2OO3 :House Of Ashes:

』Morning One : Part 2『

When the two of them made it to the briefing room to grab their gear which is where everything was being held, one of the CENTCOM officers was there. It was the same guy who had been interrogating Jason for the last two weeks straight, every day, who eventually and hastily left the room after the two marines walked in to avoid altercations with the two men.

As Jason was rummaging through his belongings, it was clear there were a few key items missing from his vest he noticed right away. Merwin's dog tags and his black watch he always wore around his left wrist. He scowled at this and his face sunk in at the thought of someone taking Merwin's dog tags, who would do such a thing?

Nick had somehow picked up on this, his eyes caught the Lieutenant after he heard the rummaging stop and he watched his demeanor change rather quickly. He set his pack down on the very same table Joey sat at and slowly made his way over to Jason, adjusting his own vest as he did.

"Jason," Nick spoke a lot less aggressively this time. "Are you good?"

Jason remained silent, trying to piece together his words before he spoke.

"I'm fine, Nicky..." He eventually responded, a complete lie.

"You don't seem fine, I know when you're off, man. Was it because of my outburst? I won't do it again Jason, I prom-"

"Merwin's dog tags are missing..." Jason cut Nick off, raising his right hand in the air to shut him up, obviously giving the hint that Nick's behavior was not the reason for his silence.

"As much of a bastard he was, he was one of us. He was a good man," Jason added.

Nick was taken aback a bit, not really knowing how to respond in the moment. He too started to feel a bit upset that someone would steal something like that and he hung his head.

While Nick continued to process his thoughts, Jason eventually slipped his arms through his vest, tightening and adjusting it to his liking. He ran his hand over the pouch one last time hoping to feel his deceased subordinate's tags in there, but he was reassured that it was empty.

Before either of them could talk further, Eric entered the room, greeting the two again. Both Marines quickly scrambled to get the rest of their gear together. Jason picked up and inspected his M4A1 Carbine, he pulled the clip out scanning it quickly before sliding it back into it's rightful slot, noting that it was full when in fact, he knew it wasn't left full. The high powered light attached at the end was busted in half but there was no time to fix or replace it.

Eric had watched and was astounded at how smooth Jason's movements with his gun were, it awed him to say the least but he would never admit it. All three met center of the room, Eric looking back and forth between the both of them before speaking.

"We're not flying in this time," His first words weren't what the Sergeant and Lieutenant wanted to hear.

"How are we getting there then?" Nick asked while Jason remained silent and dismissive.

"We're going by truck. The opening that we fell through is our way of going back in. We just have to remember the one we escaped out of. It will be the closest to where we left Rachel." Eric explained further.

Jason shook his head, shifting his weight on to one foot. "Who's driving us there then?"

Eric smirked, "I am."