It was 13 years since the mission that had resulted in the deaths of 4 of Michael's squad. The hardest thing that Michael had done according to him, was giving a folded American Flag, to the mother of Martinez. Martinez was fresh out of boot camp, eager to fight, a born patriot. He was 19 when he was killed in action. Since the mission, Michael got transferred into DEVGRU, and began to operate with his new team. Today his life will change.
Shindand Air Base: Herat Province, Afghanistan
April 29, 2018
11:30 Hours
Michael was sitting in the barracks, listening to music on his phone while reading Into The Wild, when his commanding officer walked in. Michael immediately went to the position of attention, saluting with a perfect knife hand.
"At ease Evans.", the CO cleared his throat. "Command wants you to report back stateside. I guess they got a job opportunity for you."
"They say what kind of job opportunity Sir?"
"Nope, plus I don't think they'd tell me anyway because of the circumstances, you being a Tier-1 operator and all."
"I guess so. So when is my flight?"
"You'll be wheels up at 06:30 tomorrow, pack everything."
"Yes sir." Michael replied as he gave one last salute to the CO as he left.
"What the hell kind of job opportunity is this?" Michael said to himself as he began to pack.
Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia
April 30, 2018
11:30 Hours
Six sat patiently as she waited for her 'client' to arrive. This was always the thing with new recruits, having to wait some time for them to meet her but she knew that they had a stressful job to partake in. She began reading over Michael's file to familiarize herself with the man who she was about to meet. Granted, she already expected what was to be in the files, considering that she had recruited 40 operators before this for Rainbow.
After reading his file, Six noticed a Black Tahoe pull up outside, a man stepping out with 1 bag in his left hand and 1 hung over his right shoulder. "Finally." Six said with a slight chuckle
"This place has not changed, like at all." Michael said after stepping out and breathing in the fresh Virginia air.
The driver of the Black Tahoe rolled down his window. "Go inside, take the stairs to floor 2 hallway B, and it'll be room 230."
"Got it, thanks." Michael replied as the driver pulled away. "Well, no turning back now I suppose."
Michael made his way to the 2nd floor, considering that his bags contained his weapons in them, he had to leave them near the front desk. As told he found room 230
*knock knock knock*A faint, "Come in."
"Good morning ma'am." Michael said as he closed the door behind him
"You don't have to call me ma'am, from here on just refer to me as Six."
"Alright. Six, may I ask what I have been called here for?"
"I wanted to talk to you about an opportunity that I think you fit the qualifications for."
Michael at this point had a confused expression on his face.
"What kind of opportunity?" He asked curiously
"Have you ever heard of the unit formerly named Rainbow Six?"
"Not that I know of, even if I did, I wouldn't necessarily direct my attention towards that because I was previously picked for DEVGRU."
Six kept a straight posture. She knew that this would be the same old ride again, nearly every recruit that she met had never heard of Rainbow Six. She was about to ask him another question until Michael spoke up.
"May I ask, what countries actually comprise Rainbow? Is it a NATO led unit, US specific or?"
"No, we've got operators from all across the globe. Two recently joined who are part of a CBRN unit. If you're to join, you'll be the third SEAL to join the ranks."
Michael still had some questions that he wanted to ask, but he figured that he'd rather find out for himself. The third SEAL he thought to himself, that didn't sound like a bad thing, but considering that he had never heard of the unit before, he was still skeptical of how it would turn out.
"Before I infer anything. I've read in your file that you've experienced mild instances of PTSD. Is this accurate?" Six asked
"Yes I have. They are all episodes from Operation Drawback." Six knew what he was talking about. "During these instances of my PTSD, I still remember the faces of those 4, I still remember the jokes we shared before that attack, I still remember how I felt when I heard the first go down, hell I still remember when I had to drag the last one out. They are the reason why I'm here, and I'll be damned if I let it happen to someone else."
Six was arguably taken back by the answer. The last thing she was expecting was what he just told her. It wasn't long before she decided to speak up.
"So, do you still want to partake in this?"
"Where do I sign?" Michael said as he leaned forward into his chair
"Oh you don't need to sign." Six said while she got up from her seat. "We've already had your transfer papers ready since you took off from Afghanistan, all you had to say was yes."
"Well at least it saves me some extra paperwork." Michael replied when stood up from his chair. "So when do I leave?"
"Flight is already on the tarmac, from here you'll report to Hereford Base. Good luck." Six said as she shook hands with Michael, she too would catch her own flight to Hereford to introduce Michael to the other operators, but she had to lag behind to finish some work.
