A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first fic, so I apologize for any grammatical errors and English is my second language as well! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

Chapter 1 - Primadonna Squad

February...what an appalling name for an even worse month! The weather was horrible and never seemed to be able to make up its mind. Considering the fact that was February in England, it was even worse. The only good thing about the month was a day less, or two if it was a leap year. Much to her dismay, it was not, meaning she had to endure another day of the already terrible February.

She leaned against the wall of the hangar and stared into the cloudy sky. She ignored the buzzing of her fellow soldiers and helicopters taking off. She would not see much action that day, since it was a 'special' day when the '141' would grace the S.A.S. with their presence. Well, not the entire 141, only their esteemed General and the two Captains. That was what she had been waiting for and exactly where she wanted to be. The Sergeant lowered her head, hiding her face behind her curly hair and smiled at the thought of being a part of the Task Force.
Would it be a dream come true? Most certainly, considering the fact she missed her chance the last time, and it was 'he' who got in. She did not hate 'him', but was well aware of his reputation and how people thought of him to be a legend. Her smiled dropped and she sneered just by thinking of 'him'. Even if she got in, she would have to at least tolerate him.

Having never actually met him, she felt it was wrong to judge him, but that did not stop her from holding a certain level of dislike and hostility towards him. Phantom considered that ironic, as she had never wanted to judge anyone before meeting them, but the green eyed monster prevailed. She had to tone down some things about herself, and yet she still remained pretty much the same. Her train of thought was broken by her friend and teammate, Ox.

The tall and large man approached Phantom and greeted her with a rather loud 'hey'. Being deep in thought, she was a little bit annoyed by his presence, even though they were friends. Phantom slowly rose her head to look at him, pushing her brown curly hair behind her ears as much as she could. She anticipated his next move, and he simply leaned against the wall next to her, crossing his arms. Ox gave his teammate a sly smile, which she thought had something to do with the Task Force coming to Hereford. Of course, he would tease her lightly about it. Despite his appearance, he was known for being a talkative, open jokester, a complete opposite of her. As a soldier, he was loyal and determined, traits he shared with her and with most of them as well.

"Soooo," he began, stretching that one simple word suggestively. He tilted his head slightly and watched her lips give out the smallest smile. She raised her eyebrows, inquiring him to continue.

"Today's the big day, huh?"

He finally said it, and she only shook her head in amusement. She just knew he would go with that. It was not like he wasn't predictable, but it was also because the entire regiment seemed to be talking about it. He was bound to ask anyway.
She nodded and they both looked into the distance. To her, it felt like Judgement Day, or that famous Shakespeare quote 'to be or not to be'. No matter how much she hated classic literature (or literature in general) she somehow 'connected' with the quote. It all fell down to just that, she would either get in, or she wouldn't. Her mind told her to stay calm and do her best, but her heart raced and pumped her entire being with hope. Her ambitious nature gave her no peace and she would give her all and even more. Phantom was determined and Ox knew it. She looked at him, inclining her head and softening her expression. Gazing into him, she waited for his response to her silent question, even though they both knew the answer.
He looked at her and chuckled softly.

"You know I'm not interested in them."

He told her and looked back into the distance. She let out a barely audible 'huh' and went back into her thoughts. She wondered what time it was so she could prepare herself even more. She also wondered how they looked like, as she had never seen either General Shepherd or the elusive other Captain, whose name or codename she did not know. A man, to her, clouded in mystery. Maybe she heard his name before, but she had since forgotten it. Shepherd is rather iconic and easy to remember, but him? She did not know. Phantom once heard he used to be in S.A.S. as well, but under Captain Price. If they were both coming, she wondered if her shot of getting into the Task Force was slimming. Maybe they don't even want a woman in their unit? Whatever the case was, she would show them her skills and let them assess if she was even needed, but she hoped she was.

Seeing she was lost again, Ox nudged her slightly with his elbow. She once again broke from her thoughts and looked at him curiously. What did he want? Her head was pushed forward, her lips slightly pressed and she raised her eyebrows a little bit, indicating her interest.
He noticed it and Phantom still waited for him to say something.

"You alright?"

Ox asked and she nodded, but he wasn't convinced. Nevertheless, he didn't press her any further. He told her to get ready, as the '141' was coming soon. She straightened her back and stepped away from the hangar wall. When Ox looked away, Phantom quietly walked away into the hangar, intending on practicing her speed, and later her accuracy outside in the field. Ox, not noticing she had already gone to the hangar, looked around himself. He shook his head, realizing who he was just talking to and decided to go inside and watch her.
Luck was not on her side at that moment, because her Captain yelled for them to gather up, leaving her no time to see where she was standing in terms of speed. She cursed in her mind and looked behind, seeing Ox. He stood next to her as the rest of the team was rounding up. Their Captain, a formidable and respected man, stood tall in front of his soldiers.

