Wildlands (rskde & BurningWillows)

[BurningWillows]

An hour passes before someone knocks on the door and then it opens, two men in hazmat suits stepping in. Outside they can see yellow tarp all around, obviously they've quarantined the whole hallway.

They were handed each a pair of comfier clothes, their phones, and a letter before leaving. In the letter were terms explaining it. The confidential mission had been into a deserted part of the country, where each man got infected with some parasitic disease. Two of them returned with wounds, and one returned with only a headache. They were working diligently on figuring out what it was, but the three of them had been exposed the worst and would remain quarantined.

They were advised to contact their loved ones and make peace, in the case things went sour.

With shaking hands she called Kyle, knowing she'd been ignoring him all week, and he might not even answer, but she needed to talk to him.

Serena gets the call and calls a cab. She still had yet to get her license, and even if she did have one, Alex had taken the call. Her heart raced as she drove across town, rushing out at the hospital and into the emergency sector. This stress cannot be good for the babies. God Alex, you better be okay...please baby be okay...

"Hey, Alex Miller," she gasped out as she reached the front counter looking frantic.

They pointed her in the direction and she raced down the hall, stopping short of the couple SWAT members standing outside the door.

"Is he in there?" she asked, "Is my fiance in there?"

 

[Risky]

The SWAT men outside nod to her. "Officer Miller is in there, he was unconscious last we checked." They explain to the redhead in front of them.

Kyle had been sitting around his barracks, playing catch with Max for most of the day. He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket and he pulls it out, answering it.

"Hey, it's been awhile." He says casually.

 

[BurningWillows]

"Let me through then," she snaps, pushing past him and into the room. Seeing him there, the roles reversed, makes her heart break.

"Oh Alex," she sighs, taking a seat next to his bed and picking up his hand, kissing it softly, "Why do you do this to me? To us?"

"I missed your voice," was all she could say, tears pricking her eyes, "Work here is about ten times harder than at camp. I...I haven't slept properly since I left."

She rubbed tears away, trying not to get too emotional, "I, I just called to tell you I love you. And whatever happens to me, I've always loved you."

 

[Risky]

He furrows his eyebrows together as he listens to her words. "Arya, what's wrong?" He asks her, hearing the fact that she was beginning to cry in her voice. "Is something happening?" He asks as he listens.

Alex's eyes open and he looks over at her, chuckling. "It's in the job description babe.." He says to her. "I took four in the back and two in the front, but only one came through and fucked me up." He explains to her. "Nailed my ribcage and stuck there, so the doctors gave me a prothstetic rib." He explains.

 

[BurningWillows]

She glared at him, wanting to punch him, "It isn't funny Alex. You have a fiance now and I'm pregnant. With two! You can't just...you can't..."

She buried her head in the bed, sucking in air as she tried to keep from having a full panic attack. Due to the pregnancy she was now off her anti-depressants, making it hard for her not to have mood swings.

"I'm in quarantine," she explained, "It...well it might be fatal. So much for protecting me right? One week here, and I'm already..."

Her voice cut off, Arya choking back a silent sob, "I'm sorry Kyle. You wanted me safe, and now I might be in more trouble than I can get out of."

 

[Risky]

"Hey, I'm sorry.. I'm more used to getting shot than you are, honestly it doesn't even hurt that bad babe." He says with a smile, holding her hand tightly. "You have nothing to worry about, alright?" He asks her.

Kyle nearly drops the phone. "Wait, you're in what?! Baby.. I hope you're okay.." He says to her, the thought of her dying occurring to him, his fiancé, the woman he loves is in danger when he sent her to a safe place.. "I'm so sorry.." He says to her, clutching the phone tightly. "I just wanted you away from the fighting.."

 

[BurningWillows]

Serena just glared at him, "You need to be more careful. I need you. More than ever now Alex, I need you. We need you."

Arya wanted to cry, "I'm sorry for how jealous I got. I just...I've never felt that kind of hurt. Seeing you with another woman...it killed me. I need you Kyle. More than anything, I want to be with you. And if I don't...if I don't make it, I want you to know that."

 

[Risky]

"Dont talk like that, you're going to get through this.. How could I ever live without you?" He almost whispers into his phone. "Please try, if you feel yourself slipping just think of me.." He says to her, obviously on the verge of tears himself.

"Heeeeeeeeeey, don't glare at me, I'm alive!" He says with a laugh. "If you don't like me getting shot at you shouldn't have become engaged to a military sniper who is now SWAT!" He says to her, giggling at her dismay.

