Wildlands (rskde & BurningWillows)

[Risky]

White Hat hears gunfire and hides in one of the rooms, a magnum revolver held tightly in his hand. He watches Derulo walk past through one of the windows, he levels the revolver to the man's nhead and fires a shot, watching blood spray as the soldier falls with a cry of pain.

He jumps through the window and runs off into the night.

Derulo hits the dirt, his mouth opening and then closing in shock, unable to form any words. He brings his hands up to hold his neck, crying out loudly in pain. He's still alive, but it won't be for long if Doc doesn't get to him quickly.

Shrake had finished packing up the remainder of the cocaine into the truck by the time the shot was fired, he turns on his radio. "Doc, check that out, I'll finish up packing rations." He says over the radio before sliding it back into his plate carrier's pocket. He jogs inside and begins to grab boxes of food, seeing that Katerina and Doc had already cleared this part of the building.

He takes everything that there is, filling up the truck completely before closing the back. "We're good to go, Doc, I need a status report." He says calmly.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya flinched at the sound of gun shots, almost dropping the wooden crate Kat and her were lifting together. There was two trucks, the white one Shrake was filling and another black one that they were. As they set the box in their truck, Doc got called over the radio.

"Got it," she called back, nodding at Katerina. Jogging, she headed towards the noise, going out one door and around the outside corner and-

"Fuck!" she swore, dropping beside Derulo's curled body, pressing her hands to the wound, "Hold on Jason! Just...keep putting pressure on it."

Pressing her hand over his, she tore her medical bag off her back, shouting into the radio, "Man down! Fuck...man down! Derulo's shot. Ember I need you now!"

The radio buzzed for a second then a sharp feminine gasp and Em's tight voice, "Coming. Over."

"Hold on Jason," Arya breathed, opening her pack with bloodied hands and fumbling for a enclosed needle, "Just hold on."

Popping the lid off she pulled away his head and stuck the needle gently near the gun wound, shooting serum into his blood vines. It would thicken his blood, hopefully enough to stop the amount of bleeding. It took a minute though, putting her on a deadline to get the damn bullet out.

"I'll kill the son of a bitch," she growled, grabbing tweezers and pulling his hands away, "This will hurt."

It took two tries to pull the shrapnel from his neck, the bullet breaking inside his skin. Luckily it wasn't too bad, or he'd be dead. As it was, his life was still on the line. She needed him back at base, where she could hook him up to a morphine drip.

As she thought about it the wind picked up, the helicopter landing as close as it dared.

"Help me out Al!" she called, closing her med pack, "We need to get him back to base quick."

After shooting the last three men down she moved outside to the truck, seeing Shrake and Derulo heading over. Moving to the white vehicle, she kicked at the corpses, making sure they were dead before searching their pockets for a key. She knew these trucks; they all had expensive alarm systems, set to blow if someone stole it. It had been a fairly new upgrade, after the Ghosts had stolen more than a few trucks.

As Shrake got closer she nodded him over. Leading him around to the back of the trucks she pointed out the wiring under the fender.

"I'm finally useful," she grinned, handing him the key, "When you unlock the doors you will hear beeping. There should be a keypad over the glove box. Password is 6574900. You get sixty seconds to input it, before the whole truck blows. If you pull open the truck bed or jump in it will still set off the timer. This goes for all the vehicles now. They made it especially for Ghosts."

Smiling, she strolled away, going back inside and telling Doc the same spiel as they stared at the second truck they'd found. Searching the six bodies, Doc found a key and they quickly finished up packing rations and begin loading until they heard a gun shot.

"I got this," Kat nodded, "I'll finish up."

 

[Risky]

Al jumps from the helicopter, it only being a few feet off the ground. He attaches a rope to Derulo's plate carrier, moving the Doc's hands off of him before pulling himself and the fallen soldier on to the helicopter. Al motions for Ember to wait a few minutes, as he spots Shrake running over with the entire ration supply of the base in a supply loader.

The supplies are loaded, Al puts his hand up to his ear and activates the headphones. "Ember, back to Casper." He says before kneeling down next to Derulo, he looks him over quickly, and he could already tell the man was going to make it.

Shrake loads the last of the supplies before taking the key from Katerina, nodding to her. "Change of plan, we're not taking the truck." He says to her, grabbing the plastic explosives from his belt. He gets into the vehicle and inputs the code, backing it into the facility before placing C4 on to the truck and on key points of the building.

"We're blowing this place to hell, don't bother going after White Hat, he's a dead man walking." Shrake says over his radio, walking out and gesturing for the team to load up into the helicopter.

He jogs towards the craft, loading into it and holding up a single finger to Ember, signaling our extract in one minutes. Shrake slides himself into the chopper, patting Derulo on his leg before taking over the secondary door gun, searching the night for contact.

A world of pain and misery like no other forces his body to tremble, blood still pooling at the side of his neck as he lays in the helicopter. His vision is red, as if the blood had seeped into his eyes, everything is disoriented, faces shifting over him, feelings of people touching him reassurimgly. He coughs, a bit of blood pools over from his mouth and dribbles down his chin.

Though everyone thought he was going to survive, Derulo knew he was going to die, the pain unbearing as he lays there trembling, wishing for it to be over. The wound is large in itself, it had torn an entire chunk of flesh from his neck, the powerful magnum having that effect on him.

"Al.." He coughs out, he sees the man's head over his before he lifts his hand up weakly. "Thank you.." He says quietly, laying his head back and letting out a shaky breath, holding his best friend's hand tightly as the helicopter starts to head back to Casper.

As they fly off, the entire compound goes up in flames, over $2 billion worth of cocaine goes with it.

