So, I suppose that MAYBE the last chapter might have been a little bit too dark...I noticed I had a lot of visitors on it but not a lot of people stayed to finish the chapter. Sorry if that was too violent. Unfortunately, there's more to come, the story definitely takes on a roller-coaster effect. With that being said, this next chapter is low-key, and let's us see more of the characters in action.

Chapter 12: Raging Smart-Asses

"Soap. Get up."

Soap let his eyelids flutter open as his vision focused onto the table lamp. He blinked slowly with his face partially covered by the bend in his strong arm.

"Soap. Get your arse up."

His attention was finally pulled away from the lamp as he sat up and met Price's sky-blue eyes. The old man looked oddly alert. Price stared sternly into Soap's face from several feet away from the footing of the Scotsman's bed. He noticed Soap's mildly confused expression.

"Feeling delirious from being stirred out of your coma-state?" Price questioned while crossing his arms.

Soap ran his large hand through his dark hair as he pondered. "What's going on?"

He was suddenly hit in the face by a change of clothes. "You overslept. It's almost 0630 hours. You're minutes away from missing our scheduled morning run."

Growing surprised, Soap quickly reached for the wristwatch on his table and peered at the face. Somehow he managed to snooze right through the obnoxious beeping of his wristwatch. His eyes shot up towards Price who had to heave a sigh.

"Get changed and meet on the runway in five minutes. We're taking a 7 km jog to Gracac to eat breakfast. Sounds fun, right?" Price scratched his nose with contempt.

"When was that decided on? Breakfast in Gracac?" Soap questioned while immediately pulling himself out of bed to switch shirts.

"Always with the questions. Time to get out of your daze and get your arse moving. See you in 5 minutes." Price turned on his heels to leave.

Soap watched him closely before throwing the freshly cleaned, navy blue, cotton shirt over his head. Quickly switching into some practical pants, he slipped his grey combat shoes on and headed for the door. The old man had such a way with words.

Once outside, Soap was met with the image of all of the field soldiers standing and waiting patiently on the runway, even the pilots had shown up. The only one seemingly out of place was Lydia, the medic assigned permanently to the base. As Soap approached them all, he locked onto the quick stares of several amused eyes.

Ivan threw his hand into the air and emitted a loud, Russian laced sentence. "Ay! The Scotsman showed up!"

"Good morning, sleepy head." Trevor murmured to Soap as he walked past in search of an open spot amongst the group.

Soap nodded his head at them all.

"You know it's bad when Shorty, the out of shape helicopter pilot, shows up before one of our field unit members." Shawn commented with a smirk as he immediately flinched from a well-placed punch to the shoulder from Shorty.

"What the hell, Shawn!" She stated with disbelief. "You're supposed to be the nice one."

He had to chuckle as he flashed her a wide smile.

"Shawn's secretly a huge asshole." Reggie stated with his usual amused tone.

Samson stepped up before all of them. "Alright. Enough chatter. By now, you all know why we're all standing here. I figured it'd be slightly enjoyable to get a change of scenery for once, and could relish in the idea of having a minor adjustment to our usual breakfast menu options. So, last minute, I decided to make a plan to have us all jog down to town to eat in a restaurant. At least the members who wanted to."

"Yay." Shawn cheered lowly from his position in the center of the group.

"So, let's see…" Samson rose his wrist out before his face and began to adjust his timer. "A 7 km jog should take us all roughly 40 minutes, assuming all of us keep a good pace-"

"He's implying that some of us here are fat-asses and will be lagging behind." Reggie claimed as he let his arms out before him. "If anyone needed that clarification."

"I swear to God...if you're referring to me again I will ram my fist so hard into your left nut that you won't be able to have children." Shorty shot a quick, threatening glance in his direction.

"Reggie doesn't need to have children. One Reggie is enough as it is." Shawn said as he lowered to stretch out his hamstrings.

Samson nodded his head with a faint smile as he gestured towards everyone. "Ok, so everyone take a five minute session of stretching and hydration before we set off. Sound good?"

Everyone agreed as they immediately began to stretch out their bodies and drink from their water bottles that had been distributed earlier before. Samson walked over towards Soap to hand him one. Soap gestured his head with gratitude as Samson began to amble back towards his position near the front.

