War of Hearts

Chapter Seven - Phantom

Ghost never really slept easy, but something was stirring him even more than normal. His argument with Hex a few days ago was eating at him, he knew he had pushed her too far. Why was he so against her being in the field anyway? It wouldn't be the first time he's been with a near rookie, so what made her different? Why was he so determined to protect her? Maybe he didn't hate her warmth and kindness as much as he thought. He saw the way she looked after Soap, and she was right; that was something he couldn't do. The rage that she showed him though... She was clearly much more capable of the dark than he realized, but she chose to be the light. The way she spoke to him tonight, but then... they way she looked at him tonight. She might as well have called him a monster outright when she was barring her fangs at him, but then she looked at him like he was a man, like she saw right through him. He couldn't remember the last time someone looked at him like that, if they ever did at all.

"Ghost?"

He heard her voice call his name, and he snapped awake, the room still spinning slightly.

"Christ, Hex." He said with a start, and snapped, "What?" But his irritation melted away at the sight of her. She was seated on the side of his bed, her long dark hair was cascading around her face, something he had never seen before. She looked wide awake, but deeply contemplative, like something was keeping her lost in thought as well. Her gaze met his with something in them he couldn't quite place, but it looked...hungry. She seemed somehow softer than he remembered, almost like she was glowing, that same sparkle he saw tonight appearing in her eyes again.

He blinked at her, and his voice softened, "Sorry, what is it? You okay?"

"Simon..."

He swallowed hard at the sound of his name on her lips. It was gentle, pleading, why the hell was she saying it like that? He said again, "what is it?"

"I'm tired of this, tired of our fighting. I don't want to do it anymore."

He paused and thought to himself for a moment before answering. "I don't either."

She smiled at him, and it was almost sultry. He froze and couldn't keep his gaze from dropping to her lips.

She returned the glance to his mouth and leaned forward on his bed, "How long are we going to keep doing this, Simon?"

There was still a whiff of Whiskey on her breath, his too. He breathed her in for a moment. Somehow, she smelled like spring. Rain, flowers, earth, full of life. He didn't realize until now how much he liked it. "What do you mean?"

"This dance of ours, pretending to hate each other." She moved even closer to him now. "I certainly don't hate you..."

He put a hand on her thigh, he told himself it was to stop her, but his thumb started to move back and forth, grazing her skin. God how was it so soft?

He swallowed again, "I- I don't hate you either."

She pushed against his hand, narrowing the gap between them. He was shouting at his body to push her back, to resist her, but he couldn't. His hand instead drifted from her thigh to her back and he pulled her in towards him, closing the gap entirely. He could feel her breath on him, and it was intoxicating. He should stop, they might wake someone, they might go too far, he was her CO... All the reasons why he shouldn't played in his head as he ignored them and kissed her.

She melted into his touch and hummed into his lips. His mind, body, and restraint shattered, grabbing the small of her back with his other hand and pulling her on top of him. She widened her hips to straddle him as he leaned back, bringing her with him and deepening the kiss. His entire body began to ache for her, and he pressed her firmly against him. "God, Hex." He moaned in her ear as she bit it, then lay soft, tender kisses along his neck. His breath was shaky, and the room was swirling even more, too much now. The stars in her eyes became stars all around and he lost himself in them. He shut his eyes for a moment and leaned into the sensation of falling. No- he was falling, descending somewhere unknown. The feeling started to become frightening, and he shot up in a panic. He gathered himself for a moment, desperately trying to catch his breath, then checked to make sure Hex was okay, that he didn't scare her but...

He looked over and she was sound asleep a few beds down. Did she leave? Was... was she ever really there? He pressed his fingers to his lips, a phantom kiss lingering there. He slammed backwards onto his bed. "Fuck."

The next morning, Hex came rolling in with a cart of medical supplies. The sun had barely just started to rise, an unwelcome presence as Gaz, Soap, and Ghost slowly started to wake up, heads throbbing from the night before.

"Nnhg, bloody hell, how are you awake, Hex?" Gaz grumbled and rubbed his eyes, nausea churning in his stomach.

She laughed softly, "I figured you all would be in rough shape, got some banana bags for everyone. Long day ahead of us."

Soap was leaning over the side of his bed using all of his concentration to keep from hurling. He threw his hand over his mouth and spoke through it. "Me first, please."

Hex obliged, and hooked them all up to an IV bag, wheeling around her own as well.

"They just let you take a cart of supplies for a couple hungover idiots?" Gaz asked

She shrugged, "I have my ways. You're welcome." She said with a wink.

Ghost was silent, eyeing her up and down looking for any signs of their late-night interaction. Did he really imagine the whole thing? She came to administer his fluids, having to get close enough for him to breathe her in again. "Hex."

"Yeah?"

"Did you- did we?"

She looked at him, no judgement in her face, just the awaiting expression inviting him to finish his question. "Yes?"

That was definitely his answer. He turned bright red at the realization. "...never mind. Thank you for this."

She smiled at him. She was happy they were at least back on civil terms. She didn't know if she had it in her to duke it out with him again. She spoke to the room, "alright everyone, we've got twenty minutes of this and then we have to move. Laswell has news for us.

They were all healed nearly instantly by the rally packs, ready now to hop back into action. They all assembled in their makeshift office and stilled upon seeing the dread in Laswell's expression.

"Hassan was taken back into cartel protection in Las Almas, and we lost contact with General Shepherd's Marines in Al Mazrah. Special Forces have confirmed Hassan is moving something sizeable towards the US. The cargo could be the containers housing missiles. We don't know how many, and we don't know the targets."

General Shepherd's voice rang in on the line, "To find out, we need to capture Hassan and bring him in for interrogation."

Price now spoke up, "We're sending Soap, Ghost, and Hex to link up with the Las Almas Special Forces in country along with all the manpower they need."

"We cannot start a war in Las Almas, General."

"Certainly not, Laswell. I'll task Phillip Graves and his Shadow Company PMC's to assist. Their rules of engagement can help us cut through some red tape and get this done."

"Understood, sir."

The team said quick goodbyes, and Soap, Ghost, and Hex made to move out. As they approached their jet, Ghost gently put his hand on Hex's shoulder. She turned to him as he spoke. "You ready for this?" Her eyebrows furrowed and her lips curled to a frown, but she didn't say anything, not wanting to argue right before their first time in the field together.

"Look, I get you wanted this, and I'm not going to waste any more time arguing with Price's call, but this isn't your average recon assignment. I just- " He trailed off. "It's going to be dangerous. I know you know that. Please just- just ask for help if you need it. We're a team now, yeah?"

She could sense his doubt in her still, but she could also see he way trying. She would simply have to prove him wrong, then. They were a team. She took a deep breath and played Soap, Price, and Laswell's reassuring words to drown out Ghost's and the other voice of doubt in her mind. "Yeah. We are. Let's do this."

They jumped into their transport and set out to find Hassan.