Love Struck Delusion

Chapter 282 - A thing I never tried to be.

Raptor's POV.

I can't lie. I had fun watching a movie that was twenty years past my age group. Most important part was that the kids were happy. Happy and fed and on their way to bed. All but Ghost who decided he wanted to talk to me. We stayed outside for awhile. It was a nice enough night. I was just waiting on him to open up on the topic. Yet he was stubborn like me. It would take time. Or at the very least, a little nudge. I sat down with my legs hanging out the car door. He was standing right in front of me and looking up at the moon. Taking a moment to scratch my head, I soon had to ask him.

"So what's on your mind? You've been quiet for long enough and I know your mother. She's watching."

"Really?" He wondered as I urged him without looking.

"Living room window."

Instantly his head turned to see her for a split second before she slid back out of sight. I smiled and waited as he refocused enough to start saying in an unsure tone.

"Can I ask you a question? Do you really love me?"

For once I felt this was more important than anything I've ever done before in ways of talking seriously. I was almost caught off guard by the question, but with confidence I quickly replied.

"I do. You're my son. Why wouldn't I love you Ghost? Do you even know how long it took your mom and I to even have you brought into this world?"

"No? What do you mean?"

My son already knew about sex. It's not like his phone helped in keeping any of that a secret. So treating him like an adult I replied.

"A long time. For a lot of people it's almost impossible to have a cross species baby brought into the world. I don't know what happened, but I'm blessed to have you in my life. Your mother even more so. We expected it to take years."

"Really? Wow." He replied as he had his eyes on me the whole time just watching my body movement. Leaning up and out of the car, I said to him truthfully.

"You're everything to us. Everything. Don't ever think otherwise."

Slowly he looked away from me and started to pace a few steps away and down the driveway. It left me sensing he had another question. So with my eyes watching him even closer I asked.

"What's wrong? You don't seem convinced."

Looking back at me as I pressed the subject, Ghost got even more confused on how to phrase his concern. So wanting him to feel comfortable I begged him.

"I'm your father. Nothing is ever going to change that. You can come to me for anything. About anything. Don't feel scared to voice yourself Ghost. Just say it. What's wrong?"

Very slowly he stopped maybe a foot or two out to reply.

"You've been so busy. I don't even remember the last time you even wanted to spend time with me. I just…...I just feel like you're avoiding me because you know I'm just a stuipd kid."

Almost immediately after he said that to me, I registered his intent. So as he stopped speaking, I rephrased it for him by asking.

"You think I don't want to be around you because you're just a kid? I don't think that's really our problem Ghost. I think you're a pretty smart kid. Probably too smart for your age. You're my blood and little do you know it, but I know what you're really trying to ask me. You think I don't want anything to do with you because you think just because you're a kid, that you can never hope to impress me. You think I have standards on what I think my child should be like. You want acknowledgment from me and I will admit, I haven't given you any since I left the rebellion and became a dad. I've been too distracted and overwhelmed to even consider it. For that I'm sorry. I know I haven't paid attention to you. But understand this when I tell you the truth about our situation. Don't get mad. Okay?"

Ghost didn't nod or say anything. He was so focused on listening that he just skipped that part. So taking my chance to lay it out for him, I explained why he can't impress me easily.

"You're not even a teenager yet. You're still a baby to me. You always will be my baby. You might think of that another way, but when you become a parent one day you'll understand what I really mean. When I was your age I didn't have a family growing up. I was always the troubled child. My father disowned me for a time. He tried his best to fix our problems but he waited too long to start. By then I hated him. I wanted nothing more than to see him leave. It's only after he actually left my life that I learned to regret not giving him a chance. I was mad to no end and I can never hope to fix that. Your environment is safe. You really have a chance to make yourself out to be whatever you want. I'm not sitting here and telling you what you have to do or what you should do to impress me. All you have to do to get what you want is by showing me something you want to pursue in life. No matter what that is, I'll be more than happy just knowing you really care about something. You don't need to become a soldier to win my heart. I never want you to feel like you have to follow my trail."

Ghost was taking that in. Once he was ready again, I asked him directly.

"What do you want to do with your life?"

