The next morning Hazel speaks as little as possible to Archer as he can. Only saying what was needed then ignoring him the rest of the time. He thought it was agonizing until Ghost said they'd be working the pit as well. Grumbling under their breath the men left the range and lined up waiting to be called to run the pit. We were all exhausted, covered in sweat and dirt, when Ghost let them go.
Not wanting to eat covered in dirt and paint from the paintball guns lined up throughout the pit, Hazel dragged his feet to the showers with the others.
"Hey Hazel, I wanted to ask you about something."
Hazel turns his head to see Robot beside him, "Yeah?"
"I was wondering what you meant yesterday, about not making the distance to safety?" Robot shoves his hands in his pockets.
Hazel shrugs his shoulders with a small smile on his lips under his mask, "Well, I had about thirty feet left to run to get to the helicopter on this one mission and I messed up the jump."
Robot looks at him with wide eyes, "Seriously? What happened?"
Chuckling Hazel puts his own hands in his pockets acting nonchalant about it, "I fell about six feet off a building and my leg got caught on the ladder stopping me from falling to my death. I was laid up for weeks after that. Nearly tore my knee apart."
"That's fucking insane!" Robot shakes his head with his own chuckle, "Maybe you are badass enough to kick Scarecrow's ass."
"I heard that!" Scarecrow yells, a ways back walking with Archer; Hazel wondered what they were talking about.
"I'm confident I can." Hazel waves a hand at Scarecrow, "Be prepared."
"Oh god, did you seriously just quote The Lion King to me?" Scarecrow looks at Hazel with an eyebrow raised, "I am disappointed in you."
"I'm jealous." Robot shakes his head, "To be able to quote Scar like that. Though Hazel, Scar loses so you might want to quote Simba instead."
"I'm too evil to be Simba." Hazel laughs, holding the door to the barracks open for Robot and Scarecrow to pass through.
"Thanks..." Archer mumbles under his breath when Hazel decides to keep it open for him as well, arm outstretched as he's standing inside already, back facing Archer.
"Whatever." Hazel hurries back up to Robot, "So listen, I wanted to ask you about something."
"Now I'm being questioned?" Robot shakes his head in disapproval, "What's on your mind kid?"
"It's important man, like super fucking important. Life or death shit." Hazel says with as serious of a tone as he can muster despite laughing on the inside.
"I get it, what's so important?" Robot looks at him with concern, worry in his eyes.
"Who are you picking to win? Nebraska or Wisconsin?"
Robot pauses mid step, almost tripping when Scarecrow bumps into him. Straightening himself out he gives Hazel a stern glare, "I was actually fucking worried for a moment there... A football game? Really? Life or death? Man, you seriously worry me."
Hazel laughs, putting a hand on his stomach as even Scarecrow is giving him a stern look, recovering from bumping into Robot, "Oh come on! I'm being serious! Who do you pick?"
"For worrying me, Wisconsin." Robot grins as Hazel gasps putting his hands over his heart.
"I'm heartbroken!"
"I'll vote Nebraska." Hazel turns to see Roach approaching, a small smile on his lips, "Can we talk?"
Hazel nods his head, "Yeah, I meant to talk to you during training but I didn't get the chance."
Roach nods and the two hang back out in the hall while the others enter the shower room. It takes several minutes before they're alone, some of the guys taking their time and in no big rush. When they're alone Roach shuffles his feet nervously, hands behind his back. He looks like a small child that's done something wrong and is scared to be reprimanded.
"I'm sorry!" They both say at the same time and they look at the other, eyes wide before starting to laugh.
"Why are you sorry?" Roach finally asks when he gets control of himself to a small snicker.
"I shouldn't have gotten upset at you. I trust you Roach. I do. And if you say you didn't mean to then I believe you. You're my best friend here. I can't lose you over this." Hazel averts his gaze as he speaks, nervous to see Roach's face as he talks.
Roach is grinning and he pulls Hazel into a hug, "Buddy! I'm so happy we aren't going to fight! I was really upset that I hurt you… I didn't mean to." Roach steps back, hands on Hazel's shoulders and gives him a sincere smile.
Hazel grins under his mask and pats Roach's shoulder, "Now come on, we fucking stink. Let's get cleaned up."
