A/N: Hola! How is everyone tonight/today? Good? Great? Need a pick me up? Well here I come to save the day! I hope you're all doing great:)
I have a few shout outs...
Tofu9162- Who power-read The Road to Wimbledon and this one, leaving me wonderful reviews for each chapter, making me her new BFF ;)
mswitsend- Who's awesome story "Stonem House" makes my stories look like utter crap! She's quite the badass and she can tease with the best of them...just sayin'!
LilyCanBeMyPyjamas- because she's very talented and her story "Paradise Hotel" makes me happy:)
KayEff- Because she's totally awesome:) Have you read "The rules of attraction"? If not, I urge you to immediately!
mynameislizzie- For her story "Strangers on a Train"...Need I say anymore? I didn't think so:)
***garden-nomes- My everlasting thanks goes out to you my friend:) and who in this fandom is not reading ANY of Nomesy's stories? YOU? Seriously? Shame, shame, shame... (sorry Nomesy, sorry that my nephew is a jerk;D)***
One more, I promise...
PlatinumRosewood- For anything and everything she happens to write, she's just that good...I'd probably read a phonebook over and over if she wrote it...
Any typos/grammatical errors are all on me because I was a loser in English class back in high school! there, I said it...
Disclaimer: I do not own Skins...is this even a question anymore?
Chapter 19: Lost And Found
It took three days for Emily and JJ to arrange a meeting with the new head of the cancer research department at Oxford.
Clive Burrows had been a doctor at Oxford during the time that Gareth had left for Tibet, so he was their first step to unravelling the mystery of William Owens, a.k.a Jacob Nash. He was also a close friend of Gareth's, so he was their best chance to find out more information. It had been decided that Naomi, Emily and Gina would go to Oxford to meet with Clive.
Naomi and Emily stepped out of the car and stared up at the large imposing building, as they waited for Gina, who was giving instructions to Charley.
"Come along, girls." Gina snapped out as she headed into the building. "We have another meeting today after this one." Naomi looked over at Emily and rolled her eyes, making Emily giggle, as they followed Gina.
The Old Road Campus housed a number of research departments, but the one that interested Gina was the Richard Doll building. She entered the building with Naomi and Emily in tow, marched over to the receptionist and smiled at the young lady.
"Gina Campbell. I'm here to see Clive Burrows."
"Do you have an appointment, ma'am?" The young girl asked in bored tone of voice, without even looking up.
Gina raised her eyebrows at her. "Excuse me, miss. What's your name?" Gina asked sweetly, belying the anger that was simmering under the surface.
"I don't think that's any of your business." The girl snapped back.
"I think you'll find that is very much my business!" Gina spat out, taking the plaque listing all the corporate donors to the research department that sat on the counter, finding Campbell Corp. right at the top and showed it to the girl. "Gina Campbell here to see Dr Burrows."
Emily watched as the girl visibly gulp as realisation hit her.
"Yes, ma'am, right away." She busied herself with the intercom, whilst the three of them waited. After a few seconds the girl cleared her throat to get Gina's attention. "He's waiting for you ma'am. He's office is on the top floor."
After thanking the girl, Gina strode toward the bank of lifts, catching an open one and took it up. When the doors open, Naomi and Emily saw an older gentleman standing there.
"Gina! Good god, woman!" He rushed forward and grabbed Gina into a hug that looked like was crushing her body. "I've missed you!"
Gina laughed as she wrapped her arms around him as well. "Clive, you soppy git. Put me down!" She squealed as he gave her one last squeeze, then set her down.
"It's really good to see you, G." Clive said looking at his old friend. "What brings you up after all this time?"
"We have some questions." Gina stated simply, indicating to Naomi and Emily. "Clive, you remember Naomi?"
He looked over at her and smiled. "Little Naomi." His smile got wider as he saw her squirm. "You never did like it when I called you that." He chuckled, then turned his gaze to Emily. "And who is this lovely young lady?"
"This is Emily. She's been doing some work for Campbell Corporation." Gina told him with a smile before turning serious again. "That's actually why we're here, Clive. Can we speak in private?"
"Of course, let's go to my office, shall we?" He led them down the corridor to his office, stopping at his secretary's desk to ask for tea to be brought in. Once they were in the office with the door closed, he turned back to them. "Have a seat, ladies."
"I'm just going to get right to it, Clive. Tell us about William Owens." Gina demanded as she sat down, looking at him expectantly.
He paused for a moment, his smile quickly turning into a worried frown. "Has he contacted you?" He asked quickly, concern etching his face.
"As much as that would help right now, no, he hasn't." Gina told him. "What happened to him?"
Clive was about to answer, when a knock sounded on the door. "Come in!" The four of them watch as his secretary wheeled in a trolley carrying the tea. "Thank you, Susan."
"Would you like me to serve it for you, sir?" She asked nervously, sneaking quick glances at Naomi, who had decided not to cover herself from head to toe in her usual attempt to hide her scars.
Clive noticed the looks and the glare that Naomi was sending his secretary and decided that her services were not needed. "That'll be alright, Susan. We'll serve ourselves, thank you." She nodded quickly and left the room. He turned to Naomi with a sad smile. "I apologise for Susan, she didn't mean anything by the looks."
