Chapter 4, right on. If you guys read my author's notes at the beginning or end of each chapter but I basically it's not too important.
I just want to say that I have started this chapter the morning after posting chapter 3 and that I am aiming for 10k words this chapter. It may take longer than the ten days I took on the last chapter, but not just due to it's length. I have semester finals for school on 1/17/19 and 1/18/19 but I'll be sure to write as much as I possibly can before those days and on those days. On a bad day, I get little to no work done but on a good day, I'll get 2000 words typed out and ready to go.
I try my best to update the story constantly so if you see any errors that managed to get by me, just let me know where it is and I'll get to fixing it. Typing on mobile with autocorrect is so nice but it doesn't always work which blows but oh well. It's not too difficult to go back and fix things as well as adjust anything that needs it.
Another thing is, I occadionally have to do research which makes the writing process a little it longer but its nothing too serious and it never takes long so don't worry about it too much I guess.
Anyways, I hope that you all enjoy and to leave a review as they all personally help me out. Favorite and follow if you enjoy the story please as it encourages me to write more often. Ciao!
Hereford Base, England
1/25/19
3:30 PM
Two weeks had passed since that last mission, Ghost had managed to survive being in his cast and finally recovered enough to walk on his own and move into a boot for a few more days despite his wishes of going without. In that time frame, Ghost had actually opened up more to the group and began starting conversations rather than being on the receiving end as well as becoming better friends with Grace, Jordan, Sébastien, and all the Russians though they were a different story.
Ghost was sitting in his room, the door cracked open to let a breeze in as he laid on his bed staring at the ceiling. Memories of his past jogged through his head from some of the happiest moments of when he was younger up to every important human he had ever killed. Today was a different day. The day where his life changed and forced him to become who he was now, a cold blooded killer who enjoyed the thrill of the kill anytime he takes a soul from another's body.
~Flashback~
1/29/2006
A younger Ghost and his parents were walking through the giant and busy mall, enjoying their time together as a family before he finished High School as he had just turned 18 and was planning on leaving the state for college almost immediately after graduating.
"You know son," his father began as they strolled through the busy building, "You still haven't told us about what college you're going to and what you're doing there. After all, you do have a talent in hacking like in those old '80s and '90s films we used to watch together."
"Yeah, I'm not sure of any place with classes like those, but there are definitely computer classes out there since the market for employees that can work those pieces of tech is willing to pay their employees extremely well." His mother added in, exaggerating the word extremely.
"I'm thinking about going to Colorado actually," Ghost began, "Lincoln Tech there has an extremely good engineering program and I'd like to continue that since we'd always have our project cars. Hacking sort of just became a hobby of mine, nothing career worthy."
"You never know, it may be the next big thing for our government so that they could stay one step ahead of all our enemies. Just think of that, my baby boy working in a higher position for Uncle Sam to protect his country." His mom said with a small giggle.
Ghost rolled his eyes at his mother's imagination, "I don't think I'm fit for a government job. Too high of expectations plus they'd always be on my back since I could probably climb the ranks easily with what I know. Rookies beating out then veterans as it normally is."
"Don't stay on your high horse for too long now," His dad butted in, "Working for the government would put you into tip-top shape, turning you into a real man."
"I'm tired, can we stop at the fountain and continue our conversation?" His mom asked.
Him and his father looked at each other before looking back to the woman and shrugging "Sure, we can rest for a bit honey. We have been walking for at least an hour or two now."
The three went to the only empty bench that surrounded then large two story fountain and continued their conversation. The topics changed frequently, all focusing mainly around the country and world problems that had been going on recently. Ghost had just pulled his wallet out to chuck whatever coins he had into the fountain to wish for good luck as alarms started to screech throughout the building as the sound of gunshots ricocheted off the giant building's walls causing everybody within it to have one of two reactions. The most common of the two was to panic, which most of everybody did trying to run and hide from why others looked around confused and dumbfounded. Ghost watched in terror as people dropped dead or injured in front of him. Not too far behind the people who had been put down were a group for 10 or so men, all wearing black shoes and pants with gray hoodies and white masks. Every member of the group had some time of gun whether it was just a handgun, ranging all the way up to what looked to be worn down M16s and AK-47s from back during the Vietnam War.
The group mowed down everybody within their sight, killing 20 or so people before their eyes landed on Ghost and his parents. 4 of the men snapped their guns up and pulled the triggers without hesitation. For Ghost, it was like he was watching the world unfold around him in slow motion as six different shots entered different parts of his mother's body, with 5 more digging into his father, two of them into his skull. Ghost watched in terror as their lifeless bodies dropped into the water, tainting the clear water red. His head flipped to the masked men before jetting in the opposite direction. The tallest man of the group ordered for two of his grunts to follow and shoot his direction. In front of him were three bodies that looked like the people chasing him with a fourth body being a security guard, his Glock 17 and a loaded mag lying on the door close to his hands. Ghost scooped the weapon up as he ran, bullets flying all around them before one ripped into his shoulder. Adrenaline pumped through the boy's body as survival was the only thing on his mind as he dove behind a metal trash can for cover. He peeked his head out to see the terrorist slow to a steady stride, their worn down guns pointed directly at. Swallowing the lump that was in his throat, he poked out and aimed the gun at one of the terrorists and pulled the trigger rapidly four times. Ghost watched as the man dropped and unleashed the rest of the ammunition the pistol had into the still standing man before tossing the pistol away and running for the nearest exit or window to get the hell out of the mall.
