A/N: After so long of wanting to do this, I'm finally starting my 141 & Ghosts fic. This starts 6 months prior to the actual events of MW2 & 3, but there will be a time jump after the first 10 or so chapter. Also Rorke will not be an enemy, instead he's still the Ghosts commanding officer and you will get joint missions from time to time between the Ghosts and the 141, well up until Shepherd's betrayal. And I read somewhere that Dunn's name is Jake? I don't know if that's true but that's what I named him. Anyways I hope you enjoy.
The sound of a few F-15 Eagles were heard overhead as Liz walked out of the barracks to head to the shooting range. With the lack of mission the Ghosts have been sent on, being stuck on base was proving to be irritating to her and to blow off some steam, why not go to the shooting range. That and no one would spar with her, not even her much bigger commanding officer Rorke.
She stood in the sun, soaking up some natural vitamin D. It felt nice to be outside, even if it was just to walk to another building. She looked around her, seeing other soldiers with their squads getting some late morning training in. In the distance she saw Ramirez and Dunn sitting on a crate, no doubt filled with supplies, and decided to go talk with them for a few to bide some time.
"What are you men up too?" She walked over, standing in front of them with a cheeky grin on her face.
"Protecting this crate with our lives." Dunn laughed at his own joke, making Liz and Ramirez shake their heads. "What are you up to Liz?"
"Shooting range, I'm becoming bored out of my damn mind." She sat on the crate next to Dunn and sighed. "I hate not having any missions to go on, being stuck on base all the time isn't fun." She glanced over to see them glaring at her. "Sorry and hey I remember what's it like to be a Ranger and being on base for the most part until something finally came up. Just because my dad was secretly a member of the Ghosts doesn't mean I have forgotten what it feels like."
"I'll take your word for it. So how is it, being a Ghost?"
She turned her attention on the squad doing push-ups on the other side of the road with their commander yelling orders. "Mixed feelings. I like it, I like working with Rorke, Merrick and Keegan but being on a team with my own family sucks. Every time we come back from a mission I'm getting critique from my father, 'you could've done this a little faster' or 'you could've done this different' or 'why don't you watch your brothers' more'. I'm just happy Rorke is our commander and not my dad."
She felt a hand rest on her shoulder, turning to see Ramirez giving her a small smile. "Don't sweat it Liz, you're a great soldier!"
"Yeah, way better than your brothers'. You fought for this because you had too, not because it was given to you." Dunn gave her a small smile, that she mirrored. "And that makes you better in my eyes."
Liz glanced between them, the small smile on her face growing bigger. She was blessed to have friends like Dunn and Ramirez on base, someone who could put her in a better mood when she felt down and both of them were all around good friends and great soldiers.
"Thank you, both of you!" She wrapped her arms around both their shoulders. "It's good to have friends like you guys."
All three of them laughed as Liz dropped her arms from around their necks.
"You're welcome! Truthfully I never really liked Hesh, he has too much of an ego on him." Dunn wiped some sweat off his brow and sighed. "Makes it hard to work with him."
"Try being related to him. At least when you go on a mission you don't have to be stuck with him."
Dunn gave her a small smile, that she mirrored once again. "Why don't you see if you can get reassigned over to our squad? We would love to have an amazing soldier as yourself."
Ramirez scoffed, making Liz and Dunn look over at him with a raised brow. "First off I agree with Dunn, you should see if you can get reassigned to our squad. But can you two please act like you're together? Almost the whole base knows you are, why not actually act like it?"
Liz sighed, glancing over at the squad across from them. Her attention was brought to her hand when she felt someone grab it, seeing it belonged to Dunn. He was giving her a small smile, indicating everything was going to be alright.
"Would it be bad if I'd say it's because of my family?"
"Why? You usually don't give a shit what your family thinks."
She looked over at Ramirez and sighed. "I don't. I just know they'll use it against me, 'cause apparently being in a relationship is a luxury to them. I just want some happiness in my life."
Ramirez nodded. "We're on a base full of highly trained soldiers, yet you're probably the strongest one here Liz. Don't let your family come between something that's good, if they don't like it then that's their problem, not yours or Dunn's. We're in the middle of trying to stop the beginning of an inevitable war, you deserve to be getting dicked down by Dunn every night."
