Chapter 25 #2
Riley takes off down the mountain, walking faster than she ever could, and she realizes he was slowing himself down for her. She rests her chin on his shoulder, their faces almost touching.
“So why does everyone call you Reaper?” she asks sweetly, her warm breath on his ear.
He does everything he can not to think about their closeness, her thighs wrapped around him, breasts pushing into his back.
“I got captured by Dmitri when he was first starting out. He wasn’t on our radar yet and we were getting too close to where he was camped.
When we were flying over, they shot us down,” Riley explains, gripping her a little tighter.
“I woke up in a cage surrounded by corpses. He accidentally captured an American and thought it was going to make him a legend. I was forced to be on display like a prize. He wanted everyone to know what he was capable of. I was stuck in mud, surrounded by rotting flesh for weeks. Eventually, during a big storm, the rain washed some poor bastard’s skull out of the dirt.
By the time that happened, I was starting to go crazy, so I broke the skull and made myself a mask out of it, trying to hide myself from them like a fucking coward,” he says, taking a small pause to collect his thoughts before continuing.
He has only told a handful of his closest friends and a mandated therapist what he had been through, but if anyone needs to hear this story it's the woman clinging to his back. Liz lifts her head from its resting spot on Riley and gives him a small kiss on the cheek, squeezing him tightly. No one knows the demons he’s fighting in his own head better than her.
“A few nights later, someone came to throw scraps at me, but I was wearing the skull. I was completely coated in mud and filth. I didn’t know it was Dmitri at the time, he was clearly drunk yelling about a reaper when he saw me.
He stupidly unlocked the cage and came in.
He told me he was banishing me to hell, like I wasn't already there.. When he got close, I attacked, I slashed his face open with a bone and ran. I got lucky, only one man was around when I started running. He tried to stop me and I beat him to death with that same bone.”
Without realizing what she was doing, Liz nuzzles her head into his neck.
Trying to get comfortable, acting like she’s listening to a bedtime story instead of being carried down a mountain listening to someone's deepened trauma.
. Riley did his best to ignore how close her face was to his, how one small turn of his neck would have his masked lips on hers.
“I don’t remember a lot after that, I was running on pure adrenaline at that point.
I somehow made it out of their camp and to a town, and a few hours later I was being loaded into a helo on my way back.
Mikey told me I broke the nose of the first guy who tried to take it off, screaming about being the reaper.
They decided right then it was my call sign and I’ve worn masks ever since. ”
“Damn… now I feel bad for always asking you to take it off,” she mutters against his neck.
It was a good thing they were almost at the bottom of the trail.
“I didn’t realize you went through so much,” she says, giving him a comforting little squeeze.
It’s the best she can do while still clinging to his back.
“It helped me: my call sign, the mask, it all helped me get to this point. I became something everyone fears, and I use that fear to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
Liz stays quiet, not sure what she can say.
She looks up and sees they are standing next to his truck.
She didn’t even realize Riley had stopped walking.
“You should have told me we were back,” she says, wiggling her hips against him.
He lets go of her legs and she drops from his back.
Trying to hide her embarrassment, she waltzes over to the truck and opens her door.
“If I told you, you would have made me put you down, and you never would have done that cute little wiggle,” he says, chuckling at the pink creeping across her face.
Riley closes her door and walks to the other side, climbing in, and starting the truck. The air conditioner starts and Liz has never been more thankful for crisp, cool air. Riley pulls out, heading back the way they came, and Liz watches everything they are leaving behind.
“You ever think about enlisting?” Riley blurts out over the silence, still not sure how he should approach the topic especially after what he just opened up about.
Liz turns to him, a look of confusion and curiosity plastered on her face. She turns and looks back out the window, trying to absorb as much of the outside world as she can before it’s gone.
“Is that what your meeting was about?” she asks.
“Depends on your answer.”
“No, it’s not something I’ve ever thought about. I mean, I’m 5 foot tall with an anger problem and mental health issues. Not sure I’m an ideal candidate.”
“True,” he says, laughing at the look she shoots in his direction.
