Wildlands (rskde & BurningWillows)

[BurningWillows]

She waits till he leaves then looks at the doctor, "So what exactly happened to me?"

Dr. Goodall smiles, "I'm guessing he's too worried to give you a straight answer."

"No, he just likes to keep things brief and summarized. He said someone switched my drugs with cocaine and I'm addicted now."

"Well he's right," she explained, going into the details she knew as well as what they found when they pumped her stomach.

"But I didn't know I was taking it. Can I still be addicted?"

"Yes, although not in the way most are. Most crave cocaine for the high they get. You never experienced that because you thought it was just pain medication. What you will crave is that release from the pain, and its why we cannot give you any drugs not until the withdrawals ease. We worry you might associate any drugs we give you for the pain as a substitute for the cocaine your body craves. Until we are sure you will be okay, we cannot risk it."

"But the morphine?" she tapped the needle in her arm.

"We only use that for emergencies. Right now its off. The next few weeks you will be working with a physcial therapist, and hopefully that will keep you preoccupied. I assure you, we will do our best to get you back to 100%."

"Okay," Serena let out her breath, rubbing her temples, "Now for the real honest part. You told Alex I'd be two weeks. How long am I really in here for?"

Dr. Goodall looked at her funny like she didn't understand.

"I'm a journalist," Serena explained, "My job is to uncover stories and listen to how people speak. Something tells me you told him what he wanted to here, but you haven't given me a timeline of how long this will take. How long?"

Dr. Goodall gave her a sad smile, "You're bright and young. And beautiful. Hold on to that through the next couple weeks. The withdrawals will take up to two weeks. After that, its on you Serena on how long your in here. If you can beat this, we will let you out in two weeks. If you show signs of addiction we will have to keep you longer. Now rest please. Tomorrow Teagan will be in to start your therapy.

 

[Risky]

Kyle approaches Arya in their room, about a week later. It's midnight and he has to leave in the morning. He places his hands on her hips and rests his forehead against hers.

"I'm going to miss you." He says to her quietly.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya tilts her head up, kissing him longingly.

"Just come back to me safely, please?"

Pulling him into the bed, she wraps her elegant arms around him, getting one last night with him before flying out to the coast to begin her new job.

In the week to follow Katerina did her best to track down Hawk, but to no avail. He was in hiding, and he seemed to be staying that way. She filled in Arya, Kyle and Al about him, although left out the parts where he thought Kat was the successor. She hadn't even admitted it to Kevin yet; it just didn't sit right in her gut if they thought she currently could be running the cartel. Not that she wanted to, or there was any cartel left to run. It was in shambles.

By the end of the week Katerina was getting deployed along with Kyle and Max. After a lengthy conversation she agreed on San Francisco with Winters, knowing Arya was heading that way for her new job in one of emergency hospitals, and it would be where Serena and Al would go once she was cleared and released.

That morning she woke early, tugging Kevin awake too so he could accompany her to the airport, along with Kyle, Arya and Max.

"I love you," Katerina whispered, hugging Winters tightly while they descended the escalator, "You'll be careful, okay? Don't talk to pretty girls. No falling in love with anyone else, alright? And keep an eye on Arya. Don't let her overwork herself. And promise me to enjoy yourself while I'm gone. No moping."

 

[Risky]

Kyle kisses her back, his arms wrapping around her lovingly.

"Of course I'll come back." He says to her quietly. "When I come home, I'll surprise you, I promise." He says with a smile.

"What, so I can't talk to Arya?" He asks jokingly, his arms holding her close to him tightly as he buries his face into her neck, kissing it softly.

"I love you, I'm gonna miss you."

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya had an iron grip on his hand as they pulled up the rental in front of the hotel, waiting for Kevin and Katerina.

"God, I'm going to miss you," she sighed, "I want you to keep in touch okay? Letters, or emails, or Skype. Just don't go dark on me Kyle, okay?"

"I'll miss you more," she sighed, "If all goes probably, I'll be out there for a few weeks, maybe a couple months at most. But I'll have a laptop with me, so I can send you emails, okay? And when I get back we will settle down, I promise. For now, you have that rented apartment your sharing with Arya right? I put down the last payment yesterday so it should be yours. Until you both get on your feet at least."

She fussed over him, trying to hide the worry in her gut.

 

[Risky]

Winters nods. "I'll try not to bother Arya too much." He says with a laugh, rubbing the back of his head as he speaks. He walks into the lobby with her and gives her another big hug before watching her walk out to the black SUV.

Kyle kisses her again before placing his hands on her shoulders. "Don't fall in love with any one else, buy that dog you were talking about and don't worry about me, I'll only go dark if completely necessary." He says to her.

