#marshblorb

broken crayons still color. or at least that’s what you’ve been told. it doesn’t really feel that way when you see your lieutenant again. or when you’re told you’ll need physical therapy to regain total range of motion in your shoulder.

Grant lays in the hospital bed , in a medically induced coma , bandages wrapping every inch of skin you can see. the only thing that’s actually visible is his face and that’s just barely considering the breathing tube. he had gotten out of surgery 4 days ago , the doctors said they just want to let his body heal slightly before forcing him awake.

you were told you were a hero , that if you hadn’t gotten to him when you did then he wouldn’t have made it. the missing leg he now had didn’t make you feel like a hero. the physical therapy he’s going to have to go through doesn’t make you feel like a hero. all of the trauma he’s going to have to work through doesn’t make you feel like a hero.

you don’t feel like a hero. all you feel is shame. shame because you couldn’t save your Captain. shame because you couldn’t save your Sergeant. shame because a young private lost her life. and the click whenever you rotate your shoulder will be a constant reminder of how you failed. of how you let down some of the most important people in your life.

——————————

your healing process went by fast enough. it only took one month for your shoulder to stop hurting. so in your brain , you’re healed , even though you have another month of physical therapy and reduced physical activity.

your contract with your team- previous team had come to an end , so now you’re going to be loaned off to whoever needs you. whoever wants you.

you were told to meet with a woman named Kate Laswell to discuss your next contract. so imagine your surprise when you see Captain John Price waiting in the room as well.

you walk into the office , closing the door behind you before waiting. Laswell gestures towards the empty chair , telling you to sit. nodding , you take the seat , hands coming to lay in your lap.

everything goes by quickly , almost a blur in your mind now. you were told you’d get a large pay raise if you joined their team and you wouldn’t even have to become a Sergeant. you could stay a Corporal , meaning you wouldn’t have to manage Privates , which is something you’ve been firm on since you were first promoted. you’d be moved to a different room , in a different wing , which was a little bit of a surprise but who are you to complain. at least you didn’t have to grab much , just some of the clothes you left and a few pairs of boots.

you weren’t officially joining their team until you get off of medical leave. so you still have some time to acclimate with the team before being thrown into working with them.

after everything you made your way into your now old room , gathering everything. pulling the duffel bag over your shoulder and making your way out the door , you’re surprised to see Soap standing there. he almost looked like he was waiting. “oh- uhh.. hi..” your greeting is awkward but he doesn’t mind. talking the strap of your duffel bag , he forces you to give it up , despite your struggle. “jus- yep. here , i’ll carry that. and i’ll show you the way to your new room.” he decides to do jazz hands at the end of his sentence , startling a laugh out of you. “you’re right next to Ghosty so you shouldn’t have to worry about him being too loud. Gaz is in the room across from you with Cap’ on his left , i’m on Gaz’s right.” you’re only half paying attention , more focused on memorizing the path and what hall you’re now in.

he doesn’t take you straight to your room. instead he brings you to their communal room and kitchen area. while showing you around he makes sure he drills into your head that this space is now yours so you are allowed there. you don’t tell him but your are kind of glad he did that , it made you feel more welcomed , almost like they actually want you around.

he shows you all the food that’s off limits , telling you who each item belongs to. he also shows you where they keep all the communal blankets , making sure to showing you the heated and weighted ones as well.

you make sure to memorize the path back to your room. you may actually hang out in there sometime.

opening the door to your new room , you’re surprised to see Gaz in there making your bed. the confusion must show on your face because next thing you know Soap is laughing while putting your bag down. “we thought we’d tidy up your room before you got here , didnea want ya strainin’ that shoulder of yours” you nod before muttering a small thanks , walking further into the room.

taking a glance around , you notice it looks almost exactly the same. a desk in the far left corner and a wardrobe directly to your right. and of course the bed , a small side table as well , in the far right corner of the room , where Gaz is still tucking in your sheets. the only this that’s different is the door in the middle of the left wall.

you try and tell Gaz it doesn’t have to be perfect but he just shoos you away with a playful glare.

you stand awkwardly while he finishes. looking around the room , you start rocking on your feet before you notice Soap staring at you in amusement. abruptly stopping , you point towards the mystery door. “bathroom ?” he nods in confirmation , “bathroom.”

taking the getaway from awkward staring , you walk into the bathroom. looking around you notice it actually looks… decent. which is a surprise to you because the communal showers are nasty and you expected this one to be built the same.

you catch sight of your reflection , mean bruises littering the right side of your face but what really catches your attention is a new scar. it’s small but noticeable to you , directly in your smile line. it disappears when you smile , almost completely blending in. how did you not notice this ?

were you really that out of it to not notice a whole wound on your face ?

no , you remember getting it treated , right ? right..?

your spiral is interrupted by Gaz peeking his head in , a friendly smile on his face. he tells you that he’s done and him and Soap are about to leave but your only half paying attention.

you can see the concerned glance he throws you when leaving. you just smile in response but it doesn’t quite reach your eyes.

you decide to unpack now , wanting to just get it over with.

grabbing your duffel bag , you sit on the floor before opening it. taking your boots out , you toss them near your door , one hitting the wall with a resounding thunk. you flinch at that , waiting a moment to see if anyone heard and was annoyed before going back to unpacking.

you finish up in about 40 minutes , everything either hung up or sorted in a drawer. getting up , you stretch your body out , pops sounding out from multiple areas , before walking over to the door and fixing how your boots lay.

checking your phone , you see 17 missed calls and 3 messages from your mother. you decide to look at the messages , thinking they’ll be different this time. they aren’t.

“Hey kid , need some cash. You can send 200$ right?”

“Don’t ignore your mother!! i raised you and took care of you for your whole life!! this is the least you could do for me!!”

“Hey! I missed rent last month , can you send 300$”

its the same thing over and over , you honestly don’t know why you expect any different anymore. you decided a while ago not to give her the time of day anymore , not wanting to deal with the guilting that comes with talking to her.

you decide today isn’t going to be any different , exiting out of the messages you check the time. 19:34. shit. the mess hall closed about 4 minutes ago.

deciding to just pick something up , you grab your keys and make your way out of your door just to be stopped by a brown paper bag , stapled shut , right outside your door. crouching down to inspect it , you see your first and last name written on it again. this time the handwriting is different , so it probably wasn’t the same person as last time. picking it up and carrying it into your room. you place it on your desk before opening it , being greeted by fast food. again.

you almost start to debate if you have a secret admirer when you suddenly hear a knock at your door. quickly walking to open their door , you’re greeted with.. is that a drink ?! crouching down you see that it is in fact a drink , a soda to be exact. looking both ways down the hall gives you no clues on who might’ve left the food so you decide to just take the drink and close the door.

deciding to not look a gift horse in the mouth , you eat the food. it saves you gas as well so who were you to complain.

after you finish eating you do your normal nighttime routine , deciding to turn in early.

———————————

you wake with a gasp , eyes flying open and quickly scanning your surroundings. you relax after realizing that you were fine and that it was just a bad dream. sitting up and swinging your legs over the side of your bed , you try and remember what it was you were dreaming about.

a few minutes of thinking gives you nothing so you decide to give up. grabbing your phone and checking the time , you see just how late it actually is. 03:27 you only have 2 hours until your alarm goes off so you decide to just get up.

opening the door , you’re stopped by a weighted blanket folded neatly outside your door. you debate if this was going to be a common occurrence while picking it up , you can tell it weighs about 25 pounds maybe 30 (11-13 kgs). you’re quickly distracted by hearing a lock click , scanning your surroundings , you don’t see any type of movement so you slowly walk back into your room.

putting the blanket over your shoulders , you’re hit with an instant wave of comfort. sitting down on your bed you decide that you were going to try sleeping again. the weight of the blanket slowly dragging you into a dreamless sleep.

————————————

when you wake up the next morning the first thing you did was check your phone , confused on why you weren’t hearing an alarm. you were slightly panicked as well , thinking you woke up late just to realize you woke up 20 minutes before your alarm. sighing as you put your phone down , you relax into a half conscious state. you aren’t quite asleep but you also weren’t awake.

jolting once you finally hear the alarm , you raise your head and quickly turn it off. reluctantly sitting up , you move towards the edge of the bed. yawning and rubbing the crust out of your eyes , you stand stretching your arms above your head.

after taking a minute to stretch out your muscles you make your way over to your wardrobe. taking out your undergarments , a pair of sweatpants , and a plain gray shirt , you start to change but are quickly interpreted by your phone ringing. after finishing putting on your shirt you check who’s calling before deciding to ignore it.

after changing you quickly put on your socks and shoes. fixing your hair before leaving and closing the door behind you , you make your way into the mess hall.

grabbing whatever seemed appetizing you make your way to an empty table , not seeing any familiar faces.

a few minutes go by with you eating in silence before a few trays are placed around you. mentally mourning your loss of a quiet morning , you glance up seeing three semi-familiar faces. two of them sporting matching grins while they plop next to you. you ignore them for the most part , eating silently while they talk amongst themselves until you’re suddenly brought into the conversation. “so you’re a corporal , right ?” Ghost’s not even looking at you as he speaks , focusing on his food. you glance up to see his balaclava pulled up to his nose , quickly pulling your attention away from the exposed skin you look back down at your food before answering. “uh- yea” your answer is short due to you not understanding the context behind the sudden question.

you continue eating after that , tuning in to their conversation every now and then.

finishing your food , you grab your tray and stand up when your interrupted by the others standing as well. “we’ll come with you , we’re going to the same place anyways” as Soap speaks , a sly grin starts to pull at his lips. you furrow your brows slightly before shrugging your shoulders , continuing your walk to put the tray away.