Roach laughs, grabbing the end of his nose between two fingers, "Very true, you do fucking stink."
"You do too!" Hazel shakes his head and pushes the door open making his way to his locker.
"You stink worse than me!" Roach grins, punching Hazel's shoulder playfully before heading off to his own locker.
Several of the guys haven't made it into the showers yet, leaning against lockers or sitting on the benches talking about any and everything. Opening his locker Hazel frowns not seeing any clean clothes but just a towel. Shrugging his shoulders, he undresses tossing his dirty clothes in the hamper and with his towel wrapped around his waist, balaclava still on, heads into the shower room. He picks an empty stall in the middle of several empty ones, hanging his towel on the edge of the waist high dividers. The water is cool against his chest as he stands there, letting it roll down his body before turning and letting it hit his back. He turns back around, grabbing soap and begins scrubbing off the grime and sweat from the training.
"Do you always shower with your mask on?" Roach hangs his towel and turns the water on in the stall to Hazel's right.
"No, but since I'm around the guys I figure I'll leave it on until the last minute, wash my face and neck, and head back to my room." Hazel scrubs at something black that got smeared over his arms during the pit.
"What about lunch?" Roach steps under the water letting his head hang forward.
"I'll get something to eat once I'm dressed." Hazel says quietly, not wanting anyone to hear. If some of the guys find out he'd forgotten his clothes they'd probably steal all his towels and force him to walk upstairs naked. They did it before when he was showering alone and Jester had snuck in and taken his towels and clothes. It was pretty embarrassing having to explain himself to MacTavish who had been searching for Ghost who lives on the fifth floor. He couldn't look the captain in the face for weeks after that.
"Dude, that's funny." Roach grins at him wickedly, "Hope nothing happens to your towel."
Hazel rolls his eyes, "I'll just have to squash a roach if something does happen."
The two laugh and Hazel finishes scrubbing paint off and removes his mask, setting it on top of his towel. Stepping under the water he lets the water drench his hair and face, scrubbing with soap gently before rinsing. Turning the water off he grabs his towel, drying his hair as much as he can before pulling his mask back on.
"So why do you wear the mask?" Roach asks as he finishes, wrapping his towel around his waist.
"It was something my older brothers started, my twin and I decided to get our own masks when we joined up and it just kind of stuck with me till now." Hazel wraps his towel around his waist, tying the ends together.
"Did they have the same design?"
"No, my twin had the same but opposite direction, Gabe had lines going straight down, Adam had lines going straight across, and Michael had a white 'X' with a red line going down the middle. Our younger brother Joseph had a red 'X'." Hazel shrugs his shoulders, "We didn't want to have the same masks. Try and be individualistic but at the same time look similar. The rest of the task force ended up copying us, it was pretty funny seeing them wear masks similar to ours, but the red stripes were white, white were red. You could tell who they reported to based on which mask they were like."
"So you commanded men?"
"Yeah, me and my twin co-commanded. Our younger brother Joseph was the only one who didn't lead. He was either following me and Jacob or Gabe."
Roach nods his head, "I just learned so much about you."
Hazel laughs crossing his arms over his chest as he stops next to Roach's locker, "Yeah, I guess so huh. Well I'm okay with telling you. Like I said, I trust you."
Across the locker room Archer is toweling dry, glancing over at Hazel. He can't help but remember having the smaller man pinned beneath his body, hands and mouth roaming and exploring all those scars. He curses lightly under his breath, feeling his body starting to react and quickly pulls pants on to hide his growing hard on. He pulls on a clean shirt, running a hand through his hair.
"It's not good to stare. Someone is going to notice."
Archer almost jumps up in surprise turning around to see Scarecrow, arms folded over his chest, eyes narrowed, "What the hell man… You're really starting to piss me the fuck off."
"Like I care." Scarecrow turns and walks away.
Archer grumbles yanking his boots on before heading to the mess hall.
o0o
Hazel gasps as he comes to a stop, leaning forward with his hands on his knees, "Fuck…"
"That was a pretty impressive time." Ghost steps out of the shadows, the moonlight making the skeletal grin look frightening.
"I've done better." Hazel straightens up, exhaling deeply with his head tilted up towards the sky, "I'm distracted, I about fell on my face a couple of times."