"After all, I am a Marine Force Recon operator." He says with a grin. "I'll be back, I promise." He says before walking out to the SUV next to Katerina's, getting inside.

 

[BurningWillows]

"Ready marine?" she asked, starting the engine as she climbed into the driver side, "Max?"

She got an answering growl from the backseat.

"I'll take that as a yes," she grinned, buckling in, "Let's go."

Arya walked side by side with Kevin up to their rooms where they had one more nights stay.

"Ready for tomorrow?" she asked, looking over at him, "New city, new roots, new start for both of us. And with any luck a speedy return of our partners."

A week had passed and Serena was beginning to go stir crazy. The first few days had been fine, it had only been an itch in the back of her mind. Now it was an itch all over, making her want to claw at her skin. Her head ached all the time, with no relent from the migraines. And her hip, fuck she hated that injury. It just constantly cried out with every movement, making her more and more irritable.

But she was trying. She tried for Alex, who visited once a day: tried being happy, pretending everything was going smoothly so he wouldn't worry. Then she was trying for her therapist. Always trying to work past the constant pain.

She now had a wheelchair she could move herself, so that she could move around, and didn't end up stuck to one room. They had moved her over to another building on the hospital's grounds for addicts, which she was starting to believe was actually the mental ward. She had her own room though, and she was able to roam on her wheelchair throughout the small two floored building, so it wasn't all too bad. The food was bland and the people lifeless, but she was trying to stay positive in her surrounding too.

Trying didn't always work for Serena though. On her fifth day there she ended up snapping at Teagan after a bad morning, when she felt her trainer was being a little overworking. On the sixth day she had given up eating the food at dinner, it never took the ache away from her stomach, or much else.

Now it was the seventh day, and all her mind could think of was if they just gave her one...one pain pill...she could really get ahead in her physical therapy. That was all she needed. Just one. Something to take off the edge, so that her hip didn't sear when she tried to stand.

Serena wanted to move around and try to get her mind off of things, so she called a nurse in to help her transfer to her wheelchair. Rolling about was better than sitting in a room, reminding herself that there were crazies on the other side of her walls, all of them addicts too. Except they had chosen to do the drugs, and she hadn't even known.

"What are you looking at?" someone snapped, breaking Serena's hazy thoughts as she realized she was staring into someone's room quite awkwardly.

"Uh, sorry. Lost my train of thought," she muttered, turning to move on.

"You look sick. You sick? You're really pale. Shit, are you contagious?"

Serena looked back, "No I'm not sick. I'm in immense amounts of pain and no one in this hospital thinks I need a pain medication to help me."

The woman inside the room gave her a funny look. She looked to be in her forties, with blonde hair tied into a messy ponytail, wearing grey sweatpants and a tshirt like Serena did. Some of the patients got stuck in gowns, other who could care for themselves got the sweatpants and tshirt combo.

"Well here," the woman finally said, holding her hand out, "They just gave me mine. I can share. They always give me two."

Serena blanched, but her hands touched the wheels, pushing her into the room.

"I-I shouldn't-"

"It's alright. I know the doctors can be assholes sometimes. Honestly I just have a minor ankle fracture. It's almost healed anyways, I just keep asking for the meds so I can sleep. C'mon. Take it."

Without thinking she grabbed it, fumbling it into her mouth than swallowing. Instantly her thoughts turned against her, What have I done? What is Alex going to say?

"You should probably go back to your room. These drugs make you drowsy. If you need more, come ask. Name's Terry."

Serena wheeled out quickly, feeling sick to her stomach. She got into her room, calling a nurse to help get her into bed. It was the same one, who gave her a funny look for wanting back in her bed so soon, but Serena just told her she felt tired and wanted a nap before dinner. As soon as the nurse left the drug kicked in, relief washing through her body. It felt like heaven, the pain subsiding, the headache vanishing. Even as drowsiness pulled her under, Serena stopped feeling so guilty. It was only one pill, and for the first time in a week she could get a few hours of full rest.

 

[Risky]

Kyle nods before she starts driving, he leans his head against the window and stares out the windshield.

Winters nods. "Get some sleep, I'll wake you up in the morning." He says as he walks back into the elevator and goes up to his room again. The bed seems empty without Katerina.

 

[BurningWillows]

(i totally forgot that Kat and Kyle left in the early morning)

She understood what he meant, being as it was only 4am in the morning. To them it wasn't the next day till the sun rose. In actuality both of them had to be up in four hours to pack before their flight at noon. Al was the only one staying behind, for Serena's sake, until she could be moved to San Francisco.

 

[Risky]

Winters packs his things and knocks on Arya's door loudly. "C'mon princess!" He yells, Kyle had told him about the nickname, it made him laugh enough that he wanted to use it on her, just to annoy her. "We've got a flight to catch." He says before stepping away from the door.

