Author's note: Here's the next chapter. Not much to say except I hope you enjoy.

What Will It Take?

Chapter 18

The lights flickered slightly in the otherwise brightly lit waiting room. The room was quiet as the four occupants waited. They each had their method of passing the time, which seemed to be going by agonizingly slow. Jordan paced back and forth around the room. Ryad leaned against the wall, thinking to himself. Eliza was sitting in one of the chairs, wrapping a comforting arm around Ela and grasped her hand reassuringly.

"It's going to be okay." She whispered to the Polish girl.

Ela hadn't said a word since they boarded the chopper. When they landed at the hospital, Gustave practically had to pry her hand from Meghan's. He, along with the medical team from Hereford had been operating on Meghan's wounds for the past few hours, at least that's what it felt like, everyone was still in shock and had completely lost track of time.

Suddenly, the doors to the waiting room burst open and a figure frantically rushed in. "Eliza!" It was Monika, followed by the rest of Alpha Team.

Eliza had barley stood up when the German practically crashed into her, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend tight. Burying her face in the crook of her neck, she began quietly sobbing. "Hey, hey, it's okay, I'm here." The redhead reassured as she wrapped her arms just as tightly around the blonde.

"We heard the someone from Delta got hit, badly, but they didn't say who." Monika explained. "I was worried that…"

"I'm okay." Eliza said as she wiped away her girlfriends tears. Then she looked back at Ela. "It was Meghan who got hit."

Monika's eye's went wide. "No." She finally let go of Eliza and took both of Ela's hands into hers. "Ela?"

"She saved me." Ela finally spoke. "She pushed me out of the way. I don't know why she did that. It should have been me, not her." Tears were once again flowing down her face.

"Don't say that." Monika said. "You mean the world to her, she would never forgive herself if she let you get hurt."

Ela didn't know what to say to that.

Meanwhile, Mike pulled Jordan aside. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened?"

"Bomber got to 'em." Jordan explained. "Meghan pushed her to safety but couldn't get herself out in time."

"How? Castellano isn't one to let an enemy sneak up on her, a bomber at that."

"Not exactly sure. The two of them were alone at the time, I feel like maybe they could have been…distracted."

"What do you mean?"

"She got a little reckless in the beginning, too focused on Ela, almost got herself shot trying to go after her."

"Bugger. I was worried about them being put on the same team. I tried to bring it up to Six and the Captain but they weren't having it."

"Well, there's nothing we can do now."

"You're right. How bad is she anyway?"

"She flatlined...we actually lost her for a second." It was almost as if realization finally hit the marine. His fellow operator, his friend, had been dead, if only for a few moments. "Ela brought her back."

"Bloody hell, that woman's a tough one. What did Gustave say?"

"…He's not sure if she's going to make it."

"Damn."

"All we can do is wait."

Over the next hour, word got around about Meghan, and the operators from Bravo, Charlie and Echo teams made their way to the waiting room. All of them were anxious to hear any news about their friend. Some conversed with each other to pass the time, some kept to themselves, some gave comforting reassurances to Ela. Soon, the wait became agonizing to everyone.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the doors to the operating rooms opened and Gustave stepped out.

Ela immediately got up and walked up to him. "How is she?!" She asked frantically.

"She's…stable, for now." He started. "But she's not out of the woods yet."

"Why? What's going on?" Eliza asked.

"Well, we've patched her leg up, closed the wound as best we could." He began explaining. "However, she did lose a lot of blood. Combined with the fact that her heart stopped momentarily meant that blood and oxygen were not getting to her brain, therefore-"

"Gustave." Mike interrupted. "We're not all doctors."

"Yes." Ela agreed. "Please, just tell me how she is."

"Right." Gustave sighed. "She's in a coma, and we don't know yet if she'll be able pull through."

Ela felt like a knife just went through her heart. "What are her chances?" She asked, not sure if she really wanted to hear the answer.

Gustave thought for a moment. "She has a fifty-fifty chance of surviving the next twenty-four hours. However, if she does, her odds jump up exponentially."

