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Nadine is sixteen when her words appear. She shows her father and he crows with laughter. But she’s happy. Puberty hit her a bit late-- but it’s fine. Her body is developing as it should, bolstered by the training she’s decided to take.
There’s a side effect to getting her words. She’s hyper sensitive when she meets new people. She makes sure to pay attention to the first words they say. But after a year of paying attention, she calms down.
Not everyone likes the words on her wrist. By the time she hits eighteen, she wears a watch religiously. It’s easier that way.
The years pass and she works in Shoreline. Her father is grooming her to take over when he retires. There’s no time for dating, so she hopes that the universe will find a way to get her and her soulmate in the same room. That's how it's supposed to work, at least.
She's able to divine little from the line on her wrist. It's in a scrawling in font and will probably be said by a woman. She can only hope. She's known since before she got her words that she wasn't interested in men. Other than a guess at gender, she gets nothing more than the speaker will say it in english.
Nadine forgets about it.
Well, she doesn't forget. How could she, with the pigment clinging to her skin like a tattoo? It will always be there. Only bad scarring or an amputated arm will take it from her. Not even ink, actual tattoo ink, would be able to cover it.
But years go by and suddenly she's leading Shoreline. It does well under her leadership. They start off on lower jobs and move their way up. Her father is proud of her and doesn't bother to ask if she's found her soulmate.
He doesn't have one-- the words never showed for him, but he's never been known to care. Nadine almost wishes she didn't either. It'd be easier to just assume there was no one out there for her. That they had died or never existed. Having words means she cares about someone she's never met. She cares when the words pale just a bit and she can only assume her soulmate is sick or injured. She cares every morning when she wakes up because what if they're dead? What if she looks at her wrist and finds the words to be a pale scar?
There comes a point in her life where she can't bother to think about it. She's been hired to go after some pirate treasure with a spoiled brat of a person. He's easy to manipulate too. Maybe he didn't get words. Or maybe he's yet to mature enough for them to appear. But she uses her beauty to use him and keep him where she wants.
The writing on her wrist is a constant reminder of something she learned and knows to be true. Rafe and all of the men under her command prove it.
Losing Shoreline is like losing a limb. It's a part of her that's been forcibly severed and she's angry and dangerous. Part of her anger is directed at the short sentence muddying the inside of her left wrist. Why the hell hasn't her soulmate shown up yet? She needs support, damnit, and someone to have her back in times like these. She needs someone to trust.
But instead, Nadine takes a couple days to drown her sorrows in alcohol and after a week, when she's finally sober, she gets ready. For what, she doesn't know. She's still a mercenary. There will be a use for her, certainly. Whether it's as a hired guard or even an assassin, she'll be ready. Until then, she takes small jobs just to keep the cash flowing.
It feels like it takes forever, but a month or so later, she gets a job offer.
Alright, so it's an offer to see if she's right for the job. A treasure hunt. But not like Rafe’s. It's small, a two person job, and will take place in India.
Nadine is invited to meet her client beforehand, in a bar in London. It's a fair distance from India, but her ticket is purchased for her so she doesn't care.
When she walks into the bar, her eyes are drawn to a booth where a woman has a man by his arm. She's got him in a strong, if a bit sloppy, armbar. His hand is being bent at a painful angle and he's squealing like a stuck pig.
Nadine is certain this woman is her client: Chloe Frazer.
She bends and hisses something in the ear of the trapped man before she releases him. He retreats to lick his wounds and Nadine approaches.
Chloe gives her a once over and a grin before glancing at the back of the man. “Men are such pigs, don't you think?”
Nadine’s heartbeat seems to stutter. She'd know those words anywhere. They're tattooed on her damn wrist!
She keeps her cool and extends a hand to shake. “Name’s Nadine Ross. And I agree.”
She waits. Sees if there's a reaction. But Chloe only chuckles and shakes her hand. “Good to meet you. Care for a pint? We should talk business.”
Nadine blinks. There's really no reaction? Maybe she isn't the one. Or maybe there's another explanation.
It doesn't leave her mind.