"I….I don't know yet." He replied as I smiled and quickly told him so he wouldn't feel as if that answer was bad.

"And that's fine. You're not supposed to know that yet."

"Then why did you ask?" He questioned as I stood up out of the car to reply.

"Because you haven't even started to consider that part of your life. Something like that takes time and it takes drive. You'll know what you love when you get something that comes to you that instantly makes your eyes light up with excitement. You'll feel joy doing whatever that is and almost always will you almost not be able to describe to yourself what that feeling really feels like."

"So what should I do?" He then asked as I quickly replied.

"You should start by doing different things. Taking some risks. Small risks mind you. Like Janey for instance. You two had a good time today right? I know you like her. Why not start by focusing your attention on that? Chances are she likes you too."

"Well then why doesn't she say anything?" He asked as I chuckled and replied.

"Let me let you in on a secret. Nine times out of ten, every woman you talk to won't take that risk themselves. They fear what would happen if things go wrong after they take that risk. It's probably the only thing that holds you back from showing your true feeling to her. You need to be the one to take that risk. To charge at it head on with no fear. The worst she could do is say no to you. Do you understand what I'm saying to you?"

He nodded very slowly but replied back.

"I think so. I just….I don't know how to even go about it."

Placing my hand on his shoulder, I told him bluntly.

"Start by going to see her tomorrow. Start building a relationship. Get to know each other. Then you can have the courage to step up and once you have that, you'll ask yourself why you waited so long. That's what you should do. Get an idea of who she really is and ask yourself if it's really worth it. If it is you'll know."

Ghost seemed almost in a trance. Knowing him he was already putting together some sort of plan. Gently tapping him forward, I urged him.

"Sleep on it. Let's get inside before your mother thinks we're camping out here and locks the door."

With a small smile Ghost replied.

"Okay. Thank you dad."

"Don't mention it."

When I said that we got ourselves back inside the house. I watched as he started his hike up the stairs. Alicia stood in the living room as I shouted.

"Ghost?!"

He looked back at me with two concerned eyes as I smiled back and said with all my heart.

"I love you."

A smile came to him and very shortly after he replied.

"I love you too."

With that he got up the stairs leaving me with my wife who was just shocked by hearing that. I began to laugh to myself as she asked me.

"What did you do?"

Sitting down and turning on the TV, I replied.

"Nothing. We just leveled."

Alicia hated when I gave her vague answers back. It was no shock to me when she gently began to growl and approach me from the front. Gently she knelt down in between my legs. Her eyes staring right at mine. In some concern for my health, I asked her carefully.

"What?"

"You know I hate it when you don't elaborate. Did you interrogate my boy?"

Now I broke off and began to laugh. She just kept staring at me with that deathly motherly intent as I quickly assured her.

"No of course not. Trust me if I did that; Ghost wouldn't be walking up those stairs with a smile."

Grabbing the sides of my right knee, Alicia squeezed as hard as she could. I hated charley horses and clenching my face with a smile, I listened as she growled.

"I'd kill you in a heartbeat if you hurt my son."

"Ohhhh I know. Please let go of my knee."

She took a few more seconds to squeeze me into place, but shortly after she released me. As she went to stand up, I shot my hand out to grab her by the neck. Almost instantly she began to growl at me louder than ever, but in a playful show of force, I yanked her onto my lap and choked her down into the couch where she snapped her teeth at me ordering.

"Let me go Raptor!"

"Oh no. That's not how this works."

"You fucking…...ohhhhh I love you."

"Mhmm." I mumbled as I kissed her right on the lips.

Zeta's POV, One week later.

Everything was changing so fast yet this was still the only thing to me that mattered. Raptor still wasn't waking up. I've been doing my best to stay hopeful but it was hard when it felt like nothing was changing for the better.

G.U.N was still in the process of cleaning up Afghanistan, but it's been a week since the final battle. Everyone in all three main cities were chanting in joy from it finally being over. No more fighting. No more death. My concern remained him. Hecan was surprisingly still here in the country. I expected him to leave long ago, but he claimed this was all that currently mattered to the world and his people. Who was I to ask anymore questions?

