War of Hearts

Chapter Seventeen - The First Step

Hex froze upon hearing of Laswell's capture "...no." She shook her head in disbelief.

Soap put a hand on her back, and said gently; a realization as much as a question, "that's what they were trying to get out of you, wasn't it? Who you sent the intel to?" The picture was coming together now as the pieces clicked into place: Why she was missing, how she got captured, why they were torturing her, and why Graves turned. She nodded. "I didn't- ...I didn't tell them anything. How did they get to her?"

Ghost looked at her in horror as Soap and Price looked at her with pride. Gaz relayed their own mission details, "things turned sideways when our team moved on the missile guidance systems. We found Russian crates in with cartel shipments right before we got swarmed by Al Qatala forces and they got her. I don't know if they realized the dirt she had on Shepherd, but with all of them working together, this whole thing is bigger than we ever realized."

Soap still sat with his arm around Hex, a comforting and defensive gesture. She clearly did not need protecting, but he looked like he was ready to kill Ghost for the way he just talked to her. "So how do we get her back? If AQ has her, we'd need an army..."

Price grinned, "oh, I can get us an army. We got video feed with proof of life on their way from where they caught her in Spain, presumably heading to Iran, and I have friends in Urzikstan. We deal with Graves, then we go get her back."

Hex nodded weakly in agreement, and Gaz pulled to a stop at the safehouse next to Alejandro as the rest of Price's reinforcements and Los Vaqueros arrived behind them. Alejandro walked over to their team as the doors began to open, "make yourselves at home. We'll take some time to regroup, then we kill ourselves a shadow."

Ghost practically ran out of the back of the van and stormed off into the night. Hex went to try and go after him, but Soap stopped her with a gentle grip. He instead helped her move out of the back and Alejandro came around to her other side. "You got medical supplies?" Soap asked

"Of course."

Gaz moved to take over for Alejandro beside Hex. "Go, I got her."

Alejandro dashed inside to grab his pack and the four of them settled into a corner, placing her gently on the ground and leaning her back against the wall. Gaz and Soap started rifling through the supplies, quickly getting overwhelmed.

"Should we start with the leg? Or her wrists? What do we even do about burns that bad??"

"I found some gauze! Scissors, uh, this?" Soap held up an Israeli bandage, clearly having no idea what it was. "I can cut the belt?"

"Don't cut the belt!" Hex, Gaz, and Alejandro all yelled at the same time

Hex gave out a soft chuckle, "fell asleep in CLS class?"

"YES!" yelped Soap in a panic.

She laughed fully now, then let out a pained cough from the effort. She grunted and got to work instructing them. "See if there's anything in there for stitches for my leg. DO NOT take off the belt yet. If there's nothing for sutures, we'll need to improvise and cauterize the wound." Gaz winced at the thought, and Hex continued, "I need to buddy-tape my fingers, and we'll need antibiotic ointment and bandages for the burns, that's about all we can do for now. Who's got the steadiest hands?" Hex looked to Alejandro, who looked to Soap, who looked to Gaz, who was sweating profusely. "Soap's our sniper."