Worth Fighting For

Chapter 1

Chief Kate Laswell lays a rather thin folder on the table in front of Captain Price with confidence. "We need an outsider, John," she states. "Someone who has never worked with Shepherd or Graves. Someone who has no idea what's just happened with a fresh mind and clear heart coming into this, but also someone with experience. I found that someone." Price opens the folder and starts skimming over the few papers in it.
"Rylee Davis," Kate begins as Price continues to peruse the pages. "She's known as Smoke."
"'Smoke?'" Price repeats around the cigar between his lips, keeping his eyes on the page he's reading.
A small grin appears on Laswell's face. "Because when you see her—if you see her—it's already too late. The fire has already been lit and whatever it was lit under has already gone up in flames."
This causes the captain to look up from the paper his eyes had been glued to and copy Kate's grin. "I like it."
"Those were the exact words from the man who helped train her," Laswell shares cautiously as she knows this will catch Price's attention.
"She's a mercenary. A hired gun," he says, which is followed by a stiff pause in their conversation. "Do you think that's a good idea, Kate?"
Laswell knew he would question this, which is why she already has an argument prepared. "I do, and I have reasons as to why I think it is a good idea. She's not military personnel which means two things; she should be easier to teach and mold and she doesn't need any official signatures, green lights, or special permissions to do anything, both of which I think are advantages. She's never been involved with Shepherd or Graves, she's a stealth operator, and she has particular skills that might be good to have working for us you would never know she has unless you read her file."
"I haven't gotten to that part yet," the captain retorts. His passive, non-argumentative reply gives Laswell hope. If Price were against it, he would've let her know in this moment, but he says no opposing words.
Laswell fills Captain Price's coffee cup silently and sits down with her own across from him while giving him more time to read through her file. She's sure in herself—sure in her idea. A mercenary, especially one who has no ties to the military, gives them a leg-up, she thinks. Having this mercenary on their team would provide opportunities they may not have access to without her, good opportunities. The team needs all the advantages they can get for a successful mission.
"And what do you mean, he 'helped' train her?" Price asks, one eyebrow cocked up. "Did he train her or not?"
"The way he explained it leads me to believe she's basically self-made, they just crossed paths at the right time and he helped her hone her skills down to almost perfection," she replies. Nobody's perfect, Laswell and Captain Price are both very aware of that, but she does sound like she's good and that's what they're after.
Captain Price draws and expels a large breath. Not a sigh of exasperation, per se, but a knowing one. "Killed one American hillbilly to replace him with another," he says with a smile. "You're probably right, we do need her. It's just hard to trust anyone."
"I know, but we do need her, John."
Price snuffs out what tiny piece is left of the cigar he's been working on and places his hat back upon his head. "Call her in. Let me know what needs to happen from there."
Kate nods her head at the captain as he walks out of her room, leaving her to establish contact with their prospective team member.

There's a knock at Price's bedroom (makeshift office) door, to which he responds to with a quiet, "Come in." He can tell it's Kate; she has the lightest steps of everyone in Alejandro's base and the tiniest, rapid knocks.
"Got our girl," Laswell gleams. "Nikolai will fly her in tonight around twenty-two hundred hours. I'm going to go inform Alejandro as well so he can get in touch with Nik about getting here.
The captain nods his head in approval, and Laswell excuses herself on that note. Her short and sweet punctuality is something Captain Price has always appreciated about the way she operates. Station chiefs like her are a rare pleasure to work alongside, especially in times of trouble. She's a solid foundation for the team, which they're all thankful for, but Price feels the importance and help of her work more than anyone.
Captain Price exits his room and walks down the hallway, knocking on everyone's doors as he walks by them. When he reaches the end of the hall and turns back around, he sees everyone standing in their doorways just as he wants. "Everyone rally up around the big table tonight at twenty-two hundreds hours. Our newest team member is flying in tonight and we're going to have a conference to both fill her in on everything and to remind our own selves why we're gonna do everything we're gonna have to do to find and capture Shepherd."
"'Her?'" Ghost repeats with a grumble.
"I'll lay her file on the table for whoever wants to go through it if you get there early enough," states Price firmly. "Twenty-two hundred hours."
Glances are exchanged amongst everyone still standing in their doorways, all of which avoid the captain's eyes. In the traded expressions alone between all the soldiers makes it obvious no one expected a new recruit. All of them feel the same way Price and Laswell do—it is hard to trust anyone right now, but if they think bringing in this woman is a good idea then so be it. No words are spoken as each of them slowly shrink back into their rooms, but their thoughts, on the other hand, are almost loud enough to hear. Soap in particular thinks heavily on if Alejandro is okay with this or if Price and Laswell even ran it by him before making the decision. This is his base he's letting them stay in after all.