Hey, everyone! I'd like to take just a quick moment to thank everyone for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing. Every bit counts, and I love seeing that people are enjoying the story. We'll start to see more one on one interactions starting in this chapter, I think it's important to establish personalities and chemistry with characters, because hey, we all like to pick a favorite character, right? Who knows, maybe you all will end up picking a favorite that isn't Soap or Price, even though those two are awesome. Also, we'll start seeing more of Soap's colors coming out (he's a shy type), and Price is a bit more stoic, so good ole' Price will still be acting like a grumpy, old man. But hopefully I can start bringing out his true colors as well (don't worry, he remains awesome). Thanks, again!

Chapter 9 - Contracts and Synergy

"By now, you've come to the understanding of you one day replacing Lemann as our commander. Once he-well, leaves our presence we'll need a new commander." Samson watched Price from over a desk. The room was lit with warm light and the ticking of a clock produced a steady and consistent sound.

Price nodded. "Assuming he actually kicks the bucket."

"It's gotten worse." Samson's voice lowered with contempt.

Their eyes met as Price rubbed his chin. "We don't hear from him much anymore."

"All he deals with is approving contracts before we get them. Then sends them our way. Both you and I temporary have taken on the tasks of assigning members to specific contracts and jobs. So in retrospect, we're running the crew right now."

Price's eyes shined with ambition. "What better way to learn the ins-and-outs than through the art of hands-on experience."

Samson nodded slowly. "So my next point is, have you been reading up on our members? Better understanding their talents and assets? I want you to grasp how our field members operate."

Price sat up straight and rested his back against the wooden chair. "I have."

"Good. Want to recap?"

"Sure."

"Let's start with my brothers. What was our regiment?"

"Trevor, Shawn, and yourself were members of the 75th Ranger Regiment. Trevor and you were light infantry and Shawn was one of the paramedics to the unit."

"Right. What else?" Samson inquired with warming eyes.

Price ran his tongue over his teeth behind closed lips. "You three were part of a smaller group deployed over to Iraq in response to the war on terror in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. That began in 2003, but you and your two brothers were sent over in 2013."

"You have quite the retention. What about Reggie?"

"He was a naval aviator to a C-130 during the war."

Samson flashed a faint, impressed smile. "Let's move on to our female soldiers. You seem a bit more hesitant with them around. Why's that?"

"Distractions."

"How so?"

Price shifted in his seat and sighed. "Let me just paint out a quick example. I'll use Soap, even though I'm not personally worried about him getting side-tracked, being in the S.A.S. meant zero female interactions. We were an elite division. No women around. So in terms of performance, Soap doesn't quite understand how, let's say, someone like Ricochet operates."

Samson lowered his brow. "Don't you think that's a little bit of an unfair assumption? Not only are you potentially targeting Rico's skills as a soldier, but it sounds like you're doubting Soap's ability to focus."

Price shook his head. "No. I don't mean anything insulting by it. I was just using an example. Apparently it wasn't the best of choices."

"Your views on Shorty?"

"She's a pilot. Nothing more. Nothing less."

Samson slowly nodded. "It's about more than outside appearances, old man. Look at Shawn, he's the smallest of all of our male soldiers. Yet he's fantastic at what he specializes in."

"I'm a grumpy, old man stuck in his ways. Let's say I'm still adapting."

"All I ask is that you give them a chance to prove themselves. They're like my sisters at this point. Fine, young soldiers." Samson spoke firmly.

"We'll see. I need more opportunities to see them in action."

"Fair enough. Tell me about them. Let's start with Ricochet."

"Real name is Bailey Weiss. Went to CPEC for counter-sniping in the Air Force. Successfully graduated and managed to be selected to join a unit that had joint-operated with several Marine Corp. sniper platoons. Ranked second in her counter-sniping unit. Marksman."

"I may have you take on a contract with her. Be her spotter. See what she's capable of." Samson laced his fingers together before him.

"Right."

"Moving on to Shorty."

"Former officer to the United States Air Force. Came from the 23rd Flying Training Squadron as an undergraduate. Her real name is Kiona Rivers." Price replied smoothly as he watched Samson closely.

Samson sat in a brief silence before continuing. "We were all apart of the war. We've all seen our fair share of violence. It's easy to just see each other as robots, but we're all still human. So, let's get a bit into our personal lives. Where are my brothers and I from?"

"Illinois. Grew up south of Chicago."

