Disclaimer: I don't own the Division. The Division is owned by Ubisoft.
~TRB~
Several Days after the Madison Square Field Hospital Raid
"Faye, the hostages are out. They should be heading back with more medical supplies."
He heard clapping come from over his headset.
"Well done Ryan, and in record time as well! Come on back, Jessica wants to speak with you."
He nodded quietly. From where he was, he'd be back within five minutes. So he decided to take it slow.
Walking down the streets of a quiet Manhattan disheartened Ryan. He never liked the quiet, and he always hated being alone. His hatred grew after the long minutes alone on the Madison rooftop.
God, I can't wait till Faye's leg heals up. Thank goodness it wasn't broken.
It would be one more week till she would be able to head out with him, and needless to say, Ryan was counting the minutes.
"Ryan? Got a report of a scuffle near your area. Could you check it out before you get here?"
"Got it."
~TRB~
Ryan arrived on scene to see an armed civilian and a few rioters fighting for food.
Should be simple enough. Eliminate the rioters, and get the food to the civilians.
Unfortunately, Murphy's Law came into effect.
Out from an alleyway, flames shot out and caught the rioters, and Ryan, by surprise.
"What the hell?!"
The civilian ran, and just in time too, due to a new group coming out of the alley.
"Faye, who the hell are these people?! They've got flamethrowers and shit!"
"The Cleaners are here? What are they doing so close to the base? Take them out!"
Ryan leaned behind a box truck. He leaned out to see one of the Cleaners lob a Molotov towards him. He quickly rolled out and hid behind a taxi.
How the fuck am I supposed to take them out?
He looked towards the group. The flamethrower Cleaner was in the middle of the packed group.
Here goes nothing.
Ryan jumped up from his cover, and sprayed towards the Cleaners pack. He saw a flame shoot out from the pack. The Cleaners panicked, but were too slow.
BOOM!
"Ryan! What the hell was that explosion!? We heard it from here!"
He gasped for air. That explosion knocked him off his feet.
"Ryan! Are you okay?"
"Yeah….yeah. I shot the gas tank on the Cleaner's back. They're done."
"Alright. Head on back."
~TRB~
"Jesus, you look like shit."
"I didn't notice, Jess."
Jessica came from around her desk. The day after the raid, Jessica couldn't thank him enough for getting them out. She was sure that they weren't gonna make it out of that situation.
"Thanks for sending those hostages over. With the Clinic up and running, we're able to send them out pretty quickly."
Ryan nodded in reply. "How's Faye? I haven't been around here for a while."
Jessica walked into a room, and signaled Ryan to follow her. Jessica sighed and leaned against one of the many beds in the room.
"Her leg is healing just fine. She should be ready to go by next week. She's lucky that the explosion in Brooklyn didn't fuck up her leg any more than it did."
Ryan let out a sigh of relief. He grabbed a water bottle from his pack and began to drink.
"So when are you gonna ask her out?"
His eyes widened, and he did the most glorious spit take Jessica had ever seen.
"What *cough* are you *cough* talking about!?"
Ryan cleared his throat numerous times, and Jessica waited for him to finish.
"Are you kidding? I saw you two that night, cuddled up in that cot. I'd be crazy if I thought you didn't have feelings for her."
His mind wandered back to that night. It was an uncomfortable morning after, with some of the more rowdy JTF soldiers shooting both of them smirks and looks. But the night itself. He had to admit, falling asleep with Faye by his side felt amazing.
"I-I don't know. The idea of 'not getting attached' was drilled into us during training. I don't know if I can."
Jessica walked over, and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Well at least think about it Ryan. You're still twenty. In my opinion, you're too young to be here. You should be enjoying life, not struggling to survive. Faye is the closest thing you have to having some shred of normality in this fucked up city."
She walked out, leaving Ryan alone with his thoughts.
~TRB~
Ryan pulled up a chair and sat down at Faye's temporary station. She leaned her head against her hands.
"What's the status on my leg? Am I good to go soon?"
Ryan smiled. "Give or take a day, it should be another week."
He saw Faye do a fist pump into the air, and he laughed. It was nice seeing her so excited.
