"I'll see you later," you had quickly excused yourself, scurrying out of the room.
Ghost sat, practically dumbfounded on his bed. The only thing reminding him this interaction had indeed occurred was the steady throb resonating from his freshly bandaged wound. The one you had just tended to, once again.
He snapped himself out of the daze he'd been in as he'd stared at the door click, listening to your footsteps immediately exit away from his room after a moment.
Your touch was gentle. Undeniably gentle.
Ghost found himself relishing in it, much to his dismay.
His fingers traced up to his mask, slightly damp from the wipe you had used to clean blood splatters from.
It intrigued him.
His arm fell back from his mask to his thighs, laying limp in his lap.
As much as he disliked it, he was growing used to these types of interactions between the two of you. Soft, and frustratingly fleeting.
He desperately wanted to reach out and grab you, hold you in his arms. Temptation etching at his very core. Pooling in his stomach, threatening to overfill.
—
Ghost snapped himself out of the memory, wrenching his tired eyes open.
The steady pitter-patter of water hitting his body from the showerhead woke him. The droplets streaming down in groups, before eventually falling into the drain below.
Ghost sighed, rubbing his eyes with one hand before stopping at the bridge of his nose.
Annoyedly, he flicked the faucet off, dragged open the shower curtain, and stepped out as the water peeled off of him, landing at his feet.
His hand grasped his mask, still seated at the edge of the bathroom counter, and he tugged it over his head, ignoring how his wet hair now clung to his scalp. Uncomfortable, but nothing he couldn't handle.
Internally Ghost scolded himself. Falling asleep in the shower was low, even for him.
How long has it been since he'd been able to sleep peacefully? Even get close to getting more than 4 hours of sleep? Much less not be bombarded by memories of you.
A sigh left Ghost's lips as he grabbed some clean civilian clothes, attempting to fight off the shiver nibbling at his flesh, freezing his dog tags to his chest. He pulled them on, his wet skin clinging to the fabric, catching on parts of his body before he settled them down.
Ghost sat himself on his bed, feeling the twitch of his already weary muscles relax. His hands busied themselves with a pocket knife, tucked back behind his nightstand lamp. Flipping it back and forth as he thought. The continuous noise helped him to keep his focus.
First things first, he needed to get into contact with Fox. Price had set them up with the Informant, so naturally Ghost needed to pay him a visit.
After that, he would arrange a meeting with Fox and his colleague on base.
Ghost sighed, setting his pocket knife back into its spot. He stood from the bed, the mattress rising from the absence of his weight. His eyes dragged over to the door, his arm found itself at the back of his neck as he cracked it.
Price was most definitely going to rag on him. He kept a careful protective eye on his squad. While Ghost knew it was for his own well-being, it didn't make it any less tedious. Ghost could take care of himself. He always had.
Regardless, Price had good intentions. And was more than likely, usually right.
Ghost arrived at Price's temporary office, knocking once, before letting himself in as Price barked that it was open.
"Ghost."
"Captain."
Price ruffled through a few papers on his desk. He looked tired, as usual. Though a heavy set exhaustion now clearly weighed on his shoulders. This whole ordeal with Shepherd had him wound tight. Tighter than Ghost had ever seen him.
Price was in his simple clothing, camo cargo pants, tight-fitting olive-green shirt with black military boots to go along with it.
Ghost took a seat at one of the chairs placed in front of the desk, settling up straight.
"Somethin' on your mind?" Price asked bluntly, as he looked up from the stack of information.
"Fox's contact information."
Price nodded in acknowledgement, as he pursed his lips. Immediately rifling through a few drawers.
After a few moments of silence as Price searched, he spoke, "Anythin' else on your mind, Ghost?"
Ghost stayed silent.
Price looked up at Ghost, attempting to study his reaction. Simultaneously, he pulled out a clearly used sticky note and sat it on top of his desk, but paid it no mind.
His eyes searched Ghost's. "You got burned, hm?"
Ghost, who had been avoiding eye contact by focusing on the note, met Prices'.
Price sighed, "Distancin' yourself from her isn't the answer, son."
Ghost's gaze hardened, "No-"
"You know that. So tell me, Ghost, what's really been goin' on?"