Samson nodded with approval. "Shorty?"

"Horse farm. Western border in New Mexico."

"And Ricochet?"

Price blinked at the desk before looking back up to met Samson's eyes. "South Carolina. Grew up around the Bluffton area."

"Very good. How about you and Soap? Tell me a bit more about yourselves."

"Nothing exciting."

Samson shrugged lightly. "Matter of opinion."

"Me personal, grew up in the slums of London. Did a lot of hopping around. As for Soap, he grew up in Whitebridge with his two siblings and single mother."

Samson flashed a small smile. "We all have our stories. I think it's important to reflect on it from time to time. To remind ourselves that we grew up just like anyone else in the general population."

"We still all have our differences."

"No doubt. We've all seen our hardships. And not just in the military and during the war." Samson paused to watch Price grow gradually uninterested in the newly found topic. He read it quickly and was ready to move on to more important matters. "Ready to get into the contracts?"

Price nodded.

"Alright, let's go find the team."

It was lunch time. The Darkhorse members were spread out while they ate their meals. Some ate outside, taking joy in the presence of the cool weather and warming sun, while the remaining were enjoying their meals inside. Having spent most of their time together, all of the field members were sitting at a long, folding table, carrying on simple conversation. Tatiana had decided to sit with them all to hear of their progress with the drug lord.

Price and Samson walked up, their movements immediately grabbing the attention of the seated members. Price tossed a manila folder onto the table out in front of them. Their eyes all landed on the off-white folder, which contained several important documentations. Everyone stared and blinked in its direction.

"Let me guess. An ass ton of contracts?" Trevor inquired, eyes flashing up towards Samson.

"Yep." He replied.

Price rubbed his chin. "Staying busy. Only a few are significantly important. Others are petty. Leaning away from the Vasquez ordeal until we get some better leads. Don't want to stir the pot up too much."

"Right. So boundaries?" Shawn commented after taking a sip of water.

In unison, Samson and Price nodded. Samson's pointer finger suddenly landed onto the folder. "We have three that are probably the most prominent of the 12 we just received. Two of the three need to get done as soon as possible, and the other one is a date that is occurring in three weeks. Politician has been receiving death threats. She's requesting some 'body guards'. Paying a decent lump sum. But I digress," Samson looked up towards Trevor and Soap who sat by each other. Soap watched his food but felt the stare, causing his eyes to peer up. "Got a mountain climbing one coming up."

Trevor swallowed his food and lowered his fork. "Oh, yeah?"

Samson nodded. "Yes. Ismoil Somoni Peak, Tajikistan. Hot near the base, freezing near the top. Radio tower just got put up near the peak, owned by the Taliban. Some of those terrorists have been flooding over the border to set up safehouses. Near the smaller inclines, there's a few small roads that make the climb, but those eventually come to an end. That's when you'll need your climbing gear. Highest peak is roughly 7500m above sea level. Luckily for you three, the radio tower is only located at the 6000m mark."

"Three of us?" Trevor asked.

"You, Soap, and Shawn." Price stated.

Immediately, the three men who had been called out gave each other a quick look.

"You three are scaling the mountain side to reach that tower and set charges onto the supports. They've been using it to send out subtle frequencies to each other. It needs to come down." Samson added in.

"Yeah, so...me and Trevor haven't necessarily have had our fair share of mountain-climbing experiences." Shawn commented with wide eyes.

"Time to learn." Price stated flatly. "Soap can show you the ropes. All you need is balance, full-body strength, and a resistance to negative temperatures."

"Sounds like a grand time." Trevor murmured through his food.

"Looks like I know what we're doing after lunch." Soap sounded as he leaned back and stretched.

"Right. And then the second most important task. Ricochet," as Price said her name, she looked up at him. "Sniping mission. Assassinating a leader to one of the smaller terrorist groups in Afghanistan."

She nodded at him. "Oh, yeah?"

Samson jutted a thumb in Price's direction. "He's spotting you."

Her tongue felt around her mouth as she pondered. Her eyes locked onto Price's stern stare. "When we leaving?"

"Five days." Price answered.

"Same time as you three," Samson gestured towards Soap, Trevor, and Shawn who were sitting comfortably near the end of the table. "So, that's what is coming up for us this week. Shorty, you're transporting Price and Rico. Reggie, you and Buzzkill will drop Trevor, Shawn, and Soap off with the C-130. Looks like you all got some skydiving heading your way as well."

