic sense of hailing a cab and getting back home, calling Jimmy and reporting on their job, and the feeling that it wasn't really right to do so. She swore most colourfully as she glanced back and forth, unsure at what to do.

The worst part was that Ricky was risking his skin for her. She glowered at the tarmac under her boots. Several car sped by her as she stood motionless in the middle of the pavement.

Then, with a deep breath of exasperation she called herself an idiot and pivoted on her heels. And she took off into a run.

It was not a good idea, the survival instinct bellowed in her thoughts, but Nori had made up her mind. Danger or no danger – and stupid promises of fleeing if danger got too great notwithstanding – Ricky was her friend and Nori had been a Dwarf in her past life. Loyalty, as questionable as Nori's had been, had still been the most important of all moral values for the former dwarf.

Staring ahead with newly-found determination, Nori had almost reached the corner where the main road connected to the alley she had come out minutes prior – the street leading to the area of the Port where Ricky had parked his car - when she heard the loud noise of an approaching vehicle coming from that direction, followed a moment later by the screeching of tyres as it braked. Acting on instinct Nori dropped down into a crouch, pretending to tie her shoe while she observed the lights on the tarmac. There had been only two cars parked in that area and she would have bet her hair it wasn't Ricky's grey Honda that waited to pull out on the main street.

Her heartbeats pounded loudly inside her head while she waited for what seemed like a small eternity, but was less than a minute in truth. She glanced at the black digits on her wristwatch while she waited impatiently for the vehicle to finally pull out on the main road and drive by her. The moment the large SUV passed her by Nori sprung to her feet and sprinted towards the alley the car had just left.

As her booted feet retraced her steps in a hurry Nori wondered what sight would greet her. Ken and his men had been with Ricky no more than ten minutes if her inner sense of time was to be trusted. So chances were her colleague was not it such a bad shape – or he was in a really bad one. She squared her jaw as she hurried forward through the empty area.

She had just passed Ricky's car and reached the last warehouse before the Port when movement caught her attention and her feet found more speed in spite of the stitch in her side growing to a full-fledged stab of pain. Ricky was limping in her direction, a hand dragging on the concrete wall of the warehouse to keep his body upright.

"Shit." she muttered again, feeling a surge of guilt slam into her midsection at the sight of her staggering friend.

A moment later she was grabbing his elbow and he hissed turning his frowning face towards her.

"Wha' ya doin' ere?" he slurred through his split lip and winced when she turned his head towards the yellow light of the street-lamp to assess the damage.

She couldn't see much, but his swelling eye and smudge of blood on his upper lip and temple spoke eloquently. She could very well picture the punches – and possibly kicks – which had been aimed at his face. And judging by the way he was swaying on his feet she suspected it had resulted in a concussion. Shit. Nori pushed down the tide of anger which was rising in her chest while she gingerly prodded his ribcage, only to elicit a sharp intake of breath from the man.

"Trouble breathing?" she inquired and he blinked twice before shaking his head.

"Don't worry 'bout me, Maggie." he said "'m fine."

"Sure." she replied dryly, tossing his arm over her shoulder and circling her own around his back "Let's get to the car."

"You shouldn't be here." he told her dazedly "Dangerous."

"Yeah, I'm a bit of an adrenaline addict, if you hadn't noticed in the past decade, mate." she replied dragging them towards the nearby parked Honda.

He was heavy and the lack of collaboration of his limbs made it difficult, but she eventually managed to reach the vehicle. Fishing through her pockets for the spare keys Ricky had given her just in case, Nori unlocked the car, opening the passenger seat to put a mildly protesting Ricky onto the seat.

"I can drive." he said and Nori merely cocked an eyebrow, fastening his seat belt and slamming the door closed before she circled around the car and got onto the driver's seat.

"Sure you can. But not this time." she told him, starting the engine "I'm getting you to the A&E."

It was half past two in the morning when Nori exited the hospital, pushing a wayward lock of ginger hair behind her ear and zipping her jacket closed. Exhaustion gripped her hard, washing over her muscles in draining waves which left her wishing for nothing but the comfort of her bed. She allowed herself to picture the messy undone bed that awaited her at home, before she shook her head, fishing a cigarette from the quickly emptying package and flicking the lighter until the dried tobacco and paper sizzled to life. She took a drag of smoke, strolling away from the square building where she had left Ricky.

