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The next morning Soap woke up earlier than anyone else, like a good Captain was supposed to. He tended to a few pieces of paperwork on his desk before going to the mess hall where his morning coffee awaited him. One cream, two sugars, just how he liked it. Sipping from the cup, Soap moved towards the door that led outside. The door swung open just as he arrived at it, and two men walked in. Soap stepped back to let them in, but stopped them as he realized that they were just the men he was looking for.
Ghost and Archer bid him good morning, but Soap held up a hand to stop them.
"Hey, I need to talk to you two." The two didn't even exchange glances as they followed Soap to his office. Soap opened the door and walked in, sitting down behind his desk and waiting for them to stand in front of him. Ghost ran a thumb under the edge of his balaclava, and Archer idly fixed the cuff on the edge of his uniform. Soap took another sip of his coffee before speaking.
"Alright you two, we're getting some new members." Like it had to Soap, the mention of new members perked them up right away. Part of Soap hated to break the news to them, but another part wanted to see how they would react. Soap opened his mouth to explain, but let out a breath as he realized there was an option that was much easier. Pulling the papers out from where he had stuffed them, Soap handed the correct man the correct paper.
It took only a few seconds for Soap to see the reaction he was waiting for. Archer's lips turned down as his eyes skimmed over the top, and Ghost's hands tightened around the edged. Archer's face became more and more downcast as he kept reading, while Ghost's grip increased to the point where his hands were trembling. Soap sat patiently waiting for the silence to break. Ghost was the first to take action, placing the paper back gently on Soap's desk, letting out a breath, and asking a question.
"Alright, Soap, hate to say it like this, but I don't see another way. With all due respect, what the fuck is this? A bloody joke?" Soap sighed.
"I wish I could say it was, but it's not. Shepherd gave them to us. We'll see them here the day after tomorrow. The page you just read, both of you? They're yours. You're to make sure they don't run amuck when they aren't training. Okay?" Archer bit his lower lip, and Soap could feel the uncertainty radiating from both of them. Soap pulled the last piece of paper out of the desk and showed them quickly.
"It's not a question. Besides, this is who I have. The kid committed fucking manslaughter. You have it easy. I've got them most of the time, but they're yours the rest of the time. Keep them in order." Archer and Ghost must have realized that there was no other way than Soap's way, so to his satisfaction, they both nodded and left. Soap sat down to enjoy the rest of his coffee, but only found it had grown cold while he had been talking to Ghost and Archer. Grumbling under his breath, Soap got back up and wandered back over to the kitchen.
Soap found himself caught in the stream of men that were waking up and making their way down to the mess hall for breakfast before working out. He saw Roach making his was at the back of the crowd, and smiled inside as he watched the eager young man. He had been their latest new arrival, and was one of the best. But now, he was going to be replaced in the role as newest by three boys.
Soap thought for a moment that he would tell Roach, and maybe the eager fellow would be a bit happier, but Soap thought better of it. All of the men would know by noon what was happening. Sometimes, the Task Force was worse than a high school in terms of gossip. If somehow the news that there was going to be a new gun ordered for the range was leaked, everyone on base would know by noon. If there was going to be some kind of sweet served at the mess hall that day, most usually knew before breakfast. The small, tight knit group kept almost nothing from each other, and new members was surely gossip that would spread like wildfire.
It wasn't that Soap was against them talking about things, or didn't want them to know each other well. It was more of the whispering like teenage girls and the risk of some apprehension that made him really want them all to shut their traps for once. But Soap knew that it wasn't going to happen. By the time the sun was all the way up in the sky, everyone on base would know the three new members, their names, and everything about them. Including the things that Soap didn't want anyone to know, but knew there was no stopping it.
Another part of Soap wanted to encourage it. It was hard taking new members into such a tight group. Everyone had to trust in everyone else, their abilities, their stability, and trust in general. They were trusting one another with their very lives on a regular basis, and living was pretty important to most people. Three new members wouldn't usually be too big of a deal if they were people with great records, like everyone in the 141. SEALS, Marines, SAS, and pretty much every other elite group come together to form the elite of the elite. If it had been one of the above, Soap knew it would have sat well with them. They would be able to learn to trust more easily.
But three kids? No experience other than maybe how to change a tire if they took shop, and to make matters worse, they all had a record. Not a good record either. A criminal record. The kind that criminals had. Not petty things either, like playing music too loud or trespassing. Big things that made everyone mistrusting.
True to his thoughts, by the end of the day Soap had been bombarded by questions about the new arrivals, responses that ranged from slight inquisitions to full blown rage attacks that complained about the 'delinquents' that they would have to piece together. Soap made sure everyone know that he wasn't thrilled either, but they would all be able to quickly knock the pricks back down.
Soap took a breath and knew there was little that he could do to prepare anyone for what was going to come. In truth, he didn't know how to prepare himself.
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