Prisoner of War(Rina/Grimm)

[FreedomLivesOn]

"They didn't, Daniel; no one did, except for our attackers,Thames and Hugo."
"You took point, led us through this thing Daniel...I'd say you're just about ready." Daniel glared at Thames, his body language conveying, more than anything, anger.
"This isn't the place to talk about this."
"No, it isn't; everyone return to your quarters. Medical staff members are ready to see any who may have received any kind of injuries during the exercise. Squad members, report back to our main meeting hall in an hour. That is all." With that, the Doctor turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Smith and Noah seemed a bit more optimistic about the exercise than Daniel, the duo all smiles with their spouses. Daniel wasn't so keen on celebrating; sure, he had overcome some fears on the battlefield, but how was that supposed to translate to real life? Would he still have the dreams, the cold sweats? Would he be able to raise his children without having a nervous breakdown? Daniel walked out of the room hurriedly, not speaking a word to Ari or anyone else.

He had to think.

He had stripped down to an undershirt and shorts in their quarters, sitting on the edge of the bed and absent-mindedly opening and closing his hand, thoughts jumbled.

[Rina]

This whole thing was interesting to Ari, especially when more details came about.
Sure, she wanted to know more information about this, yet she understood why they wanted to keep the information between the former soldiers.
There was no apparent injuries with her, so she'd skip away from the treatment. They couldn't help with the slight bit of fear or nervousness that she gained during that. Those would wear off as the adrenaline dissipated in the oncoming hour. It was something she could work through herself, and it wasn't something she'd dwell on.
That's just the way her thinking went, and most of the time she was able to easily shrug things off. Of course there were a few things that she had a bit harder of a time working through in her past, but it's been years since she even mentioned anything about it. Perhaps that's why she though so positively, and why she was remaining optimistic about this, even if Daniel was rather angry about it. Then again, she didn't blame him for having said anger, since that could possibly help him through it.

She noticed when he exited the room, and shrugged slightly at that. Ari allowed the others to exit the room before she finally walked out. A nice slow walk back to their room sounded good.

It took just a few seconds for her to remember the route back to said room, and she wandered down the familiar corridors. She arrived at their room about ten minutes later, and stayed silent before pulling the seat out from the desk. The reason for her silence was because she didn't know what to say, nor did she want to say the wrong thing. Finally, she happened to think of a safe comment to make. "Hey, you know you can talk about it, right?"

[FreedomLivesOn]

Daniel looked up at Ari, a slight laugh escaping before he responded:
"What is there to talk about? He set us up, Ari. There was no excuse for any of you to be involved in a simulation. This is a program that's supposed to help us RECOVER, not set our nerves on edge by pretending to put our loved ones in danger. It's not right." He leaned forward slightly, taking one of her hands in his own.
"I thought the whole time: 'What would I do if you got killed?' I know if I died and the threat passed away, it wouldn't matter much; you could go back home, find a man, get some stability. But I can't lose you...and to have that threat presented...I just..I don't know. I'm not making sense, am I?"

[Rina]

Ari looked back at Daniel, leaning back as she listened to his response.
She knew where he was coming from, but she did see a little bit of optimism with the exercise. "I know what you're saying, and I get how you feel. But, I also see where they're coming from. It might not make the most sense, or might not be the most logical, but I think their motive is to test you and see how you'd do if the situation happened after we left. Sure, it might never happen, but there might be some kind of accident around us that might resemble this and could possibly put your loved ones and yourself in danger, so the best way to see is to put you in some kind of situation. If that makes any form of sense."
She squeezed his hand slightly before giving him a smile.
"Hey now, don't think like that. If you died I wouldn't be able to get over it as quick as that. I don't think I'd even consider looking for another guy to be with for a long, long time. If I even got to the point in which I'd want to look again. But, you're not going anywhere, so I won't need to worry about that. If the situations were reversed, I'd want you to move on. I'd want you to heal. As for your comments, you made complete sense. Whereas I'm just rambling on." She softly commented, leaning forward to kiss his cheek.