Naomi nodded, smiling a tight lipped smile. "It's fine. I've had to deal with worse." She stated, as Emily gripped her hand, giving it a squeeze to calm her down. "William Owens?"
"Right, back to business...you remind me of your da." Clive said wistfully, as he started filling the cups and laying out the fixings for tea.
Emily pulled out all the memos that she found, along with the research files and placed them on the coffee table in front of them. "I found these, Mr Burrows. You were the one who originally discovered Owens' activities, yes?"
Clive stopped pouring the water, setting the teapot down, picking up the memos, and glanced at them. "To be honest, Gina...I expected you years ago with this." He said sadly.
"Well I'm here now, so how about we talk about it?"
Naomi was having trouble understanding what Clive had just said. "If you expected her, why didn't you just come to us?"
"Gareth told me not to," Clive said, looking between Gina and Naomi, "he said that if he didn't come back, that he had left instructions and details about everything, and that once you found them you would be in touch with me."
"Why would he tell you that? I don't understand, Clive." Gina was pleading with him now. She needed to know the reason why Gareth would keep this from her.
"Gina, listen to me. Owens, or rather Jacob Nash, was a dangerous man. He'd spent a year or two planning this whole thing...it was big money for him. He was smuggling drugs up from Indonesia, using the research as a front claiming that one of the plants indigenous to the area would help in slowing down cancer growth, taking trips to the Medog County, but never bringing back anything. I gathered every bit of information I could before I had even approached the dean about him, but Nash had the dean so blindsided by then that he wouldn't even listen to me. That's why I went directly to Gareth."
"So you're saying the dean was in on it?" Emily asked in mortification.
"No, no...he didn't know a thing about Nash's drug smuggling," Clive clarified, "but he thought the sun rose and set around Nash. He refused any negative words about Nash, but I knew Gareth could sway the dean."
"It would have been easy to do, with my parents being the largest donors to the research department." Naomi stated, thinking about it. "But something must have happened, because my father felt he had to dig up information on his own...why?"
Clive sighed deeply, knowing that he'd been holding this information to himself for far too long. "He didn't go to the dean at all. Gareth wanted to bring the authorities in, but he knew he would need more proof."
"So Gareth decided to put himself into the mix, sniff out information and turn it over to the police...," Gina was slowly putting the pieces into place, "but Nash found out, didn't he?"
"Yes, to be honest. Gareth asked me to stop digging into Nash's background and cease all association with the programme altogether. He begged me to work on a different programme." Clive told them. "I tried to talk him out of it, I really did, Gina, but you remember how he was. I told him to think of you and Naomi, and he told me that that's why he was doing it."
Naomi cleared her throat, as thoughts of her father swirled around her mind. "Do you know what happened to him?" She asked him. "When he got on that plane, what happened?"
Clive thought about his answer, but only for a minute or two, before standing up and walking toward his desk. He rounded the furniture and came to a stop at the wall, removing the picture that hung there, revealing a safe. "Your da had a feeling that Nash was on to him, he told me before leaving that he had a bad feeling about the trip." Clive said as he opened up the safe, pulling out a wooden box. "I told him not to go, but he was determined to follow through. But neither Gareth or Nash came back from Tibet." The three women watched as he walked back over to the sofa with the wooden box in hand and sat down.
"What is that?" Emily asked, immensely curious, as she watched him set it on the coffee table. "What's in there?"
Clive looked up with a sad smile, shaking his head. "I honestly don't know. I received this about four months after Gareth went missing. It came by currier, along with this note."
Gina leant forward to look at the box and noticed that Clive was holding out the note for her to read. She glanced at the box again, noticing for the first time the locks on it.
"Go ahead, Gina. It's for you." Clive said holding the note for her to take.
She hesitated, afraid that the truth may be locked inside that box, and for the first time since Katie and Emily had told her what they found, she was scared. But she finally took it and read it.
Simple words on simple paper. A simple question that required an answer that would open the locked box and it was something only Gina would know.
Naomi watched as tears filled her mum's eyes. "Mum? What is it?"
Gina smiled at her daughter, then looked at Clive. "It's from Gareth." She said, glancing back at the box, as she handed the note over to Naomi.
Emily and Naomi read the words, but they made no sense at all.
The moment the angel first smiled?
"The fuck does that mean?" Naomi asked confused, looking at Emily, who merely shrugged.
Gina reached out and picked up the wooden box, holding it gently in her hands. "When Naomi was born, she came out of my womb with a scowl on her face." Gina said out loud, causing Naomi to blush deeply, highlighting her scars. "For the first month of her life all she did was cry and scowl, nothing we did would get her to smile."
"Mum!"
Gina quickly looked up and smiled at her daughter. "It's true dear. I thought that you might be suffering from intestinal problems...," she replied with a cheeky grin.
Naomi buried her face in her hands, whilst Emily giggled next to her. "Ems, don't encourage her, yeah?"
Emily reached over and gripped Naomi's hand. "Sorry, Naoms...but it's rather cute."