"I'll finally have your back, eh?"
He nodded. The soldiers around them were cheered up from seeing the two talk and laugh again. It had been a quiet couple of days since the raid.
"Hey, Agent!"
Ryan turned around, to see a squadron of JTF.
"Our technician, Rhodes, is trapped over down in the subway. We're gonna get him out. We'll need your help."
He turned over to Faye. She reached for his hand, and squeezed it. She nodded, and signaled for him to go. He turned around.
"Alright. Let's move out!"
~TRB~
"Alright, I've got camera control. We've got Cleaners throughout the subway. You're gonna have to fight through."
Crap. Alright. Let's play this safe.
"We'll move through slowly. I don't want to lose any of you on the way there, alright?"
An affirmative was heard throughout the group.
They moved down the steps, and Ryan's senses were assaulted by the smell of smoke.
He heard a JTF soldier to his right. "Holy shit, they're burning bodies down there!"
Sure enough, he looked over the edge, and saw the burning mass grave. He put his hand over his mouth to keep from throwing up.
"Let's move."
The further down they moved, the more eerie it became. Where were the Cleaners?
Alert! Contaminated Area ahead!
He signaled to the others. They all put their masks on.
There's the generator. Let's turn it on.
He heard the generator power on, and heard Rhodes over his headset.
"Whoever turned that on, you're either JTF, or really fucking lost. Either way, thanks."
"This is Faye Lau. We've got a squadron and a Division agent on the way."
A groan was heard. "Division? Didn't know I was worth that much."
"Well, it's your lucky day then."
"Careful down here. Contamination Areas are everywhere. Once you see the bodies, put your masks on. Unless you want to die, that is."
They pushed towards the different stations, with no opposition. The JTF soldiers relaxed, thinking that the Cleaners had left. Ryan however, was still ready.
Then it happened.
A flame shot from behind a generator, nearly taking out Ryan. He quickly backed up, frantically patting down any flames on his clothes. Ryan shot towards the source of the flame, and quickly dispatched the hiding Cleaner.
"Get to cover! It's an ambush!"
The JTF soldiers rushed back, and from the catwalks above, dropped numerous Cleaners, equipped with flamethrowers and DIY riot shields.
They slowly but surely pushed towards the JTF. Ryan quickly rushed to the fallen Cleaner's weapon, and turned the flamethrower on the advancing members.
It seemed to set off a chain reaction, with the men with packs detonating and the riot shielders rushing forward, with nothing left to lose. One of them knocked down a JTF soldier, and a quick axe swing ended his life. The others turned and opened fire, and the riot shields quickly broke, and with nothing left for cover, the remaining Cleaners were taken out.
"Fuck. Allen's gone."
Ryan turned to the two soldiers nearest to their fallen ally.
"Cover his body. We'll come back for it after. We'll give him a proper burial."
They nodded, and after their task, continued forward.
~TRB~
"Testing, test-Jesus this thing is loud!"
A few of the soldiers let out a laugh in response. They had made it through, and they had found Rhodes.
"You good to go?"
Ryan's question was drowned out by the sound of the generators powering down.
"Well, in order to reroute the power to the base, we've got to reboot the generators."
He heard Rhodes mutter under his breath. Something about the generators being a bitch to re-power.
"It's gonna be dark for a little while. Just sit tight."
Ryan took a seat on the stairs, deciding to call Faye. He wanted to talk to her.
Dialing… Connected!
"Hey Ryan! What's up?"
"We're almost done here. Rhodes just has to reroute the power and we'll head back."
"How about the guys? Everyone good?"
"We lost one. Allen. Once we get out, I'll call in an extraction team. His body's covered near the entrance."
"Shit. How are you holding up?"
He sighed. "I feel like shit, but other than a few burns, I'm fine."
"Well, when you get back, I've got something to show you. Hopefully it'll cheer you up."
"Can't wai-"
"Shit, we've got Cleaners coming in!"
Ryan's head snapped up. He looked towards the elevator to see this hulking behemoth walk out, with gas canisters and body armor all over.
"Ryan? What's going on?!"