1/29/2017
Time seemed fly by as a new scene formed around him, the familiar city of Cambridge, Massachusetts taking over as the new surrounding rather than the mall he was previous in. In front of him were students happily carrying on with their day. Ghost was standing near a window that looked over Bartlett University's parking lot. He saw four truck loads of people pulling into the parking lot. As he truck stopped, the first couple of people gunned down anybody nearby causing chaos to wash over the rest of the campus, as well as letting the people behind them to take the crates containing their biochemical weapons they had worked their asses off to create the bombs and Bartlett was supposedly the test location according to the last Mask he had interrogated not long ago.
Ghost had counted upwards of around 60 or so White Masks that had exited the trucks and pushed their ways into the University and tied up anybody in their way rather than kill them as that's what the gas had been created more. Ghost left his position and made his way to a closest, putting his gas mask on as he waited for the gases that leaked from it as well as the gas that released into the school's area as the gases from the bombs took over. He made sure to wear clothing that had been inspired by the White Masks so that he wouldn't get caught. This operation though wasn't to save everybody here at Bartlett. He wanted to find the second in command since he was going to be at this attack, interrogate him, and kill him. He wanted the FBI and CIA off his tail and this was the only way how was to not save these people when we could have.
Two hours had past, cops surrounded the area with their guns drawn, not attacking as if they were waiting for a seemingly bigger and stronger force to come in and clear the White Masks out. Ghost was roaming around asking like a Mask rather than hiding as the local cameras in and around the building didn't provide much information as the gas was too thick to see through and blending in was much better.
Ghost had checked every nook and cranny to find the second in command of the White Masks leaving a single room left which happened to be guarded by two bombers. "You guys are making it too easy for me." He muttered as he found the explosives connected to a separate signal rather than a detonator like the White Masks use to do.
The bombers looked at each other as the timers on their chests clicked down from five seconds. With one second the spare, they began freaking out as both of the men exploded, painting anything in the general vicinity a crimson shade of red. Two Masks flew out of the room, their guns drawn it to put them down as Ghost was the only person they saw besides what was left of their comrades. "What the fuck happened?" One asked, throwing his gun to the side.
"I don't fucking know, I saw their timer counting down and hit the deck. Next thing I know, they're fuckin in a million god damn pieces." Ghost replied, faking his anger.
"We'll stand guard then, go talk to the boss as well as be his personal guard rather than standing there loligagging." The other Mask said as he took post next to the decimated doorway.
Ghost nodded and walked past them to see a single Mask sitting behind a computer, he wore a black mask and a yellow hazmat suit rather than the more casual clothing the others wore.
"Sir." Ghost said, saluting to the high ranking man, noting that one of the biochemical bombs shared the room with the two of them.
The man ignored Ghost who in return, rolled his eyes as he aimed his weapons at the two men guarding the door. With two pulls of the trigger, they were both dead with the Lieutenant pinned to the floor with Ghost's pistol in his skull. His gunfire seemed to have caused a chain reaction as a full on firefight could be heard on the lower floors, probably trying to make its way to both of the bomb sites.
"Tell me Mr. Nguyen, what do you think you and your men are doing here in Masachusetts? It's a long way from Brazil, Bolivia, and Mexico where I've last encountered your bigger operations."
"I'm not required to tell you anything Ghost. I don't even know how your ass managed to sneak past everybody here."
Ghost smirked, "That's for me to know and you to never find out. But I guess we're gonna have to do this the hard way."
Ghost stood the man up and pushed him back into his chair, tying him to it as well as stabbing a blade into each hands that dig into the table under it as well. "Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me? Your punishment is just beginning and you coming out alive depends on whoever is out there killing your men."
Mr. Nguyen shook his head causing Ghost to laugh. "Oh, we're going to have so much fun me and you."
Ghost took two shots at the lieutenant's knees, obliterating his patellas. Continuing with his punishment, Ghost took out his own personal knife and started cutting slits into the hazmat suit making sure to dig into the Mask's skin with every slit. When he was done, he plunged the knife into the Nguyen's stomach causing the Asian man to start coughing small amounts of blood into his gas masks. Ghost cracked his knuckles before punching the Mask just under where the knife was.
"If you don't tell me where any of your American based are, I'll fucking cut holes into your gas mask and kill you with your own weapon. I've seen what happens to those affected by the gas, it's fucking gruesome and I don't think you want that."
Ghost could see the fear in the White Mask's eyes as well as hear him physically gulp over the sound of the gunfire getting ever so closer. Ghost ripped his knife from the man's stomach and pointed it at the bleeding man's mask. "Speak."
"Okay okay fine! We have a few different bases. You only get one location though. It's a white suburban house in Los Angeles, California. 501 N Detroit Street, L.A California, 90036." Mr. Nguyen squealed.
Ghost smiled at the information he got as he dropped his calling card on the desk in front of Mr. Nguyen and walked to the entrance, leaving the White Mask tied up with the knives still through his hands for the people behind him to find. Ghost found his way to the stairs as he tried to leave the area but found himself some what looked to be swat members though they all had different patches ranging from all over the world.
With a sigh, Ghost ran up to them acting as scared as possible to seem like a civilian who had escaped. They all aimed their guns his way but didn't shoot as he exclaimed "Please help me! I killed one of them and put his outfit on so I could escape! I don't want to die!"
