by Helene Gadot
Stupid fucking Legion.
The Brit yanked her out of the vehicle and marched her into the house. She jerked out of his grip and walked through the door on her own. He scoffed, but didn't touch her again. Good. She didn't like to be touched. Not by strangers. Especially by Legion members.
They led her through the foyer into the living room, surprising her with pale blue couches and push gray chairs around a white coffee table. She expected something in chromes and blacks.
"Sit down."
Ridley sighed, but obeyed the command from the big one who acted as the leader. The four men removed their masks, and she gaped at the leader.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Fuck.
It was Maddox, the sexy biker from a few weeks before. He knew where she worked and lived.
Shit. Damn. Fuck.
He reached for her mask, raising his brows when she flinched. He frowned and ripped it off. "You." He all but spat the words at her.
"You know her?" the Brit asked.
Maddox's green eyes burned into hers. "She's the one who fixed my bike. Ridley."
The surfer boy's eyes widened. "The one you..."
Ridley sat back, letting a mask of arrogance replace the one Maddox ripped off. "Yeah, I'm the one he fucked."
"Well, this complicates things." The one who had barely looked up from his phone finally spoke.
"How?" The Brit asked. "It was just one night. She ghosted on his ass. All the more reason to take her into the Legion so they can deal with her."
She scoffed. "Yes, take me to your commanders so I can get the chance to explain to them they need to run better background checks on the assholes they let join." She ignored the panic slithering up her spine.
Maddox's brows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"
"That ace you just saved? He raped a woman and has since been stalking her. And you idiots just arrested me in front of him, so he has no reason to worry about going after her again. And my guess? He's going to be pissed off she got me involved." She leaned forward and scowled at them, furious all over again.
She dared them to even mention proof.
8-Maddox
Maddox still reeled from the discovery of the woman's identity. If it weren't for Cormac telling him not to act like a desperate, moon-eyed stalker, he would have returned to her shop and demanded answers for why she gave him a fake number, especially when he knew her name and where she worked. He'd never made a connection with someone so quickly.
And she was a criminal.
Cormac snorted. "I told you he was a prick."
Maddox frowned. "Why would she have come to you?"
Her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip. "She didn't. Her friend did."
"Okay, but why?" None of this made sense. It was supposed to be simple. Question her, take her to the Legion, wash their hands of the problem.
Reese leapt to his feet and paced the room, running his hands through his hair. "Because she's the one. She helps women the police can't help. Fuck. You helped my sister before I got a chance to." He turned and stared at the woman with wide eyes and a gaping jaw.
Maddox reeled as things clicked into place.
Ridley's mask didn't crack. "Who was your sister?"
"Leigh Rollins."
Ridley nodded. "You're Reese. She mentioned you. I remember her. Has she had any problems since? She never contacted me again."
"She's fine. He left her alone. You terrified him."
A wicked smile spread across her plush lips. "Good."
"Like I said. Complicated." Beckett looked up from his phone. "Guys, it's even worse."
"What?" Maddox all but growled the question.
"There's a file on her, but it's classified at the highest level. Even I can't hack it. Not tonight anyway. It'll take me a few days or even weeks."
Ridley swayed back against the couch, her eyes wide and finally showing fear. "How the fuck do you find that?"
Beckett shrugged like it was nothing. "I took a photo of you and ran it through facial recognition."
Ridley's body stiffened and she couldn't hide the terror in her blue eyes. "The Legion's?"
What was she running from? Part of him wanted to shake the answers out of her, the other part of him wanted to wrap her in his arms and calm her panic.
Beckett shook his head. "No, my own program. The Legion can't see anything I search for."
She blew out a relieved breath. "Okay. Okay." She sucked in another deep breath, like she was staving off a panic attack.
What the hell was wrong with her?
She cleared her throat. "What do you want from me?"
Maddox crossed his arms, smirking at the way she eyed his muscles. "We're not sure yet. The four of us need to discuss it. First, tell us about the man you attacked tonight."
She glared at all of them. "He's a crusty skidmark from your Legion who doesn't understand what the word no means. The police couldn't do anything, the Legion refused to do anything. So I was taking care of it until you shitstains got involved." She seemed to forget about the handcuffs when she tried to reach up and brush her hair off her shoulder. She cursed at the reminder.
"You were torturing a Legion member right out in the open. Of course we got involved."
She matched Cormac's scowl with a matching one of her own. "If you took care of your own, I wouldn't have been. He was on his way to her apartment. He left her a box of snakes last time. He's escalating."
Her words about the Legion didn't surprise Maddox. He worked for the organization, but he wasn't blind to the issues or the extreme lack of heroism some of the aces had.
A sick sensation spread through his stomach at the knowledge they helped a piece of shit like that get away. "We will look into it. Give us the information on the woman and we'll talk to her."
Red colored her cheeks and fury sparked in her gorgeous blue eyes. "Fuck no. I'm not sending four hulking men to her. She's already terrified. I will take care of her. And him. Once you get over yourselves and let me go."
