Main | Fanfic | Nikki and Nora Index | New Stories FirstsFEEDBACK - Oh Yes Please -You can email docwho2000@hotmail.comTitle: Firsts 13/14 - lucky 13 - well not for Nora... Disclaimer: Nikki & Nora are the property of Nancylee Myatt and Warner Bros. Television. No infringement intended. ------------------------------------ Authors' notes: A word about the rating, some heavy stuff takes place in this story, so I am leaving the NC-17 rating in place and warning everyone, while this is not a gritty OZ type of story, there is some major whumping going on, language and a few other strong topics are approached. Timing: this takes place some time after the pilot and the two stories: "I Want Them" and "Dark Lady". The events and people referenced in those stories may be referenced here. This story takes place in the same universe and at some point/time after. Meaning anything established in those stories would go for this one The story picks up about a week after the events in "Dark Lady" (the reason Nora is on desk duty). Please see the overview for references and other notes OPP = Orleans Parish Prison - http://www.opcso.org/
Chapter 13--------Present Day "Um, I will never, ever, ever, ever," Bobby was waving his hand back a forth, the beer in the glass he was holding sloshing a little, his voice pitched a tad louder than noraml, but he didn't seem to notice or care, "Ever, ever…" He paused as Nora put a hand on his arm. "Piss you off, ok?" He gave Nikki a sincere look. The brunette simply laughed, taking the straw in her mouth and chewing it a little before sipping the rest of her drink. Nora had her elbow on the table, entranced by what Nikki was doing to the straw. Licking her lips a bit, she drew in a deep breath and tried to pull herself back from her very naughty thoughts. "Yeah, my respect for her really grew after that as well. It was the first time I…" She hesitated. Nikki reached over and patted Nora's hand, wanting to encourage her lover. "I thought of Nikki as something besides some rich snob who had a manicured stick shoved up her... well..." Nora swallowed then as she admitted that to Nikki, knowing they'd never really talked about certain subjects much. "You know honey, when you decide to reveal deep secrets and feelings, you could try the kiss and tell approach to soften your words." Nikki half chided, half teased. Feeling secure and oblivious to much thanks to her drinking, Nora picked up Nikki's hand, not quite able to do what she really wanted to do, she settled for a small bold display as she pulled Nikki's hand up, brushing a velvet kiss along the knuckles before relinquishing the hand back to its owner. "Better?" "It's a start," Nikki winked, knowing how much courage that took Nora. She hoped some day the blonde would not need the buzz of alcohol or a heady emotional event to display her affection for the brunette in front of others. The brunette turned back to Bobby, "It was like that was the start of a snowball rolling down hill. Things started to finally come together, well mostly." She kept a cryptic slant to her words. Nora nodded emphatically, "A few days after Gloria's take down, came a big break, thank god, I was not sure how much longer I could keep going in there." Nora stared at her hands, twiddling the thumbs round one another as she admitted that. She hated admitting when her inner strength would flag and fail, but it was true. She'd been close to breaking, asking Nikki to get her out and just walking away from the whole thing. She was pulled from her rumination as a hand covered her hands, stopping her nervous twiddling. She looked up into the brown eyes, the intensity and empathy in them reminding her of the first time she’d seen that combination of fierce protection and deep compassion. Nora had not known then Nikki was capable of those feelings and the first time she felt them directed at her was when her whole world had changed. She’d never been the same after that. --- flashback October 2001 Angelique took in a breath and pulled her crisp uniform down, rigid in her stance as she watched the Mercedes pull up. She counted three bodyguards who exited, the driver opening the back door for a fourth occupant, Mr. Longetti. He was on the staff at Angola and held the favored position of being the voice of Big Daddy. What ever Longetti proclaimed, was gospel. Those who dared dispute, question or found issue with said proclamations ended up bloated and rotting in the Gulf. They exchanged muted greetings and then moved the meeting to Angelique's office. Pouring out drinks for all but the biggest, roughest bodyguard, Miljohn. "I do love visiting here, and so does Big Daddy." Longetti said after downing much of the amber liquid in his brandy glass. "And we are always honored when visited." "Well, I suspect that would be true save for when the visit is because of mistakes, yes Angelique?" The woman froze, how had they found out? She'd just been informed this morning. "Mistakes?" "We have visitors coming from overseas and if our house is not in order, how can we impress the company?" He replied in a calm manner. "It would not send a very confident message." The Warden agreed, her voice faint as she tried to determine what tact to take. "But mistakes can be fixed. There is time." "Show me." Angelique nodded and led the group toward the warehouse portion of the prison. The area that always was hidden from those not involved. She nodded at the guard who shut the metal doors behind them as they walked the finally hallway to the packing room. Angelique drew in a deep breath as she had a revelation of what her wards must feel when being marched down these same pathways, condemned. The inmates looked up as the group entered. Nora cast a surreptitious glance to Nikki as she continued to assemble and check the ammo clip she was working on at her station. Longetti