"Fuck me, you're as bad as she is!" Naomi growled playfully, trying her best to keep the smile off her face. "So tell me then, Mother, what does this have to do with the note?" She asked with a sweet smile aimed at Gina.
Gina ignored the hidden sarcasm that lay behind Naomi's question, and started examining the locks on the box. There were two simple numeric combination locks that required a set of four numbers each.
"One day, Gareth and I were sitting in the lounge, relaxing after my parents had left...," she smiled at the memory, "my parents were always a handful, but they loved you, Naomi. Anyway, we sat on the couch and your father had you laying in his lap, and he just...looked at you. He looked at you as if you were the most precious thing in the world to him."
Naomi squirmed at the sudden attention she received from Emily and Clive, but remained silent, allowing Gina to continue.
"We sat there talking about what you would be when you grew up, what kind of great things you'd accomplish, silly stuff to be sure, but it used to make us happy." Gina paused, unshed tears filling her eyes as she remembered the moment, thinking how random a moment it was at the time. "He said to me, "Gina, our angel is going to be whatever she wants to be, love...and she'll be the best at it, won't you, baby girl?", and he looked back at you," Gina couldn't stop smiling as she thought about it, "but then you looked right up into your dad's eyes, and looked as if you were deciding whether or not to agree, and just like that," Gina snapped her fingers on one hand, "the scowl disappeared and you smiled at him. The first smile ever to grace your face and oh, it was beautiful."
Emily couldn't help the tears that slipped from her eyes as she witnessed this moment between Gina and Naomi, but she felt Naomi's hand gently squeeze hers, so she looked over at her and noticed how sad she looked.
"It's alright, Naoms." Emily leant over to whisper in her ear, earning a smile from the blonde. "I still don't understand what this has to do with the box, Gina." Emily said in confusion.
Gina started spinning the the numbered discs on the first lock. "A moment like that you just don't forget, Emily," She answered nonchalantly, focused on the task at hand, "someday, when you and Naomi have children of your own, you'll see...you'll remember everything," Gina kept talking, not even noticing how red Emily's face had turned or the hurt look along with tears on Naomi's face, "right down to the day and time that your child smiles for the first time!" Gina finished spinning the discs, as Naomi stood and rushed out of the room.
"Naomi?" Emily called out after her, but didn't move from her spot when Naomi looked back and shook her head.
Clive, who had been sitting in silence the whole time, watched the seen unfold. "Um...Gina?"
Gina was about to release the locks when Clive's voice broke through her thoughts. "What?" She looked up and noticed Clive and Emily watching her closely.
"You might want to go check on Naomi." Emily pointed toward the door. "You may have said something to upset her, I think...," she trailed off, once again embarrassed by Gina's words.
"What did I say?" Gina asked quickly, thinking about how close she was to finding out what she needed to know, but then she spun the discs, scrambling up whatever combination she had in place and stood, leaving the room to find her daughter. "I'll be right back!" She called out over her shoulder.
"Well, that was...eventful!" Clive stated looking at Emily, with a hint of humour in his eyes.
They looked at each other, and Emily accepted his attempt to lighten the mood, and then they both chuckled. Once they recovered, he called his secretary back in with fresh tea.
"Have a cup and let's chat whilst we wait, shall we?" Clive handed her a freshly made cup of tea with a smile.
"I'd like that." Emily replied and they spent the next sixty minutes discussing everything from the weather to politics.
Gina stood just inside the glass entryway of the building and watched as Naomi lit her cigarette. It had taken her about ten minutes to finally locate her daughter, and that whole time she wondered what she had said to upset the girl so much. She saw that Naomi was agitated and knew she had better go talk to her.
Naomi brushed the tears from her eyes as her mum's word echoed through her mind.
"When you and Naomi have children of your own...,"
Once upon a time, she would have scoffed at words like that. Before the curse...before Emily. But now? Now words like that had the power to hurt deeper than any of Sophia's wounds.
She was taking her final drag when she heard the footsteps behind her. She didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.
"When Emily and I have children of our own." Naomi said out loud, the pain evident in her voice.
Gina came to a stop about a metre away from Naomi in shock. "What?"
"That's what you said, Mum." Naomi looked at Gina now, as new tears fell. "You told Emily that when we have children of our own we would remember certain things...,"
Gina watched as her daughter broke down and cried. "Oh, love." She wrapped her arms around her broken daughter and held her tight. "I wasn't thinking, dear...I never would have said that if I had been thinking clearly."
"I want that, Mum!" Naomi sobbed into her mother's chest, unable to stop the pain she was feeling. "I want that so badly! I want children with Emily! I want a life with her!"
Gina's heart broke as Naomi cried in her arms. "Naomi...," she whispered softly. She hadn't seen this side of her daughter in years and she knew there was nothing she could say that would make Naomi feel better. It's not like when she had fallen and scraped her knee, this wasn't something a kiss from Mummy could heal, and the helplessness that Gina was feeling right now was almost tangible. "I'm so sorry, my love."
"This hurts, Mum. Knowing that I won't be able to have a life with her...it hurts so badly."
"I know it does, Nai, but you can have the next best thing." Gina stated, rubbing Naomi's back to comfort her.
