Roach could honestly say that nothing ever hurt as much as he did right that second. His ears were ringing, his vision fuzzy as he lay on the forest floor, having had to dive to avoid mortar fire. His thigh throbbed in agony, having just been shot. The bullet entered his upper left thigh, and every movement clearly reminded him that the bullet was still there. He almost shot Ghost when he came up behind him, not recognizing the familiar figure until he heard his voice.

"Come on love, we need to move," Ghost muttered, swinging his arm over his shoulder. Every step towards their evac hurt, even with his partner trying to shoulder most of his weight.

The moment of relief Roach felt once they reached Sheppard was dashed quickly, the older man turning around and shooting him directly in the gut. The bastard.

He was fairly certain that he had passed out when the two soldiers started dragging him towards the pit, but he was jolted awake when they threw him in, his head smacking hard against the ground. His vision dimmed again, but then he watched in horror as Ghost was thrown in after him, his body rolling in such a way that his mask was looking right at him.

Roach choked on a sob, Ghost wasn't moving. Tears filled his eyes, his heart breaking at the thought of them never tying the knot, never having some peace and quiet after the war. He had been lying to himself previously, seeing Ghost there…possibly dead…hurt more than any damage to his own body.

Gasping for air, Roach shifted to his stomach, trying to ignore the burning agony that shot through his stomach from his gunshot wound. Digging his gloved fingers into the rough dirt, Roach started to pull himself towards Ghost, one painful inch at a time. He flinched at the feel of liquid hitting his legs, the sweet smell of gas floating in the air. His gut churned, but he couldn't think of what they had planned for them, he just needed to get to Ghost.

What felt like hours and was probably just minutes, Roach finally made it to Ghost, his hands trembling as he reached over to slowly roll up his mask. Ghost's brown eyes stared dully back at Roach, another whimper escaped from Roach at the sight. But Roach needed to kiss his lover one more time, and so he cupped Ghost's face, and leaned in, their lips touching.

Roach could hear one of the soldiers mutter something derogatory but he ignored it, along with the ongoing sounds of battle in the background. Instead he closed his eyes as he continued to kiss his lover, wanting this to be the last sight he saw, the last feeling of Ghost's lips on his…the last breath he felt on his face…what the fuck?! Roach's eyes flew back open to see Ghost looking straight at him as he reached into Roach's vest to grab one of his extra knives.

Roach's eyes quickly darted over to the men that had thrown them in the pit, but most of them had wandered away. They were no longer surrounded by enemy soldiers. Maybe their kiss scared some of them away, Roach thought with a small mental chuckle. All that remained was one soldier, but he was the one holding a lighter.

Sending a miniscule nod in response to Ghost, Roach also grabbed one of his knives, and on the count of three - Ghost tapping his finger on his wrist - their knives flew towards their targets. Ghost's knife embedded itself right in the throat of the soldier, the man choking up blood as he collapsed into the pit, while Roach's hit the lighter, sending it flying. But not far enough. The flame caught the edge of the puddles of gasoline, lighting the fallen soldier on fire and then quickly traveling towards Roach.

Roach shot a look of fear at Ghost, letting out an agonizing scream as his ankle and then his calf was set ablaze. He almost passed out at the smell alone, gagging at the stench of burning flesh. He barely registered Ghost throwing dirt on his leg while dragging them towards the edge of the pit, his sole focus on not passing out.

"It's okay, Gary. You're going to be okay," Ghost muttered on repeat, whether or not to reassure Roach or himself, Roach didn't know. But Ghost managed to drag them out of the pit and into the edge of the forest.

Roach could feel Ghost ripping away what was left of his pant leg, his hand quickly slapping over Roach's mouth to muffle a loud groan.

"Sorry love, but we need to stay quiet," Ghost whispered, and at Roach's nod, returned to attempting to dress the burn with a pressure bandage from his pocket.

"I-I don't think I can walk out of here," Roach said softly, biting his lip to stop wincing as Ghost then moved onto bandaging his other wounds. His leg was starting to feel numb and that terrified him, having seen the patches of white surrounded by red, blistered skin along his calf. "I'm losing feeling in my leg," he confessed, not wanting to lie to Ghost about the seriousness of his more recent injury.

"We'll figure something out, love," Ghost said, but his eyes betrayed his words as Roach watched them darting around, trying to find a way out. At least there was a body in the fire, Roach thought briefly, perhaps that might buy them some extra time if someone came looking.

As they sat there, waiting for the gunfire to cease or some word from Soap or Price, Roach started to get tired, so he let himself lay down, waiting for Ghost's instructions. Maybe he would let his eyes close for a bit, rest up before they tried to get out of there. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea, Roach thought to himself. Gripping tightly onto one of Ghost's hands, he did just that, ignoring the frantic whispers from his partner to stay awake.

He just needed a bit of rest.

xxxxx

Radio static.

"Damnit, damnit, I can't find their trackers anywhere on this bloody screen."

"I masked them as soon as we learned about Sheppard, give me a second…"

"There, there! But they aren't moving…do we know that they are still alive?"

"Shut it. We're going in to rescue our men. Ghost…Roach…we're coming for you two. Hang on."