 

[BurningWillows]

She packed the last of her stuff before doing one final sweep. The only thing left to pack was one of those photobooth pictures of her and Kyle, taken the day they were at the mall. Slipping that into her bag she sniffled back the sudden wave of sadness and zipped up her suitcase.

She had loads more photos of him, her, and both of them on her new iPhone. She'd finally gotten around to having one, so that Kyle would know her number if he needed to contact her. Kevin had one too, courtesy of Katerina.

"I'm coming," she sighed, opening the front door and giving him a teasing scowl, "Please tell me you aren't going to start calling me princess too now?"

 

[Risky]

Winters simply shrugs before replying. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't, depends on the moo I'm in." He says before walking with her to the elevator.

He presses the Lobby button, watching the floor panel count down as they glide down the different levels. When the doors finally open he steps out and walks towards the car they had waiting for them.

They drive towards the airport and get checked in before boarding the flight to San Francisco.

By morning, Kyle and Katerina are in Afghanistan, and they have gone their separate ways. Kyle gets deployed to Kandahar Airfield, one of the most dangerous provinces Afghanistan had to offer, but that why they needed good IED dogs.

He and his team are walking up the road towards the town of Dubai, honestly the day had been pretty boring for them as no enemy contact had been made as of yet. Of course that all changes when Max stops dead in his tracks, his ears perked up and his lip pulled back, a growl coming from him

Kyle snaps his fingers and motions for his team and Max to move to the sides of the road, where some ruins and destroyed cars lay. They fan out and point their weapons at what lays ahead.

In front of them a small canister hits the middle of the road, slowly creating a smoke screen between them and the enemy. The Force Recon team puts on IRVN sights and stares through the smoke, the desert floor causing the heat sights to become very blurry.

"Contact fifteen degrees." One of his team mates comments. The second he says that a shot erupts from the opposite end of the smoke, colliding with the soldier's vest.

"Sniper! Everyone on the deck!" The squad leader yells. Kyle hits the deck, holding Max clos to him to make sure the K9 doesn't get any bright ideas. More shots fly over them, causing Kyle to flinch, giving Max the perfect opportunity to slip away from his grasp.

The dog barks loudly and runs through the smoke towards the sniper. Time seems to slow as Kyle jumps up, running through the smoke after him, his weapon raised and ready. Ahead of him stands a Hadjie, an M4 in his hands, his fires.

Kyle hits the ground, the shot having gone into his head. His body crumples to the ground, the fire fight continuing until all of the enemy is dead.

His team runs over to him and picks him up, requesting immediate Med Evac even though they doubted he would make it.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya~

The plane lands and the two get off. They have one last rental car for the week and then they either take the subway or buy a car. From the sounds of it Kyles going to get a car first - Katerina left him a card with access to her account so he could.

It takes them an hour to get their bags and then their car. Finally they were on their way across the city to the rental property to finish signing papers.

 

[Risky]

Winters walks into the apartment, looking around at it and laughing softly.

"Kat really spoils us." He says before walking into the master bedroom, placing his duffel bag down. He walks around with his hands in his pockets, excited to see what the apartment holds for them to see.

 

[BurningWillows]

They practically dumped her off in the middle of nowhere, giving her nothing more than an outfit to blend in and some money. They dropped her as closed as they dared to the last location they had seen her target. She still knew next to nothing, other than she needed to gather information to send a team in to kill him. It seemed easier to her to just do it herself, but perhaps it was like the cartel - if she had killed Narcos early they would have only replaced him and the cartel would have continued on.

Within a week she realized the biggest problem she was going to have. Women held no authority in this country. She couldn't join the organization, and she didn't want to sell herself to them. Katerina was already tired of what felt like a useless and tedious mission. That night she used her burner phone to call into the FBI, sitting on the small mattress in the tiny one room she was renting from a couple.

"Hello?" she greeted when the phone picked up, rattling off her I.D number and the mission case, "...so can someone tell me what use I am here? How am I supposed to get close to man who sees women as only slaves? How do I even approach him without getting my head blown off? A male agent would have gotten in much faster."

Arya stepped into the room and looked around. It was an open concept grey, black, and white color scheme, with large windows and two bedrooms. The master was claimed by Kevin, which was fine since Arya was only going to be there for a couple weeks until she could find a place of her own. She was serious about getting a dog, and starting a life.

While Kevin dropped off his bags, Arya heard a knock on the open door and turned to see a smiling blonde woman in a dress suit, a folder in her hands.

"You must be Katerina," she smiled.

"Oh, no. I'm Arya. Katerina isn't here...yet. Kevin is though."