 

[BurningWillows]

Kat nods to Shrake, throwing the key into the building with a shrug and running for the lowering helicopter. Sidling up to Doc, the two women get on, Kat finding a seat and Doc moving to hover over Derulo, taking care of him while she worried over his failing health.

As the helicopter gets higher there's a boom and Katerina gazed over to the side, watching the compound burst into flames. Unable to help herself, she smiles, glad to see the waste of space burning to ashes.

 

[Risky]

They arrive at Casper, Derulo pulls through and survives. Around a week later, he is combat ready again. News of White Hat dying spreads like a wildfire, one of the biggest impacts the Ghosts have had on Bolivia so far, but the whole facility blowing up was blamed on the government, the two factions increase hostile relations and split apart, starting a full on war in the jungles. The government sends in for trip reinforcements, the cartel ups their game and begins to hire Russian mercenaries, which are immediately flow in.

Al runs a hand through his longer hair, he sits outside of the Casper main, it is dark outside, but the jungle around them is illuminated by the moonlight. He raises his Ka-Bar knife to his hair, cutting it off so that it is within regulation, he puts his knife away and holds his legs, staring off into the jungle.

Derulo's near death experience had hit him hard, the man was his roommate after all, also not to mention his best friend since Ghost Training, he yawns but finds himself unable to even close his eyes, he doesn't feel like going inside and waking someone up, so he sits there and continues to stare.

Shrake sleeps terribly, but he still sleeps, his hand gripped tightly around his FN45 pistol, the weapon is fully loaded and the safety is off, as if he is ready to be attacked in his sleep. For the past week he has been on edge, constantly keeping an eye on Derulo and ensuring the team was happy, the new rations they had received were still lasting them, he doubts they will run out any time soon.

He cries out in his sleep, his eyes flying open and his gun flying up, aiming at.. Nothing, his imagination seems to laugh at him in the back of his mind. He slumps down against his bunk, tapping the barrel of his weapon against his head. A small click is heard as he switches the safety back on, he reaches into his pocket and cups a picture of a little girl in his hands, leaning his forehead against the picture.

Derulo sleeps in the medbay, shifting uncomfortably in his sleep, sometimes his hand drifts up to his bandaged wound, clutching it as if it had just happened, his wounded conscious playing cruel tricks on him. While being wounded had been awful, he had had a lot of time to talk to Doc, when she wasn't busy, and a lot of time to stare at the ceiling in thought, it is hell for him.

He sits up and reaches over to the small table next to him, his hand wraps around a glass of water, he shakily lifts it to his lips, feeling the cool clear liquid slide gracefully through his mouth down into his parched throat. His hand shakes even more as he tries to put the glass back, it slips from his grasp and falls to the floor, breaking, the remainder of the liquid spilling out.

Derulo leans back into his makeshift hospital bed, feeling weak and useless.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya wakes with a jolt, her head snapping up from its resting place on her chest. Sitting up in the chair, her eyes move over Derulo, then down to the broken glass on the floor.

"Hey," she whispered, getting up from her spot in the corner.

It was hard enough to sleep with his life in danger, and harder still after he started recovering. After the last death, Arya couldn't let Derulo just die on her watch. If he passed away while she slept she'd never forgive herself. And it would be harder on all of them if he started to get better and they relaxed, only for him to slip through their fingers.

But from what she had seen, he was on the mend. Moving over to his to the cabinet across the room she picked up a small broom and dustpan, cleaning the mess up quickly.

"How are you feeling Jason?" returning to his bedside, Arya left hand rubbed his shoulder as her right inspected the wound.

She knew she should be sleeping, but the lingustics expert sat in her room, playing with her radio as she often did during the day. She would flip through the local radio stations, listening to the depressing news as deaths tallied up day and night. Then she flipped through their new frequencies, listening to men argue at each other or just plain silence. Not static, but silence like the radios were on but no one cared to speak.

Tonight it was silence, and she could only stand a minute of it before shutting her piece down, putting it under her bed. Tucking her pistol under her pillow, Emberly curled under her blanket, desperately wishing for sleep. Minutes past and slowly she dozed off, fading into a dreamless sleep.

Katerina paced her room, trying to chose whether to risk leaving it or not. She'd finally been given access to the rest of Casper Main, although she still had to go through a few more hoops before any of them started to trust her. Still, that mission had granted her some form of freedom, as well as her stuff back. Which was both a blessing and a curse. Opening her phone the first day back from the compound, she had found it dead. Once charged she turned on to receive ten missed calls and a few less than pleasant texts, as well as several emails. It had only been a week and a half at the time, and quite the clean up to fix. Kat had emailed him back, making up some bullshit excuse that her resort had terrible reception and she was using the front desk's computer.

Thank god for the Ghost's technology, as she was able to ping her email off of a tower in Europe, near the supposed resort she was staying in. Instead of Katerina soaking up the sun and European hospitality a decoy from the U.S army had been sent, a woman of her age and ethnicity, able to pass off as Kat for the time being. If the cartel looked into her email or her resort everything would check out, keeping Katerina safe.

Not that it would make her feel any safer.

With White Hat dead, things were getting worse in Bolivia, and tensions were running high. Derulo was still healing, and no new missions had come up. Katerina felt like she should contribute something, knowing her only reason for being here was her intel. So why didn't she have anything good?

Suddenly her phone rang, making the blonde turn on her heel.

"Fuck," she snapped, staring at the caller on the screen. There was no good excuse now, since it would be ringing as much on his end as on hers. He couldn't track her, Shrake ordering her phone be made untraceable. But ignoring this call could make things worse.

"Fuck," she swore again, her shoulders slumping as she walked out of the room and into the hallway. If she was going to answer she didn't need to wake the others; none of the rooms were soundproof.