Even when she's stuck waiting on a roof in a warzone, she can't help but think about it. She's already decided she's going to keep Chloe safe. There's a chance that they're soulmates. It feels like more than a chance, actually. Nadine feels different already, but she's not sure she should say anything yet. She wants to wait. Gather more information.
Chloe, she finds, is good company. Their start is a bit bumpy but Nadine doesn't expect things to be perfect. Despite being nearly certain of what Chloe is to her, she knows they're still new to each other. Nadine wants to ask “why don't you know who I am?”, see whether or not the words she's said are the ones on Chloe’s wrist. She doesn't do that though. Self control may as well be her middle name.
Instead, Nadine makes sure Chloe makes it through every fight. She tries to make it subtle. It's not always subtle.
Chloe doesn't look before she leaps, Chloe rarely thinks things through past a rough plan of “wing it”, and Chloe loves to take risks. It drives Nadine all sorts of crazy. She's watching this woman, the one she's certain is her soulmate, nearly hurt herself or worse a hundred times a day. But no risk she takes ends in more than slight bruises, no man that lays a hand on her gets up again. Nadine makes sure of it.
It's the fourth day they are out in the Ghats that soulmates are brought up. Nadine makes a casual remark and Chloe makes a rather dark joke in response.
“Hmph. Guess that's why so many of us get words.”
“Right. Those are so terribly useful. Like giving a man with no feet a pair of shoes.”
Nadine tilts her head in curiosity. “Don't put much weight in them?”
Chloe frowns and sits down on the edge of the ledge they're on. They're up on the top of a section of ruins. Chloe has just pulled a token from a fountain. She runs a thumb over the edge of it and shrugs. She shoves the token into her pouch. “Can't put weight in what you don't have.”
A feeling like a lightning bolt hits Nadine in the chest. She'd been so sure. She takes a deep breath and sits next to Chloe. “I'm sorry. I hear it's rare.”
She chuckles and shakes her head. “No, china. I got them. I just don't have them anymore.”
Nadine breathes. There's something else here. She doesn't know what but she wants some sort of answer. But she's not sure what to say to that.
Chloe's taking the thick wrist watch off her wrist-- she's used the same technique as Nadine has. She shoves the watch into her pocket and jerks her wrist towards her friend. “Not as pretty as the scar you've got there,” she admits, gesturing to the line intersecting Nadine's collarbone. “But possibly a bit more painful.”
Nadine’s hesitant as she takes Chloe's wrist. She examines the area most people would have some line of script-- and finds it grievously scarred. A well aged burn covers the area, but it doesn't look like it healed well after the initial injury. Even then, it looks deliberate. As though someone purposely scorched the words off her skin.
Anger lights up in Nadine's chest. “Who did this?”
Chloe lets Nadine trace over the scar. She's used to a constant ache in her wrist, but her partner is being gentle. And she doesn't answer.
“Did you get to see them? What they said?”
The treasure hunters sighs. “I got to see them. I was thirteen when they showed up. My mum and I had been in Australia for a few years at that point.” She watches Nadine drag her thumb slowly over the decades old injury. “I was so excited. But they showed up in a sort of… tilted cursive. I wasn't great at reading cursive at the time so I didn't know what they said.”
Nadine looks up from her friend’s wrist. Her expression is enigmatic.
“I went to my mum. Asked her to read them and tell me what they said.” A soft shake of the head. “She, she… First, she was like a mum should be. Excited for her child to get them. And then she was angry. She told me something was wrong and that I couldn't show them to anyone. Then she made some calls.”
Nadine can see where this is going. But she hates the path she knows it'll take.
“The next day, she brought me to this shady little clinic… Said they'd fix what was wrong. I was put under and when I woke up…” Chloe shakes her head and tugs her wrist out of Nadine’s grasp. Almost immediately, she regrets it. The ache starts up again but she grits her teeth and bears it. “They burnt them off. I had to wear bandages for months. And then it got infected. Ugh.”
Nadine clenches her hands into fists and her jaw becomes set. “That's barbaric.”
“Oh, darling, just wait ‘til you hear why she did it.” Chloe has that half grin on her face, the one she uses to hide what's worse.
“You found out?”