starting your walk to the gym you realize that they’re still following you. you don’t think anything of it , they could just be going in the same direction. “so you ready for training ?” this time it’s Gaz who speaks up , staring you down as he speaks. “yea , little annoyed my day off was ruined though.” you shrug your shoulders a bit at the end of your sentence , giving into the small talk. you all continue to talk as you make your way into the gym , almost exactly 15 minutes early.

both your Lieutenant Grant and Staff Sergeant Ridge are already there. Captain Price is also there , surprising you slightly. walking further into the room , their captain notices you all. “good ! you’re all here , start stretching and get ready to spar.” you hesitate for a second before deciding to just listen to him , seeing your sergeant and lieutenant follow his instructions as well.

getting changed into a plain compression shirt and some basketball shorts before sitting down , you start your normal stretching routine , being pulled into idle chatter by Soap.

a sudden clap interrupts whatever conversations were going on. “alright ! up , all of you !” he motions with his hands for you to all up as he speaks. slowly standing , you walk closer towards the Captain. Ghost talking a spot to your left and your lieutenant , Andrew , talking a spot to your right. “right ! Garrick , you’re against Ridge. Mactavish , you’re with Grant. Riley , you’re with L/N.” you’re slightly confused at first , not knowing whose name belonged to who before they started moving.

realizing you got paired with Ghost , you whip your head towards Ridge , just to see his shoulders shaking in poorly disguised laughter. cursing him mentally , you walk towards the mat Ghost chose before standing across from him.

bending at the knees , feet shoulder width apart , you lean forward slightly , arms coming up to guard your chest and face. the position is familiar to you , you’ve started spars like this since you were 13. Ghost is obviously more comfortable on his feet , you can see it in the way he stands. feet just about shoulder width apart , one foot slightly in front of the other , hands guarding his face , it looks like he’s getting ready to box.

you make the first move , sticking low and keeping quick. you strike. one knee sliding off the ground , arms grappling around his thighs , the side of your face pressed into the junction of his hips and waist. you lift , using the momentum you had gathered to pull him off the ground and onto your shoulder. overestimating how much he’d weigh , you start falling backwards , unable to stop. he has no time to react to your sudden movements , back slamming into the ground harshly , breath coming out in a short huff and a cough.

you quickly move off him , you could immediately tell your shoulder hit his diaphragm. “ah shit ! are you okay ?! i am so sorry !” your tone’s panicked , it’s obvious you didn’t want to hurt him. coughing is all he can get out , trying to catch his breath. his hand does lift to show a thumbs up though. “HA ! L.T.’s got the wind knocked outta him” you whip your head around to glare at the speaker before tuning back around and continuing to apologize. you’re apologies are halted by Ghost lifting a palm and sitting up. “ ‘s fine. just got the wind knocked outta me s’all” his voice is gruff and still slightly breathless. “..sorry..” your tone is sheepish , a hand coming up to rub the back of your neck. “ ‘s fine. c’mon. up.” he stands as he speaks , holding a hand out to you.

getting back in the same starting position , you wait , not wanting to move first. he moves fast , a punch aimed towards your face. you duck , a knee sliding off the ground as you move forward and grab around his waist. his fists comes down onto your back. hard. you keep your grip , pushing forward , trying to make him loose his footing.

your face is mostly pressed into his side so you don’t see when one of his hands start reeling back at the same level of your head. his fist moves quick , slamming into your face. you can immediately feel your eyes start watering , nose starting to gush blood. you loose you grip quickly. reeling back and holding your nose , you crouch down , eyes closed in pain. “ah- fuck ! i think it’s broken..” you’re quiet as you speak , hands pressing around your nose , feeling the misshapen bone.

Price comes over , pressing a hand onto your back. “you good , kid ?” he’s almost leaning over you , trying to get a look at your face. removing your hands from your nose , you look over towards him. his sharp inhale tells you that you were correct in your diagnosis.

you didn’t even realize Ghost had walked away before a rag was suddenly pressed to your nose , pulling a wince out of you. “ow ! asshole..” your hand comes up to replace his , pressing the rag to your nose. your free arm is grabbed by Price , him attempting to pull you up. “up , c’mon. Ghost , take them to the infirmary. make sure they get their nose reset.” you groan lowly at the word ‘reset’. you’ve had your nose reset enough to know it hurts and you’d really rather not today.

walking out of the gym , you were about to plead your case but a hand resting on your nape stops you. you and Ghost walk like that the entire way to the infirmary. once you get there you expect him to leave but he doesn’t , he just leans against the wall , arms crossed. only after your nose is reset does he finally leave , silent as a mouse.

you leave with a small bottle of painkillers and a good few replacement bandages. walking back to your room , you see a few instant ice packs outside your door. crouching down to pick them up , you look both ways down the hall , trying to see if anyone could’ve seen who put them there. not seeing anyone , you shrug before you walk into your room , placing everything on your desk.

checking your phone while grabbing your shower necessities , you see a few messages , most from your lieutenant. deciding to check those messages first , you see 3 separate messages from him. one is him telling you that you don’t have to come back to the gym. another saying that all physical activity that could result in injury is canceled for you. the last message was one telling you that you still have to attend both lunch and dinner , you groan at that. checking the other notifications , you see that your mother called. again. 5 more times. deciding to ignore that , you make your way to the showers.

once you’re back in your room you set a timer for 3 hours , wanting to take a nap before the mess hall opens for lunch.

you wake with jolt. after turning over and turning off your alarm , you get up , stretching slowly. putting on your socks and shoes before fixing your hair and walking towards the mess hall. right when you walk in , an arm is slug across your shoulder. flinching slightly at the unexpected touch , you turn to the side , coming face to face with Soap. “sheesh ! L.T. fucked you up.” his tone is teasing but you can see what looks to be… concern ? is his eyes. you wave him off , trying to tell him that it’s fine but your interrupted by a finger being pressed near the underside of your eye. “ow asshole ! what the fuck ?!” you swat at him just to get a giggle in response. shaking your head in exasperation , you grab a tray before grabbing whatever seems appetizing.

you start to walk in the direction of an empty table but are quickly stopped by Soap throwing his arm over your shoulder again. he leads you in the direction of his team , forcing you to sit between him and Gaz. Price is directly across from you , offering you a smile when he notices you walking over. Ghost sits to his left and when you notice him glancing at you , you send him a small smile.

you eat in silence , mostly. every so often you add something to their conversation but other than that your main focus is on eating.

you finish eating first but decide to stay sitting , thoroughly entertained with the petty argument that’s happening. “i’m just askin’ Captain ! if you were athletic , what sport would you play ?” it’s way too difficult to keep yourself from laughing but you manage. for now. “and i’m telling you , you muppet ! i am athletic !” that’s what breaks you , giggles spilling from your lips. you fold over , putting your forehead to the table to try and mask your laughter. hands coming up to cover your mouth. they keep arguing , not even paying attention to you.

trying to collect yourself , you lift your head , looking between Gaz and Price. you’re rewarded with the sly and teasing look on Gaz’s face and the fond annoyance on Price’s face.

a few more minutes pass before your standing with your tray in hand , giving them a short goodbye.

the rest of your day is normal. mainly filled with you in your room , catching up on some shows you enjoy.

————————————

the mission had gone to shit. you all got ambushed , and out of 5 total people , the only people still alive were you and Lieutenant Grant. “sit. down. you got shot-” you cut in quickly “grazed” but he just continues to talk over you. “you got shot. and ! and you dislocated your shoulder. sit. down.” you don’t listen. if someone pops up , you have to be quick enough to get to him. you won’t leave him behind. no matter what. you can’t. you lost enough people today already.

a crunch in the leaves draws you attention. whipping your head around , gun at the ready , you see a familiar skull mask emerge from the trees. sighing and relaxing your shoulders , you start to limp your way over to your lieutenant but your interrupted by Soap beating you too it. Grant’s quickly picked up and thrown over Soap’s shoulder , almost like a sack of potatoes.

Grant points towards you before he speaks, “don’t let them fool you , they got shot-” you interrupt again “grazed” but he just talks louder, “in the leg , they are not okay.” …snitch. you’re tossed over a shoulder as well , Ghost and Gaz did rock , paper , scissors to decide who had to carry you. Ghost lost. pouting as you relax your body , you fall into a half conscious state , almost asleep but still very alert.

it only takes around 30 minutes to get to the evacuation site. a helicopter sitting idle in the middle of a small clearing. you get set down in the grass , content with your feet finally under you again. you see Soap place Grant in one of the seats before starting to talk to the pilot. getting in and taking a seat next to Grant , you’re greeted by the pilot , introducing himself as Nikolai , as you start idle conversation.

the flight back is mostly uneventful. well except for you and Grant bickering. “you dislocated your shoulder ! put the fucking sling on !” he’s actively trying to wrestle you into the sling but you are not having it. “no ! i told you , i relocated it ! stop it !” you’re slapping his hands away whenever they get too close to success. everyone else was just watching in amusement , silently agreeing to make sure you get to the infirmary and get treated.

when you touch down it’s like a hurricane of movement , medical personnel standing at the ready , waiting. they’re quick to move Grant onto a gurney and wheel him away to the med bay.

you’re silent as you walk away , almost making it away before a hand is placed on your shoulder. “where ya goin’, kid ?” when you look back you see its Price , brows furrowed in concern. “…the med bay” the way your eyes dart around tell him that you’re probably not being truthful. “hm , well i’ll walk ya” he pats your shoulder before giving you a gentle nudge forward. being true to his word and following you to the med bay.

he leaves once he sees you getting treated. you got scolded by your nurse , a lot. she really didn’t like when you told her you popped your shoulder back in place while on the field. you could see her physically restrain herself from hitting you.

you got some painkillers , some random antibiotics to prevent infections , and some anti inflammatory pills , and got told to take the painkillers as needed and the others everyday for 2 weeks. she even put you in a splint , much to your displeasure. you also were told that you may need physical therapy but she could only be sure when you were fully healed.

making your way back to your room , you grab your shower essentials and drop off everything you don’t actively need.

showering is difficult. your shoulder didn’t hurt earlier but now it’s throbbing. the process goes by slow due to you only being able to use one hand but you get the job done. all you want to do is sleep so that’s what you do when you get back to your room. you don’t wake up for at least 5 hours and once you do , you only have 45 minutes before the mess hall closes.

you’re up in a hurry , not even bothering to put on shoes , you had your socks on. you practically throw your door open , starting to make your way out the door before you’re greeted with a large brown paper bag. inspecting it , you find both your first and last name on the bag so you decide to open it. what you see definitely surprises you. it’s fast food , and somehow still warm.

bringing the bag into your room , you miss the two pairs of eyes that follow you. them silently fist bumping in victory when they see you take it.

you end up deciding to just eat the food that magically showed up. not wanting to bother with the mess hall when you’d only have like 40 minutes anyways. and besides , it’d be a waste to not eat it.

you fall back to sleep after eating , warm and content.

