FRAGMENTS ; Simon Riley

Chapter 4.

ROSALIE.

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"Time's the thief of memories."

I HAD never been so interested in what was going on around me, especially with colleagues or friends. I preferred to stay in my own bubble, move forward in life and think about the future that awaited me. I still had a lot to achieve; a marriage, a family, a person who loved me for who I was--despite the blood of enemies that stained my hands, the same ones with which I tended our soldiers.

But since I joined this unit, I did nothing but be thoughtful and troubled by something. Or even by someone. Who knows who.

With those brown eyes, devoid of emotions except for a constant torment in them. The mask always on his face, that attitude he always had with me that irritated me to the core. Only he could do it, I would never have cared about anything -- in fact, I would have generally been fine with it. But with him? Damn, he irritated me.

But the very first question was; why did I let, how he behaved towards me, influence me?

My eyes were fixed on the helicopter's window, watching the towns pass beneath us on our way to the mission. With headphones plugged my ears, I occasionally listened in on their conversations over the line. Across from me sat that asshole of a lieutenant, his gloved fingers playing with the wedding ring that hung from the chain around his neck, hidden behind the dogtags.

His eyes seemed longing for something as he spaced out on a random spot of the intern, mind drifting away to a thousand thoughts. For a moment I could notice a faint frown, even beyond the warpaint around his hard eyes. What was he thinking about?

What about his wife? Why hadn't she come to bid him goodbye before deploying?

Something was bothering him, he probably lived far away from his wife, and was not able to meet her before leaving? Wait.. it was none of my business. I shouldn't have pushed myself so hard into thinking.

How foolish.

"When we land, we'll move on into the woods. We can't risk getting too close to enemy radar with the helicopter." My thoughts were interrupted by the captain, explaining again the plan for that night.

We weren't going to be alone that night, another unit was joining us for backup and when the night would fall over, we were going to set a small camp hidden by the radars.

The leaves on the trees moved violently as the helicopter lowered, landing on the grass. I adjusted my helmet on my head, making sure I had all the accessories attached to it, before stepping out of the helicopter after the others.

The helicopter's propellers were still whirring, creating a strong wind around us, so strong that the poor little tie I had on my hair came undone, letting them slide through the air in a silky mess. I walked to my team hastily, my hands trying to gather my hair back up again.

I could hear them talking over the intercom, organizing who was going to take the lead on the walk to the enemy base. So I simply stood there, hands trying to steady my hair as the helicopter took off once again.

"Nova." Ghost's gruff voice spoke behind me quietly, making me quiet down the current channel I was in through the intercom. I tried to arrange my hair in a braid, but I couldn't do it, it was too complicated from behind. "Take off the helmet." He attempted in a quiet voice, holding a delicacy I've never seen from him.

And instead of being stubborn, I followed him. I unclasped the helmet and took it off from my head.

I felt his presence, his height looming over me from behind, as he gently took my hair in his hands. He separated it into three sections, as if he already knew how, as if he was used to it. And from there, I thought of his wife. Had he learned to braid her hair? What a romantic, who would've thought.

I didn't want to argue, I didn't have the strength or the need. I limited myself to a simple smile, which he couldn't see, while he braided my hair as if he had already touched it many times in his life. No questions were asked--perhaps one wouldn't hurt?

"Does your wife usually ask you to braid her hair?" I questioned, slowly and silently. It was like everything around us faded away; no teammates, no mission, no danger. Just him relaxing me with his touch on my hair. "She loves braids. So, yes. Even when she doesn't ask, she lets me do her hair."

His words warmed my heart unexpectedly. So, he wasn't just an asshole? Good. Perhaps we could've gone along in a possible future.

"There you go." He announced after a while, letting the long braid fall over my back. I put the helmet back on my head, but before I could do anything, he was right in front of me. He reached for the clasp, slowly connecting them for me and tightening it enough so the helmet would stick perfectly to me.

How odd..

"Thank you." My voice came out like a murmur, my eyes looking at him with confusion and a strange longing.

Reality around us reappeared. That little moment disappeared in an instant, teleporting me to the important moment of the mission. Right, I shouldn't get distracted.

The captain divided us into pairs, and of course I ended up with that damn masked soldier.