Moving into the main room, she clicked the green phone button on her smartphone, holding it up to her ear as she put on the best performance of her life once more.

"Hey handsome," she cooed, her eyes rolling.

 

[Risky]

Al jumps when he hears the voice, transferring from sitting on his ass to crawling to the door, keeping one hand on the frame and one hand on the wall, listening to her words to make sure she wasn't talk to him. He listens to her conversation, he trusted Katerina way more now that she had deployed with the team, but he was still interested in what phone call was so important to answer at two in the morning.

The man gets up and walks back over to his things, scribbling a 'I'll be back' note and leaving it on the door to Casper. He grabs his M4OA5 and puts it over his back, attaching it to his backpack as he slides his FN45 pistol into its side holster. He puts on his hat and starts a light jog through the forest.

He runs until the sun is coming up, he walks on the top of another mountain, looking around himself while eating an Energy Bar, he spots a camp and jogs down the mountain sideways to control his speed, sliding to a vantage point and setting up his rifle, staring through the scope at the enemies below.

He pulls the barrel of his rifle back and screws on a suppressor, setting up the rifle again and looking around for any High Value Targets. He doesn't see any, but what he does see is a communication tower, he pulls the bolt of his rifle back before sliding it forward, hearing hhe small click of his bullet going into place. He levels the scope to his eye and spots the communications officer, it was very difficult to find them in Bolivia.

"Lord, allow my shot to fly true, and allow the deceased to be forgiven for their sins." He whispers to himself, his finger wrapping around the trigger as he raises the scope up and to the left to account for wind and distance. He fires, the butt of the rifle hitting his shoulder, he keeps the rifle in the same position for a moment before zooming in on the officer, watching the bullet split the man's skull, he collapses against the mainframe, it breaks under his weight.

Al grins and packs his rifle again, going on all fours and scaling the mountain again, it was going to be a long walk home.

Derulo is breathing heavily and raggedly feeling the hands on him, he closes his eyes and shakes his head. "It's impossible to sleep." He says quietly. "Every time I relax, the pain gets worse... When I stand up, the pain gets worse." He explains to her quietly, not wanting to wake anybody else up. "Can you stay awake with me? The ceiling is getting old.." He says jokingly, but he winces in pain again, as if his body was attempting to remind him of his priorities.

His tan Floridian skin has turned pale, and he is sweating, the wound isn't infected and seems fine, but the pain itself is keeping him on edge, trying to stop the pain, or find the source, as if the Ghost operator thought he could kill pain.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya nods, pulling her chair up beside the bed then changing out his morphine drip for a new one before sitting down. Taking his hand in both of hers, she sits watching him.

"I increased your dose of morphine," she explains quietly, "Hopefully the pain will subside a little with that. You know, you could of told me sooner? I know the meds make you groggy, but they do help speed your recovery."

"Katerina," the voice was deep and rich, the spanish accent heavy, "Where have you been my inked flower?"

"At the resort silly," she giggled, every emotion fake, every word a lie, "I told you I was going away for a few weeks with friends."

"Why haven't I been able to reach you?"

"Stupid resort has terrible service. And their bar along the beach has the worst selection. I've wanted to come home since the day I got here baby, but the girls begged me to stay."

"Is there any way you can come back early?" it was a soft request, but an order between the lines. Whether she said yes or no,he expected her to come back...and soon.

"I can try and book a flight out this week," she replied nonchalantly, while her stomach churned, "I'll email you the details when they come in?"

"Good. I'll await the email. Have you caught up on the recent news?"

Katerina tried not to sigh as her shoulders relaxed. He was buying it.

"About Castillo? I saw the ass lost his compound. And got shot for it too. Good riddance," she added an edge of contempt to her voice and heard almost a pleased tone in his response.

"Yes the bastard fucked up. And I don't do second chances. Which is why I need you back. There's an war brewing here, and I want all hands on deck."

Which had nothing to do with what he had in mind for her but she held her tongue.

"I'll fly home as soon as possible."

"Good. Be quick. My bed is lonely without you Katerina."

She doubted that, and it made her cringe thinking about sharing a bed with the man again.

"I'll come home quick. Oh look, our drinks. Got to run handsome. Byeeee."

The phone clicked at he hung up, then she let out an audible sigh. Not only did she hate the act, but she hated how deep she had gotten herself in, and how hard it seemed to pull out. Kat hadn't wanted any part of the security faction in the cartel, or the shipping faction. Security meant shooting people, something she wasn't comfortable with doing when she'd be shooting at soldiers she was allied with. And there was no way in hell she'd work for White hat, the man was not only an idiot, but his men were expendable. So she had to work up the business ladder, so to say, and ended up higher than she expected, and much more deeply involved than she had wanted.

The advantage of her position was the intel she was able to gain, and through that hopefully the end of an entire country's suffering. But playing mistress to the world's leader in cocaine was not only vomit enducing and vile, it was soul tainting.

And that's what she was. She had yet to tell the Ghost's just how closely she had been with Skull Face, knowing none of them would understand. She didn't like the man, or feel any loyalty to him. Just because she had shared a bed with him for the past three years, didn't mean she felt any love for the cruel leader. On the contrary, she probably hated him more than any other members of the recon group did. It had taken her three years in the cartel to get to her position. As much as the U.S would pardon anything she did in the line of service, Katerina still loathed pieces of her self, her soul sold to the devil in order to win a war. She would never be able to scrub her inked skin enough to get the slimy feeling of his hands off of her, or the image of him pawing at her. At least I did my job well, she thought, sitting down on the worn couch, I made one of the most powerful drug lords fall for me, and he still doesn't expect a thing.

And now I have to go back to all that, if only to establish my cover.