————————————

you all had first met when you were apart of an exfil group. tasked with getting the 141 out of the woods and to the nearest military base.

they had just exited the forest that they'd been walking in for 2 hours and the first thing they say was what looked to be arguing between two out of the four people there. "okay well i'm telling you i'm not driving! you remember what happened last time, don't you ?!" you don't even seem angry, more so annoyed , glancing at them all when you notice they arrived. "okay well i'm telling you- wait what last time ?" he's obviously a higher ranking official but that clearly doesn't stop you. you just raise your eyebrow and look at him. "no... that was you ?!" he's referring to when you accidentally went off the side of a cliff , in your defense it was dark and raining outside so could you really be blamed.

"what was you?" the guy you were talking to startles slightly , not realizing they had entered the clearing. "i drove a humvee off a cliff. in my defense it was dark. and raining." you say it all with a deadpan look, one hand raising slightly when you defend yourself. they all stare in shock except one. "alright well you are definitely driving now." the main thing that caught your eye was his haircut , a very prominent mohawk , the wide smile was definitely the next thing you noticed.

you just look him up and down , before looking at your lieutenant and holding your hand out , already knowing you won't win this battle. "i just want to say , i didn't get my license before joining the military" is all they get from you before you hop in the front seat of one of the cars. "they're joking!" your lieutenant is quick to try and ease their nerves but you weren't having that. sticking your head out of your rolled down window, "no i'm not." you say it with such a deadpan expression that they really can't tell if it actually is a joke.

while your lieutenant talks to their captain , the other three of them get inside your car. they all cram into the backseat , leaving the passenger seat for their captain. "so were you actually joking?" the pretty one talks this time, why do people always believe you were joking. "no. i didn't learn until enlisting" shaking your head in the beginning of your sentence , you put the keys in , starting the car. you use the time waiting for the captain to roll all the windows up , don’t want a repeat of last time.

their captain gets in , cutting off anything any of you were going to say. he looks like someone just told him his 401K was fake. "did you really go off a cliff?" it's like he's begging you to say no. you can barely keep the grin off your face "i went off a cliff" you have to bite your lip to keep yourself from laughing at his heavy sigh. "you should probably buckle up" it's all the warning any of them get before you press the gas , sending the car flying forward.

when you look in the rear view mirror , you can tell that Soap regrets his decision to make you drive. he's white knuckling his seatbelt , it's like he thinks it will save him from your terrible driving.

Gaz is seated in the middle , staring up at the ceiling , it looks like he's praying, maybe for forgiveness , maybe for help , who really knows.

Ghost is the only calm looking one , only holding onto what you call the oh shit bar above him. his eyes do look a little wide though now that you’re looking.

you have a large grin on your face as you swerve through trees. Price , who is also holding the oh shit bar , slowly turns to look at you. he takes a quivering breath before trying to speak , all he gets out is a quiet 'oh god' before turning to face the front again. you can tell he regrets every decision he's made up until that point.

once you make it out of the forest , its smooth sailing. the only times their lives were in danger then was when another car was on the road. it’s like you made it your personal goal to swerve around as many cars as possible.

you all make it to base perfectly fine. physically. mentally is a different story. all of them besides Ghost rush to get out of the car , slamming the doors behind them. you get out calmly , swinging the keys on your finger. "that was fun!" you have a large grin on your face as you speak , you are 100 percent making fun of them. they all slowly look at you , Soap looking up at you from his leaned over position , hands on his knees. he looks nauseous , maybe he should go to the infirmary. 

Ghost is the first to move , walking up to you and snatching the keys from your finger. he walks away without a word and you have to bite your lip to keep yourself from laughing , shoulders shaking. he obviously didn't enjoy the ride. you see him glance at the captain but you couldn’t discern the look , you could tell he was annoyed but you could see a hint of…. could that be amusement ? in his eyes.

the others follow after him after a second of catching their breath.

you spend the next 30 minutes looking over the car , checking for any bumps or scratches that weren’t there previously.

——————————

the next time you meet it’s in a more neutral setting , the dining hall.

you were sitting with your lieutenant , eating whatever had been provided to you when a tray was suddenly placed next to you. turning your head slowly in their direction you find yourself face to face with Soap , a large smile covering his face. “you don’t mind if i sit here , do ya ?” it’s obviously a rhetorical question as he already started sitting before he spoke.

you just wave a hand in his general direction before going back to eating. “so what did you say your name was ?” he’s staring at you as he speaks , tray sitting half eaten in front of him. you’re answer is short , only giving him your first name. he continues to stare at you , raising an eyebrow in question. he probably wants your last name so you give it up. reluctantly.

you glance up at your lieutenant , giving him a questioning look. he just shrugs and continues eating. rolling your eyes , you try to go back to your meal but you’re interrupted by a tray being set on your other side. this time you don’t react , just wanting to finish eating so you can go sleep.

when you hear a throat being cleared, you pause your eating , looking from the corner of your eye at the new visitor. “so did you really not get you license before enlisting ? because i’ve been thinking about this since you said it.” is what you’re greeted with when Gaz opens his mouth. throwing your head back and slumping forwards , you release a groan of exasperation. “why does everyone think i’m lying , no i didn’t learn before joining , i was taught during basic.” facing forwards again you realize you’re almost done with you meal so you start eating quicker.

your lieutenant releases a small laugh at that , catching both of their attention. you ignore whatever they’re talking about. finishing your food quickly , you stand up with your tray in hand. giving your lieutenant a nod as a goodbye when his attention is pulled towards you. both Gaz and Soap give you a look but they don’t interrupt your leaving.

putting your tray away , your attention is caught by your lieutenant waving you over. you make your way to them , sulking slightly , you honestly just want to sleep. “yes , sir ?” your hands naturally come to rest behind your back , folding together. “we have training tomorrow , 0900 , i expect you there 15 minutes early” you furrow your eyebrows slightly before nodding , accepting the fact that your complete day off was ruined.

you leave after he finishes , not noticing the pairs of eyes on you.

making your way back to your barracks , you grab all of your shower necessities. walking the short distance to the showers , you set up camp in one of the showers.

after finishing your shower routine you change into comfortable clothes. grabbing everything you brought , you make your way back to your room. after putting everything away you finally get comfortable under your covers. slowly falling into a dreamless sleep.

———————————

uhh i’ll probably continue this. probably.

it’s been at least an hour since mom had said she’d pick you up from school and she’s still not here. you haven’t even gotten a message from her yet , no update on when she was leaving or when she’d be here. nothing.

you were sitting in the curb texting ma when a car rolls up in front of you , a second later you get a text from mom , telling you she sent someone to pick you up , as well as their license plate.

standing up , you walk around to the back of the car. you don’t see a license plate there so you make your way to the front of the car. finding the license plate on the front , pulling your phone back out you make sure it matches. confirming that it’s the same , you make your way into the passenger seat. putting your backpack on the ground , you buckle your seat belt before grabbing your earbuds and putting one in. you choose a song on your phone before leaning your head back.

the car doesn’t move for a few minutes so you look to your left just to see the driver staring at you. now that you get a look at him , you realize he didn’t actually have a full beard. while his chin had stubble , it’s not nearly as long as the rest of his facial hair.

you raise an eyebrow when he doesn’t stop staring.

at least another minute passes before he speaks , “i’m John Price. a friend of your mother.” nodding slowly , you start to speak , “okay , well.. John , can you take me home ?” his grip on the steering wheel goes tight before loosening again. “no , sorry but Kate told me to take you to base.” both your eyebrows raise quickly as he finishes speaking. “then can you start driving ?” he smiles tightly at your words before looking away and finally starts to drive.

your scrolling on your phone when he suddenly starts speaking again. “so what were you doing staying late ?” you sigh lightly , not wanting to engage in small talk. “sports.” you also don’t want to ignore him , that would be just plain disrespectful. you can see his eyebrows raise in surprise , you can’t tell whether that be from you talking or the fact you’re in sports. “oh , that’s nice! what sport ?” after that question you decide it was probably the first option. “wrestling ,” you hoped that would be the end of it but you were wrong.

he’s slowing down at a red light when he speaks up again , “do you enjoy it ?” you’re only response to that is a hum of confirmation and a small nod. the conversation finally ends there , the car falling into a comfortable silence. at least comfortable for you. you can tell by the narrowness of his eyes and the tightness of his grip that he’s not as comfortable as he may appear.

the rest of the ride is silent. well mostly , you’re still listening to music so it’s just silent for him.

once you get close to the base he starts to speak again , “do you have your ID on you ?” the way he asks the question makes you question if he actually believes you have it. all you do is hum before grabbing you wallet and fishing it out. you can almost see the surprise on his face when you hand your military ID to him. he’s quiet as he grabs it , eyes focused on the road ahead.

he’s doesn’t speak for the rest of the ride , only talking to the soldier at the gate when needed.

you’re already undoing your seatbelt as he pull into a parking space , pulling your backpack onto your lap. you’re quick to get out once the cars off , swinging your bag over your shoulder.

he mutters a small ‘c’mon’ as he grabs your shoulder to lead you inside. you’re quick to jerk your shoulders out of his hold , following after him a step or two behind. he keeps glancing back at you , making sure you’re still following him. you’re lead into a small and empty meeting room.

he stands idle near the door , hands clasped behind his back. after taking a small glance around , you lean back onto the table in the middle of the room. “soo… where’s my mom ?” you’re staring directly at him as you speak. he doesn’t answer for a moment before replying , “she’s on her way.” you wait for more but that’s all your given.

the door is suddenly thrown open , hitting John and pushing him out of the way. your hand immediately comes up to cover your mouth , small giggles already pouring out. you risk a glance at John just to see him rubbing his hip with what looks like a pout on his face. that’s all it takes for you to break , laugher spilling out of your mouth. your other hand comes up to try and smother the sound.

