Thank you for taking the time to review! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the ones you know.
Enjoy!
Steph's POV
When I wake up my head is pounding and my gut is burning like mad. I open my eyes and take in my surroundings. My hands and feet are chained. I look over and see Ranger next to me. He is studying me with a weary expression. I look around and notice we are alone. Where, oh where are those bad guys? I wonder if they found Sahel yet.
"Babe."
"Ranger."
"You shouldn't have come after me," he tells me plainly. Like hell! He'd have done the same.
"I came because I couldn't stand to lose you," I say to him. He knows it's true.
"I would have done the same." I nod, my thoughts just seconds before.
"You know I haven't gotten to meet your family yet. When we make it out of this that should be our first stop," I say with a grin. Better keep this uplifting. I don't know if I'll make it out of here alive. I'm already wounded. I can tell I've already bled through the gauze.
"You got it babe. I was just wondering after we get out of here, will you marry me? Steph, I have never known another woman like you and I'd really like it if you'd be my wife. I'm not signing back on when it comes time to renew my contract," he asks me his eyes that deep chocolate brown showing his love. I feel tears in my eyes.
"Really? Now, of all the times to ask? Are you asking because you don't think we'll get out of this alive?" I ask angrily, "Of course I'll marry you. I love you and I came here to rescue your ass." I see him breathe a sigh of relief. He was a little worried when I started chewing him out.
"For a second I thought you were going to say no," he tells me with a small smile.
"Too bad. You're stuck with me," I say to him with a grin. We are scooting closer to each other when the door bangs open. We look up to see a big scary guy with a scar on one side of his face. His eyes are a dark, flat, mud brown. He is wearing a dusty camouflage outfit and he has crooked teeth.
"I see you awake now. Shall we begin the questions?" he asks with heavy Middle Eastern accent. I shrug trying to appear nonchalant when really I'm freaking out. This guy is big and scary and I'm not sure if I can take him hand to hand. I probably could if I didn't have this wound. I'd do better with Ranger's help. I've been in situations like this before.
"Who are you?" he asks eyeing the two of us. I decide general answers would be the way to go. Although some people may call it smart ass answers.
"People." He raises his hand and I get ready for the blow. He smacks my face and I feel my neck snap to the side. He calls me a bitch in Farsi. I can feel my cheek turning red and it's stinging. I bite my tongue. I turn back to him. He raises his eyebrow and calls me bitch again. Ranger doesn't know what he's saying.
"I'll ask you again. Who are you?" This time Ranger answers.
"American people." The big guy looks over at him with narrowing eyes. He pulls back his arm and curls his fingers into a fist. I see Ranger get ready for the punch that is sure to come. Then he swings his fist. Instead of hitting Ranger he swings around and catches me in the stomach. I gasp and try not to scream. I feel my wound throb and I see the blood soak through my uniform. That hurt so much more than the slap.
"I will torture both of you if you don't start answering correctly." I look over at Ranger and see his jaw clenched. I know he is having a hard time staying quiet but it has to be done. Neither of us speak.
"Okay then. The worthless bitch first," he says with a creepy sadistic chuckle. I called him a bastard in Farsi. He hauls me to my feet roughly and I can feel my wound tear some more. He smacks me for my comment. He hangs me from a hook that is on the ceiling. It hurts like hell but I am tough. Besides, I know I have to survive to marry Carlos. I start swinging back and forth on the hook. My abdomen protests and I pant to keep from stopping. The chain is digging into my hands but I ignore it and gain momentum. I then bend my knees and then as I swing forward I push with all my strength making ugly fall back on his ass. He curses me out in Farsi. I don't get off the chain though.
When the guy gets up I can tell he is enraged. I look over at Ranger for a brief second and see him working on his hands. I hope I can distract ugly while Ranger gets free. Ugly comes close to me and grabs my hair and twists. Air whistles through my teeth and he whispers to me in Farsi. He tells me what he's going to do to me. I manage to spit on his face. He steps back and picks up a whip type thing. I know what is going to happen. He turns me around on the hook so my back his facing him. He rips off my shirt roughly. Then my tank top and bra are ripped off. Fuck. This is going to hurt a hell of a lot. Suddenly I hear and feel the crack of the whip as it connects to my bare back. I let out a small scream. There was no way I could prepare myself for that. I feel the sticky, warm liquid ooze down my back.
"This ought to teach you to mess with me. Now do you want to tell me who you are?" he asks in a sickening voice. For a second I think I might puke. Luckily I don't.