However, the thought of returning wasn't entirely bad. Now that Kat thought of it, Casper Main hadn't had any missions while Derulo healed, and this might be a good shot at getting the recon closer. Maybe even killing the bastard. The least she could do was present a plan to Shrake, perhaps a stealth mission for them to get a closer look at things, scope the area. Rubbing away the sleep from her eyes, Katerina scooped up a pad of paper and a pen, curling bare toned legs under her as she began to brainstorm through the night.

 

[Risky]

It's still late at night when a figure bursts through the trees of the quiet jungle, sprinting through the thicket with speed that doesn't suit his figure. He wears military gear, a plain black hat, a chest carrier, BDU's and a black t-shirt. Over his back is a HK416 assault rifle, it hangs vertically from the right side of his backpack. On the left side of his chest carrier is an American flag with the name 'Winters' on it.

He is in trouble, gunfire echoes behind him as he continues to run, sweat pouring down his face as he slides and grabs his FN45 pistol from his side, firing off three shots, each hit their mark. And then he is running again, hoping to find someone who could help him.

He runs straight into Al.

Al nearly falls over when the soldier runs into him, he pulls out his pistol and aims it at the man. The man yells 'Larvae Semper!" The Latin translation for 'Always Ghosts', Al grabs the man and starts running, after seeing the enemy behind them he knows they were both now in this together.

It takes a couple of hours for the men to lose the Cartel members, and they find themselves back at Casper Main by the time that the sun is up, both of them breathing heavily as they walk inside. They have already made introductions, Winters, otherwise known as 'Snowy' is also a Ghost, one of the other detachments within Bolivia. His entire unit had been wiped out by a government kill squad, an ambush that nobody could have foreseen. Winters had collected the American flag patches from his teammates and had fled.

They both walk inside and Al gets Winters to a room to rest before heading back to his own room, laying back on his bunk and staring at the ceiling, still taking ragged breaths from his run in full gear.

Derulo nods to Arya, watching her in the darkness. "You got anybody back home?" He asks her quietly, just trying to take his mind off of his situation, he lets out another shaky breath, he is still trembling and the contact she has with his hand, she would surely be able to feel it. He is not cold, or hot, or in pain, the morphine drip keeps him in a state of no feeling, other than the warmth of her hands wrapped around his.

He coughs, looking around him frantically for a second. "Water.." He says in almost a whisper, the morphine already having an effect on his already parched mouth. "Lower the morphine and get me water.. Please." He says as carefully and respectfully as possible.

Shrake meets with Winters after being unsuccessful at sleeping, the two talk for about an hour until it is agreed that Winters will join their team, as he had nowhere else to go and communication with the United States was down for the time being, just in case somebody smart happened to intercept the radio comms and see where it was coming from and where it was going, it would be a dead giveaway to U.S. presence in Bolivia, and nobody wants that.

He welcomes the new team member before walking to the rations post, he grabs an energy bar and starts eating. He feels his phone buzz in his pocket, something he hadn't felt for a long time. He turns it on, hoping it is his wife before sighing, it's their handler.

They all called him 'Handler' because that was his job, making sure the Ghosts didn't fuck up.

He calls Shrake before talking into his phone. "We lost an entire squad of Ghosts today, and the Bolivian government is suspicious about this whole White Hat deal, so what the fuck happened?" He asks for the phone, tapping his foot impatiently.

"We took down the bastard, that was the job wasn't it?" Shrake replies annoyedly.

"Yes, but now Washington wants my ass because it was made public, a fucking helicopter and heavy weapons were heard from miles away, and now the cartel and the government have ramped up their efforts.. Technically not your fault, good job I suppose." He says through the phone.

"But nevertheless, we lost a squad, so we're gonna go ahead and do something for the public so that no questions are asked about this, inform all of your men that they, and you are now publicly dead, fake coffins will be shipped home and stories of you dying in Afghanistan will go into the news." He explains. "Sorry, but there's nothing else I can do."

"Sir, I have a wife and a kid-"

"Does it seem like I give a fuck? You're in the Special Forces, it's your job to disappear, you shouldn't've tied yourself down in the first place." He snaps at the Commander.

"Yessir."

"Now do your goddamn job." He says before disconnecting the phone, turning it off.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya smiled, nodding slightly, "When I first joined the army, I was dating this guy, Rick. The long distance thing became pretty hard, but we managed through. Not sure though if he's still waiting for me now though. We got into a fight before I joined this team, and I've only been able to speak to him twice the last two years. Other than that, I've got my parents back home. What about you?"

He doesn't hear her question though, and at his request she moves away to bring a new glass of water, cutting the morphine drip off as she quickly lowers the dosage. Watching him try to drink, Arya's nimble fingers move forward, steadying his hand as she helps him.

"Let me please. As your doctor, the least I can do is make you more comfortable."

Helping him drink, she keeps the glass in her lap as she returns to her seat, taking his hand again to provide him some comfort.

"Any family back home Jason?"

Kat's eyes wander up as she spots Al coming in with the first rays of dawn, and a new man. Smiling at Al, she nods as they continue forward, waiting till their backs were turned to do a double take on the new guy.

Cute, is all she can think, returning to her scrawled notes.

 

[Risky]

Derulo shakes his head. "My dad disowned me when I joined the Ghosts and my Mom passed when I was very little." He says quietly after she was done giving him the water. He coughs again, unable to swallow some of the liquid that had just been helping him recover. "I just want to get better and.. Do my job, y'know?" He asks, not really even looking at her as he talks. He stares at the wall near the foot of his bed, as if it were the most interesting thing in the entire world to be staring at.

He seems calm, but he won't stop shaking, and often shivering from an unknown cold inside of the cave, he can feel a fever developing but he ignores it, a constant reminder in his head tells him that his pain is only weakness leaving the body, he could get over it.