Kate freeze at the door for a second , an apologetic glance being thrown towards John as she closes the door , before continuing her path for you. her hands hover over your shoulders before firmly patting them once , hands dropping to her hips after. the first words out of her mouth aren’t an apology , which doesn’t surprise you as much as you wish. “you’ll be staying here for some time , home isn’t safe right now.” you scrunch your nose up and let out a heavy sigh before asking the dreaded question. “why ?” you can see the way her breathing slows before she answers , “it’s not safe , someone found out about you.” she’s hesitant to continue , “ma’s somewhere else , somewhere safe. you don’t need to worry about her , just.. worry about yourself right now.”

you just stare at her , waiting to see if she’ll say more. nothing. “okayy , where am i sleeping ?” your head tilts with the question but Kate’s quickly interrupted by the door swinging open again. this time it’s two people , one with an atrocious mohawk , the other with surprisingly clear skin. you risk a glance at mom just to see her already staring at you , slowly shaking her head. you frown , focusing your attention back on the strangers just to see them already talking to John.

your eyes are laser focused on the mohawk. it looks intentional , sadly. now see , you don’t have a problem with mohawks. but that short? and styled like that ? you can’t see the appeal. you’re broken out of your thoughts by him speaking , “this the wee lad ?” a finger is pointed in your direction. you blink at him , closing one eye at a time. Kate answers his question with a sharp nod , glancing at you and jerking her head in mohawk man’s direction. “c’mon kid , let’s get you settled.” he introduces himself as John Mactavish , telling you that the other man’s name is Kyle Garrick.

the rest of the walk is filled with silence. you take the time to memorize the path , maybe you’ll hide in that meeting room. the walk is quick , you make it there in just under three minutes.

the door opens just before you reach it , a tall man with a black balaclava stepping out. “aye! there he is , this here is Si-” a gruff voice speaks up , interrupting him. “Ghost.” okay well , you are not calling him that emo ass name. he reopens the door , stepping to the side to allow you past.

walking into the room , you take a look around , finding a bed , a side table , a desk , a wardrobe , and a mystery door. Mactavish follows you inside , Ghost standing idle near the door. taking in the rest of the room , you find two duffel bags. taking a peak inside , you see the clothes in one just haphazardly shoved in there. the other duffel bag has the clothes neatly folded , placed carefully inside. you put your bag down next to the duffel bags , finally relieving your shoulders of the weight.

opening the mystery door , you find a small bathroom. you see another small bag in there. taking a peak inside the bag , you find your hair products , your body wash , and the rest of your bathroom necessities.

walking back into the main room , you find Ghost and Mactavish talking quietly. they take notice of you quickly , Mactavish speaking up , “we’re gonna let you get settled kid, rest up.” they’re gone soon after , leaving you alone.

———-few hour time skip-———

you’re laying on your new bed when you suddenly hear a knock coming from your door , the door opening a few seconds later. mom steps into the room , walking over to the bed to take a seat on the edge. she places a paper bag on the side table , “i got you some food ,” her hand comes to rest on the side of your face , gently stroking your cheek with her thumb. you sit up , her hand falling into her lap as you mutter a ‘thanks’.

she gives you a small kiss on the forehead before standing up. she stands by the door for a moment before speaking , “for what it’s worth , i am sorry.” she leaves after that , not giving you any time to respond. grabbing the bag , you look inside , being greeted with your favorite fast food. you finish the food quickly , you were pretty hungry , having not eaten for 5 hours.

you decide to take a shower after eating , feeling gross with all the dried sweat covering your skin.

after your shower you decide to put all your clothes away into the wardrobe. it takes you around 45 minutes to finish putting everything away.

checking your phone you see that it’s only 8:37PM. you decide to turn in early , tired from the day.

———————————

you wish you could say you don’t know how you ended up here but that would be a lie.

it all started with you using the airports bathroom.

walking out after washing your hands , you remember feeling a hit to the side of your head before everything went black. you really don’t understand how 3 trained military men could lose a teenager because they went to the bathroom. or how they didn’t see your limp body being dragged out. but alas , they didn’t see you , resulting in your kidnapping.

you woke up in a dark and dingy room. lifting your head up , you realize that there’s a camera propped up right in front of you. looking around for anything else you see nothing , just a gross looking puddle of water in the corner. wiggling your hands you find that they are tied up pretty tight behind you. your legs aren’t tied up though , meaning you could stretch them out. and you do just that , attempting to hit the camera as entertainment.

what you didn’t realize about the camera was that it was on and broadcasting. the team was watching everything that was happening over the camera.

you’re pretty close to knocking the camera over when the door opens , revealing 3 men who look to be going through a midlife crisis. one man is balding and just won’t let his hair go. another has a terrible-looking mustache , like he can’t grow facial hair but is still trying , it almost looks like he glued pubes to his face , and the last is bald with a gleaming head.

they all step in and move over to the camera , muttering about something. “no , the red light being on means the cameras on.” says baldy.

“no it doesn’t. it means it’s off.” argues the man with the pedo mustache.

it goes on like that for another 5 minutes before they decide to just look it up. “see ! i told you. light being on means the cameras on.”

they look over towards you , startling slightly at the sight of you being awake. one of them walks closer , the balding guy who simply won’t let the three strands of hair he has go , he crouches down to your level. he goes to grab your face but before he can you kick up one of your legs , hitting him right in the dick. he keels over as you cackle.

your laughter is cut off by a strike to the face , causing your lip to be cut on a tooth , “OW ! asshole !!” the camera cuts off.

the camera cuts back on , revealing you , now with your legs tied up as well. the cut on your lip looks to be slightly worse , a bit more bloody.

the bald man holds up a note , telling you to read out loud. you squint your eyes , trying to read the first sentence. “bro you’re gonna have to get closer , i cannot read that.” he groans before walking a few feet forward. your eyes squint as you attempt to read the note , leaning forward , “mother i have been abduct. i am fine-”

baldy interrupts you , “abducted.”

you lean back before replying , “it says abduct.”

he gives you a deadpan look , shaking the note slightly. rolling your eyes , you continue reading , “i have been abducted. i am fine right now , but i may not be for.. loring. if you do not pay the sun of one million doolers.” you have to fight to keep a chuckle down. “loring? the sun of one million doolers. what the-” baldy decided to interrupt you again.

“that’s what it says.” you shrug with your words.

“that’s long and sum of one million dollars. you know what it means.” attitude.

“i don’t know what it means. you told me to read , you didn’t tell me to improve.” maybe you shouldn’t be mocking your kidnappers but you’ve had a long day. that means you get a pass.

he’s muttering random things under his breath as he walks closer to you , crouching down and pointing his finger in your face. your mind goes blank as you focus in on the finger , its close enough you wouldn’t have to lunge far.

launching your body forward , you snap your teeth at the finger.

you’re successful. your jaws close down hard , severing the man’s finger just past the nail.

he scrambles back screaming as you spit out the chunk of finger and a glob of blood.

the camera cuts off again. this time they have to wait 10 minutes until it turns back on and when it finally does , what they see doesn’t surprise them. your head is hanging as you let your body fall as far forward as your tied hands will let you. if they looked for close enough they’d be able to see the blood dripping down from your nose. they hear the door close with a slam , making you flinch slightly , the movement alerting the team to the fact your still conscious.

five minutes pass before you move again , leaning back into the chair and letting your head fall back. a sharp gasp is heard when the team sees your face , nose mangled and bloody and a new cut going through your eyebrow. you turn your head to the side to spit out a glob of blood , leaving your head resting on your shoulder after.

———————————

you don’t remember much , really any , of your rescuing. you remember the hours of silence you were forced to endure, only broken by the faint plop of a water droplet every 5 minutes. the last thing you remember was the sound of gunshots , fear overtaking you as they got closer and closer.

the next thing you remember is the white ceiling of the private hospital room you were relocated to. you find comfort in the ceaseless beeping of your heart monitor , it reminds you that you’re not still in that room. that’s you’re alive and not there anymore.

you don’t remember much else about your stay in the hospital , just that mom visited every now and then. she never spoke , just watched you breathe as you withdrew into yourself. you recall her muttering outside your door once , but couldn’t make out any words.

you were transferred to a different military base , in a completely new country , after a week. Mom didn’t come with you; she decided to stay in America to continue the search from a different location, saying it would be safer for you. you sort of understood her point , but that didn’t mean you had to like it. and you made your position know , objecting at any moment possible. it didn’t work , obviously , but at least you made her feel a little bad.

today you were resting in the room you were given after eating lunch. watching videos on your phone , when your isolation was suddenly interrupted.

knock

knock

knock knock

knock

you don’t automatically recognize the knocking pattern , which confuses you. getting up slowly and walking to the door cautiously, you open it slightly, peeking an eye out. you relax upon realizing it was just Garrick , opening the door wider. you tilt your head , questioning why he was there , “yea ?” he motions for you to follow after him , muttering a quiet ‘follow me’.

stepping out into the hallway and closing the door , you follow Garrick down the hall. looking down at your phone , you see a few unread messages but decide to ignore them for the time being.

following Garrick into a meeting room , you’re met with Mactavish , Price , and Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way- sorry Ghost , sitting scattered around the table. Price is standing at the head of the table , clacking away on a laptop. Mactavish and Ghost are seated across from each other , silently watching their captain.

