SNAKESKIN (Tangerine) ✓

十四

The Cobra

Tangerine extended his hand down to me and I grasped it, letting him pull me up from the ground. I had calmed down enough to focus back on the job, so I picked up the discarded case and exited the storage car, heading through the next car, until I was back in car 3.

"Where's Lemon?" Tangerine queried as we reached the Twin's table. It was empty, save for the White Death's son, still leaning against the window. If only he really was sleeping.

"I have no idea."

I glanced around the sparsely crowded car. Lemon wasn't here; I knew that for sure. "He must still be down the train."

"But it's been ages," Tangerine said exasperatedly, leaning against one of the chairs. "Surely he should be back by now."

I pulled out my phone, staring at the blank screen. "He hasn't called me," I noted. Tangerine just grunted in response, checking his phone as well.

"No bloody messages here, either."

"Maybe we should go look for him." I continued continuing down the train and Tangerine stood up, following me with a groan. "He's your brother, Tang. He could be in trouble." That shut him up.

We continued down the train, checking the luggage rack in each gangway and scanning the seats in every car. There was no sign of Lemon anywhere and I was beginning to worry. I was about to stop and turn to my partner when my foot caught on something. I glanced down to see a bottle of water rolling away down the aisle. I had accidentally kicked it.

"What's that?" Tangerine asked, glancing over my shoulder at the receding bottle. "Wait." He slipped past me and crouched down, picking up the half-full bottle of Fiji water. "This is Lemon's."

"It's a bottle of water, Tang," I sighed impatiently. "You can't possibly know that it's Lemon's. They probably sell that brand on the train and in the stations."

"it's Lemon's," Tangerine insisted not a shadow of a doubt in his voice. "He bought it in Tokyo Station." I was about to argue when he glanced at me warningly. "Trust me, Bronte. It's his."

I sighed in exasperation, shrugging in acceptance. "Fine," I concurred reluctantly. "Say it is his. How does that help us?"

Tangerine stood up, turning to face me with the bottle held between us. "He dropped it in this car," he explained pointedly. "And Lemon wouldn't just drop a perfectly good bottle of water now, would he?"

I just shrugged indifferently. "Sure, I guess."

"He wouldn't." Tangerine assured. "Something must have happened that made him drop it. Something bad."

I glanced around the car. It was empty. There was no luggage in the overhead racks and no people in the seats. I glanced back at the gangway we had just passed through, squinting when something shiny caught my eye.

"Come here." I quickly made my way into the gangway, Tangerine hot on my heels. When the door opened I gasped in shock. The tiny thing I had seen was a copper wire wrapped around the handle on the bathroom door. "Does this seem suspicious to you?"

"Very."

I set the case down beside me and opened my jacket, reaching back to retrieve a pair of bolt cutters. I was always prepared for every possible situation and bolt cutters were often more useful than expected. The copper coil was quite thick, so it took a while for the cutters to break through. But eventually, they did.

The wires dropped to the floor and I slid the door open a crack. The light switched on automatically and I peered into the small room. My eyes suddenly widened at the horrific sight. My hand froze on the handle and my ears started to ring. I didn't notice Tangerine shaking my shoulders impatiently.

"Bronte!" I snapped back to reality, gawking up at him as he looked at me with concern. He stopped shaking me when he had my attention, instead gesturing to the door. "What's wrong?"

I couldn't answer. I just opened the door, letting him see the shocking scene with his own eyes. He looked just as horrified as I felt, as he stared down at the two motionless bodies on the bathroom floor. One of them was unrecognisable to me, but the other was so familiar, that I couldn't possibly mistake him for anybody else.

"Lemon." Tangerine dropped to his knees, leaning over his brother and shaking his shoulders roughly. "Lemon!"

"Tang, stop," I ordered, placing my hand on his shoulder and attempting to pull him away from his brother. He shrugged my hand off but didn't resume his desperate shaking. "Look." I pointed to Lemon's chest, where three bullet holes trickled a small stream of blood. "It's too late."

Tangerine immediately broke, leaning over his brother as a devastating animalistic sound escaped his lips. I tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill. My friend was clearly in anguish and he needed consoling right now.

I knelt down beside him, rubbing my hand up and down his back comfortingly. "I'm really sorry, Tang." He didn't respond, he just reached behind his head and removed the gold chain that hung around his neck. He reached forward and placed it around Lemon's neck, tucking it under his shirt.

"Lemon never bleeds," he said forlornly, staring down at the blood that stained his brother's white shirt. "He thought he was invincible."

I chuckled softly. "He did, didn't he?" I continued rubbing Tangerine's back, gently trying to calm him down, while also looking over my shoulder to make sure no civilians passed through the gangway and witnessed the bloody scene. "Let's go back to our seats, okay?"

He nodded bleakly, standing up and turning away from his dead brother. I leaned over to the other man, trying to identify him, but I could not remember seeing him anywhere before. He must have just gotten caught up in the chaos. How unfortunate.

I reached over for the chopped pieces of wire and picked one up. I remembered a method for locking doors that Lemon had taught me many years ago. All I had to do was loop the wire behind the door, onto the lock and then close the door, pulling the wire down as soon as the door clicked shut.

I did exactly that, so the occupied placard was displayed to the gangway. I dropped the wire and stood up to face Tangerine. He was just staring at me, his bloodshot eyes coated in a glossy sheen. He was trying to hold back tears. I bent down to pick up the briefcase.

"Come on," I coaxed gently, placing my free hand on his back and leading him back up to car 3. We reached our seats and Tangerine sat down. I sat beside him, across from the dead kid. "Do you want me to do anything?"

Tangerine shook his head, staring at his hands. His breathing was shaky and despite his lowered head and averted gaze, I could see the lone tear sliding down his cheek and onto his lip. Without thinking I grabbed the end of my sleeve with my forefinger and thumb and brought it up to his cheek. I gently wiped the tear away, dabbing the fabric onto his Cupid's bow where it had settled.

His eyes followed my hand, as I then moved to dab at the track the tear had made between his lip and his right eye. Once I was satisfied, I withdrew my hand, letting go of the sleeve. Tangerine watched me, then lifted his own hand and grabbed my withdrawing one. He stared at me intently, more tears threatening to spill, but he held them in.

"Thank you."

A/N: Tangerine's reaction to Lemon's death in the film is so heartbreaking. What do you think is the saddest part of the film?