Simon 'Ghost' Riley - The Spiders Web

19

(I'm alive.)

When Tina managed to gather herself and fix her appearance, showering and changing into something more comfortable, she debated heavily for twenty or so solid minutes on whether to show her face for dinner.

Gaz had knocked on her door to let her know they were heading down to scrap something together using the noodles at the back of the cupboard that had been neglected for months before they went out of date.

Scraping her damp hair back behind her ears, she put on Gaz's hoodie that she'd nicked and savoured the soft feeling of the fabric over her sore skin, flexing her hands beneath the bundled sleeves.

At her door she debated putting her gloves on or not but decided it was best, sliding them on and relaxing at the compressing feeling of the fabric soothing the pain in her bones that she seemed to forget about until it became unbearable.

Tina headed down to the kitchen area with her hands slid into the front pocket of the hoodie, revelling at the silence in the dorm halls for once. Half the other boys were out, but the 141 weren't issued out until they got further Intel on a job in the mountains.

As she neared the communal part of the base, the sound of idle chatter and mens laughter filled her ears, and despite the fact she felt fine now, she did hesitate before turning the corner.

She listened for a moment to them discussing the food over the sound of clinking and scuffing feet before biting the bullet and rounding the corner.

She'd hoped to sneak in and out with a bowl and a drink before anyone noticed her but Johnny was grabbing himself a beer from the fridge and as he turned to close it, spotted her.

He burst into a wide smirk, lifting his drink in salute to her. "Here she is!" He called out. "The girl of the hour."

Tina gave a flat smile back as Gaz began a little cheer with his mouth half full from the seating area behind them, but ducked her head down.

"What took ya so long?"

She bypassed the scotsman and peered into the pot on the counter. "Who cooked?"

"Price."

She pulled a face over her shoulder and Gaz nearly snorted.

"Yeah, well, it was his turn. And honestly, I've had worse."

She hummed in disapproval and stood on her tiptoes to grab a bowl from the top cupboard.

Soap leant back against the counter as he took the cap off his bottle. "Need a leg up?"

She took the bowl and shot him a dry look from the side. "Watch it."

He put his hands up in defence, eyeing her playfully. "Alright, sorry. Don't go breaking anything else there, this face is too good looking to be messed with."

She shook her head, keeping her head down as she portioned herself some very plain looking noodles. "Fuck off."

The boys just chuckled and she was sad to say it, but she was glad when soap left her side to sit down by Gaz, who was still shoving down his food.

Tina warily tried a forkful, before scrunching her nose up and scouring the other cupboards in search of something.

As she did, the boys behind her carried on joking, now on the topic since she was present, much to her chagrin.

"Where's Ghost? Licking his wounds?" Soap questioned.

"As if," gaz scoffed back. "He refused to go to get it checked out. He's probably resetting it himself as we speak, the stubborn bastard."