Author's note: A small detail I missed, in game Ela is actually an inch taller than Meghan. In this story, Meghan is a few inches taller, I don't know why, I just find it more adorable that way. Anyway, here's the next chapter, enjoy.

What Will It Take?

Chapter 12

Meghan let out a yawn as she woke up. She immediately felt another person holding on to her. She looked down at the beautiful figure of Ela, who was still sound asleep. Oh how Meghan longed for something like this, being able to wake up next to the person she loved. But sadly, this wasn't the case, Ela only saw her as a friend and wasn't even aware of the blonde's feeling towards her. This honestly made waking up with the Polish beauty in her arms feel like torture, almost like she was being teased. She started running her fingers through the girl's green hair, slightly stirring the her and causing her to let out small moans. Meghan thought it was absolutely adorable, making her feel worse.

After a few minutes, Meghan felt like it was time to get out of bed. She carefully unwrapped Ela's arm from her, being carful not to wake the girl and got up from the bed. She began to put her shoes back on when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. A book was sitting on the nightstand, it looked fairly old and worn, Meghan knew she probably shouldn't, but curiosity got the better of her. She picked it up and began flipping through the pages. She was surprised to see several well drawn sketches. Some were of maps, others were of battle strategies. Then she noticed pictures of several portraits of people were drawn as well.

Some pictures were of local people and places Ela had seen while overseas, local merchants, children playing in the street. Then she started recognizing drawings of the men she saw in Ela's photograph. The man named Nelson, standing in full battle gear. Jacobson and Stevens sitting in what appeared to be a dirt hole. Daniels appearing to stare into the scope of his rifle. Meghan smiled at the drawings, whenever Ela worked with her back during Orange Sky, she always seemed cold and distant, however Ela seemed like she was much closer with her former team. Maybe that's why she was so apprehensive about being close with people, she didn't want to come to care about someone only to lose them.

Meghan turned the page and nearly dropped the book. It was a drawing of her, with her shemagh and giving a friendly smile. She couldn't help but notice that Ela had only drawn pictures of people she seemed to like, so it appeared Craig was right, Ela did admire her. She closed the book and put it back on the nightstand how she found it. For a while she stared at green haired girl who was still sleeping, how she wanted to just tell her about how she felt, but sadly now was not the time.

Meghan realized that she should probably get ready for the day. She didn't want to just leave Ela without saying anything, so she grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down a quick note. She placed it on the side of the bed where she had been laying so Ela would be able to see it as soon as she woke up. She turned to leave when a sudden urge came over her. It probably wasn't the most appropriate idea, but she couldn't help it, she walked back over to the bed where Ela was sleeping and placed a soft kiss on the girl's temple. "I wish I could tell you everything." She whispered. "Maybe someday." She left the room before the pain in her heart became too much.

She walked downstairs to the first floor and was immediately greeted by a flash of red. "Hey!" Eliza greeted excitedly. She then dragged Meghan to her room down the hall.

"I saw you go into Ela's room last night." She was hopping with excitement. "How'd it go? What did she say? Did you get laid?" She eyed Meghan closely. "No, your hair is too neat for that to have happened, but what did she say?"

"You can calm down Eliza." Meghan responded with a disappointed tone. "I didn't even tell her."

All the happiness in Eliza's face disappeared. "What?! Why?"

"Now before you get mad at me, there's a good reason."

"Okay, and what would that be?"

"Well…I can't really say."

"You're not helping your case."

"Okay, look." Meghan explained. "I won't say too much. You know how we've been wondering what's been going on between Ela and the captain?"

"Yeah."

"Well, she told me what it was, and it's insane."

"Is she sleeping with him."

"God no!"

"Then what is it?"

"It's not my place to say, just understand, it's a big deal."

Eliza could see that Meghan was being serious and decided not to press the issue. "Okay, so what does that have to do with telling her how you feel?"

"How could I tell her?" Meghan answered. "What was I supposed to say? 'Hey sorry to hear about your decade long turmoil, by the way, want to go out with me?' as if she didn't have enough going on in her life right now."

"Decade long?" Eliza said, curious. "It's that bad?"

Meghan nodded. "You should have seen her Eliza, she was so broken and scared, I can't imagine what's going through her mind right now."

"Well, you're going to have to tell her eventually, otherwise you're only going to destroy yourself."