"By what?" Ghost resets the handheld timer handing it over to Hazel.
"I don't even know where to begin…" Hazel steps off the track and waits for Ghost to get in position at the starting line. "It's complicated."
"Mate, aren't most things?" Ghost chuckles before taking off, Hazel hitting the start button on the timer.
He moves down to a sitting position, crossing his legs as he watches Ghost. The lieutenant has been joining him for the past week doing endurance training once the sun has set. It was refreshing. They never really talked except to insult the other to push themselves harder past their limits. It was a relief for Hazel compared to dealing with Archer. Granted he hasn't pulled any more stunts Hazel could feel eyes on him, knowing it was Archer, and would glare at the man. It was amusing to see the man become flustered at being caught, a blush creeping up his neck, but it didn't change Hazel disliking the man. He just couldn't wait for Toad to return from London.
"Slow!" Hazel yells out as Ghost runs past him and gets the bird flipped at him.
"You were slower!"
"Whatever!" Hazel chuckles, deciding to stretch his legs out in front of him and when Ghost finally finishes he collapses on the ground lying on his stomach next to him.
"What was my time?" He mumbles, face turned into the ground muffling his voice more so Hazel has to lean in close to hear.
"Not bad. About the same as mine, a bit faster though. Jealous."
Ghost laughs rolling onto his back, "I would be too if I was as slow as you."
Hazel rolls his eyes, "You're jealous you're not as cool as me."
"I beat you in being cool by leagues mate. You'll never catch up." Ghost pulls his mask off setting it on his knee as he sits up, "How is your jaw?"
Hazel snorts, yanking his own mask off showing the deep purple bruise on the left side of his jaw and cheek, "It still hurts… A fucking cheap shot!"
"He still kicked your ass. I lost about nineteen euros, you know how annoying that is?" Ghost complains.
"Yeah right, you know it was worth it." Hazel drops his mask in his lap.
"So what are we going to do now?" Ghost looks over at Hazel, sunglasses still on but he can feel those cool blue eyes staring at him.
"I'm not going to be able to fall asleep yet, thinking about running some more. Let off some steam."
Ghost nods his head slowly, "Still having trouble going to sleep?"
"Yeah, I keep having nightmares." Hazel pulls his mask back on, standing up with a groan, "God my body is sore."
"Want to talk about it?" Ghost stays sitting, looking up at Hazel, watching him.
"Not really. I've talked so much about myself this week about being back at the old force. I'm exhausted from it all." Hazel stretches, popping his shoulders and back.
Nodding Ghost silently gets up and heads towards the barracks leaving Hazel alone.
Jumping in place a few times Hazel starts down the track, head turned down. The week had taken its toll on him. Emotionally he was on the edge, talking about his brothers wasn't something that came easy to him. Every time he brought up Jacob it felt like he was losing his brother all over again. His other half. He wants to let Roach and Ghost in, the two obviously caring for him, but then of course others would ask questions too. Then he had to be careful what he said to avoid certain questions. It didn't help with Meat, Worm, and Jester acting hostile towards Hazel trying to push him over the edge.
Groaning in frustration as his mind won't settle down, Hazel yanks his mask off, moving through the base towards the pt course. Shoving his mask into a pocket he gets a running start before jumping up the rock wall, reaching a hand up and using his momentum to swing further up the wall. Once at the top he grabs the rope between his fingers, rappelling down, his hands growing hot by the time his boots touch the ground. Quickly turning around he sprints forward, jumping over and under the next obstacle. He ignores the burn of his tired body as he runs through the tires then the ropes, moving left and right as he moves forward. At the next obstacle he has to climb up a wall using a rope and at the top he slides down a metal pole. He lands harsh, almost falling back, but through the exhaustion he sprints and hits the ground crawling under barbed wire. At the other side, his whole front covered in mud, he starts sprinting between cover, moving forward each time, his back slamming hard into the wooden barriers. At the other side he springs straight forward and forces his tired arms to pull him up the rope net to the top. By the time he stops he collapses to the ground, the grass tickling his face as he gasps for air, body screaming.
"I was wondering how many times you were going to run that." Hazel turns his head to see Archer standing a few feet away.
"Come to force me to listen when I can't run away?" Hazel scoffs, watching as Archer approaches and sits down on the ground, his back to him.