The doctor had told her they wanted to keep him overnight for observation. He had sustained several head injuries, but the one on his temple had worried them – along with the clear signs of concussion. Pretending to be the concerned girlfriend of the thief she had bid the doctor goodnight and left the A&E, unsure at what to do with the remainder of the night. Their gear was hidden in the back of Ricky's car and normally they would have already been at Jimmy's, dropping the goods. But she felt to tired and strung up to deal with their intermediary at the moment. And besides, the briefcase was in Ricky's rucksack and Nori had no desire to dig through his belongings – it was an unspoken rule, a sign of mutual respect, you don't mess with one another's gear. Well, if Ricky was not up on his feet by tomorrow she would have to do it – Jimmy couldn't wait forever – but just for the night it could wait.

She had reached the car and gripping the fag with her teeth she unlocked the Honda and got in.

As she turned the ignition on, Nori's thoughts veered once again towards the complete cock-up the night had been. Snarling at her own faint reflection on the inside of the windscreen Nori put into gear and pulled out of the parking lot. It was not in Nori's habit to overthink – that had been Nori's baby brother's department – nor to overfret like Dori had been wont to, and this whole situation had turned her sappy enough, what with the sentimental worry for Ricky's well-being and her improvised urge to play the knight in shining armour. It sickened her somewhat.

She was not a hero - Nori had never been one. Quite the contrary in fact. As Nori had been told countless times in both lives, she was selfish and cynical, and her morals were loose at best. In short she was a little shit, as someone had colourfully put once.

Increasing her speed, she switched lanes, veering right into a secondary street and driving towards a familiar area of Belfast. Yes, she was not a good person. And turning into a poor replica of Nori's siblings was just plain wrong.

She was also terrified of her thoughts - but that was something she would only admit to the yellow light of the street-lamp she had driven past, before she promptly pushed it into the back of her mind, opening the window to flick out the cigarette butt onto the tarmac.

Faintly she could hear the deep beat of music carried by the nippy summer air and her scowl eased somewhat. Thinking was definitely not good. Not good at all. And as she listened to the gradually increasing volume of the music she reflected on the shy handful of things which were able to duct-tape the source of thoughts closed – the ones which were distracting enough. Drinking, shagging, thieving – but the latter had gone so splendidly tits up, it left fewer options.

And there was only so much she could do in the remaining ours of night before it would be all right to go back to the hospital and see if she could have her fellow thief back and finished their business with the Russian bloke who had hired them through Jimmy. Pulling over, she parked her car in an empty spot on the side of the street and took a deep breath. There were just a handful of things she could do and she was at the right place to perhaps do them all, but only if she got out of Ricky car.

But her fingernails refused to relinquish the grip on the steering wheel while the engine still rumbled. Because this wasn't what she wanted to do, this wasn't where she wanted to be. But as the blinding neon lights of the hospital flashed on the back of her closed lids and the steady drip of the saline solution mixed with the sound of boots running over a metal deck and the quiet drilling of a safe served as a background to Ricky's angry red bruises on his puffy face – barely recognisable against the pristine white of the sheets – while the memory of snarls and shouts preceded the rush of adrenaline which had made Nori run faster than her temporarily out of shape body should have allowed, she bit back a string of curses, swiftly killing the engine and exiting the car in a heartbeat.

She needed a bloody drink.

The tiles were cold and hard against the back of her head, but she couldn't care less as she arched her body closer to the other woman, angling her head so their already ravishing kiss deepened. Nori's hands roamed greedily, pulling at the fabric of her thin shirt until she reached the warm skin at the small of her back. She dragged her nails across it and a moan escaped the brunette's throat. In the half-drunken haze Nori almost growled, pivoting them so the girl was pinned between her and the wall. She gasped for air and Nori began kissing the side of her neck, biting at the soft juncture with the collarbone, while her hands continued their exploration, eager to touch everything. The brunette moaned, arching her neck until her curly hair was pressed against the wall. It took all of her will power for Nori to hold onto her last shred of rationality as she listened to the sound escaping the plump lips – the last shed of coherent thought which reminded her they were still in the club's loo and she could really only push it as far in a public place. Not that anyone would mind much if they walked on them, but Nori wasn't nearly drunk enough.

The brunette's hands suddenly travelled down Nori's back until they firmly cupped her bottom, and her lips captured Nori's in another kiss. She felt her arms dragging her close, closer and Nori pushed a leg between the woman's thighs. The fingers on Nori's buttocks dug deeper. Nori gasped for air as her breasts were pushed against the other woman's bosom. She panted, as her lungs begged for air but her hands continued roaming, grasping at the exposed skin and pulling at the fabric where it got in the way. As the brunette began kissing the ridge of Nori's collarbone, Nori felt her head swim and she tried to inhale a deeper breath, but to no avail.

