A/N: Woo an update finally. Sorry it took me forever to update this I had a slight case of writer's block. I also want to say a few things. 1) I haven't read the books yet so this story will be based on the games and the wiki's. 2) Hunter will be in it a lot until the story starts to mend with the events of 2033 for a few reasons. I actually liked Hunter and hate that we know so little about him, so I decided to delve myself into him a little bit more. I want to make him more complex than just 'the best Ranger the Order has to offer', which is why I paired him with Riley. I also paired them together because I can't do slow burn to save my life and I knew once Ulman came into the picture they would end up together a lot sooner than I want. Anyways I hope you enjoy and feedback is always welcome!
Translations:
Mozhno ya tebya potseluyu = Can I kiss you
Ya tebya khochu = I want you
Kotik = Pussycat
Da = Yes
They were back at Volokolamskaya, Riley was expected to give her report after her father, Daniel and the rest of the leaders talked over other important business. Now she was resting in her room while Delta, Charlie and Echo were roaming the Metro nearby like they always do.
It was better than putting them in cages and her room was too tiny to house herself and three adult watchmans. At least in the metro they could hunt and eat whenever they wanted and when they slept, they were curled up by the entrance of the station with the men on watch.
Up on the surface watchman's were a danger but down in metro they were saviors. She lost count of how many lives they have saved in the last few years. But with all the Nosalises attacks, she doesn't know how long it'll be before they all get overwhelmed.
She sat down on her bed with a sigh, holding the teddy bear that Hunter brought from Polis for Alyona. Setting it aside she scrubbed a hand down her face, Alyona would be two by now and each day was a hassle to get through. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help but wonder what she would look like, who would she take after and how would her little voice sound. Questions she'll never get answers too.
Her attention was brought to her door when she heard a knock on it, looking up to see Hunter standing in her doorway. "May I come in?"
"Of course."
He shut the door behind him, walking over to her bed and sat down beside her. A small smile spread across his face as he saw the teddy bear sitting behind her, he picked it up and looked down at it. "You didn't push me away when you got pregnant Riley. It was a shock at first, I wasn't expecting it, I should've but I didn't. I loved her though, from the moment she came into this gruel world. And now I have this hole in my heart that can't be filled."
"I do too. I don't think anything will ever fill that void she left."
Hunter set the teddy bear aside, then glanced around her room. Things were the same since the last time he was in there, though what they were doing was completely different.
"I haven't been in here in over a year and it still looks like how I remember it. A lot of good memories happened in here."
"More like a lot of good memories happened in this bed." She looked over at him and sighed. "I can still remember our first time. How I nearly became dinner for a Demon, how you risked your own life to save me. I can still see myself pacing in this very room, trying to calm myself down. Then you came over to check on me…..and the rest is history."
Four and a half years ago…..
They were back at the station now and Riley was pacing around her room trying to calm her shaky nerves. How could she be so stupid, going out into the open like that? All because she saw something and wanted to check it out, even when Hunter told her it was too dangerous she didn't listen.
Now she couldn't get the damn roar of the Demon out of her head, how it tried to claw its way towards her, drooling at its mouth. If it wasn't for Hunter killing it, who knows how long it would've been before it gave up and left.
Riley jumped when she felt a hand on her arm, turning to see Hunter standing behind her. He wasn't wearing most of his gear, just his gray camouflage pants and his navy striped tank top.
"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I was stupid."
"That doesn't matter now, what matters is that you're alive." He cupped her cheek, caressing the smooth skin below his finger. "How're you holding up?"
"I'm still shaking." She looked down to see her hands shaking, she closed them in tight fists to try and make them stop. "I just want to forget."
"It's the adrenaline, it'll go away in due time." He slid his the hand that cupped her cheek down to her collarbone, then down to her arm. Making sure the strap to her gray tank top fell down her arm nearly revealing one of her breasts. "I think I can help you forget."
