AN: Hey guys it's that time again! Last we left off, Strike One lost one of their squad members in the rescue of Thomas Hutch. How will they handle this sudden loss? Let's find out.

Chapter 14: Coping and Surprises

Leon had finally managed to get the skyranger back to XCOM after the rescue mission for Thomas Hutch. To say the flight was somber would be an understatement. There was no talking the entire flight back, not even the jovial Han was in a good mood. Strike One had just lost their youngest squad member and was having a hard time dealing with it. Never again would they see his smiling face, or hear his happy laugh throughout the base. It would be awhile before Strike One would return to the happy bunch they were before the mission.

Ghost was probably taking it the hardest out of all the members of Strike One. Not only did he feel that he was too slow in his shot to save Johnnie, but he'd have to tell Anna about the death of her brother. That was making him sick to his stomach as he didn't know how his girlfriend would react to losing her younger brother. He was removed from his inflection as the skyranger finished landing in the Hangar of the XCOM base.

After landing, Hutch and his two surviving guards were taken away to the Commander to be debriefed and given shelter at the XCOM base for a short time, while Strike One went to the Infirmary to drop off Johnnie's body for preparation for the funeral. Ghost separated from the others after they arrived at the Infirmary to go inform Anna of the events on the mission.

Anna had been having a very bad feeling about the mission Strike One had received, she'd been having this feeling in her gut that someone wouldn't be coming back from the rescue operation. She had no idea how right she was, as she heard a knock at the door to the living quarters that she and Ghost shared. On opening the door she saw Ghost standing there with a tear stained face as he was refraining from crying even more, but was failing miserably as more tears came streaming down his face. He then broke the news the best he could in between sobs.

"Anna... I'm sorry, but... Johnnie didn't survive the last mission... I'm sorry."

It was all he could say before he broke down in sobs again at the news that he couldn't believe was true. Anna was in absolute shock as it registered in her mind what Ghost just told her. She began to break down as well as she just realized her last family member had been taken from her because of this war. Ghost went to try and comfort her, but the emotional state she was in wouldn't allow him to do that as she blamed him for not bringing her brother back to her.

"Ghost you... promised to keep him safe no matter what... get out... I don't ever want to see you again." said Anna as she slammed the door in his face and left him sobbing in the hallway.

== Five Days Later ==

The funeral for Johnnie had been a very somber occasion, everyone in the base came out to remember the youngest soldier in the XCOM barracks. Ghost had decided to stay away from the funeral, as he didn't want to create a scene with Anna being there. Afterwards, Anna had returned back to Hong Kong seeing as how she had no intention of remaining with the XCOM project after losing her brother because of their mission. The others were worried about Ghost as they hadn't seen him for the past couple of days. They finally cornered him at the Memorial Wall remembering Johnnie as his name had just been engraved yesterday.

Ghost turned when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps and saw the other members of Strike One coming to see him. He was unprepared for the intervention that was about to occur, but he figured it would be the best thing for him so he stayed to face the music. Each of the four others offered him their condolences for what happened, but told him that it wasn't his fault that Johnnie died. Johnnie had died the way a true soldier should've by protecting his comrades so they could complete their mission and come home safely. They went on to say that he shouldn't be depressed about what happened and should move forward for Johnnie's sake. They also said that they were there for him and he could always rely on them to have his back. Ghost was grateful that his teammates cared so much about him, and thanked them for their concern. He asked for a few more days to cope and accept what happened. They said they would, and left him alone to continue his musings at the Memorial Wall.

== Three Days Later ==

The five members of Strike One were gathered at the Training Grounds to begin training again. Ghost had finally worked up the courage to get back into training and they wanted to get the mist out of it, before they were called for another mission. Smokey stood in front of the others as he gave them their assignments for the day.

"Alright guys, time to start training again. Ghost it's good to see you as your old self again. Anyway, we have some promotions to hand out because of the success of the Council Mission. Blunt you've been promoted to Sergeant and will be able to carry three medical kits into battle instead of the usual one. Just let me know what your call sign will be after today's session. Also, Wolfe you've been promoted to Squaddie and will be receiving Sniper training from Ghost to become better acquainted with the equipment we use. Now both of you come up and receive your new uniform insignias."

Both females stepped forward with big smiles as they received their new patches for their uniforms as renegade and Ghost clapped for them. As they returned back next to the boys, Smokey continued his lecture.

"Okay settle down. Blunt you'll continue perfecting your medical skills, while Renegade and I go over tactics for us to use in the field. Ghost you already know you're working with Wolfe, so any questions?"