A brief moment of silence filled the space around them as they took a moment to become immersed into their thoughts. Suddenly, Soap felt his arm get tapped while bent over his center of gravity to reach for the pavement. His light eyes found the owner to the hand, only to be met with a wide grin from Reggie. Quickly, Reggie gestured a sneaky hand out before their faces. Soap followed it only to find the image of Shorty and Ricochet's rears a few feet out in front of them. Soap had to utter a swift and quiet snicker as he shook his head and returned his attention back to his hands which lay flat against the runway. Reggie laughed, causing a few people to glance at him.

After the five minutes had passed, Samson's wristwatch emitted a series of beeps, before he promptly turned off the sound and rose to grab everyone's attention. "Let's go."

Everyone brought themselves up into a ready position as Price and Samson began to lead the group. The group of eleven members jogged in decent formation for a good portion of the time. After a solid ten minutes had passed, Shorty's pace began to slow down slightly, forcing Soap to have to move past her. His stride continued to carry him up closer to where Trevor and Price were placed.

"Oh, look at that. Soap is just so much better than us. Running ahead like some pompous prick." Reggie commented jokingly from his location back near Ricochet and Ivan. He whispered something to Ivan, causing the Russian pilot to chuckle with hilarity.

"Man, you're crazy. So fucking crazy." Ivan stated bluntly with a wide smile.

A few other smiles appeared. Soap could sense a set of stares land onto the back of him. He wasn't one for enjoying being in the spotlight, and he was beginning to fear Reggie was picking up on that.

"Look, he doesn't know how to reply because he's too presumptuous to care." Reggie continued.

Trevor sent a quick glance in Soap's direction and spoke lowly. "Obviously, the best thing to do right now is just to ignore him."

"That's why I'm practicing a silent treatment." Soap replied with a deep voice.

"A quick word of advice though, sometimes a silent treatment doesn't always work. But for now, it works because he can't see your face." Trevor responded as he allowed his eyes to fall off to the distant pathway leading down a hill.

"I'll take note."

"Hey, Soap. I'm surprised your massive Scottish D doesn't weigh you down. You run pretty well despite that physical feature you possess." Reggie laughed.

Ivan let out a bellowing burst of laughter. Soap could only let a distraught look appear on his face as he sighed loudly.

After another set of time had passed, everyone's thoughts got interrupted by a startled, quick scream.

"Ugh, Reggie! Watch where you're running!" Shorty hollered at him as he passed her up. His foot had landed on the back of her shoe, causing her to 'blow a wheel'.

"Run faster then, critten!" Reggie claimed with a raised voice as Ricochet and Ivan came to a stop to assist her in staying with the rest of the group.

"That fucking jackass…" Shorty mumbled as she slid her shoe back on.

Ricochet placed her hands on her hips as she breathed through her mouth. "He feeds off of your despair."

Ivan chuckled. "Let's get a move on, little lady. We got to do some catching up now."

"Yeah yeah, you commie." She muttered with little amusement.

"It's 2017! We are no longer in our Red Army days!" Ivan said as she finally rose to return to running.

"But the communist blood still courses through you."

As always, Ivan laughed with enjoyment at the sienna-skinned woman. Quickening their paces, they eventually caught up to the tail-end of the group.

"Welcome back, slackers." Shawn said with a harmless smile.

"God damn, between you and Reggie I might have to put a bullet into each of yours foot." Ricochet fired back with an equally as facetious wide smile. "You two need to have a drink."

"Or a good smack-down." Shorty added-in.

"Or they need to get laid." Trevor broke his streak of silence with a flat tone.

Shawn looked towards him with raised eyebrows. "Who the fuck here doesn't?"

"I know who!" Reggie bellowed with a smile.

Samson quickly shot him a disapproving stare. "Reggie. Shut up."

Reggie immediately fell quiet as Shawn mocked him. "Ooooh, someone got put in their place-"

"Shawn, you too." Samson was quick to nip-it.

Shawn let his shoulders drop as Price was ready to speak. "I can tell half of you had an extra dose of muppet this morning. Keep it up and I'll lay out a pleasant and tedious work-out schedule for you all for when we get back."

On cue, everyone fell quiet. Most of them were merely excited about the change in their schedule, and it was just simply getting to them. Who would have thought that something as simple as eating a meal out one time could be so uplifting to the soldiers?

