Wildlands (rskde & BurningWillows)

[Risky]

Winters nods. "I understand, and I don't think either of them hate you, they just need some space from you, to think about what has happened." He says to her, using his free hand to softly stroke her hair.

"Everything's gonna be alright, they'll get over it eventually and they'll focus on the real priority in this war."

 

[BurningWillows]

Katerina sighed, "I sure hope your right Kevin."

Sleep nagged at her, her nose aching from the punch, and Kevin's warmth lulling her, murmuring a goodnight she curled in to his arm, falling asleep.

The next morning Katerina felt a little less upset and a helluva lot more angry. Taking Kevin with her, Kat had a change of mind on the USB, wanting to give it to Shrake and get to the bottom of how the hell Narcos knew so much.

The two found him in the main lobby, looking tired like most of the rest of them.

"Shrake," her voice came out a little sharp, heading straight for him, "We need to chat."

As he looked up she continued, "Kevin has that damn info you needed on my USB drive, before you ask. What I want to know is how the hell did Skull Face and his cartel know so damn much about the investigation? They can't have bugged my phone, I left it behind. Can't have bugged Em or Al because neither of them knew about the plan till the day of, and there is no way in hell Narcos is that/i] organized. Did anyone else know? Because I have a bullet itching to embed itself in someone's skull right now."

She sounded angry but it wasn't directed at him. It was all for Narcos, and whoever ratted the Ghosts out.

 

[Risky]

"I love you, Kat." He says to her softly before wrapping his free arm around her and falling asleep next to her, their body heat prompting him to get some sleep easily.

In the morning he follows Kat out of the room, still groggy from sleep, he hands Shrake the USB drive, the Commander looks up at Kat and responds to her. "I did some research, I found the rat." He says to her, holding up his phone.

"His name is Harris, ex-CIA, came in here flashing a badge around and asking questions, so I've called him, we're meeting him two clicks up the road and we're kidnapping him." He explains, grabbing his rifle from next to him.

 

[BurningWillows]

She recognized the face. She had seen him once or twice with Narcos over the years, but they obviously had kept the part of him being ex-CIA from her. She had thought he was just another lackey, a spy for hire.

"I'm in," she growled, crossing her arms, "If this is the ass that got us kidnapped I want to a fucking piece of him."

Last night while they had all been in the helicopter, Kat had explained what happened to Shrake, Al remaining quiet and Kevin only added bits and pieces she might have missed. Their team lead was up to speed now, and well aware that Katerina was itching to put a bullet through someone's head.

She was surprised though at how easy Shrake had gotten the man to meet. With everything that had happened, that man was obviously compromised so why risk meeting with Shrake?

"Aren't you worried its another trap?" Katerina asked, raising an eyebrow, "By now he knows that we know who the mole was, which means agreeing to meet you can only be another trap."

 

[Risky]

Shrake shrugs. "Why would he want to kill us if he has the opportunity to find out more secrets, where our new base is, what kind of weapons we're packing, all of these things would be better than just killing a few of us and then the rest of us kicking their faces in." He explains to her.

"He's stupid, he has no idea his cover has been blown, he's arrogant and cocky, he thinks with his super special CIA skills he can fool us again, but this time, I ain't lettin' him do that." He says to the two of them.

 

[BurningWillows]

She listened and nodded, "I still don't feel entirely comfortable with it, but perhaps your right. However, if you bring all of us, he will get suspicious. Kevin and I can hang back, hidden, ready to jump in at a moments notice. If he sees me he'll know he's been compromised. I've met him before."

Smiling at Winters she looked around at the empty room, "Are Red or Al coming?"

She didn't even ask about Arya, knowing the burns she had suffered at the outpost would keep her close to base for another day or two.

 

[Risky]

Shrake laughs. "I'm only bringing you two, he'll think you're body guards, we'll bring him back here without pointing weapons at him and then jump his ass." Shrake explains to them, bringing his rifle to his chest.

"And if he gets suspicious, we just kill him and search him for any intelligible information." He says to the two Ghosts standing in front of him, he notices how bloodthirsty Kat looked, he understands why she might think that way, but he makes a note in the back of his mind not to trust her when it comes to infiltrating for information, she might pull the trigger faster than asking a question.

 

[BurningWillows]

She only saw one problem in the plan.

"I've met him," she admitted, turning slightly away as if she was uncomfortable, "With the cartel...I only saw him once or twice but they never let me in on those meetings. Thing is, he might get wary if he sees me. Hell he might just book it, knowing he's been compromised the minute I enter the scene. Should we risk it?"

The only other option she could see was sending Winters with him alone, leaving Katerina to lurk in the shadows. It would be good for backup if things went sour and necessary in case the ex-CIA agent decided to have his own men hidden, ready to pounce. She could take them out quietly, leaving Shrake and Winters to deal with this jerk.

