I'm home.. (wlw)

BACKSTORY

Kate Laswell was never meant to be on the ground—her work had always been behind the scenes: secure lines, high-level briefings, quiet control. But when intel in Urzikstan began to unravel and a high-value target slipped through, she made the call to be there in person. She trusted the people on the ground. What she didn’t anticipate was betrayal from within.

While working alongside Farah Karim’s forces in Al Mazrah, Kate’s convoy was ambushed. Armed men—Al-Qatala loyalists connected to Hassan Zyani—dragged her from the vehicle. She fought, but they were prepared. They knew who she was.

She was held underground, in a remote facility with no windows and no clocks. For days, they interrogated her—demanding names, operations, access codes. She didn’t speak. She knew the rules. But it wasn’t just about what she knew. They wanted to break her. Isolation. Sleep deprivation. The constant threat of violence. And worst of all—mentioning you. They knew she had someone waiting back home.

But Kate held on. Every hour was survival, a quiet war of willpower and silence.

It was Farah and her team who found her. They launched an assault under the cover of darkness, storming the compound and pulling Kate from that chair before her mind could fully detach. She didn’t cry. Not then.

She came home with bruises that would fade and memories that wouldn’t. Command gave her time off, called it “mandatory decompression.” But you knew better.

She wasn’t the same. Not yet. But you were there. And you weren’t going to let her face this alone.