"Well, this just keeps getting more and more intense." Shawn said as he poked at his lunch.

"Start preparing. You're all going to need it." Samson straightened his posture and headed for the door.

Price turned to Soap where their eyes immediately met. "Start setting up a training schedule for Trevor and Shawn."

"Right." Soap immediately pushed his chair out and brought himself up. "I'll get on it. I'll come find you two when I have everything planned out for us. I have something in mind. Something more hands-on."

"Oh?" Shawn raised his eyebrows.

Soap shot him a small smile. "Aye. Get your climbing gear ready."

Trevor and Shawn watched him as he grabbed up his tray and headed for the back of the cafeteria. The two brothers shot each other a glance.

"Excited?" Trevor asked.

"It's been years since I've climbed something other than a wall or building." Shawn commented, taking a sip from his glass.

Trevor nodded slowly before looking down to finish his food. By this point, Soap walked past them again and pointed a stiff finger in their directions. "Meet me outside the hangar in 30 minutes."

"Copy that." Trevor murmured.

Soap headed for his room once outside and snatched up some papers and his pen. He took some quick notes before rounding on his heels to head for the exit. Leaving the sleep corridors and returning to the outside world, he caught Samson walking towards the office. Soap quickly grabbed his attention.

"Samson. I have a favor to ask." Soap's voice carried and bounced off of the barracks.

Samson came to a stop to turn and face the tall man. He lowered his brow. "What can I do for you?"

Once Soap neared, he peered back down at his sheet of paper which now bore his all caps handwriting. "Mind if I borrow one of the Jeeps today?"

Their eyes met as Samson rolled an imaginary object around in his mouth. "I don't see a problem with that. What do you need it for?"

Soap raised his chin and stared off towards the peaks and crannies of the nearby Alps. "I'd like to take your brothers over to the mountain range. Get some practice in. Scaling rock isn't much too different than scaling a sheet of ice. The difference is the equipment used."

Samson bobbed his head steadily as his hands found his pockets. "Sure. Let Tatiana know you're taking the Wrangler up there. Give her a time you'll be back. She'll probably make you sign it out. She likes to stay organized like that. Making sure she has all of the vehicles in check."

"Sounds simple enough."

"What do you have in mind?"

Soap handed him the paper he had scribbled on. Despite the obvious signs of a quick hand, an hour-by-hour daily schedule had been laid out. Soap was a man who enjoyed keeping his things and mind organized, and his routine on schedule. Samson had to smile at it.

"Heading out at 1300 hours. Estimated time of arrival is 1340 hours. Showing Shawn and Trevor the equipment. By 1400 hours you'll begin showing them how to secure the ropes and harnesses. Following up with that, you'll demonstrate proper wedge and nut placement…" Samson read off the sheet then peered up at Soap who stared down at him with concentrated, grey eyes. "I admire your composition."

"Yeah, I'm probably a bit of a freak about it."

Samson shrugged and shook his head. "Nothing wrong with your tactics. I'd get heading over to the hangar now, though. I know Delroy and Tobias were heading down to Gracac to meet up with some Talon members. Some supplies are coming in today. Although, I'm sure they'll just take the 2500 instead of one of the Wranglers."

Soap nodded. "Right. Thanks," he replied before looking up towards the hangar and ambling in its direction. His legs moved him quickly across the dirt path and eventually onto the pavement. From the opened garage doors of the hangar, he could hear a growing bustle as laughter erupted. Moving through the large opening, his eyes landed onto Shorty's Iroquois which was currently covered in Christmas lights.

"Who has time to do these things?" She gestured towards the helicopter.

Tatiana snickered as Reggie slowly looked the chopper over. "People who don't get much sleep."

A small smirk pulled acrossed Soap's face as he met an amused stare from Shawn and Trevor. The three of them knew something that no one else did. Little did Shorty know, that the three of the seemingly permanently serious soldiers were the culprits. Soap approached the Iroquois and faked an expression of disbelief.

"Who would do such a thing?" He looked up at the rotors.

Shorty spun on her heels and glared at him. "A fucking bastard, that's who."

"Or someone with amazing, creative spirit." Shawn commented from his position near Trevor.

Shorty pointed at him. "It was probably you and your retard brother."

Trevor scoffed. "I am not retarded."

She let out an exasperated sigh. "I meant the notorious Reggie. The one who roams aimlessly around base."