Once the near 40 minute mark hit, a good portion of the group had made it to the center of Gracac, where they stood and waited patiently for the rest while they caught their breaths. After a short two minute wait, Shorty broke into the clearing with Lydia, Mark, and Ivan by her side. They all quickly regrouped as a few of them shook their arms and legs to release some of the fluid from them. It was nearing 0720 hours once the whole lot of them were finally prepared to make their way for the nearest and currently open restaurant.

Finding a quaint looking place, the group made their way inside and waited to finally be sat. Breakfast went smoothly and was way more enjoyable than expected. By the time members had taken a seat and received some fluids, the overall energy had shifted from mildly irritated by the early morning to an air of bliss.

Samson leaned over the table to get a good look at everyone. "So, who here has been practicing their Croatian?"

"Uh...mine is lacking in quality…" Shawn was first to respond.

Ivan let his weight recline into the table as he sat his forearm down. "Knowing Croatian is as useful as knowing Serbian."

Reggie had to lower his brow with mild amusement as he let his hand open out towards the Russian. "But we're in Croatia right now. So it's actually pretty useful."

"Funny how that works." Trevor stated as his eyes ran over the menu.

A few members emitted low chuckles, even Ivan had to smile.

Samson interrupted their entertainment. "So everyone here try to order for themselves. If you can't successfully do it, I can lend you a hand."

"So thoughtful." Shorty proclaimed.

Samson could only shake his head with a faint smile. Eventually the server arrived to take their orders. All in all, the majority of the group managed to place in their orders, despite struggling briefly. Particularly, Soap had a moment of blankness as he stared over the Croatian words in the menu while the server waited impatiently for his order. Having only been present in the country for a little over a month, his skill in Croatian was obviously not the best. He waited quietly for someone to make a comment as he couldn't resist the urge to look up towards Reggie located shortly down the table. And of course, there was a smile on his face.

His mouth began to open but Soap was quick to jump the gun. "Don't."

Reggie let his shoulders drop with disappointment.

Once the server grabbed all of the group's requests, he ambled off leaving the Darkhorse members to get lost in conversation. A few were lively this morning, whereas others appeared to be a bit distant. Especially Ricochet, Shorty, and Soap; their eyes were tired and they felt groggy with fatigue. The three of them were mostly in a listening mood as a few others filled the quiet space around them with sparse conversations.

After several intervals of time had passed, everyone received their food and began to eat pleasantly. Everyone watched with widened eyes at the amount of food set before Soap. It was a rather large portion in comparison to the surrounding soldiers.

Shawn rose a fork to point it in Soap's direction. "Jesus. That is like 3 kg of food."

Soap peered up at him about to respond but was cut off by Reggie. "You should have just ordered a baby hippo."

"I'm sorry, does my plate of food offend you?" Soap asked with raised brows, mild amusement in his words.

"It would be offensive if it actually was a baby hippo." Shawn commented.

Soap shook his head as he took a bite of burek (heavy breakfast pastry).

Shorty scoffed. "Well, he didn't eat any of my food from the night before, so he's just compensating now."

"You do make good lasagna." Soap stated flatly.

"Fuck you." Shorty shot a glare in his direction only to be met by a faint smirk.

Shawn snickered. "So, should I keep an eye on you after this, Soap? Keep a defibrillator at my side in case you go into cardiac arrest?"

"I don't think heart failure is an issue right now." Soap's eyes shot up and scanned the few faces looking in his direction.

"You will eating like that, and shoving your chin with more food." Shorty commented with mild irritation.

"Did you fail your anatomy class? Because last time I checked, the chin was not an orifice used for food consumption." Soap's eyes landed onto her, shimmering with entertainment.

Shorty just mocked him back as Reggie laughed, "Not with that attitude!"

"I feel like this is going to be entertaining to watch." Shawn claimed as he leaned his weight into the table.

"You're free to watch, but you keep your commentary to yourselves. I don't need any of that eejit talk." Soap responded after taking a sip from his cup.

The group had to take the time to enjoy a short bit of laughter and amusement.

Eventually, the meal was finished and the group prepared to run back. Since all behavior remained appropriate and well-mannered, the group was free to do what they wanted with their time upon arrival. The next big contract coming up wasn't scheduled for another three days, so while Samson and Price waited for more contracts to shuffle in, in addition to more information on the Vazquez ordeal, a few of the other petty contracts had been completed. Such as an escort contract, package and code retrievals, and a fugitive apprehension contract.

