Wildlands (rskde & BurningWillows)

[BurningWillows]

"Quite awkward," she agreed sighing, "Hopefully the food comes soon."

And it did. It arrived minutes later, and no one spoke as they ate, their celebratory dinner dampened by the sour news. Everyone chowed down till their plates were done, save Alex's who was missing. Serena got it to go, looking more awkward than anyone.

"I got the bill," Kat announced as everyone finished, "Do you need me to wheel you up to your room Serena?"

"I got it," Arya exclaimed, standing up, "Ready Kyle?"

 

[Risky]

Kyle nods and stands up, walking out of the room with Arya while she pushes Serena.

Kyle yawns tiredly. "I'm exhausted.." He admits.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya agreed, trying to think up an easy conversation. If Serena had been slightly upset over not knowing the news, she looked really confused and upset now, staring down at her lap as they went upstairs.

"Go to bed babe," she whispered, "I'll get Serena to her room, and come back."

They entered the hall and then parted ways, Arya taking Serena to her room.

"Need help changing?" Arya asked but Serena just shook her head.

"I'm good. I'm, um not tired yet. Thanks Arya."

"Night."

She left, intent on returning to Kyle. Screw the room she paid for, Arya wanted to curl up in her pajamas with Kyle and Max and fall asleep, not be alone in an empty room.

Kat charged the bill to the hotel room then her and Kevin returned upstairs, both of them beat tired. Between the beach, then sex, and then dinner, Katerina was ready to crash.

"Sleep," she whined, "I need sleep handsome."

Serena sat in the empty room, a little confused with what to do with herself. She stored the lobster in the mini fridge, but it hurt that he had left so abruptly, without any mention of why or where.

Moving to the dresser, she chose out her pajamas, able to change her own top, just not her bottoms. Resigning to sleeping in her panties, Serena wheeled to the edge of the bed, flipping back the blankets. The next ten minutes were achingly painful, the red head desperately trying to get herself into bed with no function in her hips and little mobilty too. When she finally succeeded she felt great for two seconds then that confused hurt filled her once more.

I need sleep. I can't keep dwelling on it.

But it wouldn't leave her mind. Try as she might it remained, pestering her. Finally Arya got annoyed enough to pull her hearing aid out, effectively losing all the sound around her just for five extra minutes to wind down. She'd be unable to hear if Alex came in, or if he spoke to her but it felt nice to have complete silence too. She hoped if he did come back he wouldn't get too mad that she wasn't replying, as she rolled away from the door, her eyes fluttering closed and her breath getting softer

 

[Risky]

Kyle lays down on his bed, Max sitting on the head of it and staring at the door, ensuring no uninvited guests would be coming inside anytime soon.

Kyle shivers before slipping under the covers, burying himself with blankets and putting a pillow over top of his head as if attempting to hide.

"One last kiss." He says softly. "I miss your lips while I sleep." He whispers to her, his hands on her waist as he looks down into her eyes.

Alex slips into the room late at night, he slides into bed next to Serena, burying his face into the crook of her neck and wrapping his arms around her, making sure not to touch her hip or put too much pressure on anything.

 

[BurningWillows]

She slips into the dark room, hearing Max's guarding growl.

"It's okay boy its me. Is Kyle sleeping?"

Sneaking into the bathroom, she changed there before crawling under the covers beside him, wiggling close to him as her eye shut and sleep takes a hold of her.

Kissing him softly Kat wraps her arms around his waist as she nestles her head under his chin, finding the perfect spot to sleep in.

She'd been having a particularly grueling dream about a the dead corpse chasing her, trying to touch her. She woke instantly as the bed shifted and someone touched her, her arm whipping out and at once punching the person, sending them off the bed.

"What the hell?!" she cried, both fearfully and angrily, still mostly deaf, "Who are you? How'd you get in here?!"

 

[Risky]

Alex cries out, holding his nose as he falls off of the bed, having been woken up but her punch.

"Serena, it's Alex.." He says quietly, feeling some blood run from his nose. He groans as he tries to contain the stream with just his hands.

He wakes up to her crawling into bed with him, he feels her smuggle against him as his arms pull her against him, he lightly kisses the top of her head before falling asleep.

Winters kisses her back lightly before pulling away, pulling her down on to the bed with him as he grins at her. "Good night, I love you." He says before closing his eyes.

 

[BurningWillows]

She sat up, looking over the bed in the dark as her eyes adjusted. The continuing silence was not helping, her hearing aid still on the table, her left ear missing his words as her heart beat hammered in it.

"Alex!" she cried, realizing her mistake and reaching out to him, unable to move from the bed, "Oh my god I'm so sorry. My hearing aid isn't in. I didn't hear you coming, and you woke me from a nightmare."

 

[Risky]

Alex sits up before getting up and sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his nose to stop the bleeding.

"It's okay." He says into her left ear.

 

[BurningWillows]

She grimaced, touching his face, "I hurt you. That's not okay. Neither is it okay if you were to hurt me..."

She paused, wondering if now was the best time to bring it up. Setting her shoulders, she knew it was as good a time as any.