[FreedomLivesOn]

(Ok, so I'm sorry if Daniel seems a bit over self-depreciating. I didn't mean for him to sound THAT melodramatic, but I guess it blends well with the character? I hoping that's a good excuse xD)

Daniel placed a hand gently on Ari's cheek, stroking it with the outer part of his hand as a smile came across his face, the former soldier telling her:
"You didn't ramble; I don't think you ever HAVE rambled, except when you had a little too much tequila at my cousin's graduation party. That was hysterical." His demeanor had shifted rather rapidly over the past few seconds, mostly due to his lovers presence. It wasn't so much the words that she spoke, although they did have an impact on him; it was her very presence that calmed him. He still had a bone to pick with the Doctor, but that was something he would focus on in forty five minutes. At that moment, however, Daniel was focused on more pressing matters:
"Listen, if we get sent home, if I passed his 'test'...we're getting this whole 'marriage' thing out of the way. Get that fancy place we toured all lined up as soon as we get back and go off to some island, forget all this mess." Daniel gave a reassuring squeeze to Ari's hand, telling her:
"I'm gonna go see the Doc ahead of schedule, see if we can't get this all sorted out. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get out of here."

Doctor Haney stood at the far end of the meeting room, opposite of the entrance. The room itself had a few rows of chairs facing a projector screen and a desk or two crammed up against the wall, but nothing more. When Daniel walked through, Haney adjusted his glasses slightly before telling him:
"I thought you would come earlier."
"How so?"
"You're more prone to taking preemptive action rather than allowing time to come to you."
"That a bad thing?"
"At times; in this case, not at all." Haney motioned for Daniel to come to the front row. Both were seated the length of a chair away, the Doctor able to read his patient's facial expressions and body language much more clearly at such as a close distance.
"You want an explanation?"
"That would be nice."
"Remember what I told you in the beginning? About immersion therapy?"
"Yeah, how we had to be put in situations that we feared...but Doc, that..."
"Hear me out. All throughout this week, you were placed in simulations that tested your mettle, your ability to survive and adapt to multiple situations. You excelled rather quickly."
"I almost got my squadmates killed."
"But you didn't, did you? You found a way to overcome your fear because you knew you HAD to; there was no way out." Haney pointed to the wall as he continued:
"Out there, Daniel, is a world that needs people to stand up to their fears; you did that. You took charge, faced your fears and crushed them in the face of adversity. You should be proud of yourself."
"What about those people though? You knew there was a risk!"
"Everyone who signed onto this program knew that there would be inherit risk. Not only are we in a technical war zone, but we also knew we were dealing with men who had complicated psychological barriers they needed to break. What happened if you had decided to kill me because you couldn't take it anymore?"
"That would NEVER happen."
"You don't know that."
"I do! I have control, Doc."
"You didn't a week ago, now did you? Tell me, are the nightmares a problem?"
"No...they stopped after the third day."
"Your sweats, delusions, breakdowns...none so far?"
"No."
"What about during this past simulation?"
"I locked up, but..."
"But you succeeded, didn't you?" Daniel ran a hand over his face, silently processing the implications of what the Doctor was saying.
"So am I..."
"You will struggle with this for a few months; however, what you have learned about yourself here will guide you through the healing process. Your fiancee was also briefed on various ways to help you handle any issues that may come up."
"So that's it?"
"I'll recommend for your immediate release. You may want to start packing." Haney couldn't help but smile, placing a hand on Daniel's shoulder as he told him:
"I'm extremely proud of you; you should be too."

Daniel strolled into their quarters, a relieved sigh escaping his lips as he plopped down on a nearby chair.

It was over.

[Rina]

(It's okay, I just took it as his character. xD I thought it fit perfectly, and that it was good that he reacted that way. Not everyone can be okay with it. )

Ari looked up into his face, giving him a smile in response. As his hand brushed against her cheek she relaxed slightly, a content sigh escaping her lips.
"Good, because I thought I was." She replied, before a laugh escaped her lips. It was the truth that she forgot that she had even done that, and she shook her head slowly. "Heh, the tequila. I completely forgot about that incident. I remember having the first few drinks, but after the fourth one was when I started the ramble. God, I must've really embarrassed you in front of your family." Just the reminder of the encounter caused her to laugh again, and she was quite thrilled that he found the whole situation amusing too. "Didn't I get on a rant about some TV show? Cause I think I remember just a hint of that." It was true, since she only remembered bits and pieces of it. Ari didn't blame him one bit for going to talk to the doctor, since he probably would get more of a good response from what happened to what the doctor was thinking. When he spoke of the wedding she nodded softly. "Sounds good. I'll give them a call, get the dates they have available, and we can pick whichever one sounds best. I agree with you on getting out of here, since it'll be nice to see our family again. And have a real meal for once."

