Title: Right kind of wrong – Chapter 17
Author: kreia03
Rating: M
Warnings: Some swear words.
Disclaimer: I don't own Skins. I just wish I do. I seriously need a genie.
Summary: Naomi kicks ass!
A/N: Not beta'd so mistakes are purely mine. Thanks for all the comments! They really do keep me going! AND PLEASE DON'T HATE ME FOR THIS CHAPTER! IT'S PART OF THE STORY! :(
Freddie found himself stumbling upon a heap of broken boxes and crates as he tried to run after Cook, who was dragging Effy aggressively with him. The inspector had not noticed that Cook crept up behind their backs and snatched the brunette once he found the perfect chance. If it wasn't for Effy's piercing scream, Freddie would have not known that she had already been missing. As he picked himself up, he dashed towards Cook's direction, jostling among the fighting bodies as he made his way. He could not remember how many times he had already fallen, his mind focused on just picking himself up and running after Cook to save the girl he dearly loved. Finally reaching up a storeroom, he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Cook, his back turned from him, seemingly searching for another way to escape. The inspector hitched a few short breaths before bringing up his gun and aiming it towards the still oblivious Cook.
"Hold it right there."
Cook swiftly turned around, his arm instantaneously snaking around Effy's neck, making her hostage, at the sight of Freddie standing in front of him, while the other pointed the gun he was holding directly towards the inspector.
"Careful with that Freds, you might hurt your lady love here." He affronted, cocking his head to point at Effy. "Oh, fucking brave aren't we?" He scoffed as the inspector remained unmoved. "Look around Freds. All those crates contain explosives. Wouldn't want to set this whole place on fire now, would we?" He mocked, an insulting grin shaping in his lips.
"Let Effy go Cook and drop the gun down." Freddie muttered, his jaw clenching tight.
"Why? You gonna shoot me?" Cook scoffed. "Really now Freds? We all know you never had the fucking balls to fucking shoot anybody!"
"Don't give me a reason to kill you Cook. Just let Effy go."
"Let her go?" Cook scowled. "And then what? You get to be the fucking hero again? You get the fucking credit, the fucking job and the girl." He yelled, the gun jiggling in his hand as he spoke. "Is that what you want huh Freddie?" He hissed, jabbing the gun at Freddie's direction. "Is that what you fucking want?" He shrieked.
"I just want Effy to be safe Cook." The inspector replied, his voice calm and convincing, yet grim. "Give her to me and we can talk about this."
Cook snorted, letting out a mocking laugh. "You think I'm that stupid?"
"No Cook. I just don't want anything to happen to her okay? Give her to me and then we'll settle this."
"Give her to you?" Cook cried in disbelief. "Give her to you? You took everything away from me Freddie!" He spat back, his voice acerbic, full of resentment and pure hatred. "Everything! How could you do that to me? You were my fucking best mate!"
"I never took anything from you Cook." Freddie replied. "You threw them all away."
"Don't fucking blame me Freddie." Cook spoke between his gritted teeth, clutching the gun tighter. "You took my fucking job away from me. I was supposed to be inspector, not you!" He paused, catching his breath. "And as if my job wasn't enough, you had to fucking take Effy too!"
"I never took anything from you okay?" The inspector screamed back, feeling his own anger rise above his chest as he gripped his gun tighter. "You messed up. Don't blame me for your own fucking fault!"
Silence fell in the room as the two men stared down at each other, throwing glaring looks, their guns pointing directly towards one another. They circled around, guns shaking in their hands, jaws clenching tight, breaths short and quickened, as they gauged each other's movements, guessing the other's next step. Freddie's gaze flickered between Effy and Cook, watching the brunette closely to see if she was in pain or if Cook was hurting her with his grip. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before breaking the hostile quietness.
"She loved you Cook. She loved you so much, loved you more than she loves me." He paused for a moment, taking another deep breath as if the words slipping out from his tongue were draining all of his strength, inflicting wounds on himself. "She probably loves you till now." He barely whispered, ignoring the surprised look appearing on Effy's face. "But you weren't there for her Cook. That was all she ever wanted, but you couldn't give it to her."
Cook shook his head, his lips pursing with anger and disbelief. "You're not going to change my mind with that pathetic fucking excuse Freddie."