Maddox gave her a considering look. She was pure defiance and swagger, unapologetic for her actions, for her opinions. His team made her wary, but she didn't let it overwhelm her. And her illusions were stronger than any he'd seen before.
Now that he knew it was the same woman he hadn't been able to get out of his mind, he wanted her even more for their team.
But with her disdain for the Legion and her plain preference to work alone, he wasn't sure she'd be interested. They'd have to tempt her with something.
He glanced at his teammates, trying to suss out their thoughts and feelings on her. Reese would probably be on board since she saved his sister, and he was currently analyzing her with his bright blue eyes. Beckett's gaze kept bouncing between her face and his phone, probably trying to dig up as much info on her as he could. Cormac would be the problem. He stood with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face, distrust blazing from his gray eyes. He didn't make friends or trust easy. It took Reese a year to get past all the walls Cormac surrounded himself with and build a friendship.
"Give us a minute to talk and we'll figure out where to go from there."
Ridley snorted, but said nothing.
Maddox led his team into the kitchen.
9-Reese
Discovering Ridley was the same woman who saved his sister still had Reese reeling. There had been whispers of a marvel vigilante who took on abusive men and helped the women who they hurt. Since it was mostly regular humans, the Legion stayed out of it. They focused on bigger threats, ones that risked the country or world versus one person.
Their team was a little different, which made them outcasts in the Legion when they made the city their priority, patrolling the streets and taking on low-level mobsters and murderers. The Legion considered them the human's problem even though they were marvels.
He had tried to find info on Ridley after his sister admitted everything, but she was a ghost and Leigh refused to give him any information on who helped her.
He'd been furious Leigh hadn't come to him for help, but she'd been ashamed and scared and felt stupid for how deep she'd gotten. And she didn't want to ruin his career and reputation with the Legion. Like he gave a shit about that. The rest of his team would have backed him up when they killed the fucker.
But Ridley had put the asshole into a fucking coma. It took three weeks for him to come out of it, and he still wasn't quite the same.
Maddox sighed. "I know what I want to do, but I need your thoughts first."
Reese snorted. "You want to fuck her again."
Maddox glared at him. "No. Well, fuck. Yes. But that's not what I'm talking about right now."
Reese laughed. He didn't blame Maddox. She was gorgeous and mysterious and badass. He wanted to fuck her too. He wanted her trapped between him and Cormac.
He glanced over at his friend and occasional lover, trying to gauge Cormac's interest. He wasn't filled with hope at what he found—the harsh line of Cormac's clenched jaw, the stubborn set of his shoulders, the storm clouds in his eyes.
"You want her to join the team."
"She'd be a real asset. Especially against our current target. And he's just her type of scumbag."
Beckett shrugged. "I'm in. I like her. Though it worries me how little I can find out about her. It doesn't even have her name. Just a photo at least ten years old like it was taken when she was still in high school. She's running from something and she covered her tracks well. Or someone did."
Reese's brows raised. Beckett could find anything on that phone of his. Who was she?
She definitely could be an asset. And Beckett loved a challenge, since he so rarely got them. It made complete sense that he wanted her around until he could discover all her secrets.
Reese agreed. "I'm in for a trial basis. Let her help us with our current job and see how we fit."
Cormac threw his hands into the air. "You're all idiots and thinking with your dicks instead of your brains. She is black-listed. Someone high in command erased her. She just tortured a guy with a smile on her face. Beckett can't find anything on her. If she wasn't so hot, we would have already loaded her up and taken her to the Legion."
Reese frowned. "She saved my sister."
"She put the guy in a coma. She didn't get your sister better security or find proof on the guy so he could be put away. She just beat the bloody hell out of him until he was all but dead."
And Reese was grateful for it. "I would have done the same thing, maybe worse, and you would have helped me."
"Yes. Because I care about you and your sister. Because you love your sister. That woman in there didn't know her." Cormac pointed to the door. "That woman has some serious demons chasing her and the last thing we need is to add them to our team."
Maddox sliced his hand through the air. "Enough. I understand your concerns, Cormac. It's partially why I want to include her in this job. I'm not comfortable bringing her into the Legion since she helped Reese's sister and is apparently doing jobs neither the police or the Legion can or will handle. But I am also not comfortable just letting her go. Not without knowing who she really is. I agree that she's definitely running from something. It could be she's a criminal on the run and if she is, I will personally hand her over. But if it's something else, like I believe, then perhaps she'd make a perfect addition to the team."
Reese knew it was something else. Maddox had only joined the Legion for the resources, but Reese was very aware one day Maddox would turn his attention to the corruption inside the organization. If Ridley had secrets that would help them bring it down, Maddox wanted to know them.
Beckett glanced up from his phone. "She isn't going to want to join us. She's pissed we fucked up her job. And she doesn't seem like she plays well with others. And I think we make her nervous."
"Then don't give her a choice." Cormac growled the words.
"You changing your mind?" Maddox asked.
"You three idiots want her here and while I still think we should just hand her over and be done with it, I admit I'm curious. And I figure we at least owe her a little for what she did for Reese's sister."