Before they picked a date, she still needed to go look for a dress. Sure, to some brides the dress was the most important thing, but to Ari, she wanted the other things to get taken care of before she even thought of getting herself a dress. Plus, she was giving some money to her parents to put toward the wedding, so she wanted to see how much money she'd have left to spend on a gown, and that would determine what she'd get. Not too big of a deal, but there were still a few minor things that needed worked out.

She wanted to focus on that, but for the moment she wanted to focus on getting some of her things put together. Sure, if things went well then they might be able to leave within a good amount of time, and she wanted to have her bags at least half packed. Plus, she wanted to make sure that her notes were properly stored away, just incase she'd need to get to them for a future reference. Not that she thought that they would, but she wanted to keep them since they could even help with other things that could possibly come up in the future. Time here was something she valued for the lessons she learned, and for the things she'd need forget. That was definitely for sure. She considered is to be a good learning opportunity, and was glad that they both were able to make it. Sure, there were some things that were hard to either learn or understand, but to her they made sense after a short while.

But, just like vacations, after a while you got antsy to get back home. Just to be back in your own space, used to the little things that called it home, and to get to sleep in your own bed. Those were the little things that she valued, and she wouldn't take them for granted, or at least not again. Plus, the wedding would be pushed up, so that was another thing they could focus on. She knew time would fly by with it, and in the blink of an eye it would be done and over with. Time was precious, and it was meant to be valued too.

There was no time to dwell now, so she picked herself up off the chair, and placed the stray papers into a folder that she had, before taking them straight to her suitcase to put them under her clothing. Once that action was done she tidied up the desk of the eraser shavings, paper fragments, and any other little thing that littered the desk. She had no clue how long Daniel would be gone, so she wanted to take advantage of this to get her head start, so whenever they could be released, that they could almost just pick their suitcases up and walk away.

Nothing was that easy though, and she knew there would be more of a process to getting out than just that. What that extra stuff was she don't know, but knew the two of them would find out soon. She didn't want to be too pushy with packing Daniel's things, so she instead decided to straighten up her own stuff, and offer Daniel help if he wanted, or even needed it. Her work was done about fifteen minutes later, and a sigh of relief passed her lips. One step was down, and it was one less thing that they had to worry about. She assumed that they would leave the base in the same fashion that they came, so a nice comfortable pair of clothing would make the perfect outfit to fly back home in. Plus, the time it took to fly over here was a decent time, so she'd probably sleep on and off again, and in her free time she'd joke with Daniel, and carry some good conversations.
**
Ari looked up as Daniel entered the quarters, a smile falling onto her face. "Hey you, what did the doctor say?" She curiously asked, walking over to him, before taking a seat on the bed. This was something she was curious about, and she didn't want to hear just one thing, but she wanted to hear what he had to say about his encounter, how the doctor thought he did, how he was progressing, and the likes. "Did he have any good news?"

[FreedomLivesOn]

"We're getting out of here as soon as possible...apparently, I'm going to be ok. We're going to be ok...everything is going to just..." Daniel couldn't help but emit a hearty laugh, a genuine laugh that hadn't been a feature of his character since he had come back from the war. Maybe the program had worked...but only in a week? It had been brief, but it had been intense, explaining the quick progress. However, would he be ok in the long run? It was an issue that he would have to examine closely as the weeks went by.

But for now, he and his fiancee had a wedding to plan.

"Once we get out of here, we're gonna go get real food, not this military provided stuff. Double cheeseburger, french fries, a gigantic milkshake which I MIGHT share..." He shot her a teasing smile as he continued:
"And then we're going to get this out of the way. The wedding I mean. Then, just us, in a hotel room for..I don't know...a few days?"