"And how would you help?" She looked up into his blue eyes, almost pleadingly. "I don't think I'll ever forget."
He leaned down until he came to her ear, whispering. "Mozhno ya tebya potseluyu."
Riley looked up at him, slightly narrowing her eyes. "Why now? Why wait years when you could have made an advance on me way before now?"
Hunter grabbed her arm, pulling her to his chest and crushed their lips together. She gasped and tensed at the sudden contact, only to settle a bit and kiss him back. He pulled away looking down into her green eyes.
"I'm not someone to settle down Riley, I'll always be in the Metro or on the surface, never staying in one place more than a week. Is that someone you want?"
"Yes. Hunter our relationship will be the same, the only difference is we'll be more intimate with each other. Besides I can always come with you, I am an adult."
"I don't think your father will allow that. It's dangerous in the Metro."
Riley scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I can handle myself, I also have Delta, Charlie and Echo with me. What can the Nosalises and Lurkers do to them?"
"I'm not talking about the mustants." She watched as his eyes turned dark, making her gulp. "I'm talking about Nazis, Communists and Bandits. Men that will kill your Watchers without blinking an eye, then take you for themselves. All they'll see is a beautiful young women waiting to be broken in, and they'll break you in, nice and rough. I won't let that happen, you're safer here."
She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him again. When she pulled away she gave him a small smile. "You can't protect me forever Hunter, there's going to come a day when I need to leave this station. And aren't you the one that keeps saying I'll make a great Ranger someday? I can't be a Ranger if I don't go to Polis."
"You were always stubborn." He hung his head and sighed. "But you're feisty and a hell of a fighter." He met her gaze. "This is a conversation for another time. I almost lost you out there today and it's made me think." He grabbed her hand leading her to the bed, he sat down, and she followed soon after. "We've grown close in the last four years Riley, every time I would come here I knew you'd be waiting for me at the gates with a smile on your face. I want us to be more, I want you. Riley you deserve someone who won't leave for months on end, someone you won't have to wait for."
"Who says I want that? You know me Hunter, you know I would've thought up every single scenario that could happen between us. And I know you, you wouldn't have kissed me if you didn't want to make this more official. I know who I want, I'm just not sure you do."
Riley moved up her bed to lie down on her pillow, leaving Hunter to do whatever he wanted. She was now starting to think it was stupid of her to fall for him - she couldn't help it though, the more time she spent with him the more she fell.
He looked over at her, then moved over behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissed her neck. "I know who I want Riley and I nearly lost her today."
She maneuvered herself onto her back to look at him, she grabbed his hand placing it onto her cheek. "You didn't, and I'm only alive because of you."
"I wasn't going to let you die, not now, not ever." He leaned down crushing their lips together again, this time more hungrily. His hand slid down her neck, moving the fabric of her tank below her breast and took it in his hand. "Ya tebya khochu."
She gently pushed him away, taking the hem of her tank top in her hands and pulled it over her head, discarding it on the floor. "And I want you, now can we get to the part where I'm screaming your name?"
"Patience kotik, patience." He nudged her legs apart, placing himself between them. "I'm going to make you beg for it."
"I nearly died and you're gonna have me beg for your cock?" She narrowed her eyes a bit, and smirked. "I'm not sure I'm the one that needs to be begging, I can hold out longer than you and you're already rock hard."
"You're very adamant that you'll hold out Riley." He bent down, kissing her neck. "You don't know what I can do to make you a quivering mess beneath me."
"Then show me kotik."
xXx
Through heavy breaths Riley was cleaning herself up with a rag Hunter gave her. She could see him watching her from her peripheral vision, making her softly smile. When she turned to him, she saw how content and….happy he was, something she never thought she would see in him. Setting the rag beside her, she covered herself up with the blanket.
"Okay, you were right." She chuckled. "That was mind blowingly good."
"It was." He sat up a little more, making sure the blanket still covered his privates. "I would be lying if I haven't thought about this for months."
