Arkangel || A Winter / Karina / WinRina Adventure

Hotel USA

[A/N. This includes some descriptions of waterboarding and exposing people to a prolonged period of cold.]

Winter was asleep on the floor when she was doused with a bucket of cold water, and people were screaming at her. For a moment she was disoriented, but she quickly got to her knees and began twisting the wet blanket into a makeshift club. Then she saw something move in the corner of her eye, and everything went black.

Winter woke up strapped to a table with blinding lights shining in her face. She was surrounded by burly men in combat fatigues wearing ski masks.

She had never followed the news, so she had never heard of waterboarding. Nevertheless, given why she was at The Farm, Winter knew something awful was about to start, so she began struggling against the handcuffs that restrained her.

"Do you think I'm afraid!?! You know NOTHING. You have no idea what's going to happen to you!Get it over with!"

A towel was draped over her face, and then they began pouring water on it. Winter felt like the water was going straight into her lungs. Her thoughts spun out of control, and she fell back on a reliable tool: hatred.

They did the procedure to her 17 times. When they were done, one of the men lifted the board and dumped her onto the wet concrete floor. Then they left.

Winter couldn't remember any time that she had cried as an adult. But she'd never been through anything like waterboarding, so tears welled in her eyes. But then she jumped to her feet. On a small table sat the glass pitcher they had used for the water.

Once in the hall, Winter could hear the men talking in the distance. She took the pitcher and ran after them, barefoot and silent. One of the men was bent over a water fountain, and Winter drew her arm back and hit him squarely in the back of the head. His head bounced against the fountain and he slumped to the ground.

The remaining two were around the corner and hadn't heard a thing. In a moment she was behind them. She did a sweep-kick to the knee of one of the men, he screamed, and as he fell she whacked him with the pitcher so hard that it actually made a ringing sound for an instant.

The third soldier was completely and utterly confused at what was happening. Didn't she know it was just training?

Winter kicked him in the groin and swung the pitcher hard against his cheek. He stumbled backwards and slid down the wall. Like putting a period at the end of a sentence, Winter threw the pitcher through a window and walked back to her room, smiling. Predator.

. . . . .

A few days later Winter was hooded and dragged out of the room again. One of the men in a ski mask was limping, so she knew they had met before.

"What happened to you, big guy?" she taunted. "Got your butt kicked by a girl? You're a punk and I own you. You're not worth anything. Your wife cheats on you, with me. When we get done with this next test, I'm going to come looking for you. I'm going to hang your eyeballs around my rear-view mirror. Then I will turn your entire life to ashes."

She overheard one of the guards whisper "What is this girl's problem!?! Who the hell threatens to blind someone!?! She's not an operator, she's a freakin' psycho. We should get hazard pay for being within five feet of her!"

"I know," the other guard responded. "I tried talking to her in the cafeteria, trying to make her feel welcome. That, and because she is FINE, even with the buzz cut."

"Keep that image in mind in case you lose your eyes," the first guard said.

Fine? What does that mean?

A large metal door swung open and Winter was thrown inside. Once the door closed, the room was completely dark. It was also cold. This was going to be about endurance, Winter thought. Be a marathoner, not a sprinter. One thing she decided immediately was that she would not, under any circumstances, ask to be released. She had dealt with cold when she was eight. So she tucked herself into the fetal position and waited to start shivering.

It didn't take long. In less than an hour, her teeth were chattering and she was rubbing her limbs vigorously to try to stay warm. Then she tried jogging in place, and then pacing around the cell, but it all came back to one thing. It was cold and she was just going to be cold and there was nothing she could do to change it. And it would be cold forever. No relief would come. No one knew where she was. All she could do was just be.

She completely lost track of time and how long she had been there. Suddenly, deafeningly loud music started playing, hard-core heavy metal. Winter covered her ears but it was still painful. Eventually, she began feeling like she was floating above herself, disinterestedly watching herself freeze to death.

"Arkangel," a voice announced over a speaker. "Would you like the test to end?"

Winter screamed "NO."

"Are you sure? You can have a nice, hot meal and be back in your warm bed. All you have to do is say the word and we'll end this."

"No," Winter whispered, tears falling down her cheeks in the darkness.

"You don't have anything to prove," the voice said. "Everyone's impressed! You've done amazingly. Come on, let's just end this so we can go home. What do you say?"

"No," Winter mumbled, barely conscious. "Never."

Then the lights came on and she was helped to her feet. She was shaking so bad she could barely walk. But they were treating her differently, not manhandling her, but escorting her.

One of the masked men said "Attacking us was a cheap shot, Arkangel. But you just did the most amazing thing I have ever seen."

"How... how long was I in there?"

"Six days. You should be dead from dehydration, let alone the cold. We're taking you to the infirmary so you can get an IV of fluids and treated for hypothermia. You're in bad shape. But god, I wish I could understand what you're made of." He patted her shoulder. "Please don't attack me again, killer."

. . . . .

She was sitting with Parker on a bench outside.

"We've never had anyone in training last more than five cycles of waterboarding. You survived 17. We've never had anyone last longer than three days in the cold room. You lasted six. We don't see any purpose in more psychological tests. You'll keep training physically as well as intelligence tradecraft and combat tactics. Among other things, you'll become an explosives specialist. Plus, we're sending you to language school in New York. You'll need to be fluent in a number of languages, and speak with no accent. Your English is coming along well, though you still need some tuning."

"When do I go to New York?"

"In about eight weeks. Once you're done with language school, you'll graduate to a full field operator. The end's in sight, Arkangel. Then we take off the chain, point you at the bad guys, and get the hell out of the way."

"I'll miss this place," Winter said.

"No one misses The Farm!"

"Things make sense here. The goals are clear, and I am allowed to be who I truly am in order to achieve them. Getting an apartment, making friends... that's all terrifying to me. I still sleep on the floor, Parker. I know that's not how people do it, but I just can't bring myself to get in bed. It's like I'll get spoiled, get soft. I'd be getting something people better than me deserve."

"Someday, I hope you'll see that you do deserve happiness, Arkangel," Parker said.

"Maybe. But there is business to take care of first."