Disclaimer: I do not own The Division
~TRB~
Ryan stepped back out into the snow-covered streets of Manhattan. He pulled his scarf tighter around his neck, not wanting to feel the biting cold against his skin. He heard Faye's voice come alive over comms.
"Why'd it have to be winter, right?"
He laughed. "That's right. You never liked snow."
She grumbled.
"It's not my fault I hate the cold."
Ryan sobered up. He had things to do, and he had a feeling that it wouldn't be easy.
"So, what's first on our list of things to do?"
"Well, if you look to your right, you'll see that the JTF are mounting an assault on Madison Square."
He looked, and sure enough, they were setting charges on the door.
"Madison was turned into a field hospital and now a bunch of rioters are holding the doctors hostage. Those doctors are important. None more important than Doctor Jessica Kandel. Without her, we won't be able to get our Medical Wing up and running."
He nodded, before jogging over to the entrance.
~TRB~
"3, 2, 1…"
The door was blasted open, and a squadron of JTF stormed in, with Ryan following closely behind.
"Alright, we've got an agent with us, so this should be a piece of cake!"
The soldiers grinned and laughed.
Ryan smirked back.
At least I can raise morale.
"Alright. Let's move!"
They flooded into the lobby. The rioters seemed to set up some sort of defense.
They opened fire. Two JTF soldiers went down.
"Shit, John and Kingsley are down!"
The rest of the soldiers ran for cover, with Ryan leading.
Ryan peeked over the banister he was hiding behind, and returned fire.
One by one, the rioters fell. Ryan was in the middle of moving between cover, when all of a sudden, a rioter jumped out and managed to put a bullet in Ryan's shoulder.
"SHIT!"
A JTF soldier finished off the rioter, as Ryan was patching himself up.
He heard Faye's panicked voice through his headset.
"Are you alright?! Your heart rate monitor spiked!"
Ryan panted.
"Yeah. Bullet went straight through. My shoulder is gonna be hurting like a bitch for a while, but other than that, I'm just peachy."
A sigh of relief was heard over the headset.
"Thank god."
Ryan grinned.
"The Security Room is up ahead. I'll patch you in."
He ran up to the keyboard, punched a few commands in, and waited for Faye's reply.
"I'm in."
Ryan grinned and waved at one of the cameras. He heard a chuckle from over his headset.
"Alright, now back to business. It seems that the only reason that Kandel and her team are only alive because the rioters need them to heal their wounded. They're currently upstairs. Get a move on Ryan!"
They moved forward, into the where the main area was. The rioters had not noticed they were in the area yet. That left them with the element of surprise. Ryan threw a grenade in the middle of the crowd, and the firefight began.
"Agent, look out!"
Ryan got pushed out of the way, and a JTF soldier to a bullet to the head right where he stood.
Fuck! Gotta pay more attention, lest more people die.
He jumped up, and took out another two rioters.
"More coming in from the stands!"
Three soldiers aimed and fired towards the stands, cutting off any reinforcements from reaching the remaining rioters.
"Finish them off!"
The final rioter was taken out, and they headed into the elevator, towards the hostages.
~TRB~
The elevator doors opened, and one by one, they filed out. They could hear Jessica and a rioter arguing ahead. Ryan turned to the remaining JTF soldiers and out a finger up to his mouth.
"Stay quiet. We'll have a better chance at taking them out without injuring one of the doctors."
The soldiers nodded, and together, they began to crouch towards the bar.
"You're hurting him! You're supposed to be helping him!"
"Listen you idiot, the bullet is stuck in his chest. So unless you want your friend to bleed out from the inside, let me work!"
I like her already.
They were all in position. Ryan held up his hand. One by one, he put his fingers down until he put down the last one.
Then, they opened fire. The thugs and rioters stood no chance, the bullets tearing through any armor they could have worn.
Ryan rushed towards the doctors, making sure all of them were alright.
"You're a Division agent, eh? Well, you're a sight for sore eyes."
Ryan nodded at Jessica's question. A JTF officer ran up, telling the doctors to follow behind him.
Ryan signaled to the rest of the soldiers, and they started heading towards the roof.
~TRB~
"Ryan! The escort team is pinned down! You need to take them out, or the doctors won't make it!"