"I tried going to your room but when you didn't answer I figured maybe you were out here." Archer leans forward, arms resting against his folded legs.
"I'll have to find a new hiding spot then."
Archer takes a deep breath letting out a sigh, "I wanted to apologize… I still do…"
Hazel turns his head to look at Archer, brows furrowed, "And I'm supposed to just accept it? Act like nothing happened?"
Archer slaps a hand to his face, groaning, "No! I don't want that… I want you to accept my apology but I don't want to act like nothing happened… I want to…"
"Start fresh like you never treated me like shit?"
"Hazel…"
"What!" Hazel can't help the irritation and anger showing in his voice.
Archer turns around, looking down at the smaller man. Hazel looks back, noticing the hurt in the other man's eyes, eyes he never noticed before were a light brown with golden flakes. It took Hazel's breath away as the light post cast shadows across his face. It captivated him. Slowly he made his tired body sit up.
"Why can't we just talk?" Archer sounds like he's about to cry, his mouth open slightly like he's going to start talking again but he looks away. Hazel isn't sure what to say, he doesn't know how to react to seeing the man like this. After a while Archer finds his voice again, "I'm not good at this… I don't… Last time I opened up… It wasn't pretty. Toad had to drag me back from bars, I would be so plastered he'd have to practically drag me back to base. Then he had to keep it a secret from the others, for my sake he said. Didn't want me to lose respect or something. Told me I just needed some time to process it all but, I don't know. I've never exactly had a support group before Toad."
Silence engulfs them, the only sound are the night bugs buzzing about. Archer is trying to stifle a sob but Hazel can see his body shaking, back heaving up and down with quick breaths. Hazel shakes his head, pulling back a hand he'd started to reach out, and sits with his legs crossed. Trying to distract himself he starts fiddling with the grass, plucking a few pieces from the ground and tearing them apart. He doesn't know what to say and though he wants to reach out and comfort Archer, he was hurt by the man and he wasn't sure he was ready to open up.
A light clicks in his head and hesitantly, he clears his throat, "I'm not sure I'm ready to open up."
Archer nods, his back still to Hazel, "I feel the same… But then, when I see you, I can't usually control myself."
"I know."
"What do we do then?"
"We wait until we're ready."
"How long is that going to take?"
"As long as it needs… Let's go back inside. I need to shower." Hazel pushes himself from the ground reaching a hand down to Archer.
Archer takes it and stands up only an inch away from Hazel, their breath mingling in a small cloud in the cool air. Before Archer can process their proximity Hazel is turning away, waving a hand for Archer to follow him. Eagerly, he gets in step next to Hazel and they silently make their way through the dark, the moonlight and spaced out light posts guiding them. Once inside, Hazel goes to his room, grabbing clean clothes, before heading to the showers. Archer goes to his room to sleep.
o0o
Hazel groans, rolling onto his side as his body screams at him, "Fuuuccckkkkk…." There's a knock on the door and with a string of curses he forces himself out of bed, "Who the hell is bothering me this early damn it!"
To Hazel's utter horror in front of him is Captain MacTavish, arms folded over his chest, "And just who do you think you're talking to mate?"
"Captain! So sorry, I thought you were one of the guys…" Hazel straightens up, "Training isn't for another half-hour, what can I do for you sir?"
"Just got a call from Shepherd, get Archer and head down to the briefing room. I need to round a few others up."
"Aye sir!" Hazel turns into his room, quickly getting dressed despite the protest of his sore body. Ready he jogs down the hall and knocks on Archer's door until the Brit opens, glaring.
His expression softens as he sees Hazel standing there, cheeks a light pink, "Captain needs us down in the briefing room."
Archer is already in his room getting ready and the two jog downstairs and across the grounds to the admin building, "Probably another mission like last time."
"I don't think so, Captain said he was getting a few others up before leaving me to get you." Hazel looks up at Archer, forgetting his soreness as he prepares himself mentally for the mission.
"We can handle whatever he's got." Archer says matter-of-factly, pushing the door open and heading down the hall to the briefing room.
"You guys are here too?" Chemo looks up from where he's slumped at the table, head lying on his folded arms.
"Yeah, what's going on?" Hazel sits next to Chemo with Archer sitting across from him.
