Chapter 20: Observation
I woke up the next morning smiling, partly at remembering the night before & partly due to what I was seeing. Ghost was lying next to me, sprawled out, hair tousled & breathing deeply. For once not snoring!
I untangled myself slowly & stretched, being quiet so not to wake him. Ghost mumbled something & turned over smiling, hopefully dreaming of something good. Smiling myself I got up & got changed quietly, when something came to mind.
Did he have his mask last night? From what I remember… no. Perfect.
Sighing I looked at my desk. Damn I really needed to clean all the crap outta my room. Eventually I found what I was looking for… Sticky notes! I picked them up & wrote a note for Ghost when he woke up.
'Gone to get your mask.'
I looked for somewhere to stick it & smiled. Perfect. I stuck it to Ghost's forehead before grabbing his room key from his trousers & leaving the room. Sneaking from the room I closed & locked the door. It would take a LOT of explaining if someone walked into MY room & saw Ghost asleep in MY bed.
Still smiling I turned around & practically hit the roof. "What the hell?"
Shepherd was standing not two feet behind me, watching. I really hope he didn't see into my room. He watched me emotionlessly as I collected myself.
"We need to talk."
"Ok sir?"
He watched me for another moment. "Can we go in?" He indicated to the door.
I gulped. "No… it's not quite… habitable… right now…"
Shepherd sighed. "Fine. We'll take Mactavish's office." He strode of leaving me to run up behind.
Soap's really not going to like this.
Shepherd strode into Soap's office without knocking & Soap looked up from his mountainous pile of paperwork with a frown plastered to his face. No-one showed that much disrespect towards the Captain. That was, unless they were pompous, arrogant twats like Shepherd.
"Sir?"
"We're going to need your office Captain. Sanderson, sit." HE indicated to the chair in front of the desk so I sat like an obedient dog. Soap gave me a confused look so I shrugged, I had no more idea of what was going on than Soap.
Soap got up to leave but Shepherd stood in front of him.
"Sir?"
"Mactavish, you need to be here to."
"Ok?" Soap sat next to me & Shepherd took the main office chair so he was sat in front of us both.
"What's this about sir?"
Shepherd didn't answer Soap until Price walked in. "You wanted to see me?"
"Good Price, now that you've finally decided to arrive we can start."
We all looked at each other apprehensively. This couldn't be good.
"I wanted to talk to you about Lieutenant Riley."
Our reaction was instant, we all stiffened & our faces went carefully blank. I'm pretty sure Shepherd noticed as he smiled wide at us.
"Riley has been acting… unusual don't you think. At least compared to the last time I saw him. Sneaking around in the middle of the night..."
Soap looked at me so I shrugged.
"…not being in his room this morning."
Price looked at me so again I shrugged.
"I think you lot know why…"
Soap began, but Price finished.
"Ghost has been -"
"- training hard lately. Must give him piece of mind." Price shrugged as he finished.
We all held our breath as Shepherd considered this. "Ok. Fine. You're all excused."
I let out my breath as we all quickly walked out & Price shut the door behind us.
"Did I just get kicked out of my own office?" Soap asked incredulously.
"Yeah, you did. But we've got a bigger problem on our hands." Price turned & looked at me. "Where's Ghost?"
"Sleeping."
"Where?"
"Umm… my room." I gave a sheepish smile as they both looked at me shocked.
"What?"
"I really don't wanna know!"
Price blew out a breath & ran a hand through his hair. "Ok. Roach, go wake the lazy bastard & tell him to get is arse out training."
I nodded & began walking away.
"Also you 2 need to keep your distance from each other until Shepherd has gone. He won't take it well if he finds out."
"Ok." I walked quickly to Ghost's room & unlocked the door. His mask & shades weren't hard to find as Ghost is a clean person. They were sat on his desk so I grabbed them & practically ran to my room.
I unlocked the door & turned around to find Ghost sat on the chair waiting for me. He raised an eyebrow. "You took your time."
"Sorry. Shepherd wanted to talk."
"About what?"
"You."
"WHAT?" He jumped up.
"Calm down! He wanted to know why you've been sneaking around at night & why you weren't in your room this morning. Price told him you've been training so that's where you've gotta go. Now." I handed him the mask & shades before sitting down, he followed suit & sat next to me.
He looked down at his hands. "I shouldn't have come last night." He murmured softly.
I grabbed his hands & he looked at me. "Don't say that. We just can't be together until Shepherd leaves. Simple." I Smiled.
"Right, yeah." Ghost regained his usual manner & put his mask & shades on. He turned to the door.
"Wait."
"What?"
I stood up & opened the door. "C'mon, it's clear. Let's go." We left the room & he closed the door behind us.
"Price, Mactavish, Riley & Sanderson to the briefing room. Now." Shepherd's voice rang out over the intercoms.
"Or we could go there…" I murmured worriedly & looked at Ghost.
"C'mon. we best go quickly."
We rushed down the hallways but outside the room I stopped. Ghost turned & looked at me. "What?"
"We can't go in together."
He nodded. "Ok. I'll wait 5 minutes."
I nodded, walked in & took a seat next to Soap & Price. 5 minutes later Ghost walked in &joined us. Shepherd seemed to materialise from the darkness & walked over. We watched him apprehensively, I was getting good at reading Ghost's body language now so I could tell what he was feeling when he had his mask on.
"I have an announcement to make."
The room went silent as we waited for Shepherd's verdict.
"Riley. I think it's time you retired."
The room stayed silent for another minute before Ghost answered. "What sir?"
"It's time you retired. It became obvious to me yesterday that your past is catching up to yo & you've become a liability to the team."
"I assure you Sir, my past is staying where it belongs. I'm fine."
"No you're not! There's something wrong!"
"Shepherd, Ghost's work has been excellent as usual."
"Shut up Price."
"Sir, Ghost hasn't -"
"Be quiet Mactavish!"
I knew there wasn't a point in me speaking but I tried anyway. "Sir…"
"Say another word Sanderson & I'll get rid of you too!"
I shut my mouth immediately & the others looked at me shocked. I never spoke out of term, with anyone. Hell I was shocked myself.
"Ghost you seem… distracted by something… or someone of late don't you think?"
I stiffened as Shepherd's eyes flicked over to me before returning to Ghost. I stiffened.
God he knows! He fucking knows!
"I… don't know what you mean Sir."
"I have nothing else to say on the matter. I'm leaving tonight. I expect you gone by the end of the week."
He looked at Ghost one more time before leaving the room & us in complete shock.