Chapter 3:
The briefing was long and boring. If anything, it reinforced in Roach's mind that he didn't want to advance his rank. He was quite happy being a Sergeant if it meant he didn't have to deal with all the logistics and paperwork. Thankfully it seemed the team was about to get another break. The intel that Price and Soap had gathered was in code, so until they broke it, they had no leads. As long as Shepherd didn't deploy them it looked like they had another few days break.
When Soap broke the news it was greeted with a resounding cheer.
As things stood, this was the longest break they'd ever had and everyone was planning to make the most of it. Over the next few days, they made several trips into the neighbouring village to get supplies. It looked like a good party was coming together.
Roach, however, had been stuck inside with his two Captains and Lieutenant, trying to crack the code on the intel. For some reason, they believed he could help. Soap had explained it was because he'd been in the compound first and something he saw could be the key to cracking the code.
So far, no luck.
Day after day passed stuck inside the stuffy office and Roach felt like he was losing his mind. "How do you stand it?" He asked Ghost when the two of them left one evening, Price and Soap were still going at it.
"I just sing a little song in my head. Makes going crazy more bearable." Roach laughed. "Seriously though, don't worry about it. We'll crack that code soon enough."
"I wish I shared your optimism."
"I'm not an optimist." Ghost laughed. "Just a realist, hell maybe not even that."
"Wow, Mr Doom and Gloom. What crawled up your spine and died?" Roach walked into Ghost as he stopped dead and almost fell over. "What?"
"Say that again?"
"Uhh... What crawled up your spine and died?" Before he could react, Ghost had grabbed the front of his shirt and pushed him against the wall. "Whoa?!" Roach grabbed the man's wrists in surprise. "Ghost?!"
"Where did you learn that phrase?!"
"I-I don't know!" Roach was starting to panic. He had never seen Ghost fly off the handle like this. "You expect me to think straight like this? Let go!" Surprisingly he did. Roach stumbled and regained his balance, glaring at Ghost. "What the hell was that for?!"
"I'm sorry, Roach." He sounded just as surprised by his actions. "I didn't mean to..."
"Throw me against a wall? Was there a particular reason why?"
Ghost hesitated, then shook his head. "Forget it."
"Sorry, what?" But he was already walking away, so fast that Roach had to run to catch up with him. "Excuse me! You can't just go around, throwing people about and not at least explain."
"You wouldn't understand."
"Well yeah because you're not explaining."
Ghost stopped again and sighed, his hands balling into fists at his side. "Look... Someone said that to me a long time ago. Someone who did some bad shit and the phrase caught me off guard. I'm sorry for attacking you, it won't happen again."
He was speaking with such a clinical voice that Roach wasn't sure how to respond. Whatever memory had been triggered, it wasn't a good one.
"So, you're all good now?"
Ghost laughed. "Yeah, it's all sunshine and rainbows in here." He tapped the side of his head.
"I'm sorry... Sunshine and rainbows?"
"Just something Soap and I came up with. It means, yeah everything's fucked but I'm dealing with it." Roach couldn't help it, he started laughing. "What?"
"You two have your own secret code? What, do you sneak off to hold hands behind the bike shed too?" That image sobered him up however and he felt ridiculous. He was actually jealous. How old was he again?
"Maybe we do, want to join us next time?" The lightness in Ghost's voice took him by surprise. "What, too much for you to handle?" Roach spluttered indignantly, but couldn't come up with a response. Ghost laughed. "Don't try too hard, Roach."
"Fuck you!"
"Oh wow, how long did it take for you to come up with that one?" He ducked as Roach threw a half-hearted punch. "Now, now. Do you want me to show you again how easy it would be for me to overpower you?"
"That didn't count, I wasn't ready."
"Are you ready now?"
Roach could feel his cheeks starting to redden. He couldn't help it and he hated himself for it. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought Ghost was flirting with him. But no, the man just wanted to spar, always up for more training. "No thanks."
"Wise move, Sergeant." Ghost clapped a hand to his shoulder and they started walking again. After a moment, he spoke again in a softer voice. "I really am sorry for losing my shit back there. You're not worried, are you?"
"It's too late for that, I already know you're bat shit crazy." Roach smiled when he huffed in annoyance. "But no, I'm not worried. Should I be?"
"No." Ghost mused. "I don't think I'll do it again."
"Gee, that makes me feel so much safer."
"Don't worry Roach, I'd never hurt you." Again with that softened voice, it made his heart ache with a longing he didn't want but couldn't help. "But I might have to remind you who's in charge around here."
For the first time, Roach felt the tendrils of arousal as he reacted to those words. He cursed loudly in his head and tried to think of something else, anything else to calm himself down. The last thing he wanted was for Ghost to notice his reaction. He started thinking of the coded intel back in Soap's office.
It did the trick. But it also gave him an idea.
"Holy shit..." He whispered, wavering in the aftershock of sweet revelation.
"What is it?"
"The code... the words... I think I've got it!" He ran back to Soap's office, Ghost right behind him and the two of them burst into the room. "The words!" Roach said excitedly.
Soap and Price looked up dumbfounded. "Excuse me?" Price asked.
"Roach, care to explain?" Soap waved a hand at the papers, his eyes alight with curiosity.
"The misspelt Russian words, doesn't it seem strange that there's so many?" He began moving the papers about to find some. "The misspellings are usually by one letter. I bet every single one is the same. If you put those letters together..."
"A message!" Soap jumped up to help him put the papers in order. After a moment Ghost and Price helped.
"Holy shit, I think you're right." Ghost muttered before slapping him on the back. "Well if you ain't our resident little genius. Where've you been hiding that brain of yours huh?"
Roach grinned back at him.
Price was scribbling furiously as he muttered nonstop. After five minutes, he let out a yell of triumph. "We've got it!"
Soap took the paper and read. "A location... coordinates?"
"Already on it." Price was typing away on the computer and after a moment it found the location it was asked for. "It looks like a farmhouse in a village, Meldal in Norway."
"What are you thinking, a safe house?" Ghost asked, moving to look more closely at the data.
"Only one way to find out."
Soap sighed. "The men aren't going to be happy. It looks like the party is cancelled."
Two days later they were on a carrier bound for Norway.