Little did they know that Naomi had managed to sneak up behind them, hiding behind a stack of crates, making the tiniest bit of movement as to not to blow her cover. She peeked over the crates, catching Effy's eye and bringing her finger into her lips, telling the brunette to pretend that she wasn't there. She gave Effy a nod, the brunette nodding back, as if having an understanding that Naomi was there to help and that she needed the perfect distraction before she could strike. Effy waited for a few moments until Naomi was in the proper stance, her knees a few inches above the floor, like she was going to charge towards Cook if given the chance. As the brunette felt Cook's body relax a tad bit, she took a deep breath before leaning in and biting her captor's arm. Cook let out a sharp scream as he felt Effy's teeth sinking in his skin, pushing her forcefully away from him, causing her to tumble down. Once the brunette had let go and was out of the way, Naomi stood up and launched herself towards Cook, tackling him on his side, bringing him down. She pummeled hard on Cook's face as she toppled over him, making his nose bleed and his lips break, her knuckles turning red as it started to swell from hitting too much. All she could see was red, blinded by fury and retaliation, the image of a terrified and crying Emily, and her wounded pride running on her mind. She needed to get back to Cook, for hurting her, for stepping on her and for putting Emily's life on the line. She punched him harder, beating the hell out of him, his face almost unrecognizable because of the gushing blood and the swelling wounds.
Everything had happened too fast. As Cook fell down, his gun slipped from his hand. He tried to reach for it, while taking the blows that Naomi was throwing, slowly crawling towards the gun until his hand could finally feel the handle. Yet, he pulled the trigger by mistake, sending the bullet rocketing towards a stack of crates full of explosives. All of them watched in horror as the crates exploded, turning the whole room in a blazing inferno in such a short moment.
"Effy!" Naomi shouted as she caught sight of the brunette tumbling down the floor when a piece of hard wood fell and hit her on the head. She hastily stood up, leaving Cook almost lifeless on the floor, and ran towards an unconscious Effy, picking her up from the floor.
"Freddie!" She shouted, somehow coughing from the smoke that already started to fill the room. "Freddie, help!" She breathed a sigh of relief as the inspector came into view, scooping Effy into his arms.
"Thank you Naomi." He muttered.
"Save that for later. We need to get out of here!" She retorted, pushing Freddie towards the door. Suddenly, the gun caught her eyes and she decided to go back for it, just in case they would need it to get out of the edifice alive. She picked the gun up, yelling "Hang on" to Freddie when she heard him call her name. She was about to dart out of the door, when she felt a pair of strong hands grabbed her foot, causing her to stumble and fall down the floor. She winced in pain as soon as her chest made contact with the ground, rolling over to see Cook pinning both of her legs down. She tried to kick him just to get him off of her but she could not move her legs and the pain on her chest was spreading fast like the flames and starting to kill her.
"Naomi!" Freddie shouted upon seeing the situation, rushing back to the room only to be stopped by a blazing fire that had blocked the entrance by now.
"Just get the fuck out of here Freddie!" She screamed back, telling the inspector to leave her behind as she struggled against Cook's hold. "Get the fuck out and save yourselves!"
"But Naomi-"
"Just go! Forget about me!" She broke off, looking at Freddie in the eyes. "Please take care of Emily." The inspector nodded in understanding but his feet remained rooted on his place.
"What the fuck are you standing there Freddie? Go!" She screamed at the top of her voice, breaking Freddie's daze. He turned around, unwillingly tearing his gaze from the blonde, and made his way out with Effy in his arms.
"If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me." Cook muttered to Naomi, letting out a loud mocking laugh.
O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O
"Katie, I'm scared." Emily muttered when she had finally calmed down from crying, turning to face her sister who was sitting beside her. They were inside the police car, a fair distance from the dangerous edifice, all safe from harm, just as how Naomi wanted them to be. JJ was sitting on the passenger seat, his fingers drumming on the dashboard, looking calm, yet Emily knew he was just nervous as she was, worried about Naomi's safety.
Katie shuffled on her seat to look at her younger twin. "I know Ems. I am too." She paused, taking Emily's fidgeting hand, giving it a tight squeeze to somehow soothe her nerves. "But we can't do anything except to wait."
Emily answered with a half nod, slumping onto her own seat as she gnawed on her lower lip. The wait itself was killing her. "I can't take this anymore." She muttered in frustration, swinging the car door open.
