Chapter 27 #2
Liz paces the room, checking out the drawers in the dresser, then the closet.
She walks to the bathroom and pushes the door open, her eyes go wide and takes in the size of it.
The bathroom is almost as big as the bedroom, with a standing shower and a giant soaking tub.
She would love nothing more than to take a long, hot bath, and let all the stress of the last few months soak away, but she settles for a quick shower instead.
Once the blood is washed off, she gets out and digs through her “bag”, pulling out Riley’s sweatpants and a crop top, quickly dressing herself.
Eyeing the bed for a second, she tells herself she can’t just take a nap and pretend everything is fine, so she walks out and heads down the hall from where they came.
Liz finds Riley looking through the cabinets, then the fridge, not noticing she’s there until he hears a chair being pulled out behind him. He turns, giving her a look she can’t quite read.
“You unpacked fast.”
“I don’t really have anything… remember?” she says, sadness flashing across her face. She hops up from the chair, looking around the room again. “Still want to show me the rest of your house?”
“Our house,” Riley says, unable to hide his smile, even with his mask on.
“You signed the papers, love. They may have been destroyed, but you still signed them, you are officially the newest member of Nemesis. I’ll move back to base if you want me to, but I was hoping you would rather we stay here. ”
He walks over to the far side of the room, what Liz thought was a hall was actually a set of stairs.
She follows him down to the level below, wondering how much bigger his house can possibly be.
The stairs end and open to a small foyer completely empty of any furniture or signs of life.
One wall is all glass, a personal gym behind it, the other two walls completely empty except for a large door on each.
This hallway is easily the most ominous part of the house.
Riley opens the far door, holding it open for Liz.
She steps through and the smell of chlorine fills her nose.
“You have a pool… underground?” she asks, impressed by what he has managed to build.
“Yeah, it’s nice after an intense workout,” he says, turning and heading back out the door, his heavy footsteps echoing around the empty room.
Liz looks at the next door, expecting him to open it, but he just walks back to the stairs.
She spots the same finger scanner sitting just above the handle as the one in the elevator.
She pushes her bottom lip out and gives Riley a pleading look, and looking into her big green doe eyes, he caves.
Riley walks back over and puts his thumb on the scanner, pushing the door open for her to go in.
Liz steps into the dark room, barely able to make out what looks like a long room with some type of bench in the front. Riley flicks on the lights, revealing the gun range he had put in.
“Is this safe to have in your house?” she asks out of genuine curiosity. He just laughs and turns to leave. Liz follows him out, trying to be patient for his answer.
“Our house, princess, and yes, it’s safe. Your prints will also work for the door.”
“You’re going to give me access to your guns… after what I did?” Liz asks timidly, looking back to the door as they ascend the stairs.
“Not just the guns, the whole house. I told you, this is your home now too unless you want to go back to base—”
“No!” Liz practically shouts, not letting him finish what he was going to say. “Sorry, continue.”
“I was saying, this is your house too now, just like it's Mikey's. He didn't have anything of his own either, now he has a permanent place here. I take care of my own, and you’re now one of them.” She doesn’t want to go back to base, a building surrounded by people who don’t trust her.
She won’t force Riley to endure that for her either.
“This is a safe place, the only ones who know about it are the ones I want to know, even Scott doesn’t have access to it.”
“You don’t trust him do you?” She asks, lowering herself onto a stair.
“I never have. The only reason we found Dmitri and his operation in the beginning is because we got shot down and I was taken. When I was cleared to return to duty I fought to build a spec ops team to hunt him down,” A quiet echo bounces around the walls as Riley paces growing more annoyed with each word.
“I picked every member on the team, I trained them, I gathered intel, I did everything possible to end his operation. When Scott caught wind of it he appointed himself head of the unit and declared he was in charge. It never sat well with any of us, and if he ever leads us into a mission that goes sideways, well, we reconvene here and figure shit out.”
“Is that why he’s scared of you? Because he knows you're the backbone of all of this?”
“I’m sure that's one reason.” He chuckles walking over and joining Liz on the step. Warmth blooms in his chest when the weight of her head rests on his shoulder.
“I’m scared Riley.” His arm finds its way around her shoulder, holding her tight.
“He hates me. He still thinks I was working with Dmitri. What if he did something to the papers you had me sign? What if he snuck something in saying I admit to being evil or something and I stupidly signed it?” Her fears come tumbling out.
“I drew up those papers myself, I read every word, then read it again just to be safe.
You agreed to train and be part of the team, you will have to take your tests, but even those are being done in a secure facility with us by your side.
The contract you signed is gone, but I will get you a new copy and you can read it, if it's still something you want to do, you can.”
“Thank you, now, no more heavy stuff, finish my tour please.” She says shimmying out of his arm.They head back to the kitchen and Liz slides into her chair, watching Riley as he leans against the counter, crossing his arms.
“Sooo,” she says, dragging the word out. Riley sees nothing but mischief dancing in her eyes. “Do you swim with the mask on too? Or do you have like, a special swimming mask? Maybe one that makes you look like a shark? Do you ever take it off?”
“What’s your obsession with my masks?” he asks, eyeing her.
She simply looks at him and shrugs her delicate shoulders.
“You get this cute little look every time you see a new one, ya know, you have since the first time I changed it,” Riley says with a soft chuckle. Liz looks away, her cheeks turning a deep shade of pink. “To answer your question, no, it never comes off. I was wondering when you were going to ask.”
“It just seemed like everyone knows that’s your thing and not to bring it up. They’re all scared of you, and it’s in my best interest to stay on your good side… so I never wanted to ask.”
“Are you scared of me?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.
Liz can’t help but watch him as he strides to the other side of the island, leaning forward on both hands. “I mean… I probably should be, right?” Liz says, looking away from his piercing gaze.
“But?” he says, encouraging her to finish her thought.
“I’m more… intrigued by you. You’re this big scary soldier, even General Douche Bag is scared of you and he's technically your boss, but I’m just… not. Even when I was scared, it was never you,” she says, playing with a loose strand of hair, trying to do anything but look at him.
“Good. You’re the only person who shouldn’t be afraid of me,” he says, causing her heart to race at the thought.
“You really never take it off? None of your friends know what you look like?” she blurts out, hoping to break the tension.
Riley lets out a loud, genuine laugh, cut short by the whirring sound of the elevator.
Liz tenses, worried they found her again.
She hops onto her feet, preparing for a fight.
The noise stops and when the door opens, Mikey steps out, bags in hand.
Liz takes off running, throwing herself into him.
She didn’t realize how worried she was about him until he showed up here.
“Aww, I missed you too, darlin,” he says, dropping the bags and wrapping his arms around her.
Liz lets him go and walks back to the kitchen, hoping now that Mikey is here and safe, they will tell her what’s going on. Mikey picks the bags back up and brings them into the kitchen. They start unpacking and filling the fridge with all the food he brought.
“So, did Ry give you the grand tour?” Mikey asks.
“Sure did. He even took his mask off. Finally showed me his face,” Liz responds, winking at Riley who glares at her.
“He showed you?” Mikey practically yells, turning to where Riley still glares at Liz. “It took me two years to learn how fucking ugly you are under there.”
“You lied to me!” Liz shrieks, crossing her arms and sinking back in the chair. Riley looks to Mikey, then to Liz crossing her arms and pouting. Without a word, he heads to his room, emerging minutes later in loose shorts and a t-shirt.
“I’m going to work out, let me know when you two are done being brats,” he says, walking past them. He looks just in time to see Liz stick her tongue out, and Mikey follows her lead. He simply shakes his head and disappears down the stairs.