Chapter 2:

They had two more days of respite before the call came down.

Woken up by Soap's voice over the tannoy system at some ungodly hour, Roach was now sat in the briefing room. He suppressed a yawn he tried to focus on their Captain again as he explained what they were to do. When a cup of coffee was placed in front of him, he looked up in surprise to find Ghost sitting down next to him another cup in hand.

"Drink," he whispered. "You look like shit."

"Gee thanks." Taking a sip he was pleasantly surprised to find it was sweet. He always put sugar in his coffee, much to the distaste of others. He looked back at Ghost and smiled. He wasn't sure but believed he got a smile back. With the cup drained, Roach felt a new buzz of energy filling his system.

Finally, Soap released them to gear up and they all trouped down to the armoury. An hour later everyone was suited and booted and ready to go. The sound of a plane could be heard coming in for a landing as they headed outside to their landing strip. The carrier had already landed with the cargo door opening up. Price was already onboard and he immediately started talking to Soap as he stepped in. Although Price was also their Captain, he didn't stay on base like Soap. Roach privately thought it was because the older man couldn't stand the chaos everyone caused whenever they had a few days break.

Roach sat down between Poet and Ozone and began strapping himself in for the long ride. It would be four hours before they reached their destination and he was keen to catch up on missed sleep. He wasn't the only one either, a few of the others were settling in for a nap as Nikolai took off.

Woken up by a violent swerve, Roach would've landed in Poet's lap if it wasn't for his harness. "RPG!" Nikolai called down the headset as the carrier tilted alarmingly. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough because an explosion rocked the carrier, a hole ripping open the side.

"Go! Go!" Soap was yelling, throwing parachutes to everyone and pointing at the opening hatch. The carrier swerved again and for a second Roach feared their Captain was about to be thrown out but he grabbed the hand holder just in time.

Looking down, Roach started undoing his harness but the unsteady carrier wasn't helping. He kept fumbling the buckles. In those few extra seconds, most of the team had already dropped. Panic was starting to creep in as again he fumbled the buckle.

"Roach we gotta move!" Ghost was next to him, unloosing the harness in seconds and pulling him to his feet. Ghost grabbed hold of him again, pulling him closer so they were pressed together. "Hold on!" He yelled over the rushing wind and Roach became aware that the man was strapping a parachute around them both.

"Wait! I don't think-" He was worried the parachute wouldn't take their combined weight. But he never got to finish the sentence because Ghost had already dragged him out.

It wasn't the first time he'd done this, but the two times before had been practice runs. With everyone joking and no real danger, those skydives had seemed easy. But now, hurtling towards the ground after jumping from a crashing carrier, Roach was terrified. Especially because he didn't know if the parachute would work. Before he could panic too much though, Ghost had pulled the cord and thankfully it held.

They landed roughly, but in one piece.

Still stunned, it took him a moment to realise Ghost was already on his feet, gun ready as he scanned the area. He hurried to free himself from the cords and unclipped his gun too. "Ghost?"

He didn't respond at first. But after a few minutes, he relaxed, turning to face him. "We're good. Anything broken?" Roach shook his head. "Alright. We've landed a good hike away from our target. Hopefully, the others are already on their way there. We should get moving."

He strode off through the trees and Roach hurried to catch up. "How exactly do you know where we're going?"

"Saw the complex whilst we were falling. It's to the northwest." How Ghost had calculated the direction or even seen the building whilst they were falling, Roach didn't know. He had been preoccupied with keeping his panic in check. "I'm going to kill Zach when we get back. He was in charge of inventory checks. How the hell he messed up the parachute count I'll never know. But he won't be making the same mistake again."

"That's why we jumped together," Roach said in realisation. He had been wondering why Ghost had risked going together instead of taking separate parachutes.

"Yeah." Ghost glanced back at him. "I couldn't just leave you up there, could I?"

"Well, thanks."

They carried on in silence, both listening not only for their team but any sound of enemy patrols as well. Roach almost bumped into Ghost when he stopped suddenly and looking around him, he saw they had reached the complex that was their target. They were stood on the crest of a small hill on the edge of the forest they had landed in and had a clear view of the area below. Crouching down, they both surveyed the area.

"Doesn't look heavily guarded." Ghost muttered.

"You want to wait for the others?" Roach could almost see the other man smirking. "Of course not." He sighed, flicking the safety off his gun. "What's the plan then?"

"We go in and clear the place out. Make things nice an' easy when the rest of the team get here."

"You just want to impress Soap."

"What makes you think it's Soap I want to impress?" Before Roach could question this, Ghost was moving downhill at a rapid pace. He had already reached the fencing before Roach was halfway down.

The compound seemed to be operating on a skeletal crew. By the time they had cleared out the courtyard, which was eight men, only another three came running out of the building and were easy targets. There was no one else inside and by the time they'd cleared the building, the team had arrived.

"About time!" Ghost called to their Captain.

Soap ignored him, turning over one of the dead soldiers to examine him. "You did all this?"

