Old Scars, New Wounds

Chapter Two

"Home sweet home," Gaz sighed as the chopper soared purposefully through the air. "Too bad it won't be for long."

Simon looked over his seat and down at the view of the London Eye, the morning gloomy and foggy, emphasising the solemn atmosphere between the Unit. 

"Aye. Was hoping for at least a night of rest here," Soap ground out, leaning back with a sigh. "But nae. A night in some shithole it is. What else is new?"

"Well, I hear a new person is coming in for this one," Gaz remarked, turning his head to look at Price. "Isn't that right, Captain?"

"Yeah," Price said, eyes closed and head rested against the wall of the helicopter. "A woman."

"A woman?" Soap parroted, suddenly sitting up. 

This piqued all of their interests, including Simon's. Although their motivations were definitely different. Simon knew that they would be working with the Americans on this next stint, but hadn't heard anything about other outsiders. And Soap-

"She hot?" the Scottish man asked, which elicited a groan from Gaz. 

"You dog!" he scoffed, but Soap merely shrugged. 

"What? We've been away for months now, you can't blame me for being curious-"

"Careful, Sergeant," Price chuckled lowly. "Not just any woman. CIA and ex-Army Special Forces. She was a sniper, and has an impressive amount of kills under her belt. She might add you to the list if you get on her bad side."

An ex-SF sniper? Now Simon was very interested. He had only worked with a couple of Green Berets over the years, and knew that their training and skills were comparable to SAS. But he had never known any woman to make it through the ranks. He heard it occasionally happened, but he had never personally met one. 

"Why's she joining the task force?" Gaz asked the Captain. 

Price sighed, finally opening his eyes, seeing as he would actually have to answer their persistent questions. 

"We need an analyst. But it can't be some regular desk jockey. She's stationed as the CIA liaison for MI6, and she knows enough about the objective and how to survive to be useful."

Simon pondered on what Price was telling them. Usually Green Berets were career military, so for her to quit meant that something must have happened. It couldn't be an injury, because she wouldn't be allowed on the mission, and it couldn't be that she was too old either. She must have quit on her own accord, and that was less usual. 

"Approaching the airport," the pilot's voice rang out through their headsets, and they all looked at each other in apprehension. 

They had just spent months in the jungle, shutting down a massive arms trafficking operation. And just when they thought they could get a small break, they were being shipped off to who knows where for another, potentially more dangerous assignment. None of them were pleased, and that included Simon. What he wouldn't give for a single night where he didn't hear Soap's snoring. 

"Alright, the Americans are almost there too," Price announced, clicking off his receiver. "Remember to play nice."

Soap scowled and Gaz just gave a grin. 

Simon had a feeling that this would be a very long mission indeed. 

~

When they had touched down and situated themselves in the airport, they were almost immediately met with the American jet coming in, carrying about five Green Berets. Price seemed familiar with the Captain, some man called Viper, who Simon came to know was Captain Val Henderson of the Fourth Company, a special unit of Army Special Forces. Soap and Gaz made friendly introductions to the rest of the Fourth, and Simon left it up to Soap to introduce him as well. He didn't have the energy for small talk, and was the first to follow Price into the airport and the room where they would have a short briefing before taking off.