Chapter 3: Research

20 0 0
                                    

     I get up at 6:30 sharp. I dress and head out to the cafeteria. I smell pancakes and sausage. I get a stack and some sausage. I eat, and while I do, I see Grace. Just who I wanted. "Hey, Dokkabei! Grab some food and come over here, will ya?" I ask. She gives me a thumbs up. She's next to me in 3 minutes. "I need your help. I found a mask and know his name and face. I just need to get into the network." I say. "Mhmm. I can do that. I like to mess around with them from time to time." She says. I pull out my laptop and turn it on. I get into the main page of the mask bases with ease. "I'll take it from here." She says. She takes the computer, and gets into the "asset search" tab, as we call it. I put in "Charles" and click on England on the map. There's 3 people that pop up. All based in the same spot. "Well, shit, we found em." I say. "All in a days work. It's easy if you know what you're doing." Grace says. "Thanks for helping." I say. "You're welcome." She says. We share a quick hug. I take a screenshot and print it out. I turn the picture in to Harry. "We found them. Right under our noses." I say. "Wow. You and Grace did this?" He asks. "Yea. Once you know what to look for, it's easy. Now, we just have to wipe out the base." I say. "Yes. Good work for today though. We'll take care of this base later." He says. "Alright. Over and out." I say, walking out. 

     I get back to my room as Mira wakes up. "What have you done?" She asks. She saw the big smile on my face. "We found the mask base in England. It's in London, right under our noses." I say. She cheers and pulls me in for a hug. I return the gesture. We have a quick kiss. It's 7:00 now, and we've already had a major discovery. Mira and I go and run, shoot, and work out. At 9, all the others are up, and we're called for a meeting in the cafeteria. Some of the others are eating breakfast as this goes on. Harry explains that specialists Grace and Jason have found the Mask base in England. We stand and give a bow. Well, I do, Grace just waves. I'm called up to the podium. "Well, I guess this calls for a party! Same bar we went to the first time, right?" I get a lot of nods. "We'll make it a tradition, then. For now, rest. We got a lot of work done today. We'll attack tomorrow." I finish. The others stand and leave. Mira and I are the only ones who stay. "What? Was my fly down?" I ask. "No. It's just that you did a lot. You found something that's really hard to find." She says. That's right. But it seems too easy. "Hold on." I say. I turn my laptop back on and review the screenshot. "So, 3 Charles, all based at the same place." I say. I zoom in on the image. I find a road name. "Call Mike, he knows all of the roads in England." I say. Mira calls Thatcher and he's over quickly. "You recognize this road?" I ask him. "Yea, but it's not any road in England. That's in the US. In Minnesota, I believe." Mike says. "Alright. Thanks Mike." I say. We shake hands and he's off. "God damnit." I say. I stand up, give Mira a quick kiss, and run off to Harry's office. "Hey, I have an update on the base. It's actually in the US. Minnesota." I tell him. "Alright. We'll still set out for it, but not tomorrow. We have to get the choppers and everything. We could probably set out the day after." Harry says. "Alright. Thanks Harry." I say, leaving. I'm expecting him to give an announcement soon. We'll still go to the bar tonight, just ship out later. 

     I arrive at my door. I try it and see that it's locked. "Who the fuck..." I say under my breath. Mira appears at my side. "Someone locked the door." I tell her. I put my ear against he door. I hear muffled talk and music. "Some talk and music. Should I kick it down?" I ask. "If you want. We should probably see who's inside first off." Mira says. I grab a drone from Jordan's room, activate it, and drive it in. I see Blu and Cav talking. I drive the drone out before anyone sees it. I pick it up and put it back in Jordan's room. "Blu and Cav are in there. Don't know what about though." I say. I get ready to kick it down, but the door unlocks at that second. I realize this, and open it. Blu and Cav are staring at us. "All The Stars" is playing. I look on the floor. No clothes, thank god. I pull out a small black light and check the bed. Clean. "What were you two doing in here?" Mira asks as I investigate. "Blu asked me out. I said yes. We didn't really want anyone to know until we went. Your room was the most remote from everyone." Cav explains. I found some empty bags in the trash. I dumped it this morning. Seems like Blu got a bit nervous or hungry. Probably both. The music was also to help calm him down. "All the evidence points to 'that's the truth.'" I say. "I wouldn't do it in your room, bro." Blu says. "And I was nervous. Cav can be scary at times." He adds. "All women can be. Just piss them off enough." I say. Mira slaps the back of my head. Blu chuckles a little. I lift him in the air and body slam him onto the bed. "Aw,  look at the cute couple." Cav says. Something in my head clicks, and I fall on the bed. My girlfriend used to say that whenever I was messing around with one of my friends. Mira rushes to my side. She grabs my headphones and phone. She plays a song that always pulls me out of these moments. "You idiot! Watch what you say! He gets flashbacks easily. Just bring up that mission and this starts all again." She says. I'm lip syncing with the song. "Rap God" by Eminem. I sit up and start rapping with it. Everyone in the room watches and listens. When it gets to the fast part, I perfectly rap with it. They clap. I take off my headphones. "Please, be careful with what you say." I tell Cav. "And next time, ask if you want to use our room." I tell them. "Alright. Sorry, Ult." Cav says. "You're okay." I say. 

