keeper [rick flag]

Chapter 3

Ryland leans over and lays her head on Rick's shoulder, closing her eyes as the stop humming of the motos lulls her to sleep.

Lately, it was as if she was fighting day and night to keep herself under control. The urges had been growing stronger and stronger, and even though she'd learned to control it, she feared that it wouldn't be long before she lost control to Keeper completely.  

She feared the day when that happened. 

Ryland was sure there was nothing worse than turning. It was like drowning. She couldn't speak or think or breathe. It was like watching a movie of herself and never being able to move or do anything.

Panic crept at the bottom of her throat at the thought of what she was going to have to do today.

She feels a warm hand enclose her cold one, squeezing it in reassurance, and she can't help but smile. Rick was there. Everything was going to be fine if he was there. 

He would never let anything happen to her... she was sure of it.

"You okay, Ry?" Rick asks, worry inked on his tone. 

Ryland sighs and opens her eyes, turning to her boyfriend. 

"Yeah. Just, wondering how June is. Other than that, never been better" She says, forcing out a smile. She reaches up, touching his arm in a reassuring way to let him know everything is fine. 

On the inside, she is freaking out. She knows what she is going to have to do, and she fears it with her heart. Of course, she couldn't tell Rick. She didn't like it when he worried about her, he worried enough as it was. 

"You sure?" Ricks asks. Ryland nods and smiles up at him, kissing his cheek. But Rick knows she is lying. 

"You know you don't have to do anything you don't want to do, right? Just say the word and I'll tell Waller you can't do it" Rick said, his tone dead serious. 

It was as if he could read her mind. He'd gotten pretty good at reading her, it wasn't difficult as Ryland always seemed to have an expression on her face.

"And you know June is fine, right? She has the best care anyone could ever ask for" Ricks says in a convincing voice. 

Ryland nods, biting her lip in an attempt to hold her tears. 

Neither of them says anything for the rest of the car ride.

When the car finally slows to a stop, Rick gets out first, making sure everything is in order before he goes to Ryland's side of the car. 

He opens her door and holds his hand out for her to take, and she gladly does that.

As she exits the car she turns to him, her eyes meetings his. She purses her lips, nodding. 

"Rick, I know June's fine. And I'm fine as well. Really. You don't need to worry about me" She says softly. Rick looks at her, his jaw shut tight. 

It angered him. The fact that Waller used her as leverage–as a war weapon. She wasn't a weapon. Ryland was a human. She was just a girl that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A lot of the times he wanted nothing more than to take Ryland away and live the rest of their lives in random places.

But he couldn't. 

Instead, he had to watch her suffer day in and day out, and even though he was there every step of the way, he knew that she was going through everything alone.

The both of them trail into the building, surrounded by guards holding guns and strapped in bulletproof vests. 

Rick slides an arm around her waist in comfort, and she leans into him, her hand touching his arm.