And in the fraction of a second it took the thought to cut through the haze of Nori's mind her knees were already buckling in spite of herself. Reflexively, a pair of hands gripped Nori's elbows while the woman's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Are you alright?" a worried lilt escaped the woman's lips and Nori felt her body sway almost limply.

Her ears were buzzing but somewhere underneath that sound the music still played. A fast beat, fast fast fast like her heartbeats. She tried to make sense of what she was being asked, but the world was spinning out of control and she felt the filthy tiles on the wall swerve left and right as her body moved out of its own accord.

Suddenly her face appeared in her line of sight, hovering above her.

Above her? How...

Oh, she was sitting.

When had she sat down?

The brunette's lips moved but Nori couldn't register really what it was she was saying, only that lips meant kissing. She had been kissing her, hadn't she. Yes, she had been snogging the pretty brown-haired woman – girl? Was she younger or older than her? She had no idea? Nori had been kissing her and then and then. Ah, no air. Right. But, but... breathing. Why wasn't she properly breathing?

Pushing her diaphragm up Nori forced her lungs to expand, inhaling a deep breath of mildewy air. There was the faint smell of detergent and urine mingled with it and Nori exhaled it quickly through her nose, only to repeat the process once again. Then once more. And more, until the floor no longer tilted at a dangerous angle. Bit by bit the sounds of her surroundings got back into focus and Nori swallowed dryly, blinking several times.

"...call an ambulance or something?" the woman's voice drifted with an edge of panic in her voice.

Nori shook her head.

Only to curse herself immediately for the motion as it sent the world swimming once again. Shit.

What was wrong with her? What in Mahal's bloody hammer...

Her blood pumped loudly in her ears and her thoughts were too scattered. Focusing on her breathing – why was her body betraying her? Breathing was elementary... - Nori let her lizard brain kick in and she began pushing herself to her feet. The brunette's hand shot out to help her and Nori's instinct was to bat it away but as the world kept spinning dangerously, her fingers curled around the the pale forearm and she hoisted herself up.

"You sure..." the girl began, but Nori merely blinked away her hazy observations, cutting her off with a croaked

"Yes." before turning her back and striding out of the ladies' room with as much determination as the still rocking world around her allowed.

The front-door slammed closed. The horrible sense of indetermination which had pooled in Nori's gut through the whole drive home had made her stomach turn and before she registered it she was kneeling on the bathroom floor, digging her short-cropped nails in the white plastic of the toilet seat while she heaved what little was left in her stomach of the drinks she had had at the club – what she had drunk before catching the tall girl's attention and ending up snogging the life out of her.

Breathing through her nose, she closed her eyes for a moment, gauging the likeliness of retching again. Nori felt all her strength drain on the cold tiles as she sat back on the balls of her feet once her stomach seemed to be done, which shifted her thoughts like a sucker-punch back to the girl – she had been so pretty and so keen - and then further, to Ricky, to that idiot, to the way the night had gotten so splendidly, thoroughly cocked-up.

Her body working on auto-pilot, Nori peeled herself off the floor and opened the tap on the sink before she furiously assaulted her teeth with her toothbrush, trying to wipe away the after-taste of bile and worry for the way everything had turned. She had nearly fainted on that girl!

She spat the toothpaste in the sink, rinsing her mouth just as another wave of nausea travelled from the bottom of her stomach to stop somewhere midway up her gullet. Nori scowled. What was wrong with her body?

Sure enough she had had more adrenaline coursing through her body than usual – not to mention the miles she had ran – but no amount of stress had ever had such an effect on her and the four shots of brandy she had drunk at the club barely explained her spell. Unless someone had dropped something in her drinks... No, she knew the bartender and she had downed them as soon as they had been handed to her. It was highly unlikely.

Groaning she considered al manners of alternative explanations for her body's acting up while she travelled towards the living room, trying to stay her fingers from pressing the call button on her speed dial to try to call Ricky. Not that it would help her solve her dilemma. But Nori hated feeling weak. And in the rare moments it had happened Nori had always had Dori and Ori, a family.

But Ricky wasn't family, she reminded herself as she plopped down on the sofa, dragging her feet up on the cushion until she was leaning her chin on her knees. He was her colleague, her friend at best. And besides she couldn't exactly call him, now could she? He was sleeping a sedated slumber in hospital – where she had landed him, albeit indirectly. Closing her eyes she dug her fingernails in the flesh of her calves, pushing her forehead against her knees until she felt the sharp bone against her skin.

Outside the light of dawn was painting the sky a pale grey and Nori shook as exhaustion made her eyes close.

Chapter title taken from "Ship To Wreck" by Florence + The Machine.