     It's almost time to go to the bar. I dress in Marine Corps fatigues this time. Mira wears the same purple dress again. "Damn, does that make you look good." I tell her. "You saying that I only look good in this dress?" She asks sarcastically. "No, and you know it." I say. We pull each other in for a kiss. I go into the bathroom. "Flat top, combover, or leave it?" I ask her. "Flat top." She says. I put it up. We walk out to my truck. We get in, and the Rainbow team goes out. 

     As we drive, I put on "Burning Man" by Dierks Bentley. Mira and I duet the song. The rest of the songs in my playlist play. Once "Perfect" is over, we arrive at the bar. Mira and I walk in hand-in-hand. I wave to Bruce. He salutes back. Most of everyone is already here. Blu and Cav are dancing. IQ and Binary are flirting. Jordan and Yumiko are chatting. Zo and Ela are starting an argument. "One sec." I say to Mira. I stride over to the Bosak sisters. They don't notice me. They start arguing, and for some reason I can't stop them. Blu walks over to assist me. Doesn't work. I go and get two drinks from Bruce. He knows what they like, so he makes them real quick. I hand them their drinks. They shut up and down them. "Good. Now, no more goddamn arguing." I tell them. Zofia nods. Ela makes a noise that I assume means yes. I return to Mira. "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" just stopped. Now, "Pour Some Sugar On Me" is playing. The cover by NSP, not the original. Mira and I dance. I sing with the song. Mira giggles a little that I know the lyrics. After the song ends, I grab a drink at the bar. "You still have to pay for the other two you got for Zo and Ela." Bruce says. I take out my wallet and pay for 4 drinks. "Alright. Those two, one for you and one for Mira?" He asks. "Yep. Jame-o and Ginger Ale for me." I say. "You know what? I'll have one of those as well." Mira says. Bruce makes them and slides them over. I down mine quickly. Mira takes a sip. She seems to not like it at first. "Give it a second try, the first sip always sucks." I tell her. She tries a second sip. Now she tastes all the flavors, and really likes it. Half a minute later, her drink's gone. We go out on the floor together. I'm surprised to see Mute out here. "Hey Mark! Decided to dance?" I ask. "Yea. Decided not to be the 'mute' one for a little." He says. Mira, Mute, Nomad, Ash, Maverick and I are all on the floor and dancing. Once "Lose Yourself" is on, Mav and I have a dance battle. Kaid and Thatcher don't like the song much. Mav is an intense competitor. I dance the first part and chorus. Mav dances the second. We both dance the third. Mira and Mute are on my side. Nomad and Ash are on Mav's. Mav pulls the same chorus dance. I switch mine up for the third. Once the last line is said, I end with a back flip. Everyone claps for Maverick and I. "Good battle Erik." I say to him. We shake hands. "Well, who won?" Bruce asks. "Ultra?" Half the room claps. "Maverick?" The other half claps. "Well then, it's a tie!" Bruce announces. 

     After our dance battle, we all decide to rap it up and go back to base. It's 22:00 hours. Mira and I ride in my truck back. I'm driving. She decides to start up a conversation. "So, when you first got here, you seemed like this hardcore Marine that didn't show affection. But, after a little, you fell in love with me. What's whit that?" She asks. "Well, my heart's been dragged through the fire and the flames enough. I hardly trusted anyone, even if they earned it. Once I saw I could trust everyone, I decided to get back in the game. Then, 'us' happened. And I couldn't be more grateful." I say. She smiles. We play the music guessing game again until we get back to base. Once we're back, there's a small gathering in the cafeteria. Thatcher and Kaid are up at the front. Delta and I meet up. Mira and Jackal join us. "Attention! Mission details! We ship out tomorrow, so get some rest. We leave at 1000 hours." Kaid says. "Pack anything tomorrow. Rest is the most important thing right now." Thatcher says. "Oohrah!" Delta and I shout. We all leave and head to our rooms. I get a shower and hop into my bed afterwards. Mira slides in and we fall asleep together.

A/N: Hey, sorry for being gone for so long. I was rather uninspired to get this done, and I was caught up playing Siege and Black Ops 4 with my friends. I did complete the IX Easter egg. Also, personal shit got in the way of me finishing this. So here it is, sorry again for taking so long.

Enlisted: A Rainbow Six Siege Story (Book 2 of the Recruited series)Where stories live. Discover now