Liz snorted and shook her head. "Thanks for that. But you're right, I really shouldn't let it get to me. They're just aggravating you know?"
"Who's aggravating?"
Her eyes widened when she heard that familiar deep voice, hoping he only heard what she said and not Ramirez. She looked behind her, as did Dunn and Ramirez to see Rorke standing behind them with his arms crossed. Making them all wonder if he's been there the whole time.
"Oh...just…...my family."
"What did your brothers' do now?" He uncrossed his arms and sat down next to them. "You seem to be on edge lately Liz, everything alright?"
She maneuvered herself to look at him and scoffed. "What haven't they done. Yeah I'm fine, just getting antsy with no missions as of late. I don't like being cooped up in the base with nothing to do."
"Yeah, this is the longest we've gone without a mission, even I'm getting antsy with nothing to do. I'm hoping that changes tomorrow, Shepherd is coming with a few updates."
Liz, Dunn and Ramirez all groaned with a scowl on their faces. Neither of them liked Shepherd, thinking he was a pompous asshole.
"What does that asshole want?" Dunn chimed in.
"Don't know. All I know is that he wants to speak with Liz tomorrow at 0900."
She gulped, as Dunn and Ramirez turned their attention on her, both with worried looks on their faces. Shepherd wasn't one to call people into his office for a one on one unless it was important...or they did something wrong. Liz hoped it was the latter.
"What did you do Liz?"
"I'm trying to figure that out James. I haven't done anything...unless it's for that time I told Merrick to playfully fuck off." She chuckled. "Honestly I have no idea why he wants to talk to me."
"Whatever it is, it better be good."
"Tell me about it. And yes I'll tell you what happened, don't worry."
"You better, I am your commanding officer Liz."
Liz turned back to him, shaking her head and chuckled. "You know I didn't mean you. I meant these two."
"I know." He clapped her shoulder, then stood up. "We have team training in the morning at the time you meet with Shepherd, just come when you can."
"Yes, sir."
Rorke scoffed and walked off shaking his head. Leaving the rest laughing as he walked off.
Liz turned back to Dunn and Ramirez, tapping her fingers methodically on the grate they were sitting on. "So do you guys have anything to do today? I'm bored."
Ramirez hopped off the grate, turning to them. "I have to help Foley with something, so I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." He turned to Dunn and smirked. "Make sure to use a condom."
"What's a condom? Never heard of it before."
"Oh my god Jake." She snorted and shook her head. "We'll see you later James."
Ramirez walked off with a wave of his hand.
She turned back to Dunn, lightly shoving at his shoulder and laughed, as did he. They went quiet, gazing into each other's eyes. At that moment Liz was thinking, maybe Ramirez was right and they should act like a real couple instead of hiding it. So she leaned forward, making their lips meet.
Dunn's eyes widened briefly, then he settled into the kiss and hummed. He pulled away and smiled. "What was that for?"
"Just…..I wanted too. Maybe James is right, maybe we should act like a couple from now on."
"I always thought pigs would be flying before James was ever right about something." They both chuckled. "I agree, I think we should show the base we're together."
He leaned over, kissing her once more before hopping off the crate and offering her his hand. She smiled and took it. He helped her off, intertwining their hands together before walking towards the barracks.
"Where are we going?"
"Back to my room. I figured you want to go somewhere private and since James isn't going to be back for awhile I thought we could just hang out in my room."
"That sounds perfect actually. I have my radio if anyone needs me."
On the walk back to Dunn's room, the hallways were pretty much bare. Everyone was off doing their jobs or relaxing if they had the day off. Which were few and far between when you're on the brink of war. And luckily, it looked like Dunn had the day off since he wasn't in full gear.
He opened the door for Liz, letting her go first. She smiled at him, then walked over to his bed and sat down. Moving to lean against the wall. Dunn shut the door, and joined her on the bed.
"I can't get over we lasted almost 6 months without anyone figuring us out." Dunn laughed and intertwined their hands together again. "6 months! I can't believe we've been together that long already."
"I know, it doesn't seem that long. But...I'm happy!"
"I'm happy too!" He let go of her hand, wrapping it around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him. "Meeting you was the best thing to happen to me."
"And meeting you was the best thing to happen to me." She looked over at him and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Being with you was the best decision I made. I feel so much more happy when I'm with you, I don't have to worry about anything."