 

[Risky]

Shrake nods. "Stick in the shadows, if he has anybody waiting for us you can go ahead and take them out, we'd better leave now if we want to be on time." The commander says to his two fellow Ghosts.

Winters grabs his HK 416 from the table and walks out with Shrake, leaving Red to guard the hotel from the roof with his rifle.

They walk up the road about two kilometers, and sure enough Harris is waiting for them, tapping his foot impatiently with his hands in his pockets.

 

[BurningWillows]

With that decided, they headed off, Kat waving at Red as they left. As they got closer Kat ducked into the trees, staying a good few yards behind them, well hidden. She waited until Shrake and Winters were close enough to Harris to keep him distracted and then she circled the area, her serrated knife in hand. She'd been right; there were five men hidden amongst the trees, spread out. She took them down one by one, silently and deadly as she snuck up and cut their throats, not a sound escaping their lips. Satisfied she moved back to where Harris, Winters, and Shrake were speaking. It had been at least ten minutes now, and she'd missed most of the conversation.

 

[Risky]

Shrake spots Katerina out of the corner of his eye and he knows it's clear, he grabs his FN45 and aims it at Harris. "Sorry bud, you're coming with us." Shrake says to the ex-CIA agent.

Harris raises his hands and Winters moves in behind him to bind his wrists together with a zip tie, they start walking Harris back to the hotel where they lock him in a broken elevator, using wooden planks and barricades to secure the broken door.

The elevator was perfect, they could drop food and water in through the top while also watching him with the cameras inside, the top was sealed shut until someone opened it from the outside and then sealed it again.

 

[BurningWillows]

Katerina waited till he was bound and tied to come out of the trees, a devilish grin on her face.

"Heyyy Harris," she purred, seeing recognition flash through his eyes, "Remember me?"

He said nothing, but sent a look that could kill in her direction. Kat only shrugged, letting Winters and Shrake deal with the rest. She had gotten some of the bloodlust out of her system when she was killing the men, but Katerina knew herself well. It was safer for the hostage they now had secured if Kat was not the one holding him. She'd probably break a few bones.

As they returned, the three locked him up, satisfied with their work.

"How long will we keep him isolated before we question him?" Katerina asked, standing back, "Because I know isolation alone won't affect him. He's trained to handle it. We may need a few tactics up our sleeve to crack him, and we don't want to be too slow or the cartel will catch on and come looking for him."

 

[Risky]

Shrake looks over at her and shrugs. "Let'em come." He says to her before walking over to their main arsenal, grabbing a pile of anti infantry explosives, claymores, Bettie's, etc.

"Put these around the perimeter, lemme deal with Harris." Shrake says to tge two of them, Winters walks out with an armful of explosives, starting to set them up.

Shrake walks over to the elevator intercom, it shows Harris inside. "Hey bud, how was your day?" Shrake asks, Harris raises a middle finger.

"Excellent, here's the deal.. I'm not giving you food until you answer my questions, a meal per question." He says over the intercom. "So, just tell me when you need food, we'll be killing your friends outside." Shrake says before leaving Harris to his business.

 

[BurningWillows]

Following Winters outside, she had her own portion, distributed them. She felt calm now, that raging bloodlust dormant for the time being. She still wanted Skull Face's head on a pike, but she didn't feel like storming off at this very second to do it.

"I'll go left if you go right," Kat exclaimed grinning, "Meet you around back."

Katerina went around the left side of the building where she couldn't see Snowy. She set each up with care, slowly making her way to the back where she caught sight of him again. Finishing up, she watched him place the last few explosives with a mischievous grin.

"You know, you look pretty hot with a gun, but your much cuter playing with explosives," she joked, laughing, that tension in her gut from last night momentarily lifting.

 

[Risky]

Winters laughs, rubbing the back of his head as he speaks. "Really? You look pretty cute yourself, bending over to place those down." He says to her. "Pretty nice view of your ass." He says before finishing up with the last explosive.

"We might have some time to ourselves before hell breaks loose, if you wanna take advantage of it." He says to her, starting to walk back inside of the hotel.

 

[BurningWillows]

"You like my ass huh?" she laughed harder, cocking her head, "Maybe I'll bend over a little more..."

She took a few steps with him, listening as he spoke, "Some time alone would be nice but those hotel walls are more paper thin than Casper was. Too bad we can't take a gander through the trees."

She looked around out of reflex, taking his hand as she did so and squeezing it lightly, "Maybe there's a shower in the basement we can steal, where no one can hear us? I still owe you that remember? Or we can see whats on the USB? I'm sure Shrake has uploaded it to his laptop by now."

 

[Risky]

Winters shakes his head. "The shower in our room has concrete walls and a solid wood door, I think we'll be alright if we just clean off." He says to her.

