A Box Full of Memories
by Castlefan6
Authors Note: AU Story for Rick and Jordan Shaw by request, prior to meeting Kate. This is TOTALLY AU, PRE-SERIES, with some fragments from Canon used, picks up where Rick has been dumped by Kyra and finds love with Jordan. THIS IS NOT CASKETT, THIS IS NOT CASKETT, THIS IS NOT CASKETT
I don't own Castle; I use the characters for amusement purposes only, except the ones I create.
Also, we take MANY liberties with the timeline from Canon and use events from other Canon episodes to make this a more believable fiction, thanks.
Chapter 11
Somewhere in Afghanistan
Later Same Morning
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Rick and Aziza landed somewhere in a much more sophisticated U.S. atmosphere; the helipad was actually constructed out of concrete. They were met at the helicopter by a surprise guest, Jackson Hunt, followed by Patrick Grey, then an array of Army brass.
"Any problems with the mission Rogers?" Jackson asked, keeping it strictly professional.
"None, Captain Montgomery took care of a few sneaks that tried to infiltrate our position in Aziza's building, it didn't end well for them," Rick said,
"Lieutenant Rogers, I'm Colonel Lawrence Maddow, thank you for taking this mission, it's of utmost importance to our national security, is there any questions before we move to the briefing room?" he asked,
Aziza leaned over and whispered something into Rick's ear, "Sir, the agreement between Miss Aziza is that I would be with her during any interviews, if that has changed, she asked to be taken back to her post." Rick said,
"Very well, this is above your clearance level, but we have the two required signatures to allow you to act as the designate in the meetings, but I warn you, any leaks will be dealt with in a swift and severe manner, is that clear?"
"It's clear Sir, and thank you, Sir."
Rick, Aziza, Hunt, and Grey proceeded through the double doors, down a hallway, and then Hunt pressed the code and used his retina for identification for entry into a door marked Top Secret Clearance Required. They traveled down a small hallway until finally, they entered what appeared to be a vault, the doors were closed and for the next four hours, Rick acted as the interpreter and confidant of Aziza.
Questions ranged from locations, identifications, and finally, one question that hit Rick hard, did she know the man arraigned to be her husband was a member of the opposition forces. She didn't wait for his translation as she looked Agent Grey in the eye and said in perfect English,
"Let's not pretend shall we, you know as well as I do that, I left my heart in New York when I had to return to my home. The man I loved is the man next to me, so for the record, I had no idea nor did I care who my parents had selected for me."
Rick was shocked at her forwardness, and that she would profess how she felt as an 18-year-old girl, thousands of miles from home.
"Very Well, thank you for your candor, Miss Aziza, just to inform you, the man your parents chose is third in command of the resistance fighters, a fact he conceals very well as his business as an import broker that provides the needed cover for his operations. I'm sorry to say you weren't his first wife, and you probably would have suffered the same fate as they had you chosen to be obedient." Grey said,
"Well, I do appreciate the assistance Jackson Hunt provided me, with the fake IDs and his influence to get me into the University, I'm now able to help other young people know the truth if I can ever return to my country." She said sadly,
"About that Agent Grey, what are the immediate plans for Aziza? I mean you can't just dump her back, surely people will figure out where the intel came from when whatever is being planned happens?" Rick asked, a still tone to his voice,
"Usually, we don't give out that information Rogers, but since we know the investment made by both you and Miss Aziza, we'll make an exception. She is going to be situated in New York, and act as an interpreter for the United Nations. We have provided living quarters, and a life coach to help her transition to life away from her native land, although the two years she spent with your family will be of immense help." Hunt was speaking as if he were addressing a room full of agents,
"Unfortunately for you Lieutenant, your chopper will be here within two hours to return you to your command. The commitment you made when accepting your commission cannot be altered. I'm very sorry we can't ship you both back stateside, but we have to obey the law" Grey added, as a look of panic came over Aziza's face.
"Hey, don't worry Aziza, I only have 8 months, and I'll be home. We can catch up then, OK? Look, I know this is a shock to you, but enjoy New York, call my book agent and she'll put you in touch with anything you need. If these guys don't cover the cost, I will." He said as she grabbed his hand,
"That's a great gesture Rogers, but she has my contact information, I assure you, she will want for nothing when she reached the states. We have done this a few times before and have multiple programs, or individual coaches to ensure Aziza will be happy."
"Well, if you don't get what you need from these guys, just tell Paula, she'll make it happen, promise me please?" he asked as he looked into a pair of very worried eyes,
"Well, we'll alert you when your chopper is here Rogers until then, spend the time with Aziza, we will forever be in her debt, and again we thank her for her bravery," Hunt said as he and Grey filed out of the room.