Ghost stayed silent for a moment, his jaw clenching as he thought of a response. What was going on?
"Nothin', sir." Nothing. Nothing was. Ghost wasn't burned. He was fine. It wasn't something for Price to be concerned about. He wasn't a liability.
Price now stayed silent.
"I take care of all of my men. You, Ghost, are not an exception." Ghost kept quiet as Price stared him down, stubbornness overflowing from his figure.
"I can take care of myself, sir."
"Taking care of yourself isn't pushing things away, Simon." Ghost flinched at the name, as anger began to rise in his chest. Price noticed.
He grit his teeth, "I am fine. Let me get back to my job.", Ghost spat out, "sir", after a moment. His fists were clenched into themselves, as his cold gaze was level with Price's.
Price pushed once more, "I ought to be informed of anythin' that could potentially jeopardize this mission," Price paused his voice dangerously low, eyes flicking down to the note on his desk before returning to Ghost's eyes, "Are you broken?"
"No."
Price's gaze softened, knowing this was not the truth. Ghost was stubborn, and hellbent on destroying anything in and around him.
"'M here, son. Anytime." Price unstuck the note from the desk, and plopped it in front of Ghost, sticking it at just the edge of his wooden desk. He settled back, taking a quick glance at his watch. "I won't keep you any longer."
Ghost grabbed the note and stood from his seat, feeling the Captain's eyes follow him. He quickly made it to the door and shut it tight behind him, listening to it click, before walking away.
Ghost had practically bolted from Price's office, tail tucked between his legs. Like a coward. No–He was one.
Ghost scowled, brushing his thoughts away.
He brought the note up and studied the information, keeping one of his gloved hands in his hoodie pocket.
A simple phone number had been hastily scratched onto the yellow paper.
Ghost now sat in a cafe, studying his phone, a steaming cup of tea sat in front of him.
He had managed to contact Fox, who had agreed to meet, though, had requested to be escorted to the base.
Civilians bustled about the cafe, with employees taking orders and serving others. It was busy, as it was still rather early, many stopping by to grab a cup of coffee before heading out to work.
It was rather noisy as people chatted, and yelled orders to each other, and the slamming of cabinets and other such noises filled his ears.
He was painfully aware of his surroundings. So much so, he was fairly positive the person sitting behind him was most definitely not having a good day.
A buzz from his phone brought his attention back to the screen.
He read the text message. 'Right outside.'
Ghost's head turned, quickly picking up on the somewhat familiar man, next to an unfamiliar one. He'd only seen Fox through the scope of his sniper, and at several yards while resting on top of a roof.
Ghost stood from the table he was at, picking up his plastic cup of tea.
He felt the warmth flood his fingers through his gloves as he pushed through the swinging doors of the cafe. He settled into full height, and once outside, Ghost was met with brisk air immediately flooding his lungs. He stuffed his phone into his pocket, where his car keys already sat, and approached the two men.
Fox, while rather tall, still had to look up to meet Ghost's gaze. The other man had to do the same. Fox looked slightly nervous, his body language giving him away. The other, hidden behind a dark hood, only shuffled his feet a bit.
Ghost's eyes dragged along their figures, surveying them.
Fox was dressed in a long trench coat with a bag at his side, clearly stuffed. Most likely full of information.
His companion was dressed in clothes similar to Ghost's, clearly bundling their identity. This piqued Ghost's interest.
Once satisfied, Ghost spoke, "Fox."
The man physically stiffened, "Ghost, I presume?". Fox glanced over to his companion, as he spoke.
Ghost grunted "Affirmative," before turning away after a moment. He headed towards the Jeep, parked nearby in the parking lot of the cafe.
He unlocked it with a click of the keys residing in his hoodie pocket, and opened the door. Fox trailed along behind him, shakily opening up the passenger seat door and climbing inside. His companion doing the same with the backseat.
Ghost climbed inside, slamming his door behind him, and starting the car. Once he heard Fox's door shut he put the keys into the ignition and started the car. Not before placing his cup of tea into a cupholder.
The Jeep roared as the engine shook.
Ghost pressed his hand onto the back of the seat next to him, looking behind him as he reversed out of the spot, before switching gears and plowing ahead.