"Alright, listen up!"

He called out and the soldiers stood patiently in line, their arms clung onto the sides of their bodies. waiting for the man to continue. He briefly looked each into the eye before continuing.

"As you might have heard, Task Force 141's leaders are coming here to assess your skills and take new members. Hopefully."

The Captain spoke loudly, but said the last word very quietly, almost in a whisper. He did indeed hope the 'One-four-one' would take new members as he would feel extremely proud. Phantom once thought to herself her Captain was a strict, respected but very father-like man. She was not particularly tied to him, or any other member of her team. She was, to put it mildly, disliked by anyone who wasn't Ox. She knew why, and didn't care as she never paid attention to people who hated her, be them her teammates or not. She got the job done, protected them if need be and got their back and to her that was enough.

"I want all of you to give your best and show them how it's done, alright?"

He told them, or more accurate, commanded them. They all replied in unison;

"Yes, sir!"

The Captain nodded in satisfaction, gave them a slight smile and muttered the word "good" to himself. They better make him proud, especially Vulture who seemed to have the most potential. After him, Ox and perhaps even Phantom. The Captain was almost sure at least one of them would get in. Vulture was the 'golden boy' of the team, always sucking up to the Captain and sticking by him. He held the record of the fastest runner and was very strong as well, but not as strong as Ox, who was like a living brick wall. Phantom was their best sharpshooter and the Captain hated to admit it, but even she managed to best Vulture. He shivered at the thought of her. Without doubt, she was a good soldier, but as a person, not so much. A troublemaker? No. Unreliable? No. She was exactly what they called her, a phantom, a disappearing person. Once done with the task, she was gone.
Not even her Captain was her biggest fan, but at least she got the job done and took care of her comrades. He still thought Vulture and Ox were the best.

Suddenly, another S.A.S. soldier burst into the hangar, informing the team and its Captain of the Task Force's arrival. The Captain instructed his team to stay inside and hurried outside to greet the leaders as the anonymous S.A.S. operator took his leave.
The two spotted a landed chopper, and three men exiting. First came out General Shepherd, the general of the US Army. Despite his age, he was one hell of a soldier and the Captain felt honored to be able to meet him. His reputation certainely preceded him. After him, Captain MacTavish, one of the men who was under Price in S.A.S. He was truly a great warrior as well, and finally Captain Price. Price and he go way back.
The three men approached the S.A.S. Captain.

"Captain Williams," Price began, with a small smile on his face, "It's been a long time."

He extended his hand and Williams shook it firmly.

"Yes, very long."

Captain Williams responded, and proceeded to shake hands with General Shepherd and then Captain MacTavish.

"So, where's the team?"

The Scottish Captain asked, and Williams pointed to the nearby hangar, telling him they were already in line and waiting. MacTavish chuckled to himself, remembering the time he was fresh out of selection and was tested by Price. The tables how turned, and now he was the one testing others. Or had been for the past two years. Never enough good soldiers, he thought to himself as they were walking to the hangar. The four men entered the large hangar and stood in front of the S.A.S. operatives. Price crossed his arms and looked at Williams' muppets. They were all tall individuals, but one stuck out. One seemingly larger than the rest.

"You will be tested by General Shepherd and the Captains Price and MacTavish. Make me proud!"

Captain Williams told his team, went to fetched a notepad from the table with a list on it and handed it to Captain MacTavish who was going to do a roll call. He took the list and thanked the older Captain. On his right, stood Price, and on his left Shepherd, while Williams moved back to the table. He inspected the list briefly, and then began reading from it.

"Lieutenant Jack Adams?"

He called out and was greeted by "here, sir" coming from the man from the far right, near the entrance to the hangar. It was none other than Vulture himself.

"It says here you've specialized in demolition...and you're the fastest one on the list."

MacTavish spoke, and Vulture was obviously proud of his accomplishments. Phantom had to contain herself from not huffing and rolling her eyes. Vulture was a rather vain person, taking extreme pride in what he had done. He liked to brag about it, but nobody seemed to take him seriously because of that, or even hate him. Phantom's pride and vanity did get the best of her at times, but nowhere near it did with Vulture. Another reason why she disliked him.
"You got a codename?"
"Yes, sir. It's Vulture, sir."

The two exchanged and MacTavish nodded. He moved on to read from the list.

"Sergeant Ada Dimakos?"

He called out, and much to her surprise, he didn't butcher her surname. She responded with "here, sir" just as Vulture did.

"You're the sniper of the team?"
He asked her, even if it was obvious since it said on the paper. She was one, just he like he was.

"Yes, sir."
"Your codename?"
"Phantom, sir."