Ryan's reply was cut off when he had to jump off the staircase to avoid a blast from a flamethrower.
"Agent! You good?"
He looked up to see his squadron on the other side of the room near Rhodes.
"Yeah! Take out any stragglers. He's mine!"
He pulled up his rifle and fired at the numerous gas canisters hanging from the newly dubbed "BFG."
He ducked behind cover, to hear an explosion. He looked over…
Only to see BFG angrily fire towards him.
His eyes widened as he rolled away.
How is he still alive after that?!
He continued firing at any body part that he could, slowly chipping away at any armor BFG was wearing. The JTF had finished off most of the Cleaners, and were keeping the rest from interrupting the fight between Ryan and BFG.
"Ryan! Get out of there already!"
Oh yeah…Faye's still on the call.
"If we leave now, he'll be able to wreak havoc on other JTF Faye! Let me finish this!"
He rolled to avoid another flame.
Only to land next to an explosive barrel.
He quickly realized where he was, so did BFG.
No way out. Time for a Hail Mary.
He sprayed blindly towards BFG, with a bullet catching him in the head. BFG's finger twitched and it fired.
It hit the barrel, and it detonated. Ryan saw only white, felt blinding pain, and his vision went black.
~TRB~
…get him on the table….
..yan…I told you…..please….
…Hi…..I'm Ryan…
…Name's Faye….
…don't leave me…..
Not…..again….
…please…I…
~TRB~
He slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to the light above. He looked around. He was obviously was in the Medical Wing, but he didn't recognize his surroundings.
"You're in Intensive Care."
His head turned to the source. It was Rhodes.
"Apparently they managed to fix this place up while you were gone. Just in time too."
He looked at his surroundings. He noticed the time was 8:45 in the evening.
"How long was I out?"
Rhodes sighed.
"Three days."
Ryan leaned back onto the bed.
"Fuck. Why don't I feel like I nearly died?"
"Jessica has no idea how you've healed so quickly. You had quite a lot of shrapnel in your side."
"Faye's gonna kill me. Where is she by the way?"
Rhodes chuckled.
"The day after you were brought in, she got up and left. Jessica tried to make her stay, but she refused to. Grabbed her guns, picked up her pack, and walked out."
"Any idea where she is?"
The door slammed open.
"I'm right here."
She stormed over to Ryan, grabbed his collar, and shook him fiercely.
"Why don't you listen?! I told you to get out! Do you want to die? Huh?!"
Rhodes quietly backed out of the room, and closed the door. Ryan reached up and grabbed her wrists.
"Faye! Listen to me! Please! I couldn't let him leave!"
She shot back. "So you were willing to die?"
"If it came to it."
She was quiet for a minute. Ryan had no idea what her internal argument was about, but before he could settle on one idea, she quickly straddled him.
"F-Faye? What are you do-"
All thoughts he could've had were quickly thrown out the window when her lips met his.
They stayed like that for the longest time, the only sound being the howling wind outside and the beep of the heart rate monitor. Slowly, but surely, they pulled apart. She leaned his head against his and closed her eyes.
"I can't lose you too. I already lost my parents, and my sister is nowhere to be found. You're probably the last person I have. The last thing I have to remember our old life. I just can't."
Her last word was accompanied by a sob. Ryan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush against him. The words "I won't" were repeated like a mantra. They rocked back and forth, to try and calm Faye down.
He did this for another five minutes, before he heard her breathing even out. He looked down. She had fallen asleep. He smiled, and pulled the blankets over the both of them. Slowly, the two agents, now closer than ever, drifted off to sleep where they'd remember old memories, and remember when life was easier.
They both knew there was more to come. But with each other, they'd make it through.
~TRB~
Chappie 3 down, and the fate of the two friends, now partners in more ways than one, has been sealed.
Or has it?
Nah, just kidding. They'll have some problems ahead, but don't worry. I know, it's pretty early, but I'm impatient, in both writing and reading.
Next chappie will include the Lincoln Tunnel mission, and with that, comes the first chappie where Faye will be alongside Ryan.
See ya then!
-MrDerper