Reggie shook his head and drank from his soda can. "Not me."

"My ass." She rolled her eyes.

"I do not appreciate my intelligence getting insulted."

"Reggie clearly is the one who did it. Look at his guilty expression." Soap commented flatly.

"His efforts of covering his ass are failing." Trevor murmured.

Shawn hid a smile as Trevor maintained a blank expression. Reggie threw his hands into the air.

"This is baloney! I did not do this last night."

"You weren't in our room last night." Shawn stated as his eyes found the side of Reggie's face.

"I was too."

Shawn shook his head. "Nope."

"Yeah, I get it, I do stupid shit a lot. But this is the one thing I did not partake in. Probably Shawn and Tatiana."

Shorty crossed her arms. "You're looking mighty incriminating."

Reggie pointed towards Shawn with a swift jut of the arm. "Shawn was NOT in his room last night. I was in bed by 2200 hours!"

"Lies." Shawn said with lowered brows.

"That's funny. Because I got up last night to get a drink from the kitchen and you were heading down the hallway towards the outside. Remember? You stopped and conversed with me briefly. Said something about an upcoming scheme." Soap announced as he stared down Reggie.

"You're full of shit! That did not happen last night!" Reggie was growing awed with betrayal.

Shorty stomped over towards Reggie and yanked him down from his seat on one of the commercial shelving. "Get your skinny ass down. You're taking this shit down now."

"No. I'm not. I didn't do it." Reggie replied with mild annoyance.

She stared daggers up at him and jabbed a finger into his chest. "Yes you are. And if you don't I'm going to break into your room and shatter all of your stupid inventions."

"Yes, please! Please do it!" Shawn had to shout with a growing interest.

"This isn't fair. I'm being framed." Reggie said with disbelief.

Trevor patted his arm. "Well, get on that, Reggie. We got some rock climbing to do."

"Right…" Reggie peered over towards the helicopter.

Soap smiled faintly before walking over towards Tatiana. She caught him in her peripherals and looked in his direction. Placing her hands on her hips, she flashed a grin. "How are you doing, doll?"

Soap nodded at her. "I have a request."

"What do you need, hot stuff?"

His eyes flashed with amusement. "I need to borrow a Jeep. Heading towards the Alps to get some rock climbing exercises in. Samson told me to come see you."

She cleaned off a spark plug with a rag held in her hands. Nodding and biting the inside of her cheek, she responded. "You've come to the right place. Keys to the tan one are in the toolbox right over there." She pointed off at the distant object. "One of those is Shorty's. It's the one with a purple peace-sign on it."

Shorty heard her name and 'toolbox', causing her to spin around. "You better not lay a hand on my toolbox, Chin."

He stared at her with a blank expression. "I'll take note." Spinning on his heels, he made his way for the toolbox on the far end. Soap was feeling a bit light-hearted today. After having spent a good portion of the night before covering Shorty's chopper in Christmas lights, he was still stuck in is playful faze. He justified his sneaky teasing techniques by recollecting the amount of times Shorty felt it was necessary to make remarks about his chin and the shape of his face. To this day, he was still unsure as to how it irked her. His eyes found the toolbox with the purple peace-sign on it as he brought himself next to its side. Immediately, he opened the box and began to scan its contents.

He pulled his head up and looked in Shorty and Tatiana's direction, eyes glowing with a brilliant light. "I'm sorry, Tatiana, but I can't find the keys."

All eyes fell on Soap, who stood bent over the toolbox and large hands inside. Tatiana shook her head. "Not that one, sweetie, the other one. Remember? I told you to not touch that one."

Shorty glared from her position by the Iroquois. "Hey, Chin. What the fuck! Hands off! I don't need your large, bear hands getting finger grease on my things."

"Oh?" Soap's eyes found her. He bore a blank expression as he pointed at her toolbox. "So this is yours?"

"Yes." Her hands found her hips.

"Got it." He rose and moved towards the other toolbox.

"Hey, jackass! Close my toolbox."

He paused to look back in her direction. His face was stuck on a deadpan expression but his eyes shined with laughter. "My bad." His feet returned him to Shorty's toolbox where he promptly kicked the toolbox lid shut. A loud metal on metal sound immediately echoed. "There. Crisis averted."

A smile pulled across Tatiana's face as Shorty lowered her brow with irritation. "Don't disrespect my things. You don't see me going around kicking your shit, now do you?"

