Hello there!

Yes, I know it has been ages since I updated but a lot of Things haven been going down lately (which I still haven't comepletely sorted out still)

As always thanks for the Kind Reviews, favourites and follows!

Coffee & Silver

„These fucking Ghosts have been causing us more trouble than I anticipated." General Rey balled her fist over the touch screen table they had all gathered around. The room was coated in darkness everywhere beyond the screen light's reach. A dozen of Rorke's most trusted men lured hungry around the table; hungry for blood. One more craving to get their hands on a Ghost than the other. The Loki strike had changed the peoples view on the war drastically. Before, civilians in the Federation shrugged the war off as an excuse for the president to gain more economical influence in the world. It was a race for allies and resources. A race the Federation was winning, until the US decided to hijack Loki. It left the people devastated and more came to realize the war was much more than just a simple tool for power. In a way, the Loki attack did change the war in the Federations favour, since more young people felt the desire to fight for their country. The President used the Ghosts to fuel his underlings anger against a common enemy. Nothing was more effective than a scapegoat.

"It's their unusual tactics that make them so hardy." Rey elaborated further on the Ghosts tactics being going over the last mission where they clashed with them. Rorke being snarly as usual hated these debriefs. He would rather have spent some time with his son in their favourite café. Nothing could lift his mood more than a good cup of coffee, especially with Adrian, who always had a smart remark on his lips no matter what joke Rorke tried to pull out of his ass. He couldn't hide the chuckle on his face and he knew Adrian was watching him from across the room. The boy was always the one to keep silent; even though Rorke was aware none of the knuckle heads could beat him when it came to combat skill. Lately they had focused their efforts more on recognisance, rather than rash stupid combat missions that would just serve Almagro Jr. as a reason to send Rorke to the gallows.

The atmosphere got more heated when Rey had the glorious idea to highlight the fact that they had only gotten out of this alive after Adrian went after the Ghosts by himself. This was one of the many reasons no one really liked the guy. To them Adrian was nothing more than Rorke's lap dog. Rumours spread fast around the base that the man was not, what Rorke had tried to sell him as. One thing was for sure; Something fishy was surrounding the puppy eyed blonde angel of death; 'Anjo da Morte' , that's what he was known as by most.

As the situation was about to escalate and Adrian only went back to Rorke's side to get out of there. Rorke looked back at his son who had put on a face of innocence and insecurity. He shifted his glance up to see Rey face palming as all the soldiers began to argue angrily.
"This place is about to blow" Rorke whispered to Adrian who kept himself out of this mess, even though he knew it was clearly because of him. Adrian smiled a little at his old man before they both decide to the break away from the senseless bickering.

"What about Rey?" Adrian had to ask when Rorke lead him out of the base. Rorke just briefly glanced over his shoulder while walking.
"She will be fine…How else do you think she became a General?" Rorke smirked what made Adrians mouth curl up to. The two men always find a way out of a meeting more or less. Rey hated them for it but then again, Rorke was a high-ranking official and she was just a simple fish in the sea among bigger predators who would only be glad to take her place. There simply wasn't anything she could do about it.

Once they sit in their favourite café Rorke immediately stretched his legs out while declaring to the waiter. "The usual for us" He stretched his arms into the air and let out a yawn. Adrian meanwhile simply watched the traffic and people who happened to pass by. He enjoyed watching other people go about their day.

"You ok?" Rorke asked him every time and he would simply nod with a smile. Rorke stopped and starred for a while anyway; He leaned closer over the table and smirked.
"I get it. You have been thinking about a girl!" He assumed. His voice was so loud that even the two young ladies in the back of room could hear them talk. In this very moment Adrian had wished for nothing more than to simply melt to a puddle and wash away. It embarrassed him, every time his father brought up the topic. It wasn't like they didn't already stand out from the crowd as military folks, since this place was mostly occupied by students. The university of Caracas was nearby. Adrian had already thought about signing up to study psychology after the war. He really was interested in the topic.
"No…No" Adrian put his hands up in defence and shook his head seemingly at the speed of light. He looked like an embarrassed teenager.

"Don't you be embarrassed about your old man calling you out…" Rorke excplaimed with a playfull snarl but then they both burst out into laughter. The face Adrian had made as Rorke spoke was just too hilarious; it was something between the lines of 'please no' and 'what the heck. Dad!'. Rorke gave a small sigh of relief when he could stop his really obnoxious laughter which different greatly from the menacing one his son mostly witnessed during interrogations. His old man could truly be a force to be reckoned with; Adrian was just glad they both now played for the same time.

"I still cannot believe I have been living a lie my whole life" Adrian came to realize and in the dawn of a moment every sense of joy had seemingly washed away. The young man glared out the window again a seemingly pained expression upon his features, which made Gabe raise an eyebrow in concern.
"You know…" Rorke started leaning a little closer and smiling softly. "I am just happy that we can be together now…" His voice changed drastically into an irritated hiss. "I won't let the Ghosts split us apart again." It seemed like a promise to Adrian and agreed with a nod. He smiled to his dad while he drank some more of his coffee.