Back at base, many members seeked out the showers while a few others were ready to continue with the workouts. Reggie watched Lydia with skepticism as she headed for the radio tower. He narrowed his eyes as Shawn stepped up to his side.

"She's a whore. I hate her." Reggie stated flatly.

Shawn's eyes were quick to find his brother in the corner of his vision. "Those were some harsh words."

Reggie turned his body towards Shawn. "I only hate her because she's a pompous bitch, not because she's a whore."

Shawn nodded with understanding as he crossed his arms and watched Lydia disappear up into the radio tower. His attention went towards the old man, Price, who was also observing as he lit up a Villa Clara cigar. Shawn rolled his tongue around in his mouth. "The old man knows."

Reggie gestured towards the tower. "Well, of course he does. It's obvious." He had to sigh and stare off at a few distant members. He watched Shorty and Trevor disappear into the hangar with a laughing Ivan by their sides, in addition to Rico, including Samson and Soap, heading for the other portion of the base which housed the courses and gym equipment. He narrowed his eyes with observation.

Shawn leaned forward. "You're getting that quizzical stare…"

Reggie shrugged. "Don't mind me."

"So, I heard the assassination mission went well. Saleh Nasir, Taliban member?" Soap's voice sounded deeply, causing Ricochet to turn on her heels that were placed against a floor mat.

Her eyes quickly found the source of the voice and met up with Soap's light-eyed stare. "Yep." She straightened her posture and crossed her arms. "His body is friends with the crows now."

Soap observed her face, her expression had suddenly shifted from placidness to contempt. "How was the old man?"

She bit her lip as her eyes wandered off. "Well, he was a great spotter. I give him that. Price has definitely had his fair share of experiences. Honestly, I'd be honored for him to be my spotter again."

"I detect mild uncertainty in your voice, though." Soap let his eyebrows go flat. After the previous night, he was already beginning to grow more wary of Price, and it irked him.

"Hmm," her voice trailed off as she chewed on the inside of her cheek. "He's an eccentric man."

Soap nodded slowly at her reply. He couldn't agree more. Their eyes met as he pondered over the previous night while she was still trying to completely grasp the colors Price possessed.

Wanting to be rid of the sudden stark air around them, Soap wanted to wave it off and change up the mood. He was a man of action, and the best way to avoid unwanted emotions was to simply embrace them, understand them, and then move on from them in search of a healthy distraction.

He took a step back and gestured towards her. "Here, how about we start up a spar again. I saw you and Price working on things a week before. I want to see what he showed you."

She uncrossed her arms as her eyebrows raised above big, round eyes. "You seem oddly upbeat."

"'Ay lass, I lost the shoot-off so maybe I can make-up for it."

She let some of the tension in her body release. "Haha, right. Because in a realistic situation I wouldn't stand a chance against a man twice my size."

"Oh, so you're too afraid then?" He straightened up after breaking out of an offensive stance.

"You kiddin'? The ability to fear got kicked out of me back in Afghanistan." She smirked at him.

He nodded. "Right then." He motioned for her to come at him. "Prove it."

Growing determined, she took on the challenge and was willing to spar with the overly-sized Scotsman. After some carefree grappling and casual attempts at gaining control, he got her in an arm clinch and kept her elbow locked. He quickly found her face and was met with an impatient stare. Her eyes shot up and met his eyes as a flash of assurance lit up on her face. Breaking from the hold, she managed to land a two-point takedown on him, using her leg and arm to swipe out his weight from underneath him. He landed onto his back with a heavy 'thud' as she followed through by grabbing hold of his wrist and folding it in.

Soap peered up at her with mild confusion. "Price show you that?"

Coming to a realization, she released him and allowed for him to stand up and tower over her. "No, he didn't."

He put his hands on his waist as he stared down at her, allowing his brain to contemplate everything. She knew what was coming as he opened his mouth to talk. "Something you need to tell me, lass?"

She hesitated as she placed her hands on her hips and rolled an imaginary object around in her mouth. Finally, she heaved a sigh. "I'm not a clueless damsel. I can handle myself just fine. Everything you two have shown me thus far, I already knew."