and his entourage slowly made the rounds inspecting the process and noting the efficiency of the work. "This is a very beautiful sight, and does my heart wonders. But word has spread. And wildfires not doused will burn. We can not afford to be singed with our buyers so close." They had come to stand by Nora's station, Angelique taking position by the detective. No one was working now as they sensed the raw tension and feral undertones to the visit. Blood was to be shed, examples made. Everyone in the room was certain this was not going to end in quiet discussion. "Time to make an impression. When our house is not in order, something needs to be done to make sure the job is done right." He cast a glance to the side, nodding, and one of his large protection goons stepped forward, arm and fist raised for a strike. Now Delaneys have always been known for their stubbornness and slight side of impetuous stupidity. Especially Nora's brothers. Many wondered how they had made it to adulthood. Nora had inherited this attitude and approach, although she had always been the tempered one, the one that used a modicum of logic and kept her head, normally. For some reason Nora could not explain, she knew in that moment that the Warden was about to get a beating and very possibly was going to be killed. She also knew they were close to getting what they wanted. She really didn't want to start over. She was standing to the side of the Warden and timed her actions perfectly so she stepped up and in front of the woman as the goon's blow struck. It hit Nora high in the right cheek and side of head as she was a bit shorter than Angelique. It was enough that she took a step back and dropped to the ground, wincing at the pain, her head hanging down. Everyone froze, Miljohn still had his hand raised in partial follow-thru. No one had expected that. Nora meanwhile spit on the ground, took in a deep breath and pushed up, wobbling a bit, to her feet. She took a step back, taking position up between Angelique and the bodyguard, her expression calm, a knot already developing near her temple. Nikki's insides were screaming for this to stop, her hand resting on the weapons in her belt, her muscles tense. How could Nora have done that? Through this all, it had been her, Nikki, not Nora, that had been pushing the envelope and taking the risks. And in one simple step, Nora had swooped in and taken the 'I am rash, brash and will probably crash' trophy from the brunette. She looked to the visiting frontman sensing a very thin edge had just been reached by everyone and that this might be the one situation they could not worm their way out of or from under. The goon looked back to his boss for instruction, noting the older man had a very odd expression on his face. Nora never once flinched or took her gaze from Longetti, her arms hanging loosely at her side as she waited, an odd calm settling over her as she found she was not regretting her decision, well, apart from the ache that was passing through her cheek. Half of the gathered guards and inmates flinched a loud laugh ricocheted around the room, the older Warden the contact. He continued to laugh, the sound deep, rich and completely out of place. Nora was one of the few who never moved or altered her countenance. Nikki's respect and admiration for the blonde increased tenfold as she witnessed the way Nora was approaching this. She was sure positions reversed, her emotions would have been spilling out by now. "A lesson must be learned and proper respect paid. But we do have Big Daddy coming in three days with our new prospective client and I need to give him his due and a nice present." A thoughtful tone colored the man's words. "I see Angelique you have your house in order if this is the measure of the man or woman working for you." He paused, an evil, outlandish smile blossoming on his face. "I will give forgiveness and let you and yours continue if your little piece of spicy white meat can take seven more from Miljohn and remain standing for you. Eight total lashes for your disobedience." "As you wish." Angelique replied. Nora twisted her head then, her eyes locking with Angelique's for a brief moment. This was cut short as Miljohn chose to strike, an upper cut aimed at Nora's chin. Nora did not duck, merely twisted her head a fraction of a centimeter. This was enough not to stop the blow, but to at least temper it. Her head still snapped back, her body following and she dropped to the ground once more. She took in a few deep breaths, her jaw now aching as much as her cheek, but she pushed up. She'd not really gathered her feet when Miljohn stepped in and sent two punches to her right and left ribs. The man's hands twisting with impact to drive his knuckles hard and deep into Nora's rib cage, the man's punches those of a trained fighter and boxer. The detective found she could not breath and fell to both knees, hunched over, gasping. Her upper body bobbed back and forth a moment, disorientation setting in. But she pushed back up to her feet, facing her punisher once more. This time he sent a roundhouse to the side opposite from where the original punch had landed. But it was not enough for one blow, he did seem to be enjoying the combinations. As he hit the left side of Nora's face, he followed with a hard right. The blonde went down immediately, her head snapping away from the two hits like a bobbing ball on a stick. She collapsed on her side, wincing and groaning loudly, unable to mask the pain and hurt. She could feel the side of her face begin to swell, a rushing, ringing in her ears as the world telescoped away. Somehow her brain pulled up a memory of her and her brothers sneaking in one late night to the local high school auditorium and playing about on the stage for hours, having fun with the echoing acoustics. That same large, empty redounding quality to all noise now filtered to her ears. She hurt, she'd not hurt like this in a very long time. She wanted very badly to pass out, in fact, she rolled to her side and threw up, the meager lunch contents spilling out over the dirty, grimy, floor. Nora was so dazed she did not even think about the fact she'd just puked in front of a group of people, instead, her mind repeated three words over and over. ~~Get up. Get up Delaney. Get up.