Ela was filled with a sense of despair. She had always been a glass half empty kind of person, and now that it was dealing with her girlfriends life, she was overcome with absolute fear. "Is there anything else you can do?"

"I'm afraid we've done all we can for now. Of course we will continue to monitor her vitals, but all we can do for now is wait."

"Can I see her?"

Gustave gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm afraid not." He hated that he had to say it. "Her wounds are still fresh, and her body is in a very fragile state. That combined with the fact that we were all just in an abandoned theme park filled with drugs and filth, means that she would be extremely susceptible to infection."

This didn't do anything to sooth Ela's state of mind. Her whole body started to tremble, she felt like she could barely stand. Eliza held her steady and helped her take a seat.

"I'm sorry." He continued. "If I could let you see her, I would in a heartbeat. But we have to give her every edge we can."

Mike's phone began to ring, he stepped away answer it.

"Ela, if it weren't for what you did, all of it, she wouldn't even have made it here."

Chatter began to build up among the operators. None of them could believe what they were hearing. When the noise level began to be too much, Mike decided to speak up.

"Alright, everyone quiet down!" He had just hung up the phone. "I just got off the horn with Six, everyone is to report back to headquarters, they need all of our statements and after action reports. As well as prepare for the site investigation."

"They do know we have someone in the hospital, right?" James asked, irritation apparent in his voice.

"Stow it James. We have our orders, now move."

Everyone began to file out of the waiting room, to make their way back to the hotel. Eventually, it was only Mike, Gustave, Ela, Eliza and Monika who still remained.

Ela looked at Mike hesitantly. "Do…do we have to-"

"You three are staying here." Mike responded without a second thought. "If anyone says anything, send them my way."

"Thank you." Ela responded in gratitude.

Mike placed his hand on her shoulder and offered her a smile. "Just tell us when she wakes up, alright."

Ela nodded, she wished the she could share the mans optimism. Mike then took his leave as well.

"Fifty-fifty, those odds are more than enough for Meghan." Eliza said.

"Definitely." Monika agreed. The two of them seemed to be saying this for Ela's sake.

"I have to go back to check on her, I'll give you more information as soon as anything changes."

The three of them nodded.

"Oh, and there's one more thing." Gustave said, gaining Ela's attention once more. "In order to treat her wounds, they had to cut the clothing from her body. But, I managed to save this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of cloth. It was Meghan's signature shemagh that she always kept wrapped around her head. He handed it to her before walking back to the operating room.

Ela clutched the fabric in her hands, it was slightly burned, but no blood. She held it tightly and placed it over her heart as she started sobbing uncontrollably. Eliza quickly wrapped her arms around the Polish girl in a vain attempt to comfort her.

"She's going to be okay." Eliza said. "You heard him, Meghan is more than strong enough to take on a fifty percent chance."

"Remember, they call her unstoppable for a reason." Monika added.

Ela wasn't hearing any of this, her mind was in a haze. She kept flashing back to the theme park, this was really all her fault. If she hadn't gotten distracted in the cash room. If she had been strong enough to take on her attacker. If hadn't been so god damn rebellious and kissed her in the middle of a battle. Both of them knew it was not the place nor the time, but since when has Ela ever cared about the rules of conduct. If she hadn't done just one of those, then the bomber wouldn't have taken them by surprise and Meghan wouldn't be in this state, clinging to life.

"This is all my fault." She choked out between sobs.

"Don't say that." Eliza countered. "There's no way you could have known this would happen."

"No. You don't understand." She freed herself from Eliza's grip so she could look them both in the eye's. "She was too busy looking after me."

The two other women looked at her questioningly.

"I wasn't paying attention, and the next thing I knew, one of them was on me." She shook from reliving the memory. "She pulled him off of me and made sure I was okay."

"That doesn't make it your fault." Monika commented.

"That's not all." Ela could barely talk. "The reason he managed to sneak up on us was because I kissed her. In the middle of a fucking mission!" She ran her fingers through her hair and put her head down, she couldn't look either one of them in the eye. "I did this to her." She barely managed to whisper.