Naomi sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "What's that? What can possibly give to Emily now, Mum?"
Gina heard the petulance creep into Naomi's voice, so she pulled away from her to look into her eyes, making sure she had Naomi's attention. "Your heart, love. It's there, I know it's there...somewhere along the line, it's like your heart stopped beating, so you locked it away from the rest of the world so no one else could hurt you," Gina explained softly, brushing the hair out of Naomi's eyes, "but Emily's broken through those walls and has opened up your heart again, after all these years! Don't you know how bloody wonderful that is?"
"Why is that wonderful? It's not like I can really do anything about it, now can I?" Naomi's eyes widened at the statement, thinking her mum had finally gone crazy. "I'm running out of time, Mum. I'm down to a few open wounds, they're closing faster everyday. I won't be able to give Emily anything at this rate!"
"Nonsense!" Gina huffed out. "You're not looking at the bigger picture, Nai...that's always been your problem, you know. Sometimes you're so bloody stubborn...you totally get that from your father."
"What?"
"Well, it's true." Gina shrugged her shoulders. "Look, the situation isn't fair, but don't forget that it's not just about you anymore and life doesn't like to play by the rules!"
"What does that even mean?" Naomi asked, trying to understand.
"How about you talk to Emily about this, love, because last time I checked it took two people to be a relationship." Gina smiled at Naomi, as she nodded. "Good! Now that that's sorted...how about we go back in and check out what's in the box."
"Fine," Naomi said as she wiped the rest of the tears from her eyes in an attempt to make herself presentable, "just...no more random talking, okay?"
Gina laughed out loud at the request. "Deal." She promised and hooked her arm through Naomi's, leading her back inside.
Naomi shyly sat next to Emily, embarrassed by her earlier actions, smiling when Emily handed her a fresh cuppa. "Thanks, Ems."
"Are you alright?" Emily asked as she looked deep into Naomi's eyes, trying to find the answer there.
Naomi looked back, looking for something herself, and nodded. "I'm fine, Ems."
"If you two are done," Gina interrupted, "I would really like to see what's in here." She held up the box.
"Sorry, Gina...please continue." Emily replied, blushing.
"As I said before," Gina started explaining as she twisted the discs on the locks again, "certain things you will always remember. The note contained a question to which only Gareth and myself would know the answer to."
"The moment the angel first smiled?" Emily murmured. "I still don't get it?"
"The day was August 25th," Gina said as she entered 2508 on the first lock, "and the time was exactly 7:23 in the evening." She finished by entering 1923 on the second lock.
"How did you ever remember that, Gina?" Clive asked in admiration of his old friend.
"The time?" She asked, earning a nod from Clive. "That was easy...it's Naomi's birthdate. He made me memorise it," Gina replied as she set the box down on the table, praying that she answered the question right. She wanted to rip into the box, to be honest but she was also scared of what she would find in there, so she hesitated.
Naomi was sitting on the edge of her seat, along with Emily as they waited for Gina to do something. As the seconds ticked by, the blonde grew more restless.
"Mum! Are you going to stare at the thing all day or are you gonna open it?" Naomi snapped, because really, she'd never had the patience to wait for anything.
Gina jumped at the sound of Naomi's voice, as Clive chuckled at the way Emily dug her elbow into Naomi's ribs.
"Be nice, Naoms!" The red head admonished under her breath.
"Sorry, but she's taking forever!" Naomi countered feeling a pout coming on.
"Sorry, girls...it's just...,"
Emily reached across the table and took Gina's hand, giving it a quick squeeze. "Take your time, Gina. This must be hard on you and she should understand that!" She stated rolling her eyes toward Naomi.
"No, Emily, she's right." Gina said calmly. "Best get this over with, yeah?"
Gina flicked the buttons that would release the clasps, holding her breath until she heard them click, and then sighed loudly when they popped open. She smiled to herself then, before slowly lifting the lid. It seemed as if everyone in the room stopped breathing as they all leant forward to look in the box.
Inside the box there were photographs, a couple of miniDVDs, a heavy cloth bag that was sealed and some folded up papers laying neatly on top of it all. Gina reached in and pulled out the papers, noticing another envelope that once again had her name written on it in unfamiliar handwriting. She opened it up and started reading.
Hello Mrs Campbell,
My name is Tezu. I know you don't know me, but I knew your husband, Gareth. I was with him on the trip into the Medog as his personal guide. I spent two months with your husband, and I came to respect the man I knew.
He told me that he didn't trust Doctor Owens, although he did not tell me why. He only told me that he was looking for information.
I doubt you would have heard what I am about to say and for that I apologise. We were so deep into the Medog and the hike is treacherous and long.
It is with my deepest regrets to inform you that Gareth Campbell did not make it out of the Medog County. He gave me the box and told me to go, to leave him and made me promise to send it to you. I knew I could not leave him there alone, with Doctor Owens, so I went back to help him.
I do not know what happened between the two men, I thought at first they were friends, but by the end of the first month, I could see the strain between them. Your husband spoke of drugs, so I can only assume the worst. After returning back to our camp, I came across both men, but Doctor Owens was already dead and Mr Gareth was close to it. Mr Gareth said that the doctor attacked him and he did the best he could to defend himself. Mr Gareth told me that he had been afraid of letting Owens go, said he was scared that Owens would hurt his family.
