Doing It All For Love (Ghost x reader)

Chapter Nineteen

SOTD- I Wish You Roses by Kali Uchis

"We'll be leaving in twenty!" Alejandro reminded all of us. The cargo pants I wore fit me perfectly. I had forgotten what it felt like to wear a fitted shirt tucked into cargo pants. I forgot what the weight of a bullet proof vest felt like. Even though I found slight discomfort in the added weight... it felt like I was back home.

I turned to Ghost and stared at his eyes through his mask. "Remember when I asked you why you always wear that mask?" I asked. "You've asked a thousand times."

"And each time you gave me a sarcastic answer." We were seated on a bench and I sat criss-crossed to face him. Ghost hummed softly. "I got it in remembrance of a man I knew."

I felt a little surprised at his answer. He wasn't being sarcastic and he didn't shrug it off like he did the past few times. "He was the toughest sonuvabitch I've ever met." He stared off into space, a certain glint formed in his eyes. "Who was he?"

He stiffened at my question, his muscles tensing up. "It's a story for another time."

I could tell he didn't want to talk about. It was hard getting him to open up about his past and I didn't like to pry. The stories he shared to me on his own time meant a lot. After these years of knowing him and being together- he has opened up a bit. There is still a lot he won't say and a lot he won't show. But he's made huge changes.

"Okay." I gave his shoulder a firm squeeze and his muscles seemed to relax under my touch. "Don't forget this. It will be dark." He holds the night vision goggles that was connected to a helmet. "I always hated wearing these."

"It's better than being unable to see."

I took the helmet and placed it in my lap. Ghost only stared at me. "This mission..." He began. I shifted my gaze to look up at him. "This is the end of it."

It slowly dawned on me that this was the final mission. We would retrieve Soap and bring him back home. I could feel the excitement rise through me and I couldn't wait to see him again. But in this moment- everything felt bittersweet. This was the final end of being a soldier. "Yeah, it is." My tone was soft and I chuckled a bit. "Let's get Soap back." I hold up my fist.

Ghost looked at it and groaned. "I can never escape the fist bump can I?" He asked. With a smile I shook my head. "Never."

Ghost bumped my fist and I made my small explosion and he followed my actions. The heavy door swung open and Price walked in. His heavy boots thudded against the floor and it filled my ears. I had grown used to Price's heavy footsteps. It was like a rhythmic beat the way his feet landed with each step. "Y/n, you've got some... visitors."

I furrowed my eyebrows as I stood up. "Who is it?" I asked. Price only smiled at my question. "Follow me. You'll see."

Ghost stood up as he gathered the bags. We left the room and walked along the hallway. We followed Price down the long corridor where the exit would await us. With each step I could feel my heart pumping. Each step felt like an hour as I tried to casually walk along with Price and Ghost.

Once we reached the doors, I pushed open. The sunlight poured onto us and the warmth peppered my skin with gentle sunlit kisses. Nothing would've prepared me for what I saw. For who I saw.

Each soldier standing side by side in a straight line. Sightless, Brawns, Bear, Cyborg, Sniper, and Violet. The only person that was missing was Ace.

My jaw dropped as I stepped forward. Smiles tugged at their lips as they all stared at me- unmoving. "On your command, Ma'am." Brawns' loud voice boomed. I grinned as I looked at each of them. "At ease, soldiers."

They each relaxed. Violet was the first one to come up to me. Her arms wrapped around me and engulfed me in a tight hug. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked. The question didn't take away the happiness in my tone and my body language. "We heard you needed more soldiers," Brawns spoke up. He stepped forward and extended his hand out. "And we'd do anything for our greatest commander."

I grabbed his hand and shook it. "You were all amazing soldiers." I looked at each of them proudly. I trained them into who they were. I saw the determination in each of them. Each groan and each complaint- and even more determination made them the strong soldiers that they are. I couldn't help but be proud.

"Let's do this. I'll hack into security feed and anything else," Sightless offered. "Me and Violet will be snipers if you need it," Sniper offered also. Violet nodded her head.

"Looks like our army just grew." Alejandro smiled. "Have they been briefed?" I asked.

Alejandro nodded his head. "Rudy briefed them on the phone last night."
"Good."

Alejandro turned to his soldiers. "Alright everyone in the Humvees!" He ordered. The sun was slowly sinking down into the horizon. The cool moon would soon replace it. We finished gearing up and piled into humvees.

Soon the sky darkened. If not for the roar of the engines, I would've been able to hear the stars scrape against the dark sky. The night time was always quiet. The desert we drove through was vast and serene. I looked up into the sky, my eyes flitting from one star to another. Each star shone brighter than the rest- but one peculiar star stood out to me. The star was larger than the tiny ones, its light was brighter too.

I turned my attention to the moon. It was a waning gibbous. Alejandro's voice spoke through the coms, alerting us to stay silent once we approach the base. Our plan was to go in and attack. Alejandro called in some reinforcements for more heavy artillery. We didn't just want to retrieve Soap. We wanted to destroy the base entirely.

Let the innocents free and leave them with nothing. It was Ghost's idea to completely obliterate everything.

He didn't want justice. He wanted revenge.

I looked over at Ghost, who was seated beside me. He was silent and looked straight ahead. I knew he would be pretty distant on this mission. He had one priority.

The rubber tried peeled along the gravel road. The road was long and narrow and only the vast desert surrounded us. The silence that seemed to dawn on us was somewhat comfortable and a bit bittersweet. Although the roar of the engine filled the silence for us, I still couldn't help but give into the silence.

"Y/n." I heard Ghost's voice. I looked over at him, his eyes meeting mine. "One last silver lining before we do this."

I smiled softly at his request. "The silver lining is we'll get Soap back."

"I have one of my own."

I felt a bit surprised at this. Usually Ghost could never find positive outcomes. He was always negative- searching for the worst possible outcome. No... preparing.

"After this it's going to be you and I. We can let go of everything we've been through."

I smiled softly at this as I reached for his hand. His fingers interlocked with mine and I nodded my head. "Nothing is going to happen to us out there." I tried staying positive. And I felt confident with what I said. From being held captive, from Ace, to Graves, and to everything after... We always found our way back to each other. Even after each argument he would apologize, even after the year of him being gone... The world brought us back together. Even if the circumstances weren't great... it was always Simon and me.

It was like we were some unstoppable force. No matter what tried tearing us apart- we would always come back to each other.

"What could possibly go wrong?" I raise an eyebrow with a smile.

"Everything."