"No!" Eliza grabbed Ela by the shoulders and forced her to look up. "Listen to me Ela, you did not to this to her." Ela tried to look away but Eliza shook her to keep her attention. "They did. They hurt her. You know why, because they hurt everyone. They will hurt, kidnap, and kill anyone they can because its what they do. Meghan, Norman, Irvin and many, many others." By now, tears were flowing down Eliza's face as well. "I've seen it too many times before."

"And besides." Monika added. "We can all see that Meghan means the world to you. You can't blame yourself, there's no way that you could have known what would happen."

Ela wasn't sure if she could believe what they were saying, but appreciated their efforts in putting her mind at ease. At least she had calmed down to the point where her uncontrollable sobbing had reduced to the occasional hiccup.

"In any case, what's done is done, now all we can do is wait until she wakes up." Monika said.

"If she wakes up." Ela said.

"WHEN she wakes up." Eliza corrected. "Don't give up on her so easily."

Ela knew the redhead was right, Meghan wasn't dead yet, she shouldn't be acting like all hope was lost. But waiting around was going to drive her crazy, she had already spent hours in this depressing room, she wasn't sure if she could handle another potential twenty-four.

Then the doors opened again and two people entered the waiting room. None of them had seen either of the two before. The first was a woman with brown hair with the sides shaven and a distinct scar across her face. The other was a well-built man with dark hair, carrying a large backpack. The two completely disregarded the three operators as they walked into the operating room.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" They heard Gustave ask before the doors closed and the rest of the conversation was cut off.

"I need some air." Ela announced as she got up from her seat.

"Want us to come with you?" Monika asked.

"Thanks, but I need some time alone." Ela responded. "Call me if anything changes?"

"Of course."

Ela walked out of the waiting room and down the hallway. The hospital was not too crowded with only a few guests and hospital staff roaming around. After a few minutes of exploring, she found what she was looking for, a balcony. She stepped outside and leaned up against the railing, they were on one of the upper floors of the hospital. This provided an excellent view of the city around them, the lights, the ocean, an excellent view of Victoria Harbor. The scene would be beautiful and enjoyable under different circumstances.

Ela stayed and admired the view for a few minutes, trying to ease her mind. But being left alone with her own thoughts, she only kept reliving the events of the day. Reflecting on everything from riding in the helicopter to that fateful moment. She shook her head, she came here to get away from the nightmare, not relive it. It seemed being alone with her thoughts was not an effective method of dealing with the long wait. She needed something else, something to distract her from all of this.

Just then, a voice caught her attention. There were many voices in the area, it was a hospital after all, but this one stood out. They were in a Chinese hospital, but this voice was strongly American, and familiar.

Ela turned around just in time to see the familiar figures of Kowalski and McConnell walking through the hospital. As soon as she managed to recognize them, they turned the corner out of view. Curiosity got the better of her, and she immediately followed. Turning the corner she had seen them go, she found herself in another hallway, this one with multiple rooms attached. She slowly made her way through the corridor, wondering where they could have gone.

Then, as she approached one of the doors, she heard them again. Their voices coming from inside the room. Not wanting to be seen, at least not yet, she carefully peaked around the corner inside. To her shock, there they were, the five of them. Isaac, McConnell and Kowalski, with Norman and Irvin laying in their hospital beds. The five of them were smiling and even laughing as they conversed with each other, the three healthy ones happy and relieved to see there two friends were now safe and recovering.

Ela took a step back, not sure what to make of the situation. Her immediate instinct was to run as far away as possible, but something stopped her. The piece of cloth that she absentmindedly pulled out of her pocket. She clutched the piece of fabric again and she inspected it, not sure exactly what to look for. In doing so, she could almost feel Meghan's presence, as if she were standing right here. No, there would be no running, this needed to happen. Meghan said she would help her with this, and it looked like that's exactly what was going to happen, just not quite in the way they had imagined it.

Ela took the shemagh and wrapped it around her, not in the same style as her girlfriend, but only around her neck, like a bandana, with the excess hovering right over her heart. She walked over to one of the windows to look at her reflection. "Fitting." She thought, both physically and metaphorically.

