I stared at the ceiling as the sun slowly shone through the bedroom window. I had been sitting like that for the past two hours. I woke up from a nightmare, not that it was new. Times were tough, one was lucky to escape any nightmares during sleep, and good dreams were rarer. I took a deep breath and let my eyes drift close in hopes to get a bit more sleep.

"Up and at 'em," Keegan's voice said inches from my face. That was one thing about us Ghosts; we could do anything silently.

"Might want to move your face back before I break your nose," I grumbled, slowly opening up an eye. He chuckled, but moved away knowing I wasn't joking. I sat up slowly rubbing my eyes.

"Sleep ok?" he asked with a tilt of his head. He adjusted his vest and grabbed his mask.

I didn't answer right away as I tried to keep from getting upset. "Just...nightmares…" I grabbed my clothes and pulled them over my under armor that served as my sleepwear. I was about to get to my feet when my face met a chest and strong arms wrapped around me. I couldn't help but smile as I hugged Keegan back. I normally hated people in my personal space, but Keegan was the exception. He had finally won out after months of ignoring my space.

The door opened and we broke apart as Ajax poked his head through, "Come on you two. Breakfast is waiting. Then we gotta move out. It won't be safe here much longer." Then he was gone again and we looked at each other and laughed as we walked out. That boy wasn't so much worried about the safety of the place, he was worried that by the time it took him to tell us to come eat all the food would be gone.

In the designated eating area, Merrick was talking to Scarecrow. They were talking in hushed tones and I silently wondered what they were talking about. Keegan and I grabbed our plates and sat with the rest of the Ghosts. Grim and Torch were in their daily eating contest. The rules changed daily and today it seemed they had to eat with only one hand. I shook my head and then looked at our leader and his second in command. I caught Merrick look at me and then back at Scarecrow. I frowned, were they talking about me?

"So Jade, want to explain what you and Keegan were doing this morning?" Ajax asked wiggling his eyebrows at us. That stopped conversations in their tracks.

"He just woke me up and you know that," I said, glaring at my plate. "That was all."

"Doesn't sound like all," Kick teased, taking a bite of what was supposed to be hash browns.

Ajax chuckled, "I caught them hugging." There were a bunch of "oos".

Keegan flat toned spoke up, "We were clothed, he just...forgot to mention that part." That ended the teasing and everyone went back to eating.

A hand rested on my shoulder and I looked up to see Merrick standing there, "Hey, can I talk to you?"

I swallowed my mouthful and nodded, "Yes…" I stood and followed him and Scarecrow to a different room. "What is it?"

Merrick went to the window his face grim. Scarecrow looked at me clearly troubled. Scarecrow, Elias Walker, was the oldest. If I were to guess he was more than likely in his fifties or close to that. I really looked up to him and felt him a father figure. The other person I looked up to was Gabriel Rorke, my brother, but he was killed when they assassinated General Almagro. With the prolonged silence I felt a twisting in my gut.

Finally Elias broke the silence, "We've gained intel that your brother isn't dead...but he has joined forces with the Feds." The Feds were our enemy who is trying to gain of control of the world. It started during the Tel Aviv War, which devastated the whole Middle East and through the world into an energy crisis.

With the powerhouses crippled the oil-rich South American nations formed the Federation of the Americas. It was led by General Almagro and spread unchecked throughout the entire South American countries. Almagro hated Americans and demanded arrest and execution of all U.S. born individuals living in the Feds territory. That's when the Ghosts started and they rushed in to kill Almagro. Not that it stopped the Feds.

"Jade?" Merrick said breaking me from my thoughts. He hadn't moved, just stood there by the window.

I shook my head, "He wouldn't do that. He wouldn't do anything to hurt me...He hated the Feds." I looked at Scarecrow, "Your intel is confusing him for someone else."

The old man closed his eyes, "You know better than anyone else that I wish it did...we have pictures…" He reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope. From the envelope came pictures, he handed them to me. I flipped through them and I recognized my brother in each.

"This isn't him. It's his body, but they're using it. We just need to snap him out of what they did to him. Remind him we are his family, not his enemy," I stated, handing the pictures back.

He smiled sadly, "I wish it was that easy, Jade. But we probably won't be able to snap him out of it. And it may be his choice. We don't know what happened."

"So that's it, we aren't even going to try to get him back?" I asked, my tone getting cold.

"Scout, it's not that easy," Merrick said softly, using his nickname for me. "It's just too dangerous."

I glared at a wall so I wouldn't glare at them. "But that's our job. Facing down danger. Look if we get close to him, let me try to talk to him, let me try. I don't care what happens to me."

Merrick strode meaningfully to me and I backed up to the wall. He lifted my chin, making me look at him, "What if we do? I know your brother wouldn't want us to willingly put you in that kind of danger…"

"I'm in that kind of danger everyday, genius," I growled, trying to push him back. "And I'd let Keegan and you stand behind me at the ready…" I stopped fighting, "I just want to save him."

Merrick let me go, "We do too, Scout, we do too. Now go finish your breakfast, we got a busy day today."

I nodded and walked back out to join the others. Ajax was going to tease me until he saw my face and he looked at his now empty plate. The others stood and went to rinse off their plates and get ready for the day, leaving me with my best friends.

Keegan put his hand on my shoulder, "Everything okay?" I leaned into him and his arm wrapped around my shoulders.

"My brother...he's not dead...he...he is now the leader of the Feds," I said, my voice cracking. "I know they brainwashed him. He wouldn't do this by choice…"

Keegan nodded, "No he wouldn't. But you know if he's going to kill us we need to take him out first…" If anyone else said that I would have punched them. This was Keegan's way, and if I hit him he wouldn't talk to me for a few days in punishment. And I needed both of them right now.

"How do you manage that?" Ajax asked, looking between us. He shifted his position so he was leaning close to us as if we were going to tell him a huge secret. Keegan raised a brow. "To not get hit," he clarified.

He smirked, "I have my ways." He shifted his shoulder telling me it was time to sit up. After I did he stood with his plate and held out his hand for mine. I looked at my half full plate and realized I wasn't hungry anymore and handed it to him. Ajax held his up. "Are you a lady now Ajax?" The plate went down.