The group all looked at each other before the one who seemed like the leader spoke, his British accent easily recognizable. "Twitch, I'm going to need you to take him out of here to safety, me, Thermite, Montagne, and Sledge will carry on."
The woman walked him back to the police frontlines and commanded him to take off the White Mask gear so he did, causing her jaw to drop.
"Ghost, what are you doing here? What were you thinking?" The French woman asked, pulling him into a hug.
"Same old same old. Nice to see you're still busy, no longer having to chase down Caviera anymore." Ghost said, returning her hug.
Twitch laughed and backed off. "Look, I gotta go now but stay out of trouble and remember, my offer for you to join the group apart of still stands, all I have to do is talk to my director."
"I appreciate it chica but there's no need to. I'm not trained by the military or a PMC, just a man with a vengeance. Anyways, I'm off to the other side of the country for my next stop. I assume I may see you there but I wouldn't get your hopes up." Ghost said as he prepared to get back to the car he rented from the airport.
Twitch nodded and waved her farewell as she ran back to the college. A few cops had actually tried to stop him for question but he ignored them as he knew damn well he'd was off the grid and he'd be arrested for having no information in the system as he was thought he have died years before.
~Flashback Over~
A small tear formed on Ghost's face as he sat up, his mind swirling back to thoughts and memories of his parents and how great his life could have been doing whatever he pleased. Ghost opened his drawer that stood next to his bed and took out the single knife inside of it. It wasn't anything special, just a butterfly knife from his child. He cleaned it daily and sharpen it once a week, sometimes even twice a week. Without any hesitation, Ghost dug the blade into the skin on his wrist, slowly cutting it into a nonlethal manner. He continued until there ten different cuts, one for each regret he always had in life that he never followed through with. He jumped as somebody knocked at his door and quickly wiped the blood off the blade with a tissue and tossed the tissue into a bin next to the stand. Making sure to hide his bleeding arm behind his torso, he opened the door revealing Grace bouncing on the balls of her heels.
"Hey Ghost!" She exclaimed, bringing the introverted man into a tight hug before backing way when she felt liquids on his arm. She looked at her palm and forearm, they were covered in fresh blood.
Grace's eyes flared from excitement to a mix of curiosity and sadness. "What did you to to yourself?"
"Nothing to worry about kid. Anyways, what did you stop by for?"
"Jordan, Eliza, and Sébastien wanted to hang out for a while before dinner since it's nearly 4:00. But as I hope you know, we're cleaning your arm up and bandaging it up." The Korean woman said as she grabbed Ghost's wrist to drag him down to the infirmary where both Lera and Doc greeted them.
"Xорошего дня Grace and Ghost, how are you both doing today?"
Ghost opened his mouth to speak but Grace had beat him to it. "Hello guys, we just need bandages for Ghost. He had accidentally cut his arm while doing something."
Grace yanked his arm out from behind him and showed the two doctors the currently bleeding cuts.
"Monsieur Ghost, these look like self harm rather than random occurrence. I've had my fair share out in the fields, I know what true sounds look like." The Frenchman said, slightly disappointed in his comrade.
"Would you like to talk about it? Gustave and I have classes every Monday and Thursdays for the operators with PTSD, depression, and a few other things. I'd really recommend it as it seems to help the other operators in the family."
Ghost rolled his eyes at his comrade's attempts to try and help him. "Pshhh, I will think about it at most. I don't think I'm feelin it though Lera but I thank y'all for the offer. We're just here to get my arm bandaged up."
Lera nodded and grabbed some bandages and tossed them to Grace. "That'll be enough to cover the arm without anything extra."
Grace thanked the two as she continued to drag Ghost around and applied the bandages to his arm. "Anyways before I found you after your stupid stunt, I was going to tell you that Eliza, Jordan, and Sébastien wanted to hang out with us over in the recreation room."
"Fuck it, why not."
A small smile creeped onto Grace's face as she grabbed Ghost's wrist that hadn't needed the bandages and began leading him to the recreational room. "Let's go then, they're waiting for us and probably thinking we've ditched them to do something else."
"I don't know what they'd expect us to do two hours before dinner but I guess we'll let it slide for now." Ghost mumbled under his breath.
The two made their way to the recreational room and saw their three friends chilling by the TV, a rerun of 2018's 24 Hours of Daytona playing as 2019's race was coming up in the the following day. Jordan and Ghost had talked about it recently as they only cared for the GTE series instead of the Prototype series and Jordan had always rooted for the Porsche 911s while Ghost always cheered for the old SRT Vipers though he's switched to the new Ford GTs after Dodge had pulled their cars from the competition.
Ghost sat down in a recliner next to the sofa while Grace opted to join the other three on the couch since Eliza was sitting in Jordan's lap cuddling him. "So you two have finally gotten together?" Ghost asked as he watched the race.
Jordan chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Eliza. "Yeah, it only took you a week to find out, hm spook boy?"
"Maybe I'm just oblivious or I've gotten use to more people than just Eliza calling you Jordy," Ghost joked, "Regardless of that though, congratulations on you two getting together. I can't imagine either of y'all dating anybody else here."
"You have anybody that you've got your eye on?" Sébastien chirped in.
"Not really. Haven't gotten to know anybody to the point where I've gotten comfortable enough with them. Even if I did, you should be worried about you and Taina. I know how much of a handful she can be."