Price looks up when the door closes , calling you over to him. you wander over , looking around the room as you do. once you’re close enough , Price pulls out the chair , motioning for you to sit , pushing you in once you do.

you focus your attention on the laptop , noticing a video call was being set up. the laptop was slid in front of you , a call to Kate Laswell being shown on the screen.

the call is accepted quickly , Kate popping up on the screen with a small smile. “hi sweetie.”

“hey mom.” your smile is barely visible , just a small quirk of the lips.

she scoots in closer , “how’ve you been feeling ?” scared. “tired. good , but tired.” she tilts her head , silently asking you to continue. you don’t , picking at the scab on your eyebrow to fill the silence. Kate sighs , watching you whip your head around when you hear Price moving to sit down. she notices how you keep your eyes on him , staring in distrust , until he sits down.

she decides to continue the conversation , trying to get more information on your thoughts. “how’s England been ? the team behaving ?” she laughs lightly. you bite your lip in thought , debating telling the truth. you shrug as you speak , “i don’t know. it’s been okay , i guess.” Kate looks at you with an eyebrow raised , “you can tell the truth , hun. i’m not going to be mad if you’re having a bad time , i’m expecting it honestly. as bad as that sounds.”

you let out a bitter laugh before speaking , “i hate it. i know literally nobody here , and the people i do know , let me get kidnapped. i’m terrified-” Kate’s face drops , “they told you?” “-TERRIF- what?” the room goes silent. you look up , scanning the room and being met with the team staring down at the table or each other , no emotion on their faces. “mom. what do you mean ‘they told me’?” she’s almost frozen , opening her mouth to speak but being interrupted by you. “Mom. what do you mean by they ‘told me’.” she can see the thoughts running through your head.

“MOM. did you let me get kidnapped ?!” she doesn’t immediately refute the accusation , telling you everything you need to know. “MOM! MOM WHAT THE FUCK ?!” she holds her hands up in a placating gesture , “you need to understand-” that wasn’t the right thing to say , judging by your response. “I NEED TO UNDERSTAND?! Mother , you had me kidnapped. they broke my fucking nose!! did you conveniently forget about that in the two weeks you haven’t seen me ?!” yes you’re being hard on her , she needs to understand how this hurt you.

“mom i thought i was going to get raped. they could have killed me and raped my dead body , are you not comprehending this ?!” Kate intakes a shape gasp at that , not appreciating the reminder. “i obviously knew this ! but it was a risk i had to take-” you cut her off quickly , “YOU had to take ?! sorry , did you get kidnapped as well ?! No?! fucking thought so. so no , it wasn’t a risk you had to take. it was a risk I had to take. be forced to take really.” you take a deep breath , leaning back in your chair and shaking your head in disbelief.

“i know it’s not ideal ,” you scoff , rolling your eyes. “but it had to happen. if it hadn’t been them who kidnapped you , it would’ve been who we were looking for. i know it’s not ideal , i know , but sometimes this type of stuff needs to happen to solve the problem.” you raise and lower your eyebrows in on quick motion , rolling your eyes in annoyance. crossing your arms , you slide down the chair slightly , “whatever.”

“no , not whatever. i need you to understand where I’m coming from , i know it wasn’t right but it had to happen.” you scoff , shaking your head , “whatever. i don’t care. i can’t change what you did , what happened , so whatever.” silence befalls the room as you debate hanging up. “for what it’s worth , i am sorry.”

you shake your head , reaching a hand to the mouse pad and hanging up. you close the laptop after , getting up and making your way to the door. Mactavish and Garrick scramble to get up , Mactavish goes to block the door as Garrick comes up behind you. he goes to lightly grab your elbow , causing you to jerk out of his grip and whip your head around with a glare. Price and Ghost just watch , not knowing how to handle the situation gently.

you stare at Garrick is disbelief for a few seconds before turning around and walking to the blocked door. stopping a foot (30.5 cm) away from Mactavish , you raise your head slightly , staring him in the eyes before speaking. “move.” he raises his hands in a calming gesture while speaking. “i think you should talk to yer ma kid.” you suck your teeth and nod you head , “if you do not move , i am going to hit you so hard in the dick , it’ll eliminate all chances you may have of having children. move.”

you walk a small step forward , Mactavish not moving. you nod again , a bitter smile on your face. and in that moment , Mactavish knew you were going to follow through with your threat. he barely had a second to think before you were rearing your leg back , ramming your knee directly in his balls. he crumbles with a squeak , hands cupping his junk as he curls up in a fetal position.

you step over him , leaving the meeting room and starting the walk back to the room you were given.

you’re interrupted by Ghost's footsteps but decide not to stop. “do you even know where you’re going ?” you speed up slightly before answering , “yes. can you not.” he chuckles lightly , following you the rest of the way in silence.

you make it to your room pretty quickly , walking in and promptly closing and locking the door. Ghost waits outside for around 5 minutes before knocking. “kid , c’mon. you gotta talk to your mum.” you groan , calling out to him from the bed. “fuck off ! tell her to text me or we aren’t talking.”

he keeps knocks for another 5 minutes , but eventually gives up when you don’t reply.

it was 00:07 when you stepped outside to smoke. deciding to give up on sleeping for now and just enjoy the sounds of crickets and the occasional croak of a frog. it’s been a week since you and Gaz got back from your impromptu vacation and you hadn’t been sleeping well. the team immediately moved bases after you two got back , making it even harder relax.

you were lighting your second cigarette when someone stepped outside , halting you. you couldn’t see who it was at first because you were sitting on the left side of door , leaning against the step , but once the door closed , you came face to face with Ghost. turning forward again , you flick your lighter open , dragging your thumb across the flint wheel and letting the fire light the tip of your cigarette. you don’t notice how he startles gently at your presence , too focused on making sure the cigarette was burning evenly.

to your surprise , Ghost takes a seat next to you , on your right. he pulls out his own pack of cigarettes , takes one , and pulls his mask up to place it between his lips. you pull your eyes away from him as he lifts his mask , giving him the semblance of privacy. he pulls his own lighter out of his pack , dragging his thumb across the flint wheel multiple times and sighing in annoyance when it doesn’t light. “can i borrow yer lighter ?” he sounds exasperated. without turning to look at him you hand over your lighter. a few seconds later and it’s back into your pocket.

you both sit there in silence for a few moments , letting the nature do the talking. it reminds you of home , of when you were young and used to run around in search of frogs or slugs. of when you and your mother used to sit and watch the birds , feeding them and watching them teach their young with bright smiles on both of your faces. of your grandfather taking you hunting , celebrating with you when you took down your first buck with a perfect shot.

you’re interrupted from your thoughts by Ghost speaking , “i like yer lighter , where’d ya get it ?” it’s not that cool of a lighter , being a pretty red color with no special design , so you feel like he may just be trying to start conversation. “it’s a zippo , you can get em at like , any smoke shop. i have a bunch more if you want one.” you turn your head slightly as you speak , looking at his eyes for a moment before turning away. Ghost shakes his head softly , muttering a small ‘nah’ before silence blankets the space again.

it’s comfortable as you both continue to smoke , the only sound filling the silence being the nature surrounding you and the breathing from both of you. the moment is shattered as the door opens again , this time revealing Price. you and Ghost don’t say anything as Price leans against the now closed door , just watching as he closes his eyes and relaxes.

Ghost decided to speak up after a minute or two , “hey cap’n.” the reaction is immediate. Price whips his head around , caught off guard. “christ , Ghost ! make some noise next time ! you’re like a bloody cat !” you have to stifle a laugh at that , taking a long drag of your cigarette. Price shakes his head while taking a seat on the steps , holding his hand out. you stare in confusion but Ghost apparently understands what he wants , handing Price his pack. Price takes a single cigarette , placing it between his lips. before he can grab the lighter in Ghosts’ pack , you hand Price your lighter. you can see him furrow his eyebrows in confusion as he takes it , lighting his cigarette and handing it back.

you all sit in silence for the next few minutes , puffing away on the sticks of cancer.

Price is the first to break the silence , turning to you as he speaks. “how’ve ya been , kid ? you settling in good ?” now that’s a question , how have you been ? you haven’t been able to sleep well. every time you finally fall asleep , you’re awoken by nightmares you don’t remember , sweat clinging to your skin. you’re tired most days , wishing you could sleep for just an hour longer.

but you don’t tell him that , why would you ? you just nod your head and hum out a response “i’m good , settled in easily.” he just nods back and returns to looking forward.

your cigarette has almost burned all the way so you decide to put it out , stubbing the cancer stick on the side of your boot sole. standing up and hopping up onto the step as you take your pack out and put the ashed cigarette in the box , not wanting to just throw it out in the wilderness. putting the pack away as you open the door , you see the other two stubbing their cigarettes as well.

you wait for them , holding the door open. they both nod in thanks as they pass you.

you were about to walk away when Price’s phone starts ringing , glancing at him for a moment to see him motioning for you to stay.

you stop , confused.

furrowing your eyebrows , you watch as he answers the call , greeting the caller. “Captain John Price. what do you need ?” you obviously can’t hear the callers response. rocking on your feet slightly , you watch as Price’s brows furrow in.. an emotion you can’t discern.

you honestly debate walking away and dealing with the consequences later as the call drags on , seemingly going on forever. just as you shift your weight to start walking away , the call ends. Price puts his phone down and brings a hand up , pinching his nose bridge. you can hear him mutter curses under his breath , an annoyed look on his face. he lets his hand fall and puts his phone back into his pocket before speaking , addressing Ghost and you. “go get packed up , we have to be in the States by twenty-two hundred (2200) hours” he pauses for a moment before continuing, “Ghost , i want to talk with you , and then i want you to wake Garrick and Soap. Kid , go pack up. after , i want you to meet me in building 3 , on floor 2 , room 3240. if you get there early , just wait.” you nod sharply , turning and walking away.

you walk quickly , once out of sight breakking into a sprint. on the way to your room you whip out your phone and quickly go to google.

