Project: Retribution

One

"Aww, you shouldn't have," said Riley, taking the crate of beer from the soldier as the trainees clapped for both of us. She set it down at her boots and joined them, clapping back. "You guys are fucking rock stars."
"Thanks fellas," I said as I saw the headlights of the troop transports snaking up the driveway. "I hope these last few weeks have benefitted you. Just remember that what you've learned here is going to be very important in the weeks ahead. A lot of you have friends who've done this course before and I'm pretty sure they're all using what they learned here in the streets of the US. Trust what you've been taught and remember that if you fail out there, Riley here will personally come and kick all your asses." A ripple of laughter spread across the grounds outside our house and I grinned too. "Good luck in the States."
"Thankyou both," said the squad leader with a grin. "It's been a lot of fun and we'll do our best to make you two proud."
"You do that," said Riley, shaking his hand. "Or I'm coming for you."
The trucks pulled up and two young Lieutenants climbed out, snapping to attention as the trainees gathered their kit bags and lined up. They looked painfully young, or perhaps we were just getting old.
When the formalities were done, they were ordered into the backs and with a few wry smiles, they all nodded their goodbyes at us. It was always hard to watch them go; we always got attached to them over their six-week course and there'd been a good few characters in this batch that had made teaching them a real pleasure. I knew Riley felt the same. Still, as the trucks pulled away with great belches of diesel fume, I felt myself properly relax for the first time since the course began.
"Holy shit," said Riley, "That was a long few weeks, man." I nodded. "I could happily sleep for a month."
"I agree, but it's not over yet, is it?" I laughed and she barged my shoulder with her own.
"You had to remind me," she said. "How's the list looking?"
I took a folded wad of paper from the back pocket of my trousers and opened it out. There was a lot of writing there and most of it remained unchecked.
"Fuck," she spat. "There's still so much to do and they're flying in tomorrow."
"Most of this has already been done," I pointed out. "I just haven't updated the sheets."
"You finished the lake house porch?" she asked, and I nodded. "Wow. What about the bedrooms?"
"All made up; I did it while you were on the climbing wall."
"Cool! So, what's left?"
"I need to make a start on the pies tonight before we go to bed and then we need to get on the radio to the Outpost and tell them our plans."
"I can do that," she said. "Does that leave time for... you know?"
"For what?" She grinned and gave me a knowing wink of her beautiful blue eyes, framed by hair that was streaked with blue dye.
"You know. Miller time."
I shook my head and made tutting sounds, tapping the sheets with my finger.
"There's far too much to do for any of that, Riley. We'll be lucky to get a shower and—"
"But we haven't had Miller time for weeks now. Fucking trainees ruining our schedule. A girl has needs, or haven't you noticed?"
"Oh, I noticed."
She put her arms around my neck and moved close, her lips brushing against mine as she smiled.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"For what?"
"For doing all this for my folks, for inviting them over. It means a lot to this Southern girl."
"If it means a lot to you, it means even more to me," I said, kissing her once before pressing my forehead against hers. "This will be the first time you've seen your family face to face outside of a computer screen."
"I know and it fucking terrifies me. And it'll be the first time they've met my man, Miller."
"They'll be blown away by me. Classic British charm by the bucketload."
She giggled and rested her head on my shoulder, wrapping her arms around me tightly. I could have stayed like that forever. The smell of her hair, the taste of her kiss lingering on my lips. The sky above us, clear and sparkling with the first of the starlight. It was bliss. That was until Riley swore and broke away from me.
"I almost forgot," she cried, fumbling in her pocket for something. When she found it, she cleared her throat and dropped to one knee before me.
"What are you doing?" I asked. She lifted both her hands up to me and opened the small box she was holding. A silver band engraved with intricate lines glistened in the twilight.
"Will you marry me, Miller?" she asked.
"No!" I cried. "I told you last time, we're not doing this."
She swore again and got up onto both feet, snapping the box shut.
"I don't see why you won't do it, it's just for my Dad, Mom says he's become a bit of a... traditionalist these days and I don't want him to get the wrong idea."