I tried to get Mr Gareth to leave with me, but he said he could not. The trek was too long and he said he would never make it. He begged of me to do as he asked and send this box to you, but I refused to leave him.
I made him as comfortable as I could, and he passed in his sleep. I remembered one of his stories about his parents and grandparents being laid to rest at his family home and he told me that one day, him and his family would be there too. Inside this box I have placed his remains, so that he may have his final wish.
I understand how this might seem a lie, for you have no reason to trust me, but believe me when I say, that I considered Mr Gareth a decent man, a man I am proud to have called a friend. I have placed his documents and other things important to him, inside the box.
I'm deeply sorry for your loss,
Tezu
Gina finished reading the letter, as Naomi and Emily had started pulling out the documents and DVDs. She reached into the box and pulled out the cloth bag and was about to open it when Clive stopped her.
"Hold up a tick, Gina." He stood and grabbed her hands. "We don't have any idea what's inside that bag, yeah? Let me call the biohazard team in okay?"
"Oh, right...," she stuttered, flustered but otherwise fine, "I wasn't thinking, was I? Yes, please call them in."
Clive stood up and went to the door, asking Susan to get the bio team up to his office as soon as possible, whilst Naomi looked at the photos. Nobody really said anything as the two Campbell women continued to look through the rest of the contents of the box.
"Naomi, I'm gonna go out and let you and Gina have a few minutes, yeah?" Emily decided that this was a private moment for them, soon she stood up, but Naomi looked up at her in a panic.
"Don't go!" Naomi implored gripping Emily's hand tightly, unshed tears in her eyes. "I can't do this alone, please?"
Emily looked down into her eyes, seeing the fear and the sadness and brought her hand up to cup Naomi's cheek, leaning down to give her a small kiss. "It's only for a few minutes, yeah? I think you and your mum need this, Naoms." Emily told her quietly, as Susan opened the door to allow two people dressed in full protective suits to enter. "I promise, I'll be right outside."
Neither Emily nor Naomi missed the look of mild disgust on the secretary's face as she stood at the doorway, so Naomi stood up and threw a look of contempt at the girl before grabbing Emily around the waist to pull her into a kiss to show the bitch that it didn't matter what she thought about Naomi.
Emily pulled away with a smile as she gasped for breath. "Whoa! That was...lovely." She replied cheekily, making Naomi. "I'll be back in few, after they deal with that bag." Naomi nodded and watched as Emily walked to the door. She opened it and turned around to blow a kiss to Naomi before stepping out into the reception area.
"Do you have a problem with Miss Campbell?"
Susan jumped at the sound of an angry voice and she looked up, coming face to face with a very angry Emily Fitch.
"Uh...no, sorry...it's just-," the girl stuttered badly under Emily's glare.
"Just what?" Emily snapped at her, cutting her off. "Is there a problem or not, Susan? Or do you have an issue with me and my girlfriend? Is that it? Are you homophobic?"
Susan could feel herself blush deeply, because no, she wasn't homophobic, her brother was gay, wasn't he? "No...I'm not...I swear, but...," she trailed of, unable to find the right words for how hideous she thought the blonde was. "You're so beautiful and she's...she's...why would you want to be with her?"
Emily had heard of being so angry that people saw red. Hell, she thought it was a metaphor, until now. Her vision clouded and she literally saw red as she geared up to unleash on the poor girl.
"Are you blind? That woman is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Emily spat out, shaking with rage. "So you see someone ugly when you look at her? Well honey," Emily sneered at the girl, "I see somebody even uglier and vulgar when I look at you! You don't know a fucking thing at all! You don't know what she's been through, so how can you sit there and judge someone based on a few scars?"
Susan sat there stunned by the redhead's outburst, unable to say anything as Emily placed both hands on her desk and leant down so that their faces were merely inches apart.
"You sit here in this pretty office, at your pretty desk, with your perfect hair and perfect face...I actually feel sad for you because you don't know beautiful at all, if you can't look at Naomi and see how gorgeous she truly is." Emily walked a couple steps away from the desk to get herself under control, stopping as she saw Naomi leaning against the door of Clive's office, an unrecognisable look on her face. "Naoms?"
Naomi stepped over to Emily, wrapping her arms around her and hugging her tight. "I felt your anger and I got worried." Naomi whispered in Emily's ear, referring to the pulses. "Is everything alright?"
Emily pulled away and felt her heart shift at the concern she found in Naomi's eyes. "Yeah, baby...everything's fine." She smiled up at Naomi.
"Well, Mum and I are done bonding, so do you think you can come back in now?" Naomi asked, pouting sulkily. "You didn't have to leave in the first place, ya know."
Emily let Naomi lead her back into the office, but before they reached the door, Emily whipped back around so that she could look at Susan, noticing the way she was once again staring at Naomi, and smirked.
"Oh, and as for what I'm doing with her," Emily indicated Naomi with a flick of her head, "she has a very talented ton-," the rest of Emily's sentence was muffled by Naomi's hand, as she blushed hotly.