"You do make rude remarks about my face. That's a pretty disrespectful act."

"Your face is confusing, and you know it. Besides, my argument was about me kicking your shit around. I don't kick your shit, you don't kick mine." She crossed her arms.

He rose his hands calmly out before him, palms facing her. "You're right. How rude of me." He spun on his heels and opened the lid back up, and then proceeded to close it with his hands. "I have redeemed myself."

Her tongue rolled around in her mouth. "Stop touching my stuff."

For a long moment, they just stared at each other. Neither one blinking or refusing to break the stare. Finally, he quickly lowered and poked her toolbox before making his way for the other toolbox, which contained the keys to the Jeep. Tatiana had to utter a chuckle as Shorty threw her hands into the air.

"So mature, Chin. I see you, strutting around like you're just so funny." She said with an annoyed tone.

As he looked through Tatiana's toolbox, he had to smile. Eventually, his hands found the keys as he brought himself up to make his way back towards where Tatiana stood, but not before pretending to stumble on Shorty's toolbox. His foot hit it, as it slid loudly across the floor, causing a few heads to look up. "Oops." He murmured.

Shorty immediately stomped over towards her toolbox, punching him on the arm as she passed, and eventually seized up the toolbox. "Can't a person get some respect for her things around here? Fucking dick face."

"You say something, Pear?" He turned to look at her.

She narrowed her eyes angrily at him. "Did you just call me 'Pear'? Like the fruit?"

He nodded. "I figured if we get nicknames based upon our appearances, that calling you 'Pear' fit the shape of your short, disproportional body."

The sound of Reggie's laugh emitted from the opposite end of the hangar as it echoed off the walls. He had quite the maniacal chuckle.

"That's rude." She said, placing her hands back onto her hips.

He shrugged and gave an innocent look. "I thought that's how things went around here. Guess I was wrong?"

"Well, you look like a giant, upside-down triangle."

"Oh, so now we're back to name-calling?"

Her glare continued. "I don't like your antics right now."

"And I don't like your bad attitude." A faint smirk was creeping across his face, only causing her to grow more annoyed.

"I have a great attitude. It's your dumb butt-chin sapping all of the positive energy up in here." She claimed flatly.

Suddenly, Reggie's voice broke into song as he approached to join in on the playful conversing. "Y'all gonna make me lose my mind. Up in here! Up in here!"

"Leave it to Reggie to add something to the conversation. Relevant or not." Shawn commented from his position on a stool.

"Got the keys?" Trevor asked Soap as he approached.

"Aye."

Trevor nodded. "Alright, let's hit the road then."

Tatiana quickly pointed over to the work bench. "Sign the Wrangler out! That's how we operate around here."

"Will do," Soap replied as he found the sign-in sheet and printed his name into an open box. His eyes went up and found Trevor and Shawn. "Let's get the Jeep loaded up and we'll be on our way. Should be back by dinner."

"Oh of course, the Chin wants to be back by dinner time. Don't like missing meals, do we?" Short scoffed.

Soap's grey eyes landed on her. "Feisty today, are we?"

"Go eat a dick." She replied.

"She's holding you touching her toolbox against you. Shouldn't have done that." Trevor calmly stated, as he lit up a cigarette. "Looks like we may be here awhile longer."

"It's about more than touching my shit. He ate my leftovers yesterday." Her glare didn't break from Soap, who was still greatly amused by her irritation. Something about the way she grew annoyed by his teasing reminded him of his sister.

"I did not." He claimed cooly.

"Yes. You did."

He shook his head. "Should have put your name on it."

"I made a big enough portion to serve as an evening snack, and you just swooped in and gobbled it up! Look at you, holding all of that water weight." She looked him up and down. "I hope you enjoyed it, you fat fuck."

He had to laugh at her. Her attempts at insulting him were rather amusing. "It was delicious. Mind having another one ready for me when I get back?"

"So you can shove your fat chin with more food? That's the exact opposite of what you need."

At this point, Reggie had to even utter a chuckle. "Shorty, why are you so mean to, Soap? He's the only one you're mean to."

She peered over at him. "Turns out, leaving a bad first impression isn't the best way to make friends. He was late getting to the dock, he knocked my ass over in the hallway, his face shape is confusing, and now, he eats my food. He shoves MY meals down his fat throat."

"You look like you could use a break from food as well." Soap commented jokingly.