Sébastien's eyes widened as his face paled, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Your face says otherwise my northern friend. I've noticed that Taina talks to very few people, less than both Chul and I do, and you're one of the few special ones she hasn't explained to me yet." Ghost smirked.
The Canadian looked straight ahead in a realm of his own as he contemplated his next response. He gave up trying to find a way out of the situation and sighed. "Do us a favor and please keep it between the five of her. I know she wouldn't be pleased if the entire gang found out."o
"Aye man, your secret is safe with us. Well, all of us except for Eliza since she can be a drama and gossip queen." Ghost replied, waving him off as he looked towards Eliza.
"Don't call me out." She rolled her eyes, "I promise not to tell anybody but I will do my research and watch how you two progress. Besides, I have one more potential couple I've been keeping my eye on."
"And who would that be babe?" Jordan asked, a devious look in his eyes.
"Well, I can definitely tell you the two should know who they are, just not that I'm making sure to push them together. But if you must know, it's Grace and G~~" She got out before her phone could be heard going ballistic on the coffee table.
The Israeli woman sighed as she reached over the phone and read the texts before clearing them so nobody could read them and turned to look at Grace. "Well I guess sharing who Grace has a crush on is off the list seeing as she sent me 30 messages just to shut up. Your secret is safe for me but if you to do get together, you owe me £50 because I'm calling it'll happen."
"Shut up." Grace replied, her cheeks burning up in embarrassment.
An awkward silence filled the room as the group payed attention to the TV, only Ghost and Jordan actually enjoying the racing while the females had already gotten bored of it and Sébastien beginning to doze off. After an hour or so everybody had fallen asleep except for Ghost and Jordan who were still intently watching the endurance race forcing the two to have to whisper to each other anytime they spoke. Maxim stalked into the room as silently as he possibly could to scare the operators but changed his mind when he saw three of the five of them passed out.
The Russian leaned over the couch just above Jordan's left shoulder. "Dinner is being made by both Zofia and Yumiko so it's bound to be a beautiful feast tonight comrades."
"I'd hope so because I'm starving." Jordan said, scooting out from under his girlfriend as quietly and softly as possible. "Been forever since we've had true food since nobody has been stepping up to the plate to make any actual food so we've had to eat MREs or microwave stuff."
"This place has had actual food?" Ghost questioned.
"Da, we use to occasionally even go off of base to go and get food but then the terrorist threat began to worsen and here we are now. It all happened before you joined."
"Man I've really missed out."
Jordan laughed, "You sure did kid. You sure did. Things were pretty good up until maybe two years ago. After that Bartlett University attack, things went into the shitter. Before that, we thought the White Masks only operated in Europe as the CIA and FBI refused to tell us of any operations out of our own continent. Now we're a global operation and it makes sense to hire people from other countries."
Ghost froze in place at the thoughts of the Bartlett Attack, his mind going over every single detail of what happened that day from when he flew in to when he flew back out to head to the other side of the country.
"Hey, everything alright comrade?" Maxim asked as he tried to shake Ghost back to reality.
"Huh what?" Ghost asked, blinking rapidly.
"You sorta just blanked out man. Did something happen back in 2017."
"Nothing in particular, don't worry about it."
"Whatever you say. Just know we're all here to talk about it, even if it involves getting Shuhrat and Alexsandr as well as some vodka to get it out of you." Maxim jokingly replied.
"Trust me, that won't be needed my friend, I guarantee you of that." Ghost said assuringly.
Maxim went to speak but was cut off as the PA system talked over him. "Hello every! This is Zofia and I just wanted to let you all know that your food is ready. Come on down to Mess Hall and enjoy your food!"
The three looked at each other before each deciding to wake up their fellow operators who had passed out in the room.
"Come on Grace, wake up. It's time for dinner." Ghost said as he lifted her into his arms.
"Five more minutes please…" She begged as she dug her head into his chest.
Ghost sighed in defeat, "You have until we get to the Mess Hall because I'm not in the mood to be teased about having to carry you there."
"Too late playboy." A feminine voice said from just out of his vision. A small flash covered their bodies before he looked towards Eliza who was giving a sleepy smirk with her phone in hand.
"Really Eliza?"
"I don't see anything wrong with it. But remember, it's always there for when you want it."
"I don't know what use it would be to me."
Eliza pocketed her phone, "Just saying, you'll never know if you'll want it or not. You know, for memories sake."
"I wouldn't worry if I were you my friend," A tired Sébastien added, "You two are cute together. Two little hacker peas in a pod."
Ghost ignored his friends' comments on him and Grace and lead the group's way down to the Mess Hall to go and eat whatever luxuries awaited them.
Before entering the chattering filled Mess Hall, Ghost set the girl down gently onto her feet while slowly shaking her. "Times up, we've arrived here so let's get some food."
Grace rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stared down the man in front of her with blurry eyes. "Ghost?"
"Yes, it's me. Can we please go get some grub? I'm starving and would rather eat than look after you currently."
Grace smiled as she cracked as many joints as she physically could on her own before walking into what looked to be a buffet. "Why did none of you say that we were going to be eating good tonight? I would have never even let myself pass out if I knew this is how we were gonna be dining like kings and queens."
"That's all in the past, just grab whatever food you want then we'll find somewhere to eat." Maxim said as he walked by the two.