 

[BurningWillows]

She was sitting in the corner of the room, Dr. Good taking the stool and calling his wife, and the nurse pacing.

"I don't know what's happening," she whispered, "But...if I make it out of here, I don't want to wait anymore. I want to marry you. Immediatly. I shouldn't have made us wait. Oh god Kyle, what if I die? I can't even hug you, or see your face one last time."

She punched his arm, trying hard not to laugh, "Stop making me smile, I'm trying to be mad at you!"

 

[Risky]

Alex laughs and rubs his arm. "Ow!" He says jokingly. He looks out the window and notices how dark is is becoming. "Baby, can you stay with me tonight?" He asks her. "If you can't I completely understand, I've gotta sleep either way." He says to her.

"I only have this week left on deployment, if you aren't out by then I can drop by and see you." He says to her. "Alright?" He asks while clutching the phone tightly. "I promise you'll see me again, but I have to go now.. I love you." He says to her before hanging up the phone, laying down on his bed and letting his arm drape down to Max, tomorrow they had to set up another checkpoint in Baghdad.

 

[BurningWillows]

She nodded, getting up, "Push over love. We are sharing this bed then."

Squeezing in, she curled up under his arm, smiling up at him, "I don't give two fucks if they want me off this bed. We've been through too damn much and I can't sleep without you holding me."

She stared at her phone, confused. Why had he hung up so soon? Wasn't he worried about her. Maybe he's on call. Maybe he had to...I don't know...

Hours past, and all of them begin to feel sick. The night wore on and the three of them fell asleep, only to wake in the morning even sicker. The nurse had it worse, but Dr. Good wasn't far behind her. By noon when the suited men arrived all three of them were suffering. One man stepped in, giving them each a needle full of yellow liquid. Arya opened her mouth to ask what was going on but then she passed out, only to wake up disorientated and confused, hearing the sounds of a plane around her.

"Dr. Culling?" one man leaned over her, shining a light in her eyes, "Rest up now. The three of you are on your way back to the states. Don't worry, we alerted your fiance. You've been discharged, we can explain that later. Rest now."

 

[Risky]

The next morning they set up their checkpoint, Kyle decides to strike up a conversation with Farner, as no vehicles had been coming their way for awhile.

"So why did you join the Marines?" He asks her while watching up the road for oncoming traffic,

Alex scoots over and wraps his arms around her, curling his body around hers and burying his face into her neck. "Goodnight." He whispers to her before closing his eyes and happily falling asleep for the night.

 

[BurningWillows]

She shrugged, playing with her gun, "No reason. Had nothing better to do Corporal. My father was a soldier, so I just followed in his steps."

Kat had most of it planned out, but after weeks of planning, she was ready for the wedding. She just needed Arya and Kyle to come back. She even had a dress, hidden from Kevin of course.

 

[Risky]

Kyle nods as he watches another car roll up. "Farner, talk to the Hadjie driving while Max and I sniff around." He says to her.

Rosaline walks to the driver seat and starts talking to the driver while Kyle and Max search around the car, Max sniffing until he starts growling lowly.

Kyle looks under the car and his eyes widen, he grabs Max and starts yelling. "IED! IED! Get the fuck-" The car explodes, sending him flying across the checkpoint and rolling across the ground, Max runs after him, Rosaline is nowhere to be found.

Kyle feels a set of teeth on his uniform as Max tries desperately to pull him from the fray, but a soldier quickly helps the K-9, pulling him to a Humvee to check him over.

"He looks alright.. But holy shit his face got hit..

Half of Kyle's face is bleeding, a metal piece sticking from his cheek and under his eye from the explosion, small little fragments litter his vest from when he had tried to protect his dog from the explosion.

He finds himself in a NATO plane, on his way back to the States. His face has been bandaged with the pieces removed, a call sent to Arya about it.

Kevin finds Kat and wraps his arms around her from behind, as he had just come home form a long day of sitting around at the station. "Guess who?" He says to her softly, kissing her cheek with a grin on his face. "Kyle and Arya are meant to be back today." He says to her.

 

[BurningWillows]

She kissed his chin, tidying up her things, "What? Why? They've only been on rotation for two or three weeks now. What happened?"

"A mega virus happened," a voice by the door sighed.

They both turned, seeing Arya in a wheelchair as she put her phone away, two men behind her.

"And Kyle got hit with an IED, he'll be here by morning."

"Are you okay?" Kat got up, nodding at the men, "What's going on?"

"Long story," she sighed, "Pretty much I got infected with a virus, that I'm cured from now but in order to do so I lost all control of my nerves. I should be alright in the next few days..."