He had to raise an eyebrow and let his mouth go flat. "Why would you lie about that?"

Feeling somewhat guilty, her eye lit up with serenity. "I apologize. It's something I do out of defense. I want to get to know people first." Then she looked off towards the opened door to the outside, where her dog Gretel came in in-search of her owner. "I was trained in the 99th Ground Combat Training Squadron before entering sniping school."

Pondering over what she said, he had to sigh. "Well, I guess I can respect that. Would have prefered you just had been honest the first time, lass. But I suppose we've all seen our fair share of deceit. Don't completely blame you for wanting to be cautious."

Nodding slowly, she replied. "But there's that. I know you two well enough by now to be rid of that mask. I can trust you."

His eyes found Gretel as the happy-eyed German Shepherd approached to stand by her companion's side. Rico set a comforting hand atop her caramel-tinted head. He looked back up into Rico's softened expression. "You can trust me so long as you continue giving me reasons to return the favor."

"Right." She agreed. Gretel looked up at her with honey, smart eyes. Seeing her dog's smiling face always was warming. She let a faint smile pull at her mouth. "Well, I'm going to go brush Gretel's coat."

Soap simply nodded as she walked past. He watched her as she left to enter the outside world. Mixed feelings filled his heart and stomach.

After some time had passed, Soap finished up some exercises before heading for the showers. He passed up Samson on the way out, who gave him a head nod. Outside, he spotted Trevor and Shorty enjoying a smoke break, and Rico brushing a content Gretel in the space between two barracks. He kept a curious eye on her as he passed before finding Trevor's placid stare and Shorty's uninterested eyes. His legs carried him over the dirt path and for the showers.

Rico spotted Soap disappear into the showers. She narrowed her eyes in wonderment as she continued guiding the brush through her relaxed dog's coat. Eventually, after showering off the sweat from his body, the large man left the confines of the room which housed the showers and was met by Price who had left the sleep corridors moments before. They began to exchange words while Price kept his arms crossed and Soap kept a towel in place behind his neck. The two had chemistry, that was for sure. They had a unique relationship. It was a combination of a relationship shared between a father and son, and of course, befriended soldiers of war. Bringing herself up, she moved for the showers with Gretel practically attached at her hip. She slipped past the two men and entered the space which contained the showers as Gretel sighed and laid out on the ground.

Soap saw Price's eyes move towards the now seemingly sad dog who just had to part from its owner. The Scotsman followed the stare and found Gretel on the other end. The dog watched them closely with observant eyes.

After the two ex-S.A.S. soldiers wrapped up their conversation, both men went separate ways in search of a new form of entertainment and a fresh set of distractions. Naturally, Soap found his journal and his favorite pen, and headed for the mesh hall where he took a seat in a quiet space and allowed his mind to drift elsewhere. He exhaled heavily as he began to jot down his thoughts, after some time had passed his pen stood still. His eyes stared at it blankly before it began to sketch out contours and rough edges to an image.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of the push door unlatch as it pulled open. His eyes followed the source where they met up with the image of Ricochet standing in the threshold. Gretel moved inside as Rico's legs completely brought herself through the door.

Spotting him, she spoke. "I apologize if I'm interrupting your quiet time."

He waved her off. "No. You're not."

She nodded as she began to work for the kitchen. "I'm just going to brew some coffee and be on my way."

He gestured his head in understanding. As she neared him, he allowed his attention to fall back onto his hands. He felt her energy surround the space around him as she came to a stop near him.

"Hey, I want to apologize for earlier." She stated. "I shouldn't have led you on like that. I sometimes forget to turn off my defensiveness. It's just because I've been doing it for years."

His eyes pulled up from his journal and met with her aqua irises. Sensing her genuine intent, he was willing to be forgiving. "You don't need to explain yourself to me, lass. I've long since moved passed that."

She lost some of her tension as she became content with his response. Straightening her posture, she jutted a thumb towards the kitchen. "Would you want some coffee?"

Pondering over it momentarily, he couldn't decline the enticing offer. "Sure."

She flashed a quick smile before ambling off; there was a lighter air to her suddenly. Returning his eyes to the page before him, his hands went back to work. Becoming lost in his sketch, his alertness zoned out as it become focused onto his moving pen. He had become so lost in the lines of his sketch that he hadn't sensed her return to the table.