"Well, Roach helped." Soap glanced over at him and Roach smiled nervously. He wondered if he was about to be reprimanded for not following orders. "He was following my orders." Ghost said and Roach got the unsettling feeling that the man knew what he was thinking. Since Ghost was their Lieutenant any fault lay on his part, especially now he'd reminded Soap of this.

But their Captain only sighed and shook his head. "Why did I get stuck with you?" He shot at Ghost, but he was smiling so Roach relaxed. "I wish you'd waited for the rest of us but too late now. Found anything of use?"

"No chance to look. We'd just cleared the place out when you arrived." Ghost jerked his head towards the building. "Suppose we better take a look?"

"Alright." Soap stood up and ordered everyone into position to keep the complex safe. There was no telling if they had managed to call for backup or not. "Roach, get your ass over to Poet and Royce. Let us know if anyone tries approaching from the south."

"Yes, sir." As he jogged away towards the southern entrance, Roach glanced back to see the two men head inside the building.

"Could've saved us some!" Royce grinned as he approached the two men. "Why do you get to have all the fun?"

"There was only about ten men."

"Yeah but still, we've not seen anybody."

"Well, next time you can strap yourself into a parachute with Ghost and go running about with him," Roach replied, a little annoyed. He would've loved to have had an easy time of it. He was exhausted after the early morning start, crashing carrier and takeover of the complex. Leaning against the fencing, he sighed deeply. "That guy is certifiably nuts."

"Hold on a minute," Royce started, now smirking. "You shared a parachute?"

Roach felt his cheeks warm and his face flushed with colour. "There was only one left!" He snapped and Poet laughed.

"Man, I'm surprised you're still alive. Pretty sure Ghost has a no touchy rule and I've seen him enforce it before." Royce started laughing as well. Too embarrassed to respond, Roach ignored them and scanned the area. Since the other two were clearly occupied, it fell to him to keep watch.

Half an hour later they got the call to return. The team was regrouping in the compound before heading out to the new LZ. Nikolai and Price had contacted command and a new carrier was on the way to retrieve them. Soap handed Price some folders when the two men rejoined the squad and they began discussing something, but Roach was too far away to hear. Whatever it was, it looked their mission was successful because Price looked pleased.

"Roach, give us a hand would you?" He turned to find Ghost walking over and the man handed him a gasoline can. "Time to burn this place to the ground."

"Why?"

"So when they come back, no one will know what we took." He started walking back towards the building but called over his should. "You take the outside!" With that, Ghost disappeared inside.

Ignoring Poet and Royce snickering behind him, Roach did as he was asked and doused the outside with the fuel. Once he was done, he threw the can inside through a broken window. Ghost had just reappeared when Price called for attention.

"Alright team, job well done but we're not out of the woods yet. We've still got to get the to LZ so let's get moving. We've got an hour before our ride gets here."

As they left the complex the building went up in flames. Any evidence of their presence was now turning to ash.

After nearly an hour of walking, they reached the edge of the forest and into a clearing. However, Price had them wait in the tree line so they weren't all stood out in the open, becoming easy targets. Sitting down in the cool shade, back resting against a tree, Roach almost felt at peace. If it weren't for all the gear he was carrying it almost felt like an afternoon off.

Soon enough their replacement carrier arrived and they were heading back to base. The mission had gone smoothly, minus the destruction of Nikolai's carrier and the subsequent freefall back to the ground. Thinking about the fall, Roach shivered. Not because of any lasting fear, but recalling how close he had been to Ghost. It was the closest contact the two had ever had.

He was jolted from his guilty thoughts when someone sat down next to him and turned to look, mentally cursed when he saw it was Ghost. "Calm down, Soap's not gonna reprimand you."

"What makes you think I was thinking about that?"

"Why else would you look so worried?"

Did he look worried when he thought about his feelings for Ghost? Probably, because if the man found out there was a distinct possibility he would kill him.

"So what do you want?" Ghost wasn't one for idle chit chat. If he'd come over to talk there was a reason why.

"I need you in the briefing when we get back to base. Since we were the only two to secure the compound, Price and Soap want us both there." He sighed deeply and Roach got the impression he wasn't looking forward to the meeting. Probably because he'd taken the fall for their disregard of orders.

"Thank you," Roach said.

"For what?"

"Taking the blame earlier."

Ghost shook his head and Roach could tell the man was smiling when he responded. "Soap wouldn't punish you, it's not like the mission went wrong because we took the initiative to capture the compound." Stretching out beside him, Ghost sighed deeply. "Nah, he'll moan about it a bit but that's it."

"So what's the problem."

"Paperwork."

Roach stared at him in stunned disbelief for a moment, then smiled. "How does anything get done at the base when both you and Soap hate paperwork?"

"That's what Price is for."

"You are unbelievable."

"Hey!" Ghost waved a threatening finger in Roach's direction. "Don't forget I outrank you, Sergeant. I'll have none of those insults, thank you."

"Sorry, Lieutenant." Roach couldn't help smiling as he emphasised the word.

"That's better."

They fell into silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Roach was exhausted after the days work and he was sure Ghost must be too. They had four hours until they reached the base and from the sound of it, he wasn't getting much rest once they had landed.

"Wake me up when we land?" He asked Ghost, barely suppressing a yawn."

"You got it."