"Wrong idea about what?"
"That her baby girl is living in sin with a wild mountain man."
"A what?"
"You know what I mean. When he gets here, I think he'd rather see some shiny metal on our fingers showing how serious we are about marriage and shit rather than what we actually are."
"And what the hell is that, Riley?"
"Well think about it," she bent over and picked up the crate of beers, flicking her ponytail back over her shoulder. "How the hell am I going to introduce you? 'Hey Dad, here's Miller, he's my boyfriend and we like to fuck a lot, shoot bad guys and dance drunk to Rolling Stones tracks'."
"Sounds perfectly American to me," I said.
"Right?" she grinned. "But to my Dad, he's only going to hear the fucking part."
"Do we have to explain it quite like that?"
"No, of course not, but that's what he'll read between the lines. Then what? How awkward will our lovely evening meal be if all the time he's picturing us doing it on the kitchen table he's eating off?"
"That was last month, and I spent an hour cleaning and polishing that thing."
"I don't think you're seeing the bigger picture here, honey."
"I think I see the picture better than you do at this point," I said as we made our way towards the house. "You're fretting too much instead of enjoying the fact that your family have a chance to get out of the war-torn place they call home and truly relax for a bit. Maybe you should just sit back, have a beer and let me finish this list, okay?"
She looked at me and tried to smile, but it was a little shaky.
"Sure, Miller. You're right, of course," she said and sniffed. "Jesus, they've been in that refugee camp all this time. Can you believe it? A refugee camp in DC, in fucking America, for Americans. This is a real shitstorm and I can't get my head around it."
I opened the kitchen door for her, and she walked in, setting the beers down on the sparklingly clean tabletop. Then she kicked off her boots and undid the band holding her hair back. It flowed out onto her shoulders and she tossed her head, letting it all spread evenly.
"I could murder a cup of tea if we have any left," she said.
"I'll make us a pot."
I put the kettle on the stove and found the jar of leaves. Outside the night was flowing in, wrapping itself around the empty student huts and the training grounds. I looked at it through the window as Riley massaged her scalp with both hands.
"It's going to be totally different, seeing my sister face to face, isn't it?" she asked.
"I think so," I replied.
"Jesus, it'll be like telling her about Alex all over again. It was awful the first time, but to do it again, to dig it up, to see the pain she must feel every day."
I moved around behind her, putting my hands on her shoulders and began to work out the stress from her neck. She groaned and leaned into me, closing her eyes as I gently pressed out the knots of muscle there.
"Just be yourself, love," I said. "Don't try to be anything else for them."
"Understood. I'm sure it'll be fine. And I think you'll like my old man."
"You said he worked construction back in the day?" She nodded.
"Until he fell off a ladder that he didn't know wasn't safe to use. Someone's head rolled that day, I bet. So, he was out with a busted back right up until I left for the Army."
"What about now?" She smiled.
"Mom told me that not long after I left, he got all fired up and made a few phone calls. Old contractors, that sort of thing. One of them took him on as a consultant and he made a few dollars helping out with designs and planning. Got promoted to foreman five years ago."
"So, he turned it around?"
"Yeah, he did. Until all this happened."
I finished the massage and kissed the top of her head as the water boiled.
"Everyone needs a Miller," she whispered. "I'm glad I found mine."
As I broke away, Riley grabbed my hand and kissed the knuckles.
"I love you," she said.
"I love you too."
We drank our tea on the porch and watched the night come. I threw a blanket over the both of us and we stood there in silence as the birds drew their songs to a close and the insects took up the refrain. The stars were out now and they shone above, reminding us of all the long nights out in the wilds, of a time before there'd been something called 'us' and, inevitably, to the time where we began, to the snow and the ruined farmhouse we'd fought for our lives in. My empty hand settled on Riley's thigh, the one with the scar, and her own hand closed over it.
"Yep," was all she said, nodding once. Then we drank the last of our tea and got lost in our thoughts for another day.