Soldier verse prompt (intense-ish): raid goes wrong and Regina ends up being taken hostage. (Maybe part of her ptsd triggers) Media ends up picking it up, and MM/Robin finds out. The rest I'll leave in your hands.
The waiting was the worst, Robin decided. He sat in a windowless room with a long table and several executive chairs. Water and snacks were provided but he couldn't bring himself to eat. All he could do was sit hunched over, elbows on his knees and hands clasped as he prayed for the first time in years. He wanted God to grant him one thing:
For Regina to come home safely to him.
He looked up as the door opened but Mary Margaret was the only one who stepped inside. She closed it quietly before sitting next to him, taking his hand. "No word?"
"No," he sighed. "I keep telling myself no news is good news but…"
As he trailed off, she nodded. She leaned closer. "Did you get any sleep last night?"
He shook his head. "I tried but every time I closed my eyes, I saw her with her hands bound and her hair a mess as she glared at whoever was operating the camera. Instead of the demands she had been forced to read, all I heard was her pleading with me to rescue her. And I can't."
"I told you not to watch the video," she gently chided.
"I know," he replied. "I couldn't help myself. I just had to see that she was alive."
He wondered, though, if it had been worth it after all the nightmares he had suffered since finding out she had been captured while on a mission. Each one ended with her pleading with him to save her and him unable to do so.
She squeezed his hand. "The best of the best are looking for her. They will get her out. Alive."
"But what if they don't?" he asked, feeling a lump form in his throat as he imagined greeting a flag-draped coffin rather than his fiancée.
"Don't think that," she told him, awkwardly hugging him while they remained sitting. "They ARE going to rescue her. Regina IS going to come home."
The door opened and a man in uniform entered. He was an older man, balding but still looking somewhat fit. There was something familiar about him but Robin couldn't put his finger on it until Mary Margaret embraced him. "Hi, Daddy."
"Hello, sweetheart," her father said, hugging her back. He released her and held his hand out to Robin. "General Leopold Blanchard, retired."
"Robin Locksley," he replied, shaking the man's hand.
General Blanchard pulled away. "Has anyone come to talk to you?"
Robin shook his head. "Not since I arrived. They put me in this room and told me to wait."
"That sounds like the army–hurry up and wait," General Blanchard replied with a chuckle. Robin didn't laugh; he was too nervous to do so.
Mary Margaret turned to her father. "Do you have any news, Daddy? We're both very worried about Regina."
He nodded, growing serious. "I don't have any news but wait here. I'll go see if I can find anything out."
She thanked him and once he left, she turned to Robin. Mary Margaret rested her hand against his arm. "If anyone can find out what's going on, he can. He still has a lot of clearances and everyone respects him."
"I appreciate everything your family is doing for Regina," he croaked.
"Daddy and Henry were good friends," she said, "and Regina is family too. So are you. And we do everything we can for our family."
He collapsed back into the chair, rubbing his face as he tried not to cry. "I can't lose her, Mary Margaret."
She sat down again, leaning over to hug him. "You're not going to lose her, Robin. None of us are."
Robin wanted to be as optimistic as her but was finding it difficult. No matter how many times he tried to think positively, nightmares played out every time he closed his eyes. He imagined her broken body being recovered and flown back to the States in a flag draped coffin. Robin could see himself burying her in Arlington next to her father, burying his hopes and dreams with her. There would never be anyone else if he lost Regina–she was his great love. No one could ever come close to her.
Tears pricked his eyes and he broke down, sobbing in Mary Margaret's arms. She rubbed his back, trying to comfort him but he could barely hear her over his sobs. Robin kept crying until his throat was sore, his nose stuffed and his face stiff from tears.
Once he was done, he gently leaned back. She took his hands, smiling softly at him. "Do you feel better?"
"Not really," he admitted. "But thanks for letting me cry on you."
"Anytime," she assured him as her father returned.
Robin's heart sped up and his stomach turned again as he stood. "Well?"
"Come with me," General Blanchard said, his voice neutral but Robin felt his legs grow weaker. He knew the news couldn't be good.
Robin pitched forward but Mary Margaret caught him. She looked up at her father, her voice wavering. "Please, Daddy. Don't do this to us. Just…tell us."
General Blanchard nodded slowly, looking conflicted. He sighed. "Okay, okay. She's alive and has been rescued. They are flying her to Germany as we speak for medical evaluation."
"Thank God," Robin gasped, falling to his knees as tears of joy rolled down his cheeks. "Oh, thank God!"
Mary Margaret hugged her father tightly. "Thank you, Daddy."
"You're welcome," he said before looking at Robin. "Now I really need you to come with me. There's a car waiting to take you home. Transport has been arranged to get you to Germany so you can be by Regina's bedside."
Robin rose from the floor, surprise filling him. He lunged forward, shaking General Blanchard's hand. "Thank you, sir. I appreciate this."
"It's only right that Regina has someone she loves by her side while she recovers from this. And it's clear that you love her the way she deserves. Go. Be with her. Love her," General Blanchard told him.
"I will," Robin said, following a soldier out of the room. As he was led to a car that would take him home to pack, there was a spring in his step. Regina was alive and getting the medical help she needed. She would probably also need some psychological help and he would support her no matter what. The important thing was that she felt safe, supported and loved—and he was just the man to do that.