Then she looked sad as she looked over towards a smiling Trevor. "Trevor! Make him stop!"

Trevor puffed on his cigarette. "No can do. You started it."

"This isn't fair!"

Soap looked down at the keys before finding her face again. "Hey, I'll take back what I said about you needing a break from food. That was mean."

Her eyes found his eyes, and saw the genuine apology in them. She huffed. "Whatever."

"Aw, see Shorty, Soap is a good guy. Maybe you just need to get to know him, and you two can end up being best friends." Reggie's smile was wide, and it was a smile Shorty hated. She could see his cunning eyes glimmering mischievously.

"That'll never happen." Shawn commented lowly, eyes running over the environment around him.

"Maybe you two should just fuck and get it over with," Reggie laughed as it immediately caused both Soap and Shorty to grimace.

"Ew. FUCK NO." Shorty shouted with utter disgust.

Soap had to shake his head. "No thanks. Not my type. She's too short and angry."

"Now I'm curious. What is your type?" Reggie leaned forward with a curious stare and raised eyebrows.

Before Soap could respond, Shorty jumped in. "No. We don't need to hear it. No one needs the mental image of the Chin fucking someone."

Soap looked at her and laughed again. She was getting very passionate with her hatred.

"I think Shorty just wouldn't be able to handle the Scottish D." Shawn commented as his eyes flashed over playfully in Shorty's direction, where he was immediately met with a disapproving stare.

"Seriously? The Scottish D? That's where we're going with this now?" Her voice was laced with impatience.

Shawn shrugged. "Who knows, maybe you'll love it."

"Oh my God…"

Reggie giggled. "Once one has the Scottish D, you don't go back. It's the closest equivalent to a black cock, but still remains white."

At this point, Soap had to grow uncomfortable. He could start to feel his cheeks burn. "Alright...that's probably our cue to leave."

"Yes! Leave now! No more cock talk!" Shorty waved at them to move their asses.

Shawn was laughing with amusement as Trevor shook his head.

"The idea of Soap's giant cock is scaring everyone." Reggie wasn't letting up on the commentary. Soap quickly paced past him and towards the Wrangler in attempts to escape the awkward spotlight. Tatiana had to snicker with joy at the imagery of a big and embarrassed Soap striding quickly away with rosey cheeks.

"Not one for the cock compliments, honey?" She said after him.

Without slowing his pace or turning his head to look at them, he swiftly responded. "I prefer to not carry on conversations about my reproductive organs."

"Soap's kryptonite is his own massive cock." Reggie continued to bear his signature smile.

"Oh man...Christ, this is escalating quickly." Shawn stated as he stood to follow Soap and Trevor towards the Jeep.

"The real question is, how would you even know that, Reggie?" Trevor commented with a blank expression.

Tatiana spoke from her position by the open hood of the second Jeep. "I've started with my feeling around. I like to see what I'm missing."

Soap regretfully recalled receiving a quick crotch grab from the Russian woman a day before. Wasn't a memory he had wanted to fail at compartmentalizing.

Reggie's smile widened. "Her lesbo hands couldn't resist that man chin of his."

"Stop talking about it. NOW." Shorty yelled, voice echoing.

Once Soap reached the driver side, he shot a quick look at Trevor and Shawn, feeling all too prepared to move on from the subject. "We'll drive this to the armory to load it up." Before hopping in he scanned the many faces. "And to get away from all of this…"

Shawn and Trevor flashed him a smile as they entered the empty compartment of the Wrangler.

Once the doors were closed, Shawn made a comment from the backseat. "Well, that got weird and personal real quick."

"That's Reggie for you." Trevor replied as he put out the cigarette and tossed it out of the open window. His metallic eyes fell onto Soap's profile as the car started up. "It's only a matter of time until Reggie understands every angle and dimension of you, and what it is that makes you feel incredibly uncomfortable."

"Well, if anyone hasn't noticed yet, discussing my cock size in front of an audience isn't really my cup of tea." Soap responded flatly as he drove the Jeep from the hangar and towards the armory. He had to shake his head. "Guess that's what I get for interacting."

"I find it funny that you haven't denied it yet." Shawn pointed out.

Soap had to roll his eyes and speak sarcastically. "Yeah, because denying it looks better."

"Hey, at least he didn't say it was a micropenis. If anything, he's enhancing your sexual male confidence." Shawn said from his place in the back. Soap found his wide, innocent eyes in the rearview mirror. He couldn't see Shawn's smile, but he knew he bore one as the muscles on his cheeks tightened.

