“I wish I had an answer for you, love,” he says into her hair.
“I know what he did to me, and all I could picture while you were gone was him doing worse to you. It makes me sick to my stomach. And now he’s back, and with general fucknugget, no doubt plotting to hunt you down,” she says, bringing her own arms around his waist.
“Wait, that’s why you’re upset? Because you think he tortured me like he did you?” Riley asks, squeezing her tighter.
“Of course that’s why I’m upset. He scares the fuck out of me, but I already know what to expect, and I can handle it. But you just got away from him a few weeks ago. The thought of him coming after you again terrifies me to my core,” she says resting her head on his chest, listening to the steadythumpof his heart.
“I’m torn between a panic attack and wanting to hunt him down, chain him up, force him to tell me every single thing he did to you… and inflict every wound he gave you back onto him,” she says through gritted teeth. Her head shakes against his chest from the small chuckle he lets out.
She scrambles from his arms, storming away furious that he could laugh when she is opening up. Leaves crunch behind her.
Riley grabs her from behind, pulling her to a stop against hischest. “Don’t be mad,” he says, leaning close to her ear. His velvety voice that close has her melting back into him. “I don’t deserve you. Everything he did to you, and you’re out here worried about me.”
“Of course, I’m worried about you. When he had me, I thought they would give me what I wanted and just kill me eventually. It made it easy to block out everything happening. But taking someone I love? That’s not something I could ignore. Death turned into a worst-case scenario instead of something I begged for every day. And now, he’s back, just like fucking Dmitri. What’s next? Is my brother going to come back from the dead? Am I going to have to kill him again?” she sniffles, a silent tear rolling down her cheek.
“See, that right there is why I laugh. I have never met someone who can be so sensitive and violent at the same time,” he says, placing a kiss to the top of her head. “Would it make you feel better to know I didn’t see him much when they had me. Dmitri made a big show of being the one to torture me.”
“No, that doesn’t make me feel better!” she shrieks, twisting in his arms until she is looking up into his big amber eyes. “That just makes me want to kill Dmitri more than I already do.”
“Have I told you how incredibly sexy you are when you’re thinking about murder?” he asks. A small smile tugs at the corner of his lips. Liz rolls her eyes, still, she can’t help but smile back at him.
“Let’s go before Mikey gets worried,” she says. Riley gives her a small squeeze before dropping his arms. They finish their lap around the tree line, listening to the crunch of fallen leaves under their boots. Liz ignores the dread building with every step they take toward the house.
Shouts grow louder as they step onto the rickety porch. Riley’s arms find their way around Liz once more, pulling herin for one last second of peace before entering the eye of the storm. She squeezes her eyes closed, taking a deep breath, and tries to get in the right mindset for whatever is happening on the other side. Something warm and rough brushes along her cheek, bringing a smile to her face instantly.
His fingers curl around her chin, tipping her face up at him before placing one, tender kiss on her lips. The moment she feels him begin smiling against her lips the dread eases. He will be right next to her, so whatever is waiting for them inside, she can handle.
The scene they step into isn’t as bad as Liz had suspected it would be. The team is piled around the small round table at the back of the room. Nine voices jumble together, all shouting over each other, attempting to agree on what their next move should be.
While they bicker, Liz and Riley slide in unnoticed. They hang back, listening to what everyone has to say, attempting to figure out what they missed. When nothing makes sense, Liz trails behind as Riley makes his way to the table, clearing his throat to get the team’s attention.
“What did we miss?” he asks, looking at Mikey.
“Paula called. She saw Scott leaving in the middle of the night with Ivan and a few other guys. None of the higher ups believe her. I’ll give you one guess who is getting blamed for abducting a general,” Mikey quickly explains.
“Awesome,” Riley mutters. “Anything else?”
“The five of us are all over the news. We are blamed for orchestrating the base being attacked last year and now kidnapping. As of today, we are all domestic terrorists. She has no clue where he is, but she suggests we get out of here today,” Mikey adds solemnly.
Liz fights to stay standing. Things are always at their worst when Mikey isn’t his joyful, goofy self. Right now, she sees none of that in him, only the soldier he truly is.
“I didn’t want to say anything until we got their intel, buthere…” Tyler says, tossing a thick manila folder onto the table. Riley snatches it up, thumbing through it.
“Ty, I could fucking kiss you right now,” Riley says, passing the folder to Mikey. He strides up to the table, standing tall he continues, “I think it’s safe to assume you two spent the night reading through everything. Tell us what you found.” Riley orders. Liz watches him, beaming with pride. Whatever they found must be big to have him stepping back into full command mode. Tyler stands, clearing his throat, and outlines everything he found buried.
“First things first, General Scott Murphy is now our biggest enemy. I have backups of every word in that folder as well as backups of the backups. It will take a few days to encrypt them myself and get them sent to everyone who may be willing to hear us out. As for what is in that folder, he has been working with Dmitri for years. Some of their oldest communications go back to right after he took over Nemesis. All these years, he has been supplying weapons to K.E.I.M. Scott was also aware of Dmitri’s plan involving Liz,” Tyler explains.
“What plan?” Matt blurts out, watching Liz.
“Ivan met her brother in prison, to prove himself, offered her up as bait to get to Riley. Scott knew, that’s why he ordered us not to look for her. He knew Riley would take the bait and ignore his orders. Riley was never supposed to make it out, let alone make it out with her in tow. Everything has been orchestrated,” he says.
“They were working together when Fort Stryker was attacked, he informed Dmitri of our plans at the grove and when they changed, told him that, too. From what we could see, the president is also in on it, although he is letting Scott take the lead to keep his hands clean. His hard drive has years of classified, heavily encrypted emails detailing how they will help Dmitri overthrow the Russian government, allowing him to take over and create aunion between our two countries to become what they call, a global powerhouse,” Alex chimes in.
Liz didn’t think it could get worse, but every word fills her feeling more and more hopeless. She’s not alone. Everyone surrounding the table is watching Tyler and Alex, keeping themselves composed, but she can see it. Small things most wouldn’t notice. The way Mikey and Riley clench their jaws at the mention of Scott or Dmitri. The way Alex keeps glancing at his partner, his finger twitching like he wants to reach out and take his hand. Even their newest members can’t hide their disgust. Maya has tears rimming her eyes, tears she blinks back every so often, refusing to let them fall. Matt has begun pacing back and forth, brows knit in anger.
“In more than one letter, Scott bragged to Dmitri about blowing up the building, claiming if Liz didn’t attack, he could have taken them both out that day. Everything will be put in a folder, and I will make enough copies for each of you. I suggest you read it thoroughly and learn everything we are up against,” Tyler finishes, settling back into his seat.
“Thanks, Ty. Is there anything else? Any information that has not been said we should know? Now that we have physical evidence, we are in the home stretch. If you know anything that may be helpful, speak up,” Riley orders. When no one does, he continues. “Now, anyone not a main member of Nemesis, go gear up and begin loading the cars,” Riley orders. When the table clears, Liz slips into an empty chair next to Mikey. She wraps her pinky around his, refusing to let go.