"Something important enough to gather a good number of us." Dragon says as he steps through the door, Reaper following behind with a hand over his mouth as he yawns.
Jayhawk, Neptune, Wizard, Zeus, and Ghost walk in next followed by the captain. Everyone gets situated and MacTavish walks around to the front of the room, pulling up a map on the computer face in the table. Hazel frowns at it, not exactly happy that it's in Russia. A few others are making similar faces and Hazel notices Archer is watching him. He shrugs his shoulders and nodding his head slightly, he can do this.
"There's a base packed with intel and a huge weapons cache. Archer and Hazel, the both of you will be setting up here as Sniper Team One." MacTavish draws a circle with his finger making a red circle appear, "Get set up and give sniper support. The rest of you will be lead by Ghost, Alpha Six, to move in, infiltrate, and get what you can and destroying the rest. Rules of Engagement: shoot anyone that can jeopardize your position, try and stay under the radar as long as you can." The captain continues talking about the mission and at one point Hazel stops listening, staring down at the map committing it to memory. Where Archer and him were to be located, where the compound is compared to their location, and where the others would be. By the time MacTavish finally stops, he looks over all the men, his face stoic, "Good luck men, you have one hour to prepare what you need then plane lifting off."
Everyone left going to get ready and Hazel jogged with Archer up the stairs to their respective rooms where they changed into their winter white uniforms.
Ready before Archer, Hazel heads downstairs to the armory on the first floor.
Ghost steps in beside him on the stairs, "Are you worried?"
Hazel shook his head knowing he was talking about Archer and him, "We talked last night and I think things are a little better. It won't affect our performance in the mission if you're thinking that it might."
Ghost shook his head, pushing the door open that leads into the armory, "I'm not."
The two split up, Hazel heading to his weapons locker grabbing on his white equipment, pulling the white ghillie suit on, discarding his mask in the locker switching to a white one with the same three red stripes across the left side matching his real scars. He then grabs his custom white sniper rifle, disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling it. Not far from him Archer is doing the same, reassembling his rifle before looking over and nodding at Hazel.
"Ready mate?"
"I was born ready for this. Let's kill them all." Hazel bumps his right forearm with Archer's and the two head outside, the others ready and leaving the armory together as a group.
Many of the men are waiting by the plane to wish their brother-in-arms well as they climb in. They would normally be at training but MacTavish had been briefing them and Ghost was apart of the deploying team thus they had been free to roam. Once the plane has taken off MacTavish would herd the men off to training before he himself would have to go to the briefing room to watch over the mission, monitoring the radio.
o0o
Hazel stretches his legs out where he's sitting near the back of the plane, he's taken his ghillie suit off, putting it carefully in a backpack he has strapped to his chest. On his back is another backpack with a parachute. They'd be dropping down solo. He didn't have anything against it but it could make him uneasy. Next to him Archer is standing up leaning back against the wall, rifle sitting on the top of his left boot, hand wrapped around the barrel. Dropping down via parachute had the veteran sniper worried too it would seem. Get into a bad landing situation and the snipers could be without a weapon not carrying any other gun but their rifles. They had enough weight and aren't meant to be in the middle of the fight, adding another gun along with the heavy rifle wouldn't be pleasant for them.
"We're going to miss the game." Chemo sighs.
Hazel looks up, a frown on his face, seeing Chemo across from him, "I thought you didn't care?"
Chemo shrugged his shoulders, "Ozone won't shut up about it and was practically bouncing off the walls in anticipation. It got me interested. So far Nebraska hasn't won yet but I'm thinking this might be their year."
"Yeaaahhhh!" Hazel laughs, a huge grin plastered on his face, "That's my man Chemo. Nebraska is totally going to win this game!"
Chemo chuckles, shaking his head, "I hope you're not this loud when you're in the field."
"Oh he is." Archer groans, rolling his eyes when Hazel shoots him a glare, "Don't deny it. You like to talk. That and your insistent squirming like a small child."
"Whatever man, it gets hot in the suit, it sticks to me and makes me really uncomfortable." Hazel pouts, hugging his rifle to his chest.
"Everyone ready?" Ghost calls as he comes to the back of the plane from being in the front with Nikolai.
