I regain consciousness a few seconds later being helped to a Chinook. Zoey Michaels, my handler, is dashing towards me; her long golden blonde hair blowing in the breeze.

"Goodness Nick." she said taking me from the two men helping me walk.

Her voice is calming and light; a dramatic change from what I've heard recently.

"Staying out of trouble I see." she said with a smile.

"Yeah." I said exausted from the long mission.

"I'm sorry to inform you that you're going to be put on another mission soon."

She places me in a seat next to her. She takes my weapons and armor and puts them away. I blankly stare at the floor as Mason is placed inside and secured on a stretcher.

"Is there anything you want to talk about Nick?" she asked politely as she rubs my head.

Also being a special herself, she understands the hardships of being through the thick of things. Specials are usually paired as a sibiling relationship but there's no rule to how far it can go. The job for the handler is to counsel and train as well as give out mission details.

"Is that your blood?"

I shake my head looking at the floor blankly.

"I'm here if you want to talk Nick. I understand, you're probably in shock from the things you had to see and do."

She dabs the tissue with her tongue and begins to wipe the blood from my face.

"Zoey?" I begin to say.

"Yes?" she said with a smile that could cause global warming.

"Who were those opfor?"

Finishing cleaning up the blood from my face, she puts her head on my shoulder, "We're trying to figure that out now."

"Where are we heading?" I asked as we lift off.

"Back to the ship."

Her hair smells nice, I enjoy the change in secenery.

"So what's the next mission going to be?"

"We're going to meet with the Social Welfare Agency. They can help us find Mario Folia."

"You mean that place where they take in injured kids and make them into cyborgs?"

"Yep, look who's been keeping up with the intel." she says playfully elbowing my side.

"That's so weird. Using kids like that."

"Indeed." she said raising her head from my shoulder, "You should get some sleep Nick, you're going to need it. I'll wake you when we get close."

"Yea, you're probably right..." I said passing out on her shoulder.

xxxxxxxxxxx

We reach the USS Ponce an hour later. I wake up with Zoey's sweet voice saying my name.

"Wake up Nick." she said brushing my short hair.

I wake up rejuvinated. The Chinook lands and we walk out onto the deck.

"Follow me!" she yelled to cover all the noise around us.

We walk down to the locker room.

"Go take a shower. I'll bring you a change of clothes. Once you're done meet me in the armory."

"Ok." I said walking in.

I start to take off my uniform and notice a lot more dirt and blood are covering them than I thought. Stepping into the shower I turn on the hot water, I feel refreshed. Blood and grime slip into the drain and once I'm clean I turn off the water. I grab a towel and dry off. I walk over to where I left my clothes and see what Zoey left for me.

"Black?" I said confused holding up the shirt, "That color signifies a member of the Wraith unit. It can't be a mix up."

I slip on the multicam tactical combat pants and tuck in the black shirt. I put on my multicam condor riggers belt and tie on my tan hiking boots. I walk out and to the armory.

I pass by several Navy personnel and open the door to the armory.

"There you are." said Zoey happy to see me.

She wasn't the only one in the armory. Two other guys were in the room getting set and also a female.

She has the same attire I have on. Different ranks wear different color shirts to distinguish each other.

"Zoey who are these guys? And why did you give me a black shirt, you do know that's only for the Wraiths right?" I asked.

"Nick, there's something I need to tell you. I was originally a Wraith myself before I retired and became a handler" said Zoey walking towards me, "They've been watching you and they liked what they saw.

"We're here to give you a chance to join us." said one guy who was about 21 years old.

I'm stunned by the response the man gave.

'A chance to become a wraith? Hell yeah!', I thought to myself.

"What do I need to do?"

"Get ready to go." he said.

Zoey hands me a multicam FLYYE force recon vest. She also hands me a MP7a1 with an aimpoint mini and a silencer. I put on the vest and grab a couple of magazines and place them in the pouches. Placing my Glock 18 in my holster and a few mags for that, I load my MP7 and put on my black beanie.

"I'll be here, be careful ok?" said Zoey.

"I'll try." I said still stoaked about getting a chance to become a Wraith.

Loading onto a Chinook once more, I sit with the other Wraiths.

"All right Wraiths, for those who don't know me my name is Captain Foster. We are going to Italy to meet up with a base camp located in the wilderness. You all know what the deal is are so I'm not going to waste time explaining. We're being sent there to show that we are the best, so no fucking around!"

A round of yes ma'am ring out.

'Here we go' I said to myself.