Shrake throws his phone on to the table and walks room to room, giving each team member the news. Once he is finished he walks outside, standing on the edge of the cliff in front of the entrance. He grabs his ring from his hand and throws it is hard as he can into the jungle. He sits down and places his head in his hands, rubbing his temples in thought. By now, his wife would be informed of his 'death', and now he would never be able to go back to her, or his daughter, who hadn't even known about him in the first place.

"I'm not dead, Grace.." He whispers into the wind, as if hoping it would take the message to her, a small voice in his head scolds him for thinking like an idiot, but he ignores it and continues his whispering, running his hands across his cheeks until they are on his temples again.

Winters walks out into the main room, having just taken his first shower on Casper Main, he wears a black Casper t-shirt and the same BDU's along with his unmarked cap and his full gear, everything still in place. He walks over to Katerina and gives her a slight wave. "Sorry I didn't talk to you before, we ran something between two to ten miles getting back here, Al never told me how far we actually went, but I was fuckin' exhausted." He says with a laugh, rubbing the back of his military-style hair. He has a northeastern American accent, a combination between a Southern and Northern accent, making his voice seem a little bit more.. Exotic than the rest of his teammates.

"My name is Winters, everyone just calls me Snowy, though." He says, holding his hand out as if asking for her to shake it, while also asking her name in return of his. He examines her, trying to pick out every feature of her face as if he were reading her thoughts, he is obviously a veteran Special Operator, he has scars all up his arms and on his neck, two sleeve's of tattoo's cover both of his arms. "I like your tattoo's." He comments.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya frowned, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up. You're dad shouldn't have disowned you for doing something amazing. You're a hero here Jason. Remember that."

As she spoke the door opened and she turned, seeing Shrake. He spoke quickly, the pain behind his voice evident. Arya's heart sunk quickly an painfully, barely able to squeak out an okay as he left. Tears rushed to her eyes, as she dropped Jason's hand to dash them away. They think I'm dead. My parent's think I'm dead. And Rick...fuck.

More tears threatened to spill, and Arya moved up and over to the cabinet counter, pretending to busy herself with some supplies as she cried.

Emberly woke as Shrake opened her door. His news was brief. Em didn't feel much on the subject, having no family of her own, but her heart went out to the others. Getting up, she dressed in her pants and shirt, leaving her armor behind but grabbing her pistol as she snuck out, seeing Shrake moving from Al's room. Knocking on the door, she opened it a crack.

"Hey," she spoke softly poking her head in, "Got the news?"

Kat smiled, taking his hand, "Katerina Silivka. So far people just call me Kat. Still new to all this. And thanks, I like yours too."

"Got a first name Snowy?" she asked, raising a finely sculpted eyebrow grinning as she extended an invitation to sit beside her and talk.

 

[Risky]

Derulo looks over at Arya, noticing her crying. While she seemed to be hiding it from him, her composure and overall morale was low enough that he could see she needed some help. He pulls the IV from his arm, standing up, his neck explodes in pain but he ignores it as he approaches a doctor, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be alright." He says to her quietly. "We're Ghosts, we aren't meant to have normal lives." He explains to her quickly. "I've been here too long and I've seen a lot of people that are weak, but you are definetely strong, you just gotta pull through." He says softly, rubbing her shoulder a little bit, he's obviously not the best at comforting people.

Al looks up at Ember and nods. "My Pa and Ma cried when I left for Bolivia, I wonder how they will take me dying.." He says quietly before holding his head in his hands. "I can't believe Handler would do this.." He says quietly. He's not one for crying, but he can feel some tears welling up in his eyes, he quickly wipes them away and grabs at the small cross necklace around his neck. The wooden cross clinks against his dog tags as he raises it to his face, holding the string between his lips for a moment, as if it were a childish habit.

He looks up at her, running a hand through his hair before asking. "How about you? Anybody gonna miss you now that you're dead?" He asks quietly, watching her for any signs of pain or sadness, though he surpirsingly finds none.

Winters nods. "My first name is Kevin.. Kat is an exotic name, you're from here, aren't you?" He asks her, placing his hands behind his head before speaking in relatively broken Spanish. "Eres hermosa, y interesante." He says, raising his eyebrows to see whether or not she spoke the Bolivian language, which she more than likely does, just making the statement all the harder to say. He shifts his weight from one boot to the other, one hand stuffed into his pocket.

 

[BurningWillows]

Em took another step in shaking her head, "Got no one to mourn me. I guess it makes it easier. I'm sorry for the rest of you though. It feels like a punishment for doing something good. Want company for a bit? Stewing over it alone might make it only worse."

Arya jumped slightly at the touch, her eyes widening as she caught Derulo out of bed.

"Hey," she looked at him with alarmed brown eyes, "Lie down. I'm fine...just, dealing with it."

Getting him back to bed, she places in a new IV before collapsing in the chair looking exhausted, "My parents were always so proud of me and what I was doing for the army. Now there little girl is dead, and I never get to see them again."

Her breath came out shaky, "I know its all part of the job...but when your holding on to the hope of going home one day, and that's what is keeping you alive...what do you hold on to when its stripped away?"

Pushing her notes and her glasses onto the coffee table, she turned and smiled brilliantly at him, batting baby blue eyes.

"It's nice to meet you Kevin. And your the first person to guess it. I was born in Brazil actually, moved to America when I was very young. My parents only ever spoke Spanish to me growing up."

Leaning into the couch, her bare legs stretched out on the worn fabric. While everyone else remained fully clothed and ready, Katerina preferred sleeping in shorts rather than pants, and she hadn't bothered changing when she had left her room. Listening to his rough Spanish, her smile only grew at his compliment.