"Rick, this isn't fair, you have to stay and I leave for a pillow job," She said as Rick looked confused, then he smiled,
"You mean coosh job Aziza, not pillow" as her smile finally appeared. "Hey, I knew when I signed up how long I would be gone, so don't worry. I'll be home and bugging you before you know it." He smiled,
"Well, can we go to that special place that had those sandwiches, lemy's or," she asked, then stopped as Rick smiled again,
"Remy's and yes, it's a date. As soon as I get home, we'll go get those fries, burgers and your pistachio milkshake you used to love" he laughed,
She pulled him into a tight hug, and wept softly, as he tried to console her. She heard the roar of the chopper blades all too soon, and pulled back, kissed him deeply, and said "please stay safe Rick, we have a date as soon as you get home, you promised." She kissed him again, and another tight hug as the door opened,
"It's time Rogers, say your goodbyes, but make them quick," Grey said as he walked out of the room,
Rick looked into her eyes, "I'll see you soon, can't wait for our date," he kissed her, and then he was out the door behind Agent Grey headed back to the chopper and the hell that he had been living for the last several months. At least now, he knew Aziza was safe, and in a job where she could help her country, both of them including the U.S.
He boarded the chopper without any fanfare, he didn't bother to look back, he knew all he wanted was in the future, now he just had to survive the remaining time in hell until he saw her face again.
He sat motionless until he saw the dim lights of the city near their camp, and then prepared for a quick exit. Helicopters were a favorite target of any kid or sniper in the region so the pilots weren't always so hospitable upon landing.
They were within five feet of the sand when he jumped from the chopper and the pilot roared back up and away from the area. Tonight, they were lucky, there was no gunfire, as Rick reported back to his CO, Captain Montgomery.
"Good to have you back in one piece Rogers," Montgomery said
"I would say it's good to be back sir, but that would be a lie. The good part is this part of the mission is over and was successful. I'm sure you've been notified by now sir." Rick said,
"Yeah, I have been, good job, I know your biological father is an SOB, but he's mainly responsible for pulling this off, give him that, he's good at his job," Montgomery said, as he looked directly at Rick,
"Oh, no doubt of that Sir, he's great at his job, so great, he didn't bother to even try to be a Dad, that's another story for another day, sir," Rick said, the tiredness showing in his eyes,
"Hit the rack Rogers, we have a long day tomorrow, you'll need your strength, dismissed" Captain Montgomery said, as he turned and lowered the brightness of a small solar-powered lamp he used to read by at night.
"Yes Sir" as Rick made his way back to his tent, and fell into his rack, his thoughts torn between a reddish hair woman in the states, and the olive-colored-skinned woman with eyes you could swim in, as he fell asleep.
XxX
2 Months Later
Waygal District, Nuristan Afghanistan
Rick, Weldon, and their platoons were out on routine patrol when Weldon spotted movement from what appeared to be an abandoned building in the village of Quam. He alerted Rick, who confirmed there was definitely something going on and radioed Montgomery for their orders, seek and destroy, observe, or retreat to base camp.
The crackle of the radio was heard just before the first sound of gunfire, "Get your asses back to base, NOW, repeat return to base" Roy was screaming into the radio, as the first wave of resisters appeared. Weldon and Rick's men were seasoned vets by this time and made short work of the dozen or so insurgents, as they made a hasty retreat the 5 clicks, (short for kilometers), or roughly 3 miles to base.
The total force of the insurgents could be felt just as they reached the base, with gunfire going off everywhere. They had all seen action before but this was larger in scale, and ferocity than they had encountered. Roy saw that the enemy was trying to flank their position, or get behind them, so he yelled out,
"Rogers, your platoon follow me, Weldon you're in command don't fuck up" as they made a hasty, albeit cautious move to intercept the forces that had almost penetrated their lines. They came into sight, and for the first time, Rick was close enough to see the life leave the body of one of his kills as he fired off round after round.
All the previous times, he had been too far away and dismissed it almost like it was a target of some sort. This time the fighting was so fierce and so close Rick was wounded and didn't even feel the bullet go into his arm until he felt the warmth of his own blood on his hand. He was almost in a trance knowing he had killed a man, then he rationalized that he would have been killed had he not.
Roy had been hit, and was in a vulnerable position, he was an easy target for any of the enemy. Rick crawled out and grabbed him with his good arm, against Roy's screams,
"Rogers, get back to your men, what the hell are you doing, where the hell is your weapon,"
Rick ignored Roy until he got him back into a safer location, and finally, the tide started to turn, Weldon had led his squad to flank the insurgents and now they were caught in a crossfire, losing men by the second. They finally started to retreat back into the hills, and village that they had come from, but occasionally one zealot remained looking to kill as many U. S. Soldiers as possible, posing a risk they had to consider.
He had radioed for Medevac and the choppers were finally beginning to find safe landing zones. It took some time to get the wounded to the boarding area after the medics performed a quick triage to ensure the wounded wouldn't bleed out on the air trip to the nearest MASH hospital.
All three had been hit, Rick was the most seriously injured, with shots in his arm, shoulder, and leg, he was loaded on the first chopper out, then Roy, and finally Weldon who had sustained a small wound in the lower leg that was not life-threatening. That would be the last time the three would be together in uniform, none knew where the other had gone, much less their medical condition.
Roy was flown to a lower trauma level hospital, and fortunately for him he was operated on by a great surgeon. The bullets were removed, apparently, he had been hit three times in the same area and without Rick stuffing the wound with his green G.I. issues handkerchief could have bled out or lost use of his arm. The surgeon was able to reconnect the ligament, and after therapy, Roy would be back to a minimum of 95% use of his arm and shoulder.
