FIVE

❛ You can't fool me, you fucking cunt ❜

ఌ

LUCKILY, Vanessa found an open mobile phone that a previous passenger had forgotten on a table in a carriage further down the train. She had tried to find her handbag, but the storage rack where she had left it, was empty.

She slinks down into the closest seat, running her hand through her hair as she frantically dials her brother's number into the device.

It only takes him a second to pick up.

"Ness?" He calls.

She chuckles, "How'd you know?"

"The location of the call gave it away," He explains, "How's your hubby? Take the news well?"

She swallows, "For Tangerine, yes, he took it well," She bites her lip, "Look, James, I failed, okay? This fucking mission, I failed it. Even though I swore to myself years ago that I'd never fail again, I failed again. You— you have to get somewhere safe. Go down to mum's. Boss doesn't know where she—"

James sighs, "Nessa. First of all, I'm not going to her house ever, and second, I'm staying on this call with you until I know you're safe. I don't give two flying fucks if you've failed."

"Starting to pick up our old lingo, I see," She smirks.

"Where's Tangerine?" He questions, hearing the silence of the carriage she's resting in.

"With the dude I'm supposed to be killing. I'm sure they're fighting right at this moment. We just stopped at the last stop before Kyoto, I think." She informs him, peering out of the window as tge train starts up again, "I should probably go find Lemon."

"They're separated for once?" He snorts, "Wow."

"You do realise I'm gonna have to hang up at some point," She says, "I can't fight anyone with a mobile brick phone in my hand."

"Sure, you can," He hums, "Use it as a weapon."

She rolls her eyes at his idea but before she has a chance to even open her mouth to reply, she hears a distant gunshot rattle through the carriages from the driver's end of the train.

"You should probably go check that out," Her brother mumbles through the phone.

Clenching her jaw, Vanessa raises up begins to head towards the source of the bang. She keeps the phone close by her era, even though neither of them are uttering a word. She walks slowly and carefully, looking in each bathroom as she passes them.

"Anything?" He hisses, only hearing her breathing.

"What do you think, hm, James?" She snaps back quietly, "Does it sound like I've found anything? You know when I have because. . ."

Her voice trails off as she spots the scene.

Lemon lays limp on the floor, while a slightly younger girl dressed in all pink towers over him with a small smirk playing on her lips. In an instant, Vanessa has dropped her arm to her side and is sprinting down the carriage isle, her grip tightening on the phone in her hand.

"LEMON!" She yells, attempting to get him to sit up, or awaken at the sound of her shout but he remains still on the floor.

The young girl's head shoots up at Vanessa's call and whirls around for a moment for to grab her gun, but before she even has a chance to take a step, Vanessa throws her body into the hers, sending them both tumbling.

Trying to forget about Lemon's limp body and in a fit of rage, Vanessa drops the phone and pulls out a knife from her holster, her finger skimming the pistol that she doesn't bothering grabbing.

The girl squeals from below her, "Oh, gosh! Please don't hurt me! It wasn't me! I've been kidnapped. A man shot him, not me!"

Vanessa laughs in her face, shaking her head at the girl's charade, "You can't fool me, you fucking cunt."

Just as she raises the blade to the young girl's throat, her body is shoved to the side and the girl manages to shuffle into a standing position. Vanessa stands up as well, her eyes flicking down to Lemon's body for a split second, allowing the girl in pink to slam the butt of her gun into Vanessa's temple, knocking her out cold in a millisecond.

She had failed again.

❁

flashback.
YEARS EARLIER.

Lemon loved watched Tangerine and Vanessa together. It was the one time when he didn't get angry at his brother for ignoring his existence. Whenever Tan and Ness were together, they stopped swearing as much, were real with one another and the way they gazed it each others eyes gave it away immediately that they were in love.

Vanessa had been with many men before; relationships, hookups and one night stands. But, she'd never been in love, or felt loved before. Growing up in a council house with lots of siblings and a dead dad and an unstable mum meant she didn't experience love through her family like most others.

That was one thing Tangerine and her had in common. He had grown up stealing things from corner shops and shoving it into his blazer pockets, or creating havoc in the local park just because his parents had never taught him otherwise or that it was wrong. It was only when he met Nessa was when he realised that stealing things was actually wrong.

"What are you doing?" Vanessa hissed, watching as Tangerine shoved a packet of monster munch into his dress coat pocket, "Why are you stealing? They're 50p. We can pay for them, you know?"

Tangerine shrugged, bringing the placket out and throwing it into the shopper trolley with slightly furrowed brows, "Been doing it since I were young. My mum always wanted me to get her a diary milk."

She glanced over at him as they continue down the sweet isle, "You do realise you can't do that, right? And you don't have to anymore. My mum never taught me much, but she always said stealing is wrong. Unless it's menstrual products."

He dug his hands into his trouser pockets, "Lemon and I never really got life lessons from our folks. And, well, schools are shit for teaching you stuff like that."

The couple had taught each other a lot. Vanessa had even been the to tell him how to properly tie a tie. After seeing him in suits for years, she thought he knew how to do it himself. But every day he asked Lemon to do it for him, so she took it upon herself to teach him. He listened silently the whole time with a small smile on his face, and took in every instruction before doing it slowly himself. It took a few tries, and after she guided his hands in the right directions, he managed to do it.

Lemon had heard his brother's happy voice from the living room, and it had been so long since he had heard Tangerine actually express how overjoyed he was.

"Oi, Lemon. I just tied a fucking tie!" He had called, looking at himself in the bathroom mirror with a smirk.

Surprisingly, Vanessa taught Tangerine how to look after his curls properly instead of ruining them with gel, and Tangerine had always enjoyed washing Vanessa's hair whenever she was too tired or drunk to do
so herself.

They had also taught one another how to comfortably express your true feelings. Even if it took time, and a shit load of fights, and a million tears. It was okay to say how you felt. But that didn't stop her from being shocked when she first heard him say the words.

"You can't just fuck off after an argument leaving me here without knowing where you've disappeared off to at half twelve at night," Tangerine shouted, following after Vanessa as she walked to her room, "Lemon broke my fucking phone so I can't even call you, Ness. It's fucking pissing it down outside, and you're barely wearing anything," He motioned towards her soaked tank top and jeans.

She whirled around, "Why the fuck does it even matter if I fuck off after a fight, huh? You claimed you hated me so much earlier, you shouldn't care about where I am."

He shook his head, jabbing a finger at her, "You know I was being fucking stupid. I didn't mean any of what I said."

"Then why did you say it in the first place, eh?" She yelled, "If you didn't mean it, then why did you think it?"

He ran his hands through his messy hair anxiously, squeezing his eyes shut before throwing his arms up into the air, "Because I don't fucking know how to tell you that I fucking love you, alright? Jesus fucking Christ. I told you that I hated your guts so that I didn't have to say I loved you. There, I fucking said it!" He rolled his jaw, "Fuck!"

She stared at him in astonishment.

"Well fucking say somet then," He grumbled lowly, not meeting her eyes.

She smirked, advancing towards him, "You silly cunt. I love you too."

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WORD COUNT: 1522

i absolutely hate this chapter