My job remained the same. I was guarding Raptor. From what? I don't know. Cody and Peek were gone. They had to go see their boss Jessup. With them they took back their armor and at the very least I was confident we did nothing but a good job to improve on their only working model. Peek had concerns for the venom he had given Raptor but we convinced him to just lie about where the dose went. Tell them he had to use it. It's not like they would know any better. Still…...I had no idea if they would ever return.

Pepper remained one of the only people to stay by my side since the war ended. Raptor's friends and previous teammates have all come to gather in the capital. We were operating on a strict defensive measure. No one was leaving the area. Not till we figured out what to do with Raptor. I didn't care. I planned to stay here for as long as it would take. I'm not leaving him like this and neither was his friend Char. The wolf was just as concerned as I was. Still healing from his wounds back when Hunter nearly ended his life, but laser focused on helping in any way he could. Currently that was by waiting with me throughout the day. I just wish I was more talkative right now. It would make the time go by easier, but I just couldn't calm my head down from overthinking.

Marx was busy still tending to any wounded we had and the soldiers from the anti-rebellion have come back to integrate themselves back within what was right now considered the government we had started; thanks to Hecan's advice. Besides that I only had one concern….well okay a few.

Zandro was silent. He hadn't made any moves. Which is weird because I fully expected this guy to try some sneaky shit since Raptor can't put him in his place. Yet Zandro himself seems to be doing quite a good job holding back any of that behavior. However that leads to my other problem. Vetra still hasn't radioed in. Not since she first left to chase after Hunter. Zandro hasn't even been able to contact her, but he assures me that's only because he doesn't wish to interfere with his operators. She'd call when she was ready or when progress or failure had been made a reality. But Hunter was the only person left that I knew of that wanted nothing more than to see Raptor dead. I feared she'd try something in due time, but thankfully there was very little chance of that ever happening soon. G.U.N had the borders on lockdown and they were checking everyone. She wouldn't get back into town and from what we knew Verta was chasing her well outside the city limits. I just wondered how far that girl would go to escape, but knowing Fort Drake, I can only assume Vetra is trained not to stop. Ever.

The only other thing going on was Tusk and Blitz. They played their parts very well but they were stuck waiting for Raptor just as much as everyone else. He was their only lifeline back into G.U.N and without him they were pretty much fucked. Thankfully things were okay and they could keep a low profile till that day came. So much was riding on this single man and I just had no other option but remain hopeful.

"What are you going to do if he doesn't wake up?" My eyes slowly looked over to Char. The young guy was just looking at me with a sad enough look on his face. The question he asked I only had one answer to and that's what I gave him back.

"He has to wake up. He can't just be in a coma forever."

Lowering his head Char replied.

"Longest it's taken a person to wake up from a coma was nineteen years. I can't imagine waiting that long."

"He's gonna wake up. He's gonna. I swear to you." I tried to remain confident but still I understood where his head was at. I just didn't want to join him right now in being that way. One of us had to be strong.

With the room going back to being silent, I looked back to the bed to rest my eyes back on Molly. She was taking this very well. She remained glued to Raptor's side throughout all this. She only took breaks to eat and use the bathroom, but everything else involved her being at his bedside. She was such a good girl I almost couldn't stand to watch her whimper.

"Knock! Knock!"

Both Char and I looked back to see Hoffer making his way into the room. Typically this man has been cheery thanks to the end of the war, but everytime he saw Raptor he just dropped all that and took it upon himself to feel for the man. As he entered he asked us.

"Anything?"

"No." I replied as he came over to where Char was sitting to ask him.

"How are you feeling son?"

Char sat back up straight to reply.

"I'm okay. Thank you. Just…..I just wish he would wake up."

"We all do. Thankfully Hecan Moore has managed to hold off any negotiations till that day comes."

"He can't keep it off forever though." I stated as he looked back to Raptor to reply.

"We're hoping it's not too long. But we have time. He has time."

"And if he doesn't wake up by then? What then Hoffer?" I asked in concern as he came right to the bedside to start petting Molly. I sensed something was going on with his body language. After a few moments of silence, he looked at me to reply.

"Someone would have to replace him."

Char widened his eyes as I questioned next.

"Replace him? Hoffer, Raptor put his life into this war. He fought so hard to get to this point. He wants to do this himself."