"Right." Soap murmured with disinterest.

Once reaching the armory, they quickly loaded up the Jeep with all of the rock climbing essentials: nuts, wedges, harnesses, rope, tactical gear, and the works. After finishing the task, the three of them headed east for the Alps. Shawn did the most talking during the 40 minute drive, but he was far from annoying and his voice was lively with character.

As they neared, Soap spoke as his eyes watched the terrain become rockier out in front of them; the sun cast a yellow hue onto the rocky landscape. "You two seem fit enough. But we need to really exert ourselves and get our whole bodies used to what an extra 28kg of weight feels like. Especially while scaling a rock wall...or ice."

The two brothers nodded.

"Should be fun." Shawn commented.

"What do you two weigh?" Soap asked with his usual deep voice.

"I weigh about 80kg."

Trevor casually gestured his hand through the air. "86kg here."

"How do you handle lifting an additional ⅓ your weight?" Soap questioned.

"No problem here." Trevor spoke while looking at the window with a deadpan expression.

Shawn shrugged. "I can do it. We did that a lot during our reign with the Rangers."

Soap nodded with approval. "Good to know. And how fresh are you both in scaling a mountain?"

"Eh...that type of scenario wasn't thrown at us too often." Shawn's eyes glistened in the sunlight that poked through the windows. "We could go for a refreshment."

"And that's why we're here." Soap lowered his brow and leaned forward in the seat to get a better look through the windshield at the upcoming terrain. "I see a decent spot. Let's park then head up this hill."

The Jeep promptly came to a stop as the three men exited the vehicle, heavy bags thrown over their shoulders. They were dressed comfortably for the semi-cool weather. The air felt thinner from the elevation, but it was a fresh and clean atmosphere. Their hair rustled with the brisk gust that streamed in between the rocks and inclines.

Soap peered up some ways with keen eyes. "Tad bit windy. Perfect." Using his strong legs, he brought himself to the top of a large boulder. "Rock climbing and ice climbing aren't too different. The main diversity between the two is the equipment used. With ice, we'll be using picks instead of our hands. Practicing here will work."

Quickly finding a fitting location, the three of them geared up and began with their training and exercises. Back at base, Ricochet was spending most of her time with Price. Both wanted to set up comfortable grounds with each other before setting off in several days. After all, he was going to be her spotter. He had her run courses and perform certain exercises, sometimes he'd even partake in the drills. They spent the afternoon getting to know each other more vividly on a professional level. As dinner neared, they wrapped up the training with a quick practice spar and some shooting practice. She could hit a target well, that was for sure.

Trevor, Shawn, and Soap were late to dinner by a near hour. The practice took longer than expected, but they returned hungry. Being that they were able to manage their our routines and schedules more freely than had it been at a base run by military, the three of them were able to still enjoy a meal. Luckily for them, they were free to eat whenever, of course given it was done in moderation. The three of them ate together outside, enjoying small talk and basic conversations as the sun gradually made its way for the horizon.

Once finished with their meals, they went separate ways in search of a meaningful way to wrap up the evening. Soap's ears caught sound of distant gunfire; the loud crack reverberated off of the metal and concrete sidings of the few buildings around him. It was definitely a bigger gun, which was backed up by a lot of net force and sheer power. Growing curious, he headed for the outdoor shooting range located on the far end. The sound cracked again as he neared. His eyes found Ricochet with her APR338 Brügger & Thomet sniper rifle mounted up on top of a sandbag barrier. It was a beautiful bolt-action rifle with a sheen black and gun-metal grey finish. She caught his movement in her peripherals and quickly looked at him from the corner of her vision.

"Hey, there." She greeted as she quickly loaded up another bullet in the chamber and pulled the trigger. A distance glass bottle, located 100m down the range, shattered and shot glass out like a firework as it glistened in the setting sun.

He brought himself closer while she rose her head up to give him her full attention. "How was the rock-climbing?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Went as expected." He replied with a stoic expression. "How was the old man?"

She nodded at him before looking back down the range, this time without aiming down the sight. "He seems grumpy a lot...but I know he is a good man."

"He means well."

A brief silence filled the space around them before her eyes landed back onto his face. She noticed him observing the details on her APR. Her hands gestured towards it. "Want to have a shot?"