Weldon was flown to a receiving area, treated, and then placed on a chopper to take him to the airplane departing for the U.S. Hospital in Germany.
The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) was an overseas military hospital operated by the United States Army. LRMC was the largest US military hospital outside the continental United States. It's near Landstuhl, Germany, and was the nearest treatment center for wounded soldiers coming from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Roy was held to ensure he had no infections and was safe to fly the long trip so three days after arriving at MASH 4777 he was flown to the receiving area, again to be placed on the transport plane to LRMC. He would arrive there the very day Weldon was sent to Walter Reid Hospital in Maryland for evaluation, therapy, and eventually medical discharge.
Roy spent two weeks at LRMC and was on his way home when Rick finally pulled out of the coma he had slipped into immediately after his surgery. The loss of blood triggered almost a complete organ shutdown, and he was kept in the comatose state to keep his body from fighting too hard.
It was touch and go for the first 72 hours but he pulled through and was finally transferred to Germany for evaluation, and additional surgery on his arm 16 days after arriving at the MASH unit. He arrived and ironically was assigned the bed that Captain Montgomery had been discharged from two days previously. He spoke to the surgeon and although risky, decided to undergo the ligament replacement, where one would be harvested from his leg and sewn onto the missing portion of his arm, actually the elbow region to allow him full mobility.
It had been named the Tommy John surgery after a pitcher in Major League Baseball, only a handful of the surgeries had been done successfully, and none outside of a U.S. hospital. Officially it was known ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction, used to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament inside the elbow.
The only downside to the operation was the recovery period. The first phase of recovery was scheduled to last about 6 weeks. After they were sure the ligament had attached, no signs of infection or rejection, and no further surgery would be needed he could be advanced to the next phase.
Six weeks two days after arriving in Germany, Rick was finally on his way to Walter Reid Hospital, for evaluation and medical discharge from the service. They would make the determination at Walter Reid if the rehab was to be as an outpatient, or if he would need to be hospitalized.
Captain Montgomery tried to find out the status of Rick, even going up the chain, all he could find out was that he was wounded severely but had not succumbed to his wounds. He tried to get information from every source only to be shut down, and even the Fuck Up of the entire Army, Weldon who in reality had saved his ass didn't know anything more about his best friend. He promised to let him know when he heard.
Roy returned to the NYPD, to be promoted only 3 months later to the position of Captain of the 12th precinct, Weldon became a councilman running on his war hero record and a line of bull shit if you asked Roy. Rick had seemed to disappear in the ether, or if he was around, he didn't want to associate with his former Captain. Who could blame him Roy thought, I almost got his ass killed?
XxX
Walter Reid Hospital
Day of Rick's Arrival
Rick was just settling into his room at Walter Reid when he glanced up and there she stood, Aziza, crying her eyes out. She sat on the bed and hugged him as they comforted each other, often not saying a word for minutes, just holding on to each other.
She finally got composed and he dried her tears with the tissue from the box on his nightstand, and she kissed him sweetly,
"Welcome home Rick, I'm so sorry you had to go through that for me" she almost broke down again,
"Aziza, please, believe me, you weren't the cause of that battle, you were long gone and the bad guys that you identified had been eliminated. This was just part of the war, it happens, and hey I'm lucky a few weeks of therapy and I'll be as good as new." He said as he watched her face,
She still loved him but something had changed, he could tell, "So, we always promised to tell each other the truth, what's his name, and is he a nice guy?" Rick asked, as Aziza broke down and cried harder now,
"Yes, Rick he is, he's from my country, so we share the same culture, the same religion, and well things just went well from the first day I met him." She said, searching Rick's eyes for a sign,
His smile, told her, what she needed to know, "What's his name and how do you pronounce it, I take it I'll be going to a wedding soon" he laughed,
"It's Farhat, just the way it sounds and yes, we are getting married as soon as I get your blessing, Rick. I told him I couldn't marry him without your blessing, so do I have it?" she asked a huge smile on her face as she dried her tears,
"Of course, I just want to meet him, man to man, and if he ever hurts you, well, he'll answer to me," Rick said, as he noticed a gentleman of the same complexion as Aziza stroll into his room,
"Forgive me, Rick, I'm Farhat, and I wanted you to know we didn't plan any of this, we just started talking and we fell in love. I'm so happy we have your blessing, and I promise you, Aziza has told me how you saved her life, I would not want to face you if I ever hurt her, so please take that worry away. I'm going to go get tea and let you two talk until Aziza is ready to leave, take your time", as he shook the one good hand of Ricks and slowly walked away.
Thirty minutes later Rick was lying on his bed, happy for his friend, and once again wondering when if ever would he find someone to love.
TBC
A/N The battle I referenced was The Battle of Wanat took place on July 13, 2008, when around 200 Taliban insurgents attacked American troops stationed near Quam, in the Waygal district of Afghanistan's far eastern Nuristan province. The distant position was primarily defended by United States Army soldiers with 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.
Please no corrections of how the real military does things, it's a plot point to move the story close to a conclusion, please read and accept it as such.