"I know, I know, and I plan on telling her eventually." Meghan reassured.

"Well how long is eventually?"

"Well, I told her that I would help her through this thing, I figured maybe after it's over and Blood Orchid is out of the way, maybe then might be a good time."

"You're helping her with this?" Eliza questioned

"Yes, I am."

"That's perfect, it'll help her realize that you're good for her as well, she'll be all for dating you after that!"

Meghan smiled at the idea. "Sometimes I feel like you're more obsessed with this than I am."

"Well of course I'm obsessed." Eliza put a hand on Meghan's shoulder. "You're a great person Meghan and you're my closest friend, I want to see you with someone that makes you happy because it's what you deserve, and Ela deserves someone who will always be there to care for her and won't let her down. And I know for a fact that person is you because you've never let any of us down."

Meghan felt like she was about to cry at the unexpected compliment, she wrapped her arms around Eliza. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

"Anyway, enough about me and Ela, how have you and Monika been? I could use some non-depressing news."

Eliza thought for a second. "Actually, can you keep a secret?"

Meghan was now curious. "Sure."

"You have to promise that you won't tell anyone until I'm ready."

"I promise."

"Pinky promise." Eliza held out her hand.

"What is this, the fifth grade?"

"PINKY PROMISE!"

Meghan let out a sigh as she hooked her pinky with Eliza's. "Pinky promise."

"Good." Eliza practically bounced over to her desk. She pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked the top drawer. She dug through it and pulled out a small box. "What do you think?" She asked as she handed it to Meghan.

Meghan opened the box and was shocked by what was inside. A bright gold ring, with a one karat diamond in the middle, and a half karat diamond on each side. There were intricate markings lasered around the outside of the ring, each leading to an E and an M, it was absolutely beautiful. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Yes!" Eliza was practically jumping up and down.

"Oh my gosh!" Meghan hugged the red head. "This is amazing. When are you asking her?"

"After we get back from China."

"That's awesome, congratulations."

"Well, I wouldn't congratulate me yet, I don't even know if she's going to say yes."

Meghan gave her a serious look. "Eliza, what are you talking about? She's going to say yes, she crazy about you, she loves you more than anything."

"You really think so?"

"Everyone here knows so. You don't have anything to worry about."

"Thanks." Eliza looked at the ring and began to reminisce about all the time she had spent with the woman she loved and was looking forward to spending the rest of her life with her. "I love her so much."

"I'm happy for you two."

"Will you be my maid of honor?"

"I would love to."

"Great, oh I can't wait." Eliza checked her phone to find that she had a message from none other than Monika herself. "Speaking of Monika, she's making breakfast in the lounge, want to join us?"

"Sure."

"Okay." Eliza put the ring back in her desk drawer. "And remember, don't tell anyone, especially her."

"Of course." Meghan said. "I would never break a pinky promise."

The two laughed as they headed towards the lounge.

"The defuser just needs ten more seconds." Timur reported.

"Once again, looks like we got this in the bag." Eliza commented.

"Good work guys, as always." Meghan complimented.

As if on cue, five pops came from the wall each accompanied by a round explosive.

"For fucks sake!" Eliza screamed as all seven members ran for their lives.

"Bombs defused, good work." Came Kowalski's voice over the radio.

"Shuhrat!" James yelled.

"I'm starting to think he does it on purpose." Gustave said.

"Unless he really is that stupid." Vicente added.

"Seriously Timur, what's the deal with him." Jordan asked.

"If I knew the answer, I would tell you." Was his answer.

"Okay, whatever you do, no one tell Siu, she might actually kill him." Eliza said.

Since their first successful run, the teams had been constantly switched around. This was to see what operators synergized well together, to get the most effectiveness for accomplishing the mission. They found that keeping Siu and Shuhrat as far from each other as possible was very effective, and good for the man's health.

"Anyways, good work today everyone, let's do it again tomorrow." Meghan said. "Hopefully, with a lot less friendly fire."

"That's asking for a lot." Jordan chimed in.

"Good job everyone." Six commented as everyone made there way back into the briefing room. "Not much new to report. I feel like we have nailed down the proper team compositions, I will have a finalized roster of the teams by tomorrow. Speaking of rosters, I have also finalized the roster for the operators staying behind."

Everyone was anxious, none of them wanted to stay back for what would possibly be their biggest mission yet.