"Already here?" Reaper mumbles, stifling another yawn.
"Dude, keep yawning and you might not make the landing." Dragon laughs, nudging Reaper in the ribs, "We've been up here for hours, you should've taken a nap."
"I did." Reaper complains before growing serious as Ghost shoots the two men a look, the skull mask covering the man's frown.
"Get it together! Archer! Hazel! Get ready to drop!" Ghost turns his attention to Hazel and Archer.
Hazel jumps up from his seat, strapping his rifle snug and tight against him. Archer being a worrier, steps up into Hazel's space and tightens all of the straps more and checks his goggles. Satisfied he moves away from the smaller man who's now whimpering under his breath at the tightness constricting him but not enough to be a problem. Ghost calls to Nikolai and a few moments later the back opens as everyone grabs something to keep inside the plane. Through the radio in Hazel's ear he hears Ghost order Archer to jump and with a small salute Archer puts his back to the opened hatch and falls backwards, swept away into the white abyss of falling snow. A few moments later Hazel feels a hand on his shoulder and he nods, looking up at Ghost. It's his turn. Letting go of the strap he'd grabbed he waves a hand, running out the back of the plane, kicking off with his last step before he's falling, wind whipping at him as he spreads his arms and legs watching the ground grow closer.
When he's hit the right altitude he pulls the chute, body yanking upwards as the wind snaps the chute up. It doesn't take long, though it feels like forever to Hazel, that he's on the ground putting the chute away in the backpack and tossing it at a nearby tree, the white pack blending in with the snow. Unstrapping his rifle he takes off his second backpack, grabbing the ghillie suit out and pulling it on. Ready and with his rifle in hand he starts moving in the direction of where Archer and him would be meeting up at before moving into position.
It didn't take long to meet up with the veteran sniper, practically invisible in his winter ghillie suit, "Took you long enough."
Hazel rolls his eyes, "I went a bit to the east from where I had wanted to land. Fucking winterland out here…"
Archer motions for Hazel to follow, "Is your radio working? Ghost called out for everyone to report in, I didn't hear you."
Hazel furrows his brow, a hand running down his body to find his radio. To his dismay he finds the end of the wire but no radio at the end of it. It must have fallen off when he'd hit that tree. His body shivered involuntarily as he remembers swinging ten feet up in the air, struggling to get the chute off when the straps gave in and he fell hitting several branches on the way down. A few moments later the chute untangled from the tree and fall on top of him making him want to scream out in frustration but he'd kept quiet.
"Must have fallen off." He finally says when Archer glances back at him.
"How did that happen?"
"Well besides getting tangled in a tree and falling out of it when the straps broke, I'm not sure."
Archer stops in his tracks and looks at Hazel with a stern look, "Your straps broke?"
"After I hit a tree, yeah… Lucky they didn't break while I was in the air." Hazel shrugs his shoulders and keeps walking, "You should probably tell Ghost I'm alive."
Archer reports to Ghost, keeping pace with Hazel as they move forward rifles raised in their hands, "You're insanely lucky mate."
"I guess so." Hazel smiles to himself.
"Let's crawl the rest of the way." Archer raises his fist and motions to the ground.
Hazel nods his head, barely catching Ghost's voice through Archer's radio. Archer says something into the radio and keeps moving forward, their rifles across their arms as they crawl forward. When they get to a cliff Archer motions for Hazel to scan the area before they set up. He barely nods his head in acknowledgement before getting on one knee at the same moment Archer gets up and they scan the area.
"Clear right."
"Clear left. Let's step up."
"Right." Hazel moves to a group of rocks at the edge of the cliff, positioning himself between two so he's laying flat on the ground.
Archer moves to his right side, positioning himself in a kneeling position with his gun raised above the rocks, "Snipers in position. I repeat, Sniper Team One is in position. I see three, no four groups of tangos moving about the perimeter." Archer sees Hazel put his raised four fingers down to grip his rifle, "The east gate has two tangos on the ground, one in the tower above. At the west gate there are four tangos on the ground and two in the tower."
"Roger that, approaching from the east. Oscar Mike."
"Hazel."
"I heard, Alpha Six approaching from the east. I got them in my sight." Hazel watches down his scope.
"Get rid of those guards." Ghost calls through the radio.
