Strength Together

Chapter 2

TW: mentions of death, mild language
WC: 1261

The air was even colder than in Texas as the plane door opened. A thin blanket of snow coated the earth beneath her feet.

"I forgot how cold England was just before winter. I'm not ready for the snow storms either."

"You're from Leeds, correct?" Price asked as he loaded their bags into a military grade hummer.

"Yeah, haven't been back since I was 20. Didn't plan to, honestly."

"Well, luckily for you, we're heading for Credenhill in Hereford. Nowhere near ya hometown. Shall we?" He asked as he opened the passenger door for her. She happily climbed in, slipping off her shoes so she could have her feet on the seat for the ride.

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The ride was only a few short hours that passed like nothing as the two continued to learn about each other. Price had learned of her love for baking in her spare time and ensured her that there would be a decent oven on base for her to use if she pleased.

"You'll have more free time on base than you did at the hospital. We're in between missions right now so as long as my boys don't get too banged up, you should be able to enjoy yourself."

"I really appreciate this offer, but why do you need a doctor if you aren't going on missions?" She asked, genuinely.

"We have some big missions coming up and...well...we lost someone very important to us recently and I want to put a stop to the pain as much as I can. These are my boys. This squad isn't just a military asset, this is a family." Price stared almost emptily into the road before him as he drove.

It had only been a few months from what Price had told her back on the plane. He never said someone died till now though, only referring to it as 'the incident'. Ophelia figured it was a very hard subject to talk about, losing someone he seemed to view as family, she knew the feeling all too well.

"Are you trained with a gun?" Price asked, clearly trying to change the subject as quickly as he could.

"No. I took an oath. I only save lives, not take them. I won't be going against my oath, I hope that won't be an issue Captain." Ophelia narrowed her eyes at the older man, hoping he wouldn't ask her to wield such a thing.

"We'll have guards at your clinic doors then. Probably your quarters too. Don't worry, they won't pry." Price answered nonchalantly. "There's a chance Makarov's people will come for you since you're what can keep their number one threat alive, us."

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Another hour had passed before the large hummer was pulled up to two tall, chain link fence gates. Ophelia watched and listened as Price gave short banter with one of the guards stationed at the gate before it was pried open by two men, letting them onto the base.

The base was nothing special, red brick walls, spray paint all over the brick in arrows and other symbols she didn't recognize but figured were for training purposes.

"This is home. She ain't pretty but it's one of the only places we can call safe. Our barracks are on the second floor, don't let the outside fool you, she's rather nice on the inside." Price gave her a small wink before hopping out of the hummer and making his way to her side to let her out.

Just as she hopped out of the hummer with Price's help, a young man with a darker complexion, a deep denim blue ball cap with a British flag, and a cheeky grin greeted them. He was rather attractive for a man in the military; Ophelia never did like the military or the men, always seemed so rough.

His smile was contagious as Ophelia found herself giving him an equally warm smile before she noticed a rather scary looking man behind him. The ghoulish looking man didn't walk towards her with the first. Instead he stayed by the door of the base, leaning on the door frame, watching.

He was incredibly tall, built like a brick house and he wore a freakishly real looking half skull faceplate over the eyes of an almost all black balaclava that had several white lines painted down his chin. He held a nonchalant pose, arms crossed over his chest, ankles crossed over as he leaned against the door frame. His eyes scanned the scene before him, taking in the petite and fragile looking girl Price had just brought to their home.

"I'm Kyle, you can call me Gaz though." The man who was approaching her spoke as he stopped in front of her with his hand out for her to shake.

"Oh, hi!" Startled as she was eyeing the mysterious man, she quickly jut her hand out to shake Gaz's hand. "I'm Dr. Burns. Ophelia, you can call me Ophelia." a small smile played at her lips as she withdrew her hand from his.

"Cap' tells us you'll be stayin' on base, making sure we don't harm ourselves too much."

"That's correct." her smile continued to fill her features.

"I'll try to not create too much work for ya." He gave her a quick wink before turning his body towards the scary man in the doorway. "That's Simon Riley. Don't call him that though, he goes by Ghost. You'll see why eventually. Dude is freaky." Gaz informed with a belly laugh as though he wasn't actually as tough as he looked.

"Not a fan of the name." Ophelia said shyly.

"He's a big softy." Price added to the conversation as he slung one of her duffles as well as his own over his shoulders. "Gaz, grab her other bags."

"Oh, let me help." Ophelia took a step towards the back of the hummer for one of her bags before Gaz placed a delicate hand on her shoulder.

"Just follow Price in, I got this, little lady." He tossed another charming smile her way before lifting the last three of her bags onto his shoulders like it was nothing. Which it probably was nothing by the looks of it as his shirt tightened around his biceps.

Ophelia followed Price inside, watching the scary man as he watched her back. The closer she got, the more details she took in about him. His eyes were a honey sort of brown, the skull faceplate looked more and more real as she moved closer. His stance never changed even as they passed him in the doorway. His head and eyes continued to follow her though, even as Price clapped his hand on Ghost's shoulder as if to say hi.

"Simon, c'mon." Price said as they fully passed through the double doors of the base. Didn't Gaz just say to not call him Simon?

Ghost followed behind the two, but he kept his distance, still never speaking.

"Is the skull part real?" Ophelia asked in the smallest voice she could muster, hoping he was far enough behind them that he wouldn't hear her ask.

Price laughed louder than she would have liked before Ghost answered with a very deep and gruff 'yes'. "He's joking right?" Ophelia quickly asked, a little louder this time since she figured it wouldn't matter her volume.

"No ma'am. Though I'm not gonna tell you who's skull it is." Another laugh pulled from his chest as he answered. A shiver ran down Ophelia's spine, she truly hoped they were both fucking with her. 

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