Keeping one hand on the wheel, Ghost grabbed a black piece of cloth from the middle console, dropping it into Fox's lap. He snatched another one, tossing it back to the other person in the back.
"Put these on," he commanded gruffly.
The two did as they were told, with Ghost checking the mirror just in case.
It was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, he considered this being nice, he would have preferred to knock them out. Ghost tended to be on the paranoid side of things.
The drive was relatively long, with his two passengers keeping quiet.
Once he got through the gate and into the covered garage, he directed the two men to take off their blindfolds.
Immediately, they wrestled with the fabric, and handed it back to Ghost, who only shoved it in his pocket.
He took the keys from the ignition, his tea, and silently exited the vehicle, the other two doing the same.
Ghost said nothing as he began walking from the garage, the men behind him quickly picking up on this and following. His footsteps were quiet, military boots softly padding against the concrete before meeting the outside cold.
Their breaths came out in white clouds as Ghost led them to the meeting room, the same one he had exited prior that morning.
Ghost motioned to the chairs spread around the long center table.The two sat down, but Ghost stayed standing, looming in the corner of the room.
Several moments of silence.
Fox simply sat, leg slightly jostling as he held the case next to him with a white knuckle grip. His companion sat motionless, unsurprisingly judging by their typical attitude this far. Though, ironically enough, Ghost was curious to what they were hiding behind that hood.
Not too long after entering the room, despite it feeling like an eternity, as the clock ticked slowly on the wall, Laswell entered.
She quickly nodded towards Ghost, indicating he was dismissed, not before giving him a curious look for the cup of tea he was holding.
Ghost wasn't worried, Laswell could handle herself. According to Price she was a sight to behold when she was still active on the field.
Ghost left the room, clicking it closed behind him.
Now with his task accomplished, that left Ghost to be alone with his thoughts. Much to his dismay.
He needed a distraction. Something to keep his mind off things.
While he'd gotten relatively good at keeping things at bay, as of recent, that'd proven difficult.
He could go to the gym? He grimaced at the thought of interacting with Privates. Though they mostly left him alone.
Ghost began walking aimlessly in the direction of his room, still trying to decide. He couldn't avoid thinking forever. Though, he would certainly try.
He clenched his jaw, the urge to smoke lingering at his fingertips.
It'd been a while. While he had attempted to quit several times, he never could completely let go of the habit. It calmed his nerves, clearing his mind.
Perhaps that's just what he needed.
Reaching his room, he went inside, momentarily lavishing in the warmth of the room compared to the outside chill, and set his cup on the table. He then went and grabbed a spare pack of cigarettes he always kept, and a lighter.
He went back outside, leaning against the wall outside of his room and shoving his mask up to his nose.
Plucking one of the cigarettes from the pack and tucked one in his mouth before stuffing the box into his jacket. He cradled the lighter, flicking it as it lit and died a few times.
Finally, the flame caught, burning the end of the cigarette a bright warm glow, before diminishing, leaving smoke to plume away as the wind blew.
His hands kept busy with the lighter, flicking it on and off.
Ghost stared out at his surroundings, mainly at the trees bordering the base.
He listened as a bit of snow melted and fell, dripping onto the pavement below. It wouldn't be long before it would freeze again, and another layer would take its place.
He sighed, smoke pluming from his mouth.
His thoughts swirled, but quieted.
You would be back on base again soon. Closer than you had been these past few weeks.
Ghost felt conflicted, his chest weighing heavy on his body. He wanted to see you. But he couldn't. Why?
Ghost had no answer.
But Simon did.
The sour truth he tried to ignore, even physically pushing it to the side, was that he was scared. Simon Riley was scared.
Ghost wasn't, though. He couldn't be. He had crawled out of that grave, leaving any of those feelings behind.
The cracks, splintering along his mask grew, in depth and number.
—
True to what Price had said, the rest of 141 arrived promptly, and the three of them went to meet them on the Tarmac.
Gaz and several other operators filed out, with Gaz immediately b-lining towards Price.
Price clapped his hand onto Gaz's back, "Good to see you, son."
Gaz replied, a tight smile forming on his face, "Likewise, sir."
Price looked back to Ghost and Soap, giving them a look. Immediately, the two understood.
It was almost time.