"Got it Faye! We'll be back shortly!"
He turned to the remaining soldiers. Out of the thirteen man squadron, only five stood before him.
"Alright guys. This is it. There's a team of rioters up here, making it so the doctors can't make it into the base. We take them out, we can go back home."
The group wearily, but happily nodded their heads. There would be time to rest and mourn after. They rushed onto the roof, to see a group of ten rioters firing towards the street. Ryan immediately singled out the leader. He had quite a lot of armor on.
Nothing a grenade can't fix.
He tossed one over towards the group, and saw four of the rioters go sailing off the roof onto the unforgiving streets below. The remaining six were hurt, but could still fight.
The leader turned around, and hefted an MG onto the railing.
"Oh shit! TAKE COVER!"
Bullets flew towards Ryan and the JTF. Three fell to the onslaught, the remaining two managing to make it to cover.
Damn it! We gotta take that guy out quickly. He'll wipe us out if we take too long!
Ryan peeked around the corner to see two thugs rushing him with baseball bats. His eyes widened, before both were cut down. He turned around to see his teammate head back behind cover.
Four left, including "MG."
He managed to get an angle on MG. His grenade managed to rip off most of his armor. With his head exposed, a well-placed shot could take him out.
If only I had a sniper.
He scanned around. It seemed that the remaining three rioters were either dead, or ran. He turned around to see the status of his men, before realizing…
He was the only one left.
With ammo running low, Ryan only saw one option. He just needed to wait for the opening.
There!
While MG was pre-occupied, Ryan sprinted forward. He saw MG frantically reloading. Ryan vaulted over the banister, kicked MG to the ground and pushed his pistol into his skull.
BANG!
It was over. Ryan stumbled and fell backwards onto the ground. He was tired. But his mission was done.
"..an! Ryan! Are you alright? Ryan!"
"Yeah, Faye?"
"What the hell was that? Are you insane? What if you didn't make it in time? You could have di-"
"Faye?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
~TRB~
Ryan slowly walked back into the base. He realized that he had a lot more injuries that he thought on the short walk back. He thought about all the soldiers he lost. Men and women with families. With friends. He nearly broke down on the walk back.
Faye looked up from her laptop to see Ryan walk in, on the cusp of crying. She rushed to him, which wasn't that fast due to her leg, but once she got to him, she engulfed him into a hug. He hugged her back, tearing up and burying his head in her hair. The various JTF soldiers around shared their sorrow.
Faye led Ryan over to the beds. They laid on opposite beds, and they talked quietly.
"They're all gone, Faye. They're all gone, and I'm still here."
"Aren't you happy that you're fine?"
He shook his head.
"I could have at least brought one or two of them back."
He started to cry.
"Why did I get out of that? Why me? Why only me?"
Faye got off her bed and kneeled next to Ryan's bed. She entwined her hand with his.
"Listen to me Ryan. Those men and women went out there to fight for the city. They knew the risks. Those guys out there? They're worried about you."
She ran her hand through her hair.
"We're just entering our second decade of our lives. I haven't even seen what's out there. The closest I've gotten to a real battle is seeing you fight over security cameras."
She laid her head on his chest.
"We've been friends for about ten years. I'm worried, Ryan. About what this place is going to do to you. About what it's gonna do to us."
She felt Ryan wrap his arms around her. She looked up. His eyes were closed.
"Thank you Faye. Thank you for everything."
The lights in the facility were turning off for the night. Even thugs and rioters had to sleep.
"Stay with me, Faye. I don't think I can be alone. Not after today."
She nodded, and together, in the midst of a chaotic New York, the two friends drifted off to sleep.
They wouldn't wake until the next afternoon.
~TRB~
There's another chappie down! Now, if you haven't noticed by now, Faye is pretty OOC, and they're younger (I think) than the agents are in the game. It's for story purposes, trust me. Also, I'm probably going to put a poll up to see if Faye and Ryan get together. Not sure just yet. If I can't decide by chapter seven, I'll put the poll up. I'm on a roll with this story!
Oh yeah, Faye will eventually go out with Ryan on his adventures through Manhattan. That will be after the Subway Morgue mission, which will take place a week after this chapter happens. Till then, see you in the next chappie!
-MrDerper