One of the men nodded, "Dr. Culling with heal, but do to her exposure she has been discharged with honors."

"Pretty much, I'm home for good," she stated.

 

[Risky]

Kevin watches Arya for a moment before kissing Katerina's cheek again. "I'll be right back bab,y I'm gonna take a shower and get dressed." He mutters to her before walking over to their room, preparing himself a shower and clothes for when he gets out. He steps inside and starts to clean himself off from the long day of exercising and protecting the city.

 

[BurningWillows]

Katerina helped Arya settle into her apartment after the men left, promising she'd spend the night since Arya's legs and torso could barely move. Her head was functioning and her left arm had movement, but only her right hand could twitch. Kat snuck back to her place, only to grab pajamas and kiss Kevin, then returned to her friend, deciding on a movie night and pajama party until the doctor could move again.

 

[Risky]

Kevin gets out of the shower and changes into his pajamas before kissing his fiancé. "Can't you stay with me tonight?" He mumbles to her, his forehead against hers as he speaks. "I don't think I can sit through a movie, I'm kindve.. Needing you right now." He admits to her.

 

[BurningWillows]

Kat kisses him long and hard, "Hun she needs me. Alex and Serena don't live down the hall anymore, and she can barely lift a fork. You can last one night without me, I promise."

Kissing him goodbye and saying goodnight she skips back over to Arya's spending the night with her till the wee hours of the morning, when news that Kyle had landed arrived.

 

[Risky]

When Kyle lands he requests his fiancé not to be told, wanting some time to himself while he waited for Max's crate to be shipped to his apartment. He drives to a local bar in town, placing his head agaisnt the countertop, he looks ugly, half of his face covered in bandages and the other half burnt to hell, angry red patches of skin dotting it.

"Holy shit, you look like you need a beer." The bartender comments as he pours him an Apple Cider, sliding it over to him. "It's on the house, because of your service." He says, commenting on the uniform.

"Thanks." Kyle says before drinking it, finding it hard to do so, only being able to use half of his mouth.

He finishes the drink and drives to the apartment, slipping inside and seeing Arya and Katerina in pajamas, watching a movie together.

 

[BurningWillows]

Throughout the night her body becomes more and more responsive, and by the time Kyle walks through the door she can move everything but her legs. No one had told him of her condition though, so when he walks in she rolls over to him, seeing the shock on his face reflected by her own.

"Baby, your face," she sounds upset, not over his looks but at the pain he has to be in, "Oh my god, are you okay?"

 

[Risky]

He smiles half heartedly at her. "It's not as bad as it looks." He says to her softly. "I was just trying to protect Max." He explains to her before sitting down on the couch next to them and silently watching the movie.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya shut off the movie and Katerina decided it was the best time to swing out, promising to see them later. Watching her leave, she turned to Kyle with a slightly perplexed look on her face, "The two of us are just a pile of injuries now, huh?"

She watched him, quietly struggling with what was going on. It wasn't his looks, but him himself. Since they had gone back to Afghanistan he'd been acting different. Didn't visit as much, his phone calls were short like the day before, and he seemed continuously tired of talking. And now he just sat on the couch, neither explaining what happened to his face, or worrying about why she was in the wheelchair. And that kiss. He swears he didn't mean it...but he's showing so many signs. Is he cheating on me? Is he not interested anymore?

"You know," she sighed, deciding to face it instead of run, no matter how much her heart would break, "If you ever wanted to leave me, because, I don't know, you fell in love with someone else, I'd be upset but I'd understand. You don't have to be afraid to say it."

 

[Risky]

Kyle looks over at her before shaking his head. "I'm not in love with Farner.. I'm fucked up because I got her killed, alright?" He says to her, running a hand through his hair. "There was an IED on a car, and I prioritzed Max's life over mine and hers, she was obliterated and I was hit by shrapnel." He explains.

"I could never stop loving you, Farner was pretty, but not prettier than you, and she didn't have the bravery thst you do." He says to her.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya~

She just looked at him, "If you hadn't pulled Max away you'd be dead too. I'm sorry she died, but I'm not sorry at being upset when I found her kissing you. Kyle, since we rotated back to Afghan you've been distant. I just..."

She sighed, rolling closer to him, "You came in upset and I get that. But you haven't even noticed me, or you'd realize I'm in a wheelchair. You haven't even asked if I'm okay, and you hung up on me, when I was going to die. I just...I don't know who you are anymore. I don't feel your love anymore, I just feel like a nuisance. I don't want to marry a man who isn't happy in his relationship. If your unhappy, perhaps we should take a break."