‘how long is a flight from Romania to America?’

11-16 hours , depends on layovers and such. you don’t know if you’re going to be flying in civies so just to be safe , you assume you will be. and if your math is correct , then you have 6 hours of spare time that will be quickly swallowed up by packing and driving. giving you maybe 3 hours of time to waste. it makes you slow down slightly , you’re still running but not as quick anymore.

you get to your room quickly , pulling out a duffel bag and your military backpack.

you don’t care for folding any of your normal clothes properly , just folding them up randomly and shoving them inside the duffle bag haphazardly. you’re more carful with your uniforms , folding them properly and placing them inside the backpack. you continue to ransack your room , grabbing everything that’s yours. you fill your backpack with everything you want to take as carry-on , making sure to put a small throw blanket and neck pillow in there as well.

it takes you almost 50 minutes to pack everything and to make sure it would all fit properly. getting your shoes in the bag and making sure they fit was the hardest part , forcing you to play an unwilling game of Tetris. before making your way to the meeting room , you make sure you grabbed everything , double checking that you aren’t leaving a charger.

pulling the backpack on and pulling the duffle bag over your shoulder , you walk out of the room , leaving the door open behind you. pulling your phone out , you sigh as you see the time , 01:43. you wouldn’t say you take your time walking to building 3 but you definitely don’t rush. you make it in a few minutes , and quickly walk up the stairs to get to floor 3.

taking a look at the walls , you see a clipboard with a few pieces of laminated paper. the first is all of the meeting rooms on the floor and a time table , a map of the floor plan is on the second page , and on the last page is a set of rules for taking a time slot. examining the map , you find room 3240 and take a few moments to memorize the path you want to take.

it doesn’t take long to get there , opening the door and finding it completely empty. you flip the lights on and walk over to the table in the center of the room. after placing your duffle bag on the floor next to one of the chairs and putting your backpack on the chair , you stretch your shoulders. you decide against putting the your brace on , assuming the soreness and discomfort will fade.

taking a seat to the left of your bags , you wait for Price to show up.

you were going to wait in silence but after two minutes of just listening to your own breathing , you can’t take it anymore. pulling your phone out and starting to scroll social media.

more time passes before you see another person , surprisingly not being Price. Gaz walks into the room , taking a glance at you and giving you a nod in greeting. you nod back as he goes to sit , focus going back to your muted phone after. you expect to sit in silence with him but he speaks up , tilting his beanie covered head to the side. “how’s ya thumb ?” you chuckle softly at the unexpected question , a small smile appearing on your face. “fine. i’ve done it a lot , so it doesn’t really hurt.” he nods with soft smile , pulling his own phone out.

a minute later , the rest of the team shows up , piling into the room. Ghost settles in the chair on the right side of you , Soap settling in front of him. you notice immediately that they all don’t have their bags , confusing you. Price goes to stand in the front of the room , at the head of the table. “okay ! we’ll be in the States tomorrow afternoon , we’re flying with civilians- ,” Soap and Gaz both groan lowly , annoyed. “i know , i know , deal with it. we’ll be in California , meeting with Mexican Special Forces ,” they all seem to perk up at that. “we’ll have more information on what we’re going to be doing once we get there. all we know is that people are being trafficked across the borders.” he looks around you all , gauging your reaction in particular. “alright ! let’s go , we’ve got a flight to catch.”

you all get up , Ghost making it to the door first and holding it open for you all. you’re the last out , muting a small ‘sorry’ to Ghost as you pass him. you barely notice it , but he narrows his eyes , mask moving in a way to indicate his eyebrows are furrowed in confusion.

you all walk down the stairs , Soap in the front of everyone and Ghost behind you all. once at the bottom , you realize why Soap , Ghost , and Price didn’t have their bags with them. they left them all at the bottom of the stairs , not wanting to lug everything up just to bring it all back down.

the walk to the front office is silent but not awkward , surprisingly.

Price walks up to the half asleep person at the desk , knocking lightly on it. he requests to get someone to drive you all to the airport and they oblige , calling a Private to drive.

the Private is obviously tired but doesn’t complain , telling you all to follow them as they grab a pair of keys and make their way out of the building.

the drive to the airport is awkward but not uncomfortable , unsurprisingly. it takes half an hour to get there , giving you all 30 minutes to get to your gate and check a bag or two.

you get to bypass TSA , getting caught by Border Protection for a moment and having to show all of your ID’s and passports to be let go. it’s annoying but you can’t dwell on it , trying to make it to the gate quick enough to have time to spare to get snacks.

unfortunately , you don’t have time to get any snacks because as soon as you approach the gate , they call for active duty members to board. you all get on , shuffling into the back of the plane. you put your duffle bag in the overhead area , taking your backpack off and putting it on the floor in front of you once you’ve sat down. you’ve got the window seat with Ghost in the seat on your left , Gaz being on his other side. Soap and Price are across the aisle , Price taking the window seat as well. you didn’t realize it , or well , consciously realize it , but Ghost changed his mask , having a typical medical face mask on now. 

you’re quick to get your blanket and neck pillow out , getting comfortable. you buckle the seat belt overtop of the blanket , securing it in place. you settle in , getting as comfortable as the small seat will let you. suddenly , you remember you brought an eye mask , pulling it out and placing it over your face.

you can hear the shuffling of the other passengers getting on , placing their bags in the overhead compartment. luckily , you didn’t have anyone sitting behind you , meaning you don’t have to worry about anyone kicking your seat or anything.

it takes seemingly forever for everybody to board. you were almost asleep when a flight attendant comes onto the speaker overhead , startling you out of your light sleep. you quickly go back to trying to sleep , resting your head back.

you expect the flight to be relatively silent and you’re correct , for the most part. once the plane started moving , Ghost decided to speak up , a chuckle in his voice. “you seriously want to play tic-tac-toe ?” you can hear the offended noise Gaz makes in reply , going to defend his honor. you try and tune them out but find it difficult , the banter between the two making it impossible.

you pull the eye mask up , letting it rest on your forehead. glancing down the aisle as you lean forward to grab a pair of headphones , you see Price in the same position as you , except he didn’t have an eye mask. which you were going to fix.

grabbing the spare eye mask you had in your bag , you hand it over to Gaz , requesting he hands it to Price. he chuckles lowly as he takes the mask , hand it off to Soap so he can give it to it’s intended owner.

Price receives the mask with a look of amusement , glancing down the aisle at you when you speak up. “i had an extra. and look ! we’re twinning now !” he accepts the mask with a smile , chuckling.

the rest of the flight is uneventful. for you. you were either listening to music or napping the whole flight. Price , on the other hand , had to wrangle the rest of the team like a group of toddlers , begging them to be silent and not play a three-way game of tic-tac-toe. he failed but it was worth a shot.

you were woken up by your blanket being shifted , waiting for a few seconds to see if it was deliberate.

it happens again , this time with an added light brush against your shoulder. raising both hands to remove your headphones and eye mask. looking to the left , you see the rest of the team standing , getting ready to leave the plane. unbuckling , you fold up your blanket quickly , storing it in your bag. your neck pillow and eye mask go next , being placed gently inside your bag. you decide to keep your headphones around your neck.

standing up and swinging your backpack on , you mutter a small ‘thank you’ to Ghost , assuming he woke you up. he doesn’t respond , doesn’t even acknowledge your thanks.

you brush that off , following the rest of the team off the plane after grabbing your bag from the overhead compartment.

you follow them to the baggage claim , waiting patiently as the bags start falling. Price and Soap finally see their bags , grabbing their suitcases and heading towards the exit.

catching up to Price , you ask a question that’s been on your mind , “where are we being picked up ?” Price pauses for a second , pulling his phone out and typing frantically. the rest of the team pauses , staring confused at Price. staring at him in astonishment for a few seconds before whipping your head around to the rest of the team. “do you guys know where we’re being picked up !?” they all shake their heads , confused.

Ghost looks over to Price , seeing him now on a phone call. he walks over , tapping him and raising an eyebrow in question. Price just hold up a finger , nodding a few more times. “alright… okay.. thank you.” he hangs up , letting out a deep sigh before addressing you all. “okay ! we have to head to the parking garage , they’re at the top.” you all nod , following Price as he wanders and tries to find the exit.

it takes way too long to find the garage.

30 minutes later , and you’re finally in the elevator in the parking garage , rising to the top floor.

once out of the elevator , you see a single car.

“ya think that’s them ?” slowly , you turn your head to Soap and stare. he stares back , a cheeky smile on his face. walking away and towards the car , you hear him cackling , making an amused smile appear on your face.

you all make it to the car fairly quickly , throwing everything in the trunk. opening the back door , you realize that everyone won’t fit unless people pile up.

sliding in quickly , you settle into the middle seat , muttering a small greeting to the two men in the front and passenger seat. Gaz is the next to realize the problem , whispering a small ‘fuck’ when he sees you in the middle.

the rest of the team is annoyed. you’re happy.

