Big thanks to MasterDerp5885, WheresDaBeef, CaptainHall, and RedDawnShadow, you guys rock. Pretty good response last time and don't worry, this time I'll try not to end with a cliffhanger; I'd just be plain evil to leave you guys with three cliffies in a row… Also:

Me: Okay, so I bet you all think I'm evil for that last cliffhanger and scene involving a certain sniper, right?

Archer: Yes… -_-

Me: Heh… *runs and hides behind Dash*… sorry?

Lol, Okay, I'm done with that… Be warned, I might have either implied or just plain romance between Archer and Toad in this chapter, just because it works… Well, let's fix that last cliffy shall we? On to Chapter Twelve! Oh, and we have a surprise guest this chapter!

Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher

~Spitfire out

*Dash's POV*

Standing in the door way I saw five figures, "Heard you guys had some trouble," one of them said with a tone of humor.

Meat! I saw that one of the guys there had an unconscious Roach slung over his shoulder, it was Royce. Scarecrow, Ozone, and Jayhawk were also there. Jay never went on missions so it was odd. He was always busy with Doc's lessons since he was training to be the official field medic. Must've passed the test…

The blast had woken Ghost up and he had jumped to his feet so I stood as well.

"Never been so glad to see you guys," I said neutrally as Meat and Royce shot the locks off of our cells.

Toad was on his feet but wouldn't let Archer stand when he tried to. Jay went over to check on Archer as Ghost and I stepped out of the cell. Meat and Royce passed us some extra weapons as Jay and Toad exited the other cell, carrying Archer between them.

"Let's get out of here!" Ozone called, running towards the door, "Nikoli's waiting."

We followed him out and made it to the chopper, having to shoot and sneak our way out wasn't easy though, not with Makarov at the base. When we finally made it to the waiting CH-47 I wondered how it's presence had gone unnoticed by Makarov or the higher ups.

We got on the chopper, Jay and Toad sitting Archer down on one of the benches. I could hear Archer hiss in pain as he was lowered down to sit. Toad sat beside him, a little closer than necessary. I sat down across from them with a sigh of relief. Ghost sat next to me. The others sat closer to the bay door as the chopper took off.

I looked past them to see a Russian with an RPG in hand and Makarov smirking next to him.

"RPG!" I called as Makarov pointed towards us and the soldier fired the weapon, sending the rocket hurtling for the chopper.

Toad jumped up and grabbed the rifle from one of the guys and fired a few well aimed shots at the rocket. One or two must've hit because the rocket blew up just before it hit the chopper. We all breathed a sigh of relief as Toad handed the rifle back to Ozone and sat down next to Archer again, even closer this time.

Then I realized I had completely forgotten about Roach. I looked towards the cockpit and saw Jay looking him over. I was relieved when Roach tried to sit up, Jay stopped him of course, telling him to rest.

*Toad's POV* (Yep, Toad's our surprise guest!)

I sat close to Archer. I felt like it was my job to protect him now that he was hurt. I could feel Archer partly leaning against me. It felt… strange somehow… It was a good feeling to be supporting my superiour but it was different. My chest was warm as I looked at Archer, his eyes were barely open and he was breathing heavily, still in obvious pain.

I resisted the urge to wrap my arms around him. I was scared to say the least. Archer was hurt pretty bad and I wasn't hurt at all aside from a bruised chest from when the Shadow Company guys attacked us.

As I looked around everyone looked tired, mostly Archer though.

"Hey," I said quietly, nudging him gently, he looked up at me, he looked so weak and defeated, "get some sleep, mate, you need it."

Archer managed a small smile and leaned against me a little more. I soon felt the steady breathing that told me he had fallen asleep. I smiled a bit, I was usually dependant on him, but now he needed a shoulder to lean on, so to speak, and I was glad to lend it. The two of us had been partners long before we decided to enlist together. It was a long story but quite an interesting one at that.

