Dislclaimer: I don't own MW2, Infinity Ward does. C:

Roach never really liked the dark that much, it sort of scared him. But only if he was alone, if he was with a group of people he was fine. Being in the dark by yourself…

It's terrifying.

And now he was captured by the enemy due to parachute problems that led him straight into the enemies' camp. Although he is very grateful they didn't shoot him while he was up in the air.

He huddled himself in the corner, hugging his legs for dear life. The dark just made Roach feel weird. It wouldn't let you see, you wouldn't know where you're going, and you wouldn't know if anyone was next to you. The enemy could strike any second and you wouldn't have known they were there, unless you had night vision goggles.

Roach huffed and looked at the only light source he had in the prison cell, a small window on the wall. It hardly gave any light due to the fact it was cloudy, as the moon was hiding behind gray clouds. Surely it was only a matter of time before he was rescued from the dark.

He looked at his arms, chained together along with his legs. It was stupid, he thought, they didn't really have to chain him. He couldn't do anything to get out even if he tried. Roach grunted as he pulled his hands away from each other, making the chains 'clink' and 'clink'.

It was moving, the darkness, he could feel it. Roach had begged his captors to keep the lights on, he tried to explain his phobia of the dark. They laughed and kicked him into the cell, calling him a coward.

But he couldn't help it, he had a traumatic experience with the dark when he was a child. Back when he was in living in Great Britain, which was when he was ivery/i young, there had been a power outage due to a storm. He was all alone in his room and he had heard his parents calling for him, back then he did not have a sister yet, and he tried finding them by feeling around his surroundings.

And he felt that…

There.

Was.

Something.

THERE.

He had thought it was just his father following him, so he had called out to him. But the real father responded from far away, leaving Gary starting to get scared. He questioned if it was his mother, the real mother responded from far away like the father.

The young Gary was in full blown panic and tried to get to where his parents were as fast as he could. Once he took a step something tripped him and he fell face first onto the wood floor, he screamed out in pain. His parents yelled and were asking what was wrong, their voiced getting louder indicated they were looking for him.

As Gary lay still on the ground, something heavy fell on him. He screamed bloody murder and got up, running from fear. Just before he started crying somewhere in a corner, a bright light flashed in front of him. It was his father with a flashlight calling out to him. Gary was more than happy to jump into his father's arms.

But now it was the present. Gary has grown up and accustomed to the name of 'Roach', done many things good or bad, but he was still afraid of the dark. Trapped in an enemy's prison, it seemed to be much worse than his childhood experience. He could have just tripped on a rug when he was younger, and maybe the broom fell on his back, but he was a child back then. A child that didn't want to know if it was just objects, because there was the possibility it wasn't.

Roach softly placed his hand on his face, winching a bit from the pain. His captors had beaten him up for information, bruises here and there, a black eye, but no bleeding. Which was odd, but he guesses it was because they knew that his teammates would try to save him and kill them off. Or maybe they would try to get more information from him in the morning. Roach hoped it was the latter.

Light shone through the small barred window, it lifted Roach's spirits up a bit. He extended his hand out to it and the light was on his hand. It made him feel warm, and as he closed his eyes he thought that, maybe, even for a little, that he was isafe/i.

Some light is better than no light.

BANG BANG BANG.

What the..?

Thud! "Where the bloody hell is he?" Ghost..?

"Roach! Roach, where are you?" Captain..!

Roach crawled quickly to the bars of his prison cell. Calling out to his captain, "Captain..? Captain!"

"Roach? Where are you?" He heard Mactavish say somewhere in the darkness.

A feeling of hope filled Roach, "C-captain, turn on the lights! Please!" He could feel somebody on the other side of the bars.

"We can't right now, we had to take out the power to get in. The others are searching for the keys, you'll be out in no time." It was Royce. Roach could feel Royce's cool breath hit against his face as he talked, he was close to Roach's face with the bars as barriers. Royce yelled down the hall, "Captain! Ghost! I found Roach!"

Ghost responded back, "Good job, mate! We're still trying to find the keys, keep an eye on him!"

"Yes sir!" Royce said as he reached out between the bars and held Roach's hand, intertwining them together. He turned to look at Roach, "Roach, you look scared."

Roach blushed, "What..?"

"Night vision goggles," Royce answered.

Roach blinked and stared at the dark space where Royce was blankly, "Oh." Royce silently watched him look down, Royce's eyebrows furrowed together as Roach held his hand with both of his own. "Oh…" Roach clenched Royce's hand, putting his forehead against it.

If anyone had to be the closest friend to Roach, it had to be Royce, with of course Meat as the second closest. Royce and Roach had been childhood friends, they kept in touch even after Roach moved to America, and even when they were in different military forces they talked occasionally. To be Roach's closest friend, Royce knew a lot about Roach, from likes to dislikes, and wants and fears…

And that included the knowledge about the power outage incident.

Reaching out between the spaces of the bars with his free hand, Royce petted Roach's head, rustling his hair a bit. Roach didn't look up, "Royce… The dark…"

"I know," Royce sighed, "I know, Roach… I know." Royce wanted to explain to Roach that he was just imagining things back when he was a child, but every time Roach would just shake his head and look away, dropping the subject. Gary's childhood trauma, Roach's mother said the last time she saw Royce, it isn't the dark. He's actually just scared of…

"Being alone

Roach looked up, "Did you say something, Royce?"

Roach couldn't see him, but Royce shook his head anyway. "No."

iIt's all really simple, Tom, Royce's first name, only heard on base if Roach would ever get angry at him, iHe was alone in the dark and 'something' attacked him, Gary is just probably scared that if he was alone, in the dark, something bad would happen to him.

He's just scared of being alone, the dark doesn't scare him when he's with other people isn't he?

Royce squeezed Roach's hand, "Roach."

"Yes?"

"… You're… Um, as long as I'm alive, you'll never be alone. I'm here for you."

There's silence.

Roach grins, "You're so confident that you'll live long."

Royce blinks for a second before his lips curl into a smirk, "Roach, I'm Royce. I'm nothing like Meat." Roach responds with a chuckle. "But really Roach… I'm here."

He felt his hand being gripped. Roach smiles shyly, "If you're the one that's saying it, then I believe you." Royce smiles genuinely.

Footsteps can be heard coming closer with a constant 'clinking' sound. Roach's eyes widen and lets go of Royce's hands. Meat grins down at Royce, "I've got the keys~!"

Roach sighs with relief, It's not the enemy.

Meat shoves a flashlight through the bars and into Roach's hands, "I also found a flashlight just for you." Roach had to stifle a happy 'squeal' when he turned the light on as Meat used the keys to open the prison cell. Meat grinned at Roach, "I know how scared you get when you're in the dark."

Roach turned his head at Royce and smiled, "Yeah, but Royce was there to keep me company. He's always there for me, y'know?" Royce's lips twitched into a smile.

Looking between the two as they walked, Meat huffed and crossed his arms. "Did a bromance moment happen while I was gone?"

Oh, yes, it was REALLY bromantic.