Let me just apologize for the REALLY late update. I just want you guys to understand with finals, the end of school coming, summer, plus with boot-camp coming up, I am seriously swamped here. Also just a little heads up I won't have ANY internet access during the entire month of June and some of July, so I'll try to get a whole bunch of stuff up as fast as I can.

I'd also like to thank all of the WONDERFUL reviews. Without them this chapter would have never gotten up.

2 Months. 2 Months since Gary had been taken captive and from then on pointless missions and sleepless nights. As each day passed Ghost felt himself become more drawn from the men. He still did his job keeping the men in line, but as time went by Ghosts hope in finding Gary dwindled. Shepard showed no signs of wanting to look for him, and no matter how hard Soap tried to persuade him otherwise. What Ghost did know is that with each passing day that Gary stayed missing, his love for the man only grew.

Gary's POV

Gary eyed the needle that was being prepared for him, a clear liquid filling the syringe. As Gonzorig turned to him with his obnoxious grin, Gary felt himself shiver as goose-bumps covered his skin.

"What is that…?" Gary croaked out nervously as he ignored the fresh burns on his arms from earlier in the day, his skin charred, dirty rags wrapped around them, covering up the injuries in a feeble attempt to protect them from infection.

Gonzorig shrugged lamely, "Just another little concoction I made up."

Gary sighed, "Great, more experiments." Loosening his arm as the needle slipped into his vein, Gary looked away and instead focused on a crack in the ceiling, waiting to feel the effects of the drug.

"This should make you talk. Now I know the last few attempts weren't very successful, you laughing for hours and all, but I have high hopes for this one."

It wasn't 20 minutes later that Gary felt his body relax. He felt a moment of dread before that too drifted away. Even his arms that were burned didn't seem to hurt so badly. He watched as Gonzorig leaned forward, both hands on the arms of the chair Gary was strapped to.

"Now I've kept you alive for long enough. Tell me where you're stationed and I may consider your release."

Gary smiled weakly, "It would be nice to see Ghost again…"

Gonzorig nodded encouragingly, "I'm sure it would. Now what are the coordinates."

Gary frowned as if in thought. "Honestly I'm surprised no one has found it yet…" and just like that, numbers started to spill unknowingly from Gary's mouth.

6 Hours Later…

The drug flowed threw his system like venom burning him from the inside out. Gary screamed out, his voice raspy as he clutched his head in pain. His bowels rumbled miserably, and his heart stabbed at his ribcage like a caged animal. The burns on his arms bled profusely and the new yet weak scar tissue on his cheek stretching painfully, the cold concrete of his cells floor chilling his body, the new stubble on his jaw providing no relief from the cold. He felt his body radiate pain as his muscles cramped and spasm from the liquid that had been used on him earlier. Tears streamed down his face as his body broke. He had betrayed everyone, but worst of all, he had betrayed Simon.

Ghost POV

Ghost sighed as he landed heavily onto his bed. Another useless mission, though today they had only lost one person. He spared a quick glance at the photo of him and Gary on his nightstand longingly before looking at his clock. 3:00 A.M. He groaned as his ears rang with the sound of gunfire. He glanced down at his hands to see there was blood under his fingernails and that the skin of his hands was stained a rusty colored hue. Scowling he got up quickly and walked briskly to the shared bathroom down the hall. Turning on the sink the scalding water enveloped his hands as he scrubbed his fingernails vigorously, ignoring the searing heat. He watched as if in a daze as the water went from clear to a red, then a soft pink as the blood swirled down the drain. After a while the heat on his hands became unbearable, and as he drew them back he saw how new scratches and burns bled small weaving trails down his hands to his fingertips. Looking up into the mirror above the sink he gazed at the mask that was reflected back at him. He hated that mask. He was weak, so scared of himself and his past that he couldn't even look at his own face anymore. Rage built up in his stomach, all his failures, all the lives that had died at his hands. Everyone he had loved and cared for were gone because of him. Without thinking his fist went darting out, the mirror shattering beneath his fist as he yelled out. Footsteps could be heard before the door went flying open to reveal a wild eyed MacTavish in his plain black boxers. When his eyes landed on Ghosts bloodied fist he sighed wearily. Ghost started plucking shards of glass from his hand as MacTavish turned his head to the side and spoke something low. Ghost had probably woken up all the guys in the hall and was telling them to go back to bed. Looking back at Ghost, John sighed again before stepping into the room and shutting the door behind him.

"You want to talk about it?"

Ghost shook his head as he continued to pull out the shards of glass.

MacTavish nodded silently as he crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall.

"I want you to get cleaned up. You're going back to the states next week. You'll have to stay away for at least 2 months before you're cleared fit for combat. Am I understood?"

Ghost nodded numbly as a feeling of dread overwhelmed him, the thought of a civilian life scaring him of all things. Soap nodded somewhat satisfied before he exited the room, knowing there was nothing more to be said.

Gary's POV

"You betrayed them. You are a disgrace!"

Gary shook his head and rocked in his chair, tears of guilt streaming down his face as his stomach lurched once more. A rash had begun to form on his legs from his own soiled pants, the stench only adding to his humiliation as he thought of what he had said yesterday.

"No…"

"Yes! And just imagine what this Ghost character will think of you!"

"NO!" Gary yelled back, his body shuddering with fever.

Gonzorig stopped pacing in front of Gary and bent down over the pitiful man. "Can you see their faces when they find you? Hmmm?"

Gary sobbed as the familiar feeling of a knife grazed his throat, a cry escaping him as a 4 inch cut along his neck was made, just to see Gary cringe. He cringed as Gonzorig whistled and 2 men walked into the room. Gary shied away as they came closer only to be untied from the chair and cuffed with his hands behind his back.

"Now you will be returned, and you shall live your life in fright and misery, the scars a friendly reminder of how pointless your life really is, and how weak you have become."

Gary sobbed again as a needle was inserted into his now hole pocketed neck, and the all-to familiar darkness took a hold of him.

Ghost POV

The familiar sound of the helicopter blades did nothing to comfort Ghost as the helicopter took off. As he gazed down at the group of men watching the helicopter fly away, he couldn't prevent the lump that formed in his throat. He hadn't left this place in over 3 years, and now he was expected to live a normal life as a civilian for 2 months. He grazed his hand over his masked cheek, the fabric comforting his tense body. He knew MacTavish had made the right decision, but the fact that he had had to make the decision in the first place was a wake-up call. Clasping his hands together tightly between his legs, his elbows settle on his knees as he hung his head low.

"What have I done?" Ghost thought desperately. Now all his chances of finding Gary had gone down the drain. All he could do now was put all his hopes into trusting that MacTavish could finish the job.

Hope this chapter was satisfying, for those that are still reading this. If any of you are like me and have pretty much read all the Call of Duty fanfictions on here, if you haven't read them already you might like a few of my other stories. They're all one-shots sadly.