A nod. “When I was seventeen. When it first happened, I thought she'd done what was right. That something really had been wrong. But when I got older, I confronted her. Demanded to know why.”
Nadine sets a hand on Chloe’s arm in a show of support.
“I couldn't get the words out of her-- I doubt she'd remember them. But I managed to get her reason. That, by the way, was the last time I spoke to her. I left at seventeen and made my own way.”
“The reason?” Nadine reminds in a soft voice.
Chloe chuckles, but it's forced and false. “A woman. The words were a woman introducing herself. And mum, well, she thought that was wrong.”
Chloe grips her scarred wrist in her opposite hand. “You see, at some point, she'd decided she was a christian. And I don't mean a well behaved, donates to church and volunteers at the food shelter type. I mean the angry, “my interpretation of the bible or none” type. Believed women should be with men and same sex relationships were disgusting.” She's angry now. There's no hiding it.
“She hurt you because of her misguided beliefs?” Nadine spits. “ That's disgusting.”
Chloe leans a bit against Nadine's side and reattaches her watch to her wrist. “Can't change the past. Doubt I'll ever find the woman anyway. Not now.” She hums. “It's very illegal now in Australia, to purposely erase another's words without consent.”
Nadine opens her mouth and fingers the clasp on her own watch band. She wants to tell her. Say “Chloe, the first thing you said to me is on my wrist” or “I found you, I'm sorry she hurt you, but I've found you”.
But before she can act, the sound of a vehicle makes them both start. It's followed by a man yelling, “There's the four by four! They've got to be near!”
So rather than confess, Nadine jerks Chloe off the ledge and into the grass below.
After that, it's more gunfire and more ruins. Nadine tries again, a few days later, but she loses heart and keeps quiet. She's waiting for the right moment but whenever it presents itself, it's quickly interrupted by gunshots or some other unromantic thing, such as her own ignorance. She still kicks herself over reminding Chloe of her father's death.
Nadine doesn't know what to think when she learns about Sam. She's angry. More than angry. She'd been so prepared to trust Chloe. They’re soulmates, aren't they? The last week has felt amazing, but now she knows Chloe isn't trustworthy. It doesn't matter that they could be together because she needs that foundation of trust. A foundation as flimsy as the one Chloe has created is not one to build on. Not even a tent could sit on it without hassle.
And maybe she hits Chloe, loses a bit of her self control. It doesn't matter because she's leaving. She's taking the four by four and headed towards Nandi.
Nadine takes men down in the dark and does her best to move forward. She doesn't know how she'll take the APC down, but she'll burn that bridge when she gets to it.
Something catches her eye-- a flash of red in the grass below. Chloe has followed her. God, it makes her want to cry and hit something in equal parts. So she does the latter. She takes down another man just as an explosion seems to rock the ground.
Nadine looks off the ledge to see the APC in flames. She spots Chloe tossing a spent RPG aside and switching back to a FAL. And Chloe spots her. She calls out a nearly desperate check in, asking if Nadine is okay.
Nadine holds herself in check and responds with a scathing remark.
She decides it doesn't matter if Chloe is “the one”. She needs a damn apology or something like it. And she hates that she's the one feeling bad right now. Words could've worked to discuss the… issue, with Sam. But instead, she’d hit her friend-- a friend she doesn't know if she can keep, but nonetheless.
Her heart nearly breaks when she sees the elephant trapped in the rubble. It decidedly does break, when she hears the tone of Chloe’s “oh no”.
And while Nadine loves animals, she'd rather not ride a wild elephant. The elephant seems to understand that they helped her, but gives no opportunity for them to get down.
Chloe acts sheepish. Acts guilty.
Nadine realizes that what she's doing is trying to apologize. Chloe Frazer has decided their friendship is worth more than her own pride.
And that actually helps a lot.
And then things feel better. Nadine feels better. The air between them is clear and she's back to wondering what it'd be like to kiss Chloe. She's back to being ready to kill any man who dares lay a hand on the wonderful, if bad with people, Chloe Frazer.
Nadine's words are shiny against her skin and she steals glances from time to time. They seem darker now, with Chloe nearby.