Ghost shrugged and followed Maxim to where Zofia had been happily handing out food to the other operators. "Hello Ghost, I hope you enjoy the food since I know we haven't had anything even remotely decent to eat since you've arrived."
"I definitely will enjoy it, thank you Zofia." He replied with a nod. He waited for Grace to receive her food before joining his friends at the table closest to the entrance.
Ghost and Grace sat nearly shoulder to shoulder, mainly due to Grace wanting to stick close to him. The table was silent for the most part at first as everybody ate but Maxim spoke up to end the silence. "So Ghost, how long have you been in this sort of business? I haven't exactly read your files."
"I dunno, around 12 years almost when it gets to my birthday."
"Did somebody say that there was a birthday coming up soon?" A certain French female asked from behind Ghost. Jordan and Maxim scooted over slightly to make room for Emma. "Why haven't you told me before Ghost?"
"He's only been around for a little over two weeks Emma and you're all over the poor boy." Jordan pointed out.
Ghost shrugged, his eyes filled with a void of cold and darkness. "Back in Bolivia, we may have gone on a few dates. After that though, the meetings were brief and random, inconsistent jobs. You know, all that garbage so we never technically dated."
Everybody's jaws dropped, especially Grace and Eliza's. "Wait a moment, that means you knew what Rainbow was before joining didn't you?" Eliza asked.
"I knew of you guys' existence and what you did. Other than that, I had no idea what y'all were besides some sort of Spec Ops. Me and Emma didn't exactly share a lot of person stuff."
"Technically, he had first met only me, Taina, and Meghan at first. Grace already knew that since I told her a little bit ago. He met Jordan, Mike, Gilles, and Seamus though at the Bartlett attack back in 2017." Emma said, not noticing Ghost's death glare.
"Wait, I've met Ghost before?" Jordan asked, taking a bite of his burger.
"Duh, he was that 'civilian' that we extracted. Who else could have nearly killed the Mask's second in command and get out without a scratch. Besides, you saw his calling card there." Emma replied, emphasizing the word civilian for Jordan.
The Texan shook his head, "I should of fucking known the card meant something."
"If me and Ghost ever did actually get together, I would have met his parents by now anyways. We've known each other for upwards of three or four years now."
"If you guys could excuse me, I'll be right back." Ghost interrupted as he stood up from the table.
Everybody nodded except for Grace who had nothing but worry, terror, and fear going through her head. After Ghost had left the room, Grace decided to finally speak. "I think you fucked up mentioning his parents and how you could have met them Emma."
"How so? He probably just has to use the restroom."
"Emma, I've seen his room. He didn't bring any personal items. That includes pictures of him, friends, or family. He said everything he owns, he brought with him. I haven't even seen a car get dropped of here yet."
"So? He may just not be a family man. I can accept him for who he is."
Grace facepalmed, "I don't think you know what I meant by that. I mean what if he doesn't have a family? It could be a touchy subject. He didn't seem very happy about his birthday being near either."
Ghost was standing outside the door listening to the females' conversation before just shaking his head. He walked downstairs to the armory and grabbed the only pistol he had brought with him, a .40 Browning Hi-Power. He put it into his back pocket and grabbed himself one the the grapple hooks before heading back up stairs to leave the building. Once outside, he spun the rope a few times before he threw the grapple on to the roof and caught an unnecessary railing. Testing the strength of the railing, he gave the rope a couple of tugs and began climbing up the wall, struggling for grip as the boot couldn't exactly stick to the brick wall. Once up, he sat on the edge, his head dangling in the gentle breeze with phone playing Gravity by Papa Roach, his pistol next to it.
His mind raced, every bad memory he had going through his head. Song by song, he stayed up there contemplating his life. Tears started to drop from Ghost's face as his hand inched towards the phone, "It's my fault… If I chose to just stay home for dinner, I wouldn't be a fucking murderer today…" He thought as the tears poured from his face.
The music stopped as the phone began to buzz, Grace's little logo doing its animation on screen.
"C'mon Ghost, answer your phone," Grace growled in frustration, "You've been gone for nearly half an hour."
The phone kept ringing, stopping around the minute mark to address the fact that he had no voicemail box. Grace rolled her eyes as she called the phone and picked it up for him. "Ghost, where are you? You said be right back, not I'm going to go somewhere else."
"Leave me alone please Grace." He said, his voice frail and cracking.
"Is everything okay? Where are you at?" Grace asked as she left the table, her voice fill with worry.
"I'm in not telling you where I'm at, everything will be okay." The sound of a pistol being cocked easily distinguishable in the background."
Grace muted the call for a second, "Hey guys, I'll be right back. Something is insanely wrong and I don't know what." She got up and left while scrolling through the every single device on the premises until she found Ghost's phone. His firewall was complex but only took the Hacker a couple of seconds to get through. A visual of Ghost with a gun in his hand and bits and pieces of a rooftop as well as the dimming sunlight. Grace sprinted out the door and ran to each side of the building looking for a rope.
A small line dangled from the side of the building prompting the Korean to instinctively ran to the rope and began her ascent to the top where she was greeted by Ghost's back facing her and a pistol in his hand pointed at his own temple.
"Ghost…" She whispered as she got closer, "Please put the gun down, we can talk about this and let everything you've ever held in."
His body tensed up as he pressed the gun's barrel further into his head. "Don't come any closer please."