Michael grabbed his bags that he had left near the front desk and reported to the tarmac where as expected, there was a plane waiting for it's only passenger, him. Michael was already shocked at the fact that he was being sent to the United Kingdom, but the feeling soon dissipated. He was kind of used to this thing that this point, being shipped off somewhere else, someplace completely new. But he was still doubtful in what he would experience.
Hereford Base
April 31th, 2018
07:30 Hours
Such was a morning for the rainbow team, everyone was starting to wake up and head down to the mess hall for breakfast. Ryad "Jackal" Ramírez Al-Hassar had already been up for nearly 4 hours because of his insomnia, so he was already sitting at a table waiting for everyone else. Sébastien "Buck" Côté was Rainbow's resident cook, so he was the first person up so he could get a head start on breakfast, today consisted of french toast, eggs, sausage, along with other various other items of fruit and drinks.
"Morning Ryad." Sebastien said as he walked down the stairs into the mess hall. "Couldn't sleep?"
"Nah, insomnia is something you don't ignore my friend.", Jackal replied as he sipped on his cup of coffee.
Footsteps echoed into the mess hall as Mike "Thatcher" Baker entered, yawning on his way down the stairs.
"Morning lads, where is everyone else?" he said as he rubbed his eyes
"Mostly everyone is asleep, I think Marius is out on his morning run. I don't know how that bastard gets up so early every day." Sebastien said as he fired up the stove
"Any word on the FNG Mike? I heard he was supposed to arrive sometime today." Ryad said as he drank the last bit of his coffee.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that, who is supposed to greet him anyway?" Sebastien asked with a blank expression, he never liked introducing new people to Rainbow
"I don't know, I might get Craig and Meghan to show him around, the new guy is from the SEALs after all.", Mike replied as he sat down at a table
"Oh boy, another American for Dominic to annoy." Sebastien said as he started to cook the mornings food
Mike let out a small laugh. "Hopefully it'll turn out like last time."
"What do you mean 'like last time'? Ryad said with some confusion on his face
"Last time Dominic annoyed someone new he was presented with a fist to the face." Mike replied
"Damn, I wish I was there when that happened, that guy really doesn't know when to quit annoying people.", Ryad said with a small smile
"It's just one more thing people have to adjust too here. I'm pretty sure the FNG won't have any trouble with him." Sebastien said as he started round 2 of the food
09:00 Hours
Pretty much everyone was up at this time, the mess hall teemed with operators, enjoying their breakfast. As usual, most operators sat with their own little groups. Some sat with their 'boyfriends' or 'girlfriends' while enjoying their morning meal. Six approved of relationships within the team, seeing it as an opportunity to build comradery, as long as it didn't affect trainings or actual combat. Most operators already knew of the relationship between Jordan "Thermite" Trace and Eliza "Ash" Cohen. Those two had been together since the second year the team was created, hiding it at first, but eventually not caring about it after a while. Elias "Blitz" Kötz was in a relationship with Monika "IQ" Weiss, and Julien "Rook" Nizan was in a relationship with Emmanuelle "Twitch" Pinchon. Most other operators kept to themselves while the others had their 'fun' time, but Ryad has heard enough throughout his sleepless nights to call it anything but fun.
Mike made his way to join the other SEALs who had been sitting with the other Americans, a plate of food in hand.
"Morning lads, and lasses." Mike said as he placed his plate on the table, taking a seat next to Jordan.
"Morning Mike." Jordan replied as he patted him on the back. "What brings you over on this side of the pond? You're normally hanging out with Seamus and them."
"Just wanted to talk to Craig and Meghan for a moment. That's all." Mike replied as he began to eat his food
Craig and Meghan both turned their heads as they heard their names.
"Someone said my name." Craig replied after wiping his beard with a napkin
"Just me mate, I just need to talk to you and Meghan after breakfast, it's about the new guy."
"I'm guessing we're supposed to show him around, run down of the basics?" Meghan replied
"Pretty much, you won't need to show him to a new dorm though, he'll be staying with you guys."
"Another SEAL?" Craig asked as he was now intrigued
"Yep, he's supposed to arrive in around an hour and a half so you guys have time to get whatever situated", Mike replied as he finished the last of his eggs
"You have his file by any chance?" Meghan asked as she was about to get up to leave and put her plate in the sink
"I can give it to you, just swing by my dorm in about 15 minutes." Mike replied
"Alrighty, thanks Mike." Meghan answered
10:30 Hours
Craig and Meghan had been reading over Michael's file before he arrived. They didn't really see anything that surprised them, except for the fact that he passed the SAS Interrogation Resistance course, and also the fact that he had partaken in Operation Kingslayer, something that neither Craig or Meghan had even heard of.
