FRAGMENTS ; Simon Riley

Chapter 32.

ROSALIE.

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"My heart woke me up crying last night."

(unedited)

LIKE a fool I didn't want to talk about it. We were still on a mission and it would probably start a fight -- it just wasn't the case.

It was getting dark, the snow was falling heavily and everything was covered in white, including us. We had just arrived at our destination, at the back of the base which was guarded by four soldiers. Two on the towers, and two at the gate.

We positioned ourselves at different points, him a little higher up and I behind a tree. "I'll take down the two on the towers, quick and quiet. As soon as they drop, the other two are yours." Simon spoke quietly into the intercom, his rough voice sending shivers through my body.

I hummed in response, concentrating my sight into the thermal scope of my rifle. I made sure the suppressor was attached, my finger steady on the trigger. Stealth wasn't one of my favorites, especially when it came to missions like this; with snow, freezing temperatures, dark.

Deep breath in, and then out.

It didn't take much for Simon to land two bullets into their heads, and in a blink, I shot the first in the chest and the other one in the head. "Good job, that's my girl."

Damn this man.

That praise was unnecessary.

"..Thank you." I muttered, my throat suddenly going dry.

Looking around the white landscape, I could make out his broad figure making his way towards me. And only now I've noticed how damn intimidating he looked with the skull mask, amidst the darkness.

"You okay?" He asked as soon as he stepped in front of me, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I opened my mouth to reply, but Laswell's voice interrupted the moment, "I hacked their system, I have ten minutes before Manuel finds out and sends back up."

"Ghost and Nova, I unlocked the back gate, you should be able to go in but be aware of the other soldiers."

Our gazes met, with a small nod he led the way, carefully looking around, his feet digging into the tall and soft snow.

We walked towards the entrance, and without any problems, he pressed a button that opened the gates. We immediately slipped through the gap, walking silently in the darkness with night vision goggles. Slowly, I felt the cold seep into my body, despite the heavy uniform designed for freezing temperatures.

I held the weapon tightly in my hands as I followed him, covering his back at every step. By now, following the general intercom'd line, we had all sneaked in from different sides -- some from the towers, some from the other entrances.

We were just waiting for the right moment to penetrate the central area of ​​the base, as soon as the hack timer would go off and the support planes would arrive.

But I didn't notice that as we advanced, Simon stopped in hidden and dark corners to place explosives. It was the big mission. We had arrived in time to the enemy, Manuel, before he left secretly for the terrorist attack he had organized.

With the last explosive, we neared the entrance of the main building, guarded by two men, whom we killed together with two simultaneous suppressed shots. "Watcher-1, unlock the door at the section A6." Simon requested, pressing his back against a wall next to the door.

In the meantime, I took the opportunity to reload the weapon and remove the silencer. Air support was now one minute away. One minute from total chaos, one minute from the heart of the mission.

I didn't even remember if I had done something like this before. I just knew that I wasn't that experienced years ago, so I was assigned to the easier squad missions, while Simon had just been assigned to another special unit. All before the crash.

For a moment I felt my heart pounding in my chest and loudly in my ears, my vision blurring. And as if he knew my soul too, he noticed my tension. His gaze softened, his shoulders relaxed. With a click, he deactivated the microphone, then approached me with long, silent strides.

I found myself engulfed into his arms, half of my chest buried into his chest. His heart was beating fast and loud against my ear, and somehow, it managed to soothe my nerves. "Hey, I've got you." He whispered roughly, his chin coming to rest on my head, from the height difference.

"I'm okay.. just a bit nervous." And by the time I had blurted out the words, a strong sense of nausea came crashing on me. Not again, please. 

I already knew I had turned deathly white, I could feel it myself, and as soon as Simon looked down, his eyes widened. "Just.. a bit nauseous, it's normal," I whispered in reassurance, pulling away slightly to take deep breaths, "I guess."

Not even my exact words reassured him and me. As if I hadn't been throwing up for a whole week. "You were never nauseous during anxiety." He stated firmly, a hint of concern lacing his deep tone. "Then it must be motion sickness from the chinook."

I moved away just a little, waving him off. I ducked into a corner, when the nausea had become too insistent, throwing up the emptiness and acid in my stomach. I hadn't eaten anything -- in fact, I had already thrown out everything I had a few hours ago.

Everything hurt, I almost felt light.

"You're going back on the chinook. You can't participate to the mission while sick." His words made me freeze. My head snapped towards him, my eyes wide, "No. There's no way. I'm all fine." I refused, walking towards him and wiping my mouth, "It's just my nerves. I promise."

I looked at him with pleading eyes, tugging at his uniform lightly, watching his narrowed eyes. "Rosalie, you were never nauseous. I know you well. For how long has this been going on?"

The answer was... I hadn't really noticed. I was too distracted by what was happening around me, by memories and missions. And it ended with me neglecting my health. Just as I opened my mouth to answer, the ground shook violently, before an explosion near us ricocheted loudly, mixed with the sound of numerous helicopters that flew over the area.