"Alex, you're making me really uncomfortable with this sneaking around today. First you didn't tell me about Shrake, and I understand so I was going to let it slide, but then you got this private text message and ran off in the middle of dinner. You made it really awkward for me, and for the group. Why are you hiding things from me? We are supposed to be in this together."

 

[Risky]

"We are in this together." He says to her quietly. "I just don't want you getting tangled up in all of this, alright?" He asks softly before lightly kissing her cheek.

"Can we go to sleep? I'm really tired." He says to her, waiting for her response.

 

[BurningWillows]

His voice barely registered, making Serena strain to hear it properly as her heart died down. His words weren't promising though, just beating around the bush. Telling her nothing.

"Go clean your nose first," she mumbled, lying back into the bed and feeling pain race down her side, her hip screeching from the movement, "And uh, please bring me some pain meds from the bathroom too. My hip is killing me."

While he did that she tried to fight off the negative thoughts, the ones claiming that something was going on, something she should be aware of. Serena wanted to trust his judgement, to trust he knew what he was doing. But she had seen this time and time again growing up, when Emberly would date. They'd start making excuses, lying, then skipping out...everytime she'd eventually catch them cheating-

Don't think like that, she cut her own train of thought off, He isn't like those men. You're just being paranoid.

 

[Risky]

Alex walks into the bathroom to clean up his nose, grabbing some paper towels and wetting them with water from the sink. He cleans the blood from his hands and face before checking himself in the mirror, deciding to leave a couple of splotches to not waste paper towels.

He grabs a bottle of pain killers and a glass, filling it with water before walking back out to her, offering her two of the pills and the water.

 

[BurningWillows]

She accepts them graciously, swallowing the pills and the water before motioning him to join her in the bed.

"I had to pull myself into bed and I think I bothered my hip," she explained, her head nestled in the pillow, "I didn't realize I strained anything till now though. Don't give me that look, you weren't here and I wasn't about to have Arya fussing awkwardly over me. I got my pjs on and got into bed by myself. I just...hurt my hip in the process."

He had a look that told her he was not pleased, and Serena felt like she was about to get a lecture on taking care of herself.

 

[Risky]

He nods. "I understand, just try to be more careful in the future." He says to her quietly while slipping into bed with her.

He wraps his arms around her and gently kisses her forehead. "Goodnight." He mutters to her.

 

[BurningWillows]

Morning came and Serena was in more pain than before, her hip searing.

"Alex," she whimpered, "Wake up. I need more medication."

There was no way she'd make it through the whole day without some. Today was the award ceremony, and she wanted to be there to support Alex.

 

[Risky]

He groans as he wakes up, rubbing his eyes before getting up and walking into the bathroom to fill up another glass of water for Serena. He grabs two more pills and walks out with them in his hand.

He offers her the glass with the pills already inside of it.

 

[BurningWillows]

She takes them in one gulp, grimacing as pain lancing her side.

"Go. Get ready. I'm okay," she grunts, faking a smile, "I'll just sleep...a little longer."

Resting her head on the pillow, Serena skin is paler than usual, and she looks nauseous. Her eyes flutter closed, hoping for a few more minutes of rest while the drugs kick in before she'd forced to start the day.

 

[Risky]

Alex nods, a worried look crossing his face as he watches her for a moment. He turns and grabs the dress uniform provided to him by the military.

He then walks into the bathroom and changes into it, straightening out his hair and putting on his formal cap.

Staring at himself in the mirror occupies a few seconds of his time before he shakes his head and steps out, a little excited to see what Serena would think of his uniform.

 

[BurningWillows]

Cracking an eye open as the bathroom door creaks, she watches her boyfriend step out in his attire.

"There's my badass hero," she croaks, her voice dry and gravelly.

Wincing, she coughs hard to try and clear her throat, her body shaking with the effort. When she's done she looks up at him with dull brown eyes, the normal liveliness in them gone.

"I'm fine," she murmurs, seeing his worried look, "The doctor warned me that the drugs had side effects. It will clear up. You look great."

Pushing her elbows into the bed it takes her some effort to lift herself up.

"Mind helping me get dressed, and we'll leave?"

Katerina put on her dress uniform after a lengthy shower.

"Can I just say this does not suit me?" she called out to Winters, laughing somewhat, "tattoos everywhere and a uniform clash. I hope I don't stand out too much. Let me see you babe."

Arya was already in the lobby, having showered, dressed, and now just finished breakfast with Kyle before running up some food for Max. The two waited for the others, Arya a little impatiently.

"They better hurry," she fussed, pacing, "I know we have a couple hours still, but being late for this in any way is not an option."

 

[Risky]

Alex nods and grabs the clothes she had picked out for the day. He walks over to her and helps her stand before undressing her quickly.

He discards her old clothing into a pile before helping her into a formal dress for the ceremony.

He walks over wearing his own formal wear, laughing at her statement. "I know what you mean, I think it makes me look good if I'm honest." He admits.

"You look good in anything, Kat."