"Oh, is that supposed to be me and Gretel?" Her voice came out pleasantly.

He sat back as his fingers tightened nervously around the pen. Biting the inside of his cheek he nodded. "Aye."

Noticing she had placed him in an uncomfortable position, she continued to speak. "That's pretty good. You have a knack for capturing expressions." She outstretched an arm. "Here's your coffee. I just went ahead and grabbed some creamer and sugar. Didn't know how you take it."

He accepted the mug and peered over the rim. Taking up a half-and-half he opened his mouth to speak in attempts to break up the sudden awkward tension. "Tell me about you and Gretel. How long has she been with you?" He gestured his mug in the German Shepherd's direction.

Rico let her eyes light up. "Oh, my dad brought her overseas while I was still stationed in Iraq. He's an ex-officer to the Army so he gets to do whatever he wants sometimes." She decided to take a seat as she set her mug out before her. "Because of that, I'd get a lot of shit from fellow soldiers because they thought he pulled some strings to get me accepted into the Air Force. I like to believe that's the farthest thing from the truth."

He nodded at her. "So, he brought her over as a pup?"

Taking a sip, the steam from the coffee blew from the mug and hovered near her face. Her eyes stayed locked on him from over the rim. Setting it down, she bobbed her head in confirmation. "She was probably about 8 months by then. My dad actually settled down and started breeding and selling German Shepherds. So he kept one of the puppies aside for me after a litter was born. I was so enlightened when he brought her to me. I finally had a friend that would never leave my side. Sometimes it gets cold and lonely, you know?"

"All too well."

He could sense she was beginning to relax, and there was just something about his mannerisms and facial expression that just seemed so warm and welcoming. "All in all, I was just thrilled to have someone always there for me. Much harder to make friends when 90% of the people around you are usually testosterone driven men." She stated.

He let his face relax as he stared her over. "Not all of us our driven by blind testosterone."

"Realistically, I know that. But where I was stationed at the time I just so happened to be surrounded by mostly those types. Not everyone there agreed with having a woman be just as capable a soldier as them. I try to remember not all men can be perverted jerks. Can't completely resist the biased opinion sometimes, however."

He narrowed his eyes. "No one here seems that way. At least, not as of now. Maybe Reggie...but he usually just pesters me more than he does the women…"

She snickered. "Yeah, I heard about that."

He shook his head with disapproval at the thought of Reggie feeling the need to harp on Soap's bodily features. "He's cheeky."

"No doubt about that." She let a smile appear on her face; she suddenly seemed more human. "But, I still love it here. The brothers are like family, and you start almost feeling like family. Don't know where I'd be without them. And, well, Shorty is like my sister. We have a history. And I think in this sort of scenario, it's easier to get attached to people."

He nodded at her after taking a moment to indulge in the warmth of his coffee.

Suddenly, she perked up. "I just realized I never answered your original question. I tend to get carried away and trail off the topic."

He waved her off. "It's fine."

"To answer your question, she's about three now. So I've had her for nearly two years." She watched as his eyes moved away from her face and towards Gretel. She gestured her head in her canine's direction. "So have you warmed up to dogs yet?"

"Just her."

"Well…" She trailed off, causing his attention to fall back onto her. She released a content sigh. "Mind telling me one interesting fact about yourself?"

"Outside of my military career?"

"Preferably."

He fell silent to ponder over the question. "Hm. Nothing too prominent stands out."

"Nothing at all?" She cocked her head slightly having some of her damp, loose locks, caused by her recent shower, to fall against her cheek.

"Life was pretty uneventful until after graduating from high school."

"I think you're lying." She smiled at him.

"Maybe I am."

"Come on," she tapped the table near his hand, causing his eyes to land onto the movement. "I know you have at least one thing to share."

He allowed his eyes to wander back onto the mug before him. Observing the TTF logo, he replied, "I used to be fat as a kid. Rather chubby."

She sat back and looked him over. "No way."

"Yes way."

Leaning against the table, she responded with an amused tone. "Out of all of the potentially interesting things you could have told me, and you pick that one."

He shrugged, allowing a faint smile to appear on his face. "I thought it was interesting."

"I supposed you just worked it all off?"

"No, I got tall."