[Rina]

"That's good news Danny!" She happily replied, taking a seat beside him as she grinned. "We'll be ok, and we'll be there for each other no matter what." It was definitely good to hear his laugh, since it had been so long that she hadn't heard a genuine one in so long. This was only the beginning of the happy times that would come, and she just hoped that this program would continue to help his progress since he deserved to laugh more, and to just enjoy the happiness of being able to relax and just hang out. Plus, she knew the wedding planning could bring some good laughs too, since she had some pretty amusing things to talk with him about.


Not enough to overwhelm him, but enough to gain a few more laughs.

"Hmm, that cheeseburger sounds like the best thing right now. French fries with ketchup, and a milkshake that I don't even care what flavor it is. Just as long as I get one little sip." She playfully replied, before giving him a wink. "One little sip and I'll be the happiest person. But, I think I know someone who'll be happier!" Getting the wedding bit out of the way would be great, since they wouldn't need to stress anymore, then they could finally take the vacation that they so much deserved. "You know, I think I'll take you up on that offer. We don't have to leave our room for a week if you don't want to, since I don't mind!" She offered him a big grin before leaning over and softly pressing her lips to his.

[FreedomLivesOn]

"Well, that suits me juuuust fine." He returned her kiss, a hand moving up to her cheek as he released. The hand remained there for a moment, as if he was attempting to ensure that she, and by extension what had occurred over the past week, was reality. Daniel then released the hand, rising to his feet.
"We've got some things to pack then, don't we?"

They were alerted to their departure at about mid-morning, the couple allowed to make their rounds of goodbyes. Phone numbers, email addresses and even laughter was traded in the span of about twenty minutes or so; it was evident that the process of healing had bonded all those in the program, forming a unique kind of sorority. They were escorted out of the base and loaded onto a jet bound for Lebanon, at which the couple hit their transfer to Baltimore. It was a rough journey to be sure, but after twenty hours of flight time and an exhausted car ride home, they had made it back.

Daniel flipped the light switch on with his free hand as he lugged in their things, the former soldier thankful that neither of them had packed too heavy. Breathing out a sigh, he looked over at Ari and told her:
"You need sleep. I need sleep. I'm too lazy to drive you back home. So come on." He shut the door behind her as he led her down the hall to his bedroom, the bed perfectly made.

That's right...Ari had slept in it.

He undressed rather quickly, stripping down to underwear before crawling underneath the sheets.
"I...have never fully appreciated a civilian bed this much before..."

[Rina]

She laughed quietly at his words, smiling softly as his lips moved against hers. These were definitely moments to cherish, and it seemed that a sweet moment like this was guaranteed after the success of her fiancé. It took some great strength to go through what he did, but it seemed to have a big benefit attached: his happiness.
“Yeah, we do have a few things to pack. Then we’re homebound!”

Sleep seemed hard to come by for her since the happiness released some adrenaline into her system. But, she didn’t mind since soon after they were saying their goodbyes, and she was giving the other girlfriends and wives a few hugs and wishing them the same quick journey home as well as a big good luck. It seemed that their twenty minutes flew by in only two, and in the matter of a few more they were being prepared to head home. It seemed that she forgot the initial plane trip to get here, but the ambition to go home was much greater than the actual twenty hour plane ride that made your butt pretty sore from sitting around so much. It was comical, but not by the twentieth hour.

As they arrived at Daniel’s house a quiet yawn escaped her lips. She followed behind him as he walked in, and a rush of relief passed through her. It was a familiar smell in a familiar place.
“Yeah, plus I’d probably fall asleep during the ride home.” She replied before laughing softly. Ari followed him to the familiar path to his room since she’d spent the night before they took off on their journey.

In a sense, this was home sweet home for the time being.

While he undressed Ari quickly dug through her suitcase before finding her sleep shirt and shorts. She quickly took her now uncomfortable clothing off, folding it neatly once she was in her pajamas.
“I bet so. How comfy is it right now?” She asked, a smile on her face as she sat down at the edge.