Grace sighed and sat down, her back against his. "You don't have to tell me a lot, but I want you to trust me and let me know some things so I can at least help you."
She heard the gun drop onto the concrete rooftop and Ghost lean his weight onto her body, his head resting on the back of hers. "The White Masks killed my parents. That's how this entire mess fucking started. All because I decided I wanted to go out for my fucking birthday rather than stay home like I had done every year before."
"You aren't supposed to lose everything you loved and cared for the day you become an adult, they're supposed to be with you every step along the way until they have nothing left to teach you. It made me the cold blooded killer that I'm known as, calm as a stone about killing. I don't even think about how I'm testing families apart at this point, my sense of humanity is fucking gone." His voice cracked from the tears but Grace could hear all the pent up anger, how it was the first time this man had finally succumbed to what he kept inside.
"Luca Pirelli is no longer who he longed to be. He died that day with his parents and is now six feet under. January 29th, 1988 was when that part of me was born. That version of me lived within but had been forcefully taken the day of the shooting in 2007. I went to my parents and old self's funeral, the only picture they had of me was what was online at the time and my ID and Driver License pictures. I've been dead for almost thirteen years and nobody knows it because nobody knows who I am…" Ghost continued, occasionally sniffling while recollecting his past.
"You've never changed. The real you has just been in slumber Luc~ I mean Ghost, you've put on a giant metal shell that surrounds and hides the person you once were. All it'll take is time and for you to open up to others. If you don't want to open up to me, then please just go to Gustave and have him help you."
"Luca please… And you can try to open me up. I don't know how much progress you'll get into it. But do me a favor. Please tell nobody about this, I don't want to be forced to mentally heal and be held away from missions."
"Trust me Luca, this will stay between us but if it gets worse, we're letting Gus know about your condition whether you like it or not."
"Under one condition Grace."
"And what is that?"
Ghost inched to the side a little bit and stood up, reaching for Grace's arm to help her up. "You're coming with me to go see Six, I have a request as well as something to tell her."
Grace accepted his help but refused to let go of his hand as they slowly walked to the rope to get down. "Just saying," she began, "You're going first so I know that you're not gonna try to jump off and kill yourself that way."
A sad laugh came from Luca as he reached down to grab the rope. "Guess I'll see you down there kid." Grace waved as he slowly slid down, her following after he was off the rope.
Grace grabbed ahold of his hand again while the two walked to Six's office. She noticed a couple of confused stares from other operators the saw them from inside the Mess Hall but ignored them as that wasn't important at the moment. The two stopped in front of their Director's door, and looked into each other's eyes for a brief moment as Luca knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Luca pushed the door open and let the girl's hand go as he sat in one of the chairs that were in front of Six's desk. "Ma'am," He began, putting his hand out for a hand shake, "I guess you've met the wrong side of me before but my name is Luca Pirelli. I can make a new file or add on to the file you have of me if needed but I also would like to make a request for when I'm healed."
Six's eyes widened as she accepted his handshake, "Umm, yes Mr. Pirelli. What is it that you propose?"
"Is there a way we could have a parkour or freerunning trainer area? I use to do a bunch of that for fun as well as it was useful while I infiltrated White Mask base."
"Of course, I can see what I can do. We'll have to do a vote with the other operators."
"Is it possbile that I can present that meeting? I'd also like to include some uhh... Personal stuff in it."
Six gave the man a small smile and a nod. Luca and Grace stood up to leave but Six stopped him as she was halfway out the door. "If it's okay with you Luca, I'm still going to be calling you Ghost since I go by callsign."
Luca man nodded and left the office, shutting the door behind him.
"Y'know, that went way better than I expected it to." Luca said with a small laugh. "I thought Six would go on to talk about our budget and how it would be too expensive as well as how not every operator could do it."
"Technically, it would be helpful for our training program as it makes everybody more versatile."
"In a way I guess."
~"All operators to the Meeting Room please, one of your fellow operators has an announcement as well as a vote on a new type of training area."
"That was quick. Thought she'd go to Mike and Jordan to schedule it with them first so that it was at a time they agreed on but I guess we aren't busy at the moment." Luca said, scratching his head.
"The sooner the best I guess. I'll sit in the crowd so nobody think anything is going on." Grace replied.
"What do you mean by that? We aren't dating. Though we certainly are more than friends at this point."
Grace laughed at his confusion, "Exploring. We can leave it at that until you decide you'd like to bump it up a notch."
"I still don't understand where you're coming from. You're going to have to explain after this meeting is over."
"Have you always been single?" Luca nodded forcing Grace to roll her eyes, "That explains about all of you're obliviousness."
The two walked to the meeting room, splitting at the door. Grace took one of the seats near the podium. Her eyes began to wonder around Luca's body, how his arms were muscular but not built, his upright and ready to go stance, even how his stubble complimented his face and messy hairstyle. All of it combined his introverted and nerdy, yet willing personality all put together was a dream becoming a reality for her.
"Like what you see?"
Grace's face went bright red as she turned to see her Texan and Israeli comrades. "Uhm, maybe just a little bit?"
Eliza laughed while Jordan went to speak, "So did you end up finding Ghost and if so, does this have anything to do with him running off and leaving us in Mess Hall?"
"Yes I found him, and no this doesn't have anything to do with that though I was there with him when he asked Six to do this."
"So you know what it's about?" Eliza asked, leaning forward in her seat so the other operators that were entering wouldn't hear what Grace had to say.