"Ah, so your body was just saving up for a growth spurt." She claimed nonchalantly.

"Guess so."

"Anything else?"

His grey-blue eyes found her round-eyed stare. She had a certain spark of intelligence in them. "I won an award for 'Most Surprising Outcome' my graduating year of high school."

Her eyes narrowed in thought. "...That's a thing?"

"No."

She had to emit a quick chuckle at his unabashed ways; he let a faded smile appear on his face. "So just in your head you won an award for 'Most Likely to Surprise the Class'?"

"I like to believe I achieved that personal goal."

"Didn't realize you had a sharp sense of humor."

He set his mug down after taking another sip. "Oh, so now I'm just a mindless brute?"

"Continue surprising people. It's your personal goal, right?"

He smirked at her. "You got me there."

Sensing the conversation was starting to reach a dead-end, they both took a moment to stare at each other momentarily; both waiting for the other to speak.

Rico shifted before peering down into the contents of her mug. "Almost out. Want another cup?"

"Sure."

"Alright." She began to rise but Soap suddenly stopped her.

"Here," he patted the table with his strong hand as he moved out of his chair. "I'll get it this time.

Ricochet returned to her seat. "Such a gentleman."

"Surprising you still, lass?"

"Your streak is staying strong."

He moved passed her and for the back room which housed the kitchen. Soap was quick to return with the pot of coffee and the rest of its contents. His rear found the chair he was in moments before.

"Right," he quickly topped them off, "where were we?"

She rested her chin on her hand. "Interesting facts."

"Right. I believe it's your turn. How about you start with telling me about your dream destination."

"Like travel?"

"Aye."

Rico thought over it briefly. "Well, honestly, I'd like to go back to Germany."

"Go back?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I lived there for awhile while my dad was stationed over there. I was young. We were probably only there for about three years."

"Fluent?"

"Eine Person kann das sagen."

He nodded at her. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

She smiled. "And then, coincidentally, I've always wanted to see all of Britain. Especially the highlands."

"Just don't go there for the weather."

"I wasn't planning on it. I'm more interested in the castles. I'm a sucker for dragons."

"Sorry to disappoint," he began, "but the dragons have long since left."

Her head perked up. "How about you?"

"I've been to many places. But it's all been work related. So I never got to actually enjoy the locations. So, if I had to pick a place, I'd have to say the Italian countrysides. Away from all of the commotion. I guess that may make me a romantic." He blinked at his mug before looking back up into her fair complected face. "Certain parts of Russia are lovely as well."

"Hmm, so kind of what we just saw south of Napoli."

"Exactly like that. Seeing it in person only makes me want to experience it again, only on a more casual affair. Particularly without all of the weapons."

"It's very appealing, for sure." She replied. "You know, if you're into diverse and endless amounts of terrain, I highly recommend the states."

"Land of the Yankees."

"Land of the free." Rico stated with a faint smile. "But all jokes aside, you can see mountain ranges, deserts, shoreline coasts, the great lakes, tropical storms, grasslands as far as the eye can see, hot summers and chilling winters, and of course, endless amounts of woodlands." Her eyes gazed deeply into his. "I think it's easy to forget to appreciate where your roots are. We're all just always searching for something bigger and better, that we probably don't realize it's right under our noses."

"I can respect that point-of-view."

"Unless, of course, you're just trying to avoid us 'Yankees'."

His magnetic eyes returned to hers as he shrugged. "Not all Yankees are bad."

"Oh, yeah?"

He nodded and gestured his head towards her. "You're not so bad."

"You just haven't pissed me off yet."

"Friendly warning?"

She simply chuckled. "Sure."

"I'll take note."

Silence fell between them. Ricochet brought herself back and reached for her wet ponytail.

She pulled the tie out and sighed. "This damn thing can give me a headache; having it pulled back all of the time."

"You could always just cut it all off."

"I'd like to embrace some form of feminine feature I still have. All of this military experience has turned me into an even bigger tomboy." She set her elbows onto the table in front of her.

"Fair enough."

She let an amused smile appear on her face. "Oh, so now you're agreeing it's the only feminine feature I have?" Her voice came out jokingly.

"I see you're trying to put me in an awkward position right now."

"Hey, you implied it."

Soap observed her as he replied, "You don't need long hair to look feminine; I think you're doing just fine."