"Bien gracias. Usted no está demasiado mal parecido a ti mismo."

 

[Risky]

Derulo nods. "We'll go home, back to the States, we'll just.. Not go.. To our homes, if you understand, once we get a foothold here, they'll pull us out, take us to New York and we'll get wasted in every bar on Broadway." He says with a chuckles, imagining how crazy it would be for all of these operators to be getting drunk off of their shit. "And if you think about it, it's a new beginning, you're a new person now.. A Ghost." He says, as if trying to make the pun.

He tries to sit up again, despite her protests. "I gotta get better somehow, take me on a walk or something Doc." He says to her, trying again to pull the IV from his arm. He's used to pain, mental, physical, all of it was introduced to him during his training phases, once the bullet wound had calmed slightly, he was ready to go tag every cartel son of a bitch that ever walked the Earth.

Al nods to Ember. "C'mon in, company is always welcome in Casa de Alex." He says with a laugh, putting his hands behind his head and leaning his back against the wall. "Honestly, I don't know all that much about you, Ember.. Hell, I don't even know your real name." He says with a laugh. "All's I know is that I always turn the radio off whenever yer harpin' at me, y'know?" He says with a laugh. "Sorry about that, honestly as a Ghost I was trained in radio silence, and Bolivia is such a nice place to enjoy without the ties of modern technology, por que?" He asks, switching between English and Spanish for a moment.

All of his years in South America, and he only put a dent in the language barrier between English and Spanish, finding it impossibly hard to learn it.

Winters laughs, rubbing the back of his head. "I don't speak that much Spanish, other than describing people and basic introductions." He admits, a smile growing on his face. "You'll have to tell me what you said, but in English, since you're so talented to be fluent in both languages." He says to her, crossing his arms. "Your accent is also lovely, that's one of the plus sides of being stationed here in Bolivia, beautiful people, beautiful sky and land, and beautiful amounts of money coming into my bank account from the Spec Ops bonus." He says with a chuckle, watching her again to study her features, noticing how she wasn't wearing BDU's like everyone else.

She seemed out of place, sort've an outcast, and in Casper Main, that's how Winters feels too, for the lone survivor of his squad, he seems to be taking everything pretty well. But of course on the inside, there is a train of panic attacks and anxiety, his eyes flick around the room occasionally, as if looking around for an ambush, but then his eyes focus back on to Katerina, he is genuinely interested in speaking with her, but something pulls his attention away.

 

[BurningWillows]

Em took a seat on the other end of his bed, fiddling with a heart locket she kept under her shirt, pulling at it.

"I think Arya and Shrake are the only two who know. Most of us just take each other's nicknames and run with it. The only names I don't know are Derulo and Shrake...although I heard Arya calling Derulo, Jason, the other day."

Smiling up at him she adds, "Emberly by the way. Its Emberly. My nickname is just a play on my full name."

Listening to him she laughed, "And that's why you keep getting in tight spots, because you turn your damn radio off on me. What would you like to know, I'm an open book amigo."

"I'm going to take you up on that bar idea," she smiled, "I'd love to see you shoot back a couple tequilas."

Watching him fight to get up she sighed, "I'll only let you walk around if you let me stay at your side. I don't want you collapsing."

With his assurance she took out the IV, helping him to stand.

"Tell me if it gets too much," she stated, following at his side as they exited the small medical room, moving into the main area.

"Who's that?" she asked softly, noticing a new man hanging around Katerina.

Katerina laughed, translating her word, "I said, 'Well thanks. Your not too bad looking yourself.'"

Patting the couch she invited him to sit and chat, "I was born with my accent, although as you can see when I speak English it all but disappears. But thank you for the compliment. Yes, this country is gorgeous. It's a shame all this war and drugs are tearing it apart."

Crossing her legs, she gave him room to sit, "Everything alright Kevin? You look agitated. I haven't even asked where you came from or why your here. New hire, or did they transfer you?"

 

[Risky]

Al shakes his head. "Tight spots? I'm a professional badass, tight spots are in the job description!" He says to her with a laugh, leaning back into the wall and watching her as she speaks. "Shrake never gave out his first name, we used to call him Bolts because he was our Engineer, but when Earheart was killed, he took over as squad lead, and now we just call him Shrake, nothing less nothing more. I like him, he's a good guy, it's unfortunate that his wife and kid now think he's.. Dead, Muertos, it's not really fair." He says, his voice suddenly growing quiet.

"If I wanted to know anything, amiga, it's definitely why you joined the Ghosts, you don't really see many women in this line of business, y'know?" He asks, sliding his hands behind his head as he speaks.

"I'm part Irish, it takes more than a couple of tequila's to knock me down." He says with a weak laugh, experimentally walking around before looking to Winters and then back to Arya. "He just came in, Shrake was talking to him, and I listened in.. These rooms need to be soundproofed." He says with a laugh, continuing to walk. "Let's go outside, it's a beautiful day, my dad used to tell me that a productive day should be used to hunt, but beautiful days are reserved by God to be enjoyed, and so food will be provided for the day while we count our blessings." He recounts, remembering the words exactly.

"We used to hunt Gator's in the Everglades, then we'd skin'em and eat'em, sell the skin and go back out for more, that's where I learned to use machete's, you'd have to cut through some tall grass and then stick the gator in it's belly to make sure you don't damage the hide or the meat inside." He explains as they walk out of the compound.

Winters sits down next to her, sighing. "I've known the guys in my unit for around a year now, we were ambushed and I don't think there were any survivors to account for, if there were, the radio frequencies would be buzzing about them (the hint is real) and then we'd.. I dunno what we'd do. But the point is, the only reason I'm here is because I got lucky and dodges some bullets that were meant to keep me with my squadmates.. But now they're all dead." He says quietly, running a hand over his head, feeling the spiky bits of hair tickle the palm of his hand.

