Chloe's been distracted lately. Which is a problem when it comes to plan making.
The worst part is that it's not her fault. It's Nadine's. Or more specifically, Nadine's recently developed habit of sighing. Loudly. Which of course is probably due to an even bigger problem that Chloe does not yet know about. Because Nadine refuses to admit there is one.
Why does everything have to be so goddamn hard?
Chloe has been sitting comfortably on a pile of cushions going over the blueprints – "brownprints" - of an old prison complex (Sam refuses to help her look over these and she's too afraid of making Nadine worse to ask) when she hears it again. A sigh. Her cue to turn around and face Nadine as she enters the room.
Nadine's hair is sticking out at an odd angle from where she's slept on it. If she were any closer Chloe would probably be tempted to run her fingers through it and pull it out back into place. As it is she allows Nadine to continue her morning routine without invasion of her personal space and instead focuses on the page in front of her to stop herself from staring.
"Morning. How are we?" she says, hoping it sounds casual and not at all like she's been thinking about playing with her hair.
Nadine replies with an indistinct mumble and moves to look through the cupboards for some coffee. For someone so organised and proficient in her work, it had been a bit of a shock to find out that Nadine seemed physically unable to function in the mornings until she'd had a coffee. Yes, she was one of those people. Chloe is more of the 'sleep in late but awake refreshed' kind of girl, although when the occasion calls for it – like today – she's more than capable of waking up early.
Steaming mug in hand Nadine plops down next to her. With yet another sigh.
Chloe tries keep her face neutral when she asks, "You alright there, love?"
Nadine's voice is quiet and calm. "Ja. Just need my morning brew is all." she raises the mug as if that were proof enough. The tight lipped smile is unconvincing but Chloe lets her get away with it for now. She could just genuinely be tired but Chloe doubts that's all there is to it.
Nadine sips her drink and Chloe keeps reading, occasionally marking the page with a pencil. Eventually the mug is dropped onto the table in front of them with a clunk.
"Careful." Chloe warns. She likes that mug. It's one Nate got her a few months back with a little lemur on the handle (which he took a surprising - and unnecessary - amount of excitement in pointing out to her). She thought Nadine might like it too so she'd brought it with her for them to share on their travels.
Nadine is apparently unconcerned as to any damage she might cause it. It's little wonder she hasn't 'accidentally' smashed it yet after discovering its original buyer (it had slipped out in conversation once – look, just because Nadine is very vocal about her feelings towards the Drakes doesn't mean Chloe remembers that all the time). Instead she scoots closer to Chloe and peers down at the page she's currently holding.
"Anything interesting?"
"Not so much interesting as horrifying. Fortunately the prison system has improved somewhat since this place was shut down. But I'd have hated to have been caught in our line of business while it was still running." She picks up the blueprint holding the name of the prison for Nadine to see.
Unexpectedly, Nadine tenses. Only for a second though, so quickly that Chloe's not quite sure if she imagined it or if it's another part of Nadine's hidden problem. She's going to assume it's the latter. Better to think the worst and be pleasantly surprised, right?
But before she can even open her mouth to ask, Nadine cuts in. "So that means we're going to Australia then?"
Chloe debates for a minute whether to answer or to ask her own question. It hurts a little (okay, maybe a bit more than a little) to know that there's something Nadine feels she can't yet trust Chloe to know. But then Chloe's not exactly a model example for honesty. Trust is something earned over time.
"Yeah," she battles down her curiosity and worry. "That's good for us though because we have something of an expert on the area." she says gesturing to herself.
Nadine smiles with a minute curve of her lips that she does whenever she's amused but trying not to be. Her dark eyes stare at the empty mug thoughtfully and she gives an absentminded nod of acknowledgement. "I'd best go pack my bags then." And then she's gone.
Chloe huffs in frustration and throws the pages down on the table, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. Bloody emotionally-stunted, silent-suffering mercenaries!
She asks herself for the second time that week:
Why does everything have to be so goddamn hard?
…
It's a long flight and they don't manage to get seats near enough to each other to talk. By the time they arrive in the dingy little room they'd rented for the night (while their finances may have increased somewhat since finding the Tusk, Sam had been unfortunately correct in his observation that the Ministry of Culture wouldn't be too concerned about making up for the profit they'd lost in not going to a private collector. They've been using what little they did get sparingly ever since) they're both tired and collapse into bed with barely a word to one another.