Her smile spread. "Aw, how sweet."

His hand found the tiny, empty cup that creamer had once been in, as he snatched it up to toss at her. "Let's just take the compliment I gave you and throw it back into my face with a sarcastic remark."

She took a moment to let a quick laugh escape her throat as she pointed at him. "Now you're a litter-bug." Her eyes widened with life and wonderment. "So, where did you grow up?"

"Scotland."

"Oh, no shit."

He smirked as he peered into his now empty mug. "Grew up in Whitebridge. South of Lake Loch Ness. Small cottage."

"Brothers? Sisters?"

He nodded. "One older sister and one younger brother."

"Ah, so you're stuck in the middle?"

"Aye. But the best of the three." He finally moved his eyes away from the mug and towards the distant door. "Then my hard-working, single mother."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Aye. She did everything for us. When me and my sister got a bit older, we started cooking the meals for her and ourselves because that woman was working two jobs."

Rico narrowed her eyes at him. "You all sounded close."

"We were."

"Miss it?" Her expression shifted drastically.

He pondered over the question. "Hm. In a sense yes, and in another sense, no. I miss my mum and just that feeling of normalcy. But I also love this line of work I am in. I've attempted to try other things when I was younger, but it just didn't feel right."

"I can understand that feeling." Her voice came out soft.

They both took a moment to get lost in thought and gawk into each other's faces; not quite paying attention to what it is their eyes were showing them.

Suddenly, the far-end door came swinging open. They both turned their heads in the direction of the sound, only to see the image of Shorty standing in the threshold. She placed her hands on her wide hips as she lowered her brow.

"There you are! I've been looking for you, Rico." She let her eyes narrow as she tried to absorb what it was her eyes were showing. "...What are you two doing?"

"Just chatting." Rico responded only causing Shorty to cross her arms in disapproval.

"Don't waste your time talking to butt-chin over there. We got some work to do."

Suddenly, Rico let her eyes widen. "Oh, you're completely right. Lost track of time."

"Well, then, come on!" Shorty gestured for her to get up.

Rico smiled and brought herself up, making the chair move out from under her. Before moving away she turned to peer down at Soap who stared up with keen eyes.

"We got plans tonight. And you're invited."

He raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Bon-fire. Trevor and Shawn's idea. Reggie brought marshmallows, of course. You should make a point to stop by."

"It'd be hard not to considering we're on a base that can only house about 30 people."

"Again with the smart-ass tone."

"You got it in you too, lass." He replied.

"Ugh! Come on, now!" Shorty came over to tap Rico's shoulder.

The two women left leaving Soap alone once again in the mess hall. His eyes fell over the mugs and coffee pot as he moved out from his chair to clean up the dishes. Soap allowed his mind to wander over recent and past events; he was starting to have mixed feelings.

Outside, Shorty looked up at her friend. "So...yeah, don't go associating yourself with him."

Rico had to laugh at the colorful woman. "What are you talking about?"

"The Chin."

"He's not a bad guy. You make it sound like he's a raging asshole."

"He's arrogant." Shorty crossed her arms over her chest.

"You know," Rico began, "he's actually far from it. Maybe if you tried to just have one normal conversation with him, instead of making comments about his face…"

"Over my dead body."

"You crack me up."

"And I can't believe you invited him to our marshmallow roasting." Shorty mumbled.

"He would have seen the giant fire glowing in the background anyways."

Shorty huffed. "Not if his chin and guybrows got in the way."

Rico laughed. "You make it sound like he's this heinous beast. I like to think he's actually got a nice chin."

"Oh God...no…"

"What? He's actually decent looking."

"No! This is not happening right now."

Rico raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"He's overly manly. It's too much."

"You're too funny. You're so stuck in your hard-ass ways…"

Shorty raised her arms into the air. "And don't you go getting any ideas! Or any dirty thoughts!"

"I'm not. I'm just trying to understand why you're so set in your ways of hating him."

"Just don't…" Shorty murmured.

"I'm still allowed to find him attractive. Doesn't mean I'm going to do anything."

"Just don't go sucking his cock."

"Shorty!" Rico pushed her friend. "You're one to talk. I see you gawking at Trevor all of the time."

Shorty waved her arms out before her. "Enough! I will have none of this."

Ricochet could only snicker with entertainment.