"3 tours in Afghanistan, 2 in Iraq, guy has seen his fair share." Craig said while he massaged his beard
"He does have quite the history, kinda interested to see what he brings to the table operator wise." Meghan while skimming over the notes
As Meghan closed the manilla folder, a black van pulled up in front of the barracks. A man with a large build stepped out with 2 bags in his hands. This was the new recruit. They both approached him as the van left.
"Good morning, you must be Michael Evans." Meghan said as she extended her arm for a hand shake
"Indeed I am." Michael replied as he set down one of his bags, returning the hand shake to Meghan and Craig.
"I'm Craig Jenson, codename Blackbeard. This here is Meghan Castellano, codenamed Valkyrie. We're the other two SEAL's who are part of Rainbow."
Michael was impressed by the introductions. Typically he was just told to set his gear somewhere and that was it.
"You'll be bunking with us during your time here. Follow us and we'll get you all settled, we'll stop by the Armory first. Everyone is required to leave their primaries in the armory but they are allowed to keep sidearms in their personal possession." Meghan said
"I'm following you." Michael said as he picked up his bag.
"The building is comprised of three floors, first floor is the mess hall, recreation room, armory and briefing room. Second floor comprises all of the CTU rooms, you'll see everyone later on today when you give your formal introduction. Third floor is comprised of Six's office, and also the gym.", Craig said while walking through the front door.
Craig, Michael and Meghan soon made it to the Armory. Michael opened one of his bags to reveal his disassembled HK-416 and Mk-12 SPR. It took Michael little time to reassemble them and place them into their respectable lockers. He took note of how different weapons he saw, ranging from British, to American, to Russian, etc.
"Your gadget goes in this locker right here." Craig said as he pointed to a large locker that was situated in the middle of the room
Michael pulled out his UAV from one of his bags, including the various attachments that he could outfit it with. Soon after, Michael had all of his weapons and gadget situated.
"Now if you would just follow me, we'll show you to your, or more specifically, our room." Craig said as he signaled Michael to follow him, Meghan following close behind. "Here's your key to the room and also the shooting range." Craig said after throwing him a pair of keys, Michael caught the keys without even looking towards Craig's direction.
Craig and Meghan soon left the room, letting Michael get everything set up in the room. He put all of his clothes in a dresser and closet was situation across from his bed, most of his clothes were his AOR-1 uniforms, but he had also packed some civilian clothes, granted he would need to buy more but that wasn't on his mind at the moment. Michael still to this day had the set of dog tags that had been given to him as a memory, along with a picture of him and his Marine Corps squad. He set the picture on the nightstand next to his bed and placed the dog tags under his pillow. He was about to rest on his bunk until there was a knock on his door.
"Yeah?"
"Hey, it's Craig, your presentation is in 15 minutes, when you're ready just head to the briefing."
"Be there in a minute."
"Take your time man, no need to rush."
Michael began to dress in his AOR-1 Uniform, considering that he was introducing himself, he thought that it would be best to wear the attire that they would most commonly see him wearing in combat. Michael always preferred the AOR-1 uniform over any other one simply because it was useful in any environment, and since Michael was given the choice to keep all of his old gear, he instinctively went to what he could trust. Michael soon gathered his things and prepared to leave the room. As he left, he ran into Rainbow's most notorious interrogator, Taina "Caveira" Pereira.
"Ah so you're the new guy." Taina said as she passed him in the hall, wearing a blue t-shirt along with some gray sweatpants and running shoes.
"Yeah I guess I am." Michael said as he closed the door.
"I imagine you're headed down to the briefing room?" Taina asked as she leaned up against the stairway railing.
"Yeah, I gotta do my 'show and tell' so to speak. I'm really not expecting to impress anyone, I'll be surprised if anyone even asks me a question." Michael replied as he too leaned up against the opposite railing.
"I felt the same way on my first day. But after a while, you kinda learn to let that feeling go, everyone here is family."
"Wish I could feel the same, I lost my parents before I graduated from BUDs, so needless the say, it's just been me this entire time."
Taina's demeanor visibly changed, immediately feeling regret. She didn't intend on triggering something within Michael.
"I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean.."
"It's fine, you didn't know. I don't really think about it all that much. Anyone who knows me tends to find out that it won't bother me much."