"This is all great and dandy…" Merrick crossed his arms while he looked first to Keegan than to David. Lastly his glance fell onto Mila who felt her neck hair spike up.
"…But, what is our plan for now? I mean it's amazing that everyone is now all sugarcoating the fact that last time we only escaped because Alpha…AKA…" Merrick came to hit Mila with a hard glance again. "Logan…let us escape." None said a thing in the next moment. Only Riley could be heard silently panting from the summer heat.
"He clearly poses a great threat to us." Mila stated the obvious with a cold stare and tone in her voice. She rarely resorted to this type of attitude but it was necessary to prepare David for what was inevitably to come. Keegan stood a little in the back and kept listening closely to their conversation. From what Keegan heard from the other Ghosts here Mila didn't involve herself with issues personally too often. That's why some were really surprised to see her in the briefing room that day. Before she had mostly been out off duty eligibly to take care of her daughter and spent some time with her. None knew for sure what the real reasons where.

"Could you please stop talking as if Logan is another Rorke!?" David showed them how upset and deeply hurt he was when he expressed his thoughts to them. Merrick and Keegan rarely have seen David in a state like this. The question if he was fit for duty and could operate properly hung between the three older Ghosts.
"David…" Mila tried to reason with him but he immediately glares down at her and she snaps back in shock. "…and you,…stop pretending like you are my mum or something!" David stands only inches away from Mila. They linger for a second but then Merrick pulls him away. "That's enough…" Merrick pushes David away and stands between him and Mila.
"I get it…if…that's what it's gonna be." David raises his arms in defense and then slowly makes his way to the door. He walked out and slammed the door shut.

"To be fair, he has a point." Keegan argues as Merrick had already stepped away from Mila again and leaned against her desk. Now that David was gone the tension suddenly shifted but was still clearly there. He crossed his arms and saw the childhood pictures of Cady on the shelf which Keegan had noticed before. He found to be cheesy; as if Mila had wanted to build the perfect façade of a picture book childhood. In reality, it was everything but perfect, he presumed. Her mother was probably rarely around and there was no father (at least as far as Merrick knew) who could teach the girl discipline and order; no wonder the girl is so out of control and does everything against her mother's wishes. What a brat.

"Did we really give up too fast on Logan?" Mila asked herself rather than Keegan and Merrick who immediately clicked into her real thoughts.
"I don't know…" Merrick asks rubbing the spot where his engagement ring usually was and stayed silent for a moment to think. "…did you, Mila?" He turned his head swiftly and made Mila immediately recognize that this conversation wasn't about Logan anymore. Keegan clicked in on it too and simply said
"I will go find Hesh" He left the room with this excuse hoping Mila and Merrick would finally sort their beef out but they would have a lot of meat to chew.

"…Where is it?" Merrick immediately snapped at her once the door went shut. Mila didn't think about backing down in her own house, her own office. She blew some bangs out of her face.
"…I can't believe you held onto it." Mila came at him with the same snarly type of remark before he narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah…it's real silver…it could have proved valuable-" Merrick struggeled for words. He simply was out of shape for this type of stuff. Throw a bunch of angry federation soldiers at him; no problem, but defending his own emotional state was on a whole new level.
"…Bullshit" Mila sighed and rested her hands on her hips. She got a small package out of her chest pocket and gave it to Merrick.

"I got a leather band on it…you better wear it where it belongs" Mila explained while Merrick got the precious item out of them package to reveal it to be refurbished and on a leather string as a necklace; his engagement ring. Only now he had noticed that Mila had unbuttoned her shirt to show him that she wore the exact same ring, only with a small ruby embossed in it around her neck. Merrick blushed in the same shade of red as the ruby sparkled.
"…close to the heart" Mila told him with watery eyes before she quickly turned away.

"Why…did you leave?" Merrick wanted to know. He wasn't angry anymore, now that he knew how Mila felt. He stood behind her and saw her drop her head. She usually walked with her head held high but now, now she was just as vulnerable and little as everyone else. The amount of questions circling in his head was almost unbearable. He wanted to know it all.
"25 fucking years…and suddenly you show up again…" Merrick realized Mila was glaring at the picture gallery of her daughter. "I…deserve the truth…don't I?" He got more frustrated again and Mila turned around.
"I…don't owe you anything…!" She goes wide eyed and covers her mouth as realized what she had just said. Merrick turned slightly to face the door. She had two choices now, either she told him the whole truth or he would have left the room and she would have lost him forever.
"Thomas…Listen…I am sorry. I should have at least…given you an explanation." She had tears down her face and he wondered if it was just a tactic to sway him or if she was being genuine. He couldn't tell.

"But…after everything that happened…with Rorke…and then…Mary's death." Mila looked into his eyes and he couldn't help but be enchanted by her cute faded set of freckles around her nose as well as those copper locks.
"Both times…I was too late…I couldn't save them." She was full out crying now and lowered her head again. Her banks fell over her forehead of which she sometimes was embarrassed about due to its size. Merrick stepped closer making the high difference between the two even more visible. He reached out and cupped her face with his hands to make her look at him. He was gentle; something he had almost forgotten what it feels like. His hands were rough on her skin but she only felt her heart go faster. In all these years, one thing certainly stayed the same.

Thanks for reading. I apologize for any mistakes!

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