Dogs of War

Chapter 10

The scent of Ghost flitted through my senses. It was the faintest hint, but enough that I could chase it down until it became stronger. I ran on all fours, passing by soldiers who were much more focused on the man at my back. Shots echoed through the hallways and the warehouse, all deafened by my ear pieces that Price had finally managed to slot home before we'd left the base. I kept my head down, bypassing anyone that wasn't my handler. 

I could hear the Captain shouting orders at me to get back. I ignored them, the lure of Ghosts scent beginning to mingle with his blood. I moved faster, ignoring the crack of the snipers from above us as Gaz and Shane did their jobs. I made my way deeper into the belly of the warehouse and began sprinting. My legs ate up the distance just like they were made to do so. I came to a door left slightly ajar. I shoved it open only to freeze in the doorway. I struggled to take down air even though my mask had kicked in to reduce the severity of the smell of blood. There was so much of it caked all over Ghost. His mask had been removed. He had dried blood stuck to his face, his body, the tattered remains of his clothes. I could see the stab wounds over his legs. 

The sight of him made my heart constrict so hard that combined with my lack of air, I could feel my mind flicker and waver. The pain I felt when I heard Ghosts harsh whisper of my name forced the switch back to humanity. 

When I speak, I can sense the shock thrill through him even before I have time to register that I've switched back myself. I managed to get him down and out of his chains, and I know he is going to struggle to get back to the evac point. He's got too many injuries, too much blood loss. Before leaving the room Price picks up the remaining equipment left behind and hands out Ghosts mask to him. Ghost shakes his head, and I know things must be worse than I knew if he was refusing the mask. I can tell Price's concern too as he tucks the mask into a pocket.

With one of his arms wrapped around my shoulders, I assist him in limping out of the torture room while Price takes point and communicates with Gaz to bring the Medic to us. We'd meet halfway in one of the rooms we could easily defend while Archiel looks over Ghost and treats some of the more serious wounds before we moved any further out of the building.

"Wolf, you shouldn't be here," Ghost mutters, his voice strained with the effort of moving after a week at the mercies of Makarov.

"You bet your damn ass I'm coming to rescue you no matter what state of mind I'm in." 

"No," he growls, and I growl back instinctively scowling at him. Before I can do more than growl wordlessly he shakes his head. "No," he says again. "You shouldn't be hear. Makarov thinks you're dead."

"Ok, and?"

"He wants you. He wants you for something."

"Well, that's sucky, but at this point who doesn't want me?"

"Wolf," exasperated with my mind set he lifts his weight off of me to shift and try to look at me more squarely. I ignore him trying to shift and continue walking forwards, forcing him to choose between keeping up or stumbling and tripping. I can hear him breathing heavily as we move and I suspect by the whistling sound he's making his nose has been broken and not had it re-set yet. I grimace and suspect that Medic's going to have to do that on the spot to prevent it from getting worse by waiting. "We could have kept you hidden."

"While that may have some merits, if he wants me, we can use that to draw him out." 

He huffs, clearly not having an argument against that right now, or too in pain to argue the point. I grimace and continue walking steadily. "How's Soap doing with the explosives?" I ask Price.

"We have time," is the only response I get back, and I can tell Price is still annoyed that I ran ahead not listening to his orders. He really should have known with Ghost in the building, the only orders I was listening to were his, and his alone. "Ok," I respond back anxious to get Ghost the assistance he needs.

"Don't worry, pup." I give Ghost a tight lipped smile. "Soap knows what he's doing."

"Does he? Could have fooled me," I mutter softly and give a genuine smile when Ghost chuckles. My smile turns to concern though when he groans in pain for his efforts.

"Damn it, mutt." The amusement in his voice was worth the small comment towards Soaps capabilities. "I know you know full well Soap is capable."

"I know, but I know you've missed my smart ass remarks for the last seven months."

"It's been peaceful, actually pup. I haven't had to worry about you getting injured."

"Don't lie," I murmur. "Even if I couldn't smell the concern on you, Medic told me you and Soap have barely left my side."

"That damn... fox!" He curses. "She needs to keep her sly nose out of matters that don't concern her." The acid in his voice is so mild that I know he doesn't hate her.

"I like her. She's sweet." My voice is mild in response.

"We've noticed. You've been cuddling up to her lots. Want to tell me why?" 

"Nope," I grin slyly and duck into one of the empty rooms Price had cleared and settle Ghost onto a lone rickety chair that had been abandoned. As I settle Ghost, Shane comes into the room, checking us over with a wide grin. "Ceri!" He steps up to me, wrapping his arms around me.

"Hello, doofus. Miss me?"

"More than you will ever know."

I sense Medic bustling in. "Wolf," she greets with a small smile and a head nod. She steps past and moves to Ghost examining him with a keen eye to detail. Her sensitive and trained nose picking up issues none of the rest of us would have been able to even guess at.

She gently touches Ghosts face, testing for sensitivities and the break. Before he can even react further than a slight wince, a sickening crack echoes through the room, followed by a pained grunt and the screeching of chair legs against the floor.

"God fucking damn it you fucking fox face bitch!" Ghost barks out, tears collecting in his eyes at the surprise Archiel had given him. "Some fucking warning next time!" He orders, yet even I can hear the difference in his breathing.

She just shrugs, clearly used to being called names. "I had to re-break it. I didn't want you tense. But you can breathe now. Your lungs sound fine." She pulled out bandages and applied pressure against wounds and bandaged him up as thoroughly as she could. She'd packed extra knowing we'd likely be finding Ghost in an awful state. He sits there stoically silent as she pushes and prods, clearly not concerned about anything else that she might end up doing to him without warning. Asides from the blood and the broken nose, he seemed ok. If being a torture victim for a week could be called ok.

I feel a little fatigued and my legs don't feel quiet so steady any more. "Houston, we have a problem," I mutter. Medic and Shane's heads snap around to look at me. "I'm sorry," I manage to utter before collapsing completely, the world going black around me.