The blonde nodded, "She told me it would be Kevin Winters who would be signing the lease."

"Kevin!" Arya called over her shoulder, "Someone is here for you!"

 

[Risky]

Kevin walks out and nods to the woman, taking the lease and signing it before handing it back to her. "Thank you." He says to her before shaking her hand and watching her leave, he closes the door behind her.

"Any contact with Kyle?" He asks Arya as he walks back into the room, sitting down on the couch.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya shook her head, "they haven/t landed yet. I'm sure within the next week I will hear from him. And you with Katerina."

But a week passed. A week passed and Arya found some normalcy within her new job. By the end of the week though she was starting to worry, having no herd a peep from them.

"Have you gotten anything from Kat?" Arya asked Kevin that morning, curiously getting the better of her.

 

[Risky]

He shakes his head. "If she's undercover she wouldn't risk talking to me while establishing herself with the guy she's meant to go after." He explains.

"Although it is a little weird that Kyle hasn't talked to you, I wonder what's going on over there."

 

[BurningWillows]

"I won't know until he contacts me, or worse yet someone else does. I pray everything is going okay. "

She was preparing supper for them in her scrubs, being on call almost 14/7.

"So any luck with job finding? Heard from Al yet?"

 

[Risky]

He shakes his head. "I dunno what I want to do with my life, and Al is staying in Washingon DC until Serena gets better, then he's moving out here with her." He explains.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya~

"Well Al was talking about joining the police force down here. Trying out for SWAT or something. Any of that interest you?"

Before she could say anything there was a knock on the door, interupting their chat and most certainly about to ruin their night.

 

[Risky]

Winters shrugs. "Maybe I'll try out with him, might as well give it a try." He says before the knock happens, he stands up to get the door.

He is greeted by several Marines dressed in full dress uniform, an the one in front has his hat taken off.

"Is a.. Arya, present?" The lead asks. "We've got reports that Lance Corporal Wetsworth has been wounded, and it's not looking good."

His eyes open, the world around him tinted red. Searing pain in his head makes him start to hyperventilate, he feels hands pushing him down, a needle entering his arm.

His eyes close again, and then open, flashes of his reality mixed with gunfire signal that he's still in Afghanistan. He feels Max at his side.

 

[BurningWillows]

All they could hear was a dish crash to the ground, shattering and then running steps.

She made it to the entrance before her hands rose to her face, seeing the last thing she wanted to at the entrance.

"Please," she shook her head, tears threatening to spill, "Please don't tell me he's dead."

She had a plan.

Not that the FBI had been any help. All they had told her was to work harder, and stop making excuses. To do whatever it took.

So she was. She knew how to get into the organization, but she would need a few things.

Finding her burner phone from the states, she dialed Al's number, hoping he still had his phone.

Luckily he picked up on the second ring.

"Hey. Odd favor. I need Shrake's number. I know you have it. If you can't give it to me fine. Just send him my number and tell him its urgent. Really urgent."

It felt like months, even though it had only been a few weeks. Serena was doing better, although there wasn't much far you could fall when you've already hit rock bottom -locked in her room with no visitors.

Turns out the doctors could clue in when you were taking drugs from other patients. After two weeks of blissful nights, minimal pain, and only irritability during every hour she didn't have a drug one of the doctors caught her. Now she was sentenced to her room, where she could only leave supervised by a nurse or her trainer for therapy or checkups. And no visitors. It had been only two days now on solitary confinement and Serena was feeling like shit, and not just because she had no pain medication.

The withdrawals were worse this time, and she had nothing more than her thoughts to keep her company, her mind scolding her for what she had done. And Alex. Serena had no idea how upset Alex was. She was sure by now he knew, and even imagining him disappointed in her was enough to make her want to cry.

"Please," she begged every time a nurse or doctor checked in on her, or brought her a meal, "Please let me see Alex."

 

[Risky]

Winters takes a step back to let Arya through, watching the Marine carefully, as if wondering what he had to say.

The Marine rubs the back of his neck. "He suffered a shot to the head, he's unresponsive but he has a heart beat apparently, the PJs got to him half an hour ago." He explains.

Alex feels his phone vibrating, he answers it and listens to her before biting the bottom of his lip. He nods, not like she could see before reading off the number to her.

 

[BurningWillows]

Tears spilled down her cheeks, her hands gripping Kevin's arm to keep her balanced as her knees buckled.

"Is he...will he make it?"

She thanked him then asked him about Serena's condition, taking the few extra seconds to see how her friends were doing.

"Is she recovering alright?"

A part of Katerina felt responsible, knowing Hawk was attacking the team partly due to her, and partly due to hating the ghosts who dismantled the cartel.