He had been that scrawny nerdy kid that everyone picked on and I was the jock that just so happened to the biggest prankster in the school. My biggest prank of the year was on him; he made the girliest scream ever. Granted I'd probably scream too, if I got bit there by a snake. Lucky him the snake wasn't poisonous. He still hunted my jocky ass down, using every little nerd type resorce he had, and there were a lot of 'em. Who knew a scrawny little nerd could hit so damn hard. That somehow led to us being friends and I got him stuck on airsoft. He was the best shot there and I had him teach me how to shoot. It took some time, and a lot of learning about bullet physics, but evenentually I could shoot pretty damn well, but never as good as Ian could. Later we decided to enlist in the S.A.S together. Then Shephard found us while we were on an op. I had gotten seriously fucked up by another sniper and Archer was fending off the enemy like there was no tomorrow. I was trying to help but with a .50 cal bullet in my gut and leg, I couldn't shoot worth a damn. At first Shephard only wanted to recruit Ian, but he had said he'd refuse if he didn't take me too, that we were partners, always.

I smiled at the fondness of the memory. I felt Archer shifting a little on my shoulder.

"Hey, Christian?" he asked, looking up at me.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks, you really saved my skin," Archer said with a smile.

I smiled back, "Just being your spotter."

Archer smiled at the referance to our sniper team relationship and rested his head back on my shoulder, closing his eyes again. I leaned my head back against the wall of the chopper and closed my eyes to fall asleep.

*Dash's POV*

Archer was leaning on Toad and Toad didn't dare lean on Archer. Probably because the older sniper was hurt. Toad had leaned back against the chopper and fallen asleep with a smile. Something about Toad and Archer was different. Archer seemed a little 'looser' more lenient and carefree. I shrugged it off and looked over at Ghost, he still had his balaclava on but his sunglasses were gone. It looked as if he had nodded off as well. I remembered waking up to those captivating blue eyes. I was stunned, speechless, his eyes were so mesmerizing. That and the feel of his strong arms wrapped around me made me feel so safe and warm, like I wasn't in an enemy prison but somewhere else, somewhere like home. I cut that line of thinking off; I didn't have a home, not anymore.

My parents didn't want me to join the military and I had a pacifist sister who ridiculed me after I enlisted. Even though our grandfather had retired from the United States Navy, she still hated the idea of war and hurting people. My sister and I were complete opposites and I had no place with her, nor did I want one. My parents didn't approve of my choice any more than my sister did, they hated it and I never once received a letter after boot camp. I didn't even go home after that, I thought I'd be wasting my time if I went home because I wouldn't be fighting, I'd be 'relaxing' with my 'family'. The only family I would ever admit to having would be my grandfather but he was gone. So, no, I had no family or home.

I looked towards the bay door, it was now closed and the guys that had come for us, Scarecrow, Ozone, Meat, and Royce, were chatting about something that I didn't quite get.

I looked back at Ghost to find those amazing eyes staring back at me. God those eyes… They were such a perfectly light blue with little flecks of grey that blended beautifully.

'Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop right there, you already said no, get over him!' I scolded myself for the thoughts.

"You okay?" he asked after a little while.

'God damn that accent…' I thought to myself, nodding silently in response to Ghost's question. Honestly, my shoulder hurt like hell. But I wasn't going to admit that, not to Ghost or anyone.

Come to think of it, I couldn't get a song out of my head, I Will Not Bow… It was stuck in my head; it reminded me of Ghost completely.

Without noticing, I began to sing it, "Now the dark begins to rise, save your breath it's far from over. Leave the lost and dead behind, now's your chance to run for cover. I don't want to change the world; I just want to leave it colder. Light the fuse and burn it up. Take the path that leads to nowhere… All is lost again, but I'm not giving in! I will not bow, I will not break! I will shut the world away! I will not fall, I will not fade! I will… take your breath away…"

Then I realized I was singing out loud. Everyone was watching me. Ghost had that thoughtful look in his eye; the others appeared to like it; so I kept going.

"Watch the end through dying eyes, now the dark is taking over. Show me where forever dies. Take the fall and run to heaven…" I stopped there.

Breaking Benjamin's songs were really good but this one was always stuck in my head. It seemed like a good moment for that song.

I looked towards the cockpit. I could see Nikoli's hands shaking from here which was bad. I looked up at Nikoli's head. About two feet to the side, behind the other wall, the barrel of a pistol was showing.

I knew it couldn't be that easy.

I stood sharply, getting everyone's attention as I turned with a stomp towards the cockpit. I walked back wards a few steps and took one of the weapons from the floor, the other guys having dropped them.