"How about you, you seem to fit in around here as well as I do." He says with a quiet chuckle. "I'd assume from looking at you, that you weren't a ghost, but I've found that assumptions will get people killed, or bad things in general will happen, so I'll let you explain." He says, leaning against the arm of the couch and waiting for her to begin her story.

 

[BurningWillows]

"I've been working with the army for years. Got no fam to go home to, or huband. Just me. When they offered me the position I saw no qualms in taking it. You guys needed a linguistics expert and I'm fluent in Spanish. And Russian. Japanese...mandrin...arabic...yeah I know a few."

"Why you join?"

The doctor followed her patient outside the compound, walking up behind Shrake who looked as upset as she felt. Patting Jason's arm she moved over to sit beside their leader.

"You okay?" she asked, talking to him honestly and genuinely, dropping their Ghost training for a few minutes, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I'm sorry," Kat frowned, "Didn't mean to dredge that all up when the wound's still fresh. If you don't mind me asking, does that mean you'll be staying a while?"

Part of her hoped he'd say yes so she wasn't the only new member wandering around. Another part of her wanted to keep him around for his handsome smile and nice looks, something easy on her eyes.

Leaning into her seat, her breath blew out in one go, "Short answer. Government spy who has been infiltrating the cartel for the past six years. The longer story takes a while. And no, I'm no ghost. Trying to be though. More of a CIA agent, as one of them called me. All stealth and acting in my repertoire. Do I look that out of place?"

 

[Risky]

Al looks at her and shrugs. "I think I was drunk when I signed up." He says with a chuckle. "It was more natural talent than anything, I'm a natural born shooter, I've recorded up to 2000 meter shots, which is two hundred meters off of the world record, and I'm sneaky when I wanna be." He explains to her.

"I didn't get pushed away or anything, honestly I had it pretty good back home, but I wanted some.. Change, I guess, something to give me purpose in all of this hell, leave my mark on this place before it burns." He looks at her and bites the inside of his cheek. "I'm no good with languages, honestly I find anybody who can be fluent in more than two languages is probably ten times smarter than I am." He says with a laugh.

He yawns, rubbing his eyes as he watches her. "Top bunk is open if you wanna grab some Z's, or if your feeling adventurous, there's always room down here." He says jokingly, laying back down and moving against the wall, there is room for her as he had said.

Shrake continues to stare off into the distance. "Don't let feelings get the best of you, a good Ghost feels no pain or empathy for any thing or any one." He says quietly, rubbing the chain of his dog tag between his index finger and his thumb. "Ya'll need to get some rest, or do whatever as long as you aren't focusing on this whole ordeal, do anything to keep your mind on the mission." He says to Arya. "I expect you to remember and enforce that." He says to the woman standing over him.

Winters nods. "I'll be staying for awhile, and now I have a reason to do so." He says with a laugh, poking at her face teasingly. "I just hope we get a chance to take out these bastards, Shrake told me once Derulo or whatever is healed, daily patrols are gonna start happening again, we're just resting to ensure crisp morale for the next set of ops." He explains to her, resting his back against the couch.

"If there is one complaint I have about this base, it's the fact that there's no hot water, shower gave me a helluva scare." He says with a laugh, nervously rubbing the length of his arm with his hand, as if trying to think of topics to think about.

He doesn't seem like a quick thinker in the slightest. "Well, you and I are away from everyone else, they're talking to each other, and we have us, but they have them until they can accept us, you understand?" He asks her. "That's how the Ghosts operate, trust and friendship is earned."

 

[BurningWillows]

Emberly couldn't help the laugh that left her throat, grinning at his confident cockiness. Shrugging, she kicked her boots off and wiggled in to the open space beside him, resting on her stomach with her elbows under her, posting her up.

"I'm no genius," she whispered, "I just got a way with languages. Everyone has their own strengths here right?"

Arya took a step back, nodding as he spoke even though his words only made the knot in her stomach tighter. Yes, we are Ghosts...but we are also human.

Turning back to her patient, she touched Derulo's elbow gently, "Want to walk outside or around the base?"

Her grin grew as he teased and flirted with her, wrinkling her nose at him playfully.

"Us outcasts can stick together," she giggled, her eyes trained on him, "Maybe...eventually they will let us into their exclusive club. Although I highly doubt any of them will ever fully trust me."

Grabbing her notes, she held them up, "I have a proposal for Shrake here, a mission that may bring us all out of this lull, if he runs with it. Chances are he'll say no, but I can try right."

 

[Risky]

Winters nods. "One day.. But for now, stick with me and I'll help you through it." He says, nudging her. He looks at the proposal and nods. "No harm in trying, if he has any sense he'll accept it." He says to her with approval. "Maybe afterwards we can spend some time together, you can answer more questions and we can see what happens from there." He suggests, propping up his head with his hands. "You never know what will happen out here."

Al nods, he's genuinely surprised that she actually climbed into the bed with him. "You're a genius in your own little way, what I do just requires practice." He explains, yawning again and closing his eyes. "I'm gonna.. Sleep, feel free to do the same." He says tiredly before falling asleep, since he is propped up on his shoulder, his head falls forward softly, resting against the side of her head as he sleeps, obviously not intentional.

He looks at peace when he sleeps, as if the demons leave him alone when he is sleeping. He doesn't move or make any noise, Spec Ops training will do that to you, give you some rest even if you are behind enemy lines while keeping yourself concealed.

Derulo shrugs. "I like it out here, it's still five in the morning, so the sun'll be up soon, we could hike to the top of the mountain and see the sun rise, and then come back." He suggests. "And then I will shut up and let you get back to your work." He says before ushering her towards the upwards path.