The two spoke and MacTavish was slightly surprised at her codename. Phantom? That was very similar to Ghost, if not the same. He found it ironic. Nevertheless, he moved one, calling out the next on the list, who was Sergeant Alexander Taylor, the one known as Ox. He was the combat medic of the team. Despite Ox not caring about the Task Force 141, Phantom felt he was more needed than her, he was a medic after all, and she just a sniper. But if he got in, and not her, then so be it. She would probably get jealous, but for the sake of her only friend, wouldn't show it. Not like she showed anything else but complete neutrality towards anyone.

And when the two others were called and briefly 'interrogated' by the mohawk sporting Captain, the testing began and she was once again filled with determination. First, they ran the obstacle course, under the judging eyes of the two Captains and the General, none of them speaking much besides Price muttering a thing or two, being his usual self. MacTavish was the one encouraging them and instructing them, while Shepherd remained completely silent and stoic.
Phantom gave it her best shot, but was still behind Vulture, even if she had improved her previous time. She cursed mentally, calling Vulture a malaka, while not having any real reason to other than jealousy. Despite that, she still had one more test, the one she knew she'd do better than Vulture.

The team went out in the field, and Phantom was the first to go. She was given a bolt-action sniper rifle, Intervention. MacTavish first told her to shoot the targets as fast as she could, and she nodded, holding the rifle close and steadying her breath. She listened to her own heartbeat, peeked through the scope with her right eye, while her left eye remained open. She waited for MacTavish to signal her, and when he did, she opened fire on the red and white circular targets scattered on the field. There was no wind, the visibility was good, it wasn't very cold and she was rather close to the targets, so everything was going to go well.
When she was done, she looked at the Scottish Captain, waiting for his next order.

"Very good, Dimakos," he praised her, something which he never got a lot during his time in S.A.S. or during the selection process, "Now, I want you to shoot them as they appear."

He instructed and she got back into her position. Ready, aim, fire away!

The targets fell as she hit them, she considered this task to be rather easy. Then, he told her to shoot them as they moved. She nodded in affirmation and did as told. She knocked them down with precision and proved she was the best sniper they had, once more filling her with pride. When she was done, she smiled smugly at herself, then dropped the smile as she turned to MacTavish, who nodded approvingly. She wasn't the best, but she was good, and he saw the ambition and fire written on her face, as well as determination, and it reminded him of himself. The last time he saw that, was when he met Roach. Impressive sniper, he thought, but she wasn't as good as him. At least, not yet.
He tested the rest of them, but his mind was already set. He spoke with Price and Shepherd who seemed to agree with him. Two of them were coming, but the third one was debatable. Despite MacTavish's intentions, the third one was dropped, which somewhat saddened him, but he went with it. Even Price wanted to argue with Shepherd, but he didn't want to spark something, especially not a fight. It could be said dropping the third was mainly Shepherd's choice. The soldiers returned to the hangar to hear their results and who would get in the Task Force 141.

The five soldiers stood in line, MacTavish was in the middle, between Price and Shepherd, and they were joined by Williams. The men looked at the soldiers, before Shepherd decided to break the ice and just say what was on their mind. They were eager to know who made it in. Phantom was curious and hoped he would say her name.

"Sergeant Taylor," Shepherd said, sighing deeply and looked at the tall man whose nickname was Ox. He was standing next to Phantom.
"I am sorry, but we had a decision of not choosing you. You were a strong contestant, but we decided we did not need a combat medic after all."

Shepherd spoke in a monotone voice. If Ox had been a different man, he would have been disappointed and sad, but he had never cared for the elite 'One-four-one'. He said nothing, only gave a curt nod. It was not a mutual decision, Price thought to himself, but yet again, said nothing. He only continued to watch with crossed arms.

"Lieutenant Adams and Sergeant Dimakos."

He called out the two, and instructed them to step out. They did as they were told and waited. Shepherd looked at them both and absentmindedly nodded.

"Welcome to the Task Force 141."

The General spoke and Phantom's heart skipped a beat. She felt like clenching her fists and shooting them up in happiness. She finally did it, she achieved what she set out to do. Her dream came true, and she couldn't believe it. It seemed as if she really was still dreaming, but she wasn't. Part of her believed she'd make it, and she relied on it. The bad part was, Vulture got in too, and needless to say, they weren't really friendly. But then again, she wasn't really friendly with anyone. Price saw a spark in her eye, and it seemed to him it ignited and burst into flames.

They both had every right to cheer, but they remained as stoic and calm as ever, even when each of the leaders approached them and congratulated them. The last was their own Captain, who also told them to keep up with the good work.

"Be ready tomorrow morning at 8:00. We'll be here to pick you up."

Price told them, and with that, they were off. When they finally flew up in the sky in their chopper, Phantom smiled widely to herself and shook her head, still not believing. Ox approached her and congratulated her as well. That day was to be remembered.

It looked like February would actually become her favorite month.