He chuckles, watching her pace. "You don't have to worry, they'll be down here soon." He promises.

 

[BurningWillows]

She grinned, "As long as you like me in it, then I'm good."

Getting closer to him she kissed his cheek, "When we get back, don't take this off. You look amazing in this handsome."

Katerina winked, leaving him to guess what she meant.

"C'mon Kevin. I'm sure the others are waiting."

​

After they got dressed she settled into her wheelchair, rubbing her temple where a small headache had started. She kept it to herself though, not wanting to ruin anymore of Alex's day. Last night felt distant now. If anything, she was still bothered by it but she wouldn't bring it up till another day, not on an important day like this.

"I'm ready to go Alex."

 

[Risky]

Alex nods and pushes her out of the room. He walks her to the elevator before pressing the option to go to the lobby, which they go to.

He walks her over to Arya and Kyle, where they will wait for Katerina and Winters before tge ceremony.

Winters laughs when she asks him not to take it off. "Babe, this suit is gonna get heated and then I'm gonna sweat and ruin it, I'm gonna jump out of it first chance I get." He says to her before taking her hand with his.

"We should go down now, the team is probably waiting for us." He says while pulling her towards the door to their room.

 

[BurningWillows]

​

They made their way down to the rest of the group, then out to the black SUV waiting outside for them, to take them to their destination. It was designed for Serena, so she could roll into the back seat without getting out of her wheelchair, and then they could strap her in. After everyone climbed in, they were off.

 

[Risky]

It takes about half an hour, but they arrive at the White House, where they are greeted by a crowd of mixed protestors and thankful citizens along with secret service and police officers trying to keep the, away from the SUV. Since the Ghosts are Special Operators, all of them are issued a pitch black pair of combat glasses to wear over their eyes.

The gates open for the SUV and it drives in, the gates swinging closed behind it. The magnificent White House is truly a sight to see, at the front door stands a Marine in full dress uniform, he opens and closes the door for people on their way in and out of the White House, always keeping a straight posture and face, never slacking.

They get out of the SUV and walk towards the front door, which is opened for them by the Marine standing guard, they walk inside to see the inside of the elegant building.

They are approached by several Marines in dress uniform, which escort them to the Presidents office. When they arrive in the circle room, they find the President in his leather chair.

The ceremony is simple, a film crew is there filming it while the President stands and salutes the team before shaking their hands individually. He passes out several medals.

For Kyle, Winters, Arya, and Alex, a gold service star is passed out along with a Medal of Honor and a Medal of Valor and several Purple Hearts for reported injuries.

Serena also receives a purple heart for her injuries in the field, and the highest award for a civilian out of the military the Gold Lifesaving Medal.

Katerina, last but not least receives a Purple Heart, the Distinguished Intelligence Cross, a Medal of Homor, Medal of Valor, and finally a Silver service star.

 

[BurningWillows]

Katerina watches silently as the medals are passed out, trying to keep a collected face. Something in her gut had been screaming at her since she entered the white house, telling her something was off. She sums it up to nerves, knowing the CIA was less than impressed with her still, as they hadn't made any contact yet. For all she knew, they could still arrest her and ship her off like they did to Shrake, to god knows where.

Finally they get to her, and it takes all her control not to sigh in relief. Her gut is still queasy, but no one has made a move towards her, and no one is staring at her suspiciously.

You're just paranoid, she snaps at herself inside her head, shaking the presidents hand and thanking him. At this point she began to ache to leave the room, to get back to fresh air. Her mind didn't even mull over the fact she had only gotten a silver service star compared to the others who got gold. After a few more minutes she notices the group is moving back out of the room, the ceremony quick and over. Kat waits until they are back in the hall to quicken her pace a step, moving from the back of the line to the front.

"You okay?" Arya whispered as she passed and Kat only nodded, resigned not to speak inside the White House.

Katerina seemed perfectly fine until they returned to the hallway, and then her step quickened and the blonde had a wild look in her blue eyes, like she felt trapped. Arya tried to comment, and slow her pace but it didn't help. She tilted slightly to watch Kat fall into the front of the procession, but then her eyes fell on someone else. Serena.

She'd noted in the car her pale complexion and dull eyes, the signs of sickness, but Serena had passed them off as simple side effects to her pain medication, that just made her drowsy and nauseous. The doctor knew that was common, but she also knew Serena would be on her best behavior for Alex and the president, not slouching and leaning to the right, watching as one of her arms fell limp at the side of the wheelchair. The doctor bit her tongue, knowing something wasn't right. She caught one of the marines they passed looking at the redhead oddly and at that point Arya knew she needed to step in.

Falling out of line and quickening her step, she quickly was at Al's side, her one hand pulling Serena's shoulder up so she sat normally, pulling the shades down so no one could see her eyes were closed. The girl didn't flinch, didn't even make a sound. She was out cold.

"We have a slight problem," Arya whispered to Al, making no motion to Serena as she continued to grip her shoulder, "Serena just fell unconscious. We need to get her out of here without attracting any attention, or we will have media down our throats. How many pills did she take?"