Skulls and Scars

The Walls have Ears.

Mr. Price has put me on the bench for the past couple of days, claiming that I needed to "cool off" from the cabin incident. It was clear that he was worried about me, since I was the daughter of the man that he saw going haywire in this line of work. I couldn't blame him, but I also wasn't there on vacation. I wanted to work.
I tried to keep myself busy, training with the Vaqueros and helping with the comms and intel. But on most times, I had nothing else to do, so I was blasting music through my earbuds to avoid intrusive thoughts.

Ghost barely spent the nights with me; he was constantly helping the Team with the mission. Not that he didn't try, though... But I was content by only cuddling with him when he was getting some rest. Mr. Price didn't have any objections to that; to him I was still "recovering from trauma".

The cartel had connections with terrorists, a man named Hassan. According to the recent intel, he was using the cartel for smuggling purposes, especially firepower resources, and it was enough weaponry to start a civil war.
We got immediately relocated, having to deploy in Baltimore, Maryland.... We were about to fly to United States.

We said our quick goodbyes to Alejandro, Rodolfo and the Vaqueros. During the flight, I was playing with a butterfly knife that Alejandro bought me as a gift. Ghost was staring at me, intrigued, but I knew that he wouldn't say a word while in front of everybody.

Once we landed, we've got welcomed by an American Commander. Behind him it had a big team of tactical soldiers fully dressed in pure black. He seemed proud of himself, displaying all these soldiers. Intimidation tactic, maybe? He walked towards Mr. Price with an arrogant grin.

- Captain Price, it's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Commander Phillip Graves; welcome to America!

- Nice to meet ya, Commander! - Mr. Price promptly saluted him and then they've shaken hands. - Let's get to work as fast as possible, yes?

- Of course, why not? And I would like to meet the rest of your Team, if you don't mind.

- Oh, surely! - Mr. Price laughed. - The one with the mohawk is Sargeant "Soap" MacTavish, our Scottish demolition expert.

Johnny saluted Graves and let out a downward smile. Graves smiled back, feeling confident on Johnny's demeanor. 

- Our airborne expert, Sargeant "Gaz" Garrick! 

Gaz was oddly quiet, saluting Graves and maintaining a somber demeanor. Graves reciprocated, but I sensed that he disliked him. I glanced at Gaz; our eyes met. I was right. He had a bad feeling about Graves.

- Here's a fellow patriot of yours; Sargeant Russ! Our tactical comms and technology expert!

- Oh, that's nice! - Graves opened a big smile. - Welcome back home, Sargeant!

- Thank you very much, Commander! - Keegan saluted Graves and got reciprocated, followed by a "bro" hug.

- Here's our Lieutenant, "Ghost"! - Mr. Price proudly pointed at Ghost.

Ghost's presence was naturally menacing; the soldiers were all following his movements with their heads. He was wearing the scary skull piece, and an uncomfortable silence has made its presence. Graves hesitantly walked towards him, and the size difference between the two were immediately noticed. Mr. Price was secretly proud of that situation.

- Oh, so you're the famous "Ghost"... Welcome to America, Lieutenant.

- ...Thank you, Commander.

Ghost didn't salute Graves, the power difference between them were obvious despite their ranks. The soldiers were whispering among themselves, wondering what just happened. Graves snapped out of the weird intimidating trance and finally turned his head back towards Mr. Price.