UMP .45… Lucky me, my favorite rifle. I took aim towards the pistol barrel and slowly walked towards the cockpit.

Nikoli heard me coming and turned his head slightly to see me. The fear in his eyes was unmistakable. I could've sworn when I saw the reflection in his pupils, it was Makarov.

I don't think I've ever hated being so right.

"Don't you dare move," I warned, aiming at Makarov as I stepped around the corner.

Makarov just smirked and laughed a little before pressing the barrel of his .45 Magnum against my gut.

"It seems we have come to a stalemate, krasivyy," he said with a crooked smile. (Krasivyy = beautiful)

"The hell we have," I said as I heard several guns being readied behind me, undoubtedly the others who were able to get a weapon in their hands and get up.

"Goret' v adu (Burn in hell)!" Makarov shouted.

There was a loud bang but the pain never came. Then there was a thud. I looked down to see a masked man lying on the ground with red staining his shirt around his middle.

"Ghost!" I shouted worriedly, firing my weapon at Makarov's shoulder.

Jay instantly knelt down beside Ghost, "Nikoli, ETA?!" Jayhawk shouted as he rolled Ghost's shirt up to expose the wound in his stomach.

"Five minutes to touch down!" The Russian pilot called back.

"Dash, you think you can get him in the med-bay when we land? I gotta get Roach, Toad's got Archer," Jay said quickly, temporarily patching Ghost's wound and putting pressure over it.

I nodded quickly and when the chopper landed Ghost was over my shoulders and I hauled ass to the med-bay so that he could be treated.

Doc took him once I got there and got right to work. I waited outside for what seemed like hours, it probably was, until Doc came back out with a pleased look.

"Ghost will be fine, it'll take a few days to recover but he'll make it," Doc said happily.

I breathed a sigh of relief and headed back to my room to get some shuteye.

*Archer's POV*

Toad came in soon after Doc had left. I gave a small smile, though my back, chest, and pretty much everything else was hurting.

"Hey," Toad greeted, sitting down in a chair next to me.

"Hey yourself," I said with a smile, making Toad laugh a little.

Toad was a joker but he was one of those guys that can't lead a team because they'll stress out and have a mental break down. He was more of a follower. But what I had seen from him after I had gotten hurt, it was a different side of Toad. He didn't stress or break down, he was calm and helped me the best he could. I loved that, as it was my duty to train him. We were soldiers, eventually, I'd be killed or, since I was older, retire from the military, and it'd be up to Toad to make it through a year without me since we were only a year apart.

"How you feeling?" Toad asked as if unsure of what to say.

"I'm good, back stings a little but I'll live," I answered.

It was silent for a while. Then I felt warmth encompass my hand and noticed that Toad had taken my left hand in his right.

"Ian…" Toad said quietly, that was the first time I had heard him say my name in a long time, it sounded different coming from him and I liked the way it sounded, "I was scared, when they brought you back after the second time… I thought for sure you were… I-I don't know, you were just… different… and it scared the hell out of me…" he admitted quietly.

I gave him a comforting smile and sat up the best I could, "I'm okay, Christian," I said, using his name, it was so different than it was when we were kids, the name flowed differently now, and I loved it, "I'm not going to leave you, it's my job to look after you and that's what I'm gonna do," I said confidently, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

Toad flushed when he noticed he was holding my hand but didn't pull away, not that I wanted him to.

Our faces were inches apart as we locked eyes. We slowly closed the distance between each other until our lips brushed. Then Toad made his move. His mouth captured mine in an intense kiss. I was shocked at first but returned the kiss soon. In that moment, all that mattered to me was Toad and I. I didn't want the moment to end but Toad eventually pulled away slowly, leaving his forehead pressed against mine.

"W-we've just been partners for… well… ever…" Toad said quietly.

"Yeah… we have…" I responded, pulling Toad close and into a tight hug.

Toad returned it, "I...uh… I love you… Ian…"

"Love you too, Chris…" I responded, squeezing his hand again.

Hey, don't hate yet… I will be getting deep into the Dash x Ghost thing in the next chapter (hopefully…) I think that chapter went rather well… you? Well, this chapter is pretty long and I can't add more without messing the timeline up and confusing myself, so you'll have to wait until next time to delve into the intended Dash x Ghost romance… Well, don't forget to review please!

Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher

~Spitfire out