"You shouldn't have to worry. I'm here for you Liz, no matter what." He kissed the top of her head, lingering there for a moment. "So how do you think your team will feel once they find out about us?"
"I know you are, and I'm grateful for that. As for my team, Rorke will be 100 percent okay with it. Merrick and Keegan will most likely not care, and my family should have a shit fit. That's nothing new."
She picked at the blanket and sighed. All she ever wanted was a family that supported her decisions, no matter what they were. But the more she diverged from the way her brothers' were, the more distance it put between her and her family. She just wasn't like that, and being someone she's not proved more harrowing than being at the front line.
"I'm sure if you told Rorke the truth about your family, I'm sure he will help. He has a soft spot for you, I can tell."
"I know he would, I just don't want him to get stuck in the middle, you know?"
Dunn nodded his head, then leaned over and kissed her. "Yeah. Well whatever your family tries to do to break us up, it's not going to happen."
"I love you!"
"I love you too!"
He moved back to his original spot beside her, wrapping his arm back around her shoulders - cuddling in each others arms for the time being.
The coziness didn't last long before Liz's radio went off, making both of them groan.
"Liz I need you in my office." said Rorke
"Be right there." She looked back over at Dunn and pouted her lip. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Okay." He leaned over, giving her a quick kiss. "If I'm not here, I'll be in the cafeteria."
"Sounds good."
xXx
She got to Rorke's office, knocking on the door a few times. She couldn't help but wonder what he wanted her for, if she did something wrong or if it was because of Shepherd. Either way she'll find out very soon.
"Come in."
She opened the door, giving him a small smile as she shut it - walking over to the chair in front of his desk where he sat and sat down. "You wanted to see me…..sir."
He chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "You're not in trouble Liz, you don't need to use any formalities."
"Oh." She perked up a bit, as the slight case of anxiety started to leave her. "Does this have anything to do with Shepherd then?"
"No it doesn't." He sighed, putting both elbows on his desk and leaned forward. "It has to do with your family."
Her eyes widened briefly, then she sighed. "How much did you hear?"
"Enough to know that you want off this squad."
"I don't want to be off the squad, I like it here. I like being apart of the Ghosts, I just hate be critiqued by my father all the time."
Rorke got up, walking over to the other side of the desk to sit in the empty chair next to her. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've done something."
"I didn't want to bring you into it." She maneuvered herself on the chair to face him, bringing her knees up to her chest. "You have enough on your plate as it is."
"Liz you're a member of this team and I would like to know if anything is going on. Look I don't care if I've known your dad for years, you're still apart of this team and if you're having problems with your own family I would like to know."
She sighed and tapped the chairs arms methodically. "I didn't want you and my dad to be at each other's throats. You know he would freak if I brought you into anything, I just hate that he critiques me because I'm not my brothers'."
Rorke maneuvered himself so he was facing her, elbow resting on the arm of the chair. "No you're not your brothers', you are your own person with a skill set that works for you. You are one of the most adaptable members on this team, no matter what happens or where we are, your head is always in the game. And you have a natural leading quality in you. Keegan has seen it, and so has Merrick and I."
"Really? No one has ever mentioned that to me."
Her eyes started to glisten, this was the first time she heard praise like this and it made her feel quite happy.
"Really! You'd make a helluva good Captain someday."
"Maybe I'll take your job someday." Liz said with a laugh. "I'm kidding I don't want that big of a responsibility."
"And you would hate all the paperwork." He chuckled. "So do you want me to speak to your dad?"
"I would, I hate the paperwork now. No, I don't want to make things worse, and Merrick and Keegan don't deserve to be caught in the middle."
"Alright, if you change your mind just let me know."
"I will." She stood up and stretched, and as happy as she was that Rorke knew she was much more eager on getting back to Dunn. "Can we keep my relationship with Dunn between us? I don't want them knowing just yet."
He stood up, easily towering over her. "Hey that's your life, you can date whoever you want. But yes, it'll stay between us."
"Thank you!"
"You're welcome!"
xXx
Liz headed back to Dunn's room, feeling a lot less anxious than before. Rounding the corner she spotted her brother Logan walking with Merrick. They quickly spotted her since she was the only one in the hallway.