With one last deep breath, she turned and entered the room. As she did, all conversation immediately stopped and her five teammates looked over at her. For a moment, no one said anything.

"Seriously, what does Doc put in this medicine?" Norman asked. "Because I swear I'm looking at Bosak."

Isaac smiled at his friends notion. "You're not hallucinating brother, that's her."

"Well I'll be damned, so it really was you that rescued my ass." Irvin said.

"It's about time you came and said hello." Kowalski added. "You've been on the team for how long now?"

"On the team?" Norman asked.

"She's a Rainbow operator now bro." McConnell clarified.

"No way! That's awesome."

"So, Bosak, nice to see you again." Irvin complimented.

Ela, still cautious, took another step into the room. "It's…been a while."

"I'll say. It's been a decade." McConnell mentioned. "How have you been?"

This caught Ela off guard, she had been expecting severe backlash from her former team. Instead, they offered her nothing but smiles and a warm welcome. "…busy." She answered.

"Yeah, I can imagine." Kowalski laughed. "You're with GROM now. Joinging the family business I see."

"I guess you can say that." Ela answered, not really wanting to bring up her family. "How…have you all been?"

"Other than the recent ass beating, kidnapping, and additional ass beating, I've been great." Norman joked. "Oh and I got a kid now, want to see?"

"Ugh, you're one of those dad's." Irvin groaned.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"You're like 'hey how are you here's a picture of my kid' kind of dad." Irvin clarified. "No one asked to see pictures of your kid."

"Up yours, at least I can have a kid with my spouse." Norman retorted, as harsh as the words sounded, the two were clearly just joking around as close friends often do. "Oh yeah, Irvin's gay now, here's a picture of my wife and kid." He held up his phone.

Ela cautiously took a few more steps forward to get a better view of the picture.

"Bosak, you're fine." Isaac suddenly spoke, noticing her apprehensiveness. "You don't have to worry about being here with us."

That was just it, they were being open and welcoming. Why? After what happened on their last mission together, she expected to receive nothing but anger and resentment. Instead they greeted her as if nothing had changed. "I thought you all hated me." She finally said.

"Now why would we hate you?" Isaac asked.

"It's just…after what happened…"

"We don't hate you." Said Kowalski. "We don't even blame you."

"But it was my foolishness that got…" She paused, having to relive that tragic day. "That got them killed."

"Look, war is chaos." McConnell explained. "I'll admit it, there was some anger in the days that followed. But the reality is, you make decisions every day, and not all of them are going to be right, you're only human. Combine that with the hell of being on the battlefield, bad things happen, it's simply fate."

"We never wanted you to leave either." Irvin added. "After losing half the team in one blow, watching you leave felt like we had lost another."

Ela could feel tears starting to form in her eyes. "How?"

"You have to remember, we were together for four years." Norman reminded her. "Four fucking years in that god forsaken place. Four years, the twelve of us kicking ass and living in the sand together, no matter what happens, you will always be a part of that, a part of us."

"In fact, that's kind of why you're here." Isaac said. "When Six told me that she wanted an operator from GROM, I didn't even have to think. I put your name down without hesitation."

She looked at him confused. "You asked for me specifically?"

"Of course. Aside from the fact that you're more than capable as an operator, you're still a part of our team. Ten years is a long time Bosak, and to be honest, I just wanted to see if you were okay. Regardless of what happened, you always have, and always will be, a member of our family." He offered her a warm and genuine smile. "And we've missed you."

Ela was speechless. He was right. Why hadn't she seen it that way before? For the past ten years, whenever she would think back on her team, the only memory that would surface would be the last time they would be together. But that was one day, out of four years. Four years of doing things that no one outside of their circle would understand. Their awkward first day meeting, their first mission, their hundredth, birthday's celebrated in a dirt hole with a cake made from MRE snacks. These were memories of her team, and her legacy of her time with them. And because of this, they never saw her as anything other than family. The tears had now broken free and were now running freely down her face. "I've missed you all too."

