Cold-Blooded: A DC Universe Fanfiction (#Wattys2015)

Chapter 13: Slade: Questionable Motives

Before they left the Imperial Hotel (room 1625), Yukie had asked him, "Do you ski?"

"Yes," he replied. "Why?"

"There are several excellent ski resorts in Japan. I'll book some time at one of them toward the end of the trip, now that I know you will enjoy it too."

"So you ski. What else do you do?" He was a touch annoyed by that, because his first thought was 'We could have been doing things like that all along.' In addition to having sex, that is, not instead of, but that was the problem with going to bed with someone immediately and only finding out about them later.

"In terms of winter sports, a better question would be, what don't I do? Consider my employer. I ski, I skate, I snowboard, I snowshoe, I snowmobile. It is essentially a job requirement when one works for Dr. Fries."

He chuckled at that. "I never considered that."

With that in mind, he invited her to spend a few days over Christmas in the Lake Tahoe area, well known for its ski resorts. She accepted, saying she would rather give the Fries time to themselves over the holiday, and he made the reservations.

What he did not tell her was that he actually owned a house on the Nevada side of the lake, which was where he was right then, showering in the master bathroom after a (by his standards) moderate workout.

At about 8700 square feet of living space, it was neither the largest nor the smallest property he possessed. However, at less than five years old it was the newest, and it came with nearly a hundred feet of private waterfront and its own pier. Architecturally speaking, it was stunning, as most of the walls were glass, affording an unparalleled view of the lake. From the road, it was unimpressive—all that showed at the top of the cliff was the garage and an entryway door. Once inside, you had the choice of taking either the spiraling glass staircase or the private elevator down into the house itself. The first level down was a guest suite with a private bath.

Below that was the gym and spa with sauna; on the other side of the stairwell were the kitchen, living room and dining room, with a free standing fireplace in the center and a balconied terrace for dining outside on nice days. The next level down had the laundry room and linen closet on one side—the laundry room had two washers and two dryers, plus a thirty inch flat screen should watching towels tumble grow tedious. On the other side was the master suite, including a library/office and a bathroom with both a walk-in shower and a soaking tub.

Underneath that was the reason he wished he had owned that house while the kids were still small—two more bedrooms separated by what the architect called the garden room. It would have made a great playroom, although since it also had a door leading out to the path down to the lake, they would have had to keep it locked all the time until he was sure the kids wouldn't drown no matter the conditions.

The previous owners had asked for thirty-nine million for it, two years before; he paid thirty. It was a buyer's market at the time.

Other than the stools at the kitchen counter, the house had come unfurnished. Slade had added only five pieces of furniture to it: three chairs, one table, and a bed. Aside from essentials like a few clothes, towels and such, the only thing he brought there was part of his ever-growing weapons collection, and racks to store it on. Those he kept in the basement.

He had never brought anyone there. Nor was he going to bring Yukie there, not yet. If things did not work out, he would prefer she didn't know where he lived, even if he rarely used it. If they did work out, the Tahoe area had very mild summers. In August, the hottest month of the year, the average daytime temperature was only about seventy-five degrees, and freezing temperatures had been reported every month of the year. An ideal climate for someone prone to heatstroke.