Nadine makes a decision when she sees Chloe on the brink of tears, golden statue of the Hoysala kings at her back. She'd tear the world down for this woman. She'd do anything, everything, to keep Chloe happy.
So she responds to Chloe's soft “I can't let Asav get the tusk” in the only way she can.
“No. We can’t.”
Nadine can feel it in her blood and bones. Chloe is who she should be beside. Chloe is her key to happiness. How could she ever care about getting Shoreline back? She wants to stay with Chloe, go on adventure after adventure.
Of course, she doesn't tell Chloe this. She holds it in.
Sam appearing helps her hold it in. But hearing Chloe's admittance of trust, she wants to yell it to the world. Chloe is her other half, her key to happiness in the future.
Watching that axe rise, she's certain it'll fall and behead Chloe. Nadine will burn the world down if Chloe dies.
Nadine works with Sam for only one reason: Chloe. Chloe wants her to spare him, Chloe wants her to stay nearby.
And maybe it's a bit sick, how happy Nadine is that Sam is clearly the third wheel, but she doesn't care. Because she and Chloe have got this. The two of them made it through every other fight, so the ones they've got ahead of them will be easy. Even grappling onto a helicopter seems like child's play when Chloe is at her side.
Chloe places the tusk in her hands, bypassing Sam, and Nadine's heart swells. She exams it and discourages Sam’s attempts to see it.
But then she doesn't care because Chloe doesn't.
It's a bomb. It's a bomb .
And really, it's none of her business. It's not hers, and it shouldn't be Chloe's. They can warn someone and it'll be dealt with.
But she sees the look in Chloe's eyes and watches her choose a gun out of the wreckage.
Chloe is doing this.
Oh god, Chloe is going after the bomb.
Nadine's heart leaps to her throat and fear fills the hole left behind in her chest. She can't lose Chloe, not now, not when they've come so far. This isn't how it's supposed to go. Nadine has plans: sell the tusk, invite Chloe to a lavish dinner, and casually say “you're my soulmate, look, these words are yours”.
Nadine refuses to let the sentence on her wrist scar over. If Chloe goes down, so will she.
“I can live with that,” Chloe says, and Nadine knows it's true.
Chloe is risking everything to stop civil war in the country she was born. And Nadine, Nadine is going with her.
It's all or nothing. Nadine choses all.
She's been on trains before. Maybe not in this way, but as long as she and Chloe are fighting together, Nadine will keep going. Her only goal in this is to get Chloe out alive. Everything else takes a backseat to the chaos they bring to the ranks of Asav’s men.
The switch house is a good plan, even for a last minute improvisation. But at least Chloe is off the train now. Nadine is the distraction and Chloe is the powering force. She'll get there, the city will be safe. And finally, finally , Nadine can find a moment to tell her.
Nadine isn't surprised at all when Chloe is suddenly back beside her, tossed there by Asav. She knew in her bones that Chloe would come for her. She knows Chloe is at her side. She knows that together, Asav doesn't stand a chance. She wants to laugh at the thought-- Asav probably hates how well she and Chloe work together, how their moves intermingle and strengthen each other. Nadine is certain there's a bitterness too, that she had rejected him so much. That she'd rather be beside a thief than a man with “the blood of the old kings”.
Asav tries to split them up. He throws Nadine off the side of the train and she has to work her way back up. Chloe takes the fall next and it's all Nadine can do to survive until she's back. He talks-- he's not good at it, not like Chloe, but he monologues. He asks why she'd take a risk like this, asks how she was fighting for a cause when it's not her to do so. If Nadine had the air to do so, she'd answer him. Chloe is the reason, of course. If this is Chloe's fight, then it's Nadine’s too.
Asav is dead long before his body is. It's when Chloe lands on him that Nadine knows he won't recover. He tries to fight, but it's no use.
When Asav is dead, unidentifiable in the murky water, Chloe and Nadine, as well as Sam, sit on the edge of the bridge.
Nadine wishes Sam wasn't there. It's a picturesque moment and could be perfect to show Chloe her words. But she wants the moment to belong to them and them alone. Having Sam around for it would dampen it.
