Bittersweet | Simon Riley

THREE

Ghost didn't trust many people, but he trusted Soap and Gaz more then most. They were men on his team, under his command and they'd saved his life more times than he can count. At the same time, he had done the same and there is only so much bloodshed that can happen between a group in order to give them a bond. Maybe it was through trauma that none of them wanted to address head on or maybe because they needed at least one anchor who'd be around for a while. Or at least until they got injured on the field or even worse, killed.

"How'd it go?" Gaz asks, not looking up from his phone as Ghost silently took his normal seat in the recreation room where the duo had been waiting on him. Ghost sighed, sitting back and both Soap and Gaz awaited an answer from the normally aloof man who seemed to be thinking for a second.

"Have you ever met someone that is the human form of sunshine?" Ghost finally asked as he sat on the couch and immediately gained chuckles from his two closest friends. Ghost honestly didn't know what to think of the girl who smiled so easily in his presence and had sat across from him, trying to make conversation for close to an hour before there had been a knock on her door, letting both her and Ghost know that their conversation time was over. Not that Ghost had contributed much to the session, not giving her much to work with.

"I heard the others like her." Soap comments with a nod, looking up from his own phone. Belle had already spoken to a few other soldiers and talk had quickly spread about the new face who would be making sure the soldiers were prepared for missions mentally. The group of elite soldiers were used to old men who'd take one glance at the caffeine and nicotine addicted soldiers who were filled with side effects and put their signature on a paper to allow them back on missions. She was a new face on base so of course there would be talk. "I think she's nice."

"There isn't room to be nice around here." Ghost scoffs a little as he pulls out his own phone, knowing there was paperwork waiting in his office and a workout which needed to be done to keep him in shape yet right now he just wanted to sit with his teammates before dinner. Then he would go about his actual responsibilities such as dull paperwork and a repetitive workout. "It's the military, not a damn daycare." He reminds Soap and the Scottish man rolls his eyes a little as he glances back to his own phone, but a small smile remains on his face at Ghost's clear dislike of the newly assigned therapist.

"Not everyone wants to be grumpy like you Riley." Gaz says with a small chuckle because it was true. Ghost remained cold and aloof to those who he wasn't close to and being in the military with such a taxing job made it so making friends wasn't as easy as just saying hello to a stranger. And Ghost wouldn't call himself grumpy per say, more like introverted with a specific hatred towards dealing with people who held no true value to him.

"Is she a soldier even?" Ghost asks as he looks up from his phone, having started to delete some of the emails he found unimportant from his inbox. Mainly just updates on some recruits who held potential and information on the base which was sent out every single morning. At one point the constant spam of emails was annoying but over time he'd learned they weren't even worth the read and simply deleted them instead. "Or is she just a shrink?" Ghost asks looking at the two of his best friends who didn't seem to have a problem with the new girl.

"The proper term is therapist." Gaz corrects Ghost nonchalantly and Ghost's eyebrows furrow just barely, but he doesn't speak yet. "And I think she's a soldier," He adds but even he sounds a bit unsure and Ghost glances to Soap who gives him a slight shrug, showing that he also has no idea about what position the girl holds in the military.

"She's not like the other shrinks that we've had before," Soap says as he thinks about the girl he'd been talking to in his own therapy session only a few hours before Ghost had spoken to her. Belle stood out like a sore thumb when it came to looking at her next to the other elite soldiers who often roamed the base, the trio included. She was shorter then average and didn't have exactly a lot of visible muscle mass on her. If anything, she looked civilian. There's a silence then Soap realizes why Ghost was frustrated with having a new therapist rather than the ones that got recycled every few months. "She won't just sign off the paper." Soap says with a small laugh as he comes to the realization behind Ghost's poorly hidden frustration. Gaz's eyes widen and he also lets out a small laugh.

"She's making you work for it." Gaz laughs with Soap despite Ghost's clear annoyance at the situation which he has been placed in. It was more then clear that him and this girl wouldn't get along and if she didn't sign off on him going on missions then he was base bound until otherwise decided.

"You poor thing." Soap added like salt in the wound and Ghost scoffed, not wanting to deal with this right now. He continued scrolling through pointless emails which filled his inbox, the red notification at the top of his screen letting him know he was almost out of storage if he didn't go through them soon.

"That means you sods aren't going on any missions either." Ghost reminds his two friends and teammates which gets them to shut up pretty quickly because no one ever wants to stay base bound. Life on base was repetitive, always the same few tasks mixed in with a workout with a side of paperwork and half decent meal before sleeping and repeating it all again. At least while on missions the soldiers had adrenaline in their veins and were constantly moving, constantly fighting to get to their next objective or checkpoint. Compared to the real danger they faced on every mission, the safe military base which they were stored at was dull and uneventful. "Maybe I'll talk to Price." Ghost mutters after the trio sit in silence for a few minutes, thinking how their fate is currently sitting in one girls hand.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Soap says as he leans back in his chair, the three already knowing deep down that Price wouldn't override the signature that Ghost needed unless it was necessary. And in the Captain's eyes, Ghost not liking Belle was not a valid reason.