"Where are you going? Your room isn't this way." asked Logan
"I know." She stopped in front of them. "I'm going to see Jake."
"Ah, you're going to see your boyfriend."
She rolled her eyes and Merrick looked down at her with a raised brow. "You have a boyfriend?"
"I do. I'm surprised you even figured it out Logan."
He scoffed and ruffled at his blonde hair. "It's kinda hard when I was on my way back to my room and saw you two making out in the hallway a few weeks ago."
Liz looked down at her feet, face turning beat red. She knew she felt a presence that night, but when she looked she saw nobody was there, figured it was just her brain playing tricks on her because they were out in the open.
"I knew I felt someone watching. I take it you didn't tell dad or Hesh because if you did, they'd say something about it."
"Exactly. I don't get why they would considering it doesn't affect your work. I mean I don't know how long you two have been dating but it's not messing with how you are on the field so I don't see any issues."
She blinked her eyes a few times, a little taken aback by how he seemed to not know about all the arguing between her and her dad and Hesh. She was sure Hesh would've told him about it - since he tells Logan everything.
"Wait you don't know about all the arguing between dad, Hesh and I?"
Logan looked over at Merrick with a raised brow, all he did was shrugged his shoulders, making Logan turn back to her. "No. I knew something had to have been up between you guys by how distant you are recently. I just didn't know it was this bad."
"Let's just say I'm getting sick and tired of being critiqued every time we come back from a mission." She sighed and crossed her arms, glancing between Logan and Merrick. "I just got out from talking with Rorke because he overheard Ramierz, Dunn and I talking about maybe me getting transferred over to their squad."
Merrick and Logan looked at each other in a mix of worry and surprise, then looked back over at her.
"What do you mean about getting critiqued?" Merrick asked
"When we come back from a mission my dad pulls me aside and tells me what I could've done better during the mission. Or how I should watch my brothers' more. It's frustrating."
"Are you serious? Dad's really pulling that shit again?" Logan shook his head and scoffed. "This is like when we were teenagers, all over again. Now it's worse."
Merrick looked at them with a raised brow and slight confusion on his face, that made Liz laugh. "Why don't you tell Merrick about our lovely teenage years. I have someplace to be."
He rolled his eyes and laughed. "Yeah yeah. Go have fun with your boyfriend. But before you go, how long have you two been dating?"
"Six months."
"Damn. Well have fun and I'll see you later."
"Oh I will."
She chuckled at the scoff Logan gave and started to head down to Dunn's room, hoping he was there and not in the cafeteria. Upon opening the door she saw he was indeed still in his room. She sighed in relief and took her spot back on his bed.
"How'd everything go?"
Liz moved her head onto his lap, looking up at him. "It went fine, Rorke knew about everything we talked about. He's not gonna do anything unless I ask him too. I'm not gonna make my full decision on hopefully being transferred until after the whole Shepherd thing tomorrow morning."
"I told you he would help." He began playing with her hair, like he did every time they were alone together. "I hope the Shepherd thing goes smoothly, then you can be with me. It would be nice being on the same squad, then I can watch your back instead of worrying my heart out about you."
"Yeah I know he would. And you'll be worrying your heart out about me no matter what, so don't fool yourself Jake." She laughed and sat back up. "Oh, on my way back here I ran into Logan and Merrick. My brother had no clue what was going on between our dad, Hesh and I. Which was surprising to say the least."
"Logan didn't know? Wow, I thought Hesh told him everything." He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Guess not. And of course I'm gonna worry about you no matter what. I don't want anything to happen to you."
"He probably knew Logan would be on my side, so why bother. He also knew about us, he said he saw us making out in the hallway a few weeks ago." She softly smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Hey I don't want anything to happen to you either, but there's a lot of things that are out of our hands. You can worry about me, just not that much."
"Whatever you say babe."
xXx
Liz spent the rest of the day with Dunn, doing nothing but laying in bed and talking with each other. It felt nice to just have a day to themselves, instead of sneaking out any chance they got to see each other. Or Dunn sneaking over to her room in the middle of the night.
Now she was lying in her bed, wide awake while he was sound asleep next to her. Her mind couldn't leave the fact that Shepherd wanted to talk with her in the morning and she couldn't figure out what for. The only thing she can do is pray that it's nothing bad.