"You didn't have to wait until I nearly died to show how you really felt about me. I would've returned the same feelings." She leaned over, giving him a chaste kiss. "But it was definitely worth the wait."
"Da, it was." He took her hand into his, gazing into her green eyes. "You really want to go through with this? No matter what this relationship brings?"
"I do. Do you?"
"I wouldn't have asked you if I wasn't sure Riley."
She shot him a glare and shook her head. "Don't be rude, or the next time you want to have sex you'll be using your hand."
The sound of her door sliding opened made them turn to it.
"Hey Riley have you seen Hun…..oh, okay never mind." She laughed at her brother standing in her doorway with his mouth slightly agape. He glanced between them both, clearly knowing what happened before he walked in, then settled his gaze on Hunter. "Hunter my dad wanted to speak with you. I'll tell him you'll meet him in twenty minutes?"
"No, I'll meet him in five."
"Okay." Ryder turned around and started to leave, only to stop and look back in. "I'm glad you two finally worked up the courage to tell each other how you really feel. It was about time."
Riley scoffed as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Present time…...
"I want to start over Riley. I had a lot of time to think in the past year and a half and it wasn't fair to you that I just went distant and cold after our daughter's death, when I should have been here for you."
She blinked her eyes a few times, contemplating if she should. "Was this what you meant when you said there was a lot I don't know?"
Hunter nodded his head and rubbed the back of his neck. So much had happened in the past year and a half that he wasn't sure if she would want to start over or even want him back in her life. He would understand though if she didn't, it was his fault to begin with.
"After Alyona's death, I had an anger inside me I couldn't control, nor did I want too. So I sought out anything that would curb my anger, mutants, bandits to name a few. Nothing did and I felt numb. I didn't want you to see me like that, I didn't want to lose that sparkle in your eyes every time you saw me." He took a deep breath before continuing. "A few months ago, I was going back to Polis to see if Miller needed me to go on another mission - and all I could think about was you. Your smile, your laugh, your teasing when we went out into Metro. I had so much anger inside me that it hid how much I missed you. I spent over a year going on mission after mission to get my anger out and doing so I neglected and hurt the one person left on this earth that I loved."
Riley could feel the tears welling in her eyes, she moved a little closer to him, then took his hand into hers. "We all mourn differently Hunter and I don't blame you for not wanting me to see you that way. I knew things would be tough after her death, I just never expected you to up and leave without a word. And that hurt. We've been through hell and back and all it took was the death of our child to make us strangers again." With her free hand she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Even after everything, I never stopped loving you. And I do want to start over, but things need to change."
"What did you have in mind?"
She stood up and sighed, then turned to him. " Just…...don't go M.I.A when something goes terribly wrong, no matter what it is. I can't stand the thought of losing you."
He stood up, easily towering over her. He gently grabbed her hand, pulling her into a hug. Her arms wrapped around his waist, head resting against his chest. Her bottom lip began to quiver from the sudden contact with him, and she let out a sob. She thought she lost him, for good, that they would never come together to talk about what happened and the very close relationship they had would be gone. But as his arms tighten around her, she knew that wasn't true.
"I'm so sorry Riley."
"It's okay." She looked up at him, wiping the tears from her eyes. "So what now?"
"Why don't you tell me what I missed, you were mourning too and I'll never forgive myself for what I did."
She pulled away from him and sat back down with a sigh, taking the teddy bear into her hands, she fiddles with one of the black button eyes. "I went into the Metro a lot more, I couldn't be in this room anymore, all I could see was her. I wasn't angry, just depressed and going out into the Metro gave me a piece of mind."
"Did you have Delta, Charlie and Echo with you?"
"Of course." She took a deep breath and Hunter nodded his head. "At one point I thought they would be the only children I had, hell the thought of bringing a child into this world used to terrify me. Then Alyona happened and that was that. I always thought people and mutants would be the greatest threat, not a virus. How can you protect a child from a virus?"