"Like we told you before. American people." Crack another to the back. This time I didn't let out a peep. I feel more blood run down my back and my breasts bounce painfully. I hope Ranger is almost done getting his hands free.
"If you don't tell me who you are why don't you tell me why you are here," the man says. Gosh, the possibilities for that answer.
"We're here because you decided to capture us and detain us here. We would be okay with leaving though. So, if you want to get the chains," I tell him. I knew it wasn't the smartest thing but he asked. I just have to bid my time. Get through this pain and get out of here. I get ready for another blow. I feel it and I know it is across the other two. The already tender flesh hurts even more. I bite my tongue hard enough to draw blood.
"Since this way doesn't seem to be working how about I whip the guy," ugly says to us. I really hope he has gotten his hands out otherwise I just got whipped for nothing.
I hear a 'unh' and then Ranger is next to me. I look over to him and he winks at me. What the hell is that supposed to mean? It better mean he's gotta plan to get us the hell out of here. I don't want to be winked at while I'm in extreme pain unless that means we're getting the hell out of here.
I started swinging again, ignoring as the chains bite even farther into my wrists. I look back at Ranger and mouth I love you. Then I swing forward with all my power and then back and my feet connect with the guy. I feel him fall and suddenly Ranger is out of his chains. I try pulling myself up so I could maneuver off the hooks but the gash in my stomach protests. It hurts just to move. I can tell this will take a long time too heal. I hear Ranger and ugly fighting but I can't see anything. I count the minutes that go by. Ten minutes before I hear a snap of a neck. I cringe and wonder who hasn't made it. I knew that it can't have been Carlos because I know I would have felt it. A couple seconds later I am being gently lifted off the hook. It still sends a moan out of my mouth. I feel like dying. It's a wonder I held on this long. I swivel my head and looked into his chocolate eyes. I sigh a breath of relief which turns into a groan of pain. His mouth is in a tight line. His eyes are drawn tight.
"Can we go now?" My voice breaks the silence. He nods and hands my my bra. Luckily, it's still wearable. A couple of tears slip out of my eyes as Carlos puts it on.
"How is your back?" he asks, his eyes averting to my whipped back. He takes a minute to examine it.
"Fine," I lie struggling to stand up. He holds me still.
"Can you walk?" he asks. I roll my eyes and sigh. I'm going to walk.
"I believe so but I won't know until you let me try," I tell him getting annoyed at him. We need to get out of here. I know he is probably worrying about my back but we need to get out of here now.
"You might hurt yourself more," he protests. I growl. I'm not staying in here another minute.
"Listen to me. I am in charge here, so put me down," I tell him using my rank so we can move on out of here. He sighs knowing he can't disobey a direct order from a commanding officer. He sets me down and has his hands on either side of me in case I fall. I am groaning in protest but I ignore it. I don't bother with my torn shirt. It would be even more painful.
"Lets get out of here before others arrive," I say motioning toward the door. We make our way away from the shack we were in. We head to where we last saw our men. We only walk for five minutes when cars squeal to a stop around us. Ranger and I get back to back, without touching. We'll go down fighting. We're lucky we won't have to. It's our team that came back for us.
"Major Plum needs medical attention now! She has a gash in her stomach and multiple cuts on her back," Ranger explains to the team. Ranger puts an arm around me. That's when my body decides I can't take it any more. I collapse.
We are stuck in Washington. It's been a week already. I've been confined to the bed. The doctors say I was lucky that Sahel didn't cut too much deeper. I already had internal bleeding and any deeper I would have bled to death. I had surgery and they stopped the bleeding. My back is stitched up as well as my stomach. It hurts to move but I'm itching to get out of here. I always hated hospitals and this one is no different. They okay-ed me for real food yesterday. I haven't been able to see Carlos since that night. Until we are both debriefed we're to have no contact. I haven't seen any familiar faces.
I'm watching a rerun of NCIS and eating a pudding cup. General Adams walks in looking grim.
"Major," he says. "I hope you're recovering well." I snort. Ow! I grimace. Definitely no movement.
"I think I'd do better at home," I reply. Even though it hurts to move I'm tempted to bribe a nurse to give me her keys. He shakes his head.
"The doc assures me you're much better here. And, since you're in here," he gestures with his hands. "You'll need to be debriefed in here." I sigh. I knew this was coming. I nod and set down my pudding cup.