He squeezes her hand and leads her to their room, making sure to evade the other Ghosts while he took her their. He sits down on their bed and yawns. "Just tell me whenever you wanna get started." He says to her.

 

[BurningWillows]

She followed him without hesitation, quietly grinning that he had called it their room. As she closed the door he found a seat on the bed, and she caught his yawn from the corner of her eye.

"Maybe a nap is in order first," she smiled, "Take an hour handsome and I'll bring us up some snacks. It will give me a chance to ask Shrake about the USB anyways."

Before he could argue she gave him a steely look and a smile, "Don't worry. We can have that shower later."

Leaving once more, she wandered till she found Shrake, leaning against the door frame as she looked into the room, "Hey. How's our newfound prisoner? And have you had a chance to check out the USB? I'm really hoping something is on there, or everything that...happened...would be for nothing."

 

[Risky]

Winters nods. "I can't wait, beautiful." He says before laying back, his head resting against the pillow of the bed before he closes his eyes, quickly drifting off into sleep.

"Harris is doing lovely without food.. The only thing on the USB was patrol and supply routes, at least it's something." He says to her. "And they probably changed them now that we have access to it." He explains, handing her back the flash drive.

 

[BurningWillows]

She swore softly, then took the USB with a muttered thanks. Pocketing it, she ran her hands through her extensively long blonde locks.

"It's like he's mocking me," she sighed, talking mostly to herself, "He wants me to suffer, just for shits and giggles. At least the fucker won't get anything off the laptop. All the information on there is about his cartel and nothing more. All he got was a laptop full of what he already knows."

Crossing her arms she looked up at Shrake again, "Good luck with Harris. I'm going to go fix myself some lunch and make sure Red's doing alright on the roof."

 

[Risky]

Shrake nods. "Have fun." He says to her before grabbing a can of beer from the desk, cracking it open and taking a swig of it, having not tasted alcohol for awhile, the liquid hit him like a brick wall. "Wow it's been awhile." He says with a chuckle, sitting down and watching Harris through the monitor.

 

[BurningWillows]

​

His stomach was rumbling and his eyes stung but Red refused to give up his post. Not at least till someone took over. Scanning the area below, it surprised him a little as the door behind him to the stairwell opened with a creak. Looking back he spotted Katerina.

"Please say the foods for me," he grinned spotting the various goodies in her arms, "That or your here to relieve me."

"I'm no sniper," she shook her head, "Please would get past me too easily. Nah I thought I'd bring you some lunch and this."

She handed him two bags of chips and a couple protein bars.

"Thank you," he grinned, also excepting a jug of water and a bottle of sunscreen, "How's things going inside?"

"Well enough," she shrugged, "But I got to head back in. Promised Snowy food too."

Red's eyebrow arched up, well aware of the relationship between those two, "Just food huh?"

"Yep," she grinned, laughing as she turned away, "Food and a shower. Innocent things."

He couldn't help but laugh, knowing neither were probably innocent where she was concerned. Turning to his food and he munched on a protein bar as he continued to scan the ground below.

Katerina slipped back into her room, arm full of goodies. She had taken two bottles of beer, a couple bags of chips, some jerky, and a bag a M&Ms that she'd had her eye on for a while now.

Placing them all on the small table in the room she sat at the edge of the bed, rubbing Winters arm, "Hey handsome, wake up. This pretty woman just arrived with some lunch. You hungry?"

 

[Risky]

Winters groans before opening his eyes, looking at her. "Hungry for so,saying else if I'm honest." He says with a sleepy laugh, he rolls over so that his face is buried into his pillow, he lets out a sigh before looking at her again.

"Being here is tiring, thanks for suggesting that I sleep." He says to her softly, the contact of her hand rubbing his arm was a nice way to wake up, especially considering that she had brought them lunch,

 

[BurningWillows]

She grinned and winked, "I got you babe. Now c'mon. Get up. I snuck us beer."

Her smile only grew as she stood back up, stretching her toned legs and strolling over to the table. Using her knife she popped both lids off, then tossed a bag of chips at him before returning with the beer and her coveted bag of M&Ms.

"These are mine," she explained lightly when she caught him staring at her chocolate, "allllllll mine. Unless your very, very nice to me."

Sipping the beer, she smacked her lips, "Haven't had beer in a while. Yum."

 

[Risky]

He walks over and catches the chips, setting them down on the table. He grabs his beer and drinks a little bit of it. "It's good." He admits to her, starting to further drink the beer.

"Man, I wish we were issued more of this stuff, they don't really like Ghosts having it." He says to her with a laugh before taking another swig from the cam, leaving the empty can on the table.

He opens his chips and eats them quickly before setting the empty beer can on top of the chip bag, he sits back down on the bed and watches her.