"You'll have to forgive Emily," Naomi apologised sweetly to a shocked Susan, who could only nod, "she hasn't yet eaten today, and she gets a bit cranky when she's hungry." Emily giggled under Naomi's hand, looking at Susan. "Come along, sweetheart, we're almost finished here so we'll go to that diner you love so much."
Emily's eyes twinkled with laughter as they walked through the door. "Yes, dear."
Naomi smiled at her at shook her head.
'Fuck I love this girl!' She thought to herself with a smile, especially after witnessing Emily have a go at that stupid girl.
Gina had called everyone into the lounge once they returned from Oxford. She watched as Cook and JJ came into the room, followed by Effy. Katie and Kieran were not at the house, having trudged all the way into Bristol to take care of a scheduling issue, but they were on their way.
"Effs," Emily looked at her with a small smile and waited until she looked up, "why did Katie go with Kieran?"
"I don't know...," Effy trailed off, disappointment in her voice, "something about needing some air? Or space?"
Naomi and Emily exchanged a look that said 'we need to find out what's going on', before Gina brought everyone's attention to the box that they had brought home with them.
"So, Gina...what's in the box?" Cook's eyes lit up, curiously.
Gina took a deep breath. "Cook...Effy...inside this box was all of Gareth's evidence against Jacob Nash. And possibly his remains."
Cook and Effy stared at the woman, unsure of what they had heard.
"Whatdya mean? Possibly his remains?" Cook asked as he pulled the box toward him, opening it up.
He and Effy leant over and peered inside, both having mixed feelings about what they had been told. Gina told them everything they had learnt about Gareth's trip to Tibet, including showing them the letter from Tezu.
"Clive is having the remains tested, but that doesn't look too promising, if I'm being honest. Cremation damages DNA, so it's a very long shot." Gina finished sadly. "I do however believe that it is Gareth. I think at this point I have to."
After Gina was done explaining things, Naomi glanced over at Cook, noticing the grief on his face. She stood up and went over to sit next to her two oldest friends.
"What's on your mind, Cookie?" She asked him quietly.
When he brought his eyes up to find hers, she saw tears there. "I'm thinking that it was hard enough the first time to lose him, but knowing that it's for real? It feels like losing him all over again, ya know?" He dropped his eyes as he tried to control his emotions. "Gareth was like a father to me, the only father I had ever known back then, and it feels like my hearts being ripped out."
Cook lost it then as his tears finally broke through, and he fell into Naomi's arms and cried for the first time in his life as Effy came over and wrapped her arms around both Naomi and Cook, completing their circle.
"Come on, JJ...let's give these guys some time alone, yeah?" Emily gestured toward the door and waited until JJ followed her. "I'm gonna take these and start putting them into a timeline, that way we can get a better idea of what happened?"
"Of course, dear. Go on...I'll send Naomi to find you when we're finished." Gina said and watched Emily turn to leave. "Emily?" Gina called out before Emily got too far. When she turned back around Gina got up from her chair and walked over to the younger twin, giving her a hug. "I know I haven't said this yet, but I'm so glad you're here. You don't realise the brightness you've brought to this family and for that, I will always be grateful."
"You're welcome, Gina, but really, no thanks are necessary."
Gina gave her one last squeeze before allowing her to leave, and then looked back to her children and watched them.
"Come on now, Cook. It'll be alright, yeah?" Naomi smooth a hand up and down his back, glancing up at Effy and noticing her tears for the first time. "C'mon guys. Please don't cry, okay? We really will be alright. We'll get through this just like the first time."
"Oh no we won't, Naomikins!" Cook sniffed back his tears, cringing at the memory of the last time this happened. "We're different now...you're different now, so...no...we won't be handling this like the last time, yeah?"
Effy couldn't help but laugh at him, as he used his attitude to break the tension. "Well said, Cookie!" She reached over, grabbing his face and planted a kiss on his cheek. "But Nai's right, we will get through this...together."
"Absolutely." Naomi smiled at them, feeling a happiness that she hadn't felt around them in a long time. "And just think...when I'm gone, you'll have new friends, so you won't be alone."
Cook sat up at this statement. "Way to kill the mood, Nai." He muttered, standing up and started pacing. "So if by some miracle there's DNA in the ashes, how can they be sure it's Gareth?"
Gina cocked her head at the question thinking, not for the first time in the past four and a half years, how much Cook had grown into a mature young man. And Effy as well. The two of them had no parental guidance when they came into Naomi's life, and she remembered how in awe they both were to see a mum and a dad being so involved with their child, when Naomi brought them home for the first time. But looking at the two of them now, sitting there with her daughter, she couldn't help but be proud of them all. Sure, it took a curse from an angry, hurt teenager to accomplish it, but Gina had never felt more love for her children than she did right now.
"Woo-hoo! Ginapops!" Cook called out, snapping his fingers in her direction, grinning when Gina focused back on him. "You alright? I know this is hard on you, so if you don't wanna talk about it...,"
"Nonsense, James." Gina brushed aside his concern. "I've already known that this had happened...not the details, but that something had happened to him. It's something I've made peace with. I'm just relieved to know the truth now, to be honest."