"Get the guy in the tower, I'll get the two on the ground." Archer says, "On three." Hazel doesn't say anything but as Archer says three, muffled shots fill their ears as three shots are fired and all three tangos go down. "Patrol coming from the south."
"Got them in my sights. Reaper, move up."
The two snipers watch through their scopes as Reaper moves up and within moments the patrol is taken down. Hazel feels a smile on his lips. This was going to be a fun show.
"Another group of five tangos exiting the building." Archer calls over the radio.
Ghost quickly dispatches the men and the tangos are taken down while Hazel turns his attention to the rest of the building, "Archer, there's a glint on top of the building."
Archer turns his attention to the top of the building and notices it, "Enemy sniper on the roof. He hasn't noticed us yet." A few moments later there's a muffled gunshot and the sniper is dead, "Tango down. Safe to keep moving forward."
"Northeast corner tower, two tangos rising up."
"Take the left." Archer counts to three and the two men fall back into the tower.
"South and Southwest towers, take them out." Ghost calls over the radio.
"Take the Southwest."
Hazel nods his head, adjusting himself slightly before pulling the trigger several times, "Tangos down. Safe to move."
"Towers clear." Archer watches Ghost and the rest of the team move forward and breach the building.
"Keep the door open for us." Ghost calls before disappearing into the building with the team.
A silence falls over Hazel and Archer as the latter hears what's going on inside while Hazel scans the area. He's watching the other tangos but none of them get close enough to the back of the building to be a problem.
"We got the intel but no weapons cache in sight! Command, do you read? I repeat we got the intel but no weapons!" Ghost yells through the radio followed by gunshots.
"Copy that Alpha Six, drop charges and get the hell out of there." MacTavish calls through the radio.
"Get ready to cover their backs." Archer sets his sights on the open door the team had gone through.
"Tangos on the move to the back, silent alarm? They're aiming for the back door." Hazel readies himself to fire.
"Ghost hang back, enemies sighting the door!" Archer calls out and on the count of three starts firing at the group coming with Hazel giving supporting fire.
"We got to get out! We're getting swamped in here!" Ghost yells and a few moments later Jayhawk and Neptune burst through the door, guns blazing at the enemy quickly followed by the others.
"Watch for friendlies!" Archer calls out to Hazel, "Displacing! You'll be without sniper support for thirty seconds!"
Hazel jumps up the same moment Archer starts moving and the two move to the west, kneeling down on one knee, "Ready!"
"Ghost behind you guys!" Archer yells out shooting several tangos as they move towards the rest of the team.
"I got two snipers getting in position on top of the building." Hazel reloads his rifle, pointing it down momentarily.
"RPG!" Archer yells just as Hazel lifts his rifle back up and watches as it explodes causing the team to split into two groups.
"I got the left team! Displacing!" Hazel stands up and starts running to the left and getting in position to cover Jayhawk, Neptune, Wizard, and Chemo.
"Hazel is giving cover fire to your team Chemo! He doesn't have a radio so be careful once you guys get out of there! Don't shoot him!" Archer calls over the radio before displacing again to keep moving with Ghost's group.
o0o
"Fuck!" Chemo yells out, arms moving up to protect his face as another RPG hits the ground spraying him with debris. "Move, move, move!" He recovers his composure quickly before running forward firing and keeping the rest of the team ahead of him. He's about to shoot two tangos turning a corner when they drop down.
"Hazel is giving cover fire to your team Chemo! He doesn't have a radio so be careful once you guys get out of there! Don't shoot him!"
"Copy that!" Chemo calls back to Archer, skidding forward behind a truck for cover.
"Neptune is hit!" Wizard yells out from their position behind a concrete barrier, "It's his right arm!"
"Shoot with your left hand!" Chemo peers over the truck and takes down several enemies.
"They got mortars! Incoming!" Jayhawk yells over the gunfire, displacing forward, "Neptune, I got you covered!"
Neptune, blood staining his upper right arm, pistol in his left hand, runs and shoots.
"Wizard, come on!"
Wizard breaks from cover but only gets a few steps before the barrier explodes and he falls in an unmoving heap. Neptune calls out to him but when he doesn't answer they know he's gone. Chemo calls it over the radio before breaking his cover and getting to the others. Jayhawk is jumping up and down out of cover, firing at the enemy as they start advancing.