Ghost has Price on his lap , arms wrapped lightly around his waist. Price has his arms crossed , thoroughly annoyed. Gaz and Soap aren’t in a better position , Gaz sitting on Soaps lap. you can’t look at any of them without giggling , getting a kick out of seeing a fully grown man sitting in another fully grown man’s lap. 

after 30 minutes , Price speaks up , introducing the two in the front seats. pointing to the man in the passenger seat , “Colonel Alejandro Vargas. and-” pointing to the man in the driver seat , “-Sergeant Major Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Parra.” you nod sharply , murmuring. “sirs.” they both side eye each other hearing that , not expecting the professionalism. Price then points to you , introducing you to the men. “Corporal Y/N L/N.”

you all make it to the new base relatively quickly , only taking an hour and a half.

getting out last , you make your way to the trunk , only to be stopped by the Colonel. “don’t worry about that , we’ll have someone bring your stuff to your barracks.” you nod hesitantly.

following after the team , you’re brought into a meeting room , surprisingly empty. you all sit down around the table , Colonel Vargas standing at the head. you focus your attention on him , not noticing that Ghost had changed his mask to a plain black balaclava. “alright ! you each have a file in front of you , read it.” you want to laugh at the blunt tone , but hold back , reaching forward to grab the file.

you flip it open , the first couple pages being everyone’s personal file , not containing many redactions. you skip them all , not particularly caring for their private information.

after reading everything , you feel disgusted , forcing you to take a moment to breathe before putting the file down. you were the first to finish reading , now just silently waiting. taking a look around , you notice the board behind the Colonel , being filled with pictures and random maps. you study the board , eyes catching on someone who looked familiar.

the Colonel speaks up after seeing all the files back on the table , “alright-!” he claps sharply , demanding attention. “-i’ll have Rudy show you to your barracks. sleep , and we’ll pick this up tomorrow morning.” you stand after seeing the rest of the team rise , following Rudy.

he leads you all to your barracks. a single room with three bunk beds pushed against the left wall. the right wall has three fairly big wardrobes , six drawers on each. you see all of your bags in the middle of the room , being placed randomly.

giving Rudy an appreciative nod as you pass him while entering , you beeline for the bags. grabbing both of yours , you bring them over to one of the wardrobes. “kid , what bed do you want ?” looking over to Price , you just shrug. “i don’t care.” he nods at your unhelpful answer , addressing the rest of the team. “Soap , top or bottom ?”

“sir ! that is a very personal question-!”

“MacTavish !” he sounds exasperated. 

you break into giggles , trying to stifle them as you search for some night clothes.

they get the bed situation dealt with , Ghost and Gaz on one bunk bed , and Soap and you on the other. Price obviously gets his own bunk bed. you and Ghost both take the bottom bunks respectively.

finding your clothes , you pull your shirt off swiftly , confused by the shocked gasps behind you. tossing a glance over your shoulder , you see them all with their hands covering their eyes , looking away.

you’re pulling the new shirt on as Price speaks , “christ , kid ! a warning next time !” you’re even more confused. this is the military , they 100 percent had to change in front of other before , you don’t understand why they’re being like this. taking off your shoes as you question him “what.. are you not- have you never-” you take a moment to collect your thoughts before speaking again. “has no one ever changed in front of you ?” pulling down your pants and underwear , you quickly replaced your underwear. his gasp sounds almost offended , “shut it and finish changing , Corporal !” he sounds exasperated.

you’re heart jumps.

right. this is your Captain.

you go on autopilot , pulling on your sweatpants and quickly pulling your socks off.

you stuff your clothes in your bag , mumbling a quiet ‘done.’ as you walk past them and to your bunk. laying down , you get comfortable , pulling the blanket over you and clasping your hands over your stomach. you slowly fall into a dreamless sleep , oblivious to the concerned glances the team sends you.

you awake abruptly , taking a moment to examine your surroundings.

your breathing calms as you see the team asleep.

swinging your legs over the bed , you stand quietly. tip-toeing over to your bags , you rummaging around as silent as you can , finding your pack of cigarettes and your lighter. turning around , you’re startled as you find Ghost standing behind you. you make an embarrassing sound , a mixture between a squeak and a yelp. covering your mouth , “what the fuck ! you scared the shit outta me !” you’re whisper yelling , glancing at the rest of the team , worried they’d wake up.

“you goin’ ta smoke ?”

you nod.

“can i come ?”

you nod again , this time more hesitantly.

you both pull your boots on , not bothering with socks.

you take one last glance at the team before following Ghost as he leads you outside.

you’re on the roof , overlooking the whole base. you sit with Ghost , leaning against the wall guarding the edge of the roof. pulling out your pack , you take out two cigarettes and hand one to Ghost. you avert your eyes as he lifts his mask , placing the cigarette between his lips. taking out your red lighter , you hand it to Ghost first , lighting your cigarette after he hands it back.

you sit in silence for a few minutes , just enjoying the fresh air.

“why don’t you look at me ? when i don’t have my mask on.”

you almost whip your head towards him , aborting at the last minute. you shrug , not having an answer to the sudden question.

he lets the words sit , waiting for your answer.

you eventually give it up , finding the words to articulate it perfectly.

“i guess i wanna respect your privacy. i mean , you wear the mask for a reason obviously , and i want to respect that.” you shrug again as you speak , not knowing if he would take your answer.

he’s silent for a few moments before seemingly deciding something. he grabs his mask from the top , pulling it off swiftly. you whip your head to the other side , “sir-!” he laughs. genuinely laughs at you and your reaction. “aw c’mon , kid. you think i’m ugly ?” he’s very obviously teasing you now.

“fuck off !”

all he does is laugh again , placing his hand on your head and lightly shaking you. you swat his hand away , turning towards him with a playful glare.

you take in his looks , quickly cataloging everything. his hair is light , almost a white blonde color , his eyelashes and eyebrows being the same color. you see the scars , some more severe than others. it looks like someone tried to cut open the edges of his mouth , unsuccessfully. only the left side of his mouth is wider , but not by much , the scaring still going almost to his ears on both sides. you see the scar that goes cleanly through his right eyebrow , the scar tissue causing only some of the eyebrow to grow back. his crooked and hooked nose. the part of his left ear lobe missing. the few moles that speckle his face , making a constellation , unlike any you’ve ever seen.

he’s beautiful , respectfully.

rolling your eyes , you turn away , taking a drag from your cigarette. “you’re full of yourself.” reasonably so. he just laughs again , shaking his head lightly.

you both finish your cigarettes relatively quickly , stubbing them out.

you both make it back to the barracks silently , making sure not to wake the team as you enter. you take your boots off quickly , stashing your cigarettes away and going back to your bed. you flop down softly , getting comfortable and falling back into a dreamless sleep.

——————————

i love unreliable narrators ^-^

this took so long because i had no idea what to write because i don’t have a ‘big bad’ for them to fight other than Markov

okay if you don’t wanna hear me yap about my thoughts on this chapter , please skip this , it’s just gonna be me explaining why reader is acting the way they are and my thought process behind it

so i feel like people may question the whole getting changed in front of the team with no regard for their own privacy and the reason i did this is because in basic training , you share barracks with like 20 other people , you have no privacy and any privacy you do have isn’t real. reader does understand that in non military settings , you don’t just get changed in front of people , but in military settings , they don’t see the problem , it was normalized for them during basic and they trust the team not to be weird.

i don’t know if i really like how Ghost reveals his face to reader , i don’t know if it seems realistic but i wanted to show reader respecting his privacy and the fact he doesn’t show his face willingly , like with them looking away while smoking or not staring at him on the plane , those times he really didn’t have a choice but to show parts of his face , and yeah he can not smoke with reader but plot yknow

okay so the military is like really fucked , the way they train soldiers is borderline torture , they ‘break’ the persons minds just to rebuild it to be submissive to those above them and i wanted to show that a bit and how that has affected reader and how their relationships with higher ups will be like / have been like.

they automatically shut down once hearing their rank , an immediate reminder that they are inherently below Price and the rest of the team. now Price DID NOT mean it like that , he was just joking in the way he would with other members of the team but because reader is still so new , they don’t know and understand the dynamics and the power dynamics especially.

you were bored. you weren’t allowed to use any social media , not even youtube , so you had no ways to entertain yourself. you couldn’t even talk to your friends ! all messages got rerouted.

you hadn’t talked to mom in over a week now , not even a single text. she probably expects you to contact her first but you wouldn’t. she hurt you. a lot. you need to process everything before even seeing her again , otherwise you’d have a whole meltdown. every time you even think about her , you have an urge to hurt something. it terrifies you , you don’t want to hurt your mom , but you get an overwhelming urge to whenever you think of what happened.

it makes it more difficult to process things , so you haven’t been. just pushing everything to the back of you mind. it’s worked , for the most part. your mind is calm enough and you don’t want to hurt anyone else , so you call that a win.

the team is still making you eat with them , mostly in Price’s office but sometimes in the mess hall. it’s tedious ; they want a conversation you refuse to give. you barely talk unless you were insulting someone , just muttering when you need to.

you can tell it unsettles them , tempting you to continue. you can see how their insecurities take over when you look them up and down, silently debating whether you should answer. and at this point , it’s become your entertainment. fucking with the team has become something you look forward to.

like now , you opened the door to see Price standing awkwardly. after a glance towards his face , you start at his feet , silently judging the worn-out boots he’s wearing. you work your way up , now judging his unironed pants and shirt. his pants aren’t even cuffed , nor is his shirt tucked all the way in. when you finally meet his eyes , you can see how narrowed they are , causing you to smile slightly. studying him , you can see the tightness in his jaw , the slight clenching of his fists around your lunch bags , the way he tries to make himself look bigger than he is.

you close the door behind you , now face to face with him. “do you ever wear your uniform within regs ?” his eye twitches. you smile.

he starts walking and so you follow , snickering softly.

you make it to his office within a few minutes. Price hands you your food a few feet away from the door before turning , his back towards you. you could run if you wanted to , you have your food and he’s in front of you , you’d get a head start.

your halfway down the hall by the time he turns around. “goddammit !” he’s quick to follow , running after you. you can’t contain your giggles as you sprint.

laughing up a storm , you turn a corner , catching a glance of the team chasing you.

you take turns randomly , trying to lose them. and you do ! after about 20 turns and standing silently behind corners when they came too close.

you don’t hear any steps behind you anymore as you throw open a door , being greeted with the outside world. you look around for a moment , finding a decently large tree. jogging over to it , you take a seat against the trunk. you eat your lunch in silence , passively listening to a drill sergeant yell at recruits. you decide to eat your snacks this time , not caring to save them.

unfortunately , as you’re finishing eating your Pop-Tart , you hear footsteps. groaning , you look left , coming face to knees with Garrick. “hey , kid. mind if i sit ?” he surprisingly waits for your answer. you shake your head slightly , so he sits on your left. you stare at him for a moment , assessing him. he looks calm , not in a rush. he hasn’t pulled out a phone to contact the others yet, maybe he did it before walking up to you. he’s not looking at you , just gazing ahead at nothing.

you finish the last bite of your pop-tart , wiping your hands off on your sweatpants after. you both sit in silence for a few minutes before he finally speaks up. “why’d you run ?” you just shrug , not really having a good reason.