"So then, if they manage to find any DNA, how will they know it's Gareth?" Cook asked again.
"They took samples from me." Naomi said, still sitting next to Effy. "Clive had wanted to have them, on the off chance that they did find something."
"Good...so," Cook looked around at his family, "now what?"
"Now we wait. Clive is making it a priority, so we should know one way or the other very soon." Gina told them. "But in the mean time, how about we try and put it out of our minds for awhile. I think we've got something a little bit bigger to discuss."
Naomi froze as they all turned and looked at her. "What?"
"I think you know what, Naomi." Gina said, raising her eyebrow, daring her to deny it. "Your scars? I want to see them."
"What, now?"
Effy nodded, as Gina replied. "Yes, now. And you two!" She turned to Cook and Effy. "You two need to come to terms with everything. And that includes Naomi's...," she swallowed deeply, knowing that she couldn't say it out loud, "well, you know what I mean."
Effy and Cook both looked properly chastised as they dropped their gazes. "Yes, Gina." Came the dual response.
She nodded at them, hiding a small smile. "Good. Now how about you all go out tonight and blow off some steam or something."
"Mum, you know we can't!" Naomi stated adamantly. "Not with Mandy out there somewhere!"
"Well, you all cooped up in this house isn't helping matters, so I say to hell with Mandy!" Gina replied just as forceful as her daughter. "It's time you stop hiding away, Naomi."
"I'm trying to keep Emily safe, Mum!"
"I know you are dear, but how safe can you really keep her? Keeping her and yourself locked up in this fortress will only go so far, you know...think of Emily as a bird in a cage," Gina said gently, "keeping a bird caged up will kill it...the bird loses heart and the desire to fly...love, I can see a bit of her slip away everyday."
"That's not even true, Mum." Naomi protested, although it didn't sound too convincing.
"It's true, Nai...," Effy spoke up, adding her thoughts, "I've seen it...she's so worried about you and she feels like there isn't anything she can do about it."
Naomi cringed at the thought of Emily worrying about her. "She doesn't have to do anything, that's the point. Her just being here is enough."
"Like I said earlier, this is something you need to talk with her about, love." Gina replied, standing from her spot on the sofa. "So, let's go. Upstairs."
Naomi pouted just liked she did when she was little, but in the end she trudged upstairs with her mum and allowed Gina to look at her wounds and scars, while Effy and Cook planned for a night out.
Gina was saddened to see that Naomi was right. There were less and less open wounds and that meant one thing. Naomi was running out of time and as far as they knew there was nothing anyone could do about it.
"So we're going out tonight, yeah?"
Naomi stopped tying the laces her black Vans, looked up and smiled as her favourite redhead stepped into her room and made her way over to where she sat. She smiled up at Emily as she swung a leg over hers, straddling Naomi's lap.
"Hey, babes." Naomi replied, her smile getting wider as Emily leant down and started placing open mouthed kisses along her neck, nibbling tender spots as she went. "I was just coming to see you. I had to get dressed."
"I know." Emily murmured against Naomi's skin. "I ran into your mum on the way up."
Naomi moaned as Emily's lips attached themselves to her pulse point, shivers rippling through her and she felt herself get wetter as desire flooded her body.
"Fuck, Ems!" Naomi growled as she surged up, making sure to keep ahold of Emily and all but ran to her bed.
Emily giggled as Naomi deposited her on the bed and started undressing her. "Jesus, Naoms...in a hurry are we?" Her voice became huskier and her eyes were almost black with desire, but her humour stayed intact, which to Naomi, was a huge turn on.
"Just a bit. You've been teasing me all day, you know." Naomi replied with a smirk as her hands stayed busy.
"What? I've been teasing you?" Emily asked, pretending to be shocked by the statement as she brought her hands up to the hem of Naomi's shirt. "And exactly, how have I been teasing you?" She asked with a smile that was just a little bit devious.
"Well...you woke up this morning and smiled at me," Naomi started listing off things with a serious look on her face, as she straddled Emily's legs, "and then you got out of bed...," Emily giggled at her, "but what you really did, the thing teased me the most?"
"What?" Emily asked as she pushed Naomi's shirt up and over her head. When she freed Naomi's arms, Emily looked into Naomi's eyes as she brushed down the stray hair that was mussed up. "What teased you the most?"
Naomi looked back into Emily's brown eyes, searching for the rings of green that never failed to captivate her, and held Emily's gaze. "When you went off on Secretary Susan today."
This surprised Emily, because she didn't think Naomi had seen any of that. "Really?" She asked incredulously.
"Oh yeah." Naomi replied with a smirk. "When you called me your girlfriend?"
Emily's eyes widened and she blushed. "You heard that?" She asked quietly, ducking her head.
"I heard everything."
"But...I...I thought you were busy inside the office." Emily kept her head down, embarrassed at knowing that Naomi heard her.
Naomi tried to wait out Emily's embarrassment, but then lifted her face so gently, that it almost made Emily cry. "I followed you because I wanted you with me, yeah? But you know what?"
"What?" Emily said with a watery voice.
