Silver-Lining (Ghost Riley x Reader)

Chapter Forty

SOTD- Pleaser by Wallows, Show Me How by Men I Trust, and My Kind Of Woman by Mac Demarco

The next day rolled around slowly, the morning slipping into the afternoon. Anticipation flooded the air, dwelling on us all as we waited for the nighttime to roll around. It seemed like I had been waiting for years. I could almost feel the excitement course through my veins as I went about my day, waiting for the sun to be replaced by the moon.

I walked past the beige folder that I kept on my dresser. Each time I walked past it, I could feel my heart sink. My stomach churned in knots and I contemplated opening it. I shook my head and left my room, joining Ghost in the training room. He told me that he wanted to do a quick sparring session. I found it strange that he didn't want Soap and Gaz to participate also, but eventually just shrugged the thoughts off- dismissing my mind completely.

The training smelled of sweat and a faint air freshener that wasn't doing much of a good job of getting rid of the odor. I met with Ghost on the mat, planting my feet firmly.

"You ready?" Ghost asked me. "Enough with the questions and swing already." I engaged in a little bit of competitive talk, knowing that it would rile him up further. He threw a punch, hard enough for me to feel it, but not hard enough to hurt me. I blocked his hit with my forearm. I threw a punch of its own which he had dodged with ease.

My hands were clenched into a fist, held closely by my chest as I was ready to take another swing. Ghost's eyes moved down to my hands, realizing I was about to take another swing. I knew how good he was at predicting people's movements. It was almost as if he was a robot when it came to combat. I learned to trick him every now and then. Make him think I would throw a punch, but catch him off guard with a kick.

I spun around on my heel, doing a spinning heel kick. I made sure not to kick hard enough since I didn't want him to get hurt. Ghost only stumbled back slightly from the impact, not missing the chance to complement the kick.

We went at it for a while and Ghost managed to put me in a headlock. "How are you going to get out of this?" Ghost asked me, his grip stronger. "If we go out there and you end up in a situation like this- how will you get out of it?" Ghost asked me once more, this time more sternly.

I realized why we were doing this. He was nervous about the small operation. I kept a strong stance, tightening my grip around his arm. I managed to toss him over my back. His body collided with the soft mat beneath us, a satisfying thud coming from beneath him. "Good." He mumbled as he stood up. We went at it longer and Ghost managed to tower over me.

I propped myself, looking up at his tall figure that stood in front of me. "You get in a situation like this and they have a gun. What will you do?" He asked me.

"Well, first I'd start talking because I'm really good at that," I told him. I could see in his eyes that he was confused by my rambling. Using the opportunity, I placed my palm on the mat. My left palm was placed firmly against the thin cushion and I used my right leg to kick myself up. My torso twisted to the side as my right leg came into contact with Ghost's side, knocking him over as he completely lost balance. My body weight held against my left arm and I landed on my left leg, completely regaining balance as I stood tall.

"I'm a big girl, Ghost. I think I know how to handle myself." I told him as I extended my arm out. Ghost grabbed onto my hand and I pulled him up. "What time is it?" I asked him, realizing we'd been down here longer than we expected. "Six pm." Ghost told me.

"You don't have to worry about me so much," I told him. "The operation will go perfectly fine. We'll be alright." I added.

I held my arm out for a fist bump. Ghost stared down at my head, letting out a huff. "Not this again." He grumbled. I smiled widely as I nodded my head. "You can't escape it, big boy!" I told him. "Bump my fist." I shook my hand slightly, waiting for him to bump it. "I'm not doing that."

"You know you want to," I spoke in a sing-song voice. "No, I don't." He crossed his arms over his chest as he looked down at me. "Bump the fist, now!"

He let out a small sigh as he reluctantly fist-bumped me. I made a small explosion, earning a small chuckle for him. "That's like our new thing. We can have a secret handshake and everything!" I spoke happily. "No secret handshakes. That's one thing I won't do." He pointed his finger at me before he turned to walk off. "You can't escape the secret handshake either!" I called after him, making my way out of the training room also.

The day passed achingly slowly and soon enough, the bright sun began to dip slowly into the horizon. We waited until it was late at night to gear up and meet outside in front of the Jeeps.

It was me, Amelia, Ghost, Gaz, Soap, Price, Alejandro, and Rudy. "Okay, so here's the plan," Alejandro began as he placed the map down on the hood of the Jeep. We circled around him, seeing a spot circled with red sharpie. "There is right of us, so we split into teams of two." Alejandro began. "Me and Rudy, Gaz and Price, Soap and Ghost, and finally Knives and Amelia."

I felt excited that I was paired up with Amelia. She was practically a fresh face to me... well- a face that I happened to punch, but that didn't matter. "We scope out the campsite and stay stealthy about it. You don't enter that campsite or shoot down any guards without orders from either me, Price, or Ghost." Alejandro told us, his voice sounding orderly. We nodded our heads, still huddled close together.

"If by some chance they catch even a whiff of us, abort your post and head back to the Jeep. If necessary, you shoot down guards but with silence suppressors."

Once he finished we piled into two Jeeps. Soap, Ghost, Amelia, and I piled into one Jeep while the other four took the second Jeep. I sat in the backseat with Amelia. The engine roared loudly as the Jeep came to life. I could feel myself get even more giddy, awaiting the thrill and adrenaline that would soon find its way to me.

Soap peeled down the road, following Alejandro, who drove the other. "So what's the big plan after we scope the place out?" Soap asked, trying to fill the silence. "Hopefully attack with full force." Amelia grumbled. The swelling had gone down in her nose, leaving only a nasty bruise. "I'll make them pay for what they did to my brother." She said.

My eyes widened in shock once I realized that she and Javier were related. "Javier's your brother?" I asked quickly. She nodded her head, shifting her gaze to me. "Twin. We're just not identical." She told me.

"Shit- I'm sorry." My gaze softened as I looked at her, feeling sympathy toward her. "Me too." Her voice was soft and quiet. I reached for her hand, giving it a friendly squeeze which she reciprocated. "Out of it all, I'm glad I finally get to work with another woman." She told me. My eyes widened in excitement as my mouth fell agape. "Me too! I hate working with just men." I told her.

"Ouch!" I heard Soap say in the front seat. Amelia and I continued conversation the entire way there, talking about how we first joined the Marines and the boot camp we had to go through.

"Boot camp had to be the worst." She told me, her nose scrunching together as if she had tasted something sour. "I'd rather shoot myself in the head than have to go through that again." I let out a scoff as I thought about the terrible memories from Boot camp. It wasn't the training, the fighting, or the waking up before the sun even rose. It was the men. They had such fragile egos and walked around as if they had something to prove.

They all wanted to be the best and when I quickly outranked each of them, that made them even more pissed. "We're here," Soap said, grabbing our attention. I could see Alejandro's Jeep silently come to a stop. "Everyone got their night vision intact?" Ghost asked. "Yes sir," The three of us responded.

"Good." Ghost stepped out of the car and I got out also. I turned on my night vision once Soap cut the car off. The dark space immediately lit up into different shades of green, making my surroundings much more easier to see.

Ghost placed his hand around my arm, pulling me in closer to him. "You get into any trouble and call for me. I'll be there in seconds." He told me.

I nodded my head, giving him a small smile. "Same thing goes for you," I spoke quietly. I wanted to lift his mask slightly and kiss his lips before we parted. But in the field was a different story than when we were in my room which quickly became his also. We had to be professional and focus on the task at hand.

I found my way to Amelia after parting ways with Ghost. "You ready?" Amelia asked me. I nodded my head, giving her a small smile. "Let's go." I told her.