He knew that was a rhetorical question and in this state of the world vaccines were a few and far in between. "You can't. You just have to let it run its course."
"Yeah." She set the teddy bear aside, and looked down at her hands. "There was one instance where my anger did get out of control. I wish I could say I regret what I did but I don't, he deserved it." She clenched her hands and sighed. "I was out in the Metro, trying to clear my head and guess who followed me out there? Alexsei. He thought I was out there looking for you, I guess in a way I was. He made his quips about you like he always did when you weren't there, that didn't bother me. I just scoffed and kept walking, then he brought his religion and Alyona into the mix."
Hunter clenched his fist, and sighed through his nose. "What did he say?"
"He said God took our daughter away because we didn't deserve her. That wasn't what pushed me over the edge though I knew he was lying about that. What did, was when he said we were neglectful parents. That we cared about each other more than our own flesh and blood."
"I would've killed him if he said that to me." He said through gritted teeth. "What did you do?"
"Shot him in the leg with my pistol. He didn't like that much since he hit me and raised his kalash." She glanced over at him, seeing the anger in his eyes. "I didn't care, he wasn't worth the energy, so I turned around to leave. Next thing I hear is the kalash going off and a sharp pain in my shoulder." She moved her sleeve down to show him the scar from the bullet that went into her shoulder. "I guess he tried to make it even, but I won. Delta took his leg."
"Good."
"Yeah, I would've killed him though, but seeing him wither in fear and pain was a lot better." Riley linked their arms together, resting her head on his arm. "I've missed this."
Before Hunter could say anything there was a knock at her door. "Riley?"
"Come in dad."
She moved her head away from Hunter's arm as her door slid open. Her father walked in rubbing the back of his neck and had a worried look on his face. Walking over to the wooden crate she had in her room he sat down on it.
"Is everything okay?"
"The council isn't doing anything about the Nosalis attacks, they think it's just a random phenomenon that will pass."
"Of course they are." Riley scoffed. "Do you still want me to try and find out where they're coming from?"
"That's up to you." He glanced between them both, a small smile spreading across his face. "I see you two finally made up. I'm glad."
"We have." Hunter looked over at her with a soft smile. "It was about time I apologized for what I did in my mourning. I didn't mean to hurt her."
"We both know you didn't Hunter and I can't even begin to understand the heartbreak you two must have felt when she past. No parent should have to bury their own child."
Riley looked down at the floor and sighed. "I miss her."
"We all do sweetheart. I can't believe she would be two right now, I can still remember when you were that age."
"I was looking forward to the terrible twos, hell I was looking forward to everything. It's not fair."
"No it's not." Her dad sighed then stood up. "I'll leave you two alone now, I'm sure you guys still have a lot to talk about."
They both watched him leave, closing the door behind him. She laid down on the bed and after a little hesitation on Hunter's part, he did too, cuddling up behind her. He nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist, then let out a content sigh.
Out of everything he missed this the most. Snuggling up to Riley after a long day, feeling her body against his as they laid in bed in silence. Nothing gave him a better piece of mind than having her in his arms.
"Riley?"
She turned her body a little to get a better look at him. "Yeah?"
"Thank you for giving me another chance, even when I don't deserve it."
"Yes you do." She cupped his cheek feeling the stubble under her palm. "Hunter I love you and I would've given you another chance no matter what."
He leaned down until their lips met - the first kiss in over a year. He pulled back, seeing that her eyes were still closed, the kiss lingering on both their lips. When she opened them, she blinked a few times and smiled up at him.
"I love you too!" He laid back down, bringing her back into his arms. "I want you to come back to Polis with me."
"Really? You really want me to come?"
"Da, I do. We can start over there, you can become the Ranger you've always wanted. You'll be safer in Polis, with me."
She glanced to the wall then back into his blue eyes. "Okay!"