"I loved it that you called me your girlfriend." Naomi stated. "It made me ecstatic!"
Emily looked at her, trying to see if she was joking or not. "Y...you...didn't mind? I mean, you've never said anything and well...I know I might not be what you ever expected and I'd hate for yo-,"
Naomi cut off her awkward rambling by leaning down and kissing her. It took a few minutes for the redhead to get into it, but once she did, they explored each other's lips and mouths until lack of oxygen became an issue.
Naomi pulled away first, panting slightly. "You don't see how people look at you when you walk into a room...you're so insecure and shy at times that it's almost adorable, but nobody in their right mind would have a problem with you calling them your girlfriend. And I," she kissed Emily again, almost chastely, feeling the need to show her how special she really was, "am definitely in my right mind."
Emily's smile lit up the room, as Naomi's words really sank in and in a split second she went from shy and awkward to confident and sexy, quickly reversing their positions until she had Naomi underneath her. "You're wearing too many clothes, Naoms!" She growled out.
Naomi looked up at her and smirked. "You'd better fix that then, you think?"
Emily accepted the challenge and for the next couple of hours, she took delight in slowly pleasuring her girlfriend.
Mandy had stolen a car for the first time in her life! It was so easy that she couldn't contain her excitement or the rush of adrenaline as she sped down the A4 toward Bath.
Somewhere around Corston, she got off the motorway and drove south on Pennyquick, taking all the backroads that she could, looking for the address in her hand. It was late enough, around two in the morning, so no one else was out and about and she was able to drive slow, searching for the right place.
She was headed back down one road that was barely big enough for two cars. She had driven down it on a whim, ending up at a large metal gate and nothing else. She didn't see lights beyond the barrier, so she turned back around, deciding to head into Bath and rent a room for the night.
Mandy saw lights up ahead of her and started to panic. If there was nothing down here, why was there a car heading toward her? She thought quickly and shutting off the lights on the car, she whipped the car off the road into a copse of birch and alder trees, effectively hiding it in the dark. She got out of the car, in case she had to run, making sure to keep herself hidden and watched as large black car drove past.
She was about to get back in her hidden vehicle, when she heard a familiar voice shout out into the quiet of the night.
"Cmon out here, Emilio! Smell the night with me!"
Laughter rippled through the air, causing the hair on Mandy's neck to stand on end, as she saw a shadow against the headlights of someone popping up out of the opened sunroof.
"For fucks sake, Cook! If you climb any farther out this window, you'll end up as roadkill!"
Emily!
Mandy quickly got back into the car and waiting a few minutes before starting it up and pulling out of the trees slowly keeping her lights off, inching her way along the dark road, following the other car.
The excitement and adrenaline from earlier in the evening returned in full force, as she watched the car come to a stop in front of the metal gate and after a minute the gate opened up, allowing the car to drive through.
"I found her!" Mandy said to herself in shock, as months of searching finally came to an end. "Fuck me, I found them both!"
She watched as the gate started closing before the car even passed all the way through and Mandy knew that she would have to find a way to get in there. Once the tail lights of the car disappeared, she got out of her car and ran over to look at the gate, noticing that it was a top of the line high tech system.
Mandy shrugged as she sneered at it, not even caring that it would take a while to get through it, because she had done it!
She had done what Jess and all her other so called friends who laughed at her said she'd never do!
'We'll see who's laughing once I get past this fucker!' she thought, making her way back to the stolen vehicle, knowing she would have to dump it soon, but it didn't matter, because she had found Emily Fitch and Naomi Campbell.
The phone rang in Gina and Kieran's rooms at six thirty the next morning, causing Kieran to grumble loudly at the disturbance to his sleep.
"This had better be fecking important!" Kieran growled into the phone when he answered it. "Do you bloody know what time it is?"
"Kieran?" the voice on the other end of the line asked.
"Who is this?"
"I'm so sorry. It's Clive Burrows." the voice answered. "I'm sorry to call so early, but Gina asked me to contact her right away if I found anything."
"Oh, right...right. Sorry about that." Kieran replied, wiping the sleep out of his eyes. "Hold on a tick." He told Clive as he rolled over and gently shook his wife awake. "Gina...Love, wake up, it's your friend, Clive."
She woke up after a few nudges from Kieran and took the phone from him. "Clive? What is it?"
"There were a couple of teeth in the ashes, G...intact teeth, untouched by the fire." Clive stated as soon as he heard her voice. "I'm going to say that Gareth's friend made sure they didn't burn with the rest of him. Anyway, I've had samples tested against Naomi's DNA."
"Are the results in, Clive?" Gina asked impatiently.
She could hear him sighing loudly over the phone, but didn't push him.
"The results are in, G. I did them myself to be sure."
"And?"
"Its a fifty percent match." Clive told her. "It's Gareth."
A/N: Okay my friends... I'm super nervous to hear your thoughts on this one...I'm hoping it ties up the Gareth loose end, so yeah...
And can we take a minute to talk about Mandy? That bitch is one taco shy of a combination platter!
Anyhoo, I'll just head on over to my corner where I'll be doing my physical therapy exercises...
Love ya all,
Soupy:-)