"Bandit, Blitz, Castle, Caveira, Hibana, Kapkan, Montagne, Mute, Rook, and Twitch." She announced. All the operators mentioned let out sounds of disappointment, Yumi not being happy about her boyfriend going on a mission without her. "As always, it's not personal, we just need a team to hold down the fort while everyone is gone."

"We understand, and we won't let you down." Miles said.

"Now that that's settled, this was our last practice run as we are now scheduled to depart for China in three days." Six announced. "Make sure you have all your matters in order, I'm giving you these three days to yourselves. Rest, recuperate, and make sure you are ready for what lies ahead. Dismissed."

The operators all felt a mix of excitement and anxiety, those that were going were internally asking themselves if they were truly prepared for the task at hand.

Ela stood outside the barracks waiting. In her hand, she held the note that Meghan left her this morning. "Meet me in front of the barracks tonight after practice.". She was disappointed when she had woken up to find Meghan gone, but the note was a good reassurance. She wanted to ask Meghan throughout the day what she had planned, but they were so busy and with not being on the same team, she didn't get a chance to talk with the blonde. Hopefully tonight would make up for lost time, as soon as they were dismissed, Ela hurried back to her room to change into more suitable clothing and rushed to where Meghan said to meet her, not wanting to risk the blonde thinking she stood her up.

"Ah, you made it."

Ela turned to see the woman currently occupying her thoughts. "You didn't think I wasn't going to show up, did you?" She asked as she smiled at her friend.

"Of course not." The two of them began to walk out of Hereford and into the local town.

"So where are planning on taking me tonight?"

"I'm not sure," Meghan explained, "I was just thinking we could walk around and see if we find anything of interest."

"Really, Meghan Castellano doesn't have a plan for once?" Ela asked jokingly. "How shocking."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Meghan asked.

"You always have a plan, and a backup plan, and a backup to the backup plan. And if anyone doesn't follow that plan, you tend to make a huge deal over it." Ela wasn't actually insulting the SEAL, just making friendly banter.

"You say anyone as if it were multiple people, if I recall correctly, you were the only one ever to deviate from orders."

"Well, it worked didn't it? We made it through Orange Sky without any friendly or civilian casualties."

"I guess I can't be too upset." Meghan relented. "We may have had our differences when it came to fighting, but in the end we made a good team."

"I think we still do." Ela added.

This was the real purpose behind Meghan taking Ela out tonight. One, Ela needed a distraction from the drama that was going on in her life, not only was she no longer focusing on Isaac and the rest of her team, but she was also focusing on a more positive time in her life. Second, she secretly wanted to get closer with Ela. By spending time with her and taking her out to places, it might increase the chance of Ela saying yes when she finally revealed her true feelings.

"Find anything interesting yet?"

Meghan was pulled from her thoughts, she realized they had been wandering aimlessly for a while now. She looked around to see what she could find and found a movie theater, maybe that would be a good distraction. "Hmm, how 'bout a movie?"

"I haven't been to a movie in years." Ela commented.

"Me neither, let's do it."

The two walked up to the ticket counter, they had no idea what kind of movies were playing so they just bought tickets to the next showing.

"Anything?"

"Not yet."

"There's a lot to go through, might take a while."

Norman and Irvin were scanning the faces of the enemies below their vantage point, looking for one face in particular.

"It can't be true." Irvin said.

"I hope not." Norman replied.

"I mean, he was an asshole, but there's no way he would fall to this."

"We're about to find out." Norman went back to talking his radio.

Irvin continued to look through his binoculars, not all the White Masks were wearing their masks, even for those that were, Irvin had an eye for detail and was able to recognize things like exposed hair and ears to match a face, so far, no luck.

"There's a lot of these assholes, it's going to take a long time to look at all of them."

"We have all to time in the world."

"I still say he's not here."

"Scratch that, it sounds like we might not have to find out whether or not he's here."

"What do you mean?"

"They just got the green light, they'll be here in a few days."

"I really hope he's not here, not for his sake but for everyone's, given how much he knows."

"We'll have to wait and see."

"I don't get it." Ela whispered.

"What do you mean?" Meghan asked.

"He just left behind his well-paying his job along with his home and traveled to the other side of the country to go see her."

"He wants to show how much he loves her, now they're getting married."

The two had ended up watching some cheesy romance movie. Meghan thought the movie was kind of sweet, Ela had spent the whole time confused.