It's later, after pizza and an introduction to a charming little girl named Meenu, that Nadine gets a real chance. She's seated just across from Chloe, who's flicking through the pictures she's taken on the journey. She'll look up occasionally and shoot Nadine a smile. Off to the side, Meenu is trying to con Sam into buying some trinket or other.
Now is the time.
Nadine takes a deep breath and gives Chloe a long look. It's a few seconds before the woman notices. She responds with a curious expression.
“Can I speak to you?” Nadine asks in a low voice. “Outside? Alone.”
Chloe grins, still looking a little uneasy. “Sure thing, China.” She follows her friend out.
Nadine removes her watch and rubs at her wrist. She leads them just around the corner and into a small space between the shops. Chloe is waiting for a reason she's been pulled out here.
“Well? What's up?” Worry has settled in her eyes. “Not about to tell me you'd rather not be my partner, right?” She tries to play it off as a joke but it falls flat. It's a genuine fear she harbors.
Nadine just shakes her head. “Wanted to ask you about something,” she admits.
“Go on then.”
“That day we met-- at the bar… What'd the man do? The one you were dealing with?”
Chloe raises an eyebrow, but she thinks for a moment and finds her answer. “Tried to touch me when I didn't want it. I warned him what would happen if he did, but he was still a dumbarse.”
The ex-mercenary chuckles. “I'd have done the same.” She takes a breath and tries to keep the mood light. “Remember what you said to me after you let him go?”
Chloe has to think on it. It feels like years since that night. She feels like she's known Nadine for the longest time, not that they'd met less than a month ago. “Hm. I called him an animal? No, wait. I said that men were animals.”
“Pigs,” Nadine corrects. “You asked me if I thought men were pigs.”
A laugh leaves Chloe and she nods. “Right! That was it. And you agreed with me.”
“Ja. I did.”
The thief grins and nudges her partner a bit. “What about it? This is leading to something, isn't it? Because yes, I think Sam is a pig. Not a bad one, but he is.”
Nadine smiles at that. “I'm leading to something, ja.” She breathes in and lets it out slow. “You know why I'll never forget that night?”
Biting her lip, Chloe responds. “Because I looked deviously attractive in the lighting and you like a woman who can take care of herself?”
With a roll of her eyes, Nadine hums. “That's not the reason I was thinking of, but I guess that's accurate too.”
Chloe hadn't expected the line to play off so well. “What's yours then? I can't think of any other reasons.”
Nadine thinks for a moment. This is when she needs to do it. She's already taken so long, she feels like she'll explode if she doesn't say it soon. She's nervous, but it's the good sort of nervous. So without thinking too hard on it, she jerks her arm out towards Chloe. The words there are shiny and dark and stand out surprisingly well against Nadine's dark skin.
“This is why.”
Chloe perks up and holds Nadine’s arm steady to read it. The smile falls from her face. “This… that's my handwriting. That's what I said to you.” She lightly smacks at Nadine's upper arm. “How could you not tell me?! Damn it, Nadine! How?!”
Nadine frowns and looks away. “You didn't respond. After I spoke? So I thought… And after you told me what happened…” She sighs. Brown meets grey as she looks to her partner. “Been trying to find a moment to tell you ever since.”
Chloe stares at her with the most enigmatic look Nadine has ever seen. Nadine can't tell if she's angry or what, until Chloe surges forward and kisses her. First it's her lips, but she makes her way over the woman’s face, kissing every freckle. “You--” Kiss. “--should've--” Kiss. “--said something!” Many more kisses.
A laugh leaves Nadine and rings out in the air. “I just did.”
“Earlier! Should've said something earlier.”
“Chloe…”
“Don't you “Chloe” me. Things would've gone differently if I'd…” She swears. “You are my soulmate !”
“Ja.”
Chloe sears another kiss to Nadine’s lips but doesn't let up this time. She has Nadine pinned to a wall and wants to let her know how overjoyed she is.
They pull apart after a few minutes and lean against each other in the alley.
“I found you,” Nadine whispers, full of conviction. She's cupping the side of her partner's face and stroking over her cheek with her thumb. “I found you.”
The feeling in Nadine's chest swells as Chloe laughs, both happier than they thought they could be. “It's about damn time.”