~~ And she did. She was not really aware of her surroundings completely, but she pushed up. At first she faced a bit away from the attacker, moretoward another of the bodyguards, her eyesight poor as her one eye was swollen shut, her lips split and nose already starting to bleed a little. Three ugly bruises were developing across her puffy face, each marking the site of impact. She wavered, but held upright, and pivoted a little on her feet facing who she hoped was the muscle man. She said nothing, swallowing as best she could, her throat dry and tight, the taste fouled by her earlier vomiting. "Damn bouncy bitch. No woman bests my fist." He stepped in close and pulled back, loading his punch and sending one to the same spot from earlier, his fist hitting her ribcage hard enough to do more than bruise the ribs. The fighter pulled back his arm, almost like a spring and shot forward a second hit to the same spot, making sure if his first did not crack ribs, his second should. But Nora somehow remained up, although she was leaning over, a tortured moan hissing from her lips. Enraged the muscleman shot another fist straight into her solar plexus, the air loud and sharp as it left Nora's lungs. As Nora dropped toward the floor, Miljohn used a backhand, catching the blonde's chin as she fell. A strangled cry and grunt came from Nora as she curled into a fetal position, shuddering from the intense pain, her only thought was to try and breath, the world growing spotty and dark although she could not quite yet escape the pain. She was unaware of the fact every eye was on her, save for Longetti who stepped forward and backhanded Miljohn savagely, sending the fighter to the ground from the force of the blow. Nora was vaguely aware of a retching sound, although she did not connect it was her own body making that sound, nothing left to come up as her stomach continued to contract. Instead, she placed a shaky hand on the ground and pushed her self over to her knees, although her body was still tightly coiled, her motions sluggish as it was becoming hard to coordinate movement. God she felt a little like the one time she and Bobby had gone and gotten drunk down by the bay while fishing and having a good ole' time with some very old and expensive whisky they'd found. They'd stumbled around and slurred their words and laughed at not able to make their bodies behave properly. Again the words ~~Get up Delaney~~ Echoed through her mind. She wanted to listen and tried to get up, but her body felt weak, her ribs providing resistance for every breath she took. She looked under her arm, through the white spots in her vision, her one eye able to open only partially. Knowing she was about to fail, she cast out a last look and found suddenly deep chocolate brown eyes staring at her. She rotated her head a bit more, drawn to the depth in those eyes, the emotion and strength. She let that strength pull her, almost as if the owner of the eyes were physically pulling her. In her dazed state, she connected with those eyes and a deep sense of recognition hit her. Recognition and longing. Longing to be drowning day after day after day in those eyes and the passion behind them. That is why she would get up. So she could find the owner of those eyes and never ever let them go. Waking up next to someone who held a profundity like that was something Nora Delaney had been searching for, was a reason to keep getting up. She spit a bit as she rolled from her side, not fully cognizant of her state or even the blood that was flowing freely from her nose and mouth as well as a couple of cuts that had opened up on her forehead and cheek. She attempted to rise, faltering the first time, successful the second. Her body was so heavy and she was so tired, she staggered like a drunk to her feet, her coordination off as her inner equilibrium was heaving. She closed her eyes so she would not see the spinning, undulating room, an arm clutched across her midsection as she tried to stymie the pain. She could hear a pulsating sound almost like the ocean and smiled a little as she always loved the sounds of the waves. Of course a small part of her realized she was not at the ocean and the roaring whoosh meant she was fixing to pass out. She managed a breath, groaning loudly as it hurt. But she opened her eyes as best as she could, the green orbs bright with defiance. She tried licking her lips, wincing as she hit the splits and cuts. Finally she rasped out. "Paid in full and with interest. We'll let you float the extra this time." She turned her head then. Searching as best she could, both eyes almost swollen shut. Nora froze as she found her savior, as she found those eyes she so desperately wanted to be lost in. She never heard the deep laugh bellow out from Longetti's lips. Never heard his words of, "It is so." Missed the look of respect from both Angelique and Longetti. No she was too busy drowning in those beautiful, rapturous eyes. The world was narrowing, the blackness taking more and more of her vision and awareness. She felt her knees buckle, her body losing control this time for good as it was shutting down. But somehow she didn't care. She'd found those eyes. She'd found her strength. She was still staring deep into Nikki Beaumont's eyes as she collapsed unconscious to the ground. contact: docwho2000@hotmail.com page last modified - June 3, 2009 graphics from www.eosdev.com |