"Oi! Where the fuck are you going?" The older twin shouted, scrambling to her feet as she followed her sister out.
"I just need to get some fucking air Katie." She replied, leaning against the car as she stood, her eyes fixed on the warehouse, searching for a small sign of Naomi or any sign that she was already out.
"She promised she'd come back Emily." She heard JJ spoke, sensing the boy get out of the car and stand beside her, leaning as well. "As far as I know, Naomi never breaks her promise, because she hardly ever makes promises to anybody. Really, really seldom."
"See Ems." Katie spoke, leaning beside Emily, her eyes locked on her twin's face. "You worry too much."
"I can't help it okay!" She cried out as she felt her patience nearing the end of its thread, making JJ and Katie jump. "Sorry." She whispered, lowering her head down in embarrassment, hating herself for getting too carried away. She heard Katie and JJ muttered "It's okay." in unison, before an awkward silence fell on them.
"Hey, is that smoke that I'm seeing?" JJ asked, his eyes adjusting against the sun light to get a better glimpse of what he was looking at.
Emily lifted her head, her eyes instantaneously falling on the edifice, her breath shortening as her heart started to thump out loud, frantically beating, when she spotted what JJ was blabbing about.
"Yeah, it is." Her twin replied, confirming Emily's fears. She could feel the two pairs of eyes boring through her as she remained rooted to her place, her mouth hanging agape, her eyes fixed on the warehouse. Emily's stupor was broken as she heard a deafening explosion that came from the edifice, causing the three of them to jump with shock and surprise.
"Naomi!" Emily's immediately response, shouting the blonde's name as she watched a part of the warehouse be engulfed with flames. She felt her feet mindlessly moving towards the now burning edifice, her lips continuously calling Naomi's name.
"Emily no!" Katie shouted, grabbing her twin by the waist when she tried to run and head towards the entrance of the burning building.
"Katie let me go!" The younger twin shouted back, struggling against Katie's firm, strong hold.
"JJ!" Katie called, asking the boy for assistance. "Help!"
"Let me go!"
"No Emily! No!" Katie shrieked, gripping Emily's waist tighter. "Just wait!"
"Please! Just please let me go!" Emily yelled as her tears rolled down relentlessly on her cheeks, watching the epitome of her fears materialize right before her eyes. "She needs me Katie, she needs me." She muttered breathlessly, burying her face in her hands, not letting herself witness anymore the horrible sight of the warehouse crumbling down and being eaten by the flames. She could feel her knees giving up, her body growing tired and weak, like all the life from her were being sucked up and drained. She could hear Katie's consoling whispers and JJ's stuttering words of comfort, could feel Katie's hand rubbing her back and JJ patting her shoulder, but she only wanted to hear one voice, only wanted to feel one particular pair of arms embracing her, holding her tight, assuring her that everything will be alright.
"Freddie!" She heard Katie called out. "Oh my god! What happened to Effy?"
"A piece of hard wood fell on her." The inspector answered, the firmness of his voice now gone, making him sound all worn out and weary, vulnerable. "Thanks to Naomi she got in time before Effy could get a lot worse."
Emily lifted her head and watched Freddie lay Effy down on the stretcher, backing a few steps away as the paramedics performed their medical aids. She wanted to ask Freddie about Naomi but she was too afraid of the answer, too dreaded to hear the words that she knew would finally send her collapsing down.
"Freddie, w-where's Naomi?" JJ saved Emily the effort, asking the now dreaded question.
The inspector stopped on his tracks, turning to face the three, his eyes locking with Emily's, his lips quivering. "I-I couldn't save her." He barely whispered, his shoulders slumping and his head hanging low as he blamed himself for something he knew was out of his hands to control. "I'm sorry Emily." He muttered, a tear escaping down his cheek.
"You're joking right?" She retorted, bursting into a new set of tears as the inspector shook his head. "Tell me it's not true Freddie! Tell me!" She screamed, grabbing Freddie's shirt and scrunching it as she cried her heart out on Freddie's chest.
"I'm sorry Emily. I'm sorry." He whispered, wrapping his arms around the sobbing red head.
Behind them, the blazing edifice burst into greater flames, mocking their loss, searing their hearts.