 

[BurningWillows]

The doctor sighs but nods, caving in to Derulo's request.

"Fine. Sunrise. Let's go soldier."

Grinning, she keeps a step behind him, following his lead as she watches him like a hawk, ready for the second he slips up, or his health fails.

She meant it as a joke, climbing into his bed. But seeing him fall asleep reminded the red head how little she had gotten. Yawning, Em rests her head on her arms, crossing them over her pillow. Soon enough she's turned on her side, more comfortable as she dozes off, feeling the slight pressure of his forehead against hers as Al leans into her, sound asleep.

She grins, stealing her notes back, "I hope so. Thanks Winters for the confidence."

Hearing his proposal Kat sends him a sultry smile, "Why Kevin Winters, are you asking me on a date?....or the closest thing to a date when your stuck in the middle of nowhere living inside a cave?"

Leaning forward, she pats his arm before standing up, "If we both make it through the next op alive, I'll definitely go on that mock date with you. Your stories for my stories...but only if you can find me a decent cup of coffee."

Clasping her notes to her breast, she takes her leave, excusing herself for a minute to speak with Shrake. Moving outside, Katerina kneels beside him, handing her notes before explaining them.

"Probably should have told you sooner just where in the cartel I sit," she starts, her stomach churning, "I'm sort of Skull Face's...mistress."

Her face twists in disgust and she can see his own feeling mirror hers.

"Yeah, not my first choice Shrake. But it happened, and it got me close enough to glean a hell of a lot of information, so my handler refused to let me step away from it. I'm just thankful it was only in the last two years. Anyways, I'm off topic. I've been given direct orders to return to the cartel, and the longer I don't the more suspicious they become. I know you don't care about my cover, about think about it. I can practically get you within sniping distance.

The notes...its a mission. I need to go back, and you guys need a upper hand on the cartel. If two of you will pose as my bodyguards, I can get them in with me. Give two fresh eyes a look on the inside, so to speak. It's incredibly dangerous, but if we pull it off then all of you get a better look at these asshats.

There's also the matter of my laptop. It's still with the cartel, and it has a lot of damaging evidence on it. All the intel I gleaned, I sent through a private email on the computer. If they decrypt it, they will learn the U.S is involved in Bolivia, and everything goes to shit. I need that back too. So we go in, two of you pose as my new security. Nab the computer, take a look around and get out. what do you think?"

 

[Risky]

Winters laughs, rubbing the back of his head as he does so. "It could be considered that, I guess." He says before she walks away, nodding to himself, a small victory was won for him. He gets up and walks back to his room, laying down on his bed and falling asleep.

"Try to keep up Doc!" He calls back to her, starting a steady jog up the mountain. His neck bursts out in pain, throbbing as if a constant reminder. 'Pain is weakness, and weakness is unacceptable.' He reminds himself in his head, prompting him to quicken his pace, quickly awarding him with the top of the mountain.

He sits down on the edge, below him is a fifty foot drop straight to the entrance of their base, and a helluva view for the sun rise. The sun peeks out from the horizon as if checking around, it forms a light orange ad pink combination along the horizon, casting a beautiful glow on to the jungle around them. He watches the sun slowly rise, steadying his breathing as he does so.

Shrake takes the scribbled notes and reads over them, biting the bottom of his lip in thought before nodding. "Right, I'm gonna add something to this." He says to her, digging in his tool belt for a moment before he grabs a small wire connected to a tiny flash drive by a thin wire. "This is a sound recorder, you wear it, you talk to skull face, and you ask him what progress the cartel has made in the Bermejo district, this info will help us know exactly where they are, comprende?"

"Second off, I'll give you Al and Ember, everyone else will stay here, you're on your own with them and you're leading the mission, so if either of them are injured, lost, or killed, it's on you." He explains to the tattoo'd woman.

"You'll leave in two hours, get Al and Ember, I have no clue where the fuck they are, and get them briefed and ready."

"Get the both concealable weapons, Al will want his sniper rifle, but you need to tell him to carry only a pistol, tell'em to carry basic medical and several magazines."

Finally he looks her straight in the eye and says. "Good luck, get them briefed."

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya followed him up the mountain, jogging behind him. As they reached the top he went to sit on the edge, and she stood there catching her breath, which only took a matter of seconds.

Moving beside him, she sat along with him smiling, "You were right. It is pretty spectacular."

Kat nodded to his words, hearing them loud and clear. It made sense to grab that information when she had the chance. Taking the wire, she took her notes back as well.

"Thank you. I'll keep them safe."

Moving back into the base, she wandered to Ember's room first, finding it empty. Moving to Al's room, she knocked and then peeked in to the semi ajar door, only to find them both sleeping together.

"Aren't you two cute," she chuckled, waking them with her voice, "Rise and shine lovebirds. We got a mission."

Seeing their eyes both open, she watched the momentary surprise between them.

"Meet me in the main room in five," she added, moving away, stealing into her room to change into clothes more fit for the mission.

 

[Risky]

Derulo nods. "I'm right about most things." He says with a laugh before rolling his shoulders and yawning. "Let's go back down, I can definitely go for some Z's after that hike." He says, starting to head back down to the compound. He seems stronger now, more dominant over the pain he had been feeling just over an hour ago, as if the hike had proven he can get over it, and it seemed to do the trick.

Al jumps, looking up at Kat and opening his mouth to make an excuse before closing it again. He is already in full gear, his weapons rest on the table on the other side of the room, he sits up and looks at Emberely. "Well, I guess she has us shipped, doesn't she?" He asks her, rubbing the back of his head as he says it.

"You'd best go get ready for the mission, I'll see you in the main room." He says, stretching his arms out behind his head.