The world seems to want to ruin Chloe's day before it even begins. To start, the alarm that she'd set fails to go off. Nadine, of course, is too jet lagged to be the one to wake them up naturally so they end up waking up to a mad flurry of getting changed ("Toss me my belt, will you?") ("Is this your hair band or mine? Doesn't matter I'm gonna use it anyway.") and running down to the reception (in Nadine's case) to pay for a second night for the room. Then there's the fiasco that is the car rental. ("I'm not driving anything that doesn't come equipped with a winch. I'm serious. You never know!") That sets them back another hour.
Finally, they make it out on to the road. It's a tight time-frame for them to get to the site, scope it out and then get back again but Chloe remains wilfully optimistic (because Nadine certainly isn't going to – there have already been several mumbles of "should have stayed in India" mixed in with the regular sourness).
It seems she forgot that this was supposed to be a Bad Day.
Fifteen minutes into driving down the road Nadine hisses at her to stop. Chloe pulls over to the least conspicuous spot she can find and looks at Nadine. She's taut and alert as she peers out the windshield, eyes squinting, scrutinising something Chloe can't see.
She waits a moment for Nadine to offer an explanation. When she doesn't Chloe prompts her, slightly impatient now. "What?"
Nadine points a finger. "Those men over there. I recognise them."
Chloe follows her line of vision. There are two men, one slightly taller than the other. The smaller of the two wears a red cap that clashes brightly against the camo clothes the two of them wear. Both sport sunglasses, preventing her from establishing their line of sight. Fortunately their backs are almost completely turned so it's safe to assume they haven't been spotted. Yet.
The smaller one turns slightly to do a quick scan of their surroundings and its then that Chloe sees the unmistakable bulge of a gun under his clothes. Shit.
"Shoreline." Nadine practically growls.
Oh.
Something clicks in Chloe's head. For the past few weeks now their trail has been leading them here. The blueprints were merely a confirmation. If Nadine already knew that this is where what was left of Shoreline had scattered to…
Well that would explain the sighing.
The men seem to come to an agreement and begin rounding the corner to the alleyway in front of them. Chloe lets out the breath she'd been holding and turns to say something to Nadine –
-only Nadine is already out the car and storming after them.
Chloe curses. Of all the enemies they have, why is it Shoreline that she feels she should put a restraining order in for? They're everywhere these days. Ruining her life little by little.
She realises that every second she spends on her private lament is a second closer to Nadine doing something reckless. Swearing again she shoves open the door and sprints to the alley. The sound of grunting meets her ears and she rounds the corner just in time to see Nadine beating on the larger grunt as she pins him to the wall. His smaller compatriot lies unmoving at their feet. Chloe takes the fact that there have been no gunshots as a blessing.
What is concerning is the state of Nadine. Every fibre of her being bristles with fury and she pummels mercilessly again and again long after the man in her grip has fallen unconscious.
Chloe runs forwards and grabs her arm, trying in vain to pull her away. Nadine barely responds to her touch, teeth staying bared as her knuckles begin to bleed.
"Nadine. NADINE STOP!" Chloe shouts and pulls at her arm once more. This time it works. Nadine's grip loosens as she lets the body fall to the floor and her fist uncurls into a shaking hand.
"This is what you've been so upset about all week. Isn't it?" Chloe asks quietly. Nadine doesn't say anything, only keeps breathing in deep ragged gulps of air.
"Come on. We have to get out of here before someone notices." Chloe grabs her by the wrist and steers her back to the car. Only when they're finally back on the road does Nadine speak.
"I'm sorry, Chloe."
Chloe huffs in frustration. "Damn right you are." Maybe she should be saying something comforting. Whatever that was back there it was personal or else Nadine wouldn't have lost control like that. She had, of course, told Chloe about Shoreline before they became partners. Told her about their betrayal to her. They'd been the biggest turning point in her life by the sound of it so their betrayal would have been a hard hit to come back from. It was one of the things that impressed Chloe the most about her. The way that she'd come back.
But right now Chloe's just pissed. Unfairly so, maybe, but she's not the one who's been keeping her emotions bottled up so tight that they end up exploding in a dangerous situation that puts everyone at risk. Damn Shoreline. Damn Nadine.
The drive is silent from there on.
They get to the room and Chloe pushes her towards the couch. Nadine tries to stand up again as she goes to fetch her bag but sits back down when Chloe tells her to. It's probably the stern look that does it. Chloe's hardly ever stern.
Once she's found what she needed in her bag Chloe makes her way back over to the couch and squeezes in next to Nadine.
"Hands."
Nadine obliges, holding her still slightly shaking hands out to her, palms down to present the bleeding knuckles.
Starting on the right hand, Chloe cleans the wounds with a cotton pad, apparently unsympathetic to the slight hiss Nadine emits as the alcohol stings her hand. Then she takes out the bandages she'd brought over and begins wrapping them neatly.
