Penny unzipped the black garment bag and pulled out her bodysuit. Made of spandex, it molded to her lean frame. From ankles to neck it covered everything, leaving only her hands, feet, and face bare. There were other things in the garment bag for those though. She slipped off her jeans and tee, leaving just her panties on, then wiggled into the bodysuit. It was super stretchy and she pulled on the legs a little until it fitted her just right around her crotch.
A quick glance in the full length mirror next to the wardrobe to check everything looked okay made her smile slightly. “You look like Catwoman,” she said aloud, then almost laughed at her stupidity. Catwoman could do this job with her eyes closed. For Penny it was going to be a damn sight trickier.
She sat down on her bed to pull on her black socks and lightweight black sneakers—not laced of course. Slipping over trailing laces was a rookie mistake that Penny hadn’t made in years. The bottom of the bodysuit hooked over the sneakers, giving a seamless look, and Penny lifted each leg perfectly straight in front of her to put them in place. Once done, she clipped the waist bag over the bodysuit, where it hung perfectly just above her hip bones.
“Nearly there,” she muttered, straightening up. Next came the gloves. As thin as she’d been able to find, they would not impede her movements at all. Penny had sort of wanted leather, more because of the cool factor than anything else, but leather gloves would be asking for trouble. They would make her palms sweat and then she’d get clumsy. And clumsy meant one thing only…the wail of sirens.
The last thing she would wear tonight was a black ninja style balaclava. Penny took it from the bottom of the garment bag and stuffed it in the spare pocket of her waist bag. It left only her eyes free and completed the outfit. But it wouldn’t be put on yet. Walking through the streets of London looking like she’d stepped out of Charlie’s Angels would be about as stupid as the leather gloves, and Penny grinned as she grabbed a long denim jacket to wear over her body suit.
There all done. The only thing that remained was to pull her hair into a tight lacquered braid and she could be on her way. She should be pleased, she thought. All her preparations were complete. Only Penny wasn’t, and that shocked the hell out of her. For the first time since she, Rachel, and Lyra had come up with their plan she felt a twinge of nerves. Not full blown, she wouldn’t allow that, but there was definitely something. A sort of stirring low in her belly.
She shut her eyes tightly and took a deep breath. It was the pressure, pushing her into feeling shaky. She had to bank it down. If she fucked up it would mess up her sisters’ missions, and that could not be allowed to happen! It couldn’t. “There’s no time for this,” she said aloud, her words echoing in their tiny bedroom.
Her eyes snapped open, gaze travelling to Rachel’s bed, which of course was tidy in the extreme. The pink patchwork bedspread Lyra had bought her two Christmases ago lay perfectly straight and smoothed out. The knick knacks on her bedside cabinet were all lined up properly. One was a miniature, chocolate colored bear that Penny had given her for her eighteenth birthday. It clutched a little posy of flowers with a tiny sign saying, Rachel Rocks. Penny could remember seeing it in the market and though she’d been short of cash she’d grabbed the bear. The hours walk to work the next couple of days had been more than worth the smile Rachel had given her.
Her gaze moved onto Lyra’s bed. Her king size duvet—far too big for a single—scrunched up in the middle—was like a large snowdrift. Her bedside cabinet was stacked with a pile of books so high they could topple at any moment. Penny read the titles off almost absently. Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, The Iliad. Lyra loved her classics and read them over and over again.
Finally Penny turned to look at her own bed. The bright blue duvet was haphazardly thrown across the mattress, her pillows scrunched into a tight ball, her ancient iPod ear buds trailing from the behind them. Her bedside cabinet was stacked with romance books, most bought from charity shops. Though her sisters laughed at her reading choices Penny knew they often grabbed a couple themselves to devour.
How different they all were, yet how alike.
Penny felt her sisters’ absence keenly in that moment and had to take a deep breath to steady herself. “They’re doing their part,” she said. “Time to do yours.”
She imagined Rachel had already begun. Lyra was about to start, and all their work would be pointless if she didn’t succeed—they had to secure that building. So it was her turn now. She stood up and shrugged the denim jacket on, buttoning it at the front to cover her waist bag. She’d discard it once she got on point, and it had only cost one pound fifty from the local used clothing store—so it wasn’t wasteful really.