Nodding Hoffer quickly assured me.

"I know Zeta, but you gotta look at it on a global scale right now. We can only delay things for so long. The middle east is going to be going through so many changes now that we have a treaty back in play. G.U.N will be helping us greatly, but the people who live here can only continue living this way for so long. Things will need to progress one way or the other."

"Who would even do that to him? Does the middle east even have someone capable of replacing Raptor?" Char asked.

Hoffer took a breath in and I watched very closely as he turned around to see another chair not that far away. Reaching over and grabbing it, Char and I waited and watched as he sat down to get comfortable. Once he was sitting there alongside Raptor he replied.

"As of this moment there is only one person Raptor had in mind."

"You talked about this?" I questioned as he nodded and said back quickly.

"Briefly. Raptor and I discussed a lot of things leading up to this day. Most of which were in private with a few other officers. Roz being one of the most dedicated and longest serving. Together we talked over our options if things ever played out this way. Now the coma wasn't what we had in mind. This was a discussion on if Raptor was to pass away and we had to fill the gap because of it. Raptor thinks pretty far ahead. More so than the average person and he has never been known to stray away from touchy or darker subjects. When the subject came up, Raptor had only one person in mind for the position. If everything played out correctly the plan was to have Raptor's second in command take the role. Which would have been Wreak or Archer. Now clearly Archer is out of the running and Wreak unfortunately passed away early on. So that leaves Raptor with very few choices."

"What about Roz? Or yourself?" Char asked as Hoffer calmly replied.

"I'm too old to want that kind of power. The job itself requires a lot of effort for the person involved and to be honest, I don't think I'm right for that. Roz on the other hand simply declined. He wants to focus on his family and whatever happens to the government in terms of our military output. Raptor agreed. He's more valuable in that regard."

"So who did he want?" I asked in confusion as Hoffer very slowly looked back to me to state bluntly.

"Char."

Almost instantly the wolf sitting next to him began to shake. I was speechless and trying to understand the decision. As for Char himself, he almost couldn't form words. Hoffer took his chance to look at the kid and tell him confidently.

"Raptor feels very strongly about you Char. Very strongly. Don't underestimate that. He considers you one of the best and one of the most hard working people this country has. He was convinced you were capable the second you took leadership of his old unit Zulu 2-7. Roz who used to be the team leader also agreed. You lead very strongly. You're a capable soldier and with the right training you could be even better."

"I'm…..I'm…..Hoffer I'm not a politcation." Char told him as I jumped in to add.

"He's barely an adult Hoffer. No offense Char, but you're about as old as me. Probably younger. He doesn't have the experience to lead Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Not to mention there will be potential talks with Iran who hasn't had a finger dipped in this war."

"Raptor disagrees, Zeta." Hoffer replied as I looked back at Char who clearly was taken by the situation. Hoffer reached out to put a hand on top of his knee to redirect his attention at him before saying.

"This wouldn't happen for a while Char. Assuming Raptor doesn't wake up for the next few months, this is our best choice of actions to take. Raptor had no worries when he put your name on the table and I know it's a lot to think about, but you'd have everyone at your back. We'd help guide you through this. You wouldn't be alone. We'd never consider it if we just planned on throwing you to the wolves. We know you're inexperienced, but with the right guidance you won't need that."

Char was mind blown and very lost now. I had my mouth wide open still in shock this was even being considered.

"General…...I…...I don't know if I'm capable of leading everyone." Char admitted. Hoffer calmly stood back up to reply.

"You are capable, son. You just don't know it yet. Trust Raptor. He can see things we can't and for once I agree with him completely. But we're not forcing you. This is just an option we've considered. You're more than welcome to decline. No one would blame you. Now I have to get back to it. You should try and get some sleep soon. Both of you."

Hoffer took that as his chance to leave the room. Once the door was shut I sat back and stared right at Char who looked absolutely overwhelmed by what just was said to him. It took about a minute before he looked up at me to ask in utter confusion.

"Me? Replace him?"

My eyes redirected to Raptor. Char wasn't able to remain still. He got up from his seat to exit the room shortly after asking that question. I was left just praying that day never came.

mT Shadow.