Recovery *Rewritten* (Book 2 - S.S.A Herrmann Series)

Chapter 2

Undisclosed Location: Afghanistan 

It was right before nightfall when Nikki woke Lennox up to cover Watch, and Mouse so that they could get a message back to base letting them know the Op was a success and they needed an evacuation point to meet at along with a time. 

With the other surviving soldiers, Nikki wanted to get the message out and get to the evacuation point. Especially with all their food rations getting dangerously low with the 6 extra soldiers to feed. Nikki and Mouse made their way down the mountain and Mouse set up a tech communication line between them and the nearby US military base. 

It took Mouse a few hours to get the communication line to start working and they radioed back to base getting a response almost instantly. They managed to set up an evacuation point 10 miles away from their location, they'd have an evac chopper waiting for them by sunrise in 4 days. With that news Mouse and Nikki took apart the radio and made their way back to the cave before the morning light broke across the sky. 

Nikki could barely get any sleep that day, knowing she'd be going back home to the States soon and she'd be able to see Spencer and her Mom, dad, and siblings. A smile crossed her face at the thought as she curled up in her sleeping bag trying to get some sleep but couldn't not only from thinking about how soon she'd get to see Spencer but also because of how much her lower back and hips were starting to throb in pain. Nikki shook off the pain guessing it was just due to sleeping on the ground for months. 

4 Days Later... 

Nikki, Mouse, Corlevous, and Lennox carried the 4 deceased soldiers into the field along with the 6 other soldiers who were in bad shape. As the sky started to get brighter and dawn broke the skies the sound chopper was heard before they saw the large aircraft lower into the field The 10 soldiers loaded into the chopper along with Nikki, her unit, and the 4 deceased soldiers as they took off flying back towards the base in Kandahar; where they would get sent home to the states with the troops they recovered in coffins. 

The entire trip to the evac point the pain in Nikki's lower back and hips only seemed to get worse and worse. Initially, she thought she slept on it wrong and additionally carrying literal dead weight for the last 4 days didn't help, but she wasn't gonna leave any of them behind, especially after how lucky they were to find them after so long. If they left anyone behind there was no guarantee they'd be brought back home to their families for a proper burial; they deserved that respect.

BAU Private Jet

The team sat on the jet flying back to Virginia after wrapping up a case in Florida. Spencer sat staring off out the jet window as he drank a cup of coffee his mind wandered off thinking about Nikki once again. "Yeah, thank you for letting me know. We'll talk soon, okay bye" Prentiss said as she hung up a phone call. "Everything okay?" Rossi asked from the table across from where she sat. "Yeah, more than great. That was Army General Warren Taylor, he's the one that arranged Herrman's Recovery Op," Prentiss replied catching the entire team's attention including Spencer at the mention of Nikki's name. 

"Is she okay? Did something happen?" Spencer asked immediately worried, "No, she's good. They finished their Operation. They landed at a base near Kandahar a few hours ago and she's on the next flight back now," Prentiss replied causing relief to wash over Spencer. The agents cheered and whooped at the news "Yay! That's our girl!" Rossi said. "See Spence, she's gonna be back soon," JJ said sending him a smile. "When is she getting back?" Spencer asked Emily who shrugged. 

"It depends on when they leave and where they land, not to mention she has a month off to readjust and get medical checkups, and evaluations before she comes back to work," Emily replied. "So I'm assuming she found the missing soldiers?" Rossi asked Emily who nodded her head yes. "Nikki and her unit found all 10 of the soldiers and they're being flown back to the States with Nikki and her unit," Emily replied. "She found them all?" Spencer asked her a bit surprised, Emily nodded her head yes "6 of them were in really rough condition and the other 4 didn't make it but she refused to leave them behind," Emily replied. 

"Because she knows if she left them, they would never make it back to their families. She respects them too much to leave them there to be defiled and disrespected," Spencer replied telling them exactly what Nikki told him before she left, why she was so determined to go on this military operation. 

Travis Air Force Base Fairfield California

The following afternoon the aircraft flew Nikki and her unit back to the States along with the living and deceased troops. Nikki and her unit were still in Ranger gear, however the deceased soldiers lay in coffins. Once the aircraft landed Nikki and her unit lifted and carried one of the coffins off the aircraft immediately noticing the memorial parade that was waiting for them as they carried one of the 4 coffins and lay it in the back of the waiting funeral vehicle. While the other 6 soldiers carried the other 2 coffins and another 6 soldiers stepped up to carry the last coffin over to the 4th funeral vehicle. 

Nikki ended up finishing off the Recovery report of the Op and handing it to one of Warren Taylor's assistants before she and her unit were dismissed to change and head back home. Nikki was given a month to settle after her deployment and readjust before heading back to work with the BAU. 

As Nikki made her way to the airport she debated whether to head to Virginia or go back to Chicago. Between her back and hips throbbing, wanting to see her family and hopefully see her mom if the tumor... Nikki shook the dark thought away, the last thing she heard before she left for her Recovery Op was her mom was starting radiation and chemotherapy to hopefully get rid of the tumor that had sped before they had a chance to surgically remove it. 

Nikki ultimately decided to fly back to Chicago wanting to see her mom, dad, and family. To relax and sleep for a week straight or two. As much as she would love to go back to Virginia to see Spencer and her team, her house was packed and put into storage before she left, she was exhausted and achy all over, she had a month off and she wanted to check on her mom, dad, siblings, and sleep. She'd call him in the morning after she got settled at home and got a little bit of sleep.

As it turned out Mouse was also flying back to Chicago and on the same flight as her just opposite sides of the plane. Which was okay because it gave Nikki a chance to nap until she was woken up by the pain in her back and hips getting worse again. 'What did I do?' Nikki asked herself telling herself she'd have to get it checked out over the next couple of days. She just wanted to get home and see everyone first.  

O'Hare International Airport, Chicago Illinois

The moment her flight landed Nikki grabbed her bag and started making her way through the airport along with Mouse. "Do you wanna head over to Molly's? grab a drink? see your Dad and everyone?" Mouse asked her.

Nikki paused debating it especially after they spent the last 8 months in a war zone. The brunette nodded, "I'll go say hello, mostly to see if my dad's there before I go home. I wanna check on my mom." Nikki replied as she and Mouse got in a cab and made their way towards Molly's Bar. 

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Hey everyone I hope you like Chapter 2! Hold onto your hats because chapter 3 is going to get wild... I'm hoping to have Chapter 3 posted by this weekend (April 27th, 2024). Thank you so much for your love and support on this story so far <3 

-Muskokagirl204