Four simultaneous head shakes in the negative were his response as they began their training for the day.

== Eight Hours Later ==

Their training had just ended and Smokey had gathered Strike One together so they could say goodbye to Hutch and his guards as they were leaving today to continue his political campaign to gather support for XCOM. Before they left Blunt announced that she had chosen "Savior" as her call sign for future missions. The five members of Strike One then left for the Hangar as they went to meet Hutch and his team.

As they arrived at the Hangar they saw the Commander and Hutch saying their final goodbyes, and sharing a hearty handshake. They then noticed Strike One arriving and turned to acknowledge them. Strike One also noticed that both of Hutch's guards were present and waved to them. Strike One had gotten to know the two guards better over the past few days and had struck up a friend ship with them after Johnnie's funeral. The taller guard's name was Malcolm Young and he'd been serving Hutch since his beginnings as a politician. He also revealed that he and Hutch had been childhood friends, which was why Hutch had chosen him to be the head of his security detail. The shorter guard's name was Sophia Benson and she was a new addition to Hutch's detail before the Australian campaign tour. She had recently left the Australian Defense Force and had taken the security gig to help pay her bills. Both had become fond of Strike One as they looked up to them for saving their lives, and their boss' life as well.

After saying their goodbyes to them, the Commander turned to Strike One and decided to drop a surprise on them, that he and Hutch had worked out a few days prior when they saw the bonding that was occurring amongst the soldiers.

"Strike One it's my pleasure to tell you that you've gained a new member to help you guys fill Johnnie's spot in the squad. Sophia please step forward and join your new team."

Strike One was absolutely stunned as they had no idea they were gaining a replacement so soon. Sophia was also stunned as she had no idea that this would happen.

"How is this possible?" she asked as she turned to Hutch for an explanation.

"Well, Sophia I know for a fact that you still miss being in the forces, and this is the best way for you to get back into doing what you love. You took charge with Malcolm back on that mission and kept us alive long enough for them to rescue us. You'd be perfect to join their ranks." replied Hutch as he smiled at the unbelieving look on Sophia's face.

"But, what about you and Malcolm?"

"We'll be okay Sophia, my brother Angus and his friends will fill the holes left by the others. Besides, I couldn't leave my friend without any protection." replied Malcolm as he gave Sophia a good bye hug, followed by Hutch.

She then walked over to the Strike One as they all gave her welcoming hugs knowing that she'd be a good replacement to fill the gap left by Johnnie's untimely death. After saying one more round of goodbyes, Hutch and Malcolm boarded their skyranger as they headed off to their next campaign destination.

== 2 Days Later ==

Strike One had spent the last two days training their newest recruit as they were preparing for their next mission. Sophia had really taken a shine to the training and was progressing quite nicely under Smokey's supervision. If people looked close enough they would have mistaken the two for a couple with how close they'd become over the past few days. Savior and Renegade had also been training together and had taken their relationship to the next level, by moving in together. This left an empty room in Strike One's living area that they had no idea what to do with. Finally, Ghost and Wolfe had been training together nonstop to make sure they both were at the tops of their games. They would have sniping competitions to determine who was actually the best in the squad, which each of them ended up splitting 50-50 because they were both equally accurate.

Training had finished a few hours ago, and everyone had turned in for the night and were all beginning to fall asleep when the blasted alarm rang out through the base waking the members of Strike One.

"Strike One to the Hangar! Strike One to the Hangar! We have another urgent council request!"

The members of Strike One, first cursed the damn alarm for waking them, but then groggily got equipped and headed down to the Hangar as ordered. When they reached the Hangar they were greeted by Leon who told them to hop into Big Sky as he'd be flying them again. After getting strapped in, they asked the Commander what their mission was, and he replied with the following synopsis.

"Strike One you are being deployed to Guadalajara, Mexico. There have been rumors that the Ravagers had taken over a train station in the most populated area of the city. And the rumor says that they have a dirty bomb that they plan to unleash upon the city in a matter of hours. your mission is to disarm the bomb, retake the train station, and defend it against any counterattacks. Good luck and Godspeed, Central Out."

AN: There you go guys, another chapter down. Let me know what you guys think, as I really appreciate your guys' insight. If anyone is confused about the call signs of the soldiers, check on my profile for the list of the soldiers in the squad and their identifying information. Also, if anyone gets the musical reference I put in this chapter you get a cookie. Anyway until next time this is "The Nasty One" signing off.

- PRAK