Disclaimer. Not mine. Thanks for all the reviews. This chapter is mostly Emma/Mickey and Ash?Stacie. Not sure what the dynamic was with them as I've only seen a few episodes with Stacie in. Please let me know if its too OOC.
Game On.
Emma replaced the handset as Carole smiled. The former fixer was in her element and it showed. It had been a while since she had been the face of a con. She glanced at Eddie and the smile fell from her face. Eddie shook his head and walked away from the pair, clearly worried sick about his girlfriend.
"He took the bait?" Stacie asked. Emma nodded.
"Hook, line and sinker." Emma got to her feet. "He said he'll meet you at the nightclub in Park Place in two hours."
"Right then." Carole beamed. "I've got to get my act together. Can't have him thinking I am just there to distract him. Which I am. Any news from Mickey."
"No." Albert sighed. "Not yet."
"Albert, give him a ring. Tell him that I have my 'in'. Give him the name of the club and the time of the meet. I can't guarentee Rachel or Ash will be there but my thinking is she is still the jealous and possessive cow she was when she married our Ash then I reckon she wont be able to stay away."
"I think you may be right there." Sean smiled. "Good online biog if I do say so myself."
"Excuse me?" Eddie walked over to where Sean was sat at the laptop. "Bloody Nora."
"Not far off." Sean stretched. Emma pulled a face and walked across to her brother. She had no idea what he had done now but knew he hadn't had long to put Carole's legend into practice. Albert shook his head, watching the younger grifters he did as Carole asked and called Mickey.
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"It's been dealt with." Mickey unlocked his car. Albert sighed in relief.
"What about the rest of us?"
"I trust her. Ash does too." Mickey reasoned. "If Nikki says we have five minutes to get clear of the scene then we have five minutes. I'm on my way back."
"Good." Albert got up and walked towards the window. He was worried sick about Ash but knew there was no way he could show the younger members of the crew how bad he felt about the situation. He closed his eyes, listening to Mickey explain what Nikki had agreed to. He just hoped that it meant they finally got t he corrupt DI Finch off their backs as well as getting the fixer back where he belonged.
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"You do know how stupid this is?" Ash glared at the woman he had once loved. Looking at her now he had no idea how or why he had loved her. It seemed as though he had been in a different world then. Even Mickey and Albert had tried to warn him off. He smirked slightly, at least his taste in women had recovered since he had seen Rachel for what she was.
"Ashley." Rachel sat opposite him. "Why did you come here?"
"To ask you what the bleedin ' ell you are playing at."
"Mickey running a job?"
"I aint answering that."
"I'll take that as a yes." Rachel knelt down in front of him. He closed his eyes. She was going to kill him. He knew it. If it wasn't her that actually did the job then her boyfriend would be the one with blood on his hands.
"Rach, why?"
"You've got a bird." Rachel sighed. "Not the little blonde kid? Blimey. No, not her. The other one. Bigger girl, dark hair, busty some might call her." Ash looked away. He knew she was referring to Carole and for once was glad she was wrong. Carole and Emma were mates. And that was all they ever could be.
"What's it to you?"
"Nothing. Just wondering who will be missing you. Seems I was wrong. It will be just Mickey and dear old Albert."
"Leave then alone."
"But then a little birdy tells me Danny and Stacie are back." He narrowed his eyes at her. Most people would have been intimidated but Rachel was not most people.
"What's it to you? Me and you av been over a long time."
"Yeah." Rachel nodded. "You know Dean is a right nasty piece of work. He's got his fingers in a lot of very dodgy pies."
"Where he puts his fingers and his pies are of no concern of yours."
"True." Ash held her gaze. "You know something? You and 'im are just as bad as each other. I came 'ere to warn you and what do I get for me trouble? 'im beating seven shades of crap out of me." He glanced at his bruised arms and hands. He knew there was very little chance of Mickey and the others finding him. He closed his eyes, wishing he had never left Stacie in the car alone. Part of him wondered if she had got back to the others ok.
"You haven't got a clue." Rachel got to her feet.
"Where is he? Your precious Dean?"
"Gone to meet a man about a dog." Rachel smirked. "So, don't you worry your head about it."
"What 'av you dun with Stacie?"
"Oh so she is back?"
"You knew she was."
"I know alot of things Ashley." Rachel turned her back on him. "Like the fact that your friends are still looking for you. And that is their mistake."
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"Mickey." Emma stared at him as he walked back into the apartment. He was clearly worried sick about Ash.
"Did Albert tell you?"
"Yeah. Carole is at the nightclub. Sean and Danny worked out a legend for her that even her own mother would have trouble disbelieving."
Mickey smiled as he sat next to her, one hand losened his tie. The other rested on Emma's hands in her lap.
"Good."
"Sean and Danny are outside the club. Albert is in the bar opposite with Stacie. He's going to call Carole three minutes after Dean arrives, make out that he has the goods she is trying to sell to Dean. Hopefully Rachel is with him so when the police turn up." Emma looked away.
"Emma."
"What if? It'll kill Stacie. She loves him. You know?"
"Yeah." Mickey nodded. "Look,"
"If something has happened to Ash it will kill Stacie." Emma slipped her hand out of Mickey's and covered her face. Mickey stared at his feet, knowing it wouldn't only be Stacie that would be destroyed if anything had happened to his oldest friend."
"Emma."
"I."
"Do you remember when we first met? You and Sean were about to have your brains blown out."
"Yeah." Emma nodded. Her hands now away from her face. "At the time we thought it was you and Ash that were going to kill us. Never would have guessed you were such a good actor." He smiled slightly, meeting her eye for the first time.
"But my point is you and Sean both believed Ash was the hardman. That he was actually capable of pulling that trigger."
"Yeah."
"And in reality?"
"Ash is the gentle giant. The kindest man I ever met." Emma blinked. Mickey took her hand in his and began running his thumb over the palm of her hand as he talked. "But on that day, in the warehouse I really thought if the thugs didn't kill us then you or Ash would."
"I could never hurt you." Mickey's voice dropped. Emma nodded, images of their time in Cardiff when they had finally redressed the balance with the Russian millionare. The gap between them seemed to vanish as Mickey brushed his lips against hers. Mickey's hand tangled in her blonde hair while hers pressed against his chest. Mickey pulled back, unwilling to push her any further, knowing what she had been through and with Ash's fate still in the balance. Emma sighed, resting her forehead against his.
"I."
"Look." They both spoke at once. Mickey smiled as he pulled back, one hand resting against her cheek. The moment finally broken by Emma's mobile ringing loudly.
"You have to change your ring tone." Mickey teased as she reached across the table. Her face as unreadable as if a mark had been in the room. He watched her for a moment while she listened to the caller. Without a word she hung up.
"That was Eddie. It's time to go."
"Right."
"Come on. Nikki said we would have five minutes." Emma got to her feet. Mickey nodded and followed her.
"Yeah, let's go and get our Ash."
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A/N More soon. Just a filler chapter.