Reese stroked his fingers along Cormac's bicep, smirking at the small smile Cormac tried to hide. Cormac acted like an asshole, but he wasn't one. He just had some prickly personality traits. Understandable with the childhood he had. They all had dark pasts, something Reese believed drew them together. Something similar was drawing them to the woman in their living room.
He looked over at his leader. "She is not going to appreciate being blackmailed into working with us."
Maddox shrugged. "She'll get over it."
"Will she?"
Maddox grimaced and ran a hand through his long hair. "Hopefully. We can't just let her go. Technically, what she's been doing is illegal. Though I don't object morally."
None of them did. Even Cormac.
His issue was letting someone else in, having someone he didn't trust at their backs. Not judgment for her actions.
10-Ridley
They left her alone in their living room for a while. What more was there to discuss? They would obviously turn her over to the Legion. They may not have completely disapproved of her actions, but they had a protocol to follow.
And once the Legion had her in custody, it was only a matter of time before they figured out who she really was. Which would leave all her careful planning in ashes.
Dammit all to hell.
And she couldn't fucking believe the last guy she brought home was the leader of this team. She didn't believe in coincidences, but he seemed as shocked as she was when he pulled off her mask. If she found out he'd been following her, she would do exactly to him what she'd done to so many others. He knew where she worked and lived, it wouldn't have been difficult for him. She wasn't sure what his powers were, but as careful as she was, it was still possible.
And he knew about Malia. He'd met her the morning after.
Shit.
It kept getting better and better.
She considered the front door, wondering how far she could get without her powers and no transportation. But Maddox knew where she lived and worked, so they'd just come after her and be even less willing to let her go.
She blew out a loud and frustrated breath, rolling her shoulders. Stupid fucking Legion.
Maddox strode into the living room, the rest of his team trailing him. Without their masks and their uniform jackets, they looked more like a rock band than a Legion squad. Each one of them were covered in tattoos and piercings.
Maddox had long brown hair with blond highlights brushing his shoulders, his muscles bulging, his green eyes bright against his dark skin, two rings in one of his brows. Reese had messy blond hair falling across his forehead in a mass of curls, his eyes the color of the ocean, tribal designs spiraling up his arms, earrings glittering in both his lobes. The Brit had the most tattoos; they peeked up from his shirt collar and dipped all the way to his fingertips. He was the smallest of them, but he made up for it in pure menace, his steel-gray eyes slicing into her. And lastly, the one attached to his phone. He was middle eastern with gleaming amber eyes he used to inspect her, stripping away her barriers with nothing but his intelligent gaze. He had earrings too, small black gages. He had less tattoos than the others, but still more than most Legion members.
It's why she hadn't tagged Maddox as Legion. Most of them dressed like wannabe soldiers, their hair buzzed short, their uniforms pressed, their boots shiny.
These guys had rips in their black pants and their black tees were much tighter than regulation. Even the black uniforms were unusual. Legion members liked the bright colors, making sure they're easy to see, easy to show up on camera while they swooped in to save the day.
Who were these guys?
Maddox wasn't the only one who was too hot. Now there were four of them. Shit.
She narrowed her eyes at the triumph on Maddox's face.
Ridley crossed her legs and raised a brow, forcing a cocky smirk onto her l
ips. "So? What's the verdict?"
Maddox dropped a file in her lap. "You're going to help us on a job. Then, perhaps we'll let you go."
She pushed out a harsh laugh. "Fuck no. I'm not helping the Legion."
Maddox gestured at the folder. "Take a look at the file. I think you might be interested in helping us get him off our streets."
She buried her curiosity. "Even if he's someone I'd love nothing more than to shoot between the eyes, I work alone."
"Do you?" He cocked his pierced brow.
"Yes."
He stepped closer, something predatory in his gait. "Because no way was that force field part of your illusion power. And I met your partner. The one who works with you at the garage. I assume she was there tonight?"
Fuck. "Nope. She's human. She has no part in it."
"Bullshit."
She tilted her head to the side with a grin. "Prove it."
His smile didn't reassure her. "I could always bring her in and run her information. After we take you to the Legion."
Fury washed over her in waves, painting everything in shades of red. "So, you're blackmailing me into helping you."
He tapped his lips with his finger. "I prefer to think of it as giving you the proper incentive."
"Call it whatever the fuck you want. It's blackmail." She scowled at the rest of them, who remained quiet, letting Maddox rip her world apart.
"It's your choice. You can help us out or we can take you in."
Ridley scoffed. "A choice, huh? You fucking assholes are Legion aces. You can't handle whatever is in this file?"
"We can. But your particular talents would be incredibly helpful."
She tossed her head. "Of course they would. I'm awesome."
"Look. Just work with us on this and we'll make sure you stay off the Legion's radar."
There was no way they wanted her on the team just to catch one bad guy. There was something else they were after and as hot as she was, she didn't think it was because they wanted to fuck her.
She gnawed on the inside of her cheek, searching for a way out of this, but nothing came to her. To keep her secrets safe and to keep Malia out of it, she would have to agree and work with these assholes.