"Where's that cover fire!"
"Archer! Where's Hazel!" Chemo yells into his radio.
"I can't see him!" Archer calls back, "We split to cover both you and Ghost's team!"
Chemo curses under his breath and gives covering fire for Jayhawk who displaces forward towards the west gate. He's about to fire when again the men drop before he can pull his trigger. Yelling 'finally,' he nudges Neptune forward, running backwards with Neptune to Jayhawk's position.
There's a loud explosion and the three men turn around to see black smoke on the cliff, "Archer are you okay?"
"Yeah it was no where near me!" Archer's voice cuts through the yelling and gunfire coming from Ghost and his team, "Hazel's over there!"
"Damn it!" Chemo breaks cover and darts out of the west gate, turned around giving cover fire as Jayhawk and Neptune quickly follow. "We have to get up there! Hazel could have been hit!"
"I'll go ahead! I can't do much with my bum arm."
"Alright, Neptune get up there and report!" Chemo and Jayhawk keep firing at the enemy, tossing cooked grenades in the middle of their group. "Jayhawk, try and take out those RPG's!"
"Got it!"
"Mortar fire incoming!" Jayhawk dives to the side as the ground explodes between them.
"Pull back!" Ghost yells over the radios, "We're gonna blow this place to hell!"
"Let's go Jayhawk!" Chemo yells, his ears ringing as he pushes up from the ground.
Jayhawk follows close behind and as they start running into the woods, snow crunching under foot.
"I found Hazel!" Neptune's voice yells through all the noise, his voice cracking.
"Is he okay?" Archer asks.
The building explodes making it impossible to hear anything over the noise. The white snow is showered with black ash and smoke fills the air. The snowflakes now black as they fall giving the scenery an eerie look.
"Everyone alright?" Ghost breaks the temporary radio silence.
"Chemo and Jayhawk still breathing, headed your way." Chemo answers, helping Jayhawk to his feet.
"I can't see shit through the smoke! Wind blowing it over your position!" Archer calls out.
"Zeus and Reaper making our way back to you Ghost." Zeus calls over the radio.
"I'm coming up from the northwest to your position, be advised, don't shoot me." Dragon calls out, his voice strained.
"Neptune?" Chemo calls out, Jayhawk leaning against him, blood staining the man's leg.
"Code Red!" Neptune finally answers and in the background the others can hear Hazel screaming.
Hazel's Journal Entry
It's been a few days since I've written in here. Things have been pretty crazy. I started opening up to Roach, telling him about Jacob and the others. I started crying when I talked about that last mission with him.
I still remember it like it was yesterday. Moving through the woods to the safe house. It was so fucking quiet but I didn't even think about it. Then we were ambushed, mines and mortars going off all around us. At one point one went off close to me and when I hit the ground I thought a tree had fallen on me but it was Jacob. He had blood spilling from his mouth as he laid on top of me, tears streaming down his face. Just as Jacob took his last breath I fell unconscious, waking up I don't know how much later. Soldiers were all around us and I heard Joseph screaming. I fought the pain to get to him but I didn't get far, my body exhausted from blood loss, and I was knocked out by a group of soldiers that starting kicking and hitting me.
I still remember being tied to that chair, staring down at Joseph, tears and pure alcohol making the cuts in my face burn, the man demanding I answer his questions. The smile Joseph gave me before he died.
Michael saving me to find out three hundred men were now less than twenty left. Dad was in the hospital, not sure if he'd ever wake up. Six months of torture I was in the worst shape of my life.
Three funerals to go to, one for Jacob, one for Joseph, and the third for Gabe who'd killed himself after they found Jacob's body.
I'm so tired but I just keep dreaming about it… My old counselor said writing or talking about it would help but talking makes it worse. I guy I'll have to start writing this out for the next few weeks and maybe I'll be able to get a nights sleep…
- James Mallet, fourth son of the Mallet boys
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this new chapter! A bit of a cliff hanger, aren't I awesome! JKJK, anyways thank you every one of you who are reading this. I'll update soon again, I just have it all in my head and I just want to type it out already! I type fast but man I can't type as fast as it's coming in my mind! See you next time!