Isaac stood up and gave the Polish girl a hug, which she returned happily, and one by one she gave hugs to the others as well, ending on Norman. "Can I see that picture now?"

For the next several hours, they all talked and caught up with one another. Sharing stories and experiences of the different places they had been. Stories of battles, of families, and of love, there was a lot to talk about when covering the past decade of one's life.

"So, you and Valk?" Norman asked.

"Yes, we're together." Ela answered, cheeks turning red.

"Ha, told you she was a lesbian. Now you owe me a dollar." Irvin said.

"We made that bet like twelve years ago, it's expired." Norman retorted.

"Nowhere in that agreement did we say it expired after a certain amount of time."

"You two made a bet?" Ela questioned.

"Yeah, after all of us tried hitting on you and you said no." Norman clarified.

"So that's what that feels like." Ela muttered.

"How is she anyway?" Irvin asked. "I saw her in the chopper."

Ela's mood once again dampened, remembering why she was in this hospital in the first place. "They're…doing all they can."

Everyone seemed to catch what she meant.

"She's a tough chick." McConnell said. "She'll pull through, I have no doubt."

"Yeah, with someone as strong as her, she'll get through this easily." Kowalski added.

"Thanks guys." Ela responded. She was thankful for this. All this time, she had worried over nothing. To them, she was still family. She felt like an enormous weight had been lifted from her shoulders, only to have a new one fall on her when her phone vibrated. She pulled it out to read the message. "We can see her now." It was from Eliza.

She eagerly typed out a reply. "Is she awake?!"

"No, but you should be the first one she see's when she wakes up." Came the response, disheartening her.

"I'll be right there."

"What's up?" Isaac asked.

"They're saying I can see her." She answered. "She's still unconscious, but at least I can see her."

Ela was experiencing a whirlwind of emotions. On one hand, she had patched her relationship with her former team, maybe not fully just yet, but it was definitely a great start. On the other hand, her girlfriends life still hung in the balance. She was happy and terrified at the same time, she didn't know what to do until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Go to her Bosak." It was Isaac. "And if there's anything you need, don't be afraid to come to us, we've got your back, and we always will."

Ela felt like she was going to cry again. "Thank you." Again, she gave each one of them a hug. She was about to leave when she stopped and turned one more time. "Oh. Nelson says hi." She said before making her way to the other end of the hospital.

She quickly made her way back to the waiting room and saw Eliza, Monika and Gustave waiting for her. "How is she?"

"Stable." Gustave said. "For now. Just be carful with physical contact." With that, he lead the three of them into the room where Meghan was recovering.

Ela wasn't prepared for what she saw. Her girlfriend, her world, in a bed, in a hospital gown, tubes and wires running across her arm, an oxygen mask on her face, the beeping of various machines. Multiple bandages and stitches on her minor injuries, she also noticed that they had placed a blanket over her main wound. It broke Ela's heart to see her in a such a condition. "Has she…improved?"

"A little, but we still need to monitor her closely." Gustave answered.

"Can I…"

"Of course."

Ela walked up to the side of the bed. For what seemed like the millionth time that day, tears began flowing down her face. "Meghan." She said, barely above a whisper. She took the unconscious woman's hand into her own and held it tight, she wanted so badly to feel her squeeze her hand back, but sadly no such feeling came.

"I'll give you all some space." Gustave said as he left the room.

Eliza and Monika walked to the other side of the bed. "She's just recharging, that's all." Said the redhead.

"She'll be fine Ela." Monika reassured.

Ela merely nodded in response, unable to find her voice. She knew they were trying to stay positive to make her feel better, but Ela was not oblivious to the fact that this could very well be the last night that she would have with Meghan. She slowly leaned down and gently placed a kiss on her girlfriends forehead. "Please stay with me." She whispered. "Please."

Author's note: Well, Ela has overcome one demon, but gained another. This is another one of those scenes I've had since chapter one and I'm really happy to finally see it published. Again thanks to RStyle for being my beta reader, and thank you for reading. As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.