"But now he's unemployed and homeless, what are they going to do now? How is he going to support her?"

"That's not the point, Ela."

"Then what is?"

"The point is that true love conquers all."

Ela rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying, finances are one of the leading causes of divorce, and I'm sure having a house helps as well."

"I don't know, I didn't direct the movie."

"Shhh. Quiet down so the rest of us can enjoy the film." A third voice chimed in.

"Sorry." Meghan whispered. Then she noticed how familiar the voice sounded. She tried to focus on the owner of the voice, it was dark in the theater, but she was just able to make out who it was. "Timur?"

The Russian turned around in surprise, upon recognizing his fellow operators, he dropped his popcorn and soda and ran out of the room, not wanting to be seen although it was too late.

The two women looked at each other as if to ask if that had really just happened. Then both of them started to snicker, realizing just how funny the scenario was. After a few moments, they couldn't control themselves and let out their laughter. This caused even more of the patrons in the theater to send negative looks their way. Meghan took notice of this and decided to spare them of any more disturbances, she grabbed Ela by hand and lead her out of the building, forgetting the movie all together. Once they were outside, they let out everything, both women bursting out in laughter, Ela was holding her sides and Meghan had to wipe away tears. After a couple minutes, they both calmed down, tonight had been great, exactly as Meghan had hoped. She turned to face Ela, who was looking back at her, a smile still on her face, finally free of worry and uncertainty, and she was standing close, so close. She looked so beautiful, so perfect, her eyes felt like they were staring right into her soul. As if in a trance, Meghan couldn't stop herself, she gently placed her hands on the sides of Ela's face. She knew she shouldn't, she knew now wasn't the right time, in this moment, she couldn't stop. She brought the girls face up to hers and softly caressed her lips with her own.

Ela was in shock. Her body went stiff as a board. She didn't know what to make of the situation, she hadn't expected this at all, and now her mind was racing with all sorts of questions. Why was Meghan doing this? Had she planned this? Why did it feel so nice? Next thing Ela knew, she was closing her eyes and leaning into the kiss. For once, she felt totally comfortable, totally safe.

"What are you doing?!" Her father's voice had come back, and with it, reality.

The fear and confusion had returned and hit Ela like a truck. In a panic, she pushed Meghan off her. Both of them just stared at one another, neither knowing what to say. Meghan knew immediately that she had messed up, this wasn't supposed to happen, at least not yet. The look on Ela's face said it all.

"Ela, I…" Meghan didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry."

"Why did you do that?" The Polish girl asked, confused.

"I don't know why I did that, I didn't mean to, I wasn't supposed to." Meghan stuttered.

"Meghan, do you, have feelings for me?"

After what had just transpired, Meghan didn't think there was a point in hiding anything. "Yes. Yes I do, and I know I shouldn't have told you like that, I don't know what came over me."

"Meghan, you know how much I'm dealing with and what I'm going through right now."

"I know, I wasn't trying to make it worse, I wasn't even supposed to tell you yet. But yes, I have romantic feelings for you Ela, I have for a while now and I want to be with you, if you'll have me."

Ela was now as lost and confused as ever. "I need to think about it…on my own." She then turned to leave.

Meghan didn't know if she could handle seeing her walk away again, before she knew it, she grabbed the girl by the hand. "Ela, wait! Please don't leave." Ela faced back at her. "Ela, I know I messed things up, but I've been unhappy since joining Rainbow. I've been miserable, and I didn't even see it until recently, when you showed up. Simply being around you has made me the happiest I've been in years. You've made me realize what was missing from my life." Meghan was now holding back tears. "Please don't walk away."

Ela was also trying not to cry. "Meghan, I'm not saying no, but I really need to think on this, and I need to do it alone. There's a lot happening in my life, I don't know if I can add whatever this is to it as well."

"Ela, please."

"I'm sorry."

With that, Ela let go of Meghan's hand and walked back to Hereford base alone. Meghan walked in the opposite direction. She kept walking aimlessly, not knowing where she was going as long as it was away from everything and everyone. She ended up in a park that was empty due to it being late at night, she found an empty bench and sat down, put her face in her hands and cried.

Author's note: I've had this chapter written in my head since the beginning, it's nice to finally see it published. I'm sorry to end it on a somber note, but like I said last time, I've got everything planned out. As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.