“you don’t know ?” you nod your head in agreement.

silence blankets the space for a moment. “do you wanna hang out in my office ? i have a switch i’m willing to let you borrow.” now that gets you attention. looking over at him with your eyebrows raised , you purse your lips , studying him. he looks truthful , an earnest look in his eyes. you nod slowly , standing when he does.

Garrick goes to put a hand on your shoulder to lead you , but stops short , remembering you jerking out of his touch last time with a fearful look in your eyes. you trail behind him slowly , following him to his room.

he walks in , leaving the door open in a silent invitation. you don’t follow him in , leaning against the wall opposite his door. he’s back out in 30 seconds , a Nintendo switch and charger in hand.

he takes the lead again so you trail behind him , slowly. you don’t see anyone as you walk to his office , maybe he didn’t tell the rest of the team. his office is pretty similar to Price’s , the only difference being Garrick’s couch is on the right side of the room , behind his desk. you walk in after him , slowly walking to the couch. he sits at his desk after putting the switch and charger down on the couch.

you sit hesitantly , wincing when the couch creaks. he doesn’t react , just organizing the papers on his desk. you reach for the switch slowly , expecting him to take it back. or give you some type of ultimatum before you could use it. 

he doesn’t. he doesn’t even turn around. so you turn the switch on. you quickly turn the volume down once it’s on , not wanting to bother Garrick with the audio. you look through his games for a little , finding a few you like.

now what game do you play: Stardew Valley or Hades… hmm decisions , decisions. 

you decide to play Hades , not wanting to risk ruining his Stardew Valley save.

you reach a flow state , button mashing to take enemies out. on your first run , you reach Elysium before dying ; it only upsets you slightly , you had really good boons!

you play mindlessly for a few hours , ignoring the clacks from Garricks laptop.

at around 3:45PM , the door opens , revealing Mactavish. “we still haven’t found the kid-” he goes silent , focusing his attention on your form curled up on the couch , switch in hand. you glance up at him , meeting his eyes.

“Gaz.” he’s still looking at you.

“hmm ?” Garrick doesn’t look up , continuing to clack away.

“why is the kid in here ?” Mactavish pulls his eye away from you , now gazing at Garrick.

“i found them.” he finally looks up , staring at Mactavish.

Mactavish sighs , opening and closing his mouth a few times. “why didnea ya tell anyone ?! i’ve been lookin’ ‘round for hours !” your lips quirk up in a slight smile. Garrick didn’t tell anyone where you were !

Garrick just shrugs , going back to typing away. Mactavish lets out a frustrated sigh , walking into the room and closing the door. he sits in the chair in front of Garrick , waiting for an answer.

“felt like they could use some alone time.” Garrick shrugs again , not looking up.

“well , Price and Ghost are still lookin’ for ‘em , so i do have to tell them that the kid’s in here.” your eyes may not be on them anymore , but you are paying attention.

you stiffen up involuntarily when he mentions the other two , scared of their reactions. you made them all run around like headless chickens for hours ! they’re going to be mad , at least a little. and that worries you , you haven’t seen the team mad yet , and especially not directed towards you.

you’re shaking by the time Mactavish pulls his phone out , calling somebody.

“hey…” he pauses for a moment , “yea me and Garrick found the kid , they’re in his office now.” you’ve curled up tighter , trying to mask the shaking. “he found ‘em a few minutes ago , followed ‘em both to his office.” what… the shaking slowly stops.

your confused. he didn’t follow you. “alright , we’ll stay put.” he hangs up , putting the phone down.

why did he lie ? what does he gain from it ? does he want you to owe him or something ?

“they’ll be here soon , better get ya stories straight.” he rises out of the chair , walking over to the couch and sitting on the left side. you glance up at him , assessing him. he looks mildly annoyed but not upset. he’s pretty relaxed , leaning back against the arm of the couch.

“why’d ya run ?” you shrug , not having a good reason.

he shakes his head , “not gonna work , why’d ya run ?” 

you just shrug again. he doesn’t speak again , just waiting.

“bored…” you whisper , curling in on yourself slightly.

“you were bored ?” he asks incredulously , staring in amusement. Garrick chuckles softly , shaking his head. you nod in response.

you turn the switch off , placing in gently in front of you. a few minutes go by , completely silent.

the door opens , startling you. Ghost walk in first , Price directly behind him. the room is silent for a few minutes , Price leaning against the door , pinching his nose bridge.

“where were you ?” is the first thing out of Price’s mouth.

“outside.” he stares in disbelief.

“outside ?” you nod.

Garrick chuckles softly , remembering Price telling them to check all the meeting rooms and the insides of all the buildings.

Price just nods , “and why did you run ?”

Mactavish speaks up this time , answering for you. “ah , well the kid was bored.” he has a cheeky slime on his face as he talks.

“you were bored ?” this time Ghost speaks, a chuckle in his voice. you just nod.

Price just groans , “did you at least eat ?” you nod quickly.

Price sighs , thinking for a moment before speaking , “do you wanna stay in here ?” you nod hesitantly , whispering a quiet ‘yea’. he nods , looking over towards Garrick and speaking to him , “are you good with that ?”

Garrick nods , “yeah , that fine Cap’n,”

everyone slowly trails out of the room after a few minutes , leaving you and Garrick. you stare at him for a little while , waiting to see if he’d address you.

he doesn’t. he just goes back to typing away on his laptop.

you slowly pick the switch back up , turning it on. you continue to play Hades for a few more hours , only having to stop when dinner time came.

you and Garrick filed out of his office , now on the way to the mess hall. you didn’t want to eat there but you had no say so you just dealt with it. when you walk in , you scan the room , looking to see if you could find any of the team. you couldn’t.

Garrick leans over towards you , pointing in the direction of the table. “go sit with the team , i’ll get your dinner.” you only nod in response.

you take your time getting to the table , messing with your phone as you walk. you take the empty seat on Ghost’s right , making sure to keep your distance. you pull your legs up onto the seat , wrapping your arms around them and resting your head on you knees. you can see Price glance at you from the corner of your eye but pay no attention to him. instead , you focus on Garrick , watching him in line as he gets your food.

he doesn’t take long , only a few minutes. you do see him get into a small argument with the guy serving the food. you don’t know what it was about but it looked like he didn’t want to give him the extra food , refusing until Garrick pointed towards you and explained who it was for.

Garrick comes back over annoyed. he doesn’t show it but you can see it in the clenching of his jaw and the tightness of his eyes. he places your tray down gently , sitting in front of you.

you unwrap you arms , folding your legs to sit crisscross. you don’t look at anyone as you eat , just silently shoveling food into your mouth. you half heartedly listen to them talk , not really paying attention. you only look up when you hear that you’re being talked about.

“Captain , they aren’t a soldier , of course this shits boring to them-” is Mactavish trying to be helpful ?

“well , what do you suggest i do !?” ..asshole. he’s not mad , more so annoyed but still. asshole.

“if you didnea interrupt me i would have gotten to that! i say we let them choose what to do , who to be around. i mean , i know they’ve tried to take off with me before , and i’m guessing they’ve tired with you all. we just saw them take off and succeed. ” he gets a begrudging nod from Price. Garrick and Ghost also nod , more willing to admit it.

Price speaks up before Mactavish can continue , addressing you. “and what do you think of this ?” you look over at him , wide eyed and unblinking. looking around the team , you see them all staring at you , awaiting your input. “i’d rather be near Garrick.” you see Garrick’s smug look out of the corner of your eye , smirking at Mactavish.

“is it because of the switch ? because i have one too !” you look over towards Mactavish with a playful smile on your face , not confirming nor denying. Price just rolls his eyes , going back to eating.

you’re silent for the rest of dinner , unsurprisingly. you finish eating first , waiting for someone else to finish. and to your dismay , mr. Edge Lord is the second person to finish , having not spent most of his time talking. he picks up both trays before standing , prompting you to stand as well. you don’t follow him to put the trays away , instead walking out of the mess hall and waiting. Ghost walks out a minute later , seemingly searching for you.

he finds you immediately once the door closes.

Ghost walks over , speaking as he does. “not gonna run this time ?” the question seems to be rhetorical but you answer anyway. “nah , i don’t remember the way back.” he chuckles at that , motioning for you to follow him.

you trail behind him , never straying too far. you make sure to try and memorize the path , writing down the turns you took in your notes app.

when you finally make it to your room , Ghost doesn’t leave immediately , instead he speaks up. “i have an XBOX i’m willin’ to set up in the common room if ya want.”

..he’s bribing you.

and it’s working.

you stare at him with slightly narrowed eyes before nodding slowly. you can’t see it but he’s smiling , happy you accepted his offer. he walks away after that , no more words being shared.

you step into your room smiling for once , finally being granted some autonomy.

———————————

taglist: @forsakenfrogmaster (please dm to be added to the taglist ^-^)