You Do What You Have To – 24

 

"You're fucking crazy," Micky spat out. "Nothing's worth putting yourself through that, not matter how badly you want information."

 

"Tell that to the kids we might save if we can shut him down."

 

"You had to say that, didn't you?" Micky muttered.

 

"Yeah," Robin replied, "because it's true. And on that note, I'm going to take a shower and head to bed. Feel free to watch TV, or read, or whatever." He left the room very abruptly, heading upstairs with Thor right behind him.

 

I shouldn't have pushed. How he… How any of the people he works with do their job is not my business—as long as they get results. Still… Micky shivered. There's no way I could do it. I don't have the guts, the kind of nerve it takes to go undercover to deal with bastards like Darren and Mackenzie.

 

He heard the shower turn on and realized he was as tired as Robin seemed to be. So he got up, turned off the lights in the living room and went to get ready for bed. He put on sweatpants to sleep in and was debating taking a shower too, when there was a rap on his door.

 

When he opened it, Robin said, "Your turn."

 

Micky flinched, replying when Robin asked what was wrong, "The last time someone said that to me, they ended up getting shot while I was washing up."

 

"Not going to happen to me. This place it too secure."

 

"I'm sure Darren thought that as well."

 

"Come on. I'll show you," Robin replied, turning to walk down the hall. He was wearing pajama pants, and had a towel flung over his shoulder. For a second, Micky admired his lean but muscular back—until he saw fading lash marks on the uncovered shoulder. Micky resisted commenting, knowing it would do no good.

 

Robin turned to look at him, grinning. "You coming, or are you just going to stand there and admire the view."

 

"Well, it is a nice one," Micky retorted. Even if it is damaged.

 

"You're not so bad yourself. Do you work out?"

 

Micky snorted, catching up with him. "I walk a lot, since I don't own a car, but that's about it."

 

"Seems to do the job." Robin led the way down to the laundry room. Opening a cabinet door next to the stacked washer and dryer, he slid the back of it aside to reveal a control panel. "As I told you, the fence is monitored by motion sensors."

 

"Well, you didn't… Yeah, I guess you did," Micky said.

 

"Yep. It, as well as the perimeter of the house." Robin tapped the screen, which showed a top view of the area. "Anything breaches it, I get a signal on my phone, and if I'm home, I come down here to find out where. There's also the normal security system. It's armed, except when I enter or leave."

 

"Meaning I can't slip out while you're sleeping."

 

"Were you planning on it?"

 

"Maybe for a minute, when we first got here," Micky admitted.

 

"Well don't. I'd hate to shoot you, thinking you were an intruder."