Pondering over it momentarily, he decided he was mildly interested and was willing to give it a shot. It was a new gun to him. "Haven't used one of these yet. Swiss, right?" He lowered down near her, but aware of his distance as she handed it off to him.

"Yes. Sturdy gun with great sights."

He put his right eye to the scope. "Day and night optics...emergency iron sights." He brought his head back up but kept his eyes on the range. "Let's see its power." Putting a bullet into the chamber and taking aim, he pulled the trigger and took out a distance bottle. The sound of glass shattering emitted from down the range. "Not bad. It absorbs a decent portion of the recoil."

She raised her eyebrows. "Not a bad shot either." Her eyes found the side of his face. "Familiar with scoped rifles?"

He nodded. "Aye," his eyes slowly found her face. "Reggie said I should challenge you to a shoot off. Since we're sitting here, I think now would be a good time to take on that challenge."

A smile pulled across her face as her eyes lit up. "Do you like losing?"

"You sound confident. Perhaps overconfident?"

"Think I'll let it go to my head?"

His stare shot back down the range. "It can. But," he looked back to her, "I think you'll be fine. So when do we start?"

She brought herself up and stared down at him. "Let's set up more bottles." He followed her movements as they gathered up more bottles and headed down towards the farther end of the range. Not much was said, but it was comfortable interaction. Eventually, they found themselves back by the sandbag barrier with the APR set up.

"Ladies first." Soap stated.

"You just being polite or are you trying to see what you're up against?" She flashed an amused smile up at him as she brought herself onto her knees.

"Both."

Nodding, she took aim.

They rotated and took turns taking shots. It stayed neck and neck most of the time as the total of 12 bottles were picked off. Each had missed one, and they were left with a draw as they reached the final two.

Before taking a shot at one of the bottles, she peered at him. "This is it. If I miss this, it's a guaranteed tie unless you can land the shot. But...if I hit it, the pressure is all on you."

"Fire away, lass."

She took aim and focused before taking the shot. The wind picked up briefly as she tried to wait it out. Growing somewhat impatient with it, she calculated the wind speed and direction in her head, and decided to pull the trigger. Holding her breath, the bullet launched from the barrel and zipped through the upper portion of the bottle. It sprayed glass as it went flipping through the air. She had to smile and hand off the gun to Soap.

"Nice shot. Let's see if I can impress." He brought the rifle up, and as if the wind couldn't have picked up more, it did. Taking some time to focus, he held his breath and took the shot. Unfortunately, the bullet wisped past the bottle; one could almost hear the bullet hiss past the edge of the bottle. He lowered the barrel, mildly disheartened, but she won fair and square and he wasn't one for denying a successful win.

"Very close. Almost had it." She stated as he pulled himself up, eyes still on the range. She looked up at his face. "Does that mean I win?"

"It does."

"What do I win?"

"Recognition and respect." He replied while handing her back her APR.

"Works for me."

Their eyes met as she narrowed hers slightly when the sun peaked past some clouds and shined natural light into her face. Shielding her eyes with her free hand she stared up at him while he watched her silently.

"Well," she began, "that was fun. We'll have to do it again sometime. Maybe you can gain a win and even us out."

He nodded. "Sure. We have to make sure Price doesn't hear of this, otherwise he'll never let me live it down."

She smiled. "Oh, yeah?"

"Price is always expecting consistent perfectionism."

"I can see that."

"I'm sure he was hammering away at your performance today."

She shrugged. "Honestly, I don't think he's comfortable around me yet. I'm under this impression he thinks lowly of me. And I'm not quite sure why…"

"Price rubs off that way on everyone at first. When I passed selection and was assigned to his unit...Christ, that man could make me shit a brick. He still could if he wanted to, but I can see past his angry exterior. Surprisingly, there is a good intentioned man in there. Just got to take some time to find it."

She blinked at him momentarily as he rolled an imaginary object around in his mouth. "Ready to head back?" She inquired with a soft voice.

He nodded and agreed. Their strides were long as they made their way back to the base. She noticed he had trouble keeping the conversation going, but she was more under the impression that he was merely shy, perhaps not quite sure how to interact with her. But she was satisfied with the recent outcome and was able to see some more of his colors. She enjoyed growing to know the people she was working alongside.

The remaining days went by swiftly as everyone made the most of their time spent. And the new set of missions were on their way.

Poor Soap. He tries to fit in and his male reproductive organs just get made fun of. Or complimented...however it is you view it.