"A freerunning course is what we're voting on since apparently Luc~ I mean Ghost did a lot of when he was younger and it has helped him in the field."
Eliza's eyes widened as Grace spoke, "Wait wait wait, did you learn Ghost's actual name? You were about to say either Lucas, Luke, or Luca. Which one is it?"
Grace bit her tongue, "Uhm, you'll maybe learn in his name today at this meeting but it isn't quite a guarantee."
"I'm excited then, I guess the masked man finally decides to reveal himself." Jordan said with a smile as he crossed his arms and leaned back.
Luca looked each and every one of his comrades as they entered the room, Gustave and Lera being the last to enter except for Six who stayed in the doorway leaving only him to notice her. After an approving nod from her, Luca began.
"Yes, hello everybody. Before we begin, I have a question. What would you guys like to start with? Both were my idea, the new training area or what I wanted to get out rather than keep in my head.?"
A couple of the operators shouted out what they wanted first but he heard more for the new training course than his personal stuff. "Okay, so when growing up as well as while I did my part against the White Mask, I was a free runner. Ya know, I did stuff like parkour whether it was for fun, to exercise, or I actually had to use it in the field to get whatever I needed to do done. So I was thinking we could build a new course for that for at least the basics of parkour so that everybody could know their body's full potential. Then for the operators who are confident in their skill, we could head to London or something and use the mass amount of buildings as our playground. Six could easily let the London Police units know that we'd be in town for training so we could do it without running from them and security guards like I use to have to. So I guess, yay or nay this, and I can count it up since there's already a notecard and pencil up here for some reason."
At the end of the poll, there were 31 votes for yay, 13 for nay. "Thank you Ghost for getting the voting done for that." Six said from the back, every operator in the room turning to look at her. "Now I believe you've got something to share?"
"Uhh correct ma'am. So I'm sure that you all have looked into my file since I've joined and have noticed there's very little personal information, most of the stuff being in there talking about what I've done and where I've been and what not. Well I just want to clear/add some more context to that. My name is Luca Pirelli, I was born 1/29/1989 and "died" 1/29/2007 on the very first White Mask terror attack at the Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was my 18th birthday when that attack had occurred and also ended up being the day where I lost my parents. Every since then after supposedly being found dead with a random body filling in my place with my parents' graves, I've been off the grid and have done everything I could to stay that way meaning I've done my fair share of crimes just like our buddy Dom over there. Though I had only ever stolen for my own greed once which you will all see tomorrow as my most prized position shows up here in an airfreight. The car I drove anytime I was back in any state near my home town, I had a favor left from an old friend so they're bringing my baby up here to the good 'ol U.K. Besides that, I really don't want to say anything else about my past as it is killing me from the inside out just to talk about it. You're all dismissed and have a wonderful day."
Discussion between the operators followed the room as they all prepared to leave, mainly the bigger operators as well as the older operators conversing about how they hoped that the newly established parkour training would be optional due to their ages and ways their bodies were built.
Luca stayed where he was, watching over the dying crowd as they all dispersed to go do their own things. Eventually the room had completely emptied of everybody, including Grace to much of his surprise. A small sigh of relief released from Luca as he covered his face. "I can't fucking believe I just did that, oh my fucking god."
After taking a deep breath, he slowly made his way down from the podium and out the side door to be greeted by Grace, Eliza, Jordan, and Sébastien. Grace pulled him into a tight embrace in which he returned causing the others to chuckle.
"You know Luca," Sébastien began, "It sounds like this calls for a celebration, eh?"
"Not tonight by Northern friend. Tomorrow though, we can. You can all join me to pick up Naraya, she's going to be waiting for us."
"You've got a girlfriend yet here you are with Grace? That's a little fucked up man, don't you think?" Jordan taunted.
Luca released Grace but kept her by his side, "You already know who the hell Naraya is, and if not then me and you can race tomorrow. I haven't seen every operator's vehicles yet so I'm interested to see what Mr. and Mrs. Yeehaw have."
"2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392, you already know that being an American, I love my American muscle." Thermite replied, a smirk on his face.
"Then I guess great minds think alike, Mopar or no car. We can race tomorrow unless you're scared."
Jordan opened his mouth to respond but Eliza covered it and took the words right out of her boyfriend's mouth. "Hell yeah we'll race you! Poor 'ol Sébastien won't be able to keep up to us in his old 2009 BMW 335i."
"Yeah yeah, we'll see you tomorrow then. I'm going to bed." The couple moved out of the way to allow Luca to head to his room as he dragged Grace with him the entire way.
"Why are you bringing me with you? I'm not tired yet." Grace asked while Luca unlocked the door to his room.
"You don't want me to end up like I did this morning do you?" He asked, Grace shaking her head at the question, "Exactly. Therefore you're going to be keeping me company so I don't do any more dumbass shit."
Grace rolled her eyes as Ghost opened the door and kicked off his shoe and loosened boot into an empty corner of the room. "You don't gotta sleep, just stay with me until I do then you're free to leave." He added since he knew she'd get bored.