When she begins on the left hand Chloe speaks. "You've been off for a while now." Nadine makes a non-committal noise.
"You should have told me it was Shoreline." She finishes off the second hand and stands up. Nadine looks up at her…
And sighs, deeply. "I know."
Chloe walks over to the fridge, pulling out two bottles of beer that she then sets on the table in front of the couch. She offers one to Nadine. "You should tell me now."
Accepting the bottle, Nadine nods and leans back into the couch, eyes fixed on the wall in front of them. Chloe follows suit and takes a swig of her own drink. She's going to need it if they're about to get emotional. She waits for Nadine to start.
To her credit Nadine doesn't take too long. "Shoreline was my father's business." She takes a long gulp and stares at her beer. "After he died… they were his legacy. A legacy that he entrusted to me." Another drink. "And I lost it."
Chloe rolls her bottle between her hands thoughtfully. Her father's legacy. She thinks she can understand that.
"That wasn't your fault." She tries gently, although she knows that if their places were traded she wouldn't believe it either. "That's on Orca. And Knot. And every other traitor who took that son-of-a-bitches' money and left you to rot." There's an underlying hint of anger to Chloe's otherwise rational tone.
"But it was still under my nose." Nadine scoffs, frustrated. "Seeing those men today…it's like what happened the first time I saw Sam Drake again. All I wanted to make them pay for what they did to me. For what they did to my father's company."
Now its Chloe's turns to sigh. She places her bottle on the table and turns so that she's fully facing Nadine. Their knees knock together in the cramped space but she ignores it, too set on her mission to talk some sense into her partner. She takes Nadine's hand between two of her own, causing her to finally look away from her bottle and into Chloe's eyes.
Nadine's heart stutters slightly at the intensity of the other woman's expression. It's serious but also…warm?
"Listen to me." Chloe begins, and boy does she have Nadine's attention now. "Those pricks," she cocks her head in the general direction of the door as if they were standing behind it and not lying beaten in an alley. "They don't deserve to be a part of it. Of Shoreline. If your father were alive…I don't think he'd want them to be either." The last part is said with such gentleness it's almost a whisper. Nadine can feel her throat tightening and her eyes burn with unshed tears.
"It's okay for you to be pissed at them. Hell, I would be." she continues. "What is NOT okay is for you to put yourself in harm's way so that you can get revenge. They're not. Worth it." She lets go just as Nadine pulls away and leans forward to bury her face in her hands. She takes a deep breath and nods slowly.
They sit quietly, Nadine measuring her breaths as Chloe rubs a soothing hand up and down her back. Finally she takes her hands away from her face and sits up.
"I'm sorry. For losing control."
"It's alright."
"No…I don't just mean for today. I mean for you too. For when I found out about Drake."
Chloe takes her hand again and squeezes it. "You were forgiven before it ever happened."
"Thank you, Chloe."
Chloe does another one of those warm smiles that make Nadine's chest hurt. "Get some sleep. We'll try again tomorrow."
…
Needless to say tomorrow goes a lot more smoothly than yesterday. They wake up on time, pay on time and are out the door before the other residents begin to even stir.
Driving down the same road is less tense than before. When they pull up at the site it's not long before they find their entry point and are scaling up the walls of the highest tower. Both are efficient in taking pictures and notes. They avoid what little security there is on site and stroll out as the first tour enters the building.
"Nice going today, partner."
"Not bad yourself, partner." Nadine's chuckle is cut off as she catches sight of something.
Chloe knows what it is before she even looks. Shoreline. She inches closer to Nadine, ready to grab her if things go south.
Fortunately, it seems their little heart to heart had gotten through to her. Nadine takes her hand and together they blend into the crowd taking them away from Shoreline, who remain oblivious to their presence the entire time.
"I'm proud of you." Chloe says on the drive back.
"You were right." is Nadine's simple reply.
Chloe snorts, "I often am." There's a beat, wherein she debates whether or not to say what's on her mind. Well, they had already had one serious talk this trip, why not make it a double?
"You know," she begins slowly. "Shoreline…it was a successful company. Proud reputation while it lasted. But that wasn't your father's legacy." Okay, here it is. "You were." There, she said it. She glances at Nadine out of the corner of her eye, gauging her reaction.
Nadine fails to suppress the happy grin that spreads across her face. She's just glad Chloe has to focus on the driving or else she'd probably notice the flushing of her cheeks too.
It takes several minutes to stop her heart pounding.
It's a nice several minutes.
"You're a big sap. Y'know that, Frazer?"
…
"Shut up. I have a reputation to uphold."