“But you’re a fighter. You spent your whole life fighting for a better one.
You fought Dmitri, and god knows you’ve been fighting me since the day I rescued you.
You shouldn’t stop now. You need to find something worth fighting for and hold onto that,” Riley says, trying to gauge her reaction.
“How would that even work? You guys thought I was lying about my name for what… Two months now? I told you, I’m not even a real person anymore. How am I supposed to sign up for the military?” she says, peering over at him.
“You don’t need to worry your pretty little head about the details, there is more than one way to join, the other ways are just kept hidden. I just need to know if you’re in or not.”
“I don’t know, Ry,” she says, scooting around so she can face him.
Thoughts racing, she never imagined she would make it to adulthood, but she did.
She never thought she would find love and have a family, but she did.
She certainly didn’t think she would survive losing her family, but she is, so maybe she can do this too.
“Where would I go?” she asks. “If I agree, I mean, I assume I’m going to get shipped off to do the whole basic training thing… that’s kind of all I know about the military.”
“You’re not leaving me, love, that’s part of the deal. Luckily, we’re not just a spec ops unit, but one that technically doesn’t exist, so adding a person who doesn’t exist is kind of perfect.”
Liz turns back around, the base coming into view.
She stays silent, thinking and rethinking everything.
They drive through the gate and park. Liz immediately jumps out and walks to the door, waiting for Riley to catch up.
Her anxiety is at an all-time high with the base swarming with soldiers going about their day.
As soon as the door to the room opens, Mikey is on his feet, sprinting across the small space, and pulling Liz into a tight hug.
“You got my S.O.S! Welcome to the team, darlin” he says, holding her close.
“This is why you sent that?” Riley asks, frustrated their time was cut short for nothing.
Liz doesn’t say anything, just slips from his grip and goes to shower and change into clean clothes. As soon as she’s gone, Riley grabs a beer from the fridge and plops onto the couch.
“She said no?” Mikey asks.
“She didn’t say anything,” Riley says, before telling him everything that happened on the hike.
As soon as the shower turns off, Riley gets up from the couch and goes into his room, closing the door behind him.
He emerges a little while later, wearing his usual jeans, boots, and tight black shirt.
Liz comes out minutes after Riley, hair braided down her back, wearing clothes not coated in sweat and sand.
“So,” she says, walking to the couch and sitting down next to Mikey. “I’ve been thinking and you owe me some answers.” She looks right at Riley. “I want to know what the meeting was about, since you said it was about me. I also want to know how this would work… if I say yes.”
Riley sits at the table. Liz turns and lays across the couch so she can see him, kicking her feet up on Mikey’s lap.
“I briefed the general on what happened with your brother. I made it clear to him you had nothing to do with Dmitri or his operation, but we learned your brother did, and he’s the reason you ended up imprisoned,” he explains.
“I told the general I will continue to take full responsibility for you. Mikey, Alex, and Tyler all confirmed what your brother said. Even the general couldn’t deny having someone solely trained by spec ops would be a huge asset, and at the very least, you’re good for tight spaces,” Riley says winking.
Hearing that has Liz picking herself up, bending over the back of the couch and leaning her arms on the table to be face to face with Riley. Mikey sits up straighter, his head bouncing back and forth between them, sure he missed something while they were gone.
“So, you want to keep me around… for my tight spaces?” she practically purrs. “I mean, my ability to get you into them?” she adds, batting her lashes, knowing exactly what she is doing to him.
The small expanse of skin showing on his face turns a bright shade of red at her words, his eyes following the curves of her body, jealous of the view Mikey has sitting next to her. He clears his throat and slides a small packet of papers toward Liz.
“Do I need a lawyer to go over these? Make sure I’m not agreeing to anything unsavory?” She teases, meeting Riley's eyes,
“You can read them if you want love. It's a slightly modified enlistment contract. If you stay like that I’ll be happy to go over all the boring details.”
“So y’all don’t see me sitting here?” Mikey croaks, awkwardly watching the pair.
Liz bursts out in a melodic giggle fit while she reaches over, pushing her chest out, making sure she gives him a show as she signs the papers.