"Still, my condolences."
"Thank you."
"I don't think I've introduced myself. I'm Taina Pereira, codename Caveira."
"Michael Evans. Codename Reaper."
"You pick that name yourself?", Taina said with a smirk on her face
"Only one that suited me while I was in combat.", Michael replied
Taina began to think this guy was full of himself. Who picks a cliche name like that?
"Anyways, I gotta go. I imagine I'll see you at the briefing."
"You sure will." Taina said as she went up to her room to grab a change of clothes
Michael turned and looked a Taina as she walked away. Michael could tell that she was hiding something, but he didn't want to ask. The last thing he wanted was to be on bad terms with quite possibly the most dangerous operator in Rainbow. He entered the briefing room to see nearly every other operator, almost immediately all eyes turned to him. Michael continued to the front of the room, he could feel eyes following his every move but he didn't care. He joined Six who had stood up after Michael entered the room.
Six approached the podium. "As all of you know, we have a new operator here today. He is the latest in the line of new recruits. He will go over his name, background, and his gadget." Six signaled Michael to come forward.
"Good morning. For those who haven't met me yet my name is Michael Evans, codename Reaper. Up until today I served with the Navy SEALs for nearly 15 years, I transferred into DEVGRU at around year 3, and I've been working with them ever since. My gadget is a man portable UAV, capable of mounting 4 different payloads, a noise making device for stealth operations, along with an EMP, explosive, or 9mm handgun if the situation decides to go loud."
Almost immediately Emma raised her hand. She had seen that drone before and she knew where it was from due to her time in Bolivia.
"Excuse me, but where did you get that drone of yours? I know of only one other unit who uses a drone similar to that and they aren't necessarily well known."
"Wow a question." Michael thought to himself. "About a month before I got accepted here, I was tasked to a unit called Ghosts, and helped them dismantle the security forces of the Santa Blanca Cartel. After working with them for a couple of days, they allowed me to 'requisition' one of their drones for our use over in Afghanistan. Ever since then it's been a valuable asset."
Emma wasn't particularly satisfied with the answer but it would have to do.
"Any other questions?" No one else raised their hand. "Well then I guess I'm done here."
Everyone soon got up and left after the briefing was over. Michael pretty much expected that, he too didn't like to sit through meaningless briefings, but it was just part of the job. By now it was 11:30, some had decided to head to lunch early so that they could beat Julian and Alexsandr Senaviev, most commonly known as Tachanka, those two were well known for going for multiple rounds of food and still asking for more. Michael decided that it was a little early for lunch, so he decided that he was going to head to the range.
11:45 Hours
After acquiring his HK from the Armory, Michael entered the shooting range, slipping his key into the door. Stretched across a 50 foot wall were firing posts, boxes of 9mm, 5.56, and 7.62 accompanied each station, soundproof padding lined the walls. Since no one else was at the range at the time, Michael had the entire thing to himself, which he enjoyed. Michael decided that he was going to focus mainly on follow through shooting, which involved him maintaining a steady stance while sending follow-up shots down range. The challenge of this was the anticipation, thinking a target could pop up early could cause him to fire a round that he didn't need.
*15 Minutes Later*
Brass casings surrounded Michael as he unloaded his last mag and pulled back the charging handle, a spare 5.56 round dispersed from the chamber, landing on the ground next to him. He was fairly satisfied with his results, most of the shots landing where he wanted them too, some were off center but we're still within areas that were dangerous to the human body. Michael proceeded to take out his ear plugs, only to look over and see Meghan leaning against the door frame, wearing a pair of workout shorts, a green tank top revealing her tattooed arms , and some sandals.
"Hey Meghan." Michael said as he slung his rifle over his shoulder and grabbed his ejected magazines
"Hey, was wondering where you went. Been looking all over for you." Meghan replied
"Well in that case what can I do you for?"
"Just wanted to let you know that your PFT is tomorrow. And judging by how messed up that target is over there, I think I can tell Mike to lay off with the firing drills until a later date."
"That bad huh?" Michael replied
"I guess so." Meghan said back with a bright smile. "Mind if I walk you out?"
"By all means, lead the way."
Michael and Meghan made their way back to the Armory so that Michael could return his rifle.
"So where you from?" Michael asked as he set the rifle back into the locker
"Oceanside. You?"
"Tucson, Arizona."
"How is it up there?"
"Besides the constant heat it isn't bad. At least in California you have the beach."
Meghan chuckled. "Ha, yeah I guess. I haven't been there in a while, for obvious reasons, but England isn't bad either."
"This place take some time to getting used to?"
"Of course. Granted it was an easier transition than most because of Craig. Him and I knew each other from our time in the SEALs, and when we were both recruited for Rainbow, it just made living somewhere else easier. He's the brother I wish I had."
"That close huh?"
"Oh yeah. I can't even count the number of guys he's beaten up after trying to hit on me."
"That's what SEALs are best for, kicking the asses of bad guys and drunk assholes.", Michael said with a smile on his face. "Anyway, I'm off to lunch. I'm guessing the food here is a lot better than what I'm used too?"
"Oh yeah, you'll love the food here. Believe it or not, they use actual ingredients."
"Now we're talking."
They both left the armory lockers with smiles on their faces. Michael didn't know what it was about this place that was different from his other deployments. Everyone felt so lax compared to what he experienced in the Middle East.
"I'll be sitting with over there.", Meghan said as she pointed to a table that had the other American operators sitting at. "Come and sit with us."
"Will do."
Michael proceeded to the foodline where he grabbed a tray and started to analyze the food that was being served. "Meghan wasn't kidding." Michael thought to himself. Pretty soon his plate was covered with all kinds of food. The smell of it alone was making his stomach growl. Michael soon made his way over to the table Meghan was at.
"Morning ladies and gentlemen, or should I say afternoon?" Michael said as he greeted everyone at the table
"Ey Michael, how you doing man?" Jordan called out to him
"Not bad, still adjusting."
"Yeah it takes some getting used too." Jordan said while munching on his slice of pizza
"If I may introduce myself, I'm Jordan Trace, but you can call me Thermite in the field. This wonderful woman to my right is Eliza Cohen, otherwise known as Ash." Thermite said while holding her close, Eliza blushed in embarrassment. "The two gentlemen sitting across from you are Miles Campbell, codename Castle, and then Jack Estrada, codename Pulse. I'm pretty sure you've met Meghan here and then Craig."
"Indeed I have. Nice to meet you all."
"I heard Meghan found you down at the shooting range all by yourself." Ash said as she took a bite from her food
"Yeah she did."
"She say anything interesting to you." Ash said as she winked towards Michael
"Not the kind of interesting you're thinking about." Michael said with a smile
Everyone at the table laughed, Ash blushed at the response. Meghan also blushed but she was able to hide her face just in time.
"I must admit, I was not expecting this many faces from so many different places."
"It does take some getting used too. It's a challenge sometimes especially with some new recruits." Jack said
"Got anything planned for tonight?" Jordan asked
"As of right now no. I might hit the gym to prep for tomorrow's PFT but I don't know." Michael replied
"Oh you got the PFT tomorrow? Yeah you might not want to do anything wild tonight." Miles uttered
"Why's that?"
"Mike typically runs the PFT for new recruits, and he's always a hardass about it."
"Oh, great. Just the thing I need."
"It's not that bad." Jordan replied
Michael had just about finished his plate after the last comment from Jordan. He enjoyed small talk like this, but he knew that this was just them being nice to him for his first day. He fully expected people who seemed nice to be complete and utter assholes.
"Well if you'll excuse me. I'm going to head out." Michael remarked as he stood from his seat
"Where you going?" Jordan asked
"I don't know. Might just head back up to the dorm for a little while. Get some sleep seeing as I've been awake for a while now."
"Alright, if you're out for longer than expected, dinner is served at 18:00."
"I'll keep that in mind thanks."
Michael soon put his plate in the sink, and headed up to his room. He soon made it to his room, unlocking the door with his key. Opening the door, Michael found Craig sleeping in one of the bunks. Not wanting to disturb the sleeping giant, Michael slowly approached his bed, laying down and letting out a heavy sigh. He proceeded to remove his tan combat boots and placed them carefully next to his bed. He soon laid his head of his head on his pillow, and shortly there after fell asleep.
Meghan's P.O.V
12:45
After lunch most of the operators went about their separate ways. I stook around in the rec room for a while. Seamus, Jack, Jordan, and Maxim were playing a game of pool. Eliza and Monika were sitting on the couch watching TV. I sat at one of the tables browsing through my phone. Emma soon joined me.
"Hey Meghan." Twitch said as too pulled out her phone
"Oh, hey Emma." I replied
"You seen the new guy at all?" Emma asked
"He said he was going up to the room to get some rest."
"Oh okay, I wanted to ask him something, but I guess it'll have to wait."
