König and His Darling

Chapter Ten

I saw nothing of König for the next hour as we prepared to leave for the Gulf of Mexico where we learned a missile was on an oil rig preparing for launch. I only saw his tall silhouette as he pulled himself into a helicopter separate from mine. Something felt wrong but I couldn't call out to him. What do I say anyway? That you have a weird feeling?

I say nothing as I climb into my helicopter next to Soap with Alejandro, a colonel from the Mexican Special Forces, sitting across from me. I give them both a nod and a forced smile. I was ready to get this mission over with and see König again.

We get to our destination quicker than I expected and when we arrive we are split into two teams, Alejandro and König leave for the rig with the missile and I leave with Soap, Ghost, and unfortunately Graves for the other rig with the missile controls.

As we make our way to the rigs in small boats Graves turns around,

"Now don't be getting yourself captured this time Gnasher," he yells over the noise with a smirk.

Ghost turns before I can respond,

"That's not her name and if you don't want to swim to the rig I suggest you learn to shut up" he yells back with an edge in his voice.

Graves simply goes quiet and turns around to stare ahead as the boat zips across the water towards the mission goal, his anger being noticeable in how rigid his back was. Once we board the rig, Ghost, Soap, and I make quick work of the men there and make it to the rig's control room, Graves following behind, struggling to keep up with our devastating pace.

We finally reach the control room and realize the countdown for launch has already been initiated and there's no overriding it, we have to reroute the missiles path. Before any of us could protest Graves rerouted it to blow up the rig it's on, the rig König is on.

"Get off the rig now!" I scream into the radio, "König, Alejandro, get off!"

I watch with frantic eyes as I am powerless to do anything as the missile goes into the air, turns, and comes straight back down. The explosion is felt from where we were.

"Alejandro, you okay?" Graves speaks into the radio emotionless. Silence.

"Holy mother of God- that was fucking crazy, man!!" Alejandro yells over the radio back.

I let out a deep sigh as Ghost places his hand on my shoulder in comfort. I look up at him just now realizing I was holding my breath. I thought I lost König just as quickly as I got him, all because Graves couldn't give even a slight head start to them. The ride back to Alejandro's base was quiet. Graves led the convoy with his Shadows in the front while König and his team were behind us. I was fuming when we reached the front gate,

"What the fuck was that?" I scream at Graves as soon as we are all out. I shove him in the chest,

"Leaving one teammate behind wasn't enough for you?" I scream with all the anger I've kept welled up inside me.

"Calm down, Gnasher," Graves responds calmly, "we won't be working together anymore from here on out anyway, I'm taking over the mission and you all have been dismissed."

I stood in disbelief as Ghost speaks up,

"I'm calling Shepherd," he states coolly.

"Shepherd sends his regards," Graves responds, he is looking directly at me now, "don't be too worked up now, Gnasher, it's not like you were an important part of the mission anyway, easily replaced with any Shadow in the company."

Something in me finally clicked in place, I was done. Done with hating myself. Done with blaming myself. I am good enough and that's why Graves hates me, I had the bravery to do what his coward self couldn't.

"Really, Graves?" I ask with obvious sarcasm, "that's it huh? How about we talk about what really happened that day huh?"

"Now there's no reason to dwell in the past," he answers, obviously getting uneasy.

"No, let's dwell... let's all dwell in it" I continue, seething with anger as König takes a step closer to me, "We were running, our stealth mission obviously now compromised and you told me and the rest of the team that someone should stay back and give cover and not even ONE of you would even look up, all of you cowards. You're the team leader, Graves, YOU should have taken that chance without hesitation for YOUR team but you didn't because you're a coward. I am the only one who would speak up."

I am angry now, beyond angry in fact, it was obvious the Shadows around Graves were watching Graves for a response as the rest of my team began to gather behind me in support. I rip my tank top off that's already soaked from the rain to my sports bra and cargo pants, exposing the dozens of scars littering my body,

"Do you know what they did to me, Graves? They took a drill and screwed me to boards," I scream as I point to the jagged cylindrical scars on my shoulders, "they ripped my nails out one by one and then broke every bone in my hands and feet" I continue, shaking from the rage I felt,

"And still... I never gave you up because I believed in you and your leadership. I was whipped, and beaten, and starved... they shaved my head to have more skin to cut because they ran out of space on the rest of me and still... I never gave you up. For what? To free myself and find out you could have easily rescued me and didn't care? Fuck you. Fuck you and your shadows."

I'm now standing only inches from his face,

"And my name isn't Gnasher" I finish as I smash my fist into his jaw with a crack heard over the rain.

Everything was fast and blurred after that, I saw Alejandro get knocked out with the butt of a rifle and Ghost screaming at Soap and me to run as König grabbed my arm and yanked me down into a ditch, rolling away towards the town of Las Almas. The bullets whizzed by us as we all scrambled into the woods. I ran, realizing I lost my weapon when I fell.

I reach the town and take cover in an alleyway, I look behind me only to realize that no one was there. Where was König and Soap? Ghost? Did they make it out with me? I look around frantically as the reality of my situation sets in. I was alone.