S.W.A.T
Chapter 4
Katrina threw herself onto one of the benches in the cafeteria, groaning as she threw an arm over her eyes. Riley found the strength to laugh, dropping her tray with a loud clatter on the table. Caitlin, Kyrie, Roxie, and Aimee-Lee sat on the other side of the table. Riley looked down the table where the other team vying to become a S.W.A.T team was sitting. They looked about as bad as they did.
The women dug eagerly into their food, glad for the air conditioning.
Riley paused between mouthfuls of the pizza on her tray to say, "You should see what happens when they're pissed off." Varying degrees of horror appeared on her teammates' faces as they imagined.
"I'd rather not," Roxie said through her food.
"Never thought," Kyrie said, lifting the piece of pizza, and watching the grease slid off it, "I'd be this grateful for something that looks this…disgusting."
"It's kinda good," commented Roxie.
"Or maybe you're just too hungry to notice," Aimee-Lee reasoned.
"If I am, then we all are."
"No doubt," snorted Riley.
Caitlin passed a look down the table, seeing that the other team had somehow persuaded Shawn Michaels to sit down with them. She pointed to him with her fork, "Who's that?" she asked Riley, who took her time to assess the way that the girls seemed to be competing for his attention.
"Shawn Michaels. He's sort of a legend; he's been around longer than he'd like people to remind him of. Some accident put him out for a while, but he's back."
"Yippee," commented Roxie sarcastically, staring at the pudding, and poking it with her spoon. "Are they feeding us slime?"
Riley looked at the white, chunky pudding that looked like sour milk on her spoon, "Well, the more taste buds that kills, the less we notice how horrible the rest of the food is."
"People eat this?" Katrina asked in surprise.
"Yup," Riley responded, lifting her unopened pudding, "Anybody want mine?" they shared disgusted looks. She looked down at the other tables, a grin coming to her face. She nudged Katrina, jerking her head toward the table.
Hunter was sitting there, cleaned off, all except for his hair. He'd somehow gotten it down, but the hair spray remaining made his hair look slimy – and the pink didn't help any. On a closer look, the ends as well as his eyebrows had turned green. Roxie grinned.
"Oops," she said, not meaning it in the least. Riley looked at the other members of Rick's team. Randy's hair was an ugly yellow – which looked a bit like vomit – and still had little bits of toothpaste combed into it. He, unlike Hunter, wasn't able to get his hair style out. The girls had done his hair so it looked vaguely like devil horns. Chris Jericho's "beautiful mane" was dyed lime green with hot pink streaks, and done in so many tiny braids, he hadn't the time to undo them all.
"You really went all out, didn't you?" Riley asked.
"Apparently," Katrina spoke up.
"Hey," a voice said from behind them, "These seats taken?" Kyrie, Roxie, Aimee-Lee and Caitlin turned to face Jeff and Matt Hardy. Matt and Jeff ended up sitting between Aimee-Lee and Caitlin.
"Thanks for judging earlier," Riley said, unfazed by the prospect of someone out of their team sitting with them.
"It was no problem," Jeff responded, "You've got a good shot."
"Thanks."
There was silence after that as they finished their meals, making small conversations, mostly directed at Matt and Jeff.
"Never had the chance to thank you for what you did to Randy, Chris, and Hunter," Jeff said enthusiastically.
"Next time just stop by," grumbled Matt, "God knows we've got enough hair dye." Jeff rolled his eyes.
"Just because you don't have a good sense of style…"
"It seems like Rick's team has your sense of style," retorted Matt.
"What did you mean by thanks for what we did to Chris? He's a pretty nice guy," Riley said, cocking her head at Jeff. Kyrie caught something in her eyes, but it was gone as soon as it had come.
Matt took a long glance at her, "You've been gone long," he said slowly.
"Chris turned into an egomaniac a while ago… Like what, 5 years ago? Well, about a year after you left," Jeff said. Riley looked away for a spilt second, and then shrugged.
"Figures," was all she said.
There was silence again, until Caitlin started up a conversation with Matt. Naturally, the group jumped right in, commenting on what they said and listening. "Don't look now," Jeff warned suddenly, "The 'living legend' is coming over here."
"A Living Legend?" Riley asked as Chris Jericho and Randy Orton made their way to their table. "A bit cocky, don't you think?"
"More than a bit," murmured Matt.
Chris made his approach known as he sauntered over, taking great time in studying each of them, until his eyes fell on Riley. "Well, well, well," he said thoughtfully, "What do you know?" he turned to Randy, "I told you she'd be back," with added cockiness, he said, "She can't resist me."
"My friend here was saying that you are calling yourself a living legend," Riley interrupted, standing up, "Living Legend of what, per say?"
He wriggled his eyebrows at her, "You should know."
"A biscuit in my dog's kennel lasts longer than you," she snapped.
"You know," Chris said, burned by the insult, "You might be a record-breaker of a legend yourself. I mean, no one has gone to a mission and gotten 4 people killed before."
"No one has gone to a mission and saved over a hundred people," replied Riley evenly.
"If you'd listen to the commanding officer, maybe you wouldn't have gotten 4 people killed."
"Yeah, you're right," Riley said suddenly, "4 people wouldn't have died. Hundreds would've."
Her teammates, Matt, and Jeff watched the exchange with hidden interest. They had never thought of her life in S.W.A.T before now. They realized now that she'd left without warning. Kyrie entertained the thought that Chris Jericho's change in character might have something to do with her abrupt leave. This was the first that Riley had spoken about her last mission, and they wanted to know more, but Chris Jericho, finally defeated after several more minutes of arguing, sulked away. Riley grabbed Roxie's open pudding and threw it, hitting Chris directly in the back of his head. He swung around to see who had done it. When he saw her smile, he stuck up his middle finger.
"Is that your age, or your I.Q, sweetheart?" Riley shouted, the last word oozing with sarcasm. He glared at her, his upper lip curling, before heading back to the table. The other team looked a bit stunned for a second, but it passed quickly. "1 down, 4 more to go," she muttered beneath her breath, sitting down.
"Hey, you guys want to come and play poker later tonight?" Matt offered, knowing clear well that Riley had gotten a name by beating just about everybody in poker. They nodded.
"Just come to our room – 321, down the hall from yours – when you can after dinner and whatever else you girls do after dinner," Jeff said hurriedly as a shrill bell sounded.
"Does that mean what I think it means?" Aimee-Lee moaned.
"Welcome to hell," Riley said cheerfully.
"And the torture resumes…" Roxie muttered.
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A/N: Hope you like! Please review!