Half An Hour Later
8:15 PM
Luca has been passed out for easily fifteen minutes yet Grace was still sitting on his bed using his stomach as a pillow while she scrolled through social media on her tablet. Her mind was in a completely different place however, it roamed on all the different events that had occurred throughout the day and how all it took for her and Luca to become a "thing" was just letting it come by naturally just like Jordan had wanted for him and Eliza. Grace turned the tablet off and put it on the desk next to Luca's laptop before going back to sitting on the bed while resting her head on his stomach. She enjoyed the how calm each breath was that came from him despite everything that troubled him from deep within his mind. A knock came from the door forcing a groan out of the korean as she stood. She opened the door, revealing Shuhrat.
"Hello Grace, why have you opened door rather than Luca opening the door? You two sure have moved quickly together." He said, slightly slurring his words.
Grace's face went bright red as she responded "He asked me to make sure he actually went to sleep tonight rather than staying up like he normally does, have you been drinking with Alexsandr again?"
"Only little bit, we are tipsy at most. Anyways, come with me. We talk about Luca for a moment because I fear he is like me."
Grace was intrigued yet concerned since every operator here knew Shuhrat's background profiles about how he had caused a couple of accidental casualties that had been redacted thanks to Six as well as his own bad memories from when he was younger. Grace nodded and followed him out the door, shutting it behind them.
"We're going to Recreation Room. Other operators may be in there but it's nothing too bad, just something for you to keep an eye out on from stuff I've noticed since he's showed up."
"What's so concerning that you have to tell me? Grace asked, tilting her head slightly in perplexion.
"Oh you know. Suicidal thoughts, severe depression and anxiety, maybe some PTSD symptoms without having it, nothing booze can't fix."
"And why do you worry about that?"
"New cuts and scars have been appearing on his arms and legs and they're not from training comrade Grace. There obviously something wrong going on in that head of his. He has demons like me torturing him from what he's witnessed in his lifetime. He was off the grid after all so Gus has no psychological profile on him."
"I'll keep an eye out for him Shu, don't worry."
Shuhrat raised an eyebrow, "I not worried about what happens here. I know you and Jordan keep good eye out on him. It's out on missions I fear. He could be unpredictable and self reliant since that's what the man is use to, from what we know due to Bartlett, he could be a more ruthless interrogator than Miss Taina as well as a relentless killer. Have you not seen the pictures of the blood, guts, and organs he's left in multiple different locations including Bartlett?"
"He worked alone so he did what he had to."
"That may be so but it's not humane."
"His gadget lets him detonate remote explosive that they can hold on to, yours explode from at least a little bit of distance so he caused more damage."
"Perhaps so but even then, I did little research based on news articles from his previous jobs that were actually released to the public and it can get very gored up and gruesome."
"Shu, if that ever happens, we can inform Six about it. But until then, that's not in our jurisdiction. We have no control on how he handles certain situations, we just have to let him do what he thinks is best for getting the job done."
The drunken man nodded as he stood, "Have good night then comrade, just know I'd keep a strong eye on Mr. Luca on any mission we go on. He good guy."
As Shuhrat left, Timur had sat down in front of a disturbed Grace. "Is everything alright girly?"
Grace snapped back into reality from the depths of her thoughts, "Umm yeah, I think so. It's just that Shuhrat got me thinking about how he could possibly be right."
"Be right on what? I wasn't exactly listening to your conversation. I just looked your way as something looked like it was wrong."
"He said that Luca could possibly be unpredictable on the field as his techniques when going against the White Masks were brutal and he was merciless. He just killed them like it was nothing and moved on to the next guy is sorta what he was talking about."
Tim patted the girl's shoulder a couple of times, "Have no worries my friend. I'm sure that he does his job differently than all us but I bet he could tone it down a bit. After all, he's got us now. He doesn't need to use a fear factor like before to startle them."
"I mean, I guess but I don't know. I'm still just not convinced."
"Here's my suggestion, go to your room and put your пижама on. I'd bet that you'll be more comfy sleeping in those than what you're currently wearing. A nice long night of sleep should rid your head of any of those negative thoughts."
Grace slowly nodded her head as she stood. She took a couple of steps towards the door but stopped and turned to her Russian friend. "Thanks Tim, I'll be sure to do that."
He gave her a smile and a nod of approval, setting her on her way. Grace slowly walked to her room while her mind was blowing up with every different possibility and all the outcomes that could happen based on different occasions. She went into the room and quickly threw on a gray tank top and fuzzy black sweatpants on. Grace paid no attention to her own bed though and slowly made her way backs to Luca's room knowing she hadn't locked it yet.
Grace opened the door and peered in to see the light from outside reflecting off his eyes. "Are you back Grace?" He asked, his voice drowsy and unsure.
She walked in and closed the door behind her before sitting on the bed. "Yes, it's me Luca. I just wanted to check on you before I went to bed." She whispered.
"Come please," He said, yawning as he lifted the covers and blankets.
"Luca, you know I can't. Besides, you're probably tired to the point to where you don't even know what you're doing."
"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied as he slowly took her glasses off and set them on the nightstand next to his bed. "Please? For me?" He added as he moved his free hand next to her thigh.
Grace giggled at the tired man's attempts. "Fine, just this one time." She taunted as she scooted further onto the bed. He pulled her down to where her back was against his chest and his arm that was once holding the covers up was now draped over her stomach.
"Goodnight Gracie." He mumbled into her ear.
A smile crept onto her face as bliss and comfort took over her entire mindset. "Goodnight Luca."
10k Words later and its finally complete. I may be 56 minutes late than what my goal was but I hope y'all enjoyed. All feedback is appreciated!