"I can get him right now if you want."
"You sure? If he's sleeping I'm sure…." Emma started to say
"I'm sure he won't mind."
"Well alright."
I got up from my seat, heading up the stairs towards our room. Since Michael was obviously sleeping, I didn't want to wake him so I carefully unlocked the door and pushed it open. I giggled at the sight I was presented. 2 battle hardened Navy SEALs, sleeping away like babies. After standing in the doorway for a couple of seconds, I decided to take a picture. I was about to send it to all the other girls until Michael caught my attention. He began to tremble in his sleep.
Michael's P.O.V
"Here I am again. I just can't let this shit go can I?" I said to myself in my dream, no. No this can't be a dream, this is a nightmare.
"You failed thats why." A voice called out to me
"Owens. Long time no see brother." I replied back
"Cut the shit Evans, you fucking let me die."
"What do you mean I let you die? There was nothing I could do!"
"Really? There wasn't? Ask yourself. What are you really?"
"What happened to you man?"
"I died. That's what happened you inconsiderate fuck. You remember how old Martinez was? Do you? Huh? DO YOU?!"
I woke from my nightmare in a cold sweat. My breathing had noticeably increased. My PTSD was starting to show its ugly head again. At least no one is around.
"Michael, you okay?" I heard Meghan call out.
"God damn it." I said to myself
Meghan's P.O.V
Michael awoke as if he had been hit by a freight train. Everything about him, the way he looked, the way he was reacting, signified that he was not in good shape. I didn't want to disturb him while he was thrashing about because I didn't know if he would start to defend himself. I wanted to help him, badly, but whatever was happening to him I couldn't control. He finally regained composure so I saw this as a moment to speak.
"Michael, you okay?" I replied
"Y-Yeah I-I'm fine."
The way he stuttered made me know that he was lying.
"You didn't look fine."
"Ah it's nothing. I'm fine, seriously."
"Michael. I know you're lying to me. The way you were thrashing about in bed tells me something is bothering you. Now what is it?"
My voice had begun to sound demanding. I wanted to know so badly what was happening to him, but he wouldn't open to tell me. Stuff like that always infuriated me. Michael didn't say a word to me. All he did was get up to leave, walking right past me without saying a word out into the hallway. I turned around and followed him out, silently closing the door as to not disturb Craig.
"Why won't you tell me?" I demanded
"What is it to you?!" Michael said as he instantly snarled back at my question
"I just want to know what's going on! I see a teammate shaking in bed and you expect me to ignore it?!"
At this point we were both becoming angry with each other. He didn't want to speak about what had just happened. We both stood in silence for several seconds.
"Look, what I experience is none of your concern." Michael retorted
At this point I snapped. Michael started to turn his back as head down the stairs until I spoke.
"None of my concern?!" I scoffed "And how am I supposed to know that you won't freak out like you did just now while in combat? Huh?! HOW?!" I yelled
Michael stopped walking down the stairs when he heard my statement. He soon turned around and walked up to me, face to face.
"Worry about your own damn self for fucks sake. You don't see me getting into other people personal shit now do you? So for the final fucking time. Leave. Me. The. Fuck. Alone."
He soon turned back and headed down the stairs, not even exchanging a look at me when he did it. Those words aggravated me to my core. How could he possibly just blow off help without even wanting to talk about a situation that was bothering him. I was about to yell out something to him until Craig opened the door.
"What the hell is going on out here?" Craig asked, his voice still raspy
I regained my composure seeing as I wasn't mad at Craig. I tried to play it off.
"Oh it's nothing." I said
"Really? From inside it didn't sound like nothing."
"You heard it all?"
"How could I not?" Craig responded, rubbing eyes. "Look, whatever just happened and whoever it was with, you need to get it sorted. Because I'm sorry, I'm not in the mood of hearing fights right outside the door."
"I'm sorry, I didn't intend for it to turn out that way."
"It's okay. Look, some people aren't willing to open up to people they don't know yet. Just let whatever just happened run its course and see how things turn out." Craig replied as he put a hand on my shoulder
"I don't know how I can't. You know how I am with things like this."
"Do what your gut tells you is right." Craig said as he soon headed back into the room
I stood there for several minutes. Thoughts racing in my mind about what had happened. Did I just ruin everything for Michael's first day simply because I was a little pushy? Did I just trigger something that I'll soon regret? All of these things clouded my mind. Wherever Michael was, I wanted to apologize, but I felt he wouldn't want to be the same way.
