IN WHICH she enters TaskForce 141 to assist in battle and encounters dire decision-making, former enemies, and unexpected feelings for the other lieutenant along the way.
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Clara Spade ended up in TaskForce 141 with the sole purpose of fighting...
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GHOST was informed that another lieutenant would be joining the team two hours before the mission. He immediately disliked that.
It was one thing for him to shove away his 'lone man' mentality, but it was another to deal with another lieutenant.
He's heard of Clara before, but only as Lieutenant Spade. In truth, he found himself invested in the several articles that wrote about her killing tactics. Soap had called her "bloody deadly" after Ghost explained who she was for the first time, which led them both to consume any media they could find about Lieutenant Spade for the next few months.
Laswell's words from before replayed in his mind. "I think the two of you have similar attributes, so there's no need to worry." Little did she know, he thought being similar to her was even worse.
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was to believe that Laswell didn't look past their title and reputation – there were many factors that Ghost and Clara didn't have in common.
Past her tenderness, Ghost could tell there was misery behind her eyes. He first observed it when her smile vaguely faltered after Vince brought up how they were both lieutenants. He found it interesting how she concealed her underlying issues with a kindhearted facade around strangers, while he hid his true emotions by pretending he didn't have any.
Appearance-wise, their eyes were about the same shade of dark brown, but that's it. Everything about her looks contrasted with Ghost's – for one, her hair was multiple shades darker than his.
And when Clara approached him with soft eyes and a sparkling smile, Ghost became even more confused. She never initially showed any hostility towards him, nor did she ever threaten to challenge him in a brawl.
Her strict posture and firm grip on her weapon were the most she displayed of being a possible threat, but even then he thought it just showed that she was alert. Where was the 24/7 lethal and blood-thirsty 'Lieutenant Spade' everyone had described?
Clara's kindness in the aircraft added on his skepticism, much so that Ghost started to believe it was all an act.
He'd take this confession to his grave, but Ghost did find her beautiful. It was rare for him to encounter a pretty woman who was as highly experienced in the military as she was.
But that was the issue. Clara's beauty and kindness felt like a trap, one that would have its victim so infatuated with her disposition they'd be distracted from her hidden schemes. He thought that could be the one major complication that made her extremely flawed, and in case his theory ended up being true, Ghost promised he wouldn't fall for it.
Although his suspicion of her was above the roof, Ghost developed guilt the more he ignored her. Sure he was independent, but he wasn't rude. It was unintentional